PRESENTATION

DOI: 10.17533/udea.ikala.v20n3a01

Presentation

Claudia Gómez Palacio

Directora/Editora Íkala, Revista de Lenguaje y Cultura Escuela de Idiomas Universidad de Antioquia, UdeA Calle 70 N°. 52–21, Medellín, Colombia claudia.gomez@udea.edu.co

Issue 20(3) presents four empirical studies and two theoretical articles. The first empirical study is Evaluación del Contexto de un Programa de Competencia Lectora en Inglés en una Universidad Pública en Colombia a través del Modelo de Evaluación CIPP, written by Diana Isabel Quinchía Ortiz, Jorge Hugo Muñoz Marín, and Nelly Sierra Ospina, which presents the results found in their research project called El proceso de evaluación de un programa de comprensión lectora en inglés de una universidad pública en Colombia mediante el modelo de evaluación CIPP (contexto, insumo, proceso, producto). In this project, the authors evaluated an English reading comprehension program at a public university in Colombia. With the use of the CIIP model, Quinchía Ortiz, Muñoz Marín, and Sierra Ospina carried out the context evaluation of the program, and their findings show the strengths and weaknesses found, as well as the importance of this evaluation to make recommendations to policy makers, regarding language policy at the university. These recommendations are based on what participants in the study expressed concerning the importance of an English language program in which both comprehension and production abilities were emphasized.

Eliana Acevedo Zabala and Claudia Mejía Quijano, the authors of L'explication de l'erreur en didactique de la traduction: Erreur dans le processus ou erreur dans le produit?, present the results of their research project about error in translations, which included the participation of professors from two universities –one in Canada and one in Colombia. The authors address the method, the results, and the discussion along the article. About the method, the authors affirm that it is a qualitative study with some quantitative data since they interviewed some professors at the aforementioned universities and then compared their answers. Regarding the results, the authors highlight the importance of process in the translation activity, since it helps account for students' errors. In addition, the discussion focuses on the teaching conditions in both contexts discussed in the article.

The Paradox of the Practicum: Affinity to and Resistance towards Teaching, written by José Alberto Fajardo Castañeda and Iván Ricardo Miranda Montenegro, shows the results of a study that the authors carried out with five preservice teachers during their teaching practicum. The five prospective teachers were interviewed before and after the practicum, and an online blog was also used for data collection. The analysis of the data showed the practicum helps pre–service teachers make decisions regarding their future agenda as professionals in the teaching field. Therefore, the authors draw attention to the importance of a mentor before students go onto the practicum, as well as to the importance of policy and curriculum makers' job concerning the design of teacher education programs.

Elsa María Ortiz Casallas, the author of Actividades y tareas de escritura académica en el contexto universitario (pregrado), presents the results of a study about professors and students' social representations concerning academic writing and students' writing practices. To collect the data, Ortiz Casallas observed twentyone courses at the environmental engineering faculty and the school of educational sciences. Ortiz Casallas also led discussion groups with the students and professors interviewed. Results show that students still turn in writing assignments ''because of the grade''. Therefore, Ortiz Casallas highlights the importance of providing writing instruction to all prospective teachers, no matter their focus field, so that future teachers can assume the responsibility to address the writing topic in the classroom more accurately.

Las metáforas zoomorfas desde el punto de vista cognitivo, written by Blanca Elena Sanz Martin, is the first theoretical article in this issue. The article examines, as its title states, the relation between zoomorphism and metaphors. The author explains how some nouns used in metaphors relate to fauna, and how the use of those nouns has a semantic intention, when they are analyzed from a cognitive perspective. Prototypicality and semantic frames of fauna are also discussed.

The last article of the issue and the second theoretical article is Escribir en la universidad: una revisión de las investigaciones de la Universidad de Los Andes, Venezuela, written by Jusmeidy Zambrano and Rosmar Guerrero. In their article, Zambrano and Guerrero examine some literature about academic writing; address the type of research done, i.e. documental research; and finally present the results. To analyze the data, the authors used some categories. Thirty–five publications were analyzed, and the results show a tendency for the individual production and the academic literacies.

Since this is my last issue as a Director/Editor, I want to express my gratitude to those colleagues and collaborators who helped me until my last day at Íkala's office: First of all, I want to thank former director, Professor John Jairo Giraldo Ortiz, who trusted and also encouraged me to publish seven issues; Esteban Arenas, our programming assistant, who always reminded me of the amount of work to be done, and assisted me no matter how much he had to learn; Carlos Vélez, the administrative assistant, who was always willing to help me and learn for the benefit of the journal; Fabio Arismendi, our guest editor for French, who did not stop helping me despite having a lot of work to do on his own; Héctor and Mariana, my beloved family who always waited for me, even on Sundays, to finish ''The Íkalas'', as Mariana would say; all my colleagues and administrative employees at Escuela de Idiomas who always were willing to give me a hand and contributed to my work; the members of the scientific and editorial committees, the authors and reviewers who were patient and trusted me as an editor; the personnel at Universidad de Antioquia printing department, for their useful lessons and patience; to Diana Marcela Londoño, for all the ads –and her art– for the School of Languages advertising in each issue; my colleagues who are editors and always had the time to listen to me: Professor Jorge Antonio Mejía Escobar, Professor Melba Libia Cárdenas, Professor Ana María Agudelo, Professor Deisy Patricia Hurtado Galeano. And last but not least, I would like to thank the current Director at Escuela de Idiomas, Professor Paula Andrea Echeverri Sucerquia, and the new Director/Editor of the journal, Professor Luz Mery Orrego, her assistant María Luisa Valencia, and collaborators Laura Agudelo Calle and Esteban Arenas Yepes, for all the efforts they have made to release, in such a short time, the last issues that have me as an editor.

Finally, I hope you, our readers, enjoy this issue and the coming ones!