profile_5_2004

PROFILEIssues in Teachers’ Professional Development

© © © © © FACULFACULFACULFACULFACULTTTTTAD DE CIENCIAS HUMANASAD DE CIENCIAS HUMANASAD DE CIENCIAS HUMANASAD DE CIENCIAS HUMANASAD DE CIENCIAS HUMANASDEPDEPDEPDEPDEPARARARARARTTTTTAMENTO DE LENGUAS EXTRANJERASAMENTO DE LENGUAS EXTRANJERASAMENTO DE LENGUAS EXTRANJERASAMENTO DE LENGUAS EXTRANJERASAMENTO DE LENGUAS EXTRANJERASUNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE COLOMBIAUNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE COLOMBIAUNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE COLOMBIAUNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE COLOMBIAUNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE COLOMBIA

RectorRectorRectorRectorRector Marco Palacios RozoDean of the Human Sciences FacultyDean of the Human Sciences FacultyDean of the Human Sciences FacultyDean of the Human Sciences FacultyDean of the Human Sciences Faculty Germán Meléndez AcuñaHead of the Foreign Languages DepartmentHead of the Foreign Languages DepartmentHead of the Foreign Languages DepartmentHead of the Foreign Languages DepartmentHead of the Foreign Languages Department Norma Chavarro Casas

EditorMelba Libia Cárdenas Beltrán, Melba Libia Cárdenas Beltrán, Melba Libia Cárdenas Beltrán, Melba Libia Cárdenas Beltrán, Melba Libia Cárdenas Beltrán, Universidad Nacional de Colombia

Assistant to the EditorXatlí Zuleta GarzónXatlí Zuleta GarzónXatlí Zuleta GarzónXatlí Zuleta GarzónXatlí Zuleta Garzón, Universidad Nacional de Colombia

Editorial Advisory Board

Kathy G. Short, Ph DKathy G. Short, Ph DKathy G. Short, Ph DKathy G. Short, Ph DKathy G. Short, Ph D,,,,,University of Arizona, U.S.A.Clelia Pineda Báez, Ph DClelia Pineda Báez, Ph DClelia Pineda Báez, Ph DClelia Pineda Báez, Ph DClelia Pineda Báez, Ph D,,,,,Universidad Externado de Colombia

Jesús Alirio Bastidas, Ph DJesús Alirio Bastidas, Ph DJesús Alirio Bastidas, Ph DJesús Alirio Bastidas, Ph DJesús Alirio Bastidas, Ph D,,,,,Universidad de Nariño, ColombiaCarmen Cáceda Córdova, Carmen Cáceda Córdova, Carmen Cáceda Córdova, Carmen Cáceda Córdova, Carmen Cáceda Córdova, UTSA,University of Texas at San Antonio, U.S.A.

Alex Poole, Ph D.Alex Poole, Ph D.Alex Poole, Ph D.Alex Poole, Ph D.Alex Poole, Ph D.Western Kentucky University, U.S.A.Amparo Clavijo, Ph DAmparo Clavijo, Ph DAmparo Clavijo, Ph DAmparo Clavijo, Ph DAmparo Clavijo, Ph D,,,,,

Universidad Distrital, ColombiaAdriana González, Ph D.Adriana González, Ph D.Adriana González, Ph D.Adriana González, Ph D.Adriana González, Ph D.Universidad de Antioquia, ColombiaRosalba CárdenasRosalba CárdenasRosalba CárdenasRosalba CárdenasRosalba Cárdenas,,,,,Universidad del Valle, Colombia

Editorial CommitteeMaría Claudia Nieto,María Claudia Nieto,María Claudia Nieto,María Claudia Nieto,María Claudia Nieto,Universidad Nacional de Colombia

RosemarRosemarRosemarRosemarRosemary C.C. Douglas, Ph D,y C.C. Douglas, Ph D,y C.C. Douglas, Ph D,y C.C. Douglas, Ph D,y C.C. Douglas, Ph D,University of Edinburgh, U.K.Leyla María Rojas,Leyla María Rojas,Leyla María Rojas,Leyla María Rojas,Leyla María Rojas,Universidad Nacional de ColombiaJuana Mahissa Reyes,Juana Mahissa Reyes,Juana Mahissa Reyes,Juana Mahissa Reyes,Juana Mahissa Reyes,Universidad Nacional de ColombiaEsperanza VEsperanza VEsperanza VEsperanza VEsperanza Vera,era,era,era,era,

Universidad Nacional de Colombia

This publication is registered in Ulrich´s periodicals directory

Cover DesignJulián Ricardo Hernández R.Julián Ricardo Hernández R.Julián Ricardo Hernández R.Julián Ricardo Hernández R.Julián Ricardo Hernández R.

PrintingUnidad de Publicaciones, Facultad de Ciencias Humanas

DesignNadeyda Suárez M. Nadeyda Suárez M. Nadeyda Suárez M. Nadeyda Suárez M. Nadeyda Suárez M. Unidad de Publicaciones, Facultad de Ciencias Humanas

Please send all correspondence to the journal editor: Departamento de Lenguas Extranjeras - Universidad Nacional deColombia. Ciudad Universitaria, Bogotá Phone/Fax: (1) 3165000 Ext. 16773 / 16774 / 16780 e-mail:[email protected]

All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission.

Universidad Pedagógica Nacional, ColombiaClaudia Helena Lombana,Claudia Helena Lombana,Claudia Helena Lombana,Claudia Helena Lombana,Claudia Helena Lombana,Universidad Nacional de ColombiaReview EditorsRRRRRandall Barfield, Neil Gorandall Barfield, Neil Gorandall Barfield, Neil Gorandall Barfield, Neil Gorandall Barfield, Neil Gordon Aledon Aledon Aledon Aledon Alexanderxanderxanderxanderxander, Alitia Best , Alitia Best , Alitia Best , Alitia Best , Alitia Best andNicholas SpencerNicholas SpencerNicholas SpencerNicholas SpencerNicholas Spencer.....


