TEMA: ¿CÓMO TOMAR VENTAJA DEL TURISMO CULTURAL PARA ENFOCARSE EN UN DESARROLLO LOCAL EN CONCEPCIÓN DE ATACO?

Concepción de Ataco, es un pequeño municipio del departamento de Ahuachapán y es muy conocido a nivel nacional como internacional. En los últimos años, Ataco se ha vuelto muy popular por sus atracciones turísticas y posee un clima muy fresco, gran variedad de gastronomía, artesanías, murales y entretenimiento.

Concepción de Ataco es además un pueblo muy conocido por la siembra, cosecha y producción de café. El café es muy único y es conocido como: café de altura. Durante su cosecha el pueblo es fiel a su cultura ya que siempre se hace como lo hacían los ancestros, es decir, no se utilizan máquinas para cortar el café, sino que son personas que van directamente a los cafetales para hacer la recolección de este y luego llevarlo hacia el Beneficio que es el lugar donde se recibe el café y además también lo procesan.

Como mencionamos anteriormente Concepción de Ataco es conocido por ser un lugar muy atractivo  para los turistas que lo visitan con el fin de conocer y aprender a cerca de todas las atracciones que posee el pueblo, probar la gastronomía en diferentes restaurantes y comida callejera y visitar diferentes puntos turísticos, tales como:

• 
  
  Piscinas de Atzumpa: turicentro de piscinas de agua natural.
• Mirador de San Pio: mirador para apreciar el paisaje y la cordillera de Guatemala.
• Mirador de Santa María: mirador donde se puede observar El puerto de Acajutla.
• Mirador de la Z: mirador para observar la laguna de Ahuachapán y apreciar el clima y el paisaje.
• Iglesia y santuario de la Inmaculada Concepción de María: visitada por su diseño y arquitectura.

El desarrollo de rutas turísticas ha adquirido especial importancia en los últimos años, ya que sirve a los objetivos de desestacionalizar la demanda y responder a la vez a las nuevas tendencias de los mercados, según las cuales loss turistas buscan descubrimiento, aprendizaje y contacto con los pueblos autóctonos y sus tradiciones. Todas las rutas turísticas y atracciones de Ataco ayudan a la población a lograr un desarrollo local y generar ingresos económicos por medio del empleo. Por ello también es importante mencionar que el enfoque de este documento es saber de qué manera tomar ventaja del turismo cultural para lograr un desarrollo local. A continuación, comenzaremos hablando a cerca de la cultura de Concepción de Ataco:

• 
  El día de los farolitos
• Los bailes de los viejitos
  
• La fiesta de San Lucas
• El torito lucero
• La feria o festival del café
• El día de la cruz
• Las fiestas patronales
• Semana Santa

Si ya sabemos a cerca de la cultura de Concepción de Ataco, ¿cómo se puede tomar ventaja del turismo cultural para enfocarse en un desarrollo local?

• Reactivar el interés de los habitantes por su cultura.

• Dar trabajo a las personas locales.

• Generar financiación y condiciones más atractivas para la inversión del sector privado.

• Abrir nuevos destinos y dar mantenimiento a los que están dañados.

• Crear productos nuevos e innovadoress y agregar valor a los existentes, incrementando así la satissfacción de los turistas, la duración de sus estancias y el gasto.

• Vender productos relacionados con el café originario de Ataco.

• Fabricar productos aretesanales y luego venderlos o comprar productos locales y revenderlos.

• Agregar la cocina casera al menú ya que también es la opción preferida de muchos turistas.

• Ofrecer buena calidad y precio.

• Crear lugares turísticos atractivos.

• Permitir a los artistas y músicos nativos que puedan desarrollar sus talentos en festivales y celebraciones del pueblo.

• comenzar a usar productos locales en lugar de utilizar tantos productos importados.

Ahora bien, ¿Cuáles son las ventajas del turismo cultural para lograr un desarrollo local?

