What strategies can I implement to improve 8th graders oral production?

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(1)What strategies can I implement to improve 8th graders oral production?. By Javiera Panes Aguilera Research Seminar Teacher: Claudio Jaramillo Practicum Tutor: Carola Pinto 2016.

(2) Abstract. This action research aims at finding strategies to improve a group of 8th graders’ oral production in an EFL context. The action plan was carried out in Francisco Varela school, which is a privet institution located in Penañalolen. The strategies implemented were oriented towards vocabulary development through the teaching of specific words and expressions, to later be used orally by the students. The collection of data was through interviews, surveys, and journal and observation checklists. The interventions and strategies applied, resulted on an increment on students’ vocabulary and amount of information provided by them. Key words: Oral production, vocabulary learning, strategies for teaching vocabulary, content based instruction. Abstract Esta investigación - acción tiene como objetivo encontrar estrategias para mejorar la producción oral de un grupo de 8vo básico en un contexto de enseñanza del inglés como idioma extranjero. El plan fue llevado a cabo en la escuela Francisco Varela, que es una institución privada ubicada en Peñalolen. Las estrategias implementadas estaban orientadas al desarrollo del vocabulario mediante la enseñanza de palabras específicas para luego ser utilizadas oralmente por los estudiantes. La recolección de información fue hecha mediante entrevistas, encuestas, diario y lista de observación. Las intervenciones y estrategias aplicadas, resultaron en un incremento en el vocabulario y cantidad de información dada por los estudiantes. Palabras claves: Producción oral, aprendizaje de vocabulario, estrategias para enseñar vocabulario, instrucción basada en contenido. 2.

(3) Table of contents Introduction ....................................................................................................................................... 5 Context ............................................................................................................................................... 6 School context ................................................................................................................................ 6 Classroom context ......................................................................................................................... 6 Problem .............................................................................................................................................. 8 Action Research question ............................................................................................................... 10 Rationale .......................................................................................................................................... 11 Review of the literature................................................................................................................... 13 Teenagers as learners of a foreign language ............................................................................. 13 Speaking ....................................................................................................................................... 14 Vocabulary ................................................................................................................................... 15 Meaningful learning involved in the retention of vocabulary ................................................. 16 Content Based Instruction .......................................................................................................... 18 Strategies for teaching vocabulary ............................................................................................ 19 Select an appropriate time during lessons to vocabulary learning ..................................... 19 Help students to develop word-Learning strategies ............................................................. 19 Major part of the lesson should be focused on the use of the language .............................. 20 The Methodology............................................................................................................................. 21 Data collection techniques .......................................................................................................... 21 Journal ..................................................................................................................................... 22 Surveys/Questionnaires .......................................................................................................... 22 Observation Checklist ............................................................................................................. 23 Interview .................................................................................................................................. 23 Getting permission and covering ethical issues .................................................................... 24 Data Analysis ................................................................................................................................... 26 Diagnosing the problem .............................................................................................................. 26 Figure 1. The students’ initial level of English. ....................................................................... 26 Figure 2. Students’ use of English............................................................................................ 27 Figure 3. Students’ impediments to use English orally. ........................................................... 28 Carrying out the interventions ................................................................................................... 29 Results .......................................................................................................................................... 32 Figure 4. The students’ final level of English. ........................................................................ 33 3.

(4) Figure 5. Usefulness of the vocabulary seen in class. .............................................................. 35 Figure 6. Usefulness of the strategies applied in the interventions. ......................................... 36 Reflection ......................................................................................................................................... 38 Conclusions ...................................................................................................................................... 40 References ........................................................................................................................................ 42 Appendix: Samples of the instruments.......................................................................................... 44 Appendix A .................................................................................................................................. 44 Journal Entries ............................................................................................................................ 44 Appendix B .................................................................................................................................. 47 Letter of consent .......................................................................................................................... 47 Appendix C .................................................................................................................................. 49 Interview Format 1: diagnosing the problem ........................................................................... 49 Appendix D .................................................................................................................................. 50 Observation Checklist Format 1 ................................................................................................ 50 Appendix E .................................................................................................................................. 51 Survey Format 1 .......................................................................................................................... 51 Appendix F................................................................................................................................... 52 Interview Format 2 ..................................................................................................................... 52 Appendix G .................................................................................................................................. 54 Interview Format 2: Transcriptions .......................................................................................... 54 Appendix H .................................................................................................................................. 72 Observation Checklist Format 2 ................................................................................................ 72 Appendix I.................................................................................................................................... 73 Survey Format 2 .......................................................................................................................... 73. 4.

(5) Introduction Developing the ability to speak when learning a new language is essential in order to express and communicate our ideas. According to Richards and Renandya (2002) Speaking a foreign language may allow us to discuss ideas with people from different countries, clarify information, give instructions, establish rapport, entertain people by telling jokes or anecdotes, etc. Regarding this, we can acknowledge that developing speaking skills in our students may bring many benefits for them. During my time working as a pre-service teacher in Francisco Varela School, I have realized that fostering speaking skills in my 8th grade students can be more challenging than it seems for factors such as: inhibition, too much use of the mother tongue or uneven participation. Nonetheless, there is one element in common that crosses all my students’ capacities, difficulties, and their use of English, and that is me, their teacher. In light of this, I will conduct the following action research in order to improve my 8th graders learning conditions while developing their oral production, which hopefully will allow them to express themselves using the target language. In this process, I will also attempt to find and implement new strategies so that students can have the necessary means to speak. Ultimately, I will be able to improve my practice and knowledge as a future teacher.. 5.

(6) Context School context The following AR will be conducted at Francisco Varela School, which is a coeducational private institution located in Peñalolen. This school teaches students from pre-K to 9th grade and has an average of 20 students per class. It is relevant to mention, that the school was founded in 2013 with the objective of developing an innovative educational proposal, where students with different abilities and special needs could coexist and learn. Today, this objective has remained intact and the school is constantly looking for ways of improving their own practice. To provide all the attention students need on their education process, each classroom in this school has 2 teachers: one of them is the educator in charge of teaching the particular subject at hand and the other, is a helper who accompanies the teacher and the students in the classroom. Additionally and considering the school’s PEI, students are expected to be autonomous in an environment that allows them to investigate, create and express ideas developing all students’ dimensions. As a consequence of this view, learners are asked to carry out a project at the end of each unit where they can use what they have learned in terms of knowledge and skills. The content and objectives teachers work with are taken from the national curriculum, since the school uses the MINEDUC parameters to plan their own lessons. Classroom context I am currently working with the 8th grade of this school, which is composed by twenty two students who are between twelve and thirteen years old. They have 3 hours of English per week and each module is 45 minutes long distributed through Mondays, Tuesdays and 6.

(7) Thursdays. The topics, objectives and indicators of evaluation we deal with during the English lessons are taken from the national curriculum, and all the material/resources students use are mostly created by the teachers of English, since they have decided to not use any type of text book.. 7.

