Documentación de arquitectura con características modernas en la ciudad de Cuenca

Since individual students learning a foreign language will vary in terms of personal qualities, learning aptitude, learning style, study skills, motivation and linguistic competences, every class can be considered multilevel to a certain degree (Gardner & MacIntyre, 1993). With students in a class arriving with varied expectations, abilities and needs, each teacher must face the challenge of tailoring or adapting their lesson that meet the interests of students of different abilities even within a group of learners who seem to be matched for age, native language and ability. In attempting to address the needs of all students in a mixed-ability class where the students have significantly different levels of language skill, it is obvious that the teacher faces many challenges (Ellis, 1994) because just simply teaching the middle of the group and expect that all students will take from the lesson what they need will not work in such a situation.

In teaching mixed-level classes, the concept of differentiation has been referred to as a useful teaching technique. Geoff Petty (2012) describes it as “the process by which differences between learners are accommodated so that all students in a group have the best possible chance of learning” (cited in Darren, 2012, p. 2). Peter Anstee (2012) says that it is about adapting teaching and learning styles to suit the whole class, groups or individuals (cited in Darren, 2012). Differentiation seems natural when it comes to providing a place for struggling learners to achieve a high level without neglecting the needs of very able learners (Tomlinson, 1999). However, many teachers are afraid of losing control in a differentiated classroom. Some teachers lack the flexibility needed in such an environment. Teachers who differentiate instruction have to manage and monitor many activities simultaneously (Tomlinson, 1999). By doing this they accommodate students who are strong or weak in certain areas. In language teaching, Bell (2012) mentions two key issues that a language teacher faces when teaching mixed-ability classes, namely, assessment and curriculum design. Firstly, in terms of

assessment, it is challenging to find suitable assessment tools unless the teacher gets at least some preliminary information about all students. However, this process may take a considerable amount of time until the teacher can monitor student progress. Secondly, designing a curriculum relevant to widely different students is another major challenge for a teacher of a mixed-level class. The best approach to curriculum design suitable for the mixed-level class is a theme-based curriculum in which an area of interest to the majority of the students is chosen to provide coherence to a set of activities to be completed at various levels of complexity (Bell, 2012).

Mitchell and Myles (2001) note that a theme-based approach should provide all the students with the opportunity to improve in all skills, literal and oral, productive and receptive. As a result, the teacher needs to balance activities in these areas. In addition, group work is seen as a valuable tool for mixed- level teachers and should be done within the context of a whole class (Bell, 2012, p. 90). In each lesson, some activity can be completed by the whole class together to encourage a sense of belonging. In addition, students may spend some time working with those of similar abilities, some time with those of different abilities and some time on their own. For instance, in an English language class, those with limited proficiency could interact with more proficient English speakers whereas advanced learners can use their English skills to help lower level students discuss meaning. Depending on the purpose of the activity, the teacher should choose the grouping patterns that promote students’ language practice and cooperation.

Making the mixed-level class a satisfactory learning experience for all the students requires extensive efforts on the teacher. Simply working from the textbook is not enough. It requires the teacher to think creatively about the focus of the lessons and the balance of activities to ensure that all students are working on relevant materials and making reasonable progress. Encouraging students to take responsibility and reflect their own learning is also crucial for teachers of mixed-level classes as it helps the students develop a sense of autonomy, which ultimately contributes to greater learning.

2.3.3.2. Teaching large classes

Teachers in large classes may experience a sense of discomfort due to reasons such as low levels of student involvement, difficult classroom management, assessment and feedback, limited resources and crowded physical space (Shamim, Negash, Chuku, & Demewoz, 2007). Although there is no single definition of a large class because what is thought of as a large class in one context may be considered small in another context. Shamim (2012) defined large classes as those comprising 50 or more students in an under-resourced classroom or educational setting. Mulryan-Kyne (2010) held the view that a large class is “a class that is too large for effective teaching to occur” (p. 176). Although the definition of a large class varies across studies, frequently a class is considered small when it consists of fewer than 20 students.