55

7

23

29

37

56

83

98

CONTENTS

Editorial Introduction

ISSUES FROM TEACHER RESEARCHERSISSUES FROM TEACHER RESEARCHERSISSUES FROM TEACHER RESEARCHERSISSUES FROM TEACHER RESEARCHERSISSUES FROM TEACHER RESEARCHERS

Implicit and Explicit Teaching of Grammar: An Empirical StudyEdgar Mendoza López

Teacher Correction versus Peer-MarkingMariana Correia Mourente Miguel

Interactive Communicative Teaching and the Young Indian LearnerDeepti Gupta

Elementary English Language Instruction: Colombian Teachers’ Classroom PracticesIsabel Cristina Cadavid Múnera, María Mcnulty and Diana Isabel Quinchía Ortiz

The English Component of the 2002 Entrance Examination of the Federal University ofAmazonas: An Analysis of its Reliability and ValidityNilton Hitotuzi

Reading Aloud Activities as a Way to Determine Students’ Narrative TemplateJosé Aldemar Álvarez Valencia

ISSUES FROM NOVICE TEACHER RESEARCHERSISSUES FROM NOVICE TEACHER RESEARCHERSISSUES FROM NOVICE TEACHER RESEARCHERSISSUES FROM NOVICE TEACHER RESEARCHERSISSUES FROM NOVICE TEACHER RESEARCHERS

Strategies to Support High School Students’ Reading Comprehension in the EnglishLanguageFreddy Oswaldo Zabala Palacio

Number 5 2004 ISSN 1657-0790


110

117

128

140

15848

162

166

169

52

55

59

61

65

67

ISSUES BASED ON INNOVISSUES BASED ON INNOVISSUES BASED ON INNOVISSUES BASED ON INNOVISSUES BASED ON INNOVAAAAATIONS AND REFLECTIONSTIONS AND REFLECTIONSTIONS AND REFLECTIONSTIONS AND REFLECTIONSTIONS AND REFLECTIONS

Ethnography in Foreign Language TeachingIlona Huszti

Developing Plurilinguism in Slovakia: The CLIL Method, A Starting PointSilvia Pokrivcáková and Eva Malá

Key Aspects for Developing Your Instructional MaterialsAstrid Núñez Pardo, Clelia Pineda Báez and María Fernanda Téllez Téllez

Curricular Units: Powerful Tools to Connect the Syllabus with Students’ Needs and InterestsAleida Ariza Ariza

The Hidden CurriculumAmparo Onatra and Mireya Peña

Is the Hidden Curriculum a Relevant Issue in Educational Processes?Esther Patarroyo, Juan Carlos Díaz and Susana Barreto de Quintero

Guidelines for Contributors

Subscriptions

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○5PROFILEPROFILEPROFILEPROFILEPROFILE

EDITORIAL INTRODUCTION

“There is a lot of writing already published from classroom teachersacross the world; many topics have been covered beautifully by teachersin the past. But we wouldn’t be encouraging you if we didn’t know thatmost teachers do have something to contribute through writing andpublishing”.1

It is well-known that research is thought to be valuable if findingsare made public. The same could be said of innovations. Publishing ourprojects allows other researchers and teachers to try to evaluate andreplicate them. Thus, we deepen and refine our knowledge about theEnglish language teaching field and the factors that influence it. This isthe way professional development takes place.

As mentioned above, the main purpose of publishing is sharingknowledge. Researchers report what they have found and other peoplecan examine the results and methods, and even carry out similar studiesto confirm the results. If the new studies get different results, the resultsof both studies can be re-examined to find out the reason for thedifferences. Errors may be found, or the influence of other variables maybe better understood. In this way, knowledge is developed.

This journal has as its main goal the dissemination of research andinnovations carried out by teachers in the Colombian context. It is apleasure to see that this attempt is shared by professionals from differentparts of the world. As you will see in this number, PROFILE will spreadissues in teachers’ professional development beyond our country. I amvery glad to share with you papers sent by contributors from Brazil, India,Slovakia, and the Ukraine as well as from our country, whose contributorshave been engaged in carrying out research and innovations in wide-ranging contexts. This, I am sure, will give us the chance to get in touchwith a wider community so that we can examine our thoughts and localteaching conditions and contrast them with what happens elsewhere.

1 Hubbard, R. S. and Power, B. M. (1999). Living the questions. A guide for teacher researchers.York, Maine: Stenhouse Publishers, p. 183.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○6

PROFILEPROFILEPROFILEPROFILEPROFILE

We begin this issue with five reports fromteacher researchers. First, we have anempirical study that investigated whether themethodologies of implicit and explicit EFLinstruction account for the improvement ofuniversity students on a performance test fortwo grammar topics. Then we find anexperiment aimed at assessing the two mostwidely-used methods of correction forcompositions, traditional teacher correctionand peer marking, and their effect on thefrequency of errors. After that, a case studyshows that reforms, in classrooms whereEnglish is not the mother tongue and whereage-old teaching methodologies arepredominant, can be self-defeating if theyare imposed without an attempt at a gradual,gentle and well-thought-out implementation.We continue with an ethnographic researchproject which tells us about the complex taskof teaching English to children in publicelementary schools in Colombia. This isshown in the analysis of class methodologyin terms of activities, materials, and teacherand student roles. Following that, we canread a study of the reliability and validity ofthe English component of the 2002 EntranceExamination of the Federal University ofAmazonas, in Brazil. Afterwards, we can getacquainted with a methodological innovationimplemented in a beginner’s English classat university level in Colombia, which aimedat exploring the role of reading aloudactivities in the teaching of English anddescribing the narrative template studentsuse when retelling a story via writing.

