How can I get my 12th grade students to use English in speaking activities?

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(1)USE OF ENGLISH IN SPEAKING ACTIVITIES. How can I get my 12th grade students to use English in speaking activities?. Carol Soto Madrid. Universidad Alberto Hurtado. 1.

(2) USE OF ENGLISH IN SPEAKING ACTIVITIES. 2. Index Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………..… 3 Introduction ………………………………………………………………………………... 5 Context ……………………………………………………………………………………. 6 Rationale……………………………………………………………………………............ 9 Concept Map……………………………………………………………………………… 11 Literature Review: Theoretical Framework………………….…………………....……… 12 Methodology: Instruments…............................................................................................... 18 Procedures………………………………………………………………………………… 20 Interventions…………….………………………………………………………………… 24 Data Analysis…………………………………………………………………………...… 26 Reflection and Analysis of Intervention ……………………...………………………..... 36 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………… 40 Implication………………………………………………………………………………... 42 References...…………………………………………………………………………….… 45 Appendix………………………………………………………………………………….. 46.

(3) USE OF ENGLISH IN SPEAKING ACTIVITIES. 3. Abstract. The following investigation will focus its attention on the exploration and appliance of different speaking strategies and speaking activities to foster my 12th grade students’ use of English (Target Language) in speaking activities, reducing the amount of Spanish (mother tongue) they are used to utilize. In order to achieve that purpose, I first introduce to my students some common speaking strategies that the whole class needed to start implementing immediately throughout the lessons. And, secondly, I prepared some activities- considering my hypothesis about presenting the proper speaking activities to the students- through a survey that my students were given the first day of my interventions in which they needed to choose the activities they wanted to perform during the semester. The results showed that the students started using more English in Speaking activities during the first week of intervention as long as they have time to prepare their oral speeches.. Keywords: instruments.. Speaking strategies, Speaking activities, Target language, Students and.

(4) USE OF ENGLISH IN SPEAKING ACTIVITIES. 4. Resumen. La siguiente investigación enfocará su atención en la búsqueda y aplicación de diferentes estrategias y actividades para fomentar, en mis estudiantes de cuarto medio, el uso del idioma Inglés en actividades orales, reduciendo así la cantidad de español utilizado en éstas. Para poder alcanzar ese propósito, primero presenté a mis estudiantes algunas estrategias comunes de la habilidad oral, que la clase completa debía comenzar a implementar inmediatamente a lo largo del semestre. Y, segundo, preparé algunas actividades –considerando mi hipótesis relacionada con la presentación de actividades orales adecuadas para los estudiantes- basadas en una encuesta que mis estudiantes debieron completar el primer día de intervención; dicha encuesta se relacionaba con la selección de actividades que los estudiantes quisieran realizar a lo largo del semestre y la presente investigación. Los resultaron mostraron que los estudiantes comenzaron a utilizar más Inglés en las actividades orales desde la primera semana de intervenciones, siempre y cuando tuvieran el tiempo necesario para preparar su discurso oral.. Palabras clave: estrategias orales, actividades orales, lengua objetivo, Estudiantes e instrumentos..

(5) USE OF ENGLISH IN SPEAKING ACTIVITIES. 5. Introduction. When we think of language we ought to think of a method of human communication, either spoken or written, consisting of the use of words in a structured and conventional way. Furthermore, according to one of the definitions included in the online Merrian Webster Dictionary, language is the form or manner of verbal expression. In this sense, it is of great importance the awareness of considering language a tool for communication, particularly when learning a foreign language as English in the EFL classroom. When we say that language is a tool for communication that needs to be developed we need to ensure that all the skills concerning the language are well learned and achieved in order to get a successful communication intercourse. In terms of EFL teaching it is important to target the learning of the four skills: Writing, reading, listening and speaking because they are all interconnected. However, the ability to skillfully speak or express ourselves orally nourishes us with a long vast of advantages. The importance of speaking skills hence is enormous for the learners of any language. Without speech, a language is reduced to a mere script. Furthermore, we as EFL teachers know the difficulties in getting our students achieved a high level of proficiency in speaking performance and how difficult it is to make them use the language inside the classroom when they have to communicate orally or respond in a language that is not familiar for them. That is why the purpose of this Action Research project aims to find tools and strategies to get my 12th grade students use the target language while communicating in speaking activities.

(6) USE OF ENGLISH IN SPEAKING ACTIVITIES. 6. Context The School as a community The name of the school in which I am doing the final practicum is Colegio Antares. It is located in Puente Alto. This School has been serving the community for almost five years; so it is a new, secular and subsidized institution in which students don’t have to pay anything to attend because a foundation covers the students’ co-payment. Furthermore, the school is characterized by the idea of no segregation or selection of the students that enroll in it. The school shelters 107 students from which, according to Local Department for Development and Studies, 94 percent live in vulnerable conditions regarding socioeconomic aspects. Therefore, the main target or focus of the school project is to encourage a real change in the students’ expectations about their own future. On the other hand, the vulnerability issue in the school is of great importance because it directly affects many aspects of its normal functioning. One of the main problems that this high rate of vulnerability provokes is the low attendance rates the school has. In terms of learning this directly affects the students’ process because they miss a lot of lessons, so there is no continuity in the learning process. Finally, in terms of relationships inside the school it is of great importance to mention that the school actually works as a community. As I have seen during my time in the school, the relationships held inside the institution are closed and they function as a big family committed to one big goal: help the students..

(7) USE OF ENGLISH IN SPEAKING ACTIVITIES. 7. The students and the classroom The class that will be participating in this research is a 12th grade. This is a very special class because there are only 9 students in it, one boy and eight girls. They have three pedagogical hours (45 minutes) of English per week: on Mondays from 11.40 to 12.25 and on Wednesday from 08.00 to 09.30. The lessons for this class are planned following an annual program that I received when I started the practicum on April. This annual program has 16 modules, each one with an assigned topic and specific grammatical content. Furthermore, the program contains the objectives concerning the four skills: Reading, writing, listening and speaking; plus the evaluation indicator for each module. In terms of level of English, the students have a very low level and management of the target language which makes very difficult to introduce the minimum required contents in the lessons. As my host teacher was also a new teacher in the school, we realized that this poor achievement was in part consequence of the type of lessons and approaches the students were taking part in. The students were not used to have a lesson given in English nor do they were used to do tasks where they were required to produce language. So, the exposure to the target language was very little. Thus, it was very shocking for them to face a class were the mother tongue has no place in and of course it was more shocking for them to even try to utter full and complete ideas in the target language. Furthermore, when I started the practicum, my host teacher made a diagnosis and a review of basic content considering the poor achievement of English of the students, but we did not get good results and the students did not reach my host teacher expectations. As the program has 16 modules, it is expected that by the end of October they see the last module.