• Genera recursos para el mantenimiento, protección y mejora de los sitios de patrimonio.
• Ofrece posibilidades para el desarrollo de pequeñas localidades o comunidades rurales.
• Promueve la comprensión y entendimiento anfitriona por parte de los visitantes, y viceversa.
• Fortalece el desarrollo de programas conjuntos entre el sector turísstico y cultural.
• Conforma Rutas Turísticas, las cuales consisten en unir varioss sitios a través de una temática en común. Se compone de un conjunto de localidades, elementos, comunidades, etc.

Concepción de Ataco siempre ha buscado irse desarrollándo y dar a conocer la riqueza que lo caracteriza. Además, siempre han aprovechado crear negocios o nuevas recreaciones para el pueblo y los turistas que lo visitan, tales como: los trencitos, la conga y nuevos lugares para visitar como el laberinto de Buenos Aires y paintball de La jungla. Por otro lado, los emprendedores han creado artesanías donde representan al pueblo y son llevadas como recuerdo de los turistas. Los ataqueños son muy inteligentes a la hora de emprender y eso ayuda a que el pueblo sea más atractivo y visitado por los turistas quienes buscan descubrir la vida de los habitantes locales e impulsar la preservación de las costumbres, que también trae otros beneficios

Se ha creado una gráfica a cerca de un estudio para conocer cuales son las atracciones que generan mayores ingresos en el pueblo:

 

Si bien observamos en la gráfica, el mayor porcentaje lo tienen la producción de algunos cultivos y con esto nos referimos al café ya que es el cultivo que más identifica al pueblo de Concepción de Ataco. La gastronomía lleva la segunda ventaja ya que muchos turistas visitan el pueblo para probar la gastronomía que se ofrece. Las artesanías están en tercer lugar porque los turistas suelen comprar artesanias para tener un recuerdo a cerca del lugar que visitaron. Como última opción tenemos los lugares de diversión que ofrece Concepción de Ataco a todos los visitantes y donde pueden vivir nuevas experiencias y aventuras inolvidables. Todos estos aspectos presentados en la gráfica que puede ayudar a mejorar la economía y a la vez a generar empleos para las personas de la localidad.

En conclusión, podemos agregar que desde las calles empedradas hasta la gente que busca superarse cada día buscando una y mil maneras de salir adelante, el desarrollo local es indispensable para lograr un gran desarrollo no solo turístico, si no también aprovechar para mejorar las condiciones de vida para los habitantes de Ataco, un pueblo pequeño pero grande de corazón.

Maestra:

• Velkis López

Escrito por  estudiantes de segundo año de bachillerato del Complejo Educativo Antonio J. Alfaro:

• Adamaris Brendalí Hernández León
• Welman Anderson Hernández León
• Anderson Alexis Morán Quiñonez
• Dayana Marleth Cabrera Rivera
• Jennifer Raquel Castaneda Asencio
• Diego Fernando Batres Guillen
• Alex Alejandro García Marín
• Héctor Gerardo González Moran
• Miguel Alberto Hernandez Martínez
• José Fernando Chávez Hernández

UNIVERSIDAD CATÓLICA DE EL SALVADOR

Subject: Teaching Practicum II

Teacher: Ovidio Torres

Practitioner: Velkis Rosales

Level: Intermediate English

Tutor: Salvador Buendia

THIRD REACTION PAPER
(Third Period)