The section concerning issues fromnovice teacher researchers includes a reporton a case study carried out by a pre-serviceteacher when doing his teaching practice in

a public high school in Colombia. It accountsfor the students’ views on English readingcomprehension, their handling of strategiesto develop reading competence in English,and their progress in the readingcomprehension process.

The last section of this number includesreflections and innovations concerningethnography, literacy processes in an adultEnglish class, materials design, and thehidden curriculum. A description of ethnography,the various tasks of the ethnographer, andthe values and limitations of this qualitativeapproach are presented in the first paper. Thesecond article of this part of our publicationdeals with a Slovakian experience. It refersto the introduction of the CLIL (Content andLanguage Integrated Learning) -a newlyinvented and officially recommendedmethod for the teaching of foreign languagesin the European Union. The third articlegathers fundamental aspects for theelaboration of materials to support theinstructional design component of ourEnglish classes. Then, we can read about theframework that guided the design andimplementation of a curricular unit foruniversity students. Lastly, we can find somereflections regarding the hidden curriculumand its relevance in educational processes.

Once more, we hope that you will findthe contents of this number relevant to yourteaching context and cordially invite you toconsider sharing your reflections,innovations, and research experiencesthrough this publication.

Melba Libia CárMelba Libia CárMelba Libia CárMelba Libia CárMelba Libia Cárdenas Beltrándenas Beltrándenas Beltrándenas Beltrándenas BeltránJournal Editor


Implicit and Explicit Teaching of Grammar:

An Empirical Study*

Enseñanza implícita y explícita de la gramática:Un estudio empírico

Edgar Mendoza LópezEdgar Mendoza LópezEdgar Mendoza LópezEdgar Mendoza LópezEdgar Mendoza López**Universidad Autónoma de Bucaramanga

[email protected]

This is a report on the experimental phase of a two-stage study on the effectsof implicit-explicit grammar instruction regarding EFL students’ performance.The purpose of this phase was to investigate whether the methodologies ofimplicit and explicit EFL instruction account for the improvement of universitystudents’ performance on a test over two grammar topics. Three groups wereselected. Students in the implicit language classes had no explicit instructionon these topics which were taught through meaningful and contextualisedlistening, speaking, reading and writing activities. Students in the explicitlanguage classes were taught the regular course plus additional exercises anddrills in order to practise the grammatical features, and a control group wastaught the regular course. The results indicate that students in the explicitinstruction group achieved significantly higher scores than both the studentsin the implicit instruction group and the students in the control group on theperformance tests.

KKKKKey worey worey worey worey words:ds:ds:ds:ds: Grammar-Input, Implicit-Grammar, Explicit-Grammar, Grammar-Teaching, Quantitative-Research

Éste es un informe de la fase experimental de un estudio en dos etapas sobrelos efectos de la enseñanza implícita y explícita de la gramática en el desempeñode los estudiantes. El propósito de esta etapa era investigar si las metodologíasimplícita y explícita se relacionaban con el mejoramiento de estudiantesuniversitarios en una prueba sobre dos temas gramaticales. Se seleccionarontres grupos: los estudiantes en el grupo de instrucción implícita no tuvieronninguna instrucción explícita en los dos tópicos que se enseñaron a través de

* Findings reported in this paper are based on the research project “Funciones de las conductas orales de los profesores delenguas en el desarrollo de clases de inglés como lengua extranjera” funded by grants from Universidad Autónoma deBucaramanga-UNAB and the Instituto Colombiano para el Desarrollo de la Ciencia y la Tecnología-Colciencias, a Colombianresearch granting institution.

** Edgar Mendoza LópezEdgar Mendoza LópezEdgar Mendoza LópezEdgar Mendoza LópezEdgar Mendoza López, Ph.D. (University of Manchester), M.Ed. (Universidad Pontificia Javeriana-Universidad Autónomade Bucaramanga), BA in Languages (Universidad Industrial de Santander). Professor in the school of Education at UniversidadAutónoma de Bucaramanga, Bucaramanga, Colombia.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○8

MENDOZA PROFILEPROFILEPROFILEPROFILEPROFILE

actividades significativas y contextualizadas en escucha, habla, lectura y escritura.El grupo de instrucción explícita tomó el curso regular ofrecido por la instituciónmás actividades y ejercicios extras con el propósito de practicar los temasgramaticales enseñados; y el grupo de control tomó únicamente el curso regular.Los resultados indican que los estudiantes en el grupo de enseñanza explícitalograron resultados significativamente más altos que los estudiantes en el grupode enseñanza implícita y que los estudiantes del grupo de control.

Palabras claves:Palabras claves:Palabras claves:Palabras claves:Palabras claves: Input-Gramatical, Gramática-Implícita, Gramática-Explícita, Enseñanza-Gramática, Investigación-Cuantitativa

INTRODUCTIONINTRODUCTIONINTRODUCTIONINTRODUCTIONINTRODUCTION

Grammar has been and is at the core ofthe teaching of English as a foreign language(EFL) and the way it is taught depends onthe methodologies and approaches teachersmake use of. There is perhaps no subjectmore hotly debated by language teachersthan the place of grammar in languageteaching; it has been in and out as the trendof fashion has fluctuated back and forth.Some second or foreign language professionalsdo not consider grammar to be an importantelement in second or foreign languagelearning or teaching. They believe thatgrammar can be learned holistically throughcontext without explicit instruction ingrammar. Krashen (1992: 410) claims that“the effect of grammar is peripheral andfragile” and that “direct instruction onspecific rules has a measurable impact ontests that focus the performer on form, butthe effect is short-lived”.

