In this module you will learn useful vocabulary and communication strategies to

talk about important factors that influence education. Unit 1 aims to give you
enough vocabulary and grammar structures for you to describe your own
educational background.

This unit is important because it will help you identify and apply important
vocabulary related to school subjects and issues. You will use the present perfect
tense to talk and write about all experiences and challenges that you face at school
and how they have determined your present and future life.

1.1. Grammar
1.1.1. Statements: present perfect
1.1.2. Possessive Adjectives
1.1.3. Vocabulary: verbs Pictionary
1.1.4. Writing Simple Emails
1.2. Vocabulary
1.2.1. Bullying
1.2.2. Sports and Physical Activities
1.2.3. School Subjects / Issues
1.2.4. Using the Internet
1.3. Pronunciation
1.3.1. Verb Pronunciation: -ed endings
"Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in
school."
- Albert Einstein

Do you agree or disagree with this quote?

Figure 1: Education
(Max Pixel (2016). Education. [Image] Retrieved from: http://bit.ly/EducationImage)

Education is a lifelong process of self-transformation. Think of a learning experience in

school or university that has caused you to rethink or change your perspective of life.
Study the reading material in this unit to answer these questions:

 What impact have your experiences in school or university had on you?

 Who is the best teacher you have ever had? Why? How did she/he inspire
you?

 Have you ever considered studying abroad? Why?

 Past Now Future

I have had this computer for three years.

Figure 1. Present Perfect Tense Timeline. (Bryan, 2018)

T
he present perfect tense has different meanings. It describes actions or
situations that occurred at an unspecified time in the past. On the other
hand, with specific times (yesterday, last week, last month, in 2017), the
simple past tense is used instead. It also refers to repeated past actions. The
focus of the present perfect tense is on the result of the action.:

Table 1. Uses of the Present Perfect Tense (Bryan, 2018)

Uses Examples Notes

1. Actions or  I have just returned from a Time expressions (signal words)
situations at often used with this meaning of
an unspecified college visit. the present perfect tense include
time in the  Have you ever been in already, ever, just, recently, still, yet, so
past. far, up to now, once, twice, since, three
England? (four, etc.) times.
 She hasn’t taken a vacation Contractions:
I have = I’ve
for a long time. You have = you’ve
2. Repeated  I have gone there five He has = He’s
past actions at She has = She’s
unspecified times. It has = It’s
times.  She’s taken this course We have = We’ve
They have = They’ve
three times.
3. An action or  Rosalba has been an  Use “for” and an amount of
a state that time (two months, three years,
started in the English teacher since
one hour, a long time, etc.) to
past and 1999. say how long.
continues in  Use “since” with the date,
the present.  I have had my computer
month, year, etc. to say when
for three years. the action began.
 Table 2. Forms of the Present Perfect Tense (Bryan, 2018)

Forms
Affirmative and Negative Statements
Subject Have Past Notes
(not) participle
I have (not) been there  “Just” refers to the recent
(recently). past (a few minutes, or
hours ago). It must come
You before the past participle.
have (already) my essay.
 “Yet” normally comes at the
written
end of a negative statement.
He  “Already” and “recently”
She has them. normally come before the
(just) called
It past participle or at the end
We of a statement.
You have (not) started work (yet).
They
Yes/No Questions
Have Subject Past Notes
participle
Have I studied enough to pass this  “Ever
exam? ” means “at
any time.” It
Have you (ever) on a test? must come
Possible answers:
before the
Yes, I have.
cheated past
No, I haven’t.
participle.
he (already) dinner?  “Already” means “before
she eaten Possible answers: now”. It may come before the
Has
it Yes, he has. past participle or at the end of
No, he hasn’t. a question.
we our/your/their  “Yet” means “up to now.” It is
Have you started homework (yet, normally at the end of a
they already)? question.
Wh - Questions
Wh- Have Subject Past Notes
Word participle
I Possible answers:
have you been here? I have been here since
we 1998.
How long they
has He/She/it lived She has lived here for
many years.
 A possessive adjective comes before a noun (pen, problem, computer, car,
etc.). It is used to show ownership.

Table 3. Possessive Adjectives (Bryan, 2018)

Forms Examples
(I) My  She hasn't cooked my favorite meal in weeks.

(You) Your  I haven't seen your email yet.

(He) His  It’s his problem.

(She) Her  It’s her laptop.

(It) Its  Its name is Cookie.

(We) Our
 Our seats are here.

(You) Yours
 Are these your books?

(Their) Theirs  Their backpacks are over there.

F ind here some of the most common regular and irregular verbs in their
simple present, simple past, and past participle form. Remember that the
present perfect tense is formed with the subject + have + the past participle
of the main verb. This verb can be regular or irregular.
Example: I have traveled to five countries.

