Licenciatura
en Educación
Secundaria
Especialidad:
Lengua Extranjera
Licenciatura
en Educación
Secundaria
Especialidad:
Lengua Extranjera
Programa para
la Transformación
y el Fortalecimiento
Académicos de las
Escuelas
N
ormales
Programa para
la Transformación
y el Fortalecimiento
Académicos de las
Escuelas
N
ormales
Programa y materiales
de apoyo para el estudio
Distribución gratuita
Prohibida su venta 2002-2003
semestre
er
Los Adolescentes
y el Aprendizaje del Inglés
Los Adolescentes
y el Aprendizaje del Inglés
Pr
o
grama y materiales de a
p
o
y
o para el estudio
Los
Adolescentes y el
Apr
e
Programa para la Transformación
y el Fortalecimiento Académicos
de las Escuelas Normales
Programa y materiales
de apoyo para el estudio
México, 2002
Los Adolescentes
y el Aprendizaje del Inglés
Licenciatura en Educación Secundaria
Especialidad: Lengua extranjera
Los Adolescentes y el Aprendizaje del Inglés. Programa y materiales de apoyo para el estudio. Licenciatura en
Educación Secundaria. 3er semestre fue elaborado por el personal académico de la Subsecretaría de
Educa-ción Básica y Normal de la Secretaría de EducaEduca-ción Pública.
La SEP agradece la participación de los profesores de las escuelas normales en el diseño del programa y en la selección de los materiales.
Coordinación editorial
Esteban Manteca Aguirre
Cuidado de la edición
Rubén Fischer
Diseño
Dirección Editorial de la DGMyME, SEP
Formación
Inés P. Barrera
Primera edición, 2000 Segunda edición, 2001
Primera reimpresión, 2002
D. R. © Secretaría de Educación Pública, 2000 Argentina 28
Centro, C. P. 06020
México, D. F.
ISBN 970-18-6356-9 Impreso en México
Index
Presentation 5
Adolescents and the Learning of English
Program 9
Introduction 9
Content organization 9 General guidelines for instruction and evaluation 11 Introductory activity 13 Themes
Unit I. The social function of language 14 Unit II. The learning of English as a foreign languaje
in the escuela secundaria 18 Bloque III. The challenges a foreign language theacher faces in
the escuela secundaria and the consideration given to the
essential educational purposes 26
Support materials
Unit II. The learning of English as a foreign language in the escuela secundaria
Learning a first language
Patsy M. Lightbown y Nina Spada 33
Cognitive transitions
Laurence Steinberg 61
Spelling and pronunciation
Peter Avery and Susan Ehrlich 69
Styles and language anxiety: An overview
Rebeca Oxford 73
Unit III. The challenges a foreign language theacher faces in the escuela secundaria and the consideration given to the essential educational purposes
Why it´s all about
Presentation
This material has been prepared to support the updating workshop for teachers that will be in charge of teaching the course Los Adolescentes y el Aprendizaje del Inglés in the Foreign Language specialty (English) pertaining to the Licenciatura en Educación Secundaria, plan 1999. It contains the curriculum and texts of the basic bibliography that teachers and students will read during the third semester.
The support study materials that the Secretaría de Educación Pública prints and dis-tributes free of charge to the students and teachers, only includes readings of the basic bibliography that for some circumstance, are hard to get or aren’t part of the common property of the escuela normal; all other titles have been incorporated to each school’s library to encourage the students to directly make use of them.
It is important that the teachers read the complete works from which the suggested titles in the curriculum come from, to strengthen and enrich their professional training. This way they will have more elements to promote students learning and motivate them to constantly look up the bibliographic materials that the school has, which will without any doubt, be of great help all along their career. With all this the future teach-ers will develop habits to investigate and use information, capacity teachteach-ers themselves will have to develop in their students and moreover, they will take advantage of the wide variety of books that the Secretaría de Educación Pública (SEP) has provided for the
escuela normal.
The bibliography to approach the topics suggested in the course does not end with the recommendations made in this curriculum, the teachers can enrich it with other books, articles, stories, recorded material on video or audio cassettes or CD-ROM they consider appropriate to fulfill the proposed objectives in each one of the topics.
The SEP again invites teachers and students to send recommendations regarding the selected materials. Your opinion will be taken into account to improve the educational resources that support the Teacher Training Curriculum Development.
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Program
Introduction
A necessary condition to transform the way of teaching nowadays in the escuela secun-daria –reduced many times to the simple transmission and reception of information on the teacher and students part, respectively– is that the initial training of teachers for this school level should guarantee enough knowledge of the processes of change the students undergo in this period of their life –and that influences their learning– as well as knowledge of their school background and the conditions and demands of a specific teaching practice, so that regardless of the subject that is being taught they acquire the capacity to carry out their job as educators of adolescents, and that by means of their daily work they can contribute to the fulfillment of the objectives contained in the basic education curriculum.