Others believe that grammar is the onlysubstance in second or foreign languageteaching. They would equate languagelearning and teaching with grammar.

Learning a foreign or second language islearning the grammar of that language. Thetraditional grammar-translation method isa typical example. If you can translate thetarget language according to its grammarinto your own language, you are learning thatlanguage.

But there is a consensus that grammarinput given by teachers to learners couldinfluence L2 acquisition. The counterpartnotion concerning the learner is that thoselearners who initiate interactions will derivemore benefit from the input than if they areexposed to the input in a more indirectmanner. Furthermore, grammar input notonly can be explicit or implicit but also needsto be comprehensible. ‘Comprehensibleinput’ is a term popularised by Krashen. Itrefers to the fact that not all the targetlanguage to which foreign language learnersare exposed is understandable: Only someof the language they hear makes sense tothem. Input to the learners is the result ofunplanned factors as well as the plannedimplementation of the syllabus. Researchtheory and practical experience all point tothe fact that input is crucial to language

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○9PROFILEPROFILEPROFILEPROFILEPROFILE Implicit and Explicit Teaching of Grammar: An Empirical Study

learning. ‘Input’ refers to the language whichthe learners hear (or read) -that is, thelanguage samples to which they are exposed.

Conceiving second language acquisitionwithout input in some way or other isimpossible. Models of language acquisitiondiffer in the type of input which is regardedas most facilitative to second languagedevelopment. On the one hand, inductionmodels (Krashen, 1985) see acquisition asa result of informal, message-focused inputand bring into prominence the role ofimplicit acquisition of a second language.On the other hand, instructional models(Ellis, 1990) emphasise the role of explicitacquisition and therefore formal instructionas an important part in second languageacquisition.

Implicit and explicit acquisition, asMcLaughlin (1990) has indicated, arecontroversial constructs in the theoreticalstudy of foreign language (FL) teaching andlearning, as are other terms such asconscious, unconscious, incidental,intentional, deductive, and inductive, mainlybecause they refer to language learningstrategies and mental operations that cannoteasily be identified.

Implicit acquisition of grammaticalstructures is a language learning process inwhich grammatical principles and lexicalunderstanding are acquired by the languagelearner through experience with the secondlanguage (Krashen, 1981).

A number of premises underlie theinstructional strategy of implicit languageacquisition of which the following three are

the most frequently cited. First, accordingto Winitz and Reeds (1975), thorough,accurate and comprehensive knowledge ofgrammatical principles is achieved bestthrough implicit language acquisition. Thisclaim is made because the grammatical rulesin introductory FL textbooks are regarded asincomplete and inaccurate as well as theiruse as comprehensive statements regardingthe linguistic knowledge a speaker mustknow in order to speak a foreign language.These limited sets of rules contain only asmall number of the large number ofgrammatical rules that linguistic researchhas uncovered. Second, the grammaticalprinciples of an FL require knowledge ofsemantics and pragmatics. Textbookdescriptions of grammatical rules areprimarily restricted to statements of syntaxand morphology. The grammars of semanticsand pragmatics are usually limited in scopeand respectively provide the basis for theinterpretation of sentences and for theunderstanding of discourse principles.Nonetheless, there is support for the positionthat semantics and pragmatics can beacquired through experience with L2,generally in the context of communicativesituations (Loveday, 1982). Third,psycholinguistic investigation has indicatedthat language acquisition involves the useof lexico-grammatical strategies that do notdirectly correspond to the grammaticalprinciples of a language (Taylor and Taylor,1990). These strategies are presumably putinto operation by language learners withouttheir conscious awareness and without anexplicit understanding of when and underwhat circumstances they are used.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○10


Over the past two decades there has beenan open discussion about the role of teachinggrammar and the main focus of L2instructional research has shifted fromwhether or not instruction makes adifference to what types of instruction aremost effective for fostering second or foreignlanguage learning in formal contexts. Thedebate has led to theoretical issues such ashow grammar should be taught: implicit orexplicit grammar (called by Scott (1989)implicit exemplification and explicitexplanation respectively). McDermott(1999: 32) points out that “implicitteaching is not or at least should not be theopposite of implicit learning. The teachershould know what s/he is doing and why, ands/he should remember what s/he did so s/hecan either repeat or avoid it the next time.Implicit teaching is simply providingopportunities for language use without anyattention to form”. In relation to explicitteaching, he states that it “is teaching thatovertly points out some feature of thelanguage”. In DeKeyser’s words (1994:188), implicit teaching of grammar meansthat no rules are formulated; explicit meansrules are formulated (either by the teacheror the student, either before or afterexamples/practice).

It is worth noting that, according to Ellis(1997: 84), “explicit and implicitinstructions are not to be confused withexplicit and implicit learning”. On thecontrary, explicit and implicit instructionmeans it involves intentional learning on thepart of learners –they are aware they arelearning grammar. Consequently, bothexplicit and implicit instruction imply explicitlearning –while implicit learning ascribes to

‘learning that takes place without intentionand, possibly, without awareness’.

On the one hand, support of the implicitmethod of grammar instruction has beenmade on the basis that the development ofthe grammar competency needed tocommunicate effectively –from exposure tocomprehensible, meaningful linguisticinput- is done naturally. Krashen’s distinctionbetween learning (a conscious process) andacquisition (a subconscious process)provides the basis for his theory of implicitteaching strategies. He states that “secondlanguage acquisition can take place in theclassroom without any explicit study ofgrammar if the students are exposed toenough comprehensible input” and addsthat “the conscious study of grammar doesnot aid in the natural acquisition process”(Scott, 1989, p. 14).