(8) USE OF ENGLISH IN SPEAKING ACTIVITIES. 8. called ‘Safety precautions at the workplace’ before they take the global test and leave the school for preparing to sit for the PSU. On the other hand, in terms of organization as they are few students in the classroom they sit in a semicircle in front of the teacher’s desk which helps a lot while giving lessons because the teacher can have a general overview of every student. Also, as there is no imposed sitting arrangement the students can decide where and with whom to sit.. My personal context I arrived at Antares School in April of the ongoing year. I had a period of observation of two weeks before I start giving lessons. During the first semester I took two classes: a 9th grade and a 12th grade. After the winter vacations, I came back to the school on August 3rd, a week after the students got back. Therefore, I started to give lessons immediately. Regarding my own experience in the school I can say that they are really open to whatever helps improve the level of English of the school’s participants. As a matter of fact, many of the school teachers are taking some English lessons that my host teacher is giving. In words of the principal, their goal as institution is to someday become a Bilingual school. So, as a teacher trainee I have had the whole freedom to adapt contents and introduce new forms of teaching and assessments..

(9) USE OF ENGLISH IN SPEAKING ACTIVITIES. 9. Rationale The purpose of this Action Research is to improve my own teaching practice based on experiences and my own students’ needs regarding the acquisition of a second language. After observing and giving lessons during the whole first semester I could identify a series of issues concerning my students’ learning of the target language in relation to the development of the four skills: Reading, writing, listening and speaking. First, I though the main problem of my students was the whole process of a second language acquisition, but when the time passed and I start giving the lessons I realized that in despite of some difficulties they may have while reading, writing or listening they can actually fulfill the tasks I gave them. Nonetheless, concerning speaking skills the students had and still have problems using the language in speaking activities which clearly affects the purpose of an English lesson in a communicative approach when targeting the development of the four skills. My students like to participate in class and they actually do when they can. They are able to do reading and listening activities with no problem. When it comes to writing skills they have some difficulties which can be overcame with some work and time, but as I mentioned it before when it comes to speaking they are not able to fulfill the tasks unless it is only reproduction of language and after we have rehearsed every part of what they have to say. So, with difficulty they can read aloud some sentences. However, every time I give them a speaking activity in which they have to discuss debate, report or describe something they do it in Spanish. At first, I thought they were not motivated with the topic, so I asked them to make a brainstorming of what topics they would like to treat during the year..

(10) USE OF ENGLISH IN SPEAKING ACTIVITIES 10. Nevertheless, when I tried to make them discuss, report, describe, talk, debate about a topic of their choice they tried to do it in English, but they ended speaking and sharing the results in Spanish. Furthermore, every time I tried to make them use the language inside the classroom they do not do it. Therefore, we see here how the problem arises: the students do not have the tools to use English in the classroom and particularly in speaking activities. According to Tsou (2005) studies in language learning have addressed the necessity of classroom interaction or students’ oral participation in the classroom. However, getting students to respond in a language classroom –specially a foreign language class- is a problem that most language teachers face. The importance of developing speaking skills resides in the idea of language as a tool for communication. We communicate our ideas to others and vice versa. And an important part of communication takes place when there is speech or oral interaction. Without the speech or the oral interaction communication is reduced to only a written form of language or just a script. Thus, the importance of developing speaking skills is gigantic for the learners of any language. For all the foregoing reasons I decided to arise the following question: How can I get my 12th grade students to use English in speaking activities?.

(11) USE OF ENGLISH IN SPEAKING ACTIVITIES 11. Concept Map.

(12) USE OF ENGLISH IN SPEAKING ACTIVITIES 12. Literary Review: Theoretical Framework Considering that everyone may have their own perception or point of view about general concepts, it is important to have a clear definition of the ones that are taking part in this Action Research process. Therefore, some important concepts will be defined and explained in detailed in the following lines in order to make the reader aware of how these conceptions are considered within this research.. Speaking According to Chaney (1998) Speaking is the process of building and sharing meaning through the use of verbal and non-verbal symbols, in a variety of contexts. In this sense, speaking becomes crucial when teaching or learning a foreign language. Also, according to Kayi (2006) speaking refers to the gap between linguistic expertise and teaching methodology. Linguistic expertise concerns with language structure and language content. Teaching speaking is not like listening, reading, and writing. It needs habit formation because it is a real communication and speaking is a productive skill so it needs practicing as often as possible. Therefore, it is of real importance to bear in mind that speaking is much more than merely reproduction of language, but it related to construction of language and meaning..

(13) USE OF ENGLISH IN SPEAKING ACTIVITIES 13. Use of English (L2) v/s Use of Mother tongue (L1). For the purpose of this research it is important to discuss the use of English and mother tongue in the students more than in the teacher. But, it is also of great importance to discuss the latter. According to Cook (2001) students should reduce their use of the L1 in order to fully acquire the L2. Also, students need as much exposure as possible to the second or target language in order to acquire it. That requires them to use the L2 as much as possible. Therefore, it is accurate to say that in order to get students actually use English it is crucial to have teachers expose them to the target language. On the other hand, Cook (1999) asserts that:. L2 users have L1 permanently present in their minds. Every activity the students carries out visibly in the L2 also involves the invisible L1 …. From a multi- competence perspective, all teaching activities are cross- lingual … the difference among activities is whether the L1 is visible or invisible, not whether it is present or altogether absent. (cited in Forman, 2005: 65)..

(14) USE OF ENGLISH IN SPEAKING ACTIVITIES 14. Speaking strategies In order to get my students use English in speaking activities it is crucial to find strategies to help them improve their speaking skills. Learning strategies according to O’Malley and Chamot (1990) are special thoughts or behaviors that individuals use to help them comprehend, learn or retain new information. Therefore, when we mention strategies to learn speaking we’re referring to all the thoughts and behaviors we can teach or convey to our students for them to learn to speak in the target language. According to Ardekani et al (2011) the most common speaking strategies used by EFL learners can be categorized into two main groups: on-line and off-line strategies. By on-line strategies it is meant those strategies that are used at the time of speaking, such as: interference of mother tongue, error correction, importance of mistakes, body language and substitution. On the other hand, by offline the researchers intend to show strategies used to develop learners' speaking ability not necessarily at the time of speaking, such as: include educational-aid methods and instruments, memorization and summary.. Speaking activities The purpose of this Action Research project is to find the best and suitable way to get my 12th grade students use English in speaking activities. In order to make the reader comfortable with this reading it is necessary to state what kind of speaking activities actually promotes the use of English as production and reproduction. According to Kayi.