In the second semester the future teachers started studying subjects concerning the specialty. In the course Introducción a la Enseñanza de Lengua Extranjera (Inglés) the students did activities related to the study and analysis as well as observation in the es-cuela secundaria which led them to obtain a general and realistic view of the purposes for teaching English, in addition to some strategies and materials through which student learning is promoted, and learn about what a teacher must take into account to know the students of a certain group and organize the class work.
In this course,Los Adolescentes y el Aprendizaje del Inglés (Adolescents and the Learning of English) the teacher trainees will analyze the social function of language as a system of communication, the processes the students follow to learn English, the ways in which the native language interferes, and the factors that influence these processes. The ac-tivities done to prepare and develop the teaching practice will allow the identification of the challenges that teaching English represents and understand the role that the teacher must play to strengthen the students’ development of basic linguistic com-petencies.
Content organization
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In Unit I“The social function of language” the general characteristics of language as a system of communication are analyzed. Through the suggested activities and the texts studied during this unit, the future teachers will recognize the aspects of language and the factors that influence its evolution, as well as the variations that are product of the changes in history among societies.
In this unit the students should be able to identify the characteristics of spoken and written language, and the necessary conditions for an efficient communication in each one of them. Likewise, they will recognize the underlying elements of the structure of the English language, and they will carry out activities that will help them understand the meaning of communicative competence when speaking or writing, and the impor-tance of considering varieties in the English language according to the regions and contexts where they are used.
The analysis of these aspects will allow the students to understand how the variet-ies interfere with the comprehension of a foreign language. These factors are con-cerned with understanding the characteristics and the structure of the English language and the aspects that encourage its learning.
Unit II “The learning of English as a foreign language in the escuela secundaria” deals with aspects related to the ways in which individual teenage students develop commu-nicative competency in the foreign language.
The suggested activities have the intention of making the future teachers understand that there are many factors affecting the process of learning a foreign language either to favor it or make it more difficult and, that the teacher must know them and take them into account to help the students get acquainted with English in a secure and respectful environment through the use of strategies that promote expression and communication. Taking as a starting point their own experience as junior high school students, it’s important that the future teachers analyze the common obstacles adolescents face to express themselves orally or in a written form. The intention of this is to begin design-ing activities pertaindesign-ing their field of study for which it is absolutely necessary for the teacher trainees to pay special attention to the English classes, the activities performed, teaching procedures, and materials that favor the communicative skills in junior high schools during the periods of observation and practice. This way the future teachers will gather necessary information to put into practice their own activities focusing on the purposes of teaching a foreign language at this level.
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It’s essential to point out that the topics in this unit don’t necessarily have to be dealt with at the end of the course: some of the contents that are necessary to partici-pate in the observation and practice periods may be revised to prepare the work and analyze the teaching experiences at the escuela secundaria.
General guidelines for instruction and evaluation
Following are suggestions for the treatment of the content of the curriculum, strategies and activities that, according to the features the graduates must be endowed with and the criteria established in the curriculum, are advisable to keep in mind during the devel-opment of the course to accomplish the desired aims.
1. Before starting the study of the topics it is advisable for the students and the teacher of the subject to fully analyze the curriculum; this way they will have a general idea of the characteristics, contents, and texts that will be analyzed, as well as the
type of activities it suggests. This first review will be useful in organizing the work during the semester as it will let you foresee the activities the students will carry out before attending an escuela secundaria, the ones that will be carried out during the period of observation and practice and the ones that will be done afterwards to analyze the experience.
2. The themes of study in this curriculum and the features of the course demand that the working procedures at the escuela normal correspond to those revised during the development of the course. This will avoid frequent contradictions students notice between the new proposals and common teaching practices.
3. The contents are organized according to a sequence, nevertheless, when examin-ing the curriculum and according to agreements teachers reach at their meetings, they can adjust the activities to achieve the fulfillment of the aims of the subject, the
satisfac-tion of the students expectasatisfac-tions regarding their educasatisfac-tion, and contribute to obtain the graduation features pointed out in the curriculum for the Licenciatura en Educación Secun-daria. In this sense, unit III of this course requests designing a sequence of activities and applying it in the escuela secundaria to later analyze it the escuela normal. To prepare these activities with time enough in advance, it’s necessary to work with the contents of this unit in the appropriate moment and not leave them until the end of the course.
4. The study of the topics of the course is combined with the analysis of the obser-vation and practice experiences that the future teachers acquire in the escuela secundaria. In this semester two periods of observation and practice are expected, each one lasting
a week, and attending a first grade group as established in the subjectObservación y Prác-tica Docente I. Each period will have the following characteristics:
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studying, in this case English. During that period, if possible, the teacher trainees will conduct a class in which they will experiment with previously planned ac-tivities.
b) During the second week, the teacher trainees will continue with the observa-tion of the work that takes place in all the classes in one or two groups of first grade. Unlike the first period of observation, the future teachers will put into practice activities with both groups for which we recommend to stay in the classroom the whole time on the dates the classes will be performed.