Winitz (1996) conducted a study toinvestigate whether the methodologies ofimplicit and explicit language instructionmake a difference in the identification ofgrammatically well-formed sentences. Onehundred and thirty-nine college studentsenrolled in the first semester of collegeSpanish at a university in the U.S.A.participated in the study. The subjects weredivided into two groups: the implicitinstructional group and the explicitinstructional group. The former, comprisedof 67 students, was taught thecomprehension of Spanish sentencesthrough the use of pictures, gestures,context-based materials and Total PhysicalResponse activities; the latter, with 72students, was instructed in the grammar-translation approach wherein explicit


statements of the rules of grammar weretaught. The data analysis was based on agrammaticality judgement test administeredin the final week of the first semester of thecourse and on the students’ high schoolexperience in Spanish. Overall, the resultsshow that students in the implicit instructiongroup achieved significantly higher averagescores than students in the explicitinstruction group on this test. Also, it wasfound that students in the implicit groupwho had had high school Spanish did betteron the test.

Krashen (1999) reviews some studies(Master, 1994; Leeman et al., 1995;Robinson, 1995, 1997; De Graff, 1997;Manley and Calk, 1997) claiming to showan effect for grammar and that grammarstudy is good for students. He raises someobjections to these studies on the impact offormal instruction. Firstly, all the subjectswere experienced ESL learners such asintermediate or advanced foreign languageuniversity students. Secondly, some implicitgroups doubtfully had an acquisition-richenvironment during their instruction andsome others were focused on form. Finally,subjects were focused on form on all tests.He concludes that these studies“consistently show that more instructionresult in, at best, modest increases inconsciously-learned competence” (p. 245)and that “predictably, more focus on formand more information presented about rulesresult in more conscious learning”.

On the other hand, there is also supportfor the explicit method of grammarinstruction as Ellis (1994, 1997) haspointed out. He states that grammar

teaching is more than “providing learnerswith opportunities to produce targetstructure, initially under controlledconditions, and, then, increasingly in free orcommunicative activities” (Ellis, 1993, p. 69).

Scott’s (1989) study compares implicitand explicit grammar teaching strategieswith thirty-four advanced Frenchconversation learners studying French as aforeign language at a university in the U.S.A.The class of students was divided into twogroups and both groups were exposed toboth implicit and explicit teachingconditions of two target structures, relativepronouns and subjunctive –both form andusage. The students taught through theexplicit method heard rules and examplesentences of relative pronouns while thestudents taught through the implicit methodheard a story which contained the samegrammar structure present in the textnaturally and frequently, and heard ten timesmore examples than the explicit grammargroup. For the second target structure,subjunctive, the group taught under theimplicit condition was taught this time underexplicit conditions, and vice versa. All thestudents in both groups were given a writtenand oral pre-test and post-test covering therelative pronouns or the subjunctive.Overall, the results show that the studentsunder the explicit teaching conditionperformed better than the implicit teachingcondition group. On the written section ofthe test, the students under the explicitteaching condition performed better than theones under the implicit method, t(33) =1.74, p<.05. However, on the oral sectionof the test there was no significant differencein performance; the students performed

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○12


equally well under both conditions, t(33) =1.05, p>.05. Scott herself explains that thedifferences between the written and oralperformance are related to the students’concentration in both the implicit and theexplicit teaching conditions. Students underthe implicit method concentrated more onthe content of the message they heardwhile the students under the explicit oneconcentrated on the form. However, sheadds that the students will focus theirattention on content of the message theyhear regardless of whether it is a story orgrammar rules.

Scott (1990) replicated her experimentdescribed above but, in order to provide newempirical data, some changes wereimplemented. Thirty-four advanced studentsof French as a foreign language at the sameuniversity in the U.S.A. were divided intotwo groups and were taught two targetgrammar structures, relative pronouns andsubjunctive. As was done in the formerexperiment, both groups were exposed toimplicit and explicit teaching conditions.During the first part of the experiment, onegroup was exposed to the implicit teachingcondition and the other group to the explicitone; and for the second part, the former wasexposed to the explicit teaching conditionand the latter to the implicit one. Twochanges in both the teaching and testingprocedures were made. The change inteaching procedure involved telling theimplicit method group that they were hearinggrammar structures in context –episodes fullof relative pronouns for the first part of theexperiment and episodes using plenty ofsubjunctive structures for the second partof the experiment. The change in testing

procedure involved eliminating the oral examin both the pre-test and the post-test (forthe difference between the pre-test and thepost-test was not significant in Scott’s firstexperiment) and incorporating bothconvergent and divergent items such asmultiple choice, completion exercises andopen-ended questions. The results of thisstudy show almost identical results to Scott’sfirst experiment, and demonstrate that whenexplicit teaching of grammar is used in theclassroom, students’ performance issignificantly better. Scott (1990: 785) pointsout that these data also “provide basis forcontinuing to develop explicit grammarteaching which are creative and efficient andwhich prepare students”.

Similar results to the above are shown byDeKeyser’s (1994) exploratory study underlaboratory conditions which aimed atclarifying the role of explicit teaching ofdifferent kinds of rules. He tried out threehypotheses on six FL undergraduate learners,three for the explicit and three for the implicitconditions who were administered ajudgement and a production test. The resultsshow that the first hypothesis (prototypes areharder to learn than categorical rules) wassupported by two of the explicit subjects; andfor the other ones, there was no differencebetween prototypical and categorical rules.The second hypothesis (and the mostsignificant piece of evidence for the presentstudy in which explicit learning is better thanimplicit learning for categorical rules) wasfully confirmed: The three subjects in theexplicit teaching condition did significantlybetter than the implicit group. And the thirdhypothesis (implicit learning is at least asgood as explicit for prototypical rules) was


confirmed; however, all subjects performedpoorly on the prototypes. In general, thestudy supports the idea that learners dobetter when grammar is taught under explicitconditions. Due to the bias and limitationsof this pilot study, DeKeyser (1995)conducted a full-scale study with 61 collegestudents, in which feedback was givenduring the learning sessions in order toincrease students’ performance. Moreover,explicit knowledge of grammar was formallytested. Overall, the results show that explicit-deductive learning was more effective thanimplicit-inductive learning for the acquisitionof categorical rules.