(15) USE OF ENGLISH IN SPEAKING ACTIVITIES 15. (2006) many linguistics and ESL teachers agree on that students learn to speak in the second language by "interacting". Communicative language teaching and collaborative learning serve best for this aim. Communicative language teaching is based on real-life situations that require communication. That is why Kayi (2006) describes a series of activities which aims the students to communicate effectively using English: •. Discussions after a content based lesson. Students may aim to arrive at a conclusion, share ideas, or find solutions in their discussion groups. Before the discussion, it is essential that the purpose of the discussion activity is set by the teacher. In this way, the discussion points are relevant to this purpose, so that students do not spend their time chatting with each other about irrelevant things.. •. Rolepays: Students pretend they are in various social contexts and have a variety of social roles. In role-play activities, the teacher gives information to the learners such as who they are and what they think or feel. Thus, According to Harmer (1984) the teacher can tell the student that "You are David, you go to the doctor and tell him what happened last night, and…". •. Information Gap: In this activity, students are supposed to be working in pairs. One student will have the information that other partner does not have and the partners will share their information..

(16) USE OF ENGLISH IN SPEAKING ACTIVITIES 16. These activities are effective because everybody has the opportunity to talk extensively in the target language.. •. Storytelling: Students can briefly summarize a tale or story they heard from somebody beforehand, or they may create their own stories to tell their classmates. Story telling fosters creative thinking. It also helps students express ideas in the format of beginning, development, and ending, including the characters and setting a story has to have. Students also can tell riddles or jokes. For instance, at the very beginning of each class session, the teacher may call a few students to tell short riddles or jokes as an opening. In this way, not only will the teacher address students’ speaking ability, but also get the attention of the class.. •. Interviews: Students can conduct interviews on selected topics with various people. It is a good idea that the teacher provides a rubric to students so that they know what type of questions they can ask or what path to follow, but students should prepare their own interview questions. Conducting interviews with people gives students a chance to practice their speaking ability not only in class but also outside and helps them becoming socialized. After interviews, each student can present his or her study to the class. Moreover, students.

(17) USE OF ENGLISH IN SPEAKING ACTIVITIES 17. can interview each other and "introduce" his or her partner to the class. •. Story completion: The teacher starts to tell a story, but after a few sentences he or she stops narrating. Then, each student starts to narrate from the point where the previous one stopped.. •. Reporting: Before coming to class, students are asked to read a newspaper or magazine and, in class, they report to their friends what they find as the most interesting news. Students can also talk about whether they have experienced anything worth telling their friends in their daily lives before class.. •. Picture narrating: This activity is based on several sequential pictures. Students are asked to tell the story taking place in the sequential pictures by paying attention to the criteria provided by the teacher as a rubric. Rubrics can include the vocabulary or structures they need to use while narrating.. •. Picture Describing: Another way to make use of pictures in a speaking activity is to give students just one picture and having them describe what it is in the picture.. This activity fosters the creativity and imagination of the learners as well as their public speaking skills..

(18) USE OF ENGLISH IN SPEAKING ACTIVITIES 18. Research Methodology Instruments According to Cambridge (2008) an instrument is a way of achieving or causing something. In this Action research project the achievement is to get my students to use English instead of Spanish in speaking activities. For this purpose, the instruments to be used are the followings: Surveys, video recordings, transcriptions and journals.. Survey- before interventions: The purpose of this survey is first to collect information about how the 12th grade students feel about using the target language, and second to provide them the freedom to choose among 9 speaking activity the ones they would like to perform during the process. Therefore, we can say that this survey is as qualitative as quantitave evidence since it measures number of students choosing activities and also feeling or appreciations among the use of the target language (L2).. Survey- after the interventions: The purpose of this survey, which differs from the previous one, is to have a clear picture on how students faced the interventions. Therefore, the survey will be only considering questions about how the 12th grade students felt with the lesson. So, this evidence will count as qualitative data..

(19) USE OF ENGLISH IN SPEAKING ACTIVITIES 19. Photographs: These are one of the most important visual evidence in a research. During the weeks of intervention and research, I took several photographs of my 12th grade students in different moments of the English lessons, but particularly when they were developing the speaking activities.. Journals: I will use written observations from October the 7th to November 11th. These journals will be my own qualitative evidence of the Action Research project process. The journal entries’ to be used will be the ones which follows the intervention. So, the entries ought to be written immediately after the lesson has finished. Host teacher interview before interventions: the purpose of this interview is to get to know the perception of the teacher in relation to the 12th grade students speaking skills before my interventions. So, this evidence will count as qualitative data. Host teacher interview after interventions: the purpose of this interview is to get to know if the perception of the teacher in relation to the 12th grade students speaking skills has changed after my interventions. So, this evidence will count as qualitative data..

(20) USE OF ENGLISH IN SPEAKING ACTIVITIES 20. Procedures First of all, it is important to mention again that the question for this Action Research comes from an issue I could identify along the 5 or 6 month I have been in Antares School and the 12th grade. After some small changes in the structure and vocabulary I came up with the following research question: How can I get my 12th grade students to use English in speaking activities? At first, I thought my question was not good because the reader may tend to think that the use of English in speaking activities is ensured, but that does not really happen in my 12th grade. As I explained in the previous pages, my students use Spanish when they need to fulfill a speaking task unless they have read or repeat something in English. Therefore, after some thinking and being advised on this matter I decided that my question was good regarding the issue I was facing with my 12th grade class. Afterwards, I look for a hypothesis regarding my issue in order to start with my research. The first hypothesis that came to my mind was that my students will use more English in speaking activities if I am able to introduce strategies for speaking and include suitable speaking activities for them. Therefore, I first started by looking for activities and strategies to foster their use of the target language in speaking activities from which I selected a few. Afterwards, I needed to organize the interventions in a very concise way because as I was working with a 12th grade I had a short period of time to carry out this research since they leave school on November 13th and also because we had 3 hours per week separated in 45 and 90 minutes each. In this sense, I decided to work on the research only in the 90.

(21) USE OF ENGLISH IN SPEAKING ACTIVITIES 21. minutes lessons in order to fulfill with the expectations of the lesson and the purpose of the activities. Therefore, I only have three interventions by now. However, I am planning a fourth one which will be developed on November 11th. The following step was giving my students a survey concerning their own perception when facing speaking activities and how they feel while developing them. Besides, this first survey included a list of speaking activities from which they have to choose four in order to implement them during the interventions. So, I gave my 12th grade students the first survey on October 7th from which I collected the information in order to prepare the first intervention. On the other hand, the very same day I gave my students the first survey I introduce to the class a new modality which consisted in using only English in the classroom. In this sense I introduce to them some speaking strategies concerning interference of mother tongue (which they call ‘spanglish’), substitution, error correction and body language. To keep a record of this I included an extra paragraph in my personal journal in which I kept count of how much the target language was use or not inside the classroom. So, every time a students use Spanish, I wrote a line in the board just to keep a count. I carried out the first intervention on October 14th in which I implement one of the activities chosen by the 12th students. Furthermore, I gave my students the second survey the same day of the intervention, so they would be able to answer how they felt with the lesson and the activity.

