PDF superior Comparative analysis of the method of assignment by classes in GAVaPS

During the last few years there has been a growing interest in resolution systems based on evolution and inheritance principles. These keep a population of potential solutions, they have some selection process based on the fitness of the individuals, and they also have some genetic operators. These algorithms imitate the principles of natural evolution for parameters optimization problems [Ga98][Go98][Gr85][Mi96]. John Holland’s genetic algorithms belong to this type of evolution-based algorithms. They are inspired in Darwin’s Theory of Evolution [Ho75].

Teaching English as a foreign language is a matter that had worried educators through the times because of the complexity and diversity of the language. On one hand, the cultural component plays a very important role due to way in which the English language is taught and learned, this component is important and fundamental in deciding how to teach English to students whose mother tongue is not English. On the other hand, the success of the learning process depends on the selection of the materials used in the education process. Finally, the third basic element is the methodological component, which is the most important because it considers the method and the teaching resources that are used in the classrooms. There is a wide range of supporting material to choose from such as, visual, audio- visual, websites, among other things. However, it was observed that some teachers are not using them appropriately. That is the reason why U.T.P.L. has investigated the use of supplementary materials for teaching English to teenagers in Ecuadorian EFL classes.

Our present research had as sample the students of eight, ninth, and tenth grades of two institutions, located in Loja, Ecuador. The students age range between twelve and fifteen years old. The students from the public school were mainly from a low to a middle economic level, while students from private school come from middle to high economic level. The field research took place from January to February, 2011. The present research was done using the Qualitative and Quantitative methods; the collected data was explored, described, and compared. The techniques applied were reading, note-taking, surveys. In addition the collecting instruments were, data collection formats, observation formats, and charts. Also, the resources where the information was taken from were books, internet and the didactic guide provided by the university.

(BECTA) and undertaken by one of the authors of this report in the spring of 2002 to uncover and investigate examples of how and where computer and video games were used in schools as supplementary material in Utrecht, Netherland. After examination of the BECTA, the author decided to experiment with City Traders in his class of 13 to 14 year olds, as they are bright and, unless challenged, became easily bored. The students found the game itself relatively easy to play; after the first session of the study realized that a far more rigorous lesson plan and game instruction was required than that he had originally provided. The results of this study suggest ambivalence to the use of computer and video games in the classroom. On the positive side, it is encouraging to see that an increasing number of schools are using computers and video games in a variety of situations, many of which are imaginative, or support the learning process within a range of other tools and resources. However, on the

We can also count with audio aids like: songs, dialogues, stories and tales. In another study done by Maniruzzaman (2010) conducted with 32 university teachers and 120 tertiary level students shows that audio aids are more or less used in most of the EFL classes at the tertiary level in Bangladesh, which is in consonance with the contemporary communicative language teaching mode, it could be considered that audio aids are substantially useful since the use of such aids makes teaching attractive and effective, and reinforces learning by stimulating and motivating the learner and arresting his/her attention during the instructional process. However, the lack of teacher training, audio aids and administrative support is responsible for the insufficient use of audio aids though the use of audio aids considerably adds to EFL learning at the tertiary level in Bangladesh.

information offered by the web site. For the second task, students had to search for information using key words and the skimming and scanning reading methods; students completed it without difficulties. The third task demanded more reading skills from students to search for detailed information. In the fourth task, students used their writing skills to create a web assignment for their peers. After all tasks were completed, students answered a questionnaire to know their opinion about the use of web resources. The author of this research found that students did not use websites for their language learning process; they needed guidance to focus on the activity. The students‟ questionnaires demonstrate d positive attitudes to web resources because, according to the learners, they acquire new vocabulary words. The author concludes that web resources are good for learning but students need new ways to use them; teachers should be well trained to use online resources in order to help students with their learning process.

of internet in their classrooms a survey was settled. As result of the study the students shown positives attitudes and inclinations for the integration of the internet in classroom, and regarded the internet as rich font of information in the language learning-teaching process. The teach ers‟ motivation and inclination to the use of internet in the classroom have to be lodged and strengthened by the institutional support and a good environment to promote and integrate internet-based EFL teaching. The teacher and internet roles have to be considered as significant, because one supplement the other in the in Internet- based EFL teaching. The internet helps as an enabling instrument to plan collaborating and non- upsetting EFL schoolrooms. In conclusion, the internet in the schoolrooms is important; however require an evaluation and a prudently preparation in order to measure some particular curricular purposes.