(8) Problem During my time at this school, I have observed that the class has different levels of English. While some students are able to convey simple ideas using the target language, others are not. So, whenever students have to deal with speaking activities most of them use Spanish manifesting they do not know English. It is important to highlight that most of my students are able to understand some ideas in English, which is shown in their capacity to follow instructions and complete simple listening or reading activities. Regarding these type of activities, students look comfortable and behave better when they face them. However, as I have exposed above, the problem arises when they have to deal with speaking activities, since some of my students use their mother tongue instead of using the target language and after some time the students who use Spanish tend to misbehave. Moreover, students who are less proficient are not able to express simple ideas in English (orally or written). Therefore, they do not participate during the lessons and the class moves forward with the help of students with higher proficiency levels. Part of these observations can be appreciated in my journal entry from May 23rd: Today was my third lesson with the 8th grade. I ran a short activity in the last part of the lesson to check whether students had understood or not the concept of technology presented throughout the video “technological inventions” and why? I asked: - which one of these objects can be considered technological and why? Three students from the class raised their hands. One of them asked if she could answer in Spanish and I told her: - You can do it in English. I selected another students, one that I knew had. 8.

(9) more issues with the language and I explicitly told him to answer in English, he couldn’t but he gave a good answer in Spanish (Journal entry May 23rd, 2016. See appendix A) In this journal entry we can clearly see how two students deal with the same question using different codes. It is important to highlight that this dichotomy has been present all along the process of my observation and my teaching practice. In order to discover why some students in my classroom were not using the target language I surveyed all 8th graders. The survey showed that most students feel they do not have enough vocabulary to express ideas in English (see data analysis section). Having said that, I consider very relevant to look for strategies to improve students’ speaking skills.. 9.

(10) Action Research question Having described the context and stated the problem, the question that arises is: What strategies can I implement to improve 8th graders oral production? This question is going to lead my AR helping me to select appropriate literature to guide my teaching practice. This, aiming at improving students’ oral production.. 10.

(11) Rationale The main purpose of my AR is to implement strategies to improve oral production on students who do not use English, so they can have the means to express their ideas accurately and participate during the English lessons. I am aware that most of the Chilean classrooms have students that are not able to participate in the English lessons for different reasons. In my context, students do participate, however, the main problem arises when students are required to use the target language to speak. With this in mind, I consider that finding different strategies to foster oral production on my 8th graders is essential to create a learning environment where everybody can participate and feel integrated. This, by sharing the same code (English) going from a teachercentered classroom to a more learner-centered classroom. On the other hand, I believe it is relevant to find insights on this topic since, students at this age like sharing and talking about experiences with their peers, and the English lessons can provide the space teenagers need to do so. Furthermore and taking into consideration my context, students in Francisco Varela are expected to develop a set of skills they can later use in the development of a project. In this respect, improving their speaking skills to express and explain their ideas while reporting their learning, is key for them, the school and myself. Finally, researching about strategies to improve my students’ speaking skills will help me grow professionally because, I will be able to use my knowledge to have more inclusive classrooms, where all my students can have the opportunity to learn and feel part of the group.. 11.

(12) I am aware that I cannot expect to find the perfect strategies for all Chilean classrooms as Nunan (Brown, 2003, p.10) puts it “It has been realized that there never was and probably never will be a method for all” Nonetheless, this Action Research will allow me to learn more than some strategies, it will equip me with the tools to be a researcher in my own classroom.. 12.

(13) Review of the literature In this section, important authors who have studied language education throughout the years will be exposed to shed some light over my Action Research problem. These authors have been selected considering the relevancy of their investigation and how the topics they address can allow me to improve my teaching practice. The concepts to be displayed in this section are: Teenagers as learners of a foreign language, Speaking, Vocabulary, Meaningful learning involved in the retention of vocabulary, Content Based Instruction and Strategies for teaching and practicing vocabulary. Teenagers as learners of a foreign language The first part of this section will be about teenagers as learners of a foreign language. From the information exposed here about this group of age, decisions on what is relevant or not for my AR question will be made. According to Brown (2014) teenagers are trying to identify who they are and “their sense of identity is wrapped up in the turmoil of adolescent relationships, bonding with a circle of friends, giggling over in jokes, figuring out who they are” (p.120) From this information we can clearly see that teenagers are dealing with much more than the content or subjects to be studied at school. However, Harmer (2007) establishes that in order to reach teenagers interest in the classroom, teachers must engage them. This idea is best described in the following quote: Teenagers, if they are engaged, have a great capacity to learn, a great potential for creativity and a passionate commitment to things which interest them. (…) Our job, therefore, must be provoke students’ engagement with material which is relevant and 13.

(14) involving. At the same time we need to do what we can to bolster our students’ selfesteem, and be conscious, always of their need for identity (Harmer, 2007, p.39) This, calls us to make informed and clear decision in our classroom, always considering what moves teenagers. By taking this into consideration, any aspect of language we want to teach or skill we want to develop can be made by dealing with topics students are interested in. On the other hand, students at this age, learning a foreign language “are becoming capable of using conscious, explicit strategies” (Brown, 2014, p.120) That is to say, explanations and definitions about the target language can be made, but always keeping in mind they must be brief and relevant to the activity students are working on, otherwise, they are just meaningless. Speaking The following part of the literature review will be destined to elaborate on the concept of speaking, mainly, because this is the skill I want to improve on my 8th graders and it is a skill students at this age can take advantage of to share with their peers. To commence with, it is important to specify the conception about speaking. Speaking is defined as “an interactive process of constructing meaning that involves producing, receiving and processing information. Its form and meaning are dependent on the context in which it occurs, the participants, and the purposes of speaking” (Shiamaa, 2006, p.30). From another perspective, the National Curriculum proposes that speaking “es una habilidad productiva del inglés que supone utilizar el idioma para comunicar ideas en forma oral. 14.

(15) Expresarse oralmente consiste en comunicar un mensaje con una adecuada pronunciación y de manera inteligible al participar en intercambios orales, conversaciones y exposiciones” (Mineduc, 2014, p.30) Both definitions previously presented, mention that the presence of two or more speakers is fundamental to exchange information, otherwise oral communication cannot take place. Regarding this, the implementation of group work in the classroom is key to develop speaking, so students can talk and share opinions or ideas. For the purpose of this Action Research I will study and hopefully try to improve this one aspect of the language, which is vocabulary learning and use in oral production, mainly, because this is an aspect of speaking that I consider my 8th graders are lacking. Vocabulary It is important to highlight that according to Brown (2014) vocabulary is not a skill. “The skill comes in the efficient storage (competence) and adept retrieval (performance) of those units” (p.480) In this regard, what tells us that a student has actually learned a word is the capacity he or she has to retrieve that word and use it accurately. Furthermore, vocabulary development is firstly seen in oral production, as explained in the following quote: Vocabulary development first take place in oral language, and in the early stages of learning; it is only once vocabulary knowledge has established its foundations in oral language that it will be transferred to literacy. Once literacy is well established, vocabulary knowledge can increase through reading” (McKay, 2006, p.190). 15.

