Which teaching strategies can I use to engage my ninth grade D students with the activities of the english lesson at Alma Mater School?

Texto completo

(1)Teaching strategies to engage students. 1. School of Education English Pedagogy. “Which teaching strategies can I use to engage my ninth grade D students with the activities of the English lesson at Alma Mater school?” Carla Rivera Riveros. This research was carried out to obtain a university degree as an English teacher. Santiago, Chile 2016.

(2) Teaching strategies to engage students. 2. Abstract The current action research aims at looking for teaching strategies to engage students from ninth grade during the activities of the English lesson. The project was developed in a subsidized school in La Granja district. The intervention consisted of four activities that serve as a channel to apply the strategies, which were chosen considering age characteristics, as well as the particular characteristics of the learners. The data was gathered using a descriptive journal, a presurvey, and a behavior checklist. Finally, the results of this action research evidenced an increase on students’ engagement during class activities. Keywords: teaching strategies, ninth graders, learners’ characteristics, students’ engagement. Resumen La presente investigación-acción está enfocada en la búsqueda de estrategias de enseñanza que motive a los estudiantes de primero medio a participar durante las actividades de la clase de Inglés. El proyecto fue desarrollado en una escuela subvencionada de la comuna en La Granja. La intervención consistió en cuatro actividades que sirvieron como medio para aplicar las estrategias, las cuales fueron elegidas considerando las características tanto de la edad como aquellas propias de los estudiantes. La información fue recolectada usando un diario descriptivo, una pre-encuesta, y un cuestionario de comportamiento. Finalmente, los resultados evidenciaron un incremento en la participación de los estudiantes durante las actividades de la clase. Palabras clave: estrategias de enseñanza, estudiantes de primero medio, características de los estudiantes, participación de los estudiantes..

(3) Teaching strategies to engage students. 3. Acknowledgements. I would like to thank my family. Their profound love and unconditional support give me the strength to go this far. They have always taught me that with willingness, commitment, and hard work I can achieve everything I want. A million thanks to you..

(4) Teaching strategies to engage students. 4. Table of contents Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... 2 Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................................... 3 Table of contents ............................................................................................................................. 4 Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 7 Context ............................................................................................................................................ 8 Problem ....................................................................................................................................... 9 Preliminary research question ......................................................................................................... 9 Rationale ....................................................................................................................................... 10 Literature review ........................................................................................................................... 12 Engagement ............................................................................................................................... 13 Context................................................................................................................................... 14 Motivation. ............................................................................................................................ 15 Teaching teenagers .................................................................................................................... 15 Strategies ................................................................................................................................... 16 Making interesting tasks ........................................................................................................ 16 Good Student-teacher relationship ........................................................................................ 17 Promoting cooperation among the learners ........................................................................... 17.

(5) Teaching strategies to engage students. 5. Scaffolding............................................................................................................................. 18 Mind map of main concepts ...................................................................................................... 19 Research methodology .................................................................................................................. 20 Observation and journal ............................................................................................................ 20 Pre-survey.................................................................................................................................. 21 Behavior checklist ..................................................................................................................... 22 Intervention ................................................................................................................................... 23 Data analysis ................................................................................................................................. 26 Pre-survey.................................................................................................................................. 26 Behavior checklist ..................................................................................................................... 39 Behavior checklist #1 ............................................................................................................ 40 Analysis of the intervention .......................................................................................................... 42 Behavior checklist #2. ........................................................................................................... 42 Behavior checklist #3. ........................................................................................................... 43 Behavior checklist #4. ........................................................................................................... 45 Behavior checklist # 5. .......................................................................................................... 46 Reflection and Analysis of Intervention ....................................................................................... 48 Conclusion and further implications ............................................................................................. 50.

(6) Teaching strategies to engage students. 6. References ..................................................................................................................................... 53 Appendix A. Action plan timeline ................................................................................................ 56 Appendix B. Form consent giving to parents. .............................................................................. 57 Appendix C. Observation and journal .......................................................................................... 58 Appendix D. Survey of students’ perception regarding English lessons ...................................... 60 Appendix E. Behavior checklist ................................................................................................... 62 Appendix F. Samples of permissions and students’ pre-surveys .................................................. 63.

(7) Teaching strategies to engage students. 7. Introduction. As teachers of English, it is important to be fully aware of the challenge that represents learning a new language, especially for EFL students. For them, facing English implies not only learning the language exclusively, but also being in contact with the culture that is behind. This situation is even more complex when students’ life experiences are no connected to the foreign language whatsoever, which might influence their level of commitment with English in the classroom. This exerts a great, although not always visible, impact on students, who may wonder: What is this useful for? Why do I have to learn something that I barely understand? For that reason, it is imperative for teachers to consider the multiple variables that might affect learners’ level of engagement, such as: their contexts, age level, interests, etc. The goal is finding ways of approaching the students by using their own experiences as a starting point. The current action research is focus on a ninth grade class in a vulnerable context, where a problem regarding students’ lack of engagement has been identified. In consequence, the aim of this project is to look for appropriate teaching strategies to engage learners in the classroom, so as to increase the opportunities for them to participate and develop English skills..

(8) Teaching strategies to engage students. 8. Context. This action research will be developed in a subsidized school with boys and girls, which offers primary and secondary education with the specialties of accounting and tourism for junior high school students. It is located in the limits of La Granja and La Pintana districts, in a neighborhood called Santo Tomas. The school presents an 80% of vulnerability, and its community members (principal, teachers, students, and parents), are used to deal with themes, such as: domestic abuse, verbal and/or physical violence, and drug consumption. Due to the latter one, there are learners who have been expelled from the school for consuming drugs inside the educational institution. Every subject has got its own classroom. The English room is equipped with whiteboard and a shelf with dictionaries and the books offered by the Ministry of education. Although, there are no technological devices, such as: computer, data projector, speakers or wifi connection, these aids may be provided by the school when needed. The English class that will be studied has got an amount of six pedagogical hours per week, and corresponds to the ninth grade D constituted by 20 students. They are usually sitting in pairs, and arranged in four rows facing the whiteboard. On Wednesdays, the first class begins at 8 a.m. and the second one at 15.35 p.m., and on Thursdays this class starts at 8 a.m. Nevertheless, a great number of the students arrive at the classroom more than 40 minutes late, during the while or post-stage of the lesson. Among the.