There are a number of issues characterizing large-class teaching for English language teachers. Firstly, large class size provides very limited opportunities for students to participate in classroom activities. While students in smaller classes appear more active in their contacts with the teacher, students in large classes have fewer chances to be called by the teachers to use English for communication. Blatchford, Bassett, Brown, Martin, and Russell (2007) found that in large classes, students have a less active role in interactions with their teachers, and are less attentive to their teachers since “the class size increased, the number of interactions with individual pupils decreased, and this adversely affected pupils’ progress” (p. 162).

Secondly, managing the classroom, understood as maintaining order in the class and organizing the teaching-learning process, has been identified as another major problem. Finn, Pannozzo, and Achilles (2003) discovered that students in large classes are more likely to have antisocial and disruptive behaviours. This idea was reinforced by Shamim et al. (2007) when they found that teachers in large classes have problems establishing discipline in their classrooms and dealing with the increasing noise level, which makes it difficult for students to hear the teacher and concentrate because they are distracted by their peers.

Thirdly, there is a problem with identifying individual students and monitoring their progress in large classes. According to Blatchford et al. (2007), in large classes, due to the lack of on-going assessment of students’ performance, it can be difficult for teachers to detect problems and give feedback, identify specific needs and gear teaching to meet them, set individual targets for students, and be flexible in the use of different styles of teaching. The lack of resources and facilities constitutes another major problem for teaching and learning in large classes. The increase in class size will obviously result in a decrease in space available, leading to overcrowded classrooms where students are squeezed on the seats or benches (Shamim et al., 2007). Hayes (1997) mentions “classrooms with large numbers of desks and chairs often prevent teachers from doing the kind of interactive activities that they would like” to do (p. 111). Expressing the same concern, Shamim et al. (2007) also reported that teachers “stressed the difficulty of promoting active learning in large and heterogeneous classes when resources are limited” (p. 76). In large classes, it is difficult for the teacher to make good use of resources fundamental to English language teaching such as textbooks, story books, flash cards, audio and video tapes, cassette player, computers and the Internet.

Several instructional techniques have been suggested for teaching English in large classes including student-centred teaching in large classes with limited resources and using innovative methodology for teaching language skills, such as the process approach for teaching writing. Coleman (1989), for instance, suggested three approaches to manage large classes: plenary, interactive and compromise. In the plenary approach, the teacher takes the lead and conducts choral drilling. In the interactive approach, learners are given more responsibility over their learning whereas in the compromise

approach, the classroom becomes a place for providing feedback and advice. Renaud, Tannenbaum, and Stantial (2007) recommended using small group work as a strategy for managing large classes. According to them, students should be briefed about the need for using language for communication and the need to work collaboratively in groups.

What is more, one remedy to the challenge of giving assessment is the use of peer assessment and feedback as ways of encouraging learner responsibility and developing skills for critical evaluation of their work (Shamim et al., 2007). Teacher workload is also significantly reduced as a result of peer assessment. Shamim (2012) further emphasizes the importance of training teachers to be prepared for large-class teaching through creative thinking, teacher-led research and a more positive attitude toward large-class teaching because for the time being, the focus in language teacher education programs is on methodological approaches mainly appropriate for small-class settings.

2.3.3.3. Teaching teenagers

High school students, the subjects that receive the teaching by the trainee teachers in this study, are aged approximately from 16 to 18 years. They are in the transition from childhood to adulthood via the phases of puberty and adolescence, being children and young adults at the same time. They also experience the emotional turmoil of the teen years and resort to a wide range of expressive styles, music preferences, commitment to sports and social activities to construct their identity (Blossfeld, Klizjing, Mills, & Kurz, 2005). Teenagers are known to be heavily influenced by their peer groups but would love to take control over their own learning during some activities when the teacher requires them “to write the questions, cut up texts, write their own grammar exercises” (Harmer, 2003, p. 1). Teenagers today are also known as digital learners or “digital natives”, who have grown up with computers and multimedia cell phone technology. These teenagers spend hours using computers, watching videos, and text messaging to expand their social relations. The language teachers, however, do not always consider this as having a strong influence on teenagers’ learning. Since the teenage period comes with ambiguities and turbulence, the teaching of English to teenagers may be difficult or problematic at certain points.