The teacher of the subject Los Adolescentes y el Aprendizaje del Inglés should contact the teachers at the escuela secundaria that will be visited to point out to them the type of activities the teacher trainees are required to perform so they will allow the stu-dents to work with simple activities that emphasize the development of communicative skills, and not as it usually happens, grammar contents.
5. According to the contents of the course, during the observation and practice periods, the teacher trainees will gather information regarding the adolescents work in the English class; for which they are to talk to students, teachers and parents, record conversations among students and if possible some fragments of class as well (if the teacher agrees), photocopy some parts of the students’ English notebook or through the written description of the performed activities in class. For these activities to be organized properly, before each period of observation and practice the teacher of the subject and the students will agree on the kind of material they will collect.
6. It’s the responsibility of the teacher of the subjectLos Adolescentes y el Aprendizaje del Inglés to prepare with the students the observation guide they will need to watch the classes. Likewise it is important for the teacher of this subject to attend the escuela secundaria and supervise the students work with the group. Only by doing so will he have enough information to guide the later analysis of the visits to the schools that is also done in this course.
7. Practicing reading in this subject isn’t only a requirement for the analysis of the texts in the basic bibliography, it is as well, a skill that must be encouraged in the stu-dents. Reading texts in English with the purpose of a better understanding begins in this course and it is essential for the teacher to support the students, according to the characteristics of the group, in making reading in English a useful tool for the analysis, reflection and study and not only view it as a mere transcription of information.
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have little or no influence in their teaching practices. In addition, it’s important to remember that the abilities to narrate, describe, explain, ask and read out loud are elements of the didactic competence.
9. According to the approach used in this subject and the aims of the course, it’s desirable to select the criteria and procedures that will allow appreciating the students progress, avoiding evaluation to be reduced to simple testing or use of other means that only require memorizing or transcribing information. The assessment of the argu-ments students express in class, the questions they ask, their effective participation in team work as well as the written texts (essays, didactic proposals, reading controls) and research in the escuela secundaria they visit can be taken advantage of for their evalua-tion. Another aspect to be considered is the solution the students give to the situations suggested in the activities of the curriculum, their ability to analyze, critical judgment, comprehension, relationship, etcetera. Tests should be considered a complement to the suggested evaluation procedures.
Introductory activity
In teams, select one of the following situations. Prepare a message related to the situa-tion you wish to communicate. Devise an oral or written code to convey that message. Don’t use known symbols or words (if the message is transmitted orally, it’s better to record it).
Situation A
How would you advise people traveling on the highway of the danger there is on a washed out part of the road and no signal to indicate it?
Situation B
How would you explain to a tourist who approaches you how to get to a certain place?
Situation C
How would you advise the people in a town that a storm is approaching?
Situation D
If you’re planning on inviting some friends over for a party, how would you explain the intention of the party and place of reunion.
Give another team the written or recorded message and have them decipher it. Each team will show the rest of the group the corresponding message after discussing:
• If the message was deciphered in the way it was designed. Why? • What features were considered to decipher it?
• What difficulties were faced to decipher the message?
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Unit
I. The social function of language
1. Language as a system of communication.
a) General characteristics and social uses.
b) The constant evolution of language. Factors that influence the changes process.
c) Variations of language.
2. Spoken and written language: characteristics, similarities and differences.
a) The contexts of use: the flexibility in the use of the spoken language and the requirements of written language.
b) What does it mean “to be able to speak and to write”? 3. English and its characteristics.
a) General aspects related to the structure of English: phonetics, phonology, grammar, semantics.
b) Varieties of language and their impact on understanding a foreign language.
Basic bibliography
Cassany, Daniel, Martha Luna y Gloria Sanz (2000), “Conocimiento y uso de la lengua”, in Enseñar lengua, 5th ed., Barcelona, Graó, pp. 83-99.
Enciclopædia Britannica, “Types of Communication”, “Language”, “Origins and Basic Characteris-tics of the English Language” and “Varieties of English”, in http://www.britannica.com.
Complementary bibliography
Resnick, Lauren B. (1999), “El alfabetismo dentro y fuera de la escuela”, in Propósitos y Contenidos de la Educación Básica I (Primaria) Programa y materiales de apoyo para el estudio. 1er
se-mestre. Licenciatura en educación secundaria. México, SEP, pp. 44-59.
Suggested activities
1. In group, make a list (as complete as possible) of the students’ answers regarding the question What is language used for? Then, with this information ask the students to make a word map that explains why language is used.
2. In teams discuss the following topics and write down the aspects that are con-sidered most important when giving your own point of view in relation to this next question:
• How would you describe communication in the following cases? – In the family, within a group of friends, in school.
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• Would you say there is a more efficient communication in any of the discussed cases? Why yes or why not.
Submit the results of your team discussion to the group.
Individually read “Types of communication” and make a chart that shows the gen-eral characteristics of language.
In class talk about some of the charts that were made. Then, considering the con-clusions that arouse in class, write a text in English that describes the characteristics of language and answers the question Why do we write?