(9) Teaching strategies to engage students. 9. reasons that students give to justify their delay are: falling asleep, do not listen to the alarm, having problems with means of transportation, etc. Problem Several students from ninth grade D refuse to participate on the lesson plans prepared for each class, and decide to spend the entire module doing other activities of their choice, such as: listening to music, talking to their classmates, or completing homework from other subjects. Furthermore, as it was previously explained, there are some students who usually arrive late at the classroom, which means that they lose the pre-stage of the lesson in which topics and contents are usually introduced. As consequence, these learners frequently have difficulties to tackle and perform tasks, especially when language production is required. Instead, they start misbehaving by doing other activities that are not related to the class. Despite there are contextual factors that may be related to the students’ behavior in the classroom, the main problem is that the students are not engaged with the English class. That is to say, they are unwilling to participate actively on the dynamics and tasks that are prepared for them. For that reason, it is the concern of this action research to explore on different ways to engage the students, and consequently to take part on the different activities. Therefore, the preliminary research question that will enable the main problem to be tackled is the following: Preliminary research question. Which teaching strategies can I use to engage my 9th grade D students with the activities of the English lesson at Alma Mater school?.

(10) Teaching strategies to engage students. 10. Rationale. As learning is in the core of any class, it is the concern of this action research to find strategies that might allow the learners to be engaged with the activities developed in the English lesson. What is more, it is expected to tackle the problem of students’ lack of participation by encouraging learners to be genuinely involved. Therefore participation is understood as the students’ actions related to topics and contents of the lesson that contribute to their learning experience. In this sense, the reason for undertaking this project lies on how important learners’ participation is in order to learn a language. According to Richards (2006), “students [are] expected to take on a greater degree of responsibility for their own learning”, (p. 5) which implies students getting involved on the activities. Furthermore, considering that in this context the students not only face the learning challenges determined for their age, but also the circumstances of their own reality, it is imperative to remark how relevant is for these students to tackle the problem under investigation. Students in “high-poverty urban high schools […] are more likely than others to become disaffected and drop out, and the social and economic consequences of disengagement for them are severe” (Committee on Increasing High School Students’ Engagement and Motivation to Learn, 2004, p. 15). For that reason, the search for strategies to engage learners not only aims at making students to participate, but also at making them feel part of the class, which may slightly contribute to prevent the several risks associated to disengagement..

(11) Teaching strategies to engage students. 11. Finally, the development of this action research has a significant impact on the school community as well as on me. On the one hand, the focus of this project is in line with the mission of the school. This is encouraging students to learn by doing, and consequently acquire the language skills needed to face the world (“Misión y Visión,” n.d.). In this sense, engaging students to participate contributes to the type of human being that the school aims at educate. On the other hand, doing this project encourages me to reflect upon my work as educator and to recognize areas of improvement in my teaching practice. In addition, having the opportunity of developing this study within this context represents a great challenge for me. This experience pushes me to delve into my role as teacher, which benefits not only me, but also my students. By promoting learners’ engagement and participation I might give them the possibility of feeling empowered in the classroom..

(12) Teaching strategies to engage students. 12. Literature review. In order to deeply understand and, consequently, deal with the problem under investigation, it is essential to proceed by identifying the main concepts that are part of this action research. In this section, the reader will find theory and relevant information that will help to clarify the stated research question, as well as to carry out future actions on the basis of informed decision. This review of literature will start from the most general concepts (engagement and teenagers) to the most specific one, which in this case, represents the goal of this action research (strategies to engage learners). This will provide directions on the search of appropriate strategies. The concepts that will be addressed are the following: . Student engagement. -Motivation -Context . Teaching teenagers. -Peer relation . Strategies to engage learners. -Relevancy of activities -Social relationships in the classroom -Student scaffolding.

(13) Teaching strategies to engage students. 13. Engagement Newman, Wehlage, and Lamborn (1992) stated, “Engagement stands for active involvement, commitment, and concentrated attention, in contrast to superficial participation, apathy, or lack of interest”. (p.11) However, according to Davis, Summers, and Miller (2012) “school engagement occurs on multiple levels” (P.21): . Behavioral engagement: This “encompasses students’ effort, persistence, participation, and compliance with school structures” (p.23).. . Cognitive engagement: this “is a matter of students will-that is, how students feel about themselves and their work, their skills, and the strategies they employ to master their work” (Metallidou & Viachou, 2007 cited in Davis et al., 2012, p.23).. . Relational engagement: it is related to “the quality of students’ interactions in the classroom and school community” (p.22). Considering the aforementioned classification, Taylor and Parsons (2011) propose the. following question: “Must a learner function in all arenas of engagement for successful learning to take place?” (p. 4-5). Although there is not an absolute answer for this, some authors have argued that students may be engaged in some areas and disengaged in others. As an example, Davis et al. (2012) says that a student “may be behaviorally engaged but not cognitively engaged. In other words, just because students appear to be working on the task at hand does not mean they are learning” (p. 23). Consequently, it is a challenge for teachers to identify in which level students are actually engaged or disengaged, and what needs to be done in order to help students learn..

(14) Teaching strategies to engage students. 14. Nevertheless, Newman (1992) asserts that before speaking about learning, first it is necessary to speak about engagement: Students cannot be expected to achieve unless they concentrate, work, and invest themselves in the mastery of school tasks. This is the sense in which student engagement is critical to educational success; to enhance achievement, one must first learn how to engage students. (p. 3). According to this, teachers cannot expect students to learn if they are missing an important step of the process. The focus is on how to accomplish student engagement by making students work actively. Nevertheless, it is relevant to consider that there are possible aspects that may influence student engagement. Context. Several authors address the importance of context on student engagement. On the one hand, engagement may be affected by changes in the social context in which students are immersed. This includes social and economic circumstances of learners´ families and neighborhoods (Committee on Increasing High School Students’ Engagement and Motivation to Learn, 2004, p. 97). In vulnerable context, students coexist with several factors that may cause disengagement. For instance, “An adolescent girl can be at risk of pregnancy; a boy can be at risk of drug abuse. And the presence of one risk factor can lead to others” (Newman, Wehlage & Smith, 1992, p. 92). On the other hand, engagement may be also affected by variations related to the academic context. The Committee on Increasing High School Students’ Engagement and Motivation to Learn (2004) recognizes three variables that may influence student academic engagement: the need of students of knowing that they can succeed, the need of learners of a.

(15) Teaching strategies to engage students. 15. reason to engage in academic work, and lastly, the importance for adolescents of feeling connected and accepted by peers and teachers. Motivation. According to Barkley (2010), “Motivation is a theoretical construct to explain the reason or reasons we engage in a particular behavior. It is the feeling of interest or enthusiasm that makes somebody wants to do something.” (p. 9) In this sense, a “‘motivated’ learner is one who is willing or even eager to invest effort in learning activities and to progress” (Penny Ur, 1996, p. 274). In consequence, although motivation and engagement may seem quite similar in their meaning, the first concept is related to an internal feeling of students that exhort them to take actions on the activities. Teaching teenagers As Penny Ur (1996) suggests, teaching adolescents may be the most daunting challenge, especially for inexperienced teachers. She asserts that teenagers “may be considerably more difficult to motivate and manage”. (Penny Ur, 1996, p. 290) According to Brown (2001), around the age of twelve, teenagers’ intellectual capacity adds operational thought, which allows them to carry out some sophisticated intellectual processing. However, any intellectual task may be affected by the attention that the students put on the task (p. 92). For that reason, it is important to find ways of motivating students so they are able to attend to and give their best on the activities. In relation to the role of teachers in motivating adolescents Harmer (2001) argues: 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,.