Green and Hecht (1992) refer to one oftheir former studies where they looked at thegrammatical competence and performanceof learners and native speakers of English.The results show that FL learners achieved agood level of competence –understood asthe degree of accuracy achieved by learnerswhen their attention was focused on form –and that they did better than the group ofnative speakers, while their performance –the degree of accuracy achieved when thefocus was on the transmission of meaning –was not as good as the native speaker group.For their current investigation, Green andHecht (1992) replicated their former studybut, realising the German learners of Englishas a foreign language were bringingconscious rules into play, they also looked atthe rules themselves and not only at theproducts of them, by asking learners to makeexplicit the rules they were using or thoughtthey were using. The results show that in96 per cent of the possible cases, the nativespeakers of English produced the correctionanticipated, as was expected. In relation to

one of the expectations of Green and Hecht’sstudy, native speakers are worse at rules thanFL learners. It was found that the former wereless successful at formulating rules (42 percent) than the latter (46 per cent), thoughnot strikingly so. However, despite the slightdifference, this piece of evidence lendssupport to the idea that explicit grammardoes help FL learners.

Norris and Ortega (2000), in theirresearch synthesis and quantitative meta-analysis on the effectiveness of L2 instructionof 77 experimental and quasi-experimentalstudy report publications published between1980 and 1998, found that explicit typesof instruction are more effective thanimplicit types.

In conclusion, research provides groundto the voices who advocates either theimplicit or the explicit instruction ofgrammar. There is no debate as to whetheror not it is necessary to teach grammar buthow it should be taught. There is not onlyenough evidence which supports either theimplicit or the explicit teaching of grammar,but also enough scholars who advocate bothas the most effective way of enhancing andimproving FL learning.

METHODMETHODMETHODMETHODMETHOD

TTTTTeachers and Subjectseachers and Subjectseachers and Subjectseachers and Subjectseachers and Subjects

Prior to the semester course work, twoteachers from the department of languagesat Universidad Autónoma de Bucaramanga,Colombia, with an experience of about 15years in EFL teaching, decided to use theimplicit and the explicit system of instruction

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○14


in their regular courses. These instructors,who were non-native English speakers andheld a bachelor’s degree in languageteaching (Spanish, English, and French) andan M. Ed., also took part in the planning ofthe activities and the designing of the classmaterials and tests for the experiment.

Sixty-six students aged 18 to 20 fromthree intermediate EFL classes during thesecond semester of 2003 took part in theexperiment. The course is available tostudents who have completed two previouscourses –beginners and pre-intermediate.

TTTTTarararararget Structuresget Structuresget Structuresget Structuresget Structures

Two target structures were chosen fortheir level of difficulty as well as for theirdifference: If-Clauses: Real Conditions andPast Simple -Past Continuous, both formand usage.

ProcedureProcedureProcedureProcedureProcedure

Three groups of students in pre-intermediate EFL classes were taught by adifferent instructor. Each group was taughtthree sessions of two hours each for eachone of the two target structures. The secondstructure was taught four weeks after the firstone. The students involved in the researchwere not aware of the nature of theexperiment. There was a pre-test (Appendix1) and a post-test (Appendix 2) for eachtarget structure. All the students in the threegroups were given the same pre-test beforethe teaching of each target structure.Following the intervention, the studentswere given the same post-test.

One group, 24 students total, wasexposed to an implicit teachingmethodology during the teaching of bothstructures. The course content consisted ofmaterial specially designed for thisexperiment by the researcher and the twoteachers in charge of the implicit and theexplicit instruction groups. The targetstructures were taught through meaningfuland contextualised listening, speaking,reading and writing activities. Noexplanation of or reference to the structurewas made. The students were given the pre-test and the post-test on each structure.

The second group, 22 students in all, wasexposed to an explicit teaching methodologyduring the teaching of both structures. Thecourse content consisted of the currenttextbook selected by the languagedepartment at the university for the regularcourses. Both the students’ book and theworkbook were used for the teaching of eachof the target structures. Additional exercisesand drills on the structures were given tothe students in class in order to practisethem. The students were also given the pre-test and post-test on each structure.

The third group, 20 students, was thecontrol group. The students in this classwere taught the regular course at thisuniversity. The course content consisted ofthe current textbook selected for the coursesby the language department. Both thestudents’ book and the workbook were usedfor the teaching of each of the targetstructures. No additional exercises or drillswere given to the students. The studentswere also given the pre-test and the post-


test on each structure. The instructor of thisgroup did not take part either in the planningor the designing of the study and the materialused for the implicit and the explicitconditions. She was informed of theexperiment and asked to participate as thecontrol group instructor.

FINDINGSFINDINGSFINDINGSFINDINGSFINDINGS

Un-paired, two-tailed t-tests were usedto compare the mean gain scores of the threegroups for the If-Clauses: Real Conditionsand Past Simple -Past Continuous under theimplicit, the explicit, and the controlconditions.

Table 1 shows the raw score and gainscore means for the If-Clauses: RealConditions section of the experiment. Theresults of a two-tailed test show a statisticallysignificant difference in performance of thethree groups: The group under the explicitteaching condition performed better thanboth the group under the implicit teachingcondition t=2.8, p<.05 and the controlgroup t= 2.7, p<.05. The group under theimplicit teaching condition did not performbetter than the control group.