(22) USE OF ENGLISH IN SPEAKING ACTIVITIES 22. The second intervention was carried out by me on Oct. 21st in which I included the second speaking activity chosen by the 12th grade students and then the second survey at the end of the lesson. After every lesson finished, I went to a quit place in the school and wrote in my journal every important aspect of the lesson in order to reflect about it and the process itself. Then, I made some changes in the written research which mainly involved changing some instruments and adding a new intervention. On the other hand, it is important to mention that throughout all interventions I encourage my students to use the speaking strategies previously mentioned. Furthermore, I tried to include some of these strategies implicitly in the speaking activities, such as: summarizing and memorizing..

(23) USE OF ENGLISH IN SPEAKING ACTIVITIES 23. Action plan Ocober. 7th. Survey before interventions. O. Journal entries. O. Host teacher survey after. O. 14th. 21th. 28th. O. O. O. interventions Intervention 1- Reporting a. O. piece of news O. Intervention 2- Story telling. O. Intervention 3- Picture describing. November. 4th. 11th. Intervention 4- Story. English day- all activities. O. completion. suspended. Survey after interventions. O. Journal entries. O. Host teacher interview after. O. interventions.

(24) USE OF ENGLISH IN SPEAKING ACTIVITIES 24. Interventions. The interventions I performed during the time developing this research concisely described below.. October 14th. Reporting a piece of news: For the purpose of this activity the students had the previous class to get closer to how the news are presented. They had the opportunity to work on the computer laboratory in order to choose one piece of news and prepare a presentation about it. During the intervention class I reported the first piece of news for the students to see a model of the presentation. Then, I gave them some minutes to prepare their presentation and posters in which some students asked for the pronunciation of specific words and sounds. Finally, each student reported the piece of news they chose. During this intervention I took some pictures of the students work and wrote an entry on my personal journal.. October 21st. Storytelling: For the purpose of this class we treated life experiences with pieces of news the students needed to invent in the previous lesson. For this activity in this lesson they.

(25) USE OF ENGLISH IN SPEAKING ACTIVITIES 25. needed to summarize or briefly tell to the class the life experience of the main person in the piece of news they have created, so they actually needed to tell a story. October 28th Picture describing: This activity was divided in two: one part at the beginning of the lesson and the other at the end. For the purpose of the first part of the activity, the students were given a handout in which they needed to match pictures with some words. They needed to describe the pictures to a partner. For the purpose of the second part of this activity the students are shown some pictures related to pieces of news. They need to choose one picture to describe it and tell what they feel when they look at them. The students are given some minutes to prepare their ideas in order to share them with the class.. November 11th Story completion: For the purpose of this activity we would have watched a movie during the previous lesson. For the activity, I will start to summarize the plot, but after a few sentences I will stop narrating. Then, each student starts to narrate from the point where the previous one stopped..

(26) USE OF ENGLISH IN SPEAKING ACTIVITIES 26. Data Analysis. The planned interventions were focused on the main hypothesis of this Action Research, which is that my students would use more English in speaking activities if I am able to introduce strategies for speaking and include suitable speaking activities for them. The following pages include the description of participants, sampling, and the corresponding data analysis –qualitative and/or quantitative, according to the instrument-.. School Participants The main participants are my 12th grade students. This is a group of 8 students, one boy and seven girls. They have three pedagogical hours of English per week: on Tuesdays from 11.40hrs to 12.25hrs and Wednesday from 8:00 to 9:30hrs -the pedagogical hours have 45 minutes. This action research is focused on their performance concerning speaking in my English lessons. Another participant who was very important for the purpose of this research was my host teacher, Diego Mendoza. It is his first year at Antares school and his first year teaching too, so he knew very well the process I am facing and helped me a lot during the whole year and specially this semester. Diego lend me some useful books regarding speaking and speaking activities and always provided everything I needed to give a good lesson, giving me advices and suggestions when needed. Furthermore, I can say he was the main witness.

(27) USE OF ENGLISH IN SPEAKING ACTIVITIES 27. of the whole Action Research process concerning the previous, while and post stage of it; expressing also his own point of view in the interviews I did to him at the beginning and at the end of the process. Regarding the schools participants, the whole community was very important for doing this action research because they were very inclusive along the whole year I stayed in the institution. Besides, I was always welcomed to participate in teacher’s meetings and celebrations which helped me understand my students’ context and therefore build a clear picture of my 12th grade students’ context. Furthermore, the school authorities were very open when it came to give me permission to try out new strategies, to take pictures and interview the teacher and students. Sampling: The samples use in this Action Research are mainly before/after interventions surveys to my students, before/after intervention interview to my host teacher, pictures taken during the interventions and the entries in my personal reflective journal. All this evidence was collected during this semester. Analysis: The following pages show the results of the instruments that were used during the Action Research process. It includes the corresponding analysis –qualitative or quantitative- for each instrument in order to revise if the results evidenced or not the achievement of this process. Survey- before interventions: This survey was taken on October the 7th before starting my interventions. All the students were present, eight in total, so there might not be any bias present (see Appendix B, pp. 46) . As it was previously stated it was related, first, to.

(28) USE OF ENGLISH IN SPEAKING ACTIVITIES 28. how the students face and feel with the speaking activities and second to choosing activities for the upcoming lessons. In the first part of the survey the results showed that more than half of the class does not feel comfortable when speaking in English, but more than the half of the class also thinks that they can actually use English in speaking activities. Furthermore, the last question was really important to me because it was directly linked to my first hypothesis in relation to the use of proper activities to encourage the use of target language in speaking activities. The results showed that 4 students out of 8 think that the activities I proposed are good enough, that means that half of the class thinks that I need to change the speaking activities.. 1. From 1 to 10, ¿Do you feel comfortable when you speak in English in the class? 1. 2. 3 1. 4 2. 5 2. 6. 7 2. 8 1. 9. 10. 2. ¿Do yo think you are able to use English in speaking activities? Sí 5. No 1. Más o menos 2. 3. ¿Do you think the speaking activities proposed by the teacher are good enough? Sí 4. No 0. A veces 4. On the other hand, what I considered the most to prepare my interventions were their preferences in relation to the activities. Therefore, after reading student’s answers the.

(29) USE OF ENGLISH IN SPEAKING ACTIVITIES 29. results showed that the most chosen activities were: storytelling, story completion, reporting and picture describing.. Discussions after a content based lesson. 3. Roleplays. 2. Information Gap. 1. Storytelling. 6. Interviews. 3. Story completion.. 6. Reporting. 5. Picture narrating. 1. Picture Describing. 5. As we can see in the table above, there are 32, but only 8 students answered the survey. This is because the students needed to express interest in 4 activities from the list. After collecting this data, my analysis of it was related to find the tools to implement these activities in my lessons in order to provide a communicative environment which would encourage the use of the target language while speaking..