(16) Teaching strategies to engage students. 16. therefore, must be to provoke student engagement with material which is relevant and involving. (p. 39) Furthermore, another important characteristic of teenagers is the search of the individual identity. Brown (2001) argues that teens are very sensitive to how others perceive their changes. Therefore, an important concern of educators is to keep self-esteem high by avoiding students’ embarrassment; affirming their strengths; allowing mistakes; de-emphasizing competition among learners; and encouraging group work. (p. 92) Strategies In words of Brown (2007): “Strategies are specific methods of approaching a problem or task, modes of operation for achieving a particular end, planned designs for controlling and manipulating certain information” (p. 119). Under the influence of motivation on the students’ engagement, Zoltán Döryei (2001) offers the concept of motivational strategies: “[These] refer to those motivational influences that are consciously exerted to achieve some systematic and enduring positive effect”. (p. 28) She proposed a set of strategies that help teachers to motivate students. Here is a selection of those that are coherent with the notions exposed on this literature review: Making interesting tasks. According to Zoltán Dörnyei (2001) the content of tasks must be attractive and interesting for students; however, sometimes it is difficult to introduce new activities when these are prescribed by the course book. In this sense, he argues that official tasks might be modified by characteristics of motivating tasks. (Dörnyei, 2001, p.75).

(17) Teaching strategies to engage students. 17. Nevertheless, students’ activities not only should aim at being interesting, but also relevant for students. This is explained by Newman et al. (1992) under the concept of authentic work. This is used “to characterize tasks that are considered meaningful, valuable, significant, and worthy of one's effort, in contrast to those considered nonsensical, useless, contrived, trivial, and therefore unworthy of effort” (p. 23). Students should be able to find something on the tasks that connects them to their reality, which may be related to their personal experiences or to their needs as human beings, such as expressing their opinions and/or feelings. Good Student-teacher relationship. Regarding teacher- students relationship, Zoltán Dörnyei (2001) states that Teachers who share warm, personal interactions with their students, who respond to their concerns in an empathic manner and who succeed in establishing relationships of mutual trust and respect with the learners, are more likely to inspire them in academic matters than those who have no personal ties with the learners. (p. 36) Promoting cooperation among the learners. In words of Zoltán Dörnyei (2001), “students in cooperative environments have more positive attitudes towards learning and develop higher self-esteem and self-confidence than in other classroom structures” (p. 100). This is relevant, especially for teenagers who are building their self-esteem. As it has being stated before, the relationships that are forged in the classroom may influence the student’s level of engagement. Learners need to feel accompanied by their peers, especially when facing a language and culture that is different from theirs. When they enter the classroom, students need to feel supported, and to perceive that the bonds in the classroom are as important as the formal requirements, such as grades..

(18) Teaching strategies to engage students. 18. Scaffolding. Darling-Hammond and Bransford (2005) mention the concept of scaffolding originally defined by Bruner. They suggest: “The teacher must provide appropriate scaffolding so that children are not frustrated by material that is too hard, or bored by material that is too basic.” (p. 332). According to this, it is more probable that students participate on the activities if they feel they can perform them. This is well-summarized by Brown (2001) in the following principle: “Learners’ belief that they indeed are fully capable of accomplishing a task is at least partially a factor in their eventual success in attaining the task” (p. 62)..

(19) Teaching strategies to engage students. 19. Mind map of main concepts. Engagement. Context. Teenagers’ main characteristics. Motivation. Sophisticated intellectual processing. Search of individual identity. Teaching strategies to engage student. Figure 1: Mind map that aims to clarify the relation among the different concepts exposed in the literature review..

(20) Teaching strategies to engage students. 20. Research methodology. The methodology of this action research will be applied in the ninth grade D with 20 students as participants. The timeline for the application of the data collection methods, as well as the interventions will cover a period of three months approximately; from the identification of the problem to the research final conclusions (see Appendix A). Furthermore, it is important to mention that in order to apply the data collection methods, a form consent will be given and explained to the participants (see Appendix B). This in order to obtain permission from students and parents, and to assure them that this is voluntary and it does not imply any detriment for them whatsoever. As Tomal (2003) states: “the researcher should be concerned with the method of collecting data so that it does not harm the students in any way psychologically or emotionally” (p. 27). The data collection methods that will be applied are: Observation and descriptive journal, a survey about students’ perceptions regarding activities, relationships, and learning experience, and a behavior checklist. All of them will be used throughout the development of the action research. Observation and journal At the beginning of the process, the problem was identified through observation and the use of a descriptive journal (see Appendix C). According to Anne Burns (2010) this allows the teacher “to note factual events and personal reactions to them” (p. 90). Through the observation of students’ behavior, the initial diagnosis was that the students were not participating and.

(21) Teaching strategies to engage students. 21. refused to take part on the activities during the lesson, which later on, the review of literature clarified as students’ lack of engagement. It is important to state that the process of observing represents an essential aspect of conducting an action research. For that reason it will be carried out throughout the entire process. Pre-survey In first place, the students will have to answer a pre-survey to obtain attitudinal information (see Appendix D). In words of Anne Burns (2010) it has to do with the students’ “attitudes, opinions, beliefs, interests and values” (p. 81). This will serve to explore aspects that influence students’ engagement with the activities, which are not necessarily perceived through observation, such as: emotions or opinions regarding the lessons. The pre-survey will consist of a rating scale questionnaire, which will “ask people to give the degree to which they agree with something usually by circling or ticking the responses” (Burns, 2010, p. 82). This will encompass four parts: The first one is related to students’ emotions during the activities. The second part delves into the learners’ perception of teacher’s support. The third one is about peer support during tasks. And the latter one considers the students’ perceptions of learning. A rating scale will give the students “a broader range of responses than yes/no” (Burns, 2010, p.82) In other words, by giving the learners more options to choose, it is more likely for them to give valid information..

(22) Teaching strategies to engage students. 22. Behavior checklist Secondly, a behavior checklist will be applied before applying the intervention (during an ordinary activity) in order to confirm that the problem of lack of participation actually exists. Furthermore, this will be applied during each activity of the intervention as well, so to register if the students’ level of engagement evidences any progress in comparison to the beginning. It is important to explain that the idea of using this instrument during each task obeys the necessity of capturing students’ behavior and observable engagement in the precise moment they are working (see Appendix E). This instrument aims at collecting information about students’ most common types of behavior during the activities, which were divided into two parts: On-task behavior which is related to the students’ involvement, and off-task behavior which makes reference to the Learners’ lack of involvement with the activity characterized by doing unrelated actions. The objective is to obtain useful information on how many students are engaged and how many of them are not. It will be carried out by the teacher in the classroom during the development of the different activities. She will be monitoring the students while they are working, and she will gather the information by using the checklist, as well as one notebook to write field comments..

