Universidad Nacional Abierta y a Distancia

Vicerrectoría Académica y de Investigación

Course: Language and Culture
Code: 551036

Activity Guide and Evaluation Rubric - Task 1 – What Language Is

1. Activity Description
Type of activity: Individual
Evaluation moment: Initial
Highest score of the activity: 25 points
The activity starts on: Tuesday, March The activity ends on: Sunday, April 3,
22, 2022 2022
With this activity, you are expected to achieve the following learning
outcome:

- Investigate how languages shape the cultural identity of foreign language

learners in contrast to their own culture.

The activity consists of:

Step 1

- Go to the Learning Environment and check the e-book Introduction to

Language and Culture from Muñoz, M. (2021), Chapter 1, Lesson 1. Using the
principles of active reading, create a Comic Strip answering the following
questions:
o How linguistically diverse is the country where you live?
o What is your country’s official language (or languages)? How does this
reflect what is actually spoken?
o How is the ‘standard’ version of your country’s language decided?
o Do speakers of certain dialects find it difficult to be understood? Why?
To create your Comic Strip you can use Pixton, which is a powerful, easy-to-
use comic maker that works on Chromebooks, PCs, Macs, iPads, or Android
tablets.
- Based on your experience and your place of residence, reflect on the following
questions in the forum:
o What languages and dialects are you aware of in your own department?
o How can you tell the difference between these different languages and
dialects?

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 o Can you think of some examples where one object has a range of
different names in your language? Why do you think this is?

Step 2

- Go to the Learning Environment and check the e-book Introduction to

Language and Culture from Muñoz, M. (2021), Chapter 1, Lesson 2. Using the
the linguistic maps of your region to identify languages and dialects spoken in
your own country, answer these questions:
o How have borders changed in your country over time?
o To what extent do the national and regional borders reflect the languages
spoken there?
Share and discuss your thoughts with other learners in the forum.

Step 3

- Go to the Learning Environment and check the e-book Introduction to

Language and Culture from Muñoz, M. (2021), Chapter 1, Lesson 3. Answer
these questions:
o What differences are you aware of between different varieties of English?
o Have you ever experienced difficulties in communication because of this?
- After you have posted your answers, respond to two of your classmates’
answers. Base your responses around the key concepts for responding to the
work of others engaging with your colleagues’ ideas, don’t address grammar or
correctness, instead, ask questions, be generous, begin sentences with “I really
like…”, “How wonderful…”, etc.

Step 4

- Send to the Evaluation Environment a PDF file with Steps 1, 2 and 3.

For the development of the activity consider that:

In the Initial Information Environment, you must:

- Check the Course Agenda to organize your time.

- Check all available forums, introduce yourself in the General Forum.
- Verify the dates of the Web Conferences so that you can plan your participation
accordingly.
- Verify your tutors’ synchronous attention by Skype.

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In the Learning Environment, you must:

- Download the Syllabus of the course to actively read.

- Go to the discussion forum for the task and get familiar with your collaborative
group.
- Participate in the forum to get feedback from e-mates and tutor.

In the Evaluation Environment, you must:

- Upload a PDF file with the task’s individual evidences. Identify your file as
follows: 551036 - Task 1 - Your Full Name.pdf

Evidence of individual work:

The individual evidence to be submitted is:

A PDF file named 551036 - Task 1 – Your Full Name.pdf with the following pages:
1. Cover Page
2. Step 1
3. Step 2
4. Step 3
5. APA References used to complete the task

Evidence of collaborative work:

No collaborative evidence is required in this activity.

2. General Guidelines for the Development of Evidence to Submit

For Individual evidence, consider the following:

▪ Be sure to write proper citations and references for the sources you might
use.
▪ Be sure to use your own words while writing.
▪ Be sure to revise content, structure and mechanics in everything you post in
the forums and/or sent for evaluation.

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 ▪ Before submitting the requested product, you should check that it meets all
the requirements mentioned in this activity guide.

Please keep in mind that all individual or collaborative written products must comply
with the spelling rules and presentation conditions defined in this activity guide.
Regarding the use of references, consider that the product of this activity must
comply with APA style.

In any case, make sure you comply with the rules and avoid academic plagiarism.
You can review your written products using the Turnitin tool found in the virtual
campus.

Under the Academic Code of Conduct, the actions that infringe the academic order,
among others, are the following: paragraph e) Plagiarism is to present as your own
work all or part of a written report, task or document of invention carried out by
another person. It also implies the use of citations or lack of references, or it
includes citations where there is no match between these and the reference and
paragraph f) To reproduce, or copy for profit, educational resources or results of
research products, which have rights reserved for the University. (Acuerdo 029 - 13
de diciembre de 2013, artículo 99)

The academic penalties students will face are:

a) In case of academic fraud demonstrated in the academic work or evaluation, the
score obtained will be zero (0.0) without any disciplinary measures being derived.
b) In case of proven plagiarism in academic work of any nature, the score obtained
will be zero (0.0), without any disciplinary measures being derived.

3. Evaluation Rubric

Type of activity: Individual

Evaluation moment: Initial
The highest score in this activity is 25 points
First evaluation High Level: The Comic Strip shows that the student explored,
criterion: understood and analyzed the provided reading and questions.
It is well written.
Write a creative If your work is at this level, you can get between 4
Comic Strip points and 5 points

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This criterion Average Level: The Comic Strip partially shows that the
represents 5 student explored, understood and analyzed the provided
points of the total reading and questions. There are a couple of writing mistakes
of 25 points of that might interfere with meaning.
the activity. If your work is at this level, you can get between 3
points and 4 points

Low level: The Comic Strip does not show that the student
explored, understood and analyzed the provided reading and
question. Too many writing mistakes.
If your work is at this level, you can get between 0
points and 3 points

Second evaluation High Level: The student shows assertiveness and relevance in
criterion: all answers. It is well written.
If your work is at this level, you can get between 8
Answer assertively points and 10 points
and relevantly to
the proposed Average Level: The student partially shows assertiveness
questions. and relevance in most answers. There are a couple of writing
mistakes that might interfere with meaning.
This criterion If your work is at this level, you can get between 6
represents 10 points and 8 points
points of the total
of 25 points of Low level: The student hardly shows assertiveness and
the activity.
relevance in the answers. Too many writing mistakes.
If your work is at this level, you can get between 0
points and 6 points

Third evaluation High Level: The student actively participated in the forum by
criterion: posting answers on time and providing two or more positive
feedbacks to two or more different e-mates.
Participate in the If your work is at this level, you can get between 4
forum. points and 5 points

This criterion Average Level: The student participated in the forum by

represents 5 posting answers and providing less than two positive feedbacks
points of the total to e-mates.

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of 25 points of If your work is at this level, you can get between 3
the activity. points and 4 points

Low level: The student did not participate in the forum on

time or did not participate at all.
If your work is at this level, you can get between 0
points and 3 points

Fourth evaluation High level: The document meets the criteria for presentation
criterion: and references according to APA standards.
If your work is at this level, you can get between 4
Present a PDF file points and 5 points
according to APA
standards. Average level: The document partially meets the criteria for
presentation and references according to APA standards.
This criterion If your work is at this level, you can get between 3
represents 5 points and 4 points
points of the total
of 25 points of Low level: The document does not meet the criteria for
the activity. presentation and references according to APA standards.
If your work is at this level, you can get between 0
points and 3 points