(30) USE OF ENGLISH IN SPEAKING ACTIVITIES 30. Survey after the interventions: This survey was taken on November the 11th at the end of the intervention process. Not all the students were present in the class, only seven, so there might be a bias of 12.5% (see Appendix C, pp. 54). For the purpose of comparison, this survey is the same as the one I give my 12th grade students at the beginning of the process. Regarding their feelings towards speaking in English during the class there is a small progress concerning comfort at the moment of speaking. Furthermore, in terms of how they perceive their ability for using the target language there is no increasing, but there is a decreasing in the negative answer which shows that now all of the students feel able or so of using English in speaking activities. Finally, regarding he activities proposed by me, most of the students agreed they were good enough. But, it is important to remember that I only proposed some activities and the 12th grade students chose the ones they were going to perform during the interventions. . 1. From 1 to 10, ¿Do you feel comfortable when you speak in English in the class? 1. 2. 3. 4 1. 5. 6 2. 7 3. 8 1. 9. 2. ¿Do you think you are able to use English in speaking activities? Sí 5. No. Más o menos 2. 3. ¿Do you think the speaking activities proposed by the teacher are good enough? Sí 6. No 0. A veces 1. 10.

(31) USE OF ENGLISH IN SPEAKING ACTIVITIES 31. Photographs: The photographs were taken during the moment of implementing the speaking activities and while the students were developing them. This is visual evidence used to show how the students fulfill the activities and as a complement to all other evidences that will show if the students succeed in the activities or not. We could say that photographs are preliminary evidence that show that the activities were actually carried out. (see Appendix F, pp. 68).. In the picture above, there is one of the students with the highest level of English of the 12th grade class. This photograph was taken during the first intervention on October 14th in which the activity was to report to the class one piece of news of their interest. Valentina, the students in the picture, chose one piece of news related to music and her performance during the activity was awesome because she is used to speak in English. Therefore, as she.

(32) USE OF ENGLISH IN SPEAKING ACTIVITIES 32. was the first to report the piece of news she chose I asked her to help her classmates in their oral reports. So, she helped the student in the following picture, Maria Ignacia.. Maria Ignacia is very motivated when it comes to participate in all the activities, but she was one of the students that said that was afraid of mistakes when speaking and that she.

(33) USE OF ENGLISH IN SPEAKING ACTIVITIES 33. would feel more comfortable if everyone use the target language when speaking. Therefore, Valentina helped her to prepare her report and she presented that same day obtaining a very good outcome. Furthermore, it is important to mention that before every speaking activity I encourage my students to bear in mind the speaking strategies we had discussed in the previous lessons. The pictures evidence in a qualitative way two things. First, that students felt encourage enough to develop the speaking activities. Secondly, that they actually carried out the activity as it was proposed at the beginning of each intervention.. Journals: The personal journal entries reveal a progress in terms of what has been under research and what has been implemented in the classroom. This qualitative data due to its subjective origin might show some bias. The journal entries used in this research are from October 7th to November 11th (see Appendix E, pp 63) . The first part of the journal reveals the process concerning this action research: Use of English in speaking activities. The journal entries also are revealing my own annotations of the interventions and the preliminary perceptions of the results. Therefore, after every lesson, I wrote my personal impressions. Subsequently, the written results showed that there was a small progress regarding the use of English immediately after the first intervention in which students started to actually use the target language to comply with the activities. Host teacher interview before interventions: My mentor teacher, Diego Mendoza, was the main witness during this process. Therefore, his point of view before starting with the.

(34) USE OF ENGLISH IN SPEAKING ACTIVITIES 34. interventions is of real importance. The interview he gave me contained the following questions:. Interview to host teacher: before intervention. 1. What do you think are the strengths of the 12th grade students? 2. Do you think the 12th grade students are able to use the target language when speaking? 3. Do you think the 12th grade students feel comfortable enough when developing a speaking activity during the lesson? 4. What do you think the students should do to improve their speaking skills? 5. What would suggest me to implement in the lesson to get the students actually using English in speaking activities?. His answers to the interview showed that the strengths of my 12 grade students reside in their motivation to participate and they actually do. The problem here arises when it comes to use the target language in speaking activities which happens, according to my host teacher, because they feel afraid of making mistakes when speaking. Also, he commented that he thinks that the 12th grade students are able to use the TL when speaking and that one’s performance are better than other, but they all are able to do it. Furthermore, this interview revealed that my host teacher, like me, thinks that students need practice in order to start using spoken English and that practice should be through activities that they choose or that are strictly connected with them, which is what I intended to do with the interventions (see appendix A, pp 45)..

(35) USE OF ENGLISH IN SPEAKING ACTIVITIES 35. Host teacher interview after interventions: As I mentioned it before, my mentor teacher, Diego Mendoza, was the main witness during this process. Therefore, I considered necessary to make a new interview which might reveal his perception on any progress the students might have had concerning the use of English in speaking activities. The interview was carried out on November the 11th after finishing the interventions.. Interview to host teacher: before interventions 1. Do you think the interventions were useful? 2. Did you notice any progress in students using English in speaking activities 3. From 1 to 10. How much progress did you notice? Why?. Diego’s answers showed that he truly believes that the interventions carried out during the semester were useful for getting the students use English in speaking activities. Furthermore, he mentions that he has seen progress in the students using English, but he did not consider that the students actually needed time to prepare their speeches in order to actually utter something using the target language (see Appendix D, pp 62).

(36) USE OF ENGLISH IN SPEAKING ACTIVITIES 36. Reflection and Analysis of Interventions. For the last couple of years I have gone through different experiences as a student of English Teaching and as a future teacher of English. In every Elab or practicum I was sent I have seen and experienced how our perspective has drastically changed since we are the ones carrying out a lesson or interacting as a teacher, from the other side of the classroom, but not as a student. Now, I realized that this perspective has still possibility of changing because I truly believe that we are, as teachers or future teachers, still learning in despite of our position in the classroom or in the school culture. In this sense, I can say that I am not the same person that entered the university six years ago and that is due to the constant reflective process we have been put through all these years learning how to teach and how to carry out a good lesson. Regarding the last statement, there is no doubt that we all have wondered what could be the perfect way for teaching a foreign language when we are not immerse in a context in which English is commonly use; very differently as how we learned our mother tongue. In this sense, one of the most difficult things –for me- to deal with when teaching in the different experiences I have or I have seen is Speaking. Though many different strategies or methodologies may be possible ways for teaching this skill, they may vary according to every person’s perception or context. Therefore, being involved in a work of investigation as an Action Research is very useful because it can function as a tool to read and share to people who might be facing a similar issue or have some inquiries about how theories, beliefs and ideas work in the real context. Therefore, this Action Research project focuses its attention on a real context problem I faced in my current practicum center, Antares School. As mentioned throughout.