Pre-test, post-test and gain score meansfor subjects on If-Clauses: Real Conditionstests under implicit, explicit, and controlconditions:

TTTTTable 1.able 1.able 1.able 1.able 1. Pre-test, post-test and gain score means for subjects on If-Clauses:Real Conditions Tests

Table 2 shows the raw score and gainscore means for the Past Simple -PastContinuous section of the experiment. Theresults of a two-tailed do not show astatistically significant difference inperformance of the three groups, beingp>.05. Only the group under explicitteaching condition did better than the group

under the implicit teaching condition at the0.1 level, t= 1.6, p<.1.

Pre-test, post-test and gain score meansfor subjects on Past Simple -Past Continuoustests under implicit, explicit, and controlconditions:

Pre-test Post-test GainImp exp. contr. Imp. exp. contr. Imp. exp. contr.2.5 2.5 2.7 2.7 3.7 2.8 .14 1.2 .13

TTTTTable 2.able 2.able 2.able 2.able 2. Pre-test, post-test and gain score means for subjects on Past Simple - PastContinuous Tests

Pre-test Post-test GainImp exp. contr. Imp. exp. contr. Imp. exp. contr.3.1 2.6 2.6 3.1 3.4 3.2 -.06 .77 .65

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○16


CONCLCONCLCONCLCONCLCONCLUSIONUSIONUSIONUSIONUSION

The purpose of the experimental stage ofthis study was to investigate whether themethodologies of implicit and explicitlanguage instruction account for theimprovement of university students on aperformance test on two grammar topics.

Overall, the findings indicate that at theend of the experiment, students in the explicitinstruction group achieved significantlyhigher average scores than both the studentsin the implicit instruction group and thestudents in the control group on theperformance tests. This demonstrates thatwhen teachers use explicit grammar teachingstrategies in the classroom, the students’performance is significantly better. Thedifference in grammar teaching instructionhas theoretical and practical implications.First, the difference in performance amongthe three groups provides indirect evidencethat language instructional procedures of theimplicit and explicit instruction result in theuse of different language processes. Second,the better performance of the students in theexplicit instruction group suggests thatexplicit instructional strategies are veryimportant in the development of foreignlanguage educational programmes. Also,these results support the value of explicitgrammar instruction and suggest that therole of explicit grammar teaching strategiesin the classroom has to be re-considered andre-defined.

In relation to the Colombian EFL context,grammar teaching still remains a debate.Also, there are many issues for teachers toconsider in an attempt to render the

teaching of grammar both more learner-centred and more effective, not least theirown role in the choice, modification andpacing of tasks. Teachers should retain aneclectic and open-minded approach,whereby, with a degree of experimentationand sensitivity to and close vigilance of theirstudents, they can attempt to create the bestpossible conditions in which accuracy andfluency of language use can be developedsimultaneously and complimentarily.

Further study is needed in order to valuethe overall effectiveness of explicitinstruction in the long term and to determinewhich kind of linguistic structures are moresuitable to be taught under explicit orimplicit conditions.

REFERENCESREFERENCESREFERENCESREFERENCESREFERENCES

De Graff, R. (1997). The eXperantoexperiment: Effects of explicit instruction onsecond language acquisition. Studies in SecondLanguage Acquisition, 19, 249-276.

DeKeyser, R. (1994). Implicit and explicitlearning of L2 grammar: A pilot study. TESOLQuarterly, 28: 1, 188-194.

DeKeyser, R. (1995). Learning secondlanguage grammar rules: An experiment with aminiature linguistic system. Studies in SecondLanguage Acquisition, 17: 3, 379-410.

Ellis, R. (1990). Instructed second languageacquisition. Oxford: Blackwell.

Ellis, R. (1993). Interpretation-basedgrammar teaching. System, 21: 1, 69-78.

Ellis, R. (1994). The study of second languageacquisition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.


Ellis, R. (1997). SLA research and languageteaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Green, P. S. and Hecht, K. (1992). Implicitand explicit grammar: An empirical study.Applied Linguistics, 13: 2, 168-184.

Krashen, S. D. (1981). Second languageacquisition and second language learning.Oxford, England: Pergamon.

Krashen, S. D. (1985). The input hypothesis:Issues and implications. London: Longman.

Krashen, S. D. (1992). Under whatconditions, if any, should formal grammarinstruction take place? TESOL Quarterly, 26,409-411.

Krashen, S. D. (1999). Seeking a role forgrammar: A review of some recent studies.Foreign Language Annals, 32: 2, 245-257.

Leeman, J., Aregagoitia, I., Fridman, D., andDoughty, C. (1995). Integrating attention to formwith meaning: Focus on form in content-basedSpanish instruction. In R. Schmidt (Ed.).Attention and awareness in foreign languagelearning. Hawaii: University of Hawaii Press,217-258.

Loveday, L. (1982). The sociolinguistics oflearning and using a non-native language.Oxford, England: Pergamon.

Manley, J. and Calk, L. (1997). Grammarinstruction for writing skills: Do studentsperceive grammar as useful? Foreign LanguageAnnals, 30, 73-81.

Master, P. (1994). The effect of systematicinstruction on learning the English article system.In T. Odlin (Ed.). Perspectives on pedagogical

grammar. (pp. 229-252). Cambridge:Cambridge University Press.

McDermott, J. E. (1999). Implicit andexplicit learning of languages. Dialog onLanguage Instruction, 13, 27-44.

McLaughlin, B. (1990). “Conscious” and“unconscious” learning. TESOL Quarterly, 24,617-634.

Norris, J. M. and Ortega, L. (2000).Effectiveness of L2 instruction: A researchsynthesis and quantitative meta-analysis.Language Learning, 50: 3, 417-528.