Describe I do not know how to start expressing my feelings about my last class not only of this period but also of my major. It was a pleasure for me to transmit my knowledge to others; moreover, it helped me to improve many things about teaching which will help me in the future. In my last class I was both happy and sad because it was going to be my last class. At the very beginning of the class I was kind of nervous, but then I could manage the class correctly. I felt comfortable and I was very enthusiastic because I wanted to have a funny class. The students really helped me to develop the activities and they were very kind with me. On the other hand, I could achieve my principal purpose which was about writing sentences by using the passive voice. First, I started with a short warm up, then a review of the structure of the passive voice, consequently the controlled practice and finally the semi-controlled practice. The material I used were the board, sheet of paper, pages and a chart.
(Analyze)		Plan Action
Interpret	Generalize
As every class, I started explaining the objective and the agenda of the day. Consequently, I developed a short warm-up which was called “sharks are coming” The ones who did not have the right number of people in the group would have a penalty which was some questions they had to answer according to the topic. Consequently, I started with a short review of the structure of the topic (passive voice) I gave them a page with some examples and I explained them the way to change the sentences from active to passive voice. After that, I started with the controlled activity which was about filling in the blanks using the verbs into the passive voice. This activity took me more time because the students had some problems with some verbs. Finally, I developed the semi-controlled practice which was called back to back conversation. The students had to sit down back to back, then the teacher gave them a sheet of paper with a conversation and they had to do was to complete the conversation by dictating to his/her classmate what they conversation said.	What I could notice is that students were good at answering using the principal topic. They gave their own point of view and they had very good ideas. Moreover, they had fun each other. In the review, I could notice that the passive voice is a really difficult topic because they asked many questions and some of them told me that they did not understand the way to write into the passive voice; however, in the practice they did it very well. In this activity, I could notice that students had problems when using the verbs into the correct form, but for that it is important to learn the verbs into the correct form. I could notice that students had fun in this activity because they had problems writing some words but they laugh a lot because of that. Finally, they did it very well.	In future lessons, I will take into consideration to develop a warm up where students can learn something new and have fun at the same time because it is really important to have fun and practice at the same time. I am thinking about looking for some strategies for explaining the topic in an easier way and then the students will get the idea of the topic. In future lessons, I will take into consideration implementing activities where students practice the topic a lot in order to answer every doubt they can have about the topic. The next time I teach this lesson, I will be really sure to include activities like this one because in that way students had fun and improve a lot their listening, reading, speaking, and writing.

UNIVERSIDAD CATÓLICA DE EL SALVADOR

Subject: Teaching Practicum II

Teacher: Ovidio Torres

Practitioner: Velkis Rosales

Level: Intermediate English

Tutor: Vanessa Jiménez

SECOND REACTION PAPER
(Third Period)

Describe My second class at Intermediate English ll was very nice. At the very beginning I felt kind of nervous, but then I felt comfortable in the class. I was very enthusiastic because I wanted to have a funny class. However, the students were bored and it affected to me because then I was kind of bored too. So, finally I lost my enthusiasm and the class was bored. On the other hand, I could achieve my principal purpose which was about using gerunds and infinitives as direct objects in simple sentences and short conversations. This time I did not teach grammar, but we practiced the topic with short activities like Controlled, semi-controlled and free practice. The seating arrangement was the horseshoe. The material I used were the board, sheet of paper, pages and a chart. The teacher was attentive to see every detail of the class and write it in the evaluation page.
(Analyze)		Plan Action
Interpret	Generalize
First, I started explaining the objective and the agenda of the day. Consequently, I developed a short warm-up which was according to the topic. I gave them a sheet of paper containing some questions. Students had to stand up and ask six of their classmates some questions and give answers using gerunds or infinitives. After that, I started with the controlled activity which was about filling in the blanks using either gerunds or infinitives. Then, I developed the semi-controlled practice which was in pairs. They had to write about their classmates and what they believe about them using the gerund or infinitive form. Finally, I developed the free practice which was a DEBATE. I divided the class into two groups (women in one side and men in the other side) I asked students what they thought about: Men enjoy having fun more than women. Men were going to be in agreement and women were going to be against.	What I could notice is that students were good at answering using the principal topic of the gerunds and infinitives. They had very good ideas and they gave their own point of view. In this activity, I could notice that students had problems when using either gerunds or infinitives because they used to confounded some verbs and sometimes they did not know if the verbs were gerund or infinitives. I could notice that students gave very good answers about their classmates and they used the gerund and infinitive verbs into the correct way. What I could observe in this activity was that they participated a lot and they supported their ideas about the topic. Moreover, they used the gerund and infinitive form.	In future lessons, I will take into consideration to develop a warm up where students can learn something new and have fun at the same time; moreover, I will include activities where students give their point of view. In future lessons, I will take into consideration implementing activities where students practice the topic a lot in order to answer every doubt they can have about the topic. The next time I teach this lesson, I will be really sure to include activities like this one because in that way students give their own answers and practice the topic at the same time. The next time I teach this lesson, I will include debates in my lesson plan because un that way they can share ideas and practice the topic.