(37) USE OF ENGLISH IN SPEAKING ACTIVITIES 37. this paper, the problem was related to my 12th grade students and the use of English in speaking activities. Subsequently, the following pages are going to address the reflection of the interventions performed for this research. October 14th Reporting a piece of news: In this class students needed to choose a piece of news and report it to the class. I gave the students the first half of the class to pick their pieces of news and prepare anything they need to report it. The idea of the activity was that they did not have to prepare a presentation, but report with their words the piece of news they chose. In this sense, what called my attention is that some students asked for time to practice and learned what they were going to say. In this sense, they used one of the speaking strategies I introduced to them in the previous classes- even if they did not do it on purpose- related to memorizing. Three students read from a piece of paper, but the most important thing is that none of the students use Spanish and this was the first time they did not abuse of the mother tongue for a speaking activity.. October 21st Storytelling: For this activity the students use some pieces of news they invented in the previous lesson. As the activity was called story telling the students had to take one person from the piece of new they invented and tell her or his life experience to the class, so thy needed to actually tell a story. As I needed to comply with the school program, this activity needed to be linked with reported speech –as a requirement of my host teacher-. Therefore,.

(38) USE OF ENGLISH IN SPEAKING ACTIVITIES 38. the students needed to use reported speech in their stories. As in the previous interventions, some students asked me again for time to write and rehearse their stories. Most of the class could develop the activity properly; only two students read from their notebooks which I considered as a quantitative improvement since the previous lesson three students read from their notebooks. On the other hand, I realized that the students were really engaged with the activity as they get to act out their own stories in a sort of storytelling for children. This was very important because it created the proper environment for every student to feel comfortable enough to use English when developing the speaking activity. October 28th Picture describing: This activity was divided in two. In the first part of the activity students had no time to prepare speeches- I did this on purpose because I needed to check the previous hypothesis on this matter concerning time for preparing speaking-. Students were shown some pictures they needed to match, but first they needed to describe them to their partners. There were two couples and a trio. The trio used a lot of Spanish and English was almost completely forgotten. And the couples were using English. In this sense, my reflection continuous the same: students need time to prepare for speaking activities. In the second part of the activity, the students got to choose the picture they would have to describe and this time they were given time to prepare their descriptions. This activity worked very well since six students use English during the whole description of their pictures and only one student read from her notebook – which I did not consider as actually using English in speaking-. There was no improvement from the previous class, since there were only 7 students and not 8 as in the previous lesson; the amount of students using English did not increase nor did it decrease..

(39) USE OF ENGLISH IN SPEAKING ACTIVITIES 39. October 28th Picture describing: In this activity students needed to finish watching the movie ‘The Purge: Anarchy’ in order to play a game called Story Completion with the plot of it. I started the game telling the plot of the movie and when I stopped I threw a ball to one of the students who needed to follow the storyline. I realized that it was very difficult for the students to comply with this activity because they had not time to prepare what they were going to say. Only two students could develop the activity properly, the other just did it in Spanish or used a mixed between Spanish and English. In this sense, the idea of specific time needed to comply with speaking activities was clear enough..

(40) USE OF ENGLISH IN SPEAKING ACTIVITIES 40. Conclusion As a conclusion, it is important to mention first that it was very difficult to work with speaking skills in a class where the students were not accustomed to listen or even use the target language for communicative purposes. Therefore, the fostering of the use of English in speaking activities in this sense was a process which needed continuity and a constant work in order to achieve the proposed goals: the students actually using the target language in speaking activities. In this sense, it is important for us, as teacher, to be aware that the students are main participants in that process, so if they are not able to comply with what we expect all at once we should not get frustrated, but to continue encouraging them towards success. According to the experienced I went through in this research there are a variety of affirmations I could state. For instance, the importance of letting the students participate in choosing their activities which did not increase participation –that was not a problem-, but make them feel comfortable enough to use the target language when it was required. As it is stated, the problem was not participation or motivation, but to make the students feel part of what they are learning it is always a good way to make them comfortable and to set a good atmosphere in which we can achieve our goals as researchers. From this experience, I can make remarkable the fact that I realized that it is of great importance to ensure the selection of proper activities for the students. When I started giving lesson to my 12th grade, they did not use any English in the speaking activities I was proposing because I did not pay attention to what they needed. Now, I truly believe that for an activity to be successful it should be suitable for the students’ level so they can actually.

(41) USE OF ENGLISH IN SPEAKING ACTIVITIES 41. get to develop it. For instance, I can surely affirmed that my students need time to prepare what they are going to say in speaking activities, so in that sense, the activities I needed to implement had to contemplate enough time for the students to prepare an oral speech. This does not mean, that we should only stick to our save haven in activities that we know for sure that are going to be successful, we also need to test; we need to keep trying to go further in learning. In my case, specifically, I needed to try implementing activities in which the students were not given time to prepare anything orally. An only then, I could realize and evidence that they were not prepared to do so yet because they could not develop those activities the way I proposed them. Finally, it is also of great importance to mention that in despite of having to follow a program which in many cases is mostly grammar centered, or maybe encounter with limitations regarding the institution in which we are working or carrying the practicum, it is or duty to find a way to make little changes, to make the difference..

(42) USE OF ENGLISH IN SPEAKING ACTIVITIES 42. Implication After going through the experience of carrying out this Action Research project, I feel very satisfied regarding the advances made with my students and with the whole process in general. I realized that improvement and changes are possible if we are committed enough and if we find the appropriate strategies to apply in order to achieve our objectives. In this sense, I could identified some aspects of my teaching practice that I need to keep improving and some others that I need to avoid in the future. For instance, I need to keep focusing on choosing activities that are suitable for the level of my students. That is to say, I need to have real expectations of what my students can achieve or not and from that point prepare and present activities that they can actually develop successfully. As I mentioned before, this does not mean I can not try to push them further, but I need to be aware that it is a process that may take time. This means that I need to avoid pushing the students and myself to reach goals that are too far from what the context allows us. In this case, specifically, I was expecting too much from students who have never been really exposed to the language in a way that enables them to manage the language as I expected with the activity I thought were suitable for them. In addition, I could have not realized about all these aspects of my teaching if I did have the instruments and space to reflect about it. That is why I need to keep using the instruments usde in this research, especially the ones related to reflection as the journal is. On the other hand, one aspect that is not previously mentioned but equally important is the need to keep balance between my responsibilities as a teacher and as a.

(43) USE OF ENGLISH IN SPEAKING ACTIVITIES 43. human who has a life apart from the school. Many times during this semester and the period of this research I focused only on one of them and it was difficult for me to keep the balance. This is important, because we need to realize that being a teacher is part of who we are; we don’t leave schools and stop being teachers, and we don’t leave our home and stop being humans. The answer to this matter is always balance, and I need to focus on finding that balance in my future life as a teacher. Regarding future research ideas, I would really like to focus not only in the language itself but in how the students act and react inside the classroom. Therefore, I would like to focus in students’ autonomy and critical thinking development which are two of the most difficult things to achieve in our students when –depending on the contextmany times the language it is actually a barrier as they are not able to understand it. In this sense, I would like to find a way of linking these two ideas; I would like to find a way of making this barrier of the language invisible for students and I know that it is not an immediate goal, but one that might take a lot of time. The limitations that I faced during the period of this research were related to time and material. The school did not count with any material for the lessons, only an annual program (see Appendix G, ppxxx) that I had to follow. Other of the limitations I faced while developing this action research project was time. As I was working with a 12th grade the time I had to implement interventions was very little because of two reasons. First, they have little hours of English per week, so I needed to use only one class in the week for the interventions. Second, as the students were preparing to sit for the PSU, they leave the school on November 13th. Furthermore, I had to reschedule many activities because the.

