Talking about what is forbidden

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(1)1 Running head: Stating positions through discussion activities mediated by EFL.. TALKING ABOUT WHAT IS FORBIDDEN. ANGIE ANDREA MOSQUERA GONZÁLEZ LADY JOHANNA LEÓN PÉREZ. A DRAFT SUBMITTED AS A REQUIREMENT TO OBTAIN THE BASIC DEGREE IN EDUCATION WITH EMPHASIS IN ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE. UNIVERSIDAD DISTRITAL FRANCISCO JOSÉ DE CALDAS FACULTAD DE CIENCIAS Y EDUCACIÓN LICENCIATURA EN EDUCACIÓN BÁSICA CON ÉNFASIS EN INGLÉS COMO LENGUA EXTRANJERA BOGOTÁ D.C., 2017.

(2) Stating positions through discussion activities mediated by EFL.. Table of contents Table of contents ............................................................................................................................. 2 List of appendices ............................................................................................................................ 4 Abstract. ................................................................................................................................... 5. Acknowledgments ............................................................................................................................ 6 Chapter I. ................................................................................................................................... 7. Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 7 Justification ................................................................................................................................... 9 Problem statement ......................................................................................................................... 12 Objectives. ................................................................................................................................. 15. General objective. ......................................................................................................................... 15 Specific Objectives. ....................................................................................................................... 15 Chapter II. ................................................................................................................................. 16. Theoretical framework .................................................................................................................. 16 Speaking. ................................................................................................................................. 16. Discussion activities. ..................................................................................................................... 18 Cooperative language learning ..................................................................................................... 20 Chapter III. ................................................................................................................................. 23. Instructional design ....................................................................................................................... 23 Educational view. .......................................................................................................................... 23 Theory of learning. ........................................................................................................................ 25 Theory of language. ....................................................................................................................... 26 Theory of language learning. ........................................................................................................ 28 Innovation.. ................................................................................................................................. 30. Contextualization........................................................................................................................... 32 Instructional objectives ................................................................................................................. 35 Implementation .............................................................................................................................. 36. 2.

(3) Stating positions through discussion activities mediated by EFL.. Methodology. ..................................................................................................................................... ................................................................................................................................. 36 Source of the Data collection. ....................................................................................................... 38 Technique of Data Analysis ........................................................................................................... 39 Assessment. ................................................................................................................................. 41. Schedule. ................................................................................................................................. 42. Learner's role .................................................................................................................................... ................................................................................................................................. 45 Teacher's role ................................................................................................................................ 45 Material’s role ............................................................................................................................... 46 IV CHAPTE ................................................................................................................................. 47 Internship final report ................................................................................................................... 47 Management Summary of the internship project .......................................................................... 49 Methodology Results ..................................................................................................................... 54 Data findings and analysis ............................................................................................................ 62 Table 1 .................................................................................................................................... 63 Table 2 .................................................................................................................................... 65 Table 3 .................................................................................................................................... 66 Conclusions. ................................................................................................................................. 67 Innovation. ................................................................................................................................. 69. Recommendations .......................................................................................................................... 71 References. ................................................................................................................................. 73. Annexes. ................................................................................................................................. 75. Annexes I. Bullying ........................................................................................................................ 99 Annexes J: Qualitative Analysis .................................................................................................. 100 Annexes k: Quantitative analysis. ............................................................................................... 101 Annexes L: Formal documents .................................................................................................... 102 Annexes k: Formal documents………………………………………………………………………..103 3.

(4) Stating positions through discussion activities mediated by EFL.. List of appendices. Annexes A. Rubrics ....................................................................................................................... 75 Annexes B. Lesson Plans .............................................................................................................. 78 Annexes C. Journals ...................................................................................................................... 85 Annexes D. Teen oregnancy activity ............................................................................................ 92 Annexes E. Sex for sale ................................................................................................................ 94 Annexes F. Young Criminals in Colombia. .................................................................................. 96 Annexes G. Animal Rights ............................................................................................................ 97 Annexes H. Drugs and addictions: ................................................................................................ 98 Annexes I. Bullying ....................................................................................................................... 99 Annexes J: Qualitative Analysis………………………………………………………………102 Annexes k: Formal documents ................................................................................................ 103. 4.

(5) Stating positions through discussion activities mediated by EFL.. Abstract Talking about what is forbidden. This study was designed to solve the needs of 11th grade students at Carlo Federici when speaking in English. Speaking is one of the most important skills to develop when learning a foreign language because it is the way to use the language, to use all the vocabulary and grammar learnt to communicate with other people and express ideas, feelings or thoughts. But as a matter of fact 11th graders at Carlo Federici speaking skill are low. In this research, the interns used discussion activities technique to improve students’ speaking skill. The main objective is to set up authentic communicative situations that require students from 11th grade at Carlo Federici School to use English language freely talking about social issues. The implementation of Talking about what is forbidden at 11th grade students at Carlo Federici School was conducted in one semester, 384 hours. The participants were 35 students, most of them with an intermediate level of English. The result of this study showed that using discussion activities and cooperative activities can improve students’ speaking skill. This is proven by student's videos and recording and the fluency and improvement there. Discussion activities combined with cooperative language learning is an appropriate technique used to improve students’ speaking skill. The result of this study is helpful information for English teachers in teaching speaking.. 5.

(6) Stating positions through discussion activities mediated by EFL.. Acknowledgments We would first like to thank our internship advisor Professor Ruth Amira Calderón of the Bachelor in Education with Emphasis in English program, Faculty of Education who was always open whenever we had a question about our research or writing. We would also like to thank Professor Claudia Cardenas at Carlo Federici School who gave us the opportunity to conduct this project and who guided us through the whole process. Finally, we want express our very profound gratitude to our parents who were patient throughout this long process but who also motivated us to finish it. This accomplishment would not have been possible without them. Thank you.. 6.