(16) Consequently, the first step to develop speaking is to provide input (vocabulary items) so that learners can use this tool gradually. As McKay (2006) states teachers or assessors will be checking if students have the vocabulary needed to use language for a range of purposes: if they are able to firstly describe things (big, small), secondly compare things (better than, most) thirdly use idiomatic expressions and phrases (once upon a time…) then connecting ideas (and, then, however) and finally expressing thoughts or simply modifying the way things are said (I think, maybe, sometimes) (p.190) Moreover, learning vocabulary is not a matter of repeating drills without being aware of the meaning that these words are conveying. On the contrary, vocabulary equips learners to describe and utter opinions about the world that surrounds them. Therefore, the learning of it is a much more complex process than simple repetition. Taking into consideration what has been brought to light, it is relevant to this AR to delve deeper into the cognitive factors that exert influence on teaching and learning vocabulary. Meaningful learning involved in the retention of vocabulary Brown (2001) recommends that in order to improve language learning conditions in the classroom, teachers should make certain choices in their teaching practice supported by theory. In this regard, Brown (2001) proposes five cognitive principles based on mental and intellectual processes that are related to language learning. For the purpose of my AR I will elaborate on one of these cognitive principles: Meaningful Learning. Although, I will be mostly focusing on Brown’s perspective of this concept, it is essential to briefly mention Ausubel’s cognitive theory of learning who first coined this term. 16.

(17) He considers that new learning is meaningful when it can be related to the present knowledge of the learner. Bearing this in mind, “meaningful learning will lead toward better long-term retention than rote learning” (Brown, 2001, p. 57) Regarding this topic, Brown (2014) poses the following: Because L2 learners naturally seek to transfer existing knowledge/ability to new knowledge or ability, efficient (and successful) learning will result from a process of making meaningful associations between a learner’s existing knowledge, skills, and emotions and the new material to be learned (Brown, 2014, p. 71) This means, that in order to make learning long lasting teachers have to plan their lessons and the material considering students prior knowledge. This same concept and idea can be transferred to vocabulary teaching, since in order to improve long term retention and recall, strategies to teach and practice the lexicon learned must be meaningful, “rather than viewing vocabulary items as a long and boring list of words to be defined and memorized” (Brown, 2014, p. 481) A way of making vocabulary learning meaningful, is presenting it embedded in context, through a short reading or listening. This will give students a purpose to learn vocabulary, because “people learn a second language more successfully when they use the language as a means of acquiring information, rather than as an end in itself” (Richards & Rodgers, 2001, p. 207). To accomplish so, Richards & Rodgers (2001) present several approaches that can allow learners to use language communicatively. However, I have selected as the most appropriate the Content Based Instruction approach, which will allow me to teach students from 8th grade the vocabulary needed for them to convey ideas.. 17.

(18) Content Based Instruction This approach to language teaching is based on the belief that language is best learned when is organized around content. In this regard language is not conceived as an end in itself, but as a mean to get information or communicate ideas, therefore, little effort is made in teaching the language (Richards & Rodgers, 2001, p. 204). A second notion that may play an important role in defining this approach, is that language is more successfully learned when the topics and activities plan call students attention. This last idea is deeply related to the age of my students and how interesting topics and content can motivate them to express their opinions and ideas, and so, they use the target language to do it. (Richards & Rodgers, 2001, pp. 209 – 210) According to Richards and Rogers (2001) “teaching builds on the previous experience of the learners” (p. 211). CBI takes into account what students bring to the classroom, this, is connected with the principle of meaningful learning proposed by Brown (2001) where learning can be long-lasting if teachers prepare their lessons considering students prior knowledge and from that they build new learning. So one can conclude that learners can benefit from a CBI approach, if the contents treated in the lessons are at some level based on what they already know. I can conclude then that CBI can be an effective tool to use in my classroom in order to teach new vocabulary embedded in context, this, by tackling interesting topics related to my students’ age.. 18.

(19) Strategies for teaching vocabulary In the last part of the literature review some strategies on how to teach and develop vocabulary will be presented. This set of strategies are proposed by Brown (2014) and are considered a guideline for teachers to teach vocabulary communicatively. Select an appropriate time during lessons to vocabulary learning This, since, as Laufer points out “research shows that intentional vocabulary focus accounts for significant gains in acquisition” (Brown, 2014, p. 480) This does not mean that lessons should be focused on language form, because as has been exposed previously this would be meaningless for learners, but instead, to allocate specific time in the lessons to draw attention to certain words for students to notice them and their meaning. Learning vocabulary in context. As Brown posits “Rather than isolating words and/ or focusing on dictionary definitions, learners can benefit from attending to vocabulary within a communicative framework in which items appear” (2014, p. 481) This means, providing students with short texts about a given topic where they can find new words and learn them in context, since this will allow them to make connections between context and meaning. Help students to develop word-Learning strategies According to Brown “an effective way to encourage word-learning is to urge students to use vocabulary notebooks to enter new words, and to review them daily” (Brown, 2014, p.484) this is a strategy that can help learners to increase vocabulary size. If vocabulary increases then they can understand and use language. In these vocabulary notebooks learners. 19.

(20) at this age can enter a new word and use that word in a sentence. The use of that word in context will allow teachers to see if the students are actually understanding the meaning and the use that word has. Major part of the lesson should be focused on the use of the language This means that a major proportion of the lesson should be destined to use the language through activities. This can allow teachers to move from a teacher-centered classroom to a learner-centered classroom. According to a research made by Newton (1995), Joe (1995) and Joe, Nation, and Newton (1996) “more vocabulary was learned through being used productively or receptively” (cited in Richard and Renandya, 2002, p.269) This means, learners need to use the target language and the words taught or learned in order to acquire them. Group work and scaffolding In order to use the language orally learners need to interact with others. That is why pair work or group work can allow learners not only to interact, but also to learn from others. As Jones posits “They (learners) value each other’s contributions, cooperate, learn from each other, and help each other” (cited in Brown, 2014, p.273) In the same line of thought, in a classroom where learners are diverse in terms of proficiency, abilities, etc. scaffolding is a positive strategy since as Maybin, Mercer and Stierer state “enable a learner to accomplish a task which they would not have been quite able to manage on their own (and that at some point) the learner will be able to complete such a task on their own” (cited in McKay, 2006, p.17). 20.