Anderson (2008) recommended several techniques to help teachers answer the challenge of teaching teenagers in the English classroom such as: bringing music into the classroom because songs are appealing to all teenagers, discussing hot issues in areas such as technology, sport, movies, entertainment, media, celebrities and English-speaking cultures as they might strike a chord with teenage learners’ personal interest, employing group and team activities as these enable individual students to cooperate with different classmates, reducing learning stress and tension, using role-play tasks to enable them to express emotions, developing ways to evaluate their learning autonomy as well as drawing on their prior knowledge and interests through the use of project-based learning,

2.3.3.4. Incorporating technology into language teaching

Education has been drastically changed by the advent of new technology. As Graddol (1997, p. 16) puts it, “technology lies at the heart of the globalization process, affecting education work and culture”. Technology refers to technological tools and services which consist of computers, laptops, videos, overhead projectors, digital video disks (DVDs), smart boards and the whole range of modern devices that have been developed to be used for educational purposes. There are a number of technology applications for language teaching and learning such as radio, CD, DVD, TV, audio cassette, phone, Internet, e-mail, chat, blog, Word, PowerPoint, Blackboard and electronic dictionaries. The number of technologies in use and the complexity in which they shape communication have become a major challenge for language teachers.

Teaching with technology requires the teacher to have basic technology knowledge and know how to effectively integrate technology into their teaching practices. In fact, Mishra and Koehler (2006) extended Shulman’s framework of teacher’s knowledge, which includes content knowledge and pedagogical knowledge, by adding technological knowledge. They termed this unique form of teacher knowledge as technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPCK) and introduced the framework of technological pedagogical and content knowledge (TPACK) that addresses the relationships and complexities between the three components: knowledge, pedagogy and content (see Figure 2.2).

Figure 2.2. The TPACK framework (Mishra & Koehler, 2006, p. 1025)

The seven components of the TPACK framework are defined as: (i) Technological Knowledge (TK): knowledge of technology tools, (ii) Pedagogical Knowledge (PK): knowledge of teaching methods,

(iii) Content Knowledge (CK): knowledge of subject matter, (iv) Technological Pedagogical Knowledge (TPK): knowledge of using technology to implement teaching methods, (v) Technological Content Knowledge (TCK): knowledge of subject matter representation with technology, (vi) Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK): knowledge of teaching methods with respect to subject matter content, and (vii) Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK): knowledge of using technology to implement constructivist teaching methods for different types of subject matter content. According to Margerum-Leys and Marx (2003), TPCK is “knowledge which arises from experience with using technology for teaching and learning and which in turn applies to the use of technology for teaching and learning… such knowledge is specialized; it does not come from nor does it necessarily apply to other areas of teaching and learning” (p. 126).

In language education, a range of technological applications in teaching language skills and language areas has been highlighted by Levy (2012), who suggests that a helpful way for language teachers to deal with technologies is to consider them in relation to specific language skills and language areas. Technology can also assist with the testing and evaluation of particular language skills. For instance, in teaching listening, programs such as Windows Media Player, websites such as YouTube, video clips and the use of MP3 files enable the learner to listen and replay sound as well as accessing a vast quantity of audio materials. Courseware, online activities, electronic dictionaries and computer- readable corpora are some technologies that are in use for vocabulary learning. Much vocabulary learning software makes use of the keyword hyperlink and requires systematic recycling of new items, recontextualization and memory support. In addition, numerous technological tools have been employed in teaching writing such as word processing programs, PowerPoint presentations, weblogs, and wikis. Technologies that are important for teaching reading include “electronic dictionaries, software that provides textual, contextual, and/ or multimedia annotations, computer-based training programs that aim to accelerate and automatize word recognition, Web-based activities that seek to teach a variety of components, and the Internet as a source of materials for extensive reading” (Chun, 2006, p. 69). In terms of speaking skill, online interactions via voice chat and audio interaction facilitate language learning for learners whereas audio blogs can be used for teachers to “manage oral assignments, to interact with learners, and to evaluate performance outcomes” (Hsu, Wang, & Comac, 2008, p. 181). Cell phones can be employed to record oral assignments while audio blogs are used to submit and archive them. Grammar-oriented tutorial exercises, discrete-point activities for grammar and vocabulary learning practice are often designed based on the software named Hot Potatoes as well as Flash audio player.

2.4. The activity of teaching and learning