(Past participle)

Table 4. Regular Verbs (Bryan, 2018)

Pictionary
Regular Verbs
Picture Base Form/
Past
Simple Simple Past
Participle
present

copy copied copied

multiply multiplied multiplied

travel traveled traveled

cry cried cried

label labeled labeled

 Table 5. Irregular Verbs (Bryan, 2018)

Pictionary
Irregular Verbs
Picture Base Form/ Past
Simple Past
Simple present Participle

choose chose chosen

draw drew drawn

learn learnt learnt

speak spoke spoken

write wrote written

A simple email usually has five parts. They are:

To: Mom @gmail.com

1. Header Subject: Thank you Mom

2. Greeting Dear Mom,

Thank you so much for your constant support

3. Message
during my four years studying abroad.
body
You have been an inspiration to me.
Thanks to you, I’m the best version of myself.

4. Closing Lots of love,

5. Signature Rosie

Here are some phrases that you can use for your email greeting and closing.

Formal Informal

Dear Mrs. Bryan, Hi Mom,

Greeting phrases Morning Dad,
Dear Sir/Madame,
Hello Rosie,
Cheers,
Best regards, Bye for now,
Kind regards, See you soon,
Closing phrases Yours sincerely, Best wishes,
Yours faithfully, See you,
Yours truly, Yours,
Lots of love,
T
he education system today faces many issues and challenges. Bullying in
schools is a worldwide problem that can have a very negative influence on
students. Students who are bullied are more likely to drop out of schools
because they feel disconnected from school or just don’t like school. They usually
have lower academic outcomes and attendance. Talking and understanding the
effects of bullying is an important step to prevent it.

Here are some "bullying" related words:

Bully
 The word bully as noun refers to a person who uses his/her power to intentionally harm or
intimidate those who are weaker.
 The word bully as verb means to intentionally expose another person to unwanted negative
actions that are intended to cause harm, through a disproportion of power.

Cyber bullying
 Willful and repeated harm inflicted through the use of computers, cell phones, and other
electronic devices.

Direct bullying
 Face-to-face bullying.

Intimidation
 It’s to threaten or frighten someone into doing what you want them to do.

Call names
 When people use mean words to call people to insult or diminish them.
Make fun
 The act of teasing or mocking someone maliciously.

Get active

Offering regular physical activities at school grant multiple physical and mental health
benefits for students. Moreover, participation in organized school sports offers
opportunities for students of all ages to be physically active and has been shown to
help improve students’ self-esteem.

Aware of the importance of sport and physical

activities in enhancing learning, educational
institutions provide a regularly scheduled period in
the school day for physical activity and play. It is
called recess. During recess, students are encouraged
to be physically active and engaged with their peers in
activities of their choice usually outdoors or
playgrounds.

On the other hand, physical education is an academic

subject taught from kinder to 12th grades. It provides
cognitive content and instruction designed to develop
motor skills, knowledge, and behaviors for physical
activity and physical fitness that could last a lifetime.

Also, physical activities in extended day programs

(after school programs) are provided by many schools.
They include physical activity clubs, and training in
competitive sports such as soccer, basketball, karate,
 and swimming that can help students learn important lessons about fair play and
teamwork.

S
ome school subjects are arts, science, biology, physics, history, information
and communication technology (ICT), geography, math, music, physical
education (PE), Spanish, English, French, etc. Some high schools have
academic programs with optional subjects and subjects that are compulsory (they
must be completed in order to fulfill the requirements of the program.).

Regarding higher education, colleges and universities offer bachelor’s degrees in

applied areas of study. Thus, subjects here will depend on the institution and
academic discipline. If you are studying to obtain a bachelor’s degree at a university
or college you are an undergraduate student. Undergraduates are students in
universities that have graduated from high school and have been accepted into a
university; however, they haven't graduated yet. Universities are generally larger
than colleges and offer a wider range of courses and academic programs.

Colleges and universities in the United States and Canada offer a wide variety of
subjects. Students can sample different fields of knowledge, but usually major
(concentrate) in one field during the last two years of college. If they wish, they may
obtain professional training at the undergraduate level, for example, in accounting,
teaching, journalism, or chemistry. Certain colleges specialize in training
agricultural experts and engineers.

Some colleges and universities take plagiarism and cheating as very serious issues.
In some cases if a student gets caught cheating on a test or plagiarizing a term
paper he/she might fail the course or even not be allowed to reapply for a specified
period of time.
What is Plagiarism?

Plagiarism can be defined as using someone else's words or ideas in your

assignments without acknowledging the real author, so that these words or ideas
appear as though they are your own words.

Have you ever been caught cheating on a test or plagiarizing a research paper?

