Core I Part I

As a baby born into a rapidly changing technological era, I've had no choice but to accept these changes and make the most of them. My first memories of familiarization with technology are of the family television and subsequently my brothers' video game systems. I became an "ace" with these kinds at a very young age, due to the many focused hours I spent. My mother first introduced to me the computer by means of educational computer games. Eventually, around age six or seven, I began to grow acquainted with the world wide web and its many nuances and fantasies - something I had not realized would play such a major role in my life in years to come.

By the time I reached middle school, I was introduced to functional programs like excel, word and power-point. I also began to spend chunks of time on AOL Instant Messenger. The video camera soon became an expertise of mine as well as I had a great deal of fun recording and editing home videos. To this day, I have not become relatively very technologically savvy. Over the course of high school, I have mastered a few more technologies which mostly correspond to my soaring interest in music. I learned a decent bit about mixing and recording music which still is to my advantage today. This is a general skill that is not limited to specific software or programs but is across the board applicable from a musician's standpoint.

On the computerized end of things, there is a semi-short list of programs I would like to familiarize myself with. Sonar/Cakewalk is some renowned recording software that I would really like to have at my disposal as a tool musically. Garage-band on the Mac is a very basic recording program that I have a partial understanding of but would like to look into more. Speaking of the Mac, I really need to get 'in-the-know' with its interface in all of its "user-friendliness." Being a PC user for fourteen or so years won't make for an easy transition, but it is one which is necessary with all the Mac's prominence. Photoshop and Moviemaker are two additional programs I would benefit from mastering, for both practical and enjoyable reasons.

Analysis of Celtic Biliteracy by Dr Fiona Lyddy

In her article, "Celtic Biliteracy," Lyddy discusses whether or not exposure to certain languages with shallower orthographies, such as the Gaelic and Brittonic languages, inhibits students' abilities to learn languages with more complex orthographies, such as English. The issue is that these shallower orthographies have consistencies within them that cause the brain to draw patterns and make certain connections during the learning process, while the English language "exhibits inconsistencies between spelling and pronunciation that may affect reading development." Therefore, the concern of some European school systems is that teaching shallow languages such as Welsh, Gaelic and Irish could have a negative impact in terms of the cost to literacy attainment in English.
Lyddy, who is backed by studies conducted by her research team, argues that the students in these schools that have minority-language-backgrounds do not have difficulty learning English as a second or third language - rather, their backgrounds actually benefit their ability to learn English. Lyddy argues that concerns over the effect on English literacy are unsubstantiated, and that "perhaps, learning a shallow orthography encourages appreciation of the relationship between writing and sound" without causing detriment to English literacy. Her studies show that the consistencies learned in shallower orthographies positively affect students' abilities to learn English, rather than negatively, so the European school boards need not worry about their current standards of teaching biliteracy.