3. In teams examine a short text in any indigenous language (maybe the words to a song, a poem, legend, etcetera) and:
• If possible record someone “reading” the text. • Try to decipher the text.
• Make up a spelling rule starting from what you were able to interpret and the structure of the text.
Later on, submit the translation of the text and the spelling rule you came up with to the group and explain how you got to that conclusion. Listen to the song and compare it with the work done in each team.
Comment on:
• Similarities in pronunciation.
• What things were taken into account “to say” the text.
• Difficulties faced to understand the message and the strategies used to solve the exercise.
4. Individually read the section entitled “Conocimiento y uso de la lengua” (Knowledge and use of language) by Cassany. In teams, think about the following issues and answer the question in writing.
• The author’s ideas about the different types of competencies and the relation-ship among them.
• The characteristics of the communicative approaches and linguistic abilities. Considering the ideas in the text about oral and written skills, answer the question: What does it mean to know “how to speak” and “how to write” Present and explain your answers before the group.
5. Individually look up in the article “Language” information about the general char-acteristics of language, variations and factors that influence their production.
In group, discuss:
• The characteristics of language that the author mentions.
• The similarities and differences between the article and the texts each one wrote in the last activity.
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Variety Reason or cause for its use in social groups
include the explanation of the following items: Phonetics and Phonology, Grammar, Semantics.
After the discussion make a chart like this:
Based on the information registered in the chart, identify which variations of lan-guage are used most evidently in spoken lanlan-guage and which in written lanlan-guage.
After studying the content of the previous chart, make a similar one that represents the variations that Spanish used in Mexico has, and explain some of the causes that brings them about.
6. In teams select one of the following words and research its origin, uses the word has been given over time or in different cultures or regions, etymological and actual meaning, word it’s derived from and words it’s related to. Submit the results to the group.
• EMOTION • FOCUS • IGLOO • ROCKET • SALT • WELCOME
An example to guide the type of exercise that is asked for, could be the following which is done using the word moon: Moon: Earth’s natural satellite, visible because it reflects sunlight; Latin: Luna; light, from Indo European leuksnâ, moon, light, from leuk, light, shine. Light: Electromagnetic radiation the human eye perceives and that makes objects visible, light, brightness, latin lucem accusative of lux (theme Luc-) light, light of day, from Indo European: leuk – light; shine. Of the same family as shine, dazzle, illuminate, illustrate, illustrious, leukemia, leukocyte, Liechtenstein, evening star, brilliant, shine, fire, lumi-nous, lunar, lunatic, light, luster, shining, glimpse, and probably Oslo, Santa Lucia, possibly
Nicosia.1
1 Taken from Guido Gómez da Silva, Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española,
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After doing the activity, group into teams to reflect on the influence words of other languages have in English and their adoption in the modern vocabulary.
7. In teams, select one of the next situations and discuss the questions that follow. • Convince someone of danger in case of an emergency.
• Narrate to a soccer match to someone who is not watching. • Explain and support your point of view on abortion.
• Tell someone akin a personal problem or feeling with the intention of seeking for advice.
In which cases is it more common to use spoken language? In which is it better to use written language? Why?
In each case how does the context influence the speaker’s intention?
Explain in each case explain the importance of Phonetics, Phonology, Grammar and Semantics.
8. With the text written in activity 2 and after reading “Origins and basic charac-teristics of the English language” review the writing and include the concepts of Pho-netics, Phonology, Grammar and Semantics the text introduces. In small groups read some of the works and explain why they were rewritten.
9. In teams determine the essential features of fragments of dialogues in which variations of language are self evident (record for example, parts of movies, TV or radio news reports, conversations between tourists, etcetera) and discuss the difficulties stu-dents have to understand the content or the messages. Then, in group consider the following:
• In which cases was it easier or more difficult to understand the content of the message. Why?
• Which is the country or origin of the people that speak and which is the situa-tion taking place in the dialogue?
• What strategies were used to be able to understand the messages they convey? 10. Individually read the article Varieties of English and enroll in a class discussion about:
• The characteristics of English in the following regions: London, Ireland, some places in The United States, New Zealand, India, Pakistan and Africa.
• Characteristics and conditions of the so called RP.
• The challenges the variety of pronunciations around the world represent for English teaching.
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Unit
II. The learning of English as a foreign language
in the
escuela secundaria
1. The adolescents as users of their native language.
a) The use of spoken language. The pragmatic competency: Interiorizing knowl-edge and communication skills. Similarities and differences with written language.
b) Individual variations in communicative competence among adolescents. 2. Main obstacles students face when studying English in the escuela secundaria.
a) Exposure to a language with a different structure. Transferring native language to foreign language: type of mistakes this situation brings forth.
b) The difficulties encountered when listening to and understanding spoken and written language.
c) Hindrances in learning how to write.
d) Fear to speak in another language.
3. Circumstances that favor the developmental processes of foreign language com-munication skills.
a) Aural and reading comprehension.
b) Rendering written texts and oral expression.
c) Linguistic awareness.