(7) Stating positions through discussion activities mediated by EFL.. Chapter I Introduction The changing dynamics of the world makes clearly that today more than ever it is necessary to know a foreign language; hence the Ministry of Education has been implementing the Program called: Fortalecimiento al Desarrollo de Competencias en Lenguas Extranjeras – PFDCLE” in different schools in Bogotá whose main objective is “to have citizens who are capable to communicate in English with internationally comparable standards, in order to insert the country into universal communication processes in the global economy and cultural openness¨ (Mejia, 2011) which implies that learning English as a foreign language is not only the development of at least four linguistic skills speaking, listening reading and writing, but also and more important, is to be able to use the language to communicate in different contexts and situations. However, the fact is that in some schools students are learning just grammar or doing drilling activities and they barely use English with a communicative intention and for a different purpose rather than academic purposes. This is the reason why we decided to carry out this internship because after doing observations, journals and implementing different activities with ninth graders, during our pedagogical experience at Carlo Federici School, we found that students were good at using grammar, they knew vocabulary and language structures but at the moment of speaking in English was difficult for them, they were not able to express their ideas in the foreign language as they were not used to do it because they hardly ever talked in English and instead of that they frequently used their mother tongue to communicate with the others. Considering all above and thinking out in a useful strategy to make students speak and lose fear to use the language for communicative purposes interns consider that this problematic 7.

(8) Stating positions through discussion activities mediated by EFL.. situation can be solved by creating communicative situations where students have enough opportunities to use English in the classroom or out of it. And taking into account the data from the journals and observations which showed up students liked to work in groups and to talk about social issues, we decided to work on discussion activities as a tool to engage students. And that is how emerges this internship “Talking about what is forbidden” which looks for attending a group of 35 students at 11th grade in order to strengthen the speaking skill and in which classes will lead students to put into practice the grammatical knowledge previously learnt by means of discussion activities in which English is the vehicle that will allow them to communicate and express their ideas or opinions about different topics that are affecting them as individuals or as a community but that are not frequently talked, because they are considered as controversial or debatable. In this document five chapters are included in which all the contributions and implications of this intervention program are reflected: the first chapter deals with the justification and description of the situation and the objectives; the second chapter copes with the theoretical framework underlying this internship; the third chapter describes the methodological framework and the pedagogical intervention and the fourth chapter is the conclusions, it includes the description of the process where the results based on data are provided as the main part of our experience, it also incorporate the suggestions and recommendations for further internships and the last one chapter, all the references that supports this internship.. 8.

(9) Stating positions through discussion activities mediated by EFL.. Justification “Speaking is one of the most difficult skills language learners have to face. In spite of this, it has traditionally been forced into the background while we, teachers of English, have spent all our classroom time trying to teach our students how to write, to read and sometimes even to listen in a L2 because grammar has a long written tradition (Neil McLaren, 2005)” Consequently, the primary focus of the project is the speaking skill but we intend to go beyond grammar, vocabulary or structure because students already have previous knowledge about it. What we intend to do is to create meaningful real situations that motivate students to speak in English due to they do not usually have the opportunity to use the language for other than academic purposes. During our pedagogical intervention, we had the opportunity to work with a group of fifteen ninth graders who needed reinforcement in some subjects, in our case was English, because they had low grades and problems achieving the goals and objectives for the English class, however some students expressed that the difficulty was not the topic itself but the way it was presented and the methodology. Bearing this in mind, we decided to develop a set of classes that allow them to study different topics related to English, determined by the contents of the teacher and students book they were following at that moment, but we intend to do more dynamic and practical tasks such as power point presentations, storytelling, debates, role plays and different discussion activities etc. whose objectives were not only learning the topic or vocabulary related but also to express their opinion, ideas or thoughts and to see its relation with their context. And at the end of the semester students showed an interest in the English class and they seemed to be more motivated. 9.

(10) Stating positions through discussion activities mediated by EFL.. This is the reason why we want to develop a project that allows them to learn English as a foreign language and use it in meaningful communicative situations for them, which should motivate them at the point they break the fear of speaking and begin to express their ideas about the world in which they live and the realities they face every day. We, as teachers, consider that it is important to use English classes not only to develop the different language skills but also to promote reflection in students, regarding some of the controversial and hard situations they are involved and exposed inside the society. In this way, for the interns the most appropriate technique to be used as a complement is debate, as a tool to incite students to express their opinions and points of view about social issues. They will express if they agree or disagree with any social issue such as: bullying, animal rights, teen pregnancy and others controversial and important topics they face in their context. “Talking about what is forbidden” arises from the need students had to communicate more in a foreign language, to talk about interesting topics for them. Topics that belong to their daily lives, and in this project they are called “taboo topics”: Topics that refers to common social issues that they face every day. With this internship project, researchers want to give an important role to the context in which students are interacting, taking into account that most of the time the foreign language is. just used without a real sense. Students are learning just the. meaning of words, but they are not guided to communicate by themselves. After doing this internship, interns expect to boost Carlo Federici PEI and the English language curriculum by working on a different way to approach English and to teach students that English is not a subject matter but also a tool to mediate with the others, to reflect with their 10.

(11) Stating positions through discussion activities mediated by EFL.. classmates about social issues in the context that might be affecting them , to convince or persuade somebody else about their personal point of view and also they will learn to come to an agreement between their partner's ideas and theirs, all of this via speaking.. 11.

(12) Stating positions through discussion activities mediated by EFL.. Problem statement This section will describe the way in which arises the researchers’ interest on working on speaking through discussion activities regarding social issues. The initiative of developing this internship emerged during a pedagogical intervention carried out at Carlo Federici School with ninth grade students, since March 2014 to July 2014. Preservice teachers guiding the English class applied a set of activities that will be listed and described below. These activities allowed them to identify that students knew some grammatical aspects and vocabulary related to different topics but the majority of the 9th graders had problem when communicating in English. The first activity developed was a diagnostic activity in the first class session, where the four skills were evaluated (reading, writing, listening and speaking): for the reading skill students had to read a short reading about global warming and develop some comprehension activities to check their understanding ; for the writing skill they were assigned to write a letter to a foreign friend who wants to come to Colombia and a dictation spelling the words; for the listening part they were given a drilling activity where they had to fill blanks; and, for the speaking skill students had two options: the first one was preparing a very short presentation about an interesting topic for them for three minutes; the second one, was performing a situation with a friend where they should talk around 5 minutes. The results of the diagnostic activity showed that students were good at grammar and vocabulary as they got the best scores in reading and writing activities; on the other hand, the listening part had a lower score compared to the previous ones but the speaking part had the. 12.

