(1º§) For more than five decades, the scientific community has been working towards evidence on the positive effects of sports and physical activity as part of a healthy lifestyle.

(2º§) Regular physical activity can help children and adolescents improve cardiorespiratory fitness, build strong bones and muscles, control weight, reduce symptoms of anxiety, depression, and reduce the risk of developing health conditions.

(3º§) The World Health Organisation (WHO) stated that one in four patients visiting a health centre has at least one mental, neurological or behavioural disorder, but most are neither diagnosed nor treated.

(4º§) Several studies have shown that exercise may play a therapeutic role in addressing these disorders and positively influences depression.

(5º§) Physical self-worth and self-perception, including body image, have been linked to improved self-esteem. This is also relevant for children.

(6º§) Children who play sports have lower body fat, stronger muscles and bones, and increased cardiovascular fitness.

(7º§) They have a much lower risk of becoming overweight or obese and can create a foundation for a healthy lifestyle.

(8º§) Positive health outcomes are one of the significant benefits of youth sports participation.

(9º§) The pros of exercising:

(10º§) Many athletes do better academically: Playing a sport requires a lot of time and energy.

(11º§) Some people may think this would distract student-athletes from schoolwork.

(12º§) Sports require memorisation, repetition and learning - skill-sets that are directly relevant to classwork.

(13º§) Sport teaches teamwork and problem-solving skills: Fighting for a common goal with a group of players and coaches teaches you how to build teamwork and effectively communicate to solve problems.

(14º§) Physical health benefits of sports: Clearly, sports can help you reach your fitness goals and maintain a healthy weight.

(15º§) However, they also encourage healthy decision-making, such as not smoking and drinking. (16º§) Sports boost self-esteem: Watching your hard work pay off and achieving your goals develops self-confidence.

(17º§) Reduce pressure and stress with sports: Exercising is a natural way to loosen up and let go of stress.

Fonte: https://www.freepressjournal.in/lifestyle/national- s ports-day-2021-the-many-benefits-of-playing-sports > (adapted)

How Africa will be affected by climate change

    The African continent will be hardest hit by climate change. There are four key reasons for this. First, African society is very closely coupled with the climate system; hundreds of millions of people depend on rainfall to grow their food. Second, the African climate system is controlled by an extremely complex mix of large-scale weather systems, many from distant parts of the planet and, in comparison with almost all other inhabited regions, is vastly understudied. It is therefore capable of all sorts of surprises. Third, the degree of expected climate change is large. The two most extensive land-based end-of-century projected decreases in rainfall anywhere on the planet occur over Africa; one over North Africa and the other over southern Africa. Finally, the capacity for adaptation to climate change is low; poverty equates to reduced choice at the individual level while governance generally fails to prioritise and act on climate change.

https://www.bbc.com/... - adapted. 

Available at:<https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/03/us/politics/

ufos-sighting-alien-spacecraft-pentagon.html>. Retrieved on:

Long hailed as a melting pot of cultures, America is home to millions of immigrants – whether their ancestors sailed across on the Mayflower or they moved to the country last week. Research by the National Center for Educational Statisticsfound that one-third of U.S. students are considered racial or ethnic minorities, a number that is set to increase to more than half by 2050. In this changing educational landscape, teachers are challenged with creating inclusive classrooms where students of all backgrounds feel represented and welcomed. For teachers with a classroom full of students of different backgrounds, the responsibility to connect with them goes beyond simply knowing where they’re from, or what their favorite subjects are. These teachers must strive to understand their students in a more holistic way, incorporating their cultural traditions into lessons and activities, so students feel understood, comfortable, and focused on learning. Culture is a broad term, and one that is not easily summed up. In her book Culture Learning: The Fifth Dimension on the Language Classroom, author Louise Damen defined culture as the “learned and shared human patterns or models for living; day-to-day living patterns that pervade all aspects of human social interaction. Culture is mankind’s primary adaptive mechanism”. Individuals from varied nationalities, ethnicities, and races all bring cultural traditions to their interactions, and it’s up to teachers to recognize, celebrate and share these different perspectives. Using different activities and games in multicultural classrooms is an excellent way to foster inclusivity and encourage students to share their heritage. It’s also a beneficial way for teachers to involve students in different styles of study to immerse them in their learning. Sharing about oneself within the confines of an activity is often much easier than being asked open-ended questions and put “on the spot”. These activities can then provide a safe space for dialogue and serve as an entryway into more in-depth interactions.

(Available: https://www.accreditedschoolsonline.org. Adapted.)

   In Communicative ELT (English Language Teaching), text genre analysis is essential to uncover the social and the cultural basis of language. The notion of genre has largely drawn the attention of many scholars. It is incontestable that a genre-based approach to teaching greatly improves learners’ skills, not only in academic settings, but also in professional scenarios. A genre--oriented approach to language teaching incorporates an understanding that language is purposeful and that structures emerge from use. Additionally, there is an increasing recognition of the relevance of taking into consideration language varieties, text--types, and text genres while designing reading and writing language programs. As Martin (2002) points out, genres have been defined as staged, goal-oriented social processes. In these terms, as a level of context, genres represent “the system of staged goal-oriented social processes through which social subjects in a given culture live their lives”. In ELT, the concept of text genre sheds light on the influence of the context of culture on language. From that viewpoint, every culture structures particular ways of achieving communication goals in a given context through the production of written and oral texts. The fact that English is considered the predominant language for communicating research findings makes it paramount  that users of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) develop proficiency in research English across the skills of reading and writing. In order to be part of the scientific community, EFL researchers need to understand “the social processes by which knowledge about reality and the world are made”, that is, they need to be able to understand several genres that are part of academic social practice. Failure to understand written genres as social action may result in instruction that encourages the creation of texts to fit formal requirements, as opposed to the practice of achieving social goals. Technology also plays a role in assisting second/foreign language (L2) writing instruction. The Internet, social networks and digital media may provide EFL learners with greater opportunities for meaningful and authentic language use, which are usually interactive, social and multimodal. Learners can interact with other speakers of the language from different parts of the world, write blogs or create webpages and profiles in social networks and produce both written and oral language with a targeted community of speakers in mind.

(Available: http://www.scielo.br. Adapted.)