4. Factors affecting learning English in the escuela secundaria.
a) Students’ motivation for learning and the feasibility of using the language in real life situations. Their learning style.
b) The teacher, instructional activities and the practice of linguistic skills in class.
Basic bibliography
Avery, Peter and Susan Ehrlich (1992), “Spelling and Pronunciation” in Teaching American English Pronunciation. New York, Oxford University Press, pp. 3-6.
Laroy, Clement. (1995) “Introduction” in Pronunciation, New York, Oxford University Press, pp. 5-8.
Lightbown, Patsy M. and Nina Spada (2000), “Learning a First Language” and “Theoretical Approaches to Explaining Second Language Learning”, in How Languages are Learned, New York, Oxford University Press, pp. 1-9 and 31-48.
Oxford, Rebecca L. (1999), “Styles and Language Anxiety: an Overview”, in Dolly Jesusita Young [Editor],Affect in Foreign Language and Second Language Learning. A Practical Guide to Crea-ting a Low-Anxiety Classroom Atmosphere, New York, McGraw-Hill, pp. 218-220.
SEP (1999), “Aspectos metodológicos”, en Libro para el Maestro. Inglés. Secundaria, México, pp. 15-26.
Steinberg, Laurence (1999), “Cognitive Transitions”, in Adolescence, 5th ed., McGraw-Hill College,
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Complementary bibliography
Brown, H. Douglas (1994), “Teaching Listening Comprehension”, “Teaching Oral Communi-cation Skills”, “Teaching Reading” and “Teaching Writing Skills”, in Teaching by Principles: An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy, New Jersey, Prentice Hall, pp. 233-346. — (2000), “Neurological Considerations”, in Principles of Language Teaching and Learning, 4th ed.,
New York, Longman, pp. 54-70.
Lightbown, Patsy M. and Nina Spada (2000), “Factors Affecting Second Language Learning”, in
How Languages are Learned, New York, Oxford University Press, pp. 48-70.
Suggested activities
1. Organize teams and record a conversation between teenagers (not necessarily in school). The tape may contain chats among friends, sections of movies, interviews, et-cetera. Listen to the recording and discuss the following questions.
• Which characteristic of the conversation would you highlight? • Possible reasons why teenagers communicate in that way.
• If the communication among teenagers had been written, Which changes or characteristics would be depicted? Discuss your points of view.
Point out the results of your discussion to the whole group and write down the most important aspects.
2. Individually read the text Learning a first language by Lightbown and Spada and engage in a whole group conversation that makes your points of view apparent in relation to the authors ideas about:
• The steps human being takes to master his own language. • How far can you get in this mastery without schooling? • What’s understood by pragmatic competence?
3. Using the information from the previous analysis, individually make up a diagram that includes: significant aspects related to the use teenagers give their native language, and also, any individual differences concerning the development of communicative com-petencies you might have identified through the recorded conversations. Afterwards, enroll in a whole group discussion in which you can establish the possible causes that bring about these differences among teenagers.
4. With this knowledge in mind, identify in Steinberg’s text Cognitive transitions the ideas the writer mentions regarding the way the following aspects influence teen com-munication.
• The ability to think about what is possible. • Development of abstract thinking.
• Reflecting on what is thought.
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Individually think about situations in which language forms and styles used during your adolescence may have provoked conflicts or misunderstandings. Share your expe-rience with the group.
5. In teams analyze these interviews and discuss the questions that follow them.
Entrevista a alumnos de secundaria2
P: Pregunta. Al: Alumnos.
Entrevista 1
Grado: 3°. Asignatura: Inglés.
P:—De todo esto que hace la maestra con ustedes, ¿qué es lo que te gusta –a ver si lo puedes señalar de manera precisa– de esa forma de trabajo, y qué no te gusta de esa forma de trabajo, de esa forma de llevar la clase?
Al: —Lo que más me gusta es el material que usa porque muchas veces le entendemos mejor que lo que explica ella. Lo que me desagrada es que no nos deja hablar a nosotros y no nos deja dialogar y siempre está explicando ella. P:—¿Qué actividades con el idioma realizas generalmente en la clase? Al:—Básicamente es organizar un diálogo o completarlo con palabras que nos va dando durante la clase o muy pocas veces nos deja dialogar entre nosotros.
P: —¿Escuchan expresiones en inglés?
Al: —Con el audiocasete nos deja escuchar y respecto a eso dialogamos tam-bién.
P: —¿Usas el libro de texto en la clase? Al: —No, nosotros no usamos libro de texto.
P: —¿No consultan ningún libro, no manejan ningún libro? Al: —No, la maestra no pidió el libro desde el principio del año. P: —¿Sólo son materiales que ella lleva?
Al: —Sí.
P: —¿Escritos en inglés?
Al: —Sí, son materiales que ella hace respecto al tema que nos va a dar o el diálogo que viene en el audiocasete, nos explica y ella nos hace el material. P: —¿Cuáles son las características del material que más te gusta?
Al: —Más que nada es el audiocasete que nos deja mucho a la imaginación y como que nos adentramos más al tema.