Robinson, P. (1995). Aptitude, awareness,and the fundamental similarity of implicit andexplicit second language learning. In R. Schmidt(Ed.). Attention and awareness in foreignlanguage learning. Hawaii: University of HawaiiPress, 303-357.

Robinson, P. (1997). Generalizability andautomaticity of second language learning underimplicit, incidental, enhanced and instructedconditions. Studies in Second LanguageAcquisition, 19, 223-247.

Scott, V. (1989). An empirical study ofexplicit and implicit teaching strategies inFrench. The Modern Language Journal, 73: 1,14-22.

Scott, V. (1990). Explicit and implicitgrammar teaching strategies: New empiricaldata. The French Review, 63: 5, 779-789.

Taylor, I., and Taylor, M. M. (1990).Psycholinguistics, learning and using language.Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Winitz, H. and Reeds, J. (1975).Comprehension and problem solving as

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○18


strategies for language training. The Hague, TheNetherlands: Mouton.

Winitz, H. (1996). Grammaticality judgmentas a function of explicit and implicit instruction

in Spanish. The Modern Language Journal, 80:1, 32-46.


APPENDIX 1: PRE-APPENDIX 1: PRE-APPENDIX 1: PRE-APPENDIX 1: PRE-APPENDIX 1: PRE-TESTTESTTESTTESTTEST

If-Clauses: Real ConditionsIf-Clauses: Real ConditionsIf-Clauses: Real ConditionsIf-Clauses: Real ConditionsIf-Clauses: Real Conditions

Choose the corChoose the corChoose the corChoose the corChoose the correct worrect worrect worrect worrect word(s) to fill in the blank.d(s) to fill in the blank.d(s) to fill in the blank.d(s) to fill in the blank.d(s) to fill in the blank.

1. I _______________ come to the university if I feel better today.a. will be b. might c. am d. was

2. If there _______________ a nuclear war, many people will die.a. be b. is c. will be d. were

3. If a store is out of a sale item, you _______________ get a rain check.a. could have b. would c. were d. can

4. I don’t answer the phone if I _______________ in the shower.a. were b. was c. am d. will be

5. _______________ you see a red light, stop.a. Even b. If c. Unless d. Were

6. If you don’t do the homework, you _______________ get a good grade.a. wouldn’t b. not c. won’t d. weren’t

7. I _______________ my friend if I have some free time tonight.a. call b. will call c. were called d. would call

8. If the weather _______________ nice this weekend, I’ll go to the park.a. were b. will be c. is d. would be

9. If you are married, you probably _______________ longer.a. will live b. are live c. would have lived d. would be lived

10. I’ll go to the library if the teacher _______________ come tomorrow.a. not b. wouldn’t c. doesn’t d. weren’t

Past Simple - Past ContinuousPast Simple - Past ContinuousPast Simple - Past ContinuousPast Simple - Past ContinuousPast Simple - Past Continuous


1. I was watching TV. I heard a knock on the door. When I heard the knock on the door,I _______________ it.a. open b. am opening c. opened d. was opening

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○20


2. Boris lost his wallet while he _______________ through the park.a. will be jogging b. was jogging c. jog d. were jogging

3. I _______________ TV when Gina called last night. We talked for an hour.a. watch b. watched c. was watching d. am watching

4. Mike was in his bedroom last night. He _______________, so we needed to bequiet.a. is sleeping b. sleeps c. slept d. was sleeping

5. Kate _______________ an accident yesterday. She was standing at the cornerwhere the accident happened.a. saw b. see c. sees d. was seeing

6. Paul broke his arm while he _______________ in the ocean yesterday.a. swim b. was swimming c. were swimming d. was swimming

7. _______________ the telephone ringing? I’m sorry but I didn’t hear anything.a. do b. did c. were d. was

8. While I _______________ dinner last night, I burned my fingers.a. cooking b. cook c. was cooking d. was cook

9. I _______________ home at 10:00 p.m. My brother was playing his guitar.a. arrived b. will arrive c. was arriving d. arrive

10. My cat jumped on the table while we _______________ dinner.a. eat b. were eating c. ate d. will eat


APPENDIX 2: POSTAPPENDIX 2: POSTAPPENDIX 2: POSTAPPENDIX 2: POSTAPPENDIX 2: POST-----TESTTESTTESTTESTTEST

If-Clauses: Real ConditionsIf-Clauses: Real ConditionsIf-Clauses: Real ConditionsIf-Clauses: Real ConditionsIf-Clauses: Real ConditionsChoose the corChoose the corChoose the corChoose the corChoose the correct worrect worrect worrect worrect word(s) to fill in the blank.d(s) to fill in the blank.d(s) to fill in the blank.d(s) to fill in the blank.d(s) to fill in the blank.

1. We _______________ late if you don’t hurry.a. will be b. were c. are d. would

2. If I _______________ well tomorrow, I’ll stay at home.a. will feel b. didn’t feel c. felt d. don’t feel

3. We’ll play tennis if it _______________ tomorrow.a. has rained b. doesn’t rain c. will rain d. has been raining

4. I’m sure they’ll understand if you _______________ wear a coat.a. have b. won’t c. don’t d. will be

5. If I can get a flight, I _______________ fly home on Sunday.a. will b. will have c. wasn’t d. was

6. It _______________ nice if you can come to the party.a. wouldn’t b. not c. won’t d. will be

7. Have something to eat. If you _______________ eat now, you’ll be hungry later.a. not b. will c. don’t d. would

8. If I _______________ you tomorrow, I’ll phone you.a. was seen b. will see c. won’t see d. don’t see

9. What _______________ you do if you don’t pass your examinations?a. will b. are c. would