(13) Stating positions through discussion activities mediated by EFL.. lowest score among the four skills. Just few students developed the speaking activity in a fluent and spontaneous way. The second activity applied was a comprehension activity where students had to watch a short video adaptation in English of a very well-known fairytale: “Red riding hood” with subtitles in the foreign language to facilitate the vocabulary comprehension. The whole class made a vocabulary list with the common words and expressions used in the story and at the end students were asked to answer some reading comprehension questions such as name of the characters, narrate the beginning, the climax and the denouement of the story, to summarize the fairytale in their own words, etc. Although students already knew the story and they watched the video that had only the main events of the story with simple vocabulary and expressions in past simple, most of them had problems expressing their ideas, giving opinions or commenting it in English. The third exercise implemented was the elaboration of a brochure, based on the topic worked in class which was “Type of adventures” their accommodations, food, means of transportation and type of trips; students had to make a brochure advertising a place around the world to go on vacations taking into consideration the vocabulary learnt in class and they were asked to publicize it in the English class. Nevertheless, students knew the vocabulary; some of them did the translation using online translators whence they wrote down more than 1 or 2 paragraphs in their handout, but at the moment of sharing their ideas and giving reasons why they chose those specific places or when convincing the others was difficult to do it. The activities mentioned above were some of the oral production activities planned during the pedagogical intervention which along with the lesson plans and journals allowed the interns to 13.

(14) Stating positions through discussion activities mediated by EFL.. identify that students had a wide range of vocabulary but most of the 9th graders had problem when producing in English. Having identified that students needed to improve English speaking fluency, the researchers decided to work with discussion activities, that in this case were debate activities regarding social issues because we believe that if students feel interested in a topic, they will do their best to speak, to comment, to discuss, to give their opinion about it.. 14.

(15) Stating positions through discussion activities mediated by EFL.. Objectives The objectives were established taking into account students’ needs identified at Carlo Federici School in terms of teaching and learning English as a foreign language and also keeping in mind that English is just an excuse to talk , a tool to express our feelings or thoughts; for us, it is a way to read the world our students live in, to recognize the social issues that they face every day, to understand them and reflect upon them, discussing and debating with their classmates, sharing points of views and expressing ideas. Consequently, our main goal is to arrange a variety of discussion activities that include debates, role-plays, cinema Forum, short videos, etc. about social issues in order to develop the speaking skill mediated by a cooperative work. General objective. ● To set up authentic communicative situations for students from 11th grade at Carlo Federici School to use English language freely talking about social issues. Specific Objectives. ● To discuss about social issues that are affecting students’ contexts in order to let them argue and make decisions when they have to face them. ●. To create opportunities for students to express feelings, opinions, thoughts or personal. experiences about different topics that may be banned in their school or families. ●. To overcome the fear to express themselves freely in a foreign language.. 15.

(16) Stating positions through discussion activities mediated by EFL.. Chapter II Theoretical framework This chapter describes our main constructs theoretically in order to make readers understand the real focus of this internship and for the development of an appropriate strategy to cover a need already identified and explained in the previous chapter. The following constructs are going to be taken into consideration: speaking, discussion, debate as a technique and cooperative learning as an approach which mediates the implementation among the other constructs. Speaking Speaking is a very important skill to be mastered by students in order to be good communicators. There are different definitions for this skill: One of them is that speaking is an interactive process of constructing meaning that involves producing and receiving and processing information (Burns, 1997) Another is that speaking is making use of language in ordinary voice; uttering words; knowing and being able to use a language; expressing oneself in words; making a speech. (MORA, 2010) Speaking skill is the ability to use the language for expressing idea However according to Brown and Yule (1983) the spoken production is one of the most difficult aspects of language learning not only for students but also for the teachers to help students with. The success when learning a foreign language involves being fluent and accurate in language production. It is important to keep in mind that accuracy is known as the ability that a learner has to produce correct grammatical, written and spoken sentences; and fluency that is determine by. 16.

(17) Stating positions through discussion activities mediated by EFL.. the ability a learner has to speak, read, understand and respond without expressing grammatically correct. Fluency lets speakers to be able to communicate in a smoothly and conscious way. That is the reason why this internship is focused on the development of speaking fluency, because the emphasis is given to the ability to communicate and understand the language itself; to be conscious of the function of the language, not to be conscious of the form of it. Fonocchiaro and Bonomo (1973) explain that there are six important aspects to be considered in the speaking ability. These are: first, to decide what the learner want to say; second, to select words that fall into pattern they are going to use; third, to select words that fall into pattern conveying the meaning; fourth, to use correct arrangement of word; fifth, to make sure the appropriate situation, and finally to place tongue and lips in certain position to produce sounds. Moreover, Chafe in Renkema (1993: 86) says speaker and listener are more involved in communication than writer and reader. Ur (2007) stated the following characteristics of a successful speaking activity 1. Learner talks a lot. As much as possible of the period of time allotted the activity is in fact occupied by learner talk. This may seem obvious, but often most time is taken up with teacher talk or pauses. 2. Participation is even. Classroom discussion is not dominated by a minority of talkative participants: all get a chance to speak, and contributions are fairly evenly distributed. 3. Motivation is high. Learners are eager to speak: because they are interested in the topic and have something new to say about it, or because they want to contribute to achieving a task objective. 17.

(18) Stating positions through discussion activities mediated by EFL.. 4. Language is of an acceptable level. Learners express themselves in utterances that are relevant, easily comprehensible to each other and of an acceptable level of language accuracy. Discussion activities. The interns agree with Ur (1981) because they also believe that the most effective way for learners to talk in English is by thinking out some problems or situation together through verbal interchange of ideas; or in simple terms to discuss. The author expresses that discussion in a foreign language should have different purposes such as: solving a problem, exploring the implications of an idea, constructing proposals, learning from content, developing critical thinking, but for the purpose of this internship discussion is a primarily one in which students talk freely in English and say as much as possible. Discussion to this internship is a tool student will use to express freely their opinions, ideas, thoughts or personal experiences about different social problems they face in daily life. Even though discussion is one of the best techniques for encouraging speaking fluency we need to take into account some factors to succeed in our project: the first issue that should be considered is to bring to the class an interesting topic of conversation; for interesting topics means the topics which are familiar and closely related to their world. For this reason interns chose topics that touch students’ lives every day: “social issues” such as bullying, animals’ rights, young criminals in Colombia, sex for sale, drugs and addictions and teen pregnancy. These kinds of topics not only will get their attention but also will let them feel motivated and interested in giving opinion. It is really positive for this pedagogical intervention, because while they learn and practice oral production in a foreign language, they take into consideration controversial topics that involved them in their daily lives and context. Therefore, it becomes a 18.