(23) Teaching strategies to engage students. 23. Intervention. The activities will serve as a channel to apply the strategies mentioned in the literature review. In this sense, these tasks aim at encompassing important aspects of engagement, such as: relevancy of activities, teacher and peer support, and students’ perceptions regarding their learning. The intervention will consist of four activities that will be carried out during Wednesday and Thursday classes. Considering that a great number of students arrive quite late at the classroom, the activities will be developed preferably on the second module of classes, which is from 8:45 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. Furthermore, the theme of the activities will be mainly related to the topics exposed in the third unit from the student’s book of the Ministry of Education, which is “Music and Literature”.. Activities  “Fake Biographies”: This activity was suggested by Seth Lindstromberg (2004): it aims at encouraging students to listen to each other, and to learn new things about their classmates in order to enhance communication and tolerance. Students in groups are sat in circles. Each person has a sheet of paper. The teacher asks everyone to write “my name is” followed by their real name at the top of the sheet. Then, they fold what they have written, so that it cannot be seen. The teacher collects the sheets and swaps them with other person in the group. This way, everyone has someone else’s paper. Teacher continues dictating what they should write, and allows the learners to write details. (After.

(24) Teaching strategies to engage students. 24. each sentence, they fold the sheet back once and pass it.) They can answer: My birthday is… When I’m at home I like to… I love music and my favorite group/ singer is… One other thing about me is that… After that, the teacher gives the sheets to the person whose name is on it. They should share them, and react by correcting the sentences. For instance: My favorite singer isn’t Britney Spears. It’s Madonna.  “Jigsaw”: Learners in groups of four or five will receive one part of a story that the rest of the groups does not possess. The main words from each part of the story will have images that will allow the students to make sense of what they are reading. They will have to create a timeline of events (with no more than three) and will write one sentence for each one. After completing the first part of the task, the groups will be mixed up in a way that each new group posses one member that manages one part of the story. The objective is that each person of the group will have the mission of telling their classmates her/his part of the story by using the timeline. Through this activity they will notice that they depend on their classmates to understand the rest of the story, which hopefully will shed light on the relevance of collaborative work.  “My favorite song in a poster”: During the class of Wednesday on the computer Lab., the students in pairs have to choose a song in English and to create a poster of it. In order to get familiarized with its lyric, they will have to answer a set of questions given by the teacher: Who is the singer of the song? What is it about? What is the main theme of the song? How does it make you feel? Moreover, they will have the opportunity to take notes about another interesting fact. The Teacher will explain the task step by step; she will model the activity by showing them her own poster; and later on, she will monitor the.

(25) Teaching strategies to engage students. 25. groups while they work. They have to include all the information they gathered from the set of questions. Learners will have the opportunity of organizing the information as they wish, but they must be creative. They can use pencils, drawings or magazine clippings in order to decorate the poster. For the class of Thursday, each group will present the poster of the song to the rest of the class. This will help students not only to express themselves in a creative way, but also to work collaboratively with their classmates.  “Lights, camera, TAKE action”: This activity will be applied during the while stage of the lesson and it will be developed as a whole class. The teacher will show the students different movie scenes, but first they will be told to pay special attention to the characters and actions that take place on each one. Then, after watching each scene, students in groups of three to four will answer true or false to a set of four statements related to the movie clips. Since they will not have the opportunity to read the statement before watching the scene, there is no way for them to know what they have to observe. Therefore, they have to be fully attentive in every moment so then they can put their memories and comprehension to the test. Each group will have five minutes to discuss the exercise, and then, they will check as a whole class. This activity will help students not only to get interested by using visual and auditory aids, but also to put their language skills into practice in a cooperative way. Furthermore, as the topic usually brings pleasure to people, it might increase students’ engagement..

(26) Teaching strategies to engage students. 26. Data analysis. The aforementioned instruments that collected useful data for this action research were applied on 20 students of ninth grade. The following step on this project consists of analyzing the data, which are the results of the methods and the observations during the intervention. Pre-survey This questionnaire was applied before the intervention, and it aimed at gathering information about students’ perceptions and opinions regarding different aspects of the English lesson. In order to do so, this survey was constituted by four different parts that summarize the four different teaching strategies mentioned in the literature review. These are the following: Students’ emotions during the activities, perceptions about teacher’s support during the activities, perceptions about peer’s support, and perceptions about their learning experience during tasks. It is important to assert that the decision of applying this pre-test to the students is based on the necessity of focusing the intervention on the aspects that, according to their responses, would need more attention, which might shed light on how to increase students’ engagement. Part A: Students’ emotions during the activities. This section contained three statements in which the students had to mark the option that reflects their emotions the best. This aimed at inquiring on how the learners feel during the development of the activities..

(27) Teaching strategies to engage students. 27. 0% 25% Strongly agree 40%. Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly disagree. 35%. Figure 2: “I feel interested on the topics and contents developed on the activities” (Statement 1 from part A). According to the results obtained on this statement, a 75% of the class considers that they feel interested on the topics and contents of the lessons. A 25% did not mark any option, and none of the students disagree or strongly disagree with the statement..

(28) Teaching strategies to engage students. 28. 0% 25% Strongly agree 50%. Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly disagree. 25%. Figure 3: “The contents are useful and significant to me” (Statement 2 from part A). In the aforementioned chart, from a total of 20 students, half of them strongly agree with the statement. A 25% of them decided not to mark any option, and a 25% disagree with the assertion. However none of the learners marked the last option.. 5%. 0%. 16% Strongly agree Agree. 37%. Neutral Disagree 42%. Strongly disagree. Figure 4: “The activities are entertaining and dynamic” (Statement 3 from part A)..

(29) Teaching strategies to engage students. 29. The results for this statement show that a 16% of the class strongly agrees with the statement. A 42% agrees with it and considers that the activities are entertaining and dynamic. A 37% did not mark any alternative. Only a 5% of the students disagree with the statement, and none of them strongly disagree with it. Taking into account the results from the three charts, a great number of students feels identify with the first and second option (strongly agree and agree). That is to say, they have quite positive feelings towards the activities. Nevertheless, on each statement there are some learners whose opinion regarding this matter is neutral (neither they agree nor do they disagree). A 25% and more on the third statement marked the “neutral” option. Therefore, it is not a piece of information to be ignored. Lastly, from the three statements, only one student considers that the activities are neither entertaining nor dynamic..