(21) The Methodology To implement the strategies previously presented, I will firstly plan my lessons around three topics that are related to students’ interests: “Teen Life”, “Songs-Music” and “Movies”. From this, every class will be planned putting emphasis on vocabulary in context that is to say, the words or chunks to be taught will be inserted in short readings for learners to get the meaning of specific words that may allow them to express themselves about the topics presented. This does not mean that the focus will be on reading, but texts will be used as a means to contextualize vocabulary. Secondly, students will use their “vocabulary notebooks” registering the words presented that day in the class. They will write one sentence using each word. These sentences must be true for them based on their likes. If students want to they can add images that represent the word. As I explicitly mentioned above, the fact students will be writing does not mean, this is the skill to be assessed or improved, on the contrary it will be a means for students to learn the vocabulary. Finally, at the end of each class students will discuss or answer some questions related to the topic. These questions will allow learners to use the vocabulary seen and it is in here, the post activity where I will be observing whether students are using or not the vocabulary and most importantly if the words or chunks presented are being useful for students to express themselves. Data collection techniques Understanding that the problem detected is not an issue that may be improved on one lesson, a set of data gathering techniques will be used to help me guide and assess the learning process of my students. Moreover, these methods will allow me to gather relevant information in order to see whether the strategies applied are being successful or not in the acquisition and opportune retrieve of the vocabulary taught. 21.

(22) Journal Journals generally include events that call your attention. According to Burns (2010), this tool “allows you to record the events and happenings in your location, your reflections, beliefs and teaching philosophies, your ideas and insights about your practice, and your personal history as a teacher researcher”. This type of written observation has helped me to detect the problem in which this Action Research is based on. At the same time, this tool will help me to keep analyzing and thinking on how my decisions will contribute to the improvement of the learning experience of 8th graders from Francisco Varela School. As a consequence, it is expected that this tool will give me some hints about my performance and decision making throughout the process. Surveys/Questionnaires According to Dörnyei (2003) surveys allow you to get three types of information: “Factual or demographic (who the interviewees are and their background/experiences); behavioral (what they do, or did in the past); attitudinal (attitudes, opinions, beliefs, interests and values) (cited in Burns, 2009, p.81) This method was used firstly to prove if my assumptions about students lack of vocabulary were correct or not. Besides, it allowed me to gather information about how they felt when speaking and what were the reasons for them to not use the target language. Later on, this method will be used again to see whether the strategies applied in order to learn vocabulary were considered useful or not by the students.. 22.

(23) Observation Checklist According to McKay (2006), observation checklists allow teachers “to check that learners are achieving the objectives they have set for learning, over a unit of work, or a length of time. An observation checklist is usually made up of points of observable behavior that can be checked off” (p.278) Objectives achieved will be presented according to the indicators created by the teacher. In this regard, the indicators created will be based on students’ outcome that is to say, if they are able or not to use orally the vocabulary taught. This collecting data method will be used on the final interview where students will have to show what they have learned by using the target language. Interview According to Burns (2010) “interviews are a classic way in research to conduct a conversation that explores your focus area”. In this respect, this tool will help me to have a formal talk where I can detect what my students can do, and what they cannot do in English. From a second perspective, Burgess defines interviews as “conversation with a purpose” (cited in Burns, 2010, p. 74) Taking into consideration what has been mentioned above, I firstly asked students to interview each other to diagnose their speaking skills, and see if my assumptions about students’ lack of vocabulary was a real problem or not. I did this first interview as a class activity because it was quite time consuming to do it personally. This, is one of the solutions proposed by Burns (2010) in order to overcome the lack of time. While students were interviewing each other using 4 questions (see appendix C), I used an observation checklist (see appendix D). 23.

(24) On the other hand, a second interview will be conducted, but this time students will be interviewed in groups and I will be the one in charge of conducting the interview. The objective of this interview will be to see if students are able to use the target language with the vocabulary taught. This last interview will demonstrate if the strategies implemented to teach vocabulary were effective or not for the students. Getting permission and covering ethical issues When I decided that I was going to conduct this Action Research on the 8th grade I informed students about it. However, at that point the problem was not very clear. So, I asked them to complete a speaking activity that would allow me to observe students’ performance. After this, students completed a survey in Spanish to collect their impressions about their own performance in the activity. In order to proceed with this Action Research, and considering the data collection methods I will implement, students will receive a letter (see appendix B) to inform their guardians about this research. This letter will contain not only information about the type of research that will be conducted and the benefits of it, but also I will attach an authorization for them to sign –guardians and students- so both can be well informed.. 24.

(25) Gant Chart. Month. September. Dates. 15. Identifying. X. October. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 10. X. X. X. X. X. X. 24. 25. November 27. 31. 1. X. X. 3. 7. 8. 10. 14. 15. 17. X. X. X. X. X. X. X. X. X. X. X. 21. 22. 24. X. X. X. the problem Holidays Intervention Gathering. X. data Analysis of. X. data AR. X. conclusions. 25.

(26) Data Analysis Diagnosing the problem The process of collecting data started with a diagnosis made to the 22 students from the 8th grade. In order to comprehend and look for insight on the problem at hand, I decided to elaborate a short interview (see appendix C) in English. This interview intended to elucidate how well students could name means of transportation and describe a place. Regarding this, it is relevant to highlight that the purpose of the interview was directly related to the objectives of the unit students had recently saw, therefore, students were being orally assessed on what had been taught. To assess students during the interview, I used an observation Checklist (see appendix D) which allowed me to realize if students were able or not to use English and if they could or could not use a variety of adjectives to talk about a place.. Interview 1: diagnosing the problem 25 20 15 10 5 0 Can use English. Can name means of Can use a variety of transportation adjectives to describe a place. Figure 1. The students’ initial level of English.. 26. Can connect ideas.

(27) As illustrated in figure 1 and according to the observation checklist elaborated to assess students’ use of English, 12 students out of 22 can speak English and connect ideas. 21 students out of 22 can name means of transportation, this means that almost the whole class can use isolated words in English. However, only 2 students out of 22 are able to use a variety of adjectives to describe a place. These 2 students used at least 3 different adjectives, while the rest of the class used Spanish or only one adjective -“beautiful”- to describe the place they were talking about. After students answered the interview, they were asked to complete a survey (see appendix E). The purpose of this survey was to see if my observations about students’ lack of vocabulary to express their ideas were similar to students’ observations and needs. The results obtained were the following:. Question 1.- ¿Cuánto Inglés utilizaste en esta entrevista? 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 Solo hablé Inglés. Hablé Inglés gran Hablé un poco en Poco, el resto fue Solo hablé español parte de la Inglés y un poco en en español entrevista español. Figure 2. Students’ use of English.. 27.

(28) According to the results obtained by this survey in question number 1, 7 out of 22 students considered they only used English in this interview, while 8 students out of 22 declared to have spoken in English almost through the entire interview. These results are not very different to the ones obtained through the checklist observation. That is to say, students’ appreciation of their performance is similar to the teacher’s observation. As to the rest of the class, 7 students out of 22, revealed they used Spanish during the interview. When asked what impediments they had to speak English and clearly convey their ideas during the interview, these were the students’ answers:. Question 2: ¿Cuáles fueron tus impedimentos para hablar en Inglés? 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 Ninguno. Falta de vocabulario para expresar mis ideas. El tema no me Me dio vergüenza interesaba hablar en inglés. Figure 3. Students’ impediments to use English orally.. 28. No entendí.