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P: —¿Alguna otra característica del material que te atraiga, que te haga pla-centera la clase?
Al: —Muchas veces en las láminas llevan dibujos y entendemos mejor el tema y los verbos que nos plantea.
P: —Ya dices que no llevan libro de texto, pero aparte no llevan algún otro material.
Al: —No, no usamos ninguno.
P: —Entonces si no llevan el libro, el material, láminas, ¿qué otros materiales utilizas tú?
Al: —Solamente el cuaderno de trabajo.
P: —¿Qué es lo que se te hace más difícil de la clase de inglés?
Al: —Se me dificulta entenderle cuando la maestra explica muy rápido y por eso muchas veces prefiero el audiocasete.
P: —Fuera de los diálogos que se organizan en la clase, ¿hablas el inglés con tus compañeros?
Al: —Muy pocas veces, sólo para algunas frases pequeñas o bromear entre nosotros.
P: —¿Sólo bromas o hay algunas otras actividades que además les gusten? Al: —Cuando realizamos la tarea en las horas libres que tenemos sí lo practi-camos mucho.
Entrevista 2
Grado: 2°. Asignatura: Inglés.
P: —¿Cómo te dan la clase de inglés?
Al: —Nos la pasamos respondiendo el libro, pero si vemos algo un día jamás lo volvemos a ver hasta la hora del examen bimestral.
P: —¿Qué te gusta y qué no te gusta de la clase de inglés?
Al: —Me gustan los crucigramas y no las conversaciones porque hay veces en las que se burlan de la pronunciación que uso.
P: —¿Qué actividades realizas comúnmente?
Al: —Siempre son ejercicios del libro, puras conversaciones. P: —¿Usas el libro de texto en la clase?
Al: —Sí y bastante. P: —¿Qué haces en él?
Al: —En él hago ejercicios y los respondo por grupos. P: —¿Te gusta trabajar con él?
Al: —Más o menos. P: —¿Por qué?
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P: —Además del libro de texto ¿qué otros materiales utilizas? Al: —El cuaderno, pero muy poco, de ahí en fuera nada. P: —¿Qué es lo que se te hace más difícil de la clase de inglés? Al: —Relacionar columnas y las preguntas de opción múltiple. P: —¿Hablas el inglés con tus compañeros en la clase?
Al: —No.
Entrevista 3
Grado: 1°. Asignatura: Inglés.
P: —Qué es lo que más te gusta de tu clase de inglés y qué es lo que no te gusta o lo que menos te gusta?
Al: —Lo que más me gusta es el idioma inglés y, no sé.
P: —Pero, ¿por qué te gusta el idioma inglés, le encuentras alguna utilidad? Al: —Porque pienso que es algo que después puedes utilizar de muchas formas, que es algo que desde ahora es muy importante para cualquier trabajo en el futuro, que sirve para cualquier cosa actualmente y es algo más importante, desde cosas tan sencillas como una computadora para entender en lo que es-tás o un instructivo de cualquier aparato el inglés es fundamental. Lo que más me disgusta de la clase es a veces la forma en que nos trata el maestro, porque muchas veces dependiendo del humor de que venga es la cantidad de tarea que nos deja, si viene de buen humor no nos deja mucha tarea, si viene de malas nos puede dejar como 20 palabras.
P: —¿Qué hacen con esas palabras?
Al: —Las tenemos que repetir 10 veces en el cuaderno con su respectiva traducción.
P: —¿Eso es lo que más te disgusta? Al: —Sí.
P: —¿Qué otras actividades realizas en forma común?
Al: —Eso normalmente, o lo que serían los ejercicios en el libro es lo funda-mental de la clase siempre.
P: —¿Como qué tipo de ejercicios?
Al: —Vienen en ese libro sopa de letras que tenemos que resolver y después le damos las respuestas al maestro, ejercicios de falso o verdadero, según unos textos que tenemos que leer en inglés, obviamente, y son relacionar columnas también de otros textos en inglés, así como repetir otros textos también.
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Al: —Nada más nos deja la actividad y a lo mejor el sentido podría ser la memorización de las palabras.
P: —¿Y en esto participan diferentes compañeros contigo o es una actividad en forma individual?
Al: —Es una actividad en forma individual todo lo que se hace, pero después ya cuando se supone que todos terminan la sopa de letras el maestro las va preguntando, a veces por número de lista o dependiendo quién quiera parti-cipar, te pregunta una o dos palabras y se le dice en qué columna o hilera está y te vale como una participación.
P: —¿Por ejemplo una participación a cuánto equivale? Al: —A medio punto en el examen bimestral.