(30) Teaching strategies to engage students. 30. Part B: Perceptions about teacher’s support during the activities. This part of the test is constituted by three statements, and aimed at obtaining information about the students’ opinions about the teacher’s support.. 5% 20%. 0% 30% Strongly agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly disagree. 45% Figure 5: “The teacher is concerned about how I feel” (Statement 1 from part B). The pie chart shows that a 75% of the class agrees with the statement, whereas a 5% of it (one learner) disagrees with it. A 20% of the class feels neutral about the assertion, and none of the students marked the last option (“strongly disagree”)..

(31) Teaching strategies to engage students. 31. 5% 11%. 0% Strongly agree Agree 52%. 32%. Neutral Disagree Strongly disagree. Figure 6: “The teacher is constantly encouraging me to participate” (Statement 2 from part B). According to this figure, 52% of the students, which corresponds to 10 out of 20 students, strongly agree with the statement, and 32% of them agree with it. That is to say that 84% of the learners recognize that the teacher is constantly encouraging them to participate on the activities. An 11% of the students marked the neutral option, and 5% of the class disagrees with the statement..

(32) Teaching strategies to engage students. 32. 0% 15%. 0% Strongly agree Agree Neutral. 25% 60%. Disagree Strongly disagree. Figure 6: “When I don’t understand I have the confidence to ask the teacher as many time as I want” (Statement 3 from part B). Figure 6 shows the results obtained for the third statement. This reflects whether the students feel confident or not to ask the teacher when they have doubts or questions regarding the different contents. An 85% of the class strongly agrees with the assertion, and a 25% of them agree. None of them lack of confidence at the moment of asking questions to the teacher. However, a 15% of students show neither agreement nor disagreement. After analyzing the results of the three graphs, it can be stated that a great number of the students feel supported by the teacher while they perform the different activities in the lesson. What is more, most of them feel encouraged to participate on the different dynamics. Although none of them evidence a negative perception regarding the teacher’s support, there are a few students who show a neutral position towards the subject..

(33) Teaching strategies to engage students. 33. Part C: Perceptions about peer support. This section of the survey has three statements that are related to the student relationship with their classmates during the English lesson.. 10%. 10% Strongly agree. 20% Agree 35%. Neutral Disagree Strongly disagree. 25%. Figure 7: “I feel that my classmates care about me and support me” (Statement 1 from part C). This graph illustrates that 10% from the total of the students strongly agree with the statement, and a 35% agree with it. That is to say, a 45% of the learners feel supported by their classmates. On the contrary, a 20% of the students disagree with the assertion, and a 10% of them strongly disagree with it. Lastly, a 20% of the learners gave a neutral answer to this statement..

(34) Teaching strategies to engage students. 34. 10% 25%. 0% 20%. Strongly agree Agree Neutral Disagree 45%. Strongly disagree. Figure 8: “When I work with them, I feel more supported and willing to participate” (Statement 2 from part C). According to figure 8, a 70% of the total of the students feel more interested and willing to participate when working with peers. A 25% of the 70% adhered to the first option (“strongly agree”), while a 45% of it chose the second one (“agree”). A 20% of the learners showed a neutral position towards the statement, and a 10% of them strongly disagree..

(35) Teaching strategies to engage students. 20%. 35. 15% Strongly agree. 0%. Agree Neutral. 15%. Disagree Strongly disagree 50%. Figure 9: “In group activities I feel I can learn from them” (Statement 3 from part C). Figure 9 shows that more than 50% of the students agree with the statement, and feel they can learn from their peers. A 15% of them did not answer whether they agree or disagree. And a 20% of the students strongly disagree, which means that they feel they cannot learn from their classmates. After analyzing the three diagrams, it can be stated that a great number of learners feel more interested when they work with their classmates. Nevertheless, there are some students (20% of them) whose opinions suggest that they do not feel supported by their peers while performing in class. It relation to the other parts of the survey, this one (“Peer support”) shows the largest number of the students having negative perceptions towards the statements..

(36) Teaching strategies to engage students. 36. Part D: Perceptions about their learning experience during the activities. This part of the pre-survey possesses three statements that aimed at inquiring on the students’ perceptions on their cognitive development during the lessons.. 5% 0% 30% Strongly agree. 30%. Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly disagree 35%. Figure 10: “I understand the instructions well when the teacher explains” (Statement 1 from part D). Figure 10 illustrates that 30% of the total of the students strongly agrees with the statement, while a 35% agrees with it. That is to say, a 65% of the learners are able to understand the instructions when the teacher explains. A 30% of the students showed a neutral position regarding this matter. And a 5% (one student) strongly disagree with it..

(37) Teaching strategies to engage students. 10%. 0%. 37. 15% Strongly agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly disagree. 75%. Figure 11: “Although the activities are challenging, I feel I can perform them” (Statement 2 from part D). Figure 11 illustrates that a 15% of the class strongly agree with the statement, which means that they feel able to perform challenging activities. A 75% reported that they agree with the assumption and feel can work on the tasks as well. From the total of the class, two learners, which represent 10% of the class, did not stated whether they agree or disagree. Finally, none of the students feel unable to perform..

(38) Teaching strategies to engage students. 38. 10% 0% 15% 40%. Strongly agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly disagree. 35%. Figure 12: “I don’t feel threatened while performing the different tasks” (Statement 3 from part D): As figure 12 shows, a 75% of the class (15 students) recognizes that they don’t feel threatened while performing the different tasks. A 15% did not answer whether they agree or disagree with the statement (“neutral” opinion). Lastly, a 10% of the class strongly disagrees with the assertion, which means that they might feel threatened when facing the different activities. In summary, the graphs for this part of the survey show that the students in general understand the instructions giving for the activities. Nevertheless, there are a few learners who accept having problems regarding the understanding of instructions, which might hinder the possibility of participating, and of being actually engaged with the activities..

(39) Teaching strategies to engage students. 39. After analyzing the results from this pre-test, it can be assured that the four sections mentioned above are essential to keep students engaged. Notwithstanding, there are some aspects that need more attention than others, which will define how the activities will be developed later on. For instance, the learners in general referred positive responses on the survey, however, there is a slightly difference on the answers giving on part C (“Student relationship”) where a few students recognized that although they enjoy working with their peers, they do not feel cognitively supported by them. This piece of information gives course to activities that are more cooperative and require students’ interaction. Behavior checklist Considering that the identified problem was related to students’ lack of participation, it is important to focus the concept of engagement on the most observable evidence, which is students’ behavior during class activities. For that reason, the main goal of this instrument is to capture students’ observable engagement in the precise moment they are working. It is important to remember that this will be applied before and during the process of intervention..