(44) USE OF ENGLISH IN SPEAKING ACTIVITIES 44. students needed to take PSU mock exams and other extracurricular activities that affected my timeline. Regarding the limitation that I may face in the future for the previously mentioned research ideas are, I think, might be the national curriculum and the schools’ limitations. Furthermore, as the material provided by the school or the ministry of education might not be suitable for the students or for my purposes, I would need to create my own material. Of course, these two limitations depend on the context and on the school I could get to work in. However, I have always expressed my need to work in vulnerable schools and I think that in those contexts the limitations I mentioned before have a great impact Finally, regarding the aspects considered as contributions to develop this research, I need to mention the school atmosphere in general. They were really open to let me work on this research, also the good environment in which I was immerse made me feel very comfortable and as a real teacher who is part of a learning community. Furthermore, in despite of the context in which the school is, they always give me the opportunity to look for new material and print everything I wanted in order to develop the research. In the same line, it is also important to mention my host teacher support when developing the interventions and all the comments and suggestions from my tutors from the university..

(45) USE OF ENGLISH IN SPEAKING ACTIVITIES 45. References Merriam-Webster, Incorporated. (2015). Language. Retrieved August 27th, 2015, from Encyclopedia Britannica Company. Website: http://www.merriamwebster.com/dictionary/language Wenli Tsou. (2005). Improving Speaking Skills through Instructions in Oral Classroom Participation. In Foreign Language Annals. Volume 38, N° 1 (46). Alexandria, VA: American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. MINEDUC. Ficha Establecimiento: Colegio Polivalente Antares. Retrieved May 15, 2015, from ComunidadEscolar.cl Website: http://www.mime.mineduc.cl/mimeweb/mvc/mime/ficha Chaney, A. L., & Burk, T. L. (1998). Teaching oral communication in grades k‐ 8. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon Kayi, H. (2006) The Internet TESL Journal, Vol. XII, No. 11. Retrieved on September 30, 2015, from: http://iteslj.org/ Brown, G. and G. Yule. 1983. Teaching the Spoken Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Cook, V. (2001). Using the first language in the classroom. The Canadian Modern Language Review, 57, 402–423. Forman, R. (2005), Teaching EFL in Thailand: A bilingual study, Doctoral Dissertation, University of Technology, 435p (unpublished). Retrieved on September 28, 2015, from: http://epress.lib.uts.edu.au/dspace/bitstream/handle/2100/552/02whole.pdf; jsessionid=1BF811FDD60F6A53318CE7201B340945?sequence=2 The Journal of Teaching Language Skills (JTLS) 3(3), Fall 2011, Ser. 64/4 (Previously Journal of Social Sciences & Humanities) . Retrieved on November 1st, 2015, from: file:///C:/Users/Carolina/Downloads/JTLS3801348950600.pdf.

(46) USE OF ENGLISH IN SPEAKING ACTIVITIES 46. Appendix A Interview to host teacher- before interventions. Interview to host teacher: before intervention. 1. What do you think the strengths of the 12th-grade students are? “I think that in spite of the fact that it is very difficult to help them feel motived, when they do feel like that, they work very well. That would be their main strength.” 2. Do you think the 12th-grade students are able to use the target language when speaking? “I think that some of them are able to do so, but they feel embarrassed because of mistakes when they have to speak in English, so they avoid this situation.” 3. Do you think the 12th-grade students feel comfortable enough when developing a speaking activity during the lesson? “As I said before, I strongly believe that they feel very embarrassed when they have to express themselves in English, so it’s difficult for them to feel comfortable when developing a speaking activity.” 4. What do you think the students should do to improve their speaking skills? “I think they should practice more in the class, since I know that their levels of English are not bad at all.” 5. What would you suggest I implement in the lesson to get the students actually using English in the speaking activities? “In my opinion, when doing speaking activities it’s absolutely necessary to talk about topics that are directly related to our students’ lives. So I think that might be a good strategy to follow”.

(47) USE OF ENGLISH IN SPEAKING ACTIVITIES 47. Appendix B Survey 1- before interventions.

(48) USE OF ENGLISH IN SPEAKING ACTIVITIES 48.







(55) USE OF ENGLISH IN SPEAKING ACTIVITIES 55. Appendix C Survey 2- after interventions.








(63) USE OF ENGLISH IN SPEAKING ACTIVITIES 63. Appendix D Interview to host teacher- after interventions Interview to host teacher: before interventions 1. Do you think the interventions were useful? Why? “Yes, I think the interventions were very useful because students were really motivated to participate and that helped them to feel encourage enough to use more English.” 2. Did you notice any progress in students using English in speaking activities? “Yes, there has been a slight progress in the use of English in speaking activities and in the classroom in general. I think that has to do with the students getting used to listen to each other to speak in English and also how the teacher encouraged them to do so.” 3. From 1 to 10. How much progress did you notice? Why? “I would say that when the students started with the new activities proposal it was a 4, but now that I have seen some changes I would say a 7.”.

(64) USE OF ENGLISH IN SPEAKING ACTIVITIES 64. Appendix E Journal entries.





(69) USE OF ENGLISH IN SPEAKING ACTIVITIES 69. Appendix F Pictures of the interventions.






(75) USE OF ENGLISH IN SPEAKING ACTIVITIES 75. Appendix G Antares School English annual plan- 12th grade. Plan Anual Cuarto Año Medio Asignatura: Inglés Profesor: Mr. Diego Mendoza Godoy Curso: 4to año medio Duración: Abril – Diciembre 2015. Unidad / duración. Contenidos. Objetivos. Indicadores de evaluación. Unidad 1. Módulo 1: How to read the newspaper: Frase nominal. Frase verbal.. Comprensión Lectora. Módulo 1: Los estudiantes categorizan, al menos, doce frases y reconocen. Módulo 2: Applying for a job: enjoy + verb – ing. Have been + verb – ing. Since – for.. Módulo 3: Looking for a job: Have + been with tag questions. Have + been to how long?. Módulo 4: Letters to the editor: Expresiones de sugerencia, advertencia: should / shouldn’t. Indicadores de comparación y contraste: comparación de adjetivos, much better, but.. 1. Demuestra comprensión de la información en textos escritos auténticos de naturaleza diferente y de extensión variada, relacionados con sus intereses, resolviendo los problemas que el texto presente o la tarea requiera: a) aplicando e integrando estrategias y técnicas de aproximación al texto y de búsqueda de información, de acuerdo a sus propósitos: i) lectura rápida (skimming) o,. en ellas el núcleo.. Módulo 2: Los estudiantes escriben una carta que contenga las expresiones que generalmente se usan y la organización pertinente.. Módulo 3: Deben realizar la entrevista de acuerdo al léxico y CMO vistos en el módulo.. Módulo 4: Los estudiantes reconocen la organización de, al menos, una carta.. ii) focalizada (scanning), Módulo 5: Los estudiantes escriben un.