P: —¿De qué forma utilizas el libro de texto? Ya me dijiste que te ponen a hacer algunas lecturas, pero ¿qué otra forma tienes para utilizar tu libro de texto? Al: —Es eso principalmente, tiene sopas de letras, textos, hay varias, tienes que completar tablas, también con información, casi todo se basa en textos que tiene al principio de cada lección, de falso o verdadero, columna y tablas. P: —¿De complementar ideas, por ejemplo, que le falten palabras a un enun-ciado o algún texto y tú lo tengas que rellenar?, ¿hay ejercicios de este tipo? Al: —Sí, también hay ejercicios de gramática, de la forma de acomodar pala-bras, y vienen de poner las palabras que son, poner como se [...] con cada verbo y lo vas anotando, una especie de complementación de enunciados. P: —¿Te gusta trabajar con tu libro?
Al: —Sí.
P: —¿Qué te gusta más: trabajar con tu libro, con la explicación que te da tu maestro o los ejercicios que te pone?
Al: —A mí me gustaría más trabajar con la explicación que daría el maestro, pero casi siempre se trabaja con el puro libro, él casi no nos explica nada, la mayoría se basa en todo lo que es el libro.
P: —¿Además de tu libro de texto tienes algunos otros materiales que utilices? Al: —No, nada más es el libro.
• Main difficulties you found in each case.
• Possible reasons why the students like or dislike the class.
• What advantages or disadvantages do you see in the way teachers give the class?
• According to the interviews, which are the main obstacles in learning a lan-guage?
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6. Individually, and after reading the texts Spelling and pronunciation by Avery, and
Introduction by Laroy, write, on specific working cards, your own interpretation of the ideas the authors express about:
• The difficulties a Spanish-speaking person faces with the American alphabet, specifically in regard to phonetics and phonology.
• What obstacles does a person meet when trying to learn English?
In teams, present the content of the cards you prepared, and explain in which atti-tudes of the escuela secundaria students you perceive the difficulties they have in learn-ing English. With this information design some activities to interest the escuela secundaria
students in learning English.
7. Get into teams, and again analyze interview 2, considered in activity 5 in this unit, and place your attention on the causes that hinder the student from speaking English, and discuss:
• The role of the teacher.
• The effects this situation has on the practice of the language. • The tolerance to mistakes when speaking English.
• Why do you think English is not spoken in class? • Reasons why solving puzzles is preferred.
8. With this information, the conclusions reached in the previous discussion and the personal experience during the periods of observation and practice taken place up to date (in this and other semesters), design a set of activities in which, the following aspects are favored intentionally, when teaching adolescents:
• Oral expression in English within a respectful environment.
• Attention to the difficulties Spanish-speaking people face with the English spell-ing system.
• Strengthening the communicative skills.
Share some of the sequences with the group and discuss them to evaluate the possibility of putting them into practice in an escuela secundaria during the periods of observation and practice.
9. In group, and after reading Theoretical approaches to explaining second language learning by Lightbown and Spada, review the previous sequences of activities, and in group, analyze them at the light of the following aspects the authors mention:
• Essential elements to learn English.
• Similarities and differences between the theories that explain language learning. Taking into account this new information and after discussing it in group, if neces-sary, make adjustments in the sequences of activities planned to put in practice with adolescents.
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metodológicos” in Libro para el maestro. Inglés (Methodological aspects, in the English Tea-cher’s book).
10. In teams organize the collected materials taking into account the information you identified regarding foreign language skills.
Submit the result of your analysis to the group and explain the criteria used to place the material, pointing out:
• Aspects related to the texts you read.
• Specific situations in which you collected the information. Individually write down the most outstanding details.
11. Individually read Styles and language anxiety: an overview by Rebecca L. Oxford and write down the author’s ideas about:
• The way the learning style influences the acquisition of skills in a foreign lan-guage.
• Characteristics of the learning styles. Enroll in a team discussion directed to:
• The relation between the author’s ideas and the situations that have been ob-served in the schools.
• The importance it has for the teacher to know the students’ learning styles. • The teacher’s influence in strengthening the students’ learning styles. Present and explain to the group the result of the team discussion.
12. Once more, review the sequence of activities that was begun in activity 8 of this unit and include details from the last topics studied.
Unit
III. The challenges a foreign language teacher faces in
the
escuela secundaria
and the consideration given to the
essential educational purposes
1. Knowing the students and the ways to teach them.
a) Students’ characteristics, interests and needs as a basis to enhance the learning of English.
b) Activities that allow getting the students acquainted with English.
– Reading out loud to enhance student’s attention and aural comprehension. – Music and songs in English.
– Use of available information in the immediate surroundings. 2. Organization and development of group work.
a) Designing and practicing sequences of activities that help develop aural and reading comprehension.
b) Difficulties encountered and possible solutions.
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3. The attention given to students with special needs in teaching or learning a lan-guage.
Basic bibliography
Brown, H. Douglas (2000), “Language Learning and Teaching”, in Principles of Language Learning and Teaching, 4th ed., New York, Longman, pp. 1-4
Holden, Susan and Mickey Rogers (1998), “Listening” and “Using Songs and Rhymes” in English Language Teaching, México, DELTI, pp. 35-42 and 66-72.
Mager, Robert F. (1984), “Why it’s all About”, in Developing Attitude Toward Learning, 2nd ed.,
Cali-fornia, Lake Publishing Company, pp. 7-12.