(40) Teaching strategies to engage students. 40. Behavior checklist #1. The application of this instrument during an ordinary activity (before applying the intervention) helped to confirm that the problem of lack of participation actually exists. The following data illustrates students’ engagement during this task.. Activity: “My classmate’s music preferences” Date: October, 12th Time: During second module (8:45-9:30) Total of students during activity: 17. Amount of students on-task (Involved and. 4. working on the activity indicated by the teacher). Amount of students off-task. 13. (Do not involved, and doing other things not related to the activity indicated by the teacher).. 24%. On-task Off-task. 76%. Figure 13: Graph illustrates the students’ engagement during an ordinary activity, where a 24% of the class was participating (on-task), and a 76% was off-task..

(41) Teaching strategies to engage students. 41. Field comments. The students have to interview one classmate about her or his music preferences. They can use the same questions of the while-stage, and add new ones. After receiving the instructions, they are asked questions to check comprehension of instructions (CCQs). Time is set, and students start working, however, only four students are on-task. Actually the four students are asking questions to each other. The rest of the learners are off-task talking to each other. Two students are close to the window yelling at someone outside the school..

(42) Teaching strategies to engage students. 42. Analysis of the intervention Behavior checklist #2. This instrument was applied during the first activity of the intervention in order to evaluate students’ engagement.. Activity: “Fake biographies” Date: October, 19th Time: 8.15 (First module, 8:00-8:45) Total of students during activity: 6. Amount of students on-task (Involved and. 6. working on the activity indicated by the teacher). Amount of students off-task. 0. (Do not involved, and doing other things not related to the activity indicated by the teacher).. 0%. On-task Off-task. 100%. Figure 14: The graph shows that all the students were participating during the activity..

(43) Teaching strategies to engage students. 43. Field comments. Activity stars at 8:15 with six students in the classroom. As there were only a few students, I ask them to make only one group. I give the instructions to the students, and model the activity. I make sure that all the learners understand the type of information that they are asked to complete in the sheet of paper. Moreover, I show them how to fold the paper on each step. The six students that arrive on time are participating. However, they lost engagement almost at the end of the activity when they have to listen to their classmates’ fake biographies…At this point; there is a lot of noise in the classroom mainly caused by the students who arrived late. Eight students arrive at 8:45 a.m. and could not participate since the activity is almost finishing. Behavior checklist #3.. Activity: “Jigsaw” Date: October, 20th Time: 8:40 (Second module, 8:45-9:30) Total of students during activity: 20. Amount of students on-task (Involved and. 9. working on the activity indicated by the teacher). Amount of students off-task (Do not involved, and doing other things not related to the activity indicated by the teacher).. 11.

(44) Teaching strategies to engage students. 44. 45% 55%. On-task Off-task. Figure 15: It illustrates that 45% of the class was actively participating on the activity, whereas a 55% was off-task. Field comments. I give the instructions and explain the activity step by step. There are 16 students during the activity. However, four learners arrived during the second part of the activity. While giving the instructions, a group of five students are not paying attention (They are talking to each other and laughing). When they are told to get in groups of four, almost the entire class refused to do it. I explain to them that for the sake of this activity they have to get in groups (two boys join other groups without any complain). After five minutes, the groups still need to be reorganized since there are one group of three and another one of five students..

(45) Teaching strategies to engage students. 45. They don’t want to cooperate, especially the group that was not paying attention at the beginning… they say they don’t care and just won’t do it. After almost eight minutes of insisting on making groups of four, I decide to modify the activity in order to continue. Behavior checklist #4.. Activity: “Poster session” Date: October, 26th Time: 15:35 (15:30-17:10) Total of students during activity: 17. Amount of students on-task (Involved and working on the activity indicated by the teacher). Amount of students off-task (Do not involved, and doing other things not related to the activity indicated by the teacher).. 15 2. 12%. On-task Off-task. 88% Figure 16: A 12% of the class was participating actively on the third activity of the intervention, while the 88% was doing unrelated activities..

(46) Teaching strategies to engage students. 46. Field comments. I explain to the students the task, and I write on the board the information that they have to include: name of the song, the author, the theme of the song, etc. Then, I show them “My favorite song” poster as a model. All the students check my poster, and I solve questions and doubts. Then, in the computer Lab., they start looking for their songs, and the information they need right away. The learners use some materials that I brought, such as: color pencils, markers, and color poster board in case the needed. Behavior checklist # 5. Activity: “Lights, camera, TAKE action” Date: October, 27th Time: 08:30 (08:00-08:45) Total of students during activity: 15. Amount of students on-task (Involved and. 13. working on the activity indicated by the teacher). Amount of students off-task (Do not involved, and doing other things not related to the activity indicated by the teacher).. 2.

(47) Teaching strategies to engage students. 47. 13%. On-task Off-task. 87%. Figure 17: An 87% (13 students) was participating during the last activity of the intervention, while the 13% was off-task.. Field comments. After explaining the activity to the students, I show them the first movie clip (Most of them are watching the scene attentively). After watching the clip, they are actively participating and answering out loud if the statements are true or false. During the True/False exercise of the last movie clip (08:50), four students arrive at the classroom. They are not able to participate on this activity, but they are integrated on the post stage..

(48) Teaching strategies to engage students. 48. Reflection and Analysis of Intervention. In order to proceed, it is imperative to reflect upon the modes and results of the intervention applied. Firstly, I will begin by analyzing what happened on each activity, to continue then with final thoughts about the whole intervention. When I designed the intervention, I decided to start with the task called “Fake biographies” since this task aimed not only at engaging the students by talking about themselves, but also at me knowing more about who they are. Fortunately, the activity worked well and the students were pretty motivated and engaged most of the time. However, I cannot assure that the cause of their engagement was only the topic of the activity, which was speaking about them. The strategy of promoting cooperation among learners also gave them the chance to know more about their classmates but in a less serious situation. Moreover, they might be engaged as well because the task was carefully scaffolded on each step of the dynamic, so that they were not confused or overwhelmed by the different instructions. I think that this strategy was very important, because even though I had planned an interesting activity, this would not have worked if the students did not understand what they had to do. Regarding the “Jigsaw” activity, it was pretty interesting that even though the results of the pre-survey showed that the students feel engaged when working with their classmates, the checklist applied during this task showed the opposite. The learners were reluctant to work with people they usually do not get along with, and this situation overshadowed the development of the whole task. Although, I could have anticipated this situation in the pre-survey, I would not have changed the activity. From what I can infer the problem was not that the activity was boring, or too difficult to be performed. The issue arose when I asked them to work with new.