(76) USE OF ENGLISH IN SPEAKING ACTIVITIES 76. Módulo 5: Weather report: Sustantivos compuestos.. Módulo 6: Safety and fire prevention: Formas verbales. Voz pasiva. Verbos instruccionales. Cláusula if.. Módulo 7: Insertion: Sustantivos compuestos. Cláusulas con if. Like como verbo y conjunción. Sustantivos actuando como adjetivos: greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide, weather pattern, sea level, climate change, energy efficiency.. Módulo 8: At the airport: Verbos modales: can, may. I’d like to… What about…? How much…?. Módulo 9: Arts & Literature: Indicadores de discurso. Usos de -ing. Conector who.. iii) lectura extensiva o,. breve pronóstico del tiempo,. iv) intensiva;. en el que incluyen, además, recomendaciones para protegerse. b) utilizando la organización del texto, claves o pistas textuales y lingüísticas para identificar diferentes tipos de texto y sus presuposiciones subyacentes, señalando su intención comunicativa. del sol y de la mala calidad del aire.. Módulo 6: Los estudiantes deben realizar la secuencia completa por ser los pasos a seguir en caso de emergencia.. predominante. 2. Lee en forma autónoma, con ayuda de diccionario: reconociendo el tópico e identificando temas y sub-temas y, o, los argumentos que se presentan; reconociendo secuencias temporales y siguiendo el desarrollo lógico de las ideas; estableciendo relaciones entre las partes y el todo; extrayendo conclusiones; sintetizando la información o aplicándola. Módulo 7: Ilustran a través de un diagrama, esquema o dibujo el “efecto invernadero”.. Módulo 8: Los estudiantes reconocen las ideas de, al menos, 3 conversaciones.. Módulo 9: Los estudiantes reconocen las expresiones propias del discurso vistas en el módulo y al menos una idea relevante en el discurso que trabajen.. a sus proyectos específicos. 3. Lee en forma crítica: reconociendo el valor funcional de los textos,. Módulo 10: Working with seleccionando la información machine-tools: Preposición pertinente a sus intereses; + verbo – ing. When + relacionando verbo – ing. Need + verbo – el contenido informativo con. Módulo 10: Los estudiantes reconocen, al menos, 5 afirmaciones correctas de un texto.. Módulo 11: Los estudiantes (en pares) sintetizan la información de uno de los textos, escribiendo un breve resumen.

(77) USE OF ENGLISH IN SPEAKING ACTIVITIES 77 ing.. Módulo 11: Chilean export products: Have + past participle. Conectores: however, although, in addition. Past participle and gerunds as adjectives.. Módulo 12: International news: Frases nominales. Sustantivos compuestos. Verbos relacionados con “decir”, “comentar”.. Módulo 13: Health & Science: Discurso directo e indirecto.. Módulo 14: Safety procedures: Formas verbales: voz pasiva. Modales: should, shouldn’t + be + past participle. May, might + infinitive. Verbos instruccionales. Frases nominales.. Módulo 15: Public Debate: To be + … (on TV screen, in need, ill). Expresar probabilidad (would). To have + … Marcadores de discurso. Expresiones idiomáticas (to go down the drain, to wash down food,. situaciones de la vida real; diferenciando entre hechos y opiniones; distinguiendo entre hipótesis, evidencia, inferencia y conclusión; formulando juicios acerca de la relevancia, pertinencia y aplicabilidad de la información para su formación; construyendo un producto representativo diferente: un afiche, caricatura o un nuevo texto.. en inglés o castellano.. Módulo 12: Los estudiantes responden al menos una pregunta. Escriben, al menos, 2 críticas y 2 recomendaciones.. Módulo 13: Los estudiantes escriben 5 oraciones en inglés que resuman la información de una de las noticias que ellos seleccionen.. Módulo 14: Los estudiantes escriben, al menos, 10 términos en su glosario.. Comprensión Auditiva 4. Demuestra comprensión de la información proporcionada por textos orales auténticos, de naturaleza diferente y de extensión variada, resolviendo los problemas que la audición presente o las tareas requieran: a) reconociendo el canal y el medio de comunicación, el tipo de texto, el tema del evento comunicativo y el número de participantes; b) señalando la intención. Módulo 15: Los estudiantes responden en forma breve, en inglés, la pregunta Are family dinners dead?, según sus realidades. Mencionan dos razones que fundamenten sus respuestas.. Módulo 16: Los estudiantes escriben 4 o 5 oraciones aplicando el léxico y los contenidos morfosintácticos vistos en el módulo..

(78) USE OF ENGLISH IN SPEAKING ACTIVITIES 78 to have rows).. Módulo 16: Safety precautions at the workplace: Formas verbales: voz pasiva. When + verbo – ing. While como conector.. comunicativa del mensaje; c) reconociendo el valor comunicativo de las pausas, de la entonación y de la acentuación (stress); d) asociando palabras claves con el tema del mensaje; e) recurriendo a la redundancia léxica para determinar el tópico; f ) identificando los participantes, sus características y relaciones, así como los roles que desempeñan, en eventos de dos o más participantes; g) identificando las convenciones y las características lingüísticas del discurso en los distintos tipos de texto; h) seleccionando estrategias de comprensión apropiadas a cada situación comunicativa, activando conocimientos y experiencias previas; i) realizando tareas concretas, siguiendo instrucciones o resolviendo problemas (especialmente aplicable en establecimientos.

(79) USE OF ENGLISH IN SPEAKING ACTIVITIES 79 técnico-profesionales). 5. Aplica estrategias de inferencia para extraer conclusiones o determinar la relevancia y aplicabilidad de la información.. Expresión Oral 6. Resuelve situaciones comunicativas cotidianas en intercambios directos o mediatizados: a) iniciando o respondiendo apropiadamente a solicitudes e invitaciones; b) dando o siguiendo instrucciones; c) haciendo sugerencias y ofreciendo explicaciones; d) señalando y justificando gustos y preferencias; e) expresando acuerdo o desacuerdo. 7. Prepara y expone, de acuerdo a modelos dados por el docente, informes breves de textos (descriptivos, narrativos y argumentativos) trabajados en clase.. Expresión Escrita.