(29) As figure 3 illustrates 16 out of 22 students felt they did not have enough vocabulary to express their ideas, while the rest of the class declared that either they felt ashamed or they did not have an impediment to use the target language. From the results obtained by both observation checklist and survey, I realized that students’ lack of vocabulary was an impediment for them to speak English. That is to say, that according to the data collected, students can use English when naming things, but, when they are asked to elaborate on their own ideas they are not able to do it. Carrying out the interventions Once I started planning and carrying out the interventions to improve students’ oral production through vocabulary learning, I realized that registering my observations on how students were responding to the strategies applied, could allow me to reflect on my own practice and document relevant situations. Some of the most relevant observation will be exposed here. Every lesson started with questions to raise students’ motivation. In the first intervention students were asked: What things do you like doing in your free time? At this point of the lesson, key vocabulary was not introduced yet. After this, students were given a short text about activities teenagers like doing in their free time. They had to read and associate descriptions to images representing those descriptions. The following paragraph reflects some of the observations made by me during this part of the lesson:. 29.

(30) Teens life: Introducing new words I noticed that some students were able to use the texts provided in the 1st activity to guess/comprehend the meaning of the adjectives without using dictionaries (…) but, other students needed extra support (…) Some students looked for these words on their dictionaries and others asked me. (Journal Entry, November 14th, 2016. See appendix A) After working with the texts and vocabulary, students registered adjectives on their vocabulary notebook writing sentences using each word. The adjectives they registered in this first intervention were: exciting, entertaining, necessary, loyal and challenging. Furthermore, students were presented with activities that teenagers do such as: spending time with friends, practicing sports, spending time on social networks, taking part on demonstrations, visiting funfairs. Finally, students were asked to sit with different classmates from the ones they always sit with (these were assigned by me). The following entry reflects my observations on this last part of the lesson, where “scaffolding” and “pair work” were being used as strategies for students to put into practice the vocabulary taught while helping each other: Teens life: Using new words In the last part of the lesson students had to speak with their classmates about things they like doing and why. I observed that some students used the vocabulary given to speak, while others did not use it (…) they just used their own resources (…) 3 pairs were off task talking about other topics. One of these pairs, I noticed “right away”,. 30.

(31) weren’t properly paired, because both of them needed help with the language (Journal Entry, November 14th, 2016. See appendix A) After the first intervention, I had to do some modifications for the next one, such as: providing more instances for students to understand the meaning of new vocabulary and making some modifications on the way students were sitting for the post activity. The following extract taken from my journal shows how students were introduced new words in the next class: Music and songs: Introducing new words Students read short texts of people (teenagers) talking about music styles and songs they like and why (while using adjectives). After this, students had to use these new adjectives on different songs presented, and register the adjectives on their vocabulary notebook (…) This time students had new vocabulary embedded in context and auditory stimulus as a strategy for them to understand the meaning of the unknown words. (Journal Entry, November 15th, 2016. See appendix A) Later, students registered the adjectives on their vocabulary notebooks. The words they wrote were the following: uplifting, soothing, strident, harmonious, boring and sad. At the end of the lessons, students had to talk about music they like and why they like it. This time all students were on task after some modifications I did on the pairing. The next intervention was about movies. In the following excerpt from my journal it can be seen one of the observations made during this lesson:. 31.

(32) Movies: Introducing new words Students were given short texts with descriptions of movies. After reading, they had to recognize the movie (…) I asked students to deduce the meaning of the adjectives according to the movie, most students participated even the ones who are less proficient. (Journal Entry, November 21st, 2016. See appendix A) Later, students registered the new adjectives presented which were: hilarious, thought-provoking, lovely, terrifying and heartbreaking and wrote sentences that were true for them with some of the words. Finally, during their post activity students talked about movies they like and why. This is what I observed: Movies: using new words When talking about their favorite movies they all had a lot to say and some students used the vocabulary provided, others just didn’t, even though I asked them to. (Journal Entry, November 21st, 2016. See appendix A) Results Having described my observations during the process, I will now analyze the results. To observe whether the strategies had been effective or not, I conducted an interview (See appendix F). In this interview, students had to show what they were able to do with the language. Before starting, students were given a sample with the questions to be asked. They had 2 minutes to scan the interview and solve doubts- about the questions, not the vocabularyIn those two minutes some students took notes on the sample.. 32.

(33) Along with this and to assess students, I used a checklist observation (See appendix H). In the process students were voice recorded (See appendix G) with the purpose of having a backup for my observations. It is important to mention that this time 18 out of 22 students participated in the last part of this process, because 4 students were absent the day I interviewed their classmates. However, this did not affect the results, since these 18 students were present during all the interventions and they represent more than the 50% of the class. The results were the following:. Interview 2: Results 20 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 Can use English. Can name activities. Can use 3 or more adjectives to describe activities, music and movies. Can connect ideas. Figure 4. The students’ final level of English. As illustrated in figure 4 and according to the observation checklist elaborated to assess students’ use of English, 14 out of 18 students can speak English. 18 students out of 18 can name activities, this means that almost the entire class can use isolated words in English. 9 out of 18 students can use 3 or more adjectives to describe activities, music and movies, adjectives such as: exciting, strident, uplifting, entertaining, challenging, thoughtprovoking, loyal, etc. Moreover, 17 out of 18 students can connect ideas. 33.

(34) The comparison of the figures 1 and 4 will allow us to see students’ progress:. Interview 1: diagnosing the problem. In figure 1 we can see that only 2 out of. 25. 22 students were able to use different. 20 15. adjectives. 10. to. describe. a. place.. 5. However, when interview number 2. 0 Can use English. Can name means of transportation. Can use a variety of adjectives to describe a place. Can connect ideas. was conducted, 9 students out of 18 were able to use different adjectives to. Figure 1. The students’ initial level of English. talk about activities, music, and movies, as can be seen in figure. Interview 2: Results. number 2. Although the nature of the. 20 15 10. things to be described was different,. 5. there is a clear increment on the. 0 Can use English. Can name activities. Can use 3 or more adjectives to describe activities, music and movies. Can connect ideas. amount of students who can use a variety of adjectives.. Figure 4. The students’ final level of English. 34.

(35) After students answered the interview, they were asked to complete a survey (see appendix I). The purpose of this survey was to prove, from students’ perspective, if the strategies applied to learn vocabulary were useful or not for their performance in the final interview. This survey had two question. On the one hand, I wanted to know if the vocabulary during the lessons helped students to answer this interview and these were the results:. 1.- ¿Consideras que el vocabulario aprendido en clases the facilito el poder comaprtir tus ideas en esta entrevista? 20 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 Si. No. Figure 5. Usefulness of the vocabulary seen in class. According to the results displayed on figure 5, 18 out of 18 students considered the vocabulary seen in class as useful.. 35.