T
he Internet has a major role in the evolution of education. It has changed
both teaching and learning processes. Nowadays, many students' first
impulse when assigned a research paper is to use Google to gather
information for it. However, we need to realize that some content found on
the Web may be inaccurate and unreliable. We have to make sure we are using
accurate sources of information and that we acknowledge all our sources in our
references list.
Find below some free useful online resources that will help you with your Internet
research.

Search engines:
 https://www.google.com/
 https://www.bing.com/
 https://www.yahoo.com/
Online scholarly databases:
 LexisNexis: https://www.lexisnexis.com/en-us/gateway.page
 EBSCO: https://www.ebsco.com/
Digital Books:
 Google Books: http://books.google.com/
 Internet Archive: https://archive.org/
English language resources:
 Merriam-Webster's Learner's Dictionary is a language dictionary:
http://learnersdictionary.com/
 WordReference is a translation dictionary that provides examples and contexts:
http://www.wordreference.com/
 VOA Learning English, here you can read and listen to English news reports:
https://learningenglish.voanews.com/
 The British Council is a great resource for all language learners:
https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/english-grammar

Notes:

 Always double-check all of the facts in the documents you find on Internet, make
sure you are using credible sources of information.
 Be careful of sites such as Wikipedia where multiple users are allowed to edit the
information.

T
he -ed ending is added to regular verbs to show the past tense and past
participle forms. The -ed ending can be pronounced in three ways:

1. /əd/ or /ɪd/
2. /d/
3. /t/

Here are the three rules to pronounce -ed endings:

 Table 6. Pronunciation of ED (Bryan, 2018)

Rule 1 Rule 2 Rule 3

If the word ends in If the word ends If the word ends in a
one of these sounds: in a voiced sound, such voiceless sound, such as:
/d/ or /t/, as: /b/, /d/, /g/, /p/, /t/, / k/, /f/, /s/,
the -ed ending is /v/, /m/, /n/, / r/, /l/, /ʃ/, /tʃ/, and /θ/,
pronounced like this: /z/, /ʤ/, /y/, and /ð/, the -ed ending is
/əd/ or /ɪd/ the -ed ending is pronounced like this: /t/
pronounced like this:
/d/
Examples: Examples: Examples:
Admitted, attended, Opened, cried, viewed, Passed, matched, helped,
chatted, waited, moved, judged, earned laughed, stopped, worked,
added, needed liked

Descripción del documento Nombre del archivo

This video will help you understand U.S. System of Education

key concepts about the system of
education in the U.S. Format: video

Link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1
ciiaPwhF0I

J. [JenniferESL]. (2013, July 19). U.S.

System of Education - English
Language Notes 2.[YouTube].
Retrieved February 23, 2018, from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1
ciiaPwhF0I
 Bachelor’s Degree: an award that normally requires at least four years of full-
time equivalent college courses.

 College: It’s the general term used to refer to any post-secondary educational
institution. A college usually only provides an undergraduate education.

 Compulsory: something that is obligatory, it means that you must do it, it is

not optional. Example: Physical education (PE) was compulsory at my school.

 Diploma: a certificate conferred by a high school, college, university or other

educational institution as official recognition for the completion of a program of
studies.

 Dropouts: students who leave school before graduating.

 Graduate: a student who has received a diploma for successfully completing a

program or school’s course requirements.

 Higher Education: study beyond high school at a college or university that

results in an associate, bachelor, or higher degree.

 High School: generally grades 9 through 12.

 University: an institution of higher education and research, which grants

academic degrees in a variety of subjects in both undergraduate and
postgraduate education.

 Verbs: they describe actions, processes or states. They take different forms
with regard to tense (present, past), aspect (progressive, perfect), person (first,
second, third), number (singular, plural) and voice (active, passive).
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Domain.

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Edition. Pearson Education ELT.

 J. (2013, July 19). U.S. System of Education - English Language Notes 2.

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Edition. Maidenhead: McGraw-Hill.

 McCarthy, M., & O'Dell, F. (2008). English vocabulary in use: advanced.

Cambridge University Press.

 McCarthy, M. &McCarten, J. (2014). Touchstone 2. Cambridge University

Press.

 Mojsin, L. (2016). Mastering the American accent. Hauppauge: Barron’s

Educational Series.

 Pixabay (2018. Images source: https://pixabay.com. Creative Commons CC

Public Domain.

 Scrivener, J. (2010). Teaching English Grammar: What to Teach and how to

Teach it. Oxford: Macmillan Education.

 Richards, J & Hull, J. (2012). Interchange 2. Cambridge University Press.

 Tritch, M. (2013). Understanding and Teaching the Pronunciation of English.

 Retrieved February 17,2018, from https://www.pdfdrive.net/understanding-

and-teaching-the-pronunciation-of-english-e18826723.html
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 Werner, P., Nelson, J., Hyzer, K., & Church, M. M. (2008). Interactions 2
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