(49) Teaching strategies to engage students. 49. people. What I can infer from this is that there is also a problem related to students’ relationship that might influence their willingness and level of engagement during the activities. For the “Movie clips” task and the “Poster session”, I also used the strategy of promoting cooperation among learners, but this time I gave them the opportunity of choosing the people they wanted to work with. In consequence, there was no problem of the kind that occurred on the “Jigsaw”. The different groups were on-task all the time. What is more, some learners referred that they really enjoy these types of activities that take their interests into account. What I can infer from this is that even the four strategies helped to engage the students, having planned interesting tasks, and allowed them to make groups for their own were two aspects that they really appreciated.. Lastly, reflecting upon the whole intervention, the students did not show a progressive increase in their engagement from the first activity to the last one, since during the second task (“Jigsaw”) only a minority of the students was on-task. Nevertheless, the results from the checklists during the rest of the activities revealed that they were more engaged than before applying the intervention. Regarding the strategies, it would be quite difficult to assert the degree to which one was more important than the other one, since, the impact of one strategy might depend on the situation and the experience of each teacher with their students. However, from what I have observed, it is not the use of one particular strategy what guarantees engagement, but the use of different ones that together contribute to engage learners..

(50) Teaching strategies to engage students. 50. Conclusion and further implications. After reflecting on the development of this project, I can affirm that the intervention had positive outcomes. The use of the strategies on the different activities was successful as they really increase the students’ participation and involvement. Nevertheless, I realized that in order to devote efforts to increase students’ engagement it must be considered several factors: lesson planning, relationships inside the classroom, learners’ characteristics, etc.; elements that usually go hand in hand with each other. When teachers pay attention to the students’ characteristics and interests, they are showing empathy towards them. This might help to build rapport, and to set a comfortable environment where students feel secure of asking questions and making mistakes. On the other hand, there were some limitations that influenced the development of this project. Firstly, regarding the intervention, I think that four activities were not enough to observe that the students are actually engaged on a regular basis. Engaging learners is a process that needs time in order to observe substantial changes in their way of working. So if I had had the chance of doing something different, I would have liked including more activities on my intervention so as to obtain more evidence on the effectiveness of the strategies. Secondly, another limitation was related to the form consent. Despite that I handed over this document to the students on early October, there were five learners who did not return the permissions. They always said they wanted to participate, but they just forgot to tell their parents to sign up. Although this situation did not affect the analysis of data, I would have liked to have all the permissions so as to use all the students’ names in the pre-survey..

(51) Teaching strategies to engage students. 51. Furthermore, there is another limitation related to the data collection methods. Although I decided to exclude the use of samples of students’ works, I think it would have been necessary to use another instrument to show students’ engagement during activities. Before analyzing what instrument would have been useful, I would like to explain why I finally decided that the students’ works were not a suitable option: This information would only provide evidence of the accomplishment of the activity, that is, if the students finish or if they do a good or bad job. However, it does not inform about the students’ behavior during the activities, which is the concern of this action research. In other words, what is important is whether they are working or not. In this sense, I would have liked to use photographs or video-recordings to capture students’ engagement in the precise moment they were performing the tasks. During the development of this action research, there was a situation that always made me feel uncomfortable: this was related to the students who arrive late at my class. Due to their frequent delay, these learners could not participate in all the activities. In consequence, I did not have the opportunity of knowing if the strategies actually would have worked with them. Despite that, I would not affirm that my class failed to engage those students, since there might be several external reasons to justify their delays. As it was explained at the beginning of this project, the context exerts a significant impact on students’ engagement in the classroom. Just to name a few possible causes: problems at home, drug consumption, students who have to work after school, etc. Therefore, I strongly believe that in a future research it would be highly relevant to look for strategies that aim at engaging those learners by inquiring on the causes of their delays..

(52) Teaching strategies to engage students. 52. The experience of developing my action research in this class allowed me to make a concrete contribution on my students learning process. However, it has also impacted my teaching practice. I have realized that it is important to bear in mind that students’ engagement is not an element that arises always naturally, but it can be cultivated as long as I am fully aware of who I am teaching and why I am teaching for. This project provides me with simple but significant strategies that I can implement in my class as these somehow represent the fundamentals to engage learners. Nevertheless, we, teachers, cannot blindly use strategies just as if we were reading a teaching recipe. The strategies must arise from the teacher’s observation and reflection upon who their students are and what they need so as to make the most of their learning experience..

(53) Teaching strategies to engage students. 53. References. Barkley, E. (2010). Student Engagement Techniques: A Handbook for College Faculty. First edition. Market Street, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.. Brown, D. (2001). Teaching by Principles: an interactive approach to language pedagogy, Second edition. White Plains, NY: Pearson Education.. Brown, D. (2007). Principles of Language Learning and Teaching. Fifth edition. White Plains, NY: Pearson Education.. Bruner, J. (n.d.). In Search of Pedagogy Volume I: The selected works of Jerome S. Bruner (Vol. 1). Retrieved October, 2016, from file:///C:/Users/Carla/Downloads/[Jerome_Bruner]_In_Search_of_Pedagogy_Volume_1 _Th(BookFi) (1).pdf. Burns, A. (2010). Doing Action Research in English Language Teaching, a guide for practitioners. New York: ESL & Applied Linguistic Professional Series. Committee on Increasing High School Students' Engagement and Motivation to Learn (2004). Engaging Schools: fostering high school students’ motivation o learn. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. Retrieved September, 2016, http://en.bookfi.net/book/1363545.

(54) Teaching strategies to engage students. 54. Darling-Hammond, L & Bransford, J, (2005). Preparing Children for a Changing World: what teachers should learn and be able to do. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.. Davis, H. A., Summers, J. J., & Miller, L. M. (2012). What Does It Mean for Students to be Engaged? In An Interpersonal Approach to Classroom Management: Strategies for Improving Student Engagement (pp. 21-33). United States: Corwin Press. Retrieved September, 2016, from https://us.corwin.com/sites/default/files/upmbinaries/50258_Davis___An_Interpersonal_Approach_to_Classroom_Management_CH 1.pdf. Dörnyei, Z. (2001). Motivational Strategies in the Language Classroom. First edition. New York: Cambridge University Press.. Harmer, J. (2001). The Practice of English Language Teaching. Harlow, United Kingdom: Pearson education.. Lindstromberg, S. (Ed.). (2004). Language Activities for Teenagers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.. Metallidou, P., & Vlachou, A. (2007). Motivational beliefs, cognitive engagement, and achievement in language and mathematics in elementary school children. International Journal of Psychology, 42, 2-15..

(55) Teaching strategies to engage students. 55. Misión y vision - RAMS. (n.d.). Retrieved October 1, 2016, from http://www.redalmamater.cl/cam-nuestrocolegio/mision-vision.html. Newman, F. M. (Ed.). (1992). Student Engagement and Achievement in American Secondary Schools. New York, NY: Teachers College Press. Retrieved September, 2016, from http://eric.ed.gov/?q=Student+Engagement+and+Achievement+in+American+Secondar y+Schools.&ft=on&id=ED371047. Parsons, J. & Taylor, L. (2011). Improving Student Engagement. Current Issues in Education, 14 (1), 4-5. Retrieved September 21, 2016. from https://cie.asu.edu/ojs/index.php/cieatasu/article/viewFile/745/162.. Rivera, C. (2016). Journal. Unpublished manuscript.. Richards, J. (2006). Communicative Language Teaching Today. New York: Cambridge University Press.. Tomal, D. (2003). Action research for educators. United States: The Scarecrow Press.. Ur, P. (1996). A course in Language Teaching: Practice and Theory: Trainee’s book (Cambridge Teacher Training & Development) Cambridge: Cambridge University Press..