UNIVERSIDAD CATÓLICA DE EL SALVADOR

Subject: Teaching Practicum II

Teacher: Ovidio Torres

Practitioner: Velkis Rosales

Level: Intermediate English

Tutor: Vanessa Jiménez

FIRST REACTION PAPER
(Third Period)

Describe In my first practice in Intermediate English ll I felt kind of strange because in the last two periods I worked in English Access; so, it was a strong change for me. However, I could achieve my principal objective which was about writing sentences by using negative yes-no questions and why not. The students at this level were very nice and they helped me to develop a good class because they used to participate in the activities and they used to ask me questions about the topic. I did not teach grammar, but we practiced the topic by making some activities (warm up, controlled practice, semi-controlled practice, free practice) The seating arrangement was the horseshoe.  The topic was about negative yes-no questions and why not. The materials I used were the board, pages, and sheet of papers. The teacher sat down in a corner to observe the class very well. She was attentive to see every detail of the class and write it in the evaluation page.
(Analyze)		Plan Action
Interpret	Generalize
First, I started presenting myself, and then I explained the objective and the agenda of the day. Consequently, I developed a short warm-up which was according to the topic.I made groups of four and I gave them some mix words where they had to create sentences according to the topic After that, I started with the controlled activity which was about ordering some sentences into the correct way. Then, I developed the semi-control practice which was about matching. I made groups of four. Students had to look the correct answer to each question of the material I gave them. Finally, I developed the free practice which was really accurately because in this activity the students had to improve their knowledge about the topic. First, I made groups of four and then they had to create a conversation using negative yes-no questions and why not. The topic was FOOD. Finally, they had to share what they had written with the class.	Based on what I already know, I think that it is a good idea to explain the students the objective and the agenda of the day because then they will know how the class is going to be developed. What I could notice is that students had problems in the structure of the sentences and I had to correct mistakes. I could notice that students had problems at the moment to order the sentences; so, I explained the correct way to write the negative yes-no questions and why not. Based on what I observed, I think that the students liked to work in groups because they help each other. What I loved to see in this activity is that all the students had good ideas and invented a lot. Moreover, they improved a lot. It was amazing to see students’ participation at this level. They made mistakes in the structures, but they learnt the correct way to use them.	So, in the future, I will continue doing the same because I could notice the students liked to know the agenda and the activities of that day. And so, they were impatient for doing the activities and knowing how it would work. I will take into consideration to develop a warm up where students can learn something new and have fun at the same time because in that way I would discover if they dominate the topic or not. In the future, I will continue checking mistakes and explain them the correct way to write. In future lessons I will try to continue implementing activities in groups were the students share ideas, give their point of view, and get along each other. The next time I teach this lesson, I will be really sure to include activities like this one because in that way students can develop their capacities to talk in front the others and improve their speech at the same time.

UNIVERSIDAD CATÓLICA DE EL SALVADOR

Subject: Teaching Practicum II

Teacher: Ovidio Torres

Practitioner: Velkis Rosales

Level: English Access

Tutor: Pedro Sandoval

SECOND REACTION PAPER
(Second Period)