Nevertheless, there is a need to provide students with practice and it is not necessarily found in the previous materials. Handouts or worksheets are mentioned by Gower, Phillips & Walters (2005) as useful ways to promote extra practice for given topics in class or as homework at home. Similarly, Lisa P (2010) considers them good resources to reinforce or complement specific themes. They can be presented as forms to be completed, photocopies, cue card to play a role, etc. and can be completed by students individually or in groups.

47 animals, using the simple present tense. First, the teacher pointed out the regions of Ecuador and explained each one of them, giving their names, mentioning characteristic animals, for example: „ It is the Galapagos Islands ‟,„ There are sea lions ‟ ,„ There are a lot of tourists there ‟ . This content helped student‟s reinforce previous knowledge. Moreover, students participated in the class actively, giving more information about the regions, such as „ There are turtles, whales and birds in the Galapagos Islands‟, which was information previously studied by the students in the subject called Geography. The map was an appropriate supplementary material for this class because the students needed to recall what they already knew about the different regions in Ecuador, and the teacher used it to give additional explanation about the principal tourist places. The grammar structure reviewed was in accordance to their knowledge, age and understanding. Thus, the students participated talking about the places they have visited and they expressed themselves correctly with sentences in the simple present.

of the students in order to motivate them to learn the English language, the teacher of tenth grade did not consider the learning styles of her students since her classes were boring and not interesting. However, she should have focused on the following kind of learners in order to increase students participation: the visual-spatial learner who visualizes images to remember information, the physical-kinesthetic learner who learns best by using all the senses, sounds are very important to this kind of learner, the musical learner who responds to rhythm and likes activities which involve e music and songs, the interpersonal learner who likes to work with other people, and the intrapersonal learner who prefers to work alone. In fact, according to the student‟s survey her

In the second class the white board was used with the same topic: “You can’t miss it”. The objective of the class was to introduce the prepositions of place. The teacher wrote the new vocabulary to explain when it is used; then, the teacher drew some squares to make a map of the city and to practice the prepositions of place; subsequently, the teacher asked the students the position of a specific building in reference with other specific place. The teacher had to be intuitive to ensure a successful learning of the topic. In this matter, Lewis (1990) supports this process with this statement “It is a mistake to believe that “a method” exists which can guarantee success. Every teacher knows

We can say that the material was used in a pertinent way since it is completely related to the objective of the class; create a horror story,and also appropriate to their age (13) because they are creating their own story according to their preferences and according to their productive level (intermediate) ; according to Trujillo et al. (2004) “ It is also possible for students to make their own video performances,making their own stories, video-clips, dialogues by using the video camera. The main advantage of using video recordings is that they provide language within a natural context. They are highly motivating for students ” . Even though the quality of the videos was not the best because they were homemade, so the sound and the image in some cases were not very neat, anyway, it did not cause any kind of impediment to perform the task.

The fifth class started and the topic proposed was the revision of the unit. At this time the objectives of the class were some: the use of “used to”; echo questions; could, was/were able to; past perfect simple and stressing important words. Since the objectives were some and they were already learned and practiced by students, then it was time for more practice and the use of all of them. The teacher proposed the use of a power point presentation in which he did a summary of all the structures previously explained and their use in real communication situations. This material was an excellent way to show students how much they have learnt and how they should use that knowledge in their favor.