(36) Before analyzing students answers in question number two, it is important to mention that they could select more than one choice. So, when they were asked which of the activities done in class was more useful to answer the interview, this is what students chose:. 2.- ¿Alguna de estas actividades hechas en clases te ayudo a responder esta entrevista? 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 Nuevo vocabulario Mantener un Conversar con mis presentado en clases "vocabulary notebook" y compañeros durante la registrar nuevas palabras clase sobre mis intereses. Ninguna de las anteriores. Figure 6. Usefulness of the strategies applied in the interventions.. As figure 6 illustrates, when asked about the new vocabulary presented in the lessons, 14 out of 18 students considered it to be useful when answering the interview. This category reflects the different strategies used to present the vocabulary and make it comprehensible for students. The strategies were: words embedded in context, guessing meaning from context.. 36.

(37) 9 out of 18 students thought that keeping a vocabulary notebook and registering new words helped them to answer this interview. Finally, 4 out of 18 believed that speaking with other classmates during the English lessons allowed them to answer the interview. These 4 students were paired with classmates that had a better level of English, which is why they considered pair work to be useful.. 37.

(38) Reflection After analyzing all the data gathered from this process, it is now pertinent to describe these findings. Once I realized that students’ major impediment to speak in English during the lesson was their lack of vocabulary, I planned every intervention considering the relevance of providing students with the means to communicate by themselves. During my interventions, every lesson started with a question to raise motivation and introduce the topic of the lesson. After this, I gave them short readings about: activities teenagers do, music or movies, depending on the topic of the lesson. These short readings had a concrete activity, which was to connect descriptions to images. Embedded in the readings were new expression or adjectives. So once students finished the activities, I drew their attention to these new words asking them about the meaning. Some students would guess the meaning of the words according to the context, while others would look for these words on the dictionary and the rest would ask me. These observations allowed me to realize that different learners use different strategies to comprehend the meaning of new vocabulary. After discussing the meaning of the words, students would register them on their “vocabulary notebooks”, writing sentences where they had to use these adjectives or expressions. Finally, students sat with new assigned classmates. These sitting arrangements were made considering students’ levels of English, so they could help each other during the post activity. In here, students were given questions related to the topic of the lesson and they were asked to answer these questions orally. Once again, the vocabulary previously presented and registered had as an objective to provide students with means for them to communicate.. 38.

(39) As observed in my interventions, some students would not use these words, but instead they would use their own resources while, others, would include these new adjectives or expression in their answers. In order to closely observe whether students benefited or not from the interventions carried out, I conducted an interview. In this interview, students had to talk about the topics seen in class and describe their interests in activities, music and movies. What I realized, was that students used some of the adjectives presented during the lessons to justify their answers. After finishing the interviews, it was evident that at least 9 students had improved their vocabulary, resulting on more elaborated answers. However, it was not yet clear which of the strategies applied was the most useful for students or if it was a combination of all them. In this respect, students believed that one of the most useful strategies was to present new vocabulary. This allowed me to reflect on the importance of allocating specific time on the lessons to focus on vocabulary and make learners aware of certain words or expressions. Although half of the interviewed students improved their vocabulary and use three or more adjectives to describe their interests, the rest of the students were not able to use more than one or two to justify their answers throughout the entire interview. In this regard, the need for further improvements on the learning conditions of these students seems imperative. Studying and analyzing their current situation could provide insights into why these learners did not benefit from the strategies applied. And from there, modify or find more suitable solutions for this group of students.. 39.

(40) Conclusions The results obtained throughout this action research lead me to conclude that teaching specific vocabulary and promoting the use of these words during the lessons, enhanced students’ oral production, particularly with respect to the amount of information given by the learners. Regarding the importance of allocating time on the English lessons to draw students’ attention to new vocabulary, this group of 8th graders benefited from new expressions and words presented through texts, allowing most of them to fully grasp the meaning and use of these, as opposed to the strategy I used to use before conducting this action research, which was presenting vocabulary through flashcards during the warm up. Even though, the strategies applied to improve students’ oral production were directly related to this group of 8th graders’ needs, I do believe some of these findings and strategies can contribute other foreign language learners to improve their vocabulary and their ability to speak using the target language. As to the limitations I found during this process, the most striking one was the fact that the classroom where I was teaching was not completely mine, it was a teacher’s class who shared that space with me. Therefore, when I discovered why students were not speaking during my lessons, at first my host teacher opposed to the idea of further research on this topic, concerned with their own beliefs about what and how students should learn. Nonetheless, I was able to investigate and carry out my interventions. Throughout this experience I learned the importance of leaving beliefs aside when conducting an action research and not allowing them to obscure your findings and interventions.. 40.

(41) In this regard, it was also difficult for me to reconsider the way I was teaching, because most of my decisions in the classroom were based on the way I learned the language. On the other hand, time was also a limitation, since the school offered many activities for students throughout the year, which resulted on a delay of the interventions planned. Considering this, one of the reasons as to why some of my students were not able to elaborate on their answers during the interview, could have been the fact that they had little time to develop and work with the vocabulary presented. Overall, conducting this action research allowed me to improve my practice as a teacher while becoming a researcher in the classroom. To do so, it was essential for me to leave aside some of my previous decisions when teaching the language. Moreover, I learned the importance of questioning our practice and context, which means, not taking for granted the observations teachers make every day.. 41.

(42) References Brown, H. D. (2001). Teaching by principles: An interactive approach to language pedagogy. White Plains, NY: Longman.. Brown, H. D. (2014). Teaching by principles: An interactive approach to language pedagogy. White Plains, SF: Pearson.. Burns, Anne. (2010). Doing Action Research in English Language Teaching, A Guide for Practitioners. Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.. Harmer, J. (2007) The practice of English language teaching. Essex: Pearson Longman.. McKay, P. (2006). Assessing young language learners. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.. Ministerio de Educación (2014). Programa de Estudio Octavo Básico. Retrieved from Ministerio de Educación Web site: http://www.curriculumenlineamineduc.cl/605/articles-20551_programa.pdf. 42.

(43) Nunan, D. (1992). Research Methods in language learning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.. Richards, J. C. & Renandya, W. A. (2002). Methodology in Language Teaching: An. Anthology of Current Practice. Cambridge: Cambridge Press.. Richards, J.C & Rodgers, T.S (2001). Approaches and methods in language teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.. S. (E.F.T.). The Effectiveness of a Task- Based Instruction program in Developing the English Language Speaking Skills of Secondary Stage Students (2006 ed.). Cairo.. 43.

(44) Appendix: Samples of the instruments Appendix A Journal Entries. May 23rd, 2016. 44.

(45) November 14th, 2016. 45.