(56) Teaching strategies to engage students. 56. Appendices Appendix A Action plan timeline.

(57) Teaching strategies to engage students. 57. Appendix B Form consent giving to parents.. Santiago, Octubre de 2016 Estimados padres y apoderados: Junto con saludarles, la presente tiene como objetivo principal informar de una investigación en desarrollo en la escuela Alma Mater. Mi nombre es Carla Rivera y soy alumna en su último año de la carrera de Pedagogía en Inglés de la universidad Alberto Hurtado. Actualmente me encuentro desarrollando una investigación-acción en el curso primero medio D, la cual está enfocada en la búsqueda de estrategias efectivas que logren motivar e incentivar a los alumnos en las diversas actividades llevadas a cabo en el aula, cuya misión primordial es apoyar y fomentar el aprendizaje del inglés como lengua extranjera. Con el fin de lograr un efectivo desarrollo de la investigación se requiere de permiso previo para poder utilizar algunos de los trabajos de los estudiantes, así como también para poder aplicar encuestas a sus hijos que permitan respaldar y dar fe del trabajo realizado. Los resultados reunidos serán utilizados sólo para esta investigación y no serán revelados sin su permiso escrito. No obstante cabe señalar que su participación es completamente voluntaria, de modo que si a la mitad del proceso desea renunciar, está en su derecho de hacerlo. Para colaborar con mi investigación se les solicita llenar la siguiente autorización. Yo ____________________________________________ apoderado de __________________________ estoy de acuerdo en ser parte de la Investigación-acción llevada a cabo por Carla Rivera Riveros, estudiante en práctica profesional de la Universidad Alberto Hurtado. ______________________________ Firma apoderado.

(58) Teaching strategies to engage students. 58. Appendix C Observation and journal. Date: June 29th, 2016 Students arrived at the classroom. I greeted them, but I didn’t start right away because there were only nine students in the classroom. I asked them to get in groups of three or four for an activity in which they had to reorder the questions about preferences. However, some of them didn’t want to get in groups. Although, I encouraged them to do so, they said they didn’t want to. I had to improvise and to form the groups according to how they were sited. This way they were in groups of four, three, and even two students. For the post activity, students had to ask their classmates about their preferences and then to complete a chart. Each question had to be answered by a different person. Nevertheless, they asked the same person. Only four people complete the task. (Rivera, 2016). Date: August, 03rd, 2016 I planned a listening activity… but even when I could develop that part of the class, I wasn’t able to deliver the rest of the lesson. The students didn’t pay attention to me. Even when I told them that this class was aiming at practicing for the upcoming test. I proved different strategies, example, the one that I have used.

(59) Teaching strategies to engage students. 59. during the previous class, but it didn’t work this time. The students starting laughing at the strategy (me raising my hand for them to imitate me) and doing other things. (Rivera, 2016). Date: August 18th, 2016 During the while stage, I asked students to work on an activity from the book (page 13) in which they had to complete a chart. After a few minutes, I could give the instructions. Although only for students were actually working (they were on task). The rest of the learners were talking to each other, and listening to music. During the post stage, the students had to use their information in the previous chart to complete a post and to introduce themselves in a forum chat. Three of the four students that worked before accomplished the activity; however the fourth one was off-task… He stood up and started looking through the window. Despite that this time I asked them to work with the book, which I understand it’s a little bit boring for them (They have told me that in other opportunities), it’s really difficult to engage them. Sometimes I feel that no matter the activity, there are always several variables that influence their engagement. (Rivera, 2016).

(60) Teaching strategies to engage students. 60. Appendix D Survey of students’ perception regarding English lessons Survey of students’ emotions and opinions regarding the lessons Date: _____________ Instructions: For each statement below mark the ONE option that best reflects your view. Strongly Agree agree Part A: Students’ emotions during the activities. I feel interested on the topics and contents developed on the activities. The contents are useful and significant to me. The activities are entertaining and dynamic. Part B: Perceptions about teacher’s support during the activities. The teacher is concerned about how I feel. The teacher is constantly encouraging me to participate. When I don’t understand, I have the confidence to ask the teacher as many times as I want. Part C: Perceptions about peer support. I feel that my classmates care about me and support me. When I work with them, I feel more interested and willing to participate. In group activities I feel I can learn from them. Part D: perceptions about their learning experience during the activities I understand the instructions well when the teacher explains. Although the activities are challenging, I feel I can perform them. I don’t feel threatened while performing the different tasks.. Neutral Disagree Strongly disagree.

(61) Teaching strategies to engage students. 61. Encuesta sobre la percepción de los estudiantes sobre el aprendizaje durante las actividades. Date: ____________________ Instrucciones: Para cada criterio marque la OPCION que mejor refleja su punto de vista. Completamente De Neutro de acuerdo acuerdo Parte A: Emociones de los estudiantes durante las clases Me siento interesada en los temas y contenidos desarrollados en las actividades. Los contenidos son útiles y significativos para mi Las actividades son entretenidas y dinámicas. Parte B: percepción de los estudiantes sobre el apoyo de la profesora durante las actividades La profesora se preocupa por mi y de cómo me siento. La profesora constantemente me motiva a participar. Cuando no entiendo, tengo la confianza para preguntar a la profesora las veces que sea necesario. Parte C: Percepciones de los estudiantes sobre el apoyo de sus compañeros Siento que mis compañeros se preocupan por mí y me apoyan. Cuando trabajo con mis compañeros, me siento más interesada y dispuesta a participar. En actividades grupales siento que puedo aprender de ellos. Parte D: Percepciones sobre la experiencia de aprendizaje durante las actividades Entiendo las instrucciones bien cuando la profesora las explica Aunque las actividades son desafiantes, siento que puedo desarrollarlas. No me siento intimidada cuando trabajo en las actividades.. En Completamente desacuerdo en desacuerdo.

(62) Teaching strategies to engage students. 62. Appendix E Behavior checklist. Course: 9th grade D. Amount of students on-task (Involved and working on the activity indicated by the teacher). Amount of students off-task (Do not involved, and doing other things not related to the activity indicated by the teacher).. Activity :. Activity:. Activity 3. Activity 4. Date:. Date:. Date:. Date:. Time:. Time:. Time:. Time:. Total of students during activity:. Total of students during activity:. Total of students during activity:. Total of students during activity:.

(63) Teaching strategies to engage students. 63. Appendix F Samples of permissions and students’ pre-surveys.

(64) Teaching strategies to engage students. 64.





(69)