Mata Barreiro, C. (1990), “Las canciones como refuerzo de las cuatro destrezas”, in P. Bello et al., Didáctica de las segundas lenguas. Estrategias y recursos básicos, Madrid, Santillana (Aula
XXI), pp. 158-171.
Complementary bibliography
Vila, Ignasi [coord.] (1997), Enseñar y aprender inglés en la educación secundaria, Barcelona, ICE/ Horsori (Cuadernos de formación del profesorado, 13).
Suggested activities
1. Read the following hypothetical situations.
Teacher A is a female teacher with eight years teaching experience. She is a quiet, soft-spoken teacher who is always polite and pleasant to her students. Her students do well academically and are always quiet and attentive in class. The students sit in single rows. When the teacher enters the room, students stand up and greet her. They raise their hands when they want to speak, and they stand when they answer the teacher’s questions. Teacher A follows the textbook closely in her teaching. She tends to be teacher-centered in her teaching, because she believes her classroom is a place where students come to learn.
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Organize in teams to compare the situations with the ones observed at that escuela secundaria and answer the following questions:
• What coincidences have you noticed between the previous situations and those observed in the escuela secundaria?
• Does a quiet and well behaved group learn better than one in which the stu-dents communicate among themselves and get up from their place without the teacher’s permission?
• How does the teacher’s practice influence the students attitude toward learn-ing English? Explain your answers.
• In each situation, what would you keep and what would you change? Support your answers.
2. Taking as a starting point the answers given to the previous questions and the reading of the selection Why it’s all about by Mager, in teams discuss the following ideas stated by the author:
• Why teach to learn?
• Factors that influence attitudes toward teaching.
Considering your personal experience and the texts that were read, What aspects would you include in your practice with adolescents? Write them down and present your ideas to the group, explaining the criteria considered in the selection.
3. Individually, organize the data collected in the escuelas secundarias regarding the general characteristics of the groups that were observed considering the information in reference to:
• Size of the group, age, amount of boys and girls.
• Interest the students show toward learning English. Possible causes. • Activities students like and don’t like to do.
• Difficulties you noticed students have regarding English (in writing, conversa-tions, diction, etcetera).
In group discuss this information and the individually answer the following ques-tions:
• The group I observed… What is it like?
• What criteria would I take into account in designing sequences of activities to teach English in that group?
It’s appropriate to remember that the intention in this type of activities is to analyze the factors that influence learning English and not to disqualify the teacher’s work or the activities the students do in class.
4. Starting with the analysis of the materials in the previous activity, your personal experience as an escuela secundaria student and the results of the discussions, in teams consider the following issues:
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• When and why is reading done?
• Do these activities favor the students’ attention in class?
• Are music and songs used in the English class? What kind of music? • What attitudes are apparent when using music or songs in class?
• Is it attractive for the students? Discuss your points of view for or against. • What impact do these activities have in learning?
• Do the students search for information in English? How, for what?
Write down the conclusions resulting from the discussion and submit them to the group.
5. Individually read Language, learning and teaching by Brown and in group, consider the questions the author makes in reference to learning a second language.
After reading Las canciones como refuerzo de las cuatro destrezas (Songs as a reinforce-ment of the four skills) by C. Mata Barreiro and, Listening and Using songs and rhymes by S. Holden and M. Rogers, in teams, design some activities directed to intentions like:
• Enhancing students attention and aural comprehension.
• Taking advantage of songs in English to strengthen aural comprehension and pronunciation.
• Motivate the students to understand what they read.
6. Review the activities developed in this curriculum (in the three units) regarding: • The characteristics of English.
• Obstacles for learning the language.
• Abilities to communicate in the foreign language. • Status and characteristics of the group.
• The activities or sequences of activities designed to teach English.
• If pertinent, the obstacles faced when practicing with the designed activities. 7. Individually, select a content from the English curriculum for the escuela secundaria
level (if possible, in agreement with the teacher of the group you will practice with), and with the experience acquired during the observation and practice periods and the analysis of the texts studied during the semester:
a) Design a sequence of activities for three consecutive classes with the purpose of encouraging aural comprehension and reading.
b) Put the activities into practice with first grade students at an escuela secundaria. After the period of observation and practice, in group, discuss about:
• Personal development. Relationship with the group.
• Student’s achievement noticed as far as the aims of the subject and the level are concerned.
• Aspects you consider must be strengthened or reviewed.
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8. In view of the sequences of activities carried out by the future teachers at the
escuela secundaria, identify in the curriculum of that level:
• The relationship between the educational aims of the subject and the level. • The agreement with the foreign language teaching approach.
9. Participate in a round table discussion with this topic: Considering different op-tions to deal with the most frequent obstacles in learning a foreign language, in which you should analyze some of the following issues:
• Proof that allows detecting the difficulties the escuela secundaria students have in learning English.
• Main causes of the difficulties to learn a foreign language. • Students responsibility for his own learning.
