Occupy Wall Street

1) Thesis statement

Several banks as well as the world’s biggest bourse – the New York Stock Exchange – are situated in the Wall Street in Manhattan. Working efficiently, the brokers adjudicate on many financial transactions day by day. Millions of dollars are earned – and gambled away in the next second.

                In September 2011, protest activities against social injustices, corruption and avarice have started in Manhattan and many other cities follow this example.  A lot of people take part in the demonstrations and claim “We want to change something! We want to make the world a little better!”

But do they? Is this a powerful means of effecting change?

                This question has been discussed controversially and there are different perspectives on the question whether occupying a square can be considered as an effecting move.

                In my opinion, it is a good starting point to catch people’s attention and to point out social injustices as well as political wrongdoings.  Having read about the recent events in Arabian countries, I suppose that a large crowd of people has an enormous power that might be able to revolutionize any social or political system.

2) Brainstorming

What?     demonstration, protest activities

Who?      brokers, politicians, the rich and wealthy

               students, activists, disadvantaged people

How?      occupation of parks and squares

When?    September 2011 until now

Where?   in Manhattan, in big cities all around the world

Why?      movement against social injustices, corruption and avarice

Facebook

The question whether Facebook's policy violates the users' privacy is controversially discussed in society.
On the one hand, the data could be used to increase security. On the other hand, many people feel that Facebook violates their privacy because it saves their data even if they try to delete it from the public website.
          One single click is enough to find numerous information or pictures about any person you are interested in. Therefore, the users should be very careful when uploading photos or entering information about their marital status.
         After having applied for a job, members of the personnel department can easily collect information about a user of Facebook and thus create an overall impression of the candidate. How could he ever justify his latest photos of the fantastic party and how could he explain why he was not able to go to work the day after it?
          Even if many people like to stay in touch with their friends via Facebook, I personally think that everyone should be highly concerned with the security of his own data because it could be easily misused.

Physical sciences? Social sciences? Humanities!

(the) humanities  [plural] subjects of study such as literature, history, or art, rather than science or mathematics; = (the) arts
 LONGMAN Dictionary of Contemporary English (2006), p. 796

I am looking forward to writing about the humanities because I am a student of English and French. I can tell you about noun phrases and adverbs but not about quantum physics or nuclear fission.
The large field of the humanities - from culture studies and history, through literature and linguistics, down to music and and performing arts - is both flourishing and creative.
In the arts, the last century was a period of great excitement and innovation. The most influential writers reacted strongly against political or economical injustice or leveled criticism against social evils.
And just as Bill Gates points out, the goal should be that everybody gets a chance to read great books and participates in the richness the humanities brings us.

scholastic standards and language portfolios

In the English didactics seminar we read a text about scholastic standards in Germany. Many students learn English as their first foreign language at school and it is just out ouf question to replace it by other languages, such as Greek or Swedish. Learning foreign languages very often means: "learning English".
The European Union has worked out an educationl program in order to spark interest for the large amount of various languages we have in Europe. They want people to become "global players", not only speakers of English.
Different education systems complicate the qualitative analysis of language classes at school or of the learner's level. One idea to facilitate a profound comparison is the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages consisting of 6 levels from A1 (breakthrough) to C2 (Mastery).
So called language portfolios offer a possibility for learners to document their language acquisition. It is not only about language certificates, for example TOEFL, but also about cultural experiences as well as learning processes on one's own responsibility.
As a future English teacher, I am directly concerned with scholastic standards and the question of how to teach a foreign language or how to help my pupils to become "global players". I have not heard about the language portfolios before but I think they are a useful start in order to create a basis of comparison and improvement for all learners for one or more foreign languages