(46) November 15th, 2016. November 21st, 2016. 46.

(47) Appendix B Letter of consent Santiago, 10 de NOVIEMBRE de 2016 Estimados/as Apoderados/as Escuela Francisco Varela.. Junto con saludarles, la presente tiene como objetivo contarles sobre un trabajo de investigación-acción que se desarrollará durante este trimestre en nuestra Escuela. Mi nombre es Javiera Panes Aguilera, soy estudiante en Práctica Profesional de la asignatura de Ingles de la Universidad Alberto Hurtado que es recibido por la Escuela “Francisco Varela” para ser parte de mi formación profesional como docente. En esta oportunidad, me encuentro realizando mi trabajo final de tesis, que está basado en una investigación-acción donde busco apoyar el desarrollo de la habilidad oral de los estudiantes en la asignatura de inglés mediante el aprendizaje de vocabulario. Para esto he diseñado un plan de acción que cuenta con distintas actividades que se implementarán en 8vo básico, curso al cual he acompañado desde Abril en aula. Como parte de este trabajo, debemos documentar el proceso para obtener evidencia y hacer de esta investigación un trabajo honesto, profesional y con verdaderos resultados. Por esta razón grabaremos en audio a los estudiantes de 8vo desde las próximas semanas hasta fin de clase. Estas documentaciones serán utilizadas como evidencia para respaldar la información y resultados presentados en la entrega final de la investigación, y durante mi examen de grado. Cabe señalar que la información y audios obtenidos en esta investigación solo serán usadas para el trabajo de tesis antes mencionado.. Por esta razón les solicito completar la siguiente autorización.. 47.

(48) AUTORIZACIÓN USO DE AUDIOS DE VOZ. Yo. _______________________. CI. ________________. apoderado/a. de. ________________________ CI______________ quien cursa 8vo básico, por medio de la presente autorizo al estudiante en práctica de la Escuela Francisco Varela, Javiera Panes Aguilera CI 18.532.509-1, para hacer uso de los audios de voz en los cuales figure mi hijo/a, así como de los trabajos que él /ella realice durante su permanencia en dicho establecimiento.. La Escuela Francisco Varela y el departamento de inglés podrán hacer uso de los audios de voz para los fines académicos correspondientes que conlleva esta investigación.. Expido este consentimiento de conformidad con las disposiciones legales vigentes sobre los derechos de autor.. Atentamente,. ________________________________ (Firma). ________________________________ (Nombre apoderado/a) ________________________________ (CI). 48.

(49) Appendix C Interview Format 1: diagnosing the problem. Instructions: -In pairs, read these questions carefully. -Interview each other using these questions. -Use only English.. Questions:. 1. - What types of transportation do you have in your country?. 2. - What types of transportation do you usually use?. 3. - What is your favorite country or city to visit? Why?. 4. - What are some of the characteristics of that place? Describe some of the aspects of that country/ city such as: accommodation, outdoor activities, weather, sights, etc.. 49.

(50) Appendix D Observation Checklist Format 1. Name: Theme: Transportation and Traveling Yes/No. Comments (When? /Where? /How Well?. Can use English Can name means of transportation Can use a variety of adjectives to describe a place Can connect ideas. 50. Teaching Points to follow up.

(51) Appendix E Survey Format 1 Nombre: _______________________________________________________ -Luego de ser entrevistado responde estas preguntas. 1.- ¿Cuánto Inglés utilizaste en esta entrevista? Solo hable inglés. Hable inglés gran parte de la entrevista.. Hable un poco en inglés y un poco en español.. Poco, el resto fue en español. Solo hable español. 2.- ¿Cuáles fueron tus impedimentos para hablar en inglés? Justifica tu respuesta y añade sugerencias para mejorar tu desempeño. Ninguno. Falta de vocabulario para expresar mis ideas.. El tema no me interesaba.. Me dio vergüenza hablar en inglés.. No entendí.. 51.

(52) Appendix F Interview Format 2 Warm-up: -How are you today? -Are you comfortable? -Have you had a good day at school? (The idea is to establish a good rapport as suggested by Burns (2010)) Checking students’ oral production: 1) Teen life -What activities do you like to do? And why? -Which of these pictures do you think best represent a typical Chilean teenager? And Why?. 1. 2. 4. 3. 52.

(53) 2) Songs and music -What type of music do you like? -What is your favorite band or singer? And why? 3) Movies -What type of movies do you like? -What is your favorite movie? And why? Closure: -Well that is it, was it difficult for you? -Thank you very much, you did a great job. (The idea here is to make the interviewee feel he or she made a good job). 53.

(54) Appendix G Interview Format 2: Transcriptions These are the transcriptions from the final interview. Following are the symbols used in these excerpts: […]. : Intelligible utterance. / /. : Mispronounced word. (). : Use of Spanish. …. : Hesitation or pause. I. : Interviewer. S. : Subject. Group 1: I: Guys, let’s start with questions about the unit, ok. Teen life, what activities do you like to do? And why? MT SMT: I like to listen to music, dance, sing... activities, I don’t know I like to do so much things…and I like to do artistic things to do, because … is … inspire for me and I like to go to another place with that activities. I: Ok, good, thank you M. What about you G? SGC: I like practice three sports: basketball, volleyball and football, because … it’s interesting for … life and this. I: What about you R? SRR: I like practice two sports … basketball and (esgrima) because is challenging. 54.

(55) I: ok, good! What about you JR SJR: I like four sports: parkour, gymnastic…football and basketball. I: good, and why? SJR: Because … (ay!) entertaining. I: aha, ok, good! What about you GT? SGT: (¿sobre deportes?) I: About sports, or you can talk about … the things you like doing …it could be, I don’t know, going to funfairs, or spending time with family. SGT: Aaah, I like […] with my friends, I like do sports because, for my body is … (bacán) -students laughI: ok, good, thank you! SGT: And I like playing video games and … […] I: that’s it, thank you GT. What about you RP? SRP: I like dance and seeing dance, spending time with friends cause are entertaining and necessary. I: ok, good, thank you. Very good. Ok guys, so question number two: which of these pictures do you think best represent a typical Chilean teenager? And why? Ok, it could be all of them, it could be just one, as you wish. MT, you first. SMT: Mmmh I think depends what person, but I have to choose, I think the four. I: Ok, and why? SMT: because, in this country … this country needs a better education, a better system and students know that and do, they do things for better future for us. I: ok, very good, thank you MT. What about you GC?. 55.