(19) Stating positions through discussion activities mediated by EFL.. genuine reason for them to speak because they feel they need to speak. So it will become not only a class where students are motivated by the grades they will get, but also they will be motivated by the topics they will talk about. As Ur (1981) states: ” it is certainly important, but not central in classroom discussion by reason of a discussion which has no aim but to discuss the topic may, and often does, succeed, if the students are the type that enjoys arguing and are able to think in abstractions. But often, in his experience, the participation gradually subsides until you hear the familiar cry: _I can’t think of anything to say! What the students who say this actually mean is that they have no reason to say anything. It facilitates students not only to work on their speaking fluency in a foreign language but also to take into consideration all the different points of view around social issues in the society, and in addition to create spaces of tolerance and acceptance among others”. The second factor or issue to take into account is the organization, if the class is large/big enough; a good way to give students some opportunities to speak English is to schedule smallgroup discussion from time to time. Kidsvatter (1996:) states that a small-group discussion is dividing the large classroom into small groups of students to achieve specific objectives permitting students to assume more responsibility for their own learning, develop social and leadership skills and become involved in an alternative instructional approach. According to Bothelo a small group discussion lets to create an active- save learning environment with beneficial, opportunities for peer-peer interaction such as questioning, teaching and learning from students. Moreover, this heightened participation is not limited to those who are usually articulate 19.

(20) Stating positions through discussion activities mediated by EFL.. anyway; students, who are shy of saying something in front of the whole class, or the teacher, often find it much easier to express themselves in front of a small group of their peers. That is why, in this internship the pedagogical implementation is applied with a group of fifteen students from 10th grade. Cooperative language learning As a result of that, our third construct is cooperative language learning, not only because it is a way to organize the class into small groups but also because it involves working together to accomplish shared goals within cooperative situations. Individuals seek outcomes beneficial to themselves and all other group members and as a consequence students work together to maximize their own and each other's learning. (David W. Johnson, 1994) Besides that, cooperative language learning develops first, a positive interdependence which means learners help, assist, encourage, and support each other’s efforts to learn. Second, an individual Accountability, the performance of each individual learner is assessed and the results given back to the group and the individual. At the end of their working period the groups assessed their functioning by answering two questions: ¿What did each member do that was helpful for the group? And what can each member do to make the group work better? Basically, students will reflect on their experiences and make decisions about successes and failures to make decisions to foster a better and productive work Third, it also promotes skilled interpersonal communication for effective group functioning. Learners must have, and use, the needed leadership, decision making, trust-building, effective communication, and conflict-management skills. It will facilitate students’ successful interaction.. 20.

(21) Stating positions through discussion activities mediated by EFL.. Fourth, it builds up face-to-Face interactions and interdependence due to learners believes that they are linked together; they cannot succeed unless the other members of the group succeed (and vice versa). They “sink or swim together.” They may have clear that the success of the group depends on each member's participation. Fifth, the motivation of participants to express what they think about any social issues also is improved when they work in small groups. This is partly a function of the release from inhibition described above, but other factors also play a part. The physical focus of the discussion is closed and directed towards the individual student; that is to say, whoever is speaking is only a small distance away, clearly audible, facing the others and addressing them personally. According to Richards and Rodgers (2001) Cooperative learning approach is an approach to teaching that makes maximum use of cooperative activities involving pairs and small groups in the classroom. More important, group-work lets itself to game-like activities; almost any task-centered exercise can be transformed into a game by adding an element of tension. Another advantage of group-work is that it frees the teacher from her/his usual role of instructor-corrector-controller, and allows him/her to wander freely round the class, giving help where is needed, assessing the performance of individual students, noting language mistakes for future remedial work, devoting a little more time to slower learners. She also has an important role to play in leading and encouraging discussions In addition, there is a scope here for peer-teaching. In the course of group discussions, students will learn from each other, whether consciously or unconsciously. They may correct 21.

(22) Stating positions through discussion activities mediated by EFL.. each other’s mistakes, help out with a needed word; and of course they will teach each other some non-linguistic material as well, through the content of the discussion. As Krashen (1982) states students working in cooperative groups need to make themselves understood, so they naturally look for the best strategies to express their ideas and thoughts and to be understood.. 22.

(23) Stating positions through discussion activities mediated by EFL.. Chapter III Instructional design This chapter describes the methodological part of this project and its theoretical basis which support this pedagogical intervention such as educational view, theory of learning, theory of language and theory of language learning and their pertinence and relation with the context in which the project will be developed and the stated objectives, it also deals with the contextualization, innovation, instructional objectives, it explains how the pedagogical intervention will take place, the set of activities that will be implemented, methodology, assessment and teacher, students and materials’ roles. Educational view. This internship project is founded on the constructivist view which is the learning theory that the school follows. Constructivism can be defined as a theory in which the focus tends to shift from the teacher to the students. The classroom is no longer a place where the teacher ("expert") pours knowledge into passive students, who wait like empty vessels to be filled. In the constructivist model, the students are urged to be actively involved in their own process of learning. (University College Dublin) In the constructivist classroom, both teacher and students think of knowledge as a dynamic, ever-changing view of the world we live in. The main activity in a constructivist classroom is solving problems. Students use inquiry methods to ask questions, investigate a topic, and use a variety of resources to find solutions and. 23.

(24) Stating positions through discussion activities mediated by EFL.. answers. As students explore the topic, they draw conclusions, and, as exploration continues, they revisit those conclusions. Exploration of questions leads to more questions. Jonassen (1994) proposed that there are eight characteristics that underline the constructivist learning environments: 1.. Constructivist learning environments provide multiple representations of reality.. 2.. Multiple representations avoid oversimplification and represent the complexity of the real. world. 3.. Constructivist learning environments emphasize knowledge construction inserted of. knowledge reproduction. 4.. Constructivist learning environments emphasize authentic tasks in a meaningful context. rather than abstract instruction out of context. 5.. Constructivist learning environments provide learning environments such as real-world. settings or case-based learning instead of predetermined sequences of instruction. 6.. Constructivist learning environments encourage thoughtful reflection on experience.. 7.. Constructivist learning environments "enable context- and content- dependent knowledge. construction." 8.. Constructivist learning environments support "collaborative construction of knowledge. through social negotiation, not competition among learners for recognition." And according to Carlo Federici PEI (2016) students are builders of their own knowledge. Also, oriented by their teachers, students solve daily life problems where they have the chance of proving different theories and practices. 24.