Describe I consider my second teaching practice was one of the most successful for me since I was very sure about what I was doing; moreover, I could keep the control of the class and the students participated a lot. I did not teach grammar, but I had to develop the controlled, semi-control and free practice.  On the other hand, I did not manage the time for each activity since I spent almost all the time in the controlled practice which was about fill in the blanks because I could notice that students had not understood the grammar explanation and I had to explain them again the way to use the past continuous. The seating arrangement was in a semi-circle. The teacher sat down outside of the classroom in order to observe every detail of the class.
(Analyze)		Plan Action
Interpret	Generalize
I started the class very late because the teacher rang the bell at 3:11pm. So, I started writing the date, objective and the agenda on the board. Then, I explained the objective and the agenda of that day. Consequently, I developed a short warm-up which was about past continuous. What they had to do is to tell the other classmates one sentence using past continuous and the other ones had to write it on the board. Consequently, I developed the controlled practice which was about fill in the blanks. The exercise was easy for the ones who had understood the topic; however, I could notice that nobody could do it because they were confused about when using the simple past and when using the past continuous. For example, I was taking a shower when the phone rang. So, most of the students did not know the meaning of rang, that means that they did not know all the verbs in the past. Moreover, they did not if they had to use the simple past first and then the past continuous. On the other hand some students wrote “I were” instead of “I was” so, that activity took a lot of time because I had to explain them the structure of the topic. So, I think it affected my class a lot because I could not develop the semi-controlled and free practice.	The time I started the class did not help me to develop each activity. But talking about the warm-up activity, I could observe that students enjoyed it a lot because they were excited with the activity. On the other hand, they practiced the topic. I loved teaching the students grammar even though it was not my purpose, but I think it helped them to understand better the topic. On the other hand, I consider that maybe they got confused when the teacher explained them the grammar but they did not ask anything; so, it affected a lot because when I wanted to develop the controlled practice they could not do almost anything.	In future lesson, I will take into consideration to include the topics I am teaching in the warm-ups because I believe they help to wake the students up and students can practice the topic. I consider that it is important to look for some ways to teach the grammar correctly in order to make it understandable. Moreover, it is important to ask students if they have doubts or push them to ask.

UNIVERSIDAD CATÓLICA DE EL SALVADOR

Subject: Teaching Practicum II

Teacher: Ovidio Torres

Practitioner: Velkis Rosales

Level: English Access

Tutor: Pedro Sandoval

FIRST REACTION PAPER
(Second Period)

Describe My first teaching practice of the second period in English Access was really amazing and kind of difficult at the same time because the students were beginners and sometimes they did not understand what I was saying and I had to repeat and try to explain them using other words. However, the students learnt to how to use the simple future which is “Will”. What I could notice in this slice of the lesson is that the students made the biggest effort to learn the new topic, and I think it was good because in that way they will learn. In my first teaching practice I had to teach grammar, then the controlled practice, and semi-control practice. The seating arrangement was in a semi-circle. The materials I used were the board, pages, sheet of papers, and charts.
(Analyze)		Plan Action
Interpret	Generalize
First, I started explaining the objective and the agenda of that day. Consequently, I developed a short warm-up to wake the students up and have fun. After that, I started with the grammar explanation. Students were focus on what I was explaining and some of them asked questions according to the topic. Then, I started with the control practice which was about fill in the blanks. This activity was very easy for the students because they finished fast. Finally, I developed the semi-control practice which was really accurately because the activity was about discussion. Students made group of four and I gave them a sheet of paper with some questions and what they had to do was to discuss with their partners using “will” in their answers.	What I could notice is that students had a little knowledge about English and I had to use the simplest words in order to explain them the warm-up activity. I had to repeat twice. I observed that students paid attention to me. And I think it is good because in that way students will learn the topic easily. Based on what I observed, I think that the students will find the activities so easy if they understand the grammar explanation, and in this case students understand very well because they finished fast. What I loved to see in this activity is that all the students were practicing the topic and when I asked for volunteers everybody wanted to participate. It was amazing to see students’ participation at this level. They made mistakes when speaking but they tried to express their ideas.	In future lesson, I will find a way to explain the students the activities in the simplest way where they can understand what I am saying. I will take into consideration to develop an environment where students can feel free to ask questions according to the topic. In future lessons I will continue implementing an understandable grammar explanation in order to have good result in the practice part. The next time I teach this lesson, I will be really sure to include activities like this one because in that way students can share with others and practice the topic at the same time.