In the third grade, the teacher considered besides the visual and auditory styles, the tactile one. It occurred when the teacher helped the students create a boomerang by following the steps provided by the teacher. Consequently, it was noticed that some students seem to learn better when information was presented through observation and by touching objects. According to Saville (2006) learning styles refer to the way we perceive, conceptualize, organize and recall information so the students were able to use their own way of learning and also the activities helped to raise motivation and self-confidence to those with low level of language.

Furthermore, in order to engage adolescents in the learning process many techniques have been proposed by various experts. Some authors recommend techniques such as: scaffolding, games, case studies, demonstrations, dramatization, fishbowl, jigsaws, brainstorming, role play, storytelling, mnemonics; „metaphors, analogy, simile‟; „ Rhythm, Rhyme, and Rap ‟, “Reciprocal Teaching – Think, Pair, Share, and simulations between many others. (Eitington, 2002; Schreiner, 2009; Wolfe, 2001). Following, it will be presented a briefly explanation of what each one of them treats about.

Considering a variety of learning styles and abilities, the teacher used pictures, white board, handouts, flash cards, workbooks and songs. Also she included notes and other activities with a strong focus on multiple intelligences (Those activities benefited students with affinities and preferences to specific intelligences and related to their learning styles. This is, students were engaged in activities involving motor skills (Kinesthetic intelligences); students also responded to visual images representations and they were good at creating images (Visual). Those students with a strong auditory intelligence were stimulated when the teacher pronounced the new vocabulary and listening to music. The listening classroom practice could be influenced by the use of foreign language songs. The music was used by the teacher especially for those students who can develop their musical and linguistic intelligence by listening to songs and stimulate their learning.

During this first observed class the topic was The Past Perfect Tense, and the main goal was to differentiate between simple past and past perfect tenses. The teacher displayed the chart on one of the class wall. It contained the verb list with the different verb tenses. The use of this material accomplish the class objective. The material was not appropriate for the students level, because they did not know the meaning of most of the verbs included in the chart, even though they were taken out from the book . The students were asked to write examples on the board and they use the wall chart as a reference, but without knowing the meaning of the verbs the built up sentences did not have sense. The chart was made by the teacher and the writing was not so clear for the whole group specially for those students in the back part of the class, it was difficult for them to follow the activity. These are the reasons to say that the quality of the material was not good.

addition, Schreinder argues about other two teaching techniques. He writes that ingenious teachers seek to introduce emotion to instruction whenever possible. Adolescent students memorize more proficiently when the information freshly taught incites emotional responses on them. Moreover, the researcher recommends the scaffolding practice, which consists of providing adolescent students with ample help or assistance at the start of an assignment, and then gradually withdraw this support as students mature their potential to perform self-directed tasks. Mora (2000) suggests a singular and alluring technique called the melodic approach aimed for adolescent students who enjoy listening to melody for instruction. He says that singing is really an easy way to imitate, practice and acquire the phoneme and sentences of a language. It is possible to integrate a well- known tune into the sentences that are used to deliver English language instruction to students.

For this purpose, both a bibliographical research as well as a field research was conducted. The bibliographical information was very useful for me to delve into the topic since it focused on what supplementary materials are as well as their role and how suitable they are according to students´ needs, characteristics, educational contexts, and learning styles. On the other hand, the field research was very important since through it I could observe directly whether supplementary materials were used or not by EFL teachers and if so, how they were used. Nonetheless, a detailed description about this process will be given later.

The quality of this material was excellent the teacher worked together with her students and the class was interactive. The white board was in excellent condition and the teacher used colorful markers and provided a model for writing by using had writing. Finally in the fifth class the white board was used as supplementary material, the topic of the lesson was we’ve missed you , and the objectives were to develop intensive reading skills and to learn the use of present perfect. The teacher started the class writing up on the white board statements with the use of present perfect after she explained the rules of grammar and its employment after she asked her students to do some statements in their notebooks related to a person that have been away form them, when they finished this activity the students had to read one statement and if the statement was wrong structured the teacher wrote up the same statement with its respective correction on the white board.