(25) Stating positions through discussion activities mediated by EFL.. Considering all above, the interns also consider this is a suitable educational view to work with because in our project students are not taught English in a traditional way, with a marker, whiteboard or tape recorders but instead we give the students a dilemma from their real life and they have to investigate about it, debate it and set out a possible solution that works not only for them but also their classmates and people in their context. Theory of learning. This project is based on a social development theory, it helps us to understand how people learn in social contexts (learn from each other) Vygotsky suggested that learning takes place through the interactions students have with their peers, teachers, and other experts. Consequently, teachers can create a learning environment that maximizes the learner's ability to interact with each other through discussion, collaboration, and feedback. Moreover, Vygotsky (1962) argues that culture is the primary determining factor for knowledge construction. We learn through this cultural lens by interacting with others and following the rules, skills, and abilities shaped by our culture. 1.. Developing Learning Communities. 2.. Community of Learners Classroom. 3.. Collaborative Learning and Group Work. 4.. Discussion-based Learning (Socratic Questioning Methods). Instruction that supports social learning: 1. Students work together on a task 2. Students develop across the curriculum 3. Instructors choose meaningful and challenging tasks for the students to work 25.

(26) Stating positions through discussion activities mediated by EFL.. 4. Instructors manage Socratic dialogue that promotes deeper learning. Likewise the researchers agree with Vygotsky’ statement and that is why what motivated us to elaborate a project where the focus is discussion activities where students develop cooperative work. Vygotsky argues, "That language is the main tool that promotes thinking, develops reasoning, and supports cultural activities like reading and writing" (Vygotsky 1978). As a result, our instructional strategies promote communication, interaction, sharing ideas of experiences, commenting or giving opinions. For Vygotsky, as in our internship project the teacher plays the important role of facilitator, creating the environment where directed and guided interactions can occur. As well as Vygotsky we consider that recognizes that learning always occurs and cannot be separated from a social context. Knowledge construction occurs within social context that involves student-student and expert-student collaboration on real world problems or tasks that build on each person's language, skills, and experience shaped by each individual's culture" (Vygotsky, 1978, p. 102) Hence, we are going to develop debates and different discussion activities that allow students to interact and learn between peers. Theory of language. Due to this internship project involves the participation of all members of a group who work for the same goal, the theory of language more suitable is the social interactionism theory. This theory establishes that language development is both biological and social. For our purpose in this project language learning is influenced by the desire and need students have to communicate. 26.

(27) Stating positions through discussion activities mediated by EFL.. and express their ideas with others. In this case to express what they think in a foreign language making their ideas understandable. Cooter & Reutzel, (2004) assumes that language acquisition is influenced by the interaction of a number of factors – physical, linguistic, cognitive, and social. As social issues are the principal topics to work on, students will be influenced by several factors that are implicit in each taboo topic they are going to talk about. In addition their personal views and opinions about each social situation will depend on their previous experiences and on the context they live. By way of group members they will share all their perspectives about life’s situations; they will discuss about possible solutions and consequences of certain acts and behaviors in a foreign language. It means they will learn a foreign language spontaneously by interacting each other. Vygotsky (1978) points out that children first observe how people in their context communicate among themselves, and then, later they will develop the abilities to communicate through interaction. It means students need to be involved in the language context through interaction to help students become more familiar with the foreign language they are acquiring. It is natural that when students are in contact with a new language they will make mistakes, but the idea is that they have to discover by themselves how to produce language in a correct way. Through time they will become aware about words use, combination and pronunciation. They will start with simple words to complex, then from short and simple sentences to long and complex sentences until create and express with complex and long phrases and dialogues.. 27.

(28) Stating positions through discussion activities mediated by EFL.. Vygotsky (1978) believes that language acquisition occurs as a result of the natural interaction between children and their environment, more specifically with their parents. The real contact with the language and the context are the basis of the leaning. As this project is going to be develop with a group of students between 14 to 17 years old the guide and person to imitate in terms of language intonation, pronunciation, etc., will be the teacher. For Bruner (1957) cognitive growth in humans involves an interaction between basic human capabilities and cultural factors such as the context. Bruner would likely agree with Vygotsky that language serves to mediate between environmental stimuli and the individual's response. Interns agree with Bruner when he argues that language can code stimuli and free an individual from the constraints of dealing only with appearances, to provide a more complex yet flexible cognition. So through discussing about social issues students will express their opinions about those controversial topics to work on. They will state if they agree or disagree with their partner's point of view. Theory of language learning. The theory of language learning that is going to guide our pedagogical intervention is Cooperative learning approach because it gives importance to the role cooperation has inside a classroom; for the purpose of this internship Cooperative learning is defined from the point of view Richards, J and Rodger, T (1991) as a part of a more general instructional approach also known as Collaborative learning.. 28.

(29) Stating positions through discussion activities mediated by EFL.. According to Jack C. Richards and Theodore S. Rodgers (2001. p. 192) Cooperative learning approach is an approach to teaching that makes maximum use of cooperative activities involving pairs and small groups in the classroom. As Macpherson (200) declares Cooperative Learning is part of a group of teaching/learning techniques where students interact with each other to acquire and practice the elements of a subject matter and to meet common learning goals. It is much more than just putting students into groups and hoping for the best. Cooperative Learning is a very formal way of structuring activities in a learning environment that includes specific elements intended to increase the potential for rich and deep learning by the participants. And this is what we intend to do with our project, we plan to implement discussion activities with specific objectives in small groups regarding social issues affecting them with the purpose that students express, share ideas and learn from the others.. 29.