(56) SGC: The four …because in Chile students …do …much demonstrations and this picture mmmh you see this. I: Ok good, that’s it? Thank you GT. What about you RR? SRR: I think picture number two, three and four, because Chilean … I don’t know… (Porque no sé cómo decirlo en Inglés) I: Ok, then say it in Spanish SRR: (Bueno, porque igual creo que hay harta variedad de gustos, pero en general los que más se ven son… los que más he visto son los últimos tres) I: Ok, thank you RR. What about you JR? SJR: Picture number …excuse me, three and four… I: And why? SJR: (la cuarta porque la política igual esta como muy mala, y) the three (no sé) life (cotidiana) I: ok, good thank you JR. What about you GT? SGT: the four because …I (the students makes a movement with his hands pointing that he does not want to answer the question) I: ok, that’s it. RP. SRP: …Picture number one, two, three and four, because Chilean teenagers are so different and… (Student shrugs) I: Ok, good, thank you guys. Topic two songs and music. Question number one: what type of music do you like? MT SMT: I don’t know, I listen so much music and I don’t know what is the type of that music. I think reggae, little bit of pop and so much other things but I don’t know what is the type of music of that songs. 56.

(57) I: Thank you M. What about you GC? SGC: Rock. I: Rock, ok. What about you RR? SRR: Rock and Hip-Hop. I: Ok, thank you, JR? SJR: I like pop, rock and classic, folk mmmh alls tip of music. I: Ok, thank you, GT? SGT: I like reggae music, I like classical music … I: Ok, thank you. RP? SRP: I don’t have a type of music, but I listen more pop. I: Ok, thank you. Guys what is your favorite band or singer? And why? MT. SMT: I don’t know, I …I can’t choose. I can’t choose one. I: Ok, what about you GC? SGC: Gorillas, because … yours music is … (cómo) uplifting … but… too (también) … it’s strident in … in any parts. I: Thank you GC. What about you RR? SRR: My favorite band (o sea) singer is JG I: Ok, and why? SRR: Because, your lyric is […] I: ok, anything else? No? That’s it. JR? SJR: My favorite band, band is Metalica, Red Hot Chili peppers, Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath …etc, etc, etc. I: Ok and why? SJR: … Strident, soothing, harmonious aaah and Cory […] boring and sad. 57.

(58) I: is it boring as well? You think it is boring! SJR: Distintas cosas, son variedades de grupos. I: Ok, thank you JR. What about you GT? SGT: I like… Calle 13 but don’t is my favorite band, because I don’t have. I have so much favorite bands. I: Ok, but what about Calle 13? What could you say about them? SGT: Is ex…examp I: Exciting? SGT: Ejemplo I: Aaah an example, but why? SGT: Because I like this band and … (moves his hand pointing that he does not want to add anything else) I: and that’s it, ok, thank you! RP? SRP: I don’t have a favorite band. I: You don’t have. But, if could choose one, one at least. SRP: I don’t know …mmm…[…] I: ok, why? SRP: mmm…the lyrics. I: Ok, good, thank you. Very good, ok so now this is almost the last part: Movies. What types of movies do you like MT? SMT: Mmm the French ones, comedies and the thought-provoking movies. I: Though provoking ones, ok, thank you. What about you GC? SGC: Action, comedies. I: Good, what about you RR? 58.

(59) SRR: mmmh… comedy and… (De ciencia social, que tenga que ver con ciencia social, no sé cómo se dice) I: Ok, she said something related to that, the word was thought provoking, maybe, right? SGT: (¿Cómo se dice de ciencia ficción?) SJR: Ficcion science? I: Ok, SJR: Actions, comedy, dramatic, etc. I: Ok, good. What about you GT? Types of movies? SGT: My…comedy, action/accion, drama. I: Anything else? That’s it. RP? SRP: Eeeh, I like comedy, romance, horror and Drama. I: aah ok, very good. And the last question is what is your favorite movie and why? MT? SMT: I don’t know. I: One movie, choose and why SMT: Little miss sunshine, because is very funny and I like the movie because is like brok...broken (¿cómo se dice rompiendo?) stereotypes of woman or a little girl. I: Ok, good, thank you MT. What about you GC? SGC: Intouchables in English, but amigos in Spanish, because is sad, but… is, also is …exciting and fabulous. I: Ok, good, thank you. RR? SRR: My favorite movie is …two I: Two? Two favorite movies, so are SRR: Straight Outta Compton and Precious. I: Ok, and why? 59.

(60) SRR: I don’t know, is …mmm (motivadora) motivational. I: Ok, anything else? SRR: (Eso) I: That’s it, good. JR? SJR: …My favorite movies is, all favorite movies, classic movies: Star Wars, Star Trek …Jumpers, etc. I: And why? SJR: …Energetic, (entretención, no se cosas así) I: Ok, good, thank you. What about you GT? Favorite movie and why… SGT: I don’t have favorite movie. I like Public Enemy. I: and why? SGT: Because, here I say so much action and this is what I like and …I like Sherlock Holmes, I like … (moves his hand showing he does not want to continue) I: That’s it? Ok, RP? SRP: My favorite movie is Kill Bill, because it’s heartbreaking and thought provoking, especially when Beatrix and Bill talk to revenge.. 60.

(61) Group 2 I: Let’s start with the questions…the first topic: teen life, what activities do you like to do and why? CB SCB: Spending time with my friends, because they are loyal and it’s necessary having fun. I: Ok, good that’s it? Thank you very much. What about you I? SI: Taiming (taking) pat (part) on demonstrations, because … necessary. I: What about you VR? SVR: I like practice sports, because they are exciting. I: Ok… SMB: I like spending time with my friends, because I think there is entertaining. I: Ok… SVG: I like spending time with my friends because they are loyal and I love them. I: Ok, good, what about you RC? SRC: I like spending time with my friends, because they are … entertaining. I: Good…question number two: which of these pictures do you think best represent a typical Chilean teenager? And why? CB SCB: I want to say four, but it’s three because they all teenagers spend for time in the phone and doesn’t…they doesn’t connect with the people because they are (todo el rato mirando) I: Very good, thank you CB, I? SI: Picture number three because Chilean teenagers is spending time on social networks. I: Ok, what about you VR? SVR: Picture number 2 because …because teen […] like practice sport. Yes, ok. I: Ok…. 61.

(62) SMB: I think is all of the pictures, but mostly the number three because all teenagers spending more time with … in phone and less time with friends. I: Ok, thank you SVG: I think that three, because the Chilean teenager spend a big part of the time in the social media. I: Ok, good, what about you RC? SRC: mmmh…I […] picture number three because Chilean teenagers like … spending time with the friends. I: Ok, good, thank you. Songs and music, what type of music do you like? CB SCB: Mmmh, pop and old fifty’s music. I: Ok, thank you…I? SI: Eeeh, Rap, mmmh reggae and rock. I: Ok…VR? SVR: Mmmh, rock and metal I: ok, good SMB: I like rock I: Ok, VG? SVG: I don’t know I like everything, I think. I: Ok, good, RC? SRC: mmmh I like […] I: Ok, good. What is your favorite band or singer? And why? CB SCB: (Ooh no tengo idea) Ed Sheeran, because he is perfect and amazing and he sings … awesome and I love him. I: Ok, good, thank you CB. What about you I? 62.