(30) Stating positions through discussion activities mediated by EFL.. Innovation. Interns want to carry out this internship project after they identified students’ strengths and weaknesses while speaking in English. The activities proposed and designed were planned based on students’ needs, context and resources. They are authentic activities, though especially for students from 11th grade at IED Carlo Federici School. As we consider language as a way to read the world, our purpose is to set up authentic communicative situation where students feel motivated to talk in English about different topics, which are important and significant for them but they are considered inadmissible in most of their homes such as teen pregnancy, drugs and addictions or animal mistreatment. In order to achieve that and taking into account the class time we had per week, we selected 1 topic per each 2 weeks, on the first class the teacher explained the objective for the class in order to make explicit what they will get in terms of language improvement at the end of the session. The progress of students will be registered by us using recordings, journals and evaluations. Through the different discussion activities that will be developed, students will share their experiences, anecdotes, opinions about different topics of their interest that they see every day in their neighborhood, community or family but which are forbidden and they cannot speak freely at home, with their family or teachers. Whereby we expect they can see the world from a more critical perspective or at least with bases to defend their position for or against social concerns affecting them. As interns are working by the hand with the student-centered approach, classes development will let students not only make questions about taboo topics given in classes, but also to propose. 30.

(31) Stating positions through discussion activities mediated by EFL.. and give their opinions about how they are feeling and how they see the methodology and the activities presented in classes. If they feel those activities are working well for them or not. In addition, interns stand out the implementation of the group work activities, where the cooperative work will be part of most of the activities planned. This kind of class work implementation will reinforce students speaking fluency experiences by listening, speaking, reading and writing among them. Here, interaction is one of the keys to increase students’ English speaking fluency as it was aforementioned in the theory of language acquisition by Vygotsky (1978): children first observe how people in their context communicate among themselves, and then, later they will develop the abilities to communicate through interaction.. 31.

(32) Stating positions through discussion activities mediated by EFL.. Contextualization The pedagogical intervention will take place at Carlo Federici School with 11th graders. They are approximately 35 students and they are between 15 to 18 years old. The process of this contextualization was developed accessing to school information provided by official documents such as educational community handbook, the official website and the administrative staff and also interns’ observation This is a public school located in the Bogotá city, exactly in Fontibon, Sabana Grande neighborhood, near the Free Trade Zone (FTZ) of the western part of the city. This zone is generally residential, although count with a commercial hall where is possible to find all kinds of little stores, also have a mall with a big supermarket, we found that this neighborhood was developed by the city mayoralty in order to attend and relocate vulnerable population from other places of the city. The school offers the levels; preschool, primary, secondary and average education with an academic program with science, technology and communication as an emphasis, it is an educational institution approved by the National Education Ministry issued in the 2007 year and registered in the National Statistics Department. The school works in two shifts, morning and afternoon in the A schedule; this is a district public school administered by Bogota office education (S.E.D), attending male and female students. The school counts with three English teachers for secondary and just one English teacher for primary, it is also evidenced that near of the forty percent of the teachers are studying English as foreign language courses with a mayoralty program, in the same way the hundred percent of the 32.

(33) Stating positions through discussion activities mediated by EFL.. teachers are being part of a special training on English as a language to teach other subjects, program which is part of the institutional work planned by the school framed in the bilingual pilot program. The mission and vision of this school in based on a Constructivist educational view. Mission: To look for contributing to the education of students for them to be happy, upstanding, autonomous, tolerant, enterprising, competent person in being, doing and knowing with a critical and research thinking with their families, society and different contexts. Vision: In 2022 we will consolidate as an institution committed to the formation of citizens who build a society based on the principles of equity, tolerance and peaceful interaction. It proposes autonomous, complete, thinkers, creators, tolerant, able to perform and face social, cultural, scientific, technological changes, to help strengthen their life project with an ethical and democratic commitment to society. The last part of the internal characterization, consists of the recognition of the physical spaces and didactic material which school have, this information was accessed by own observation. This school has in the first floor an audiovisual auditorium, the library, a science room, a chemical laboratory, a science laboratory, a technology room, two computers rooms, an arts room, four offices, a nursery, a yard with a multiple field sports, four classrooms for preschoolers, two cafeterias, and three double bathrooms. In the second floor there are: the “multiple auditorium” where operates the restaurant, two teacher’s room, an English laboratory, two double bathrooms, a multipurpose classroom, a dance classroom, and nine classrooms for secondary students. In the. 33.

(34) Stating positions through discussion activities mediated by EFL.. third floor there are the school broadcasting station, one double bathroom, two teacher rooms, four offices, mathematics laboratory, and twelve classrooms for primary students. Finally, in terms of didactic material the registration of the information was exclusively directed to the English field and bilingualism program. The school counts with the English laboratory known as English Resources Center (C.R.I.), a classroom where it is possible to find posters, students’ books, reading books, dictionaries, tape recorders, computers, and a video beam. Here, it is important to highlight that school provided the preschool students with some English material.. 34.

(35) Stating positions through discussion activities mediated by EFL.. Instructional objectives ● Describe how English-speaking fluency development occurs while working with discussion activities. ●. Appraise how discussions activities in authentic communicative situations demand. students to use English to communicate. ●. Analyze how cooperative learning activities encourage students to work as a group to. accomplish shared goals within cooperative situation.. 35.

(36) Stating positions through discussion activities mediated by EFL.. Implementation For the implementation, we are going to work with 35 students of eleventh grade twice per week. The idea is to work seven different topics we consider relevant for them such as sex for sale, teen pregnancy, gays families, animals´ rights, drugs and addictions and bullying. We plan to have 20 calendar weeks, starting the third week of January and finishing the second week of June and excluding the Holy Week. During these 20 weeks we will have 4 hours of English class weekly to work directly on the implementation of the project and the different activities designed for a total of 80 hours and about 300 hours to work on planning the lessons and designing material, correcting activities and providing feedback to students, tutorial sessions with the students and the coordinator, the head-room teacher and external tutor, designing reinforcement activities for low level students, for designing and implementing ICFES test and for helping teachers or coordinators in any duty they might assign to us. Methodology. The methodology of each activity will be divided into four different moments: planning, acting, reflecting and evaluating. Planning: 1. Introduce purpose of the class activity to students. 2. Teacher explains the material (when necessary) 3. Describe the key feature of the lesson. 4. Explain the discussion activity to be carried out.. 36.

(37) Stating positions through discussion activities mediated by EFL.. 5. Teacher organizes learners into cooperative groups (Instructor Assigned Groups, Randomly Assigned Groups, Social Integration Group, Subject-Matter Related Groups, Geographic Groups, Self-Selected Groups) Acting: 1. Encourage students to be fully involved in the activity by asking questions occasionally and to test their comprehension of what is going on. 2. Elaborate the activity, when appropriate in order to help students understand concepts inherent in the lesson. 3. Encourage students to ask questions if they do not understand the topic of discussion Observing: 1. Help students to relate relevant ideas and to arrive to the final conclusions. 2. Discuss results. 3. Evaluate opinion and facts. 4. Encourage students to be prepared for the next activity. Reflecting: 1. Interns will assess each activity and make the reflections for the purpose of this internship.. 37.

(38) Stating positions through discussion activities mediated by EFL.. Source of the Data collection. The classroom action research needs the data to support the investigation. As Mishra (2005) states any information that can help you answer your question is data and the number of potential data is an action research is very broad. We can group them into four general types of data: observations, interviews, questionnaires/surveys, and readily available data. For this internship project, the interns collected the data from observations and rubrics designed for every activity taking into account CEFR. 1. Observation As Nunan (1992) declares classroom observation is an observation that is focused on the understanding of how social event of the language classroom are enacted. In this classroom observation, the subjects of observation are students’ activities in English language teaching learning. The interns used journals to track the class description (methodology), comments or suggestions related to the class development and problematic situations that arose during the lesson. Also, interns used checklist observation to make the observation process more organized and systematic, in here we designed checklist to assess Students ‘attention and responses to the topic presented, their participation, reliance on notes, etcetera. 2. Rubrics Andrade (2000) defines a rubric as ‘a scoring tool that lists the criteria for a piece of work’ and one that ‘articulates gradations of quality for each criterion, from excellent to poor’ (p.1). Interns adapted the rubrics proposed by Cambridge English Language Assessment for assessing Speaking Performance – Level A2 in which there are 3 aspects for assessing speaking: grammar 38.

(39) Stating positions through discussion activities mediated by EFL.. and vocabulary, pronunciation and interactive communication. But for the purpose of this internship, we added some other aspects like compliance with previous assigned homeworks, work in class, etcetera. Technique of Data Analysis Technique of data analysis comes from the interpretation of the data collection. In analysis the data, the researcher gets the data from observation checklist, journals and students ´rubrics. In processing the data, the interns use descriptive analysis, therefore we explain the condition in raising indicator achievement and to describe the success of the teaching learning process using discussion activities to improve speaking skill. The data from observation is grouped based on checklist’ students indicators and rubrics evaluation criteria. The result of observation is analyzed using a rule of three simple such as below: Score =. student score. 5. Maximum score We also use a rule of three simple to know the average of students’ score and to check students’ improvement in speaking. The formula is as follow: M=. Total score as a group. 100. N Explanation: M : The average of students’ score Te : Total score 39.

(40) Stating positions through discussion activities mediated by EFL.. N : Maximum possible score. The interns get score from three specific activities conducted in the internship: teen pregnancy, animal rights and drugs and addictions.. 40.

(41) Stating positions through discussion activities mediated by EFL.. Assessment ● There are three moments for summative evaluation but as this is an outgoing process formative evaluation will take place at the end of every session during the observation and reflection steps. ●. For the formative evaluation interns will take into account checklist and journals that will. be written every single session as a way to monitor students’ progress and to observe the learning and teaching process. ●. Every 2 topics a summative evaluation will take place. The objective is to give an account. of the process: diagnostic, evolution, results. That is why all of them will be assess using rubrics. The 1st evaluation will be about Teen pregnancy and students will be asked to participate in an informal discussion to express their agreements, disagreements or personal opinions about the topic. The 2nd evaluation will be about Animal rights and students will be asked to create or invent a law to punish people who mistreats or to protect endangered animals in Colombia and after that, they will have to design an art gallery to explain them. The 3rd moment for evaluation will be about Drugs and Addictions and students will be asked to perform and record a video about the topic showing hypothetic or real situations they have to face in their context and the way they will deal with them. To assess the process of students, one teacher will have a non-active role, she will have the task of observing participants speaking fluency in terms of: language use in context, use of vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation and interactive communication. The other teacher will have an active role as questioner, and participant in the assessment activity. 41.

(42) Stating positions through discussion activities mediated by EFL.. Schedule. 42.

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(45) Stating positions through discussion activities mediated by EFL.. Learner's role As Richard and Rodgers (2001) declare “The primary role of the learner is as a member of a group who must works collaboratively on tasks with other group members. Learners have to learn teamwork skills. Learners are also directors of their own learning. They are taught to plan, monitor, and evaluate their own learning, which is viewed as a compilation of lifelong learning skills. Thus, learning is something that requires students' direct and active involvement and participation. Pair grouping is the most typical CLL format, ensuring the maximum amount of time both learners spend engaged on learning tasks. Pair tasks in which learners alternate roles involve partners in the role of tutors, checkers, recorders, and information sharers”. Teacher's role The teacher interacts, teaches, refocuses, questions, clarifies supports, expands, celebrates, and empathizes. Depending on what problems evolve, the following supportive behaviors are utilized. Facilitators are giving feedback, redirecting the group with questions, encouraging the group to solve its own problems, extending activity, encouraging thinking, managing conflict, observing students, and supplying resources. (Marci 1992: 169) Teachers speak less than in teacher-centered classes. They provide broad questions to challenge thinking, they prepare students for the tasks they will carry out, they assist students with the learning tasks, and they give few commands, imposing less disciplinary control (HareI 1992). And she may also have to diagnose the problems some students may have in working together and intervene to increase learning groups' effectiveness.. 45.

(46) Stating positions through discussion activities mediated by EFL.. Material’s role The role of the material teachers will use to this implementation will be as a mean that gives support to the students learning process and also as a facilitator. The material will be specially designed thinking in students’ interests, likes, dislikes, and the most important regarding their social context. These materials will smooth the progress of students while they talk together and express their feeling and personal thoughts about social issues and taboos and might be interesting, striking, based on their social context.. 46.

(47) Stating positions through discussion activities mediated by EFL.. IV CHAPTER Internship final report This report emphasizes in the results of this internship's project implementation. This internship project basically looked for creating authentic communicative situations that require students from 11th grade at Carlo Federici School to use English freely, talking about different social issues that were affecting them and through the implementation of discussion activities such as debates, role plays, cinema Forum, Short videos, think pair share, etc. and mediated by cooperative work activities. After completing the intervention’s term of 384 hours, through a set of different stages such as: observation, planning and intervention, interns realized that most of the communicative situations generated by them were a success owing to the majority of the topics brought to class were forbidden or unacceptable in their family and/or school and that made them even more interesting for the students and captivating as it was evidenced in the journals (Annexe C) and in the qualitative analysis ( Annexe J). Besides that, students had the opportunity to research, discuss, opine, share or listen to testimonials regarding some of the topics worked in class and learn not only new concepts about the topic, some of the most relevant vocabulary in English to talk about specific matters but also to state their own position as regards the different controversies and they did all mentioned above speaking in English. To the end of the process, students broke the fear to speak in English and started using it for other than academic purposes and they started to use the English language in their daily life to talk about common and everyday situations or activities which led to a significant improvement 47.

(48) Stating positions through discussion activities mediated by EFL.. in their English speaking skill by participating in the different discussion activities proposed while working in groups because all of the students were involved and actively engaged in all the activities and they developed positive interdependence which means learners helped, assisted, encouraged, and supported each other’s efforts to learn. (Johnson, D.W., and Johnson, R.T. 1984) The date obtained during this internship project is divided into qualitative data (Check annexe J) obtained from the journals (Annexe C) and observations done throughout all the lessons and it will be shown during the first part of this report. The second part of this report is an analysis of the quantitative data collected from the three rubrics implemented during the three moments for summative evaluation (Check Annexes K).. 48.

(49) Stating positions through discussion activities mediated by EFL.. Management Summary of the internship project Language / Pedagogy Issues. Theory. Author (s) and general argument (s). Educational view. Constructivism. “The focus tends to shift from the teacher to the students”. The classroom is no longer a place where the teacher ("expert") pours knowledge into passive students, who wait like empty vessels to be filled. In the constructivist model, the students are urged to be actively involved in their own process of learning”. University College Dublin “Constructivist learning environments emphasize knowledge construction inserted of knowledge reproduction”. “Constructivist learning environments emphasize authentic tasks in a meaningful context rather than abstract instruction out of context”. “Constructivist learning environments support "collaborative construction of knowledge through social negotiation, not competition among learners for recognition." Jonassen (1994). Theory of learning. Social development theory. “Learning takes place through the interactions students have with their peers, teachers, and other experts. Consequently, teachers can create a learning environment that maximizes the learner's ability to interact with each other through discussion, collaboration, and feedback” Vygotsky (1962) “Knowledge construction occurs within Vygotsky's social context that involves student-student and expert-student collaboration on real world problems or tasks that build on each person's language, skills, and experience shaped by each individual's culture" Vygotsky (1978). Theory of language. Social interactionism theory. “Language acquisition is influenced by the interaction of a number of factors – physical, linguistic, cognitive, and social,” (Cooter & Reutzel, 2004) “Language acquisition occurs as a result of the natural interaction between children and their environment, more specifically with their parents. The real contact with the language and the context are the basis of the learning” Vygotsky (1978) “Cognitive growth in humans involves an interaction between basic human capabilities and cultural factors such as the context”. “Language serves to mediate between environmental stimuli and the individual's response”. Bruner (1957). Theory of language learning. Cooperative learning approach. “It is part of a more general instructional approach also known as Collaborative learning”. “Cooperative learning approach is an approach to teaching that makes maximum use of cooperative activities involving pairs and small groups in the classroom”. Jack C. Richards and Theodore S. Rodgers (2001) “Cooperative Learning is part of a group of teaching/learning techniques where students interact with each other to acquire and practice the elements of a subject matter and to meet common learning goals. It is much more than just putting students into groups and hoping for the best” Macpherson (2000) “Cooperative Learning is a very formal way of structuring activities in a learning environment that includes specific elements intended to increase the potential for rich and deep learning by the participants” (21st Century Learner). 49.

(50) Stating positions through discussion activities mediated by EFL.. Objectives In the following lines it is displayed the association of the research and instructional objectives with the results in every single activity implemented. General objective: * To set up authentic communicative situations that requires students from 11th grade at Carlo Federici School to use English freely talking about different social issues. In the first activity “Finding someone who” students were given a worksheet to find some people with specific characteristics listed on the worksheet. The first situation planned was an authentic communicative situation because students had to ask and give personal information in order to fill in a form but it was not a complete success, even though students were motivated and excited during the activity, most of them did not know much vocabulary in English so they had to start guessing and giving their answers in Spanish. Activity # 2: Teen pregnancy The authentic communicative situation proposed was a debate about Teen pregnancy which was suitable for their context because all of them were teenagers between 15 to 18 years old and it was a booming topic at that moment and they had the chance to express their ideas, opinions, beliefs and discuss about them and about the cases brought by the teachers. Activity # 3: Sex for sale The activities proposed were: worksheet with a matching activity of the most relevant vocabulary, fill in the gaps and reading comprehension activity about the topic, a powerpoint presentation about prostitution with its legal definition, different cases of prostitution in other 50.

(51) Stating positions through discussion activities mediated by EFL.. countries around the world ( where it is legal and others where it is illegal), cases of prostitution in Colombia and 1 video of Sex for sale in Colombia. However after the reflection we concluded these are no authentic communicative situations and none of them require students use English freely. Activity #4: Young criminals in Colombia The activity proposed was a think-pair-share activity. In order to do the activity students were given a reading about young criminals in Colombia to read it and find on it arguments pro or against have a discussion with the rest of the group. It was an engaging activity and topic for them and allowed them to opine, state positions and talk in English freely. Activity #5: Animals Rights The activity was divided into two parts in the first one students received some information about Animals Rights: Animals Rights in Colombia- Penalties in Colombia, cases, testing, PETA, and international laws. And in the second part, teacher asked students to choose an animal they wanted to protect and they were asked to design an awareness campaign that must include a poster and a law to protect it and they had to publicize in the classroom and school. It was an interesting activity for the students due to they had the opportunity to express not only their personal feeling and thoughts but also their creativity in English. Activity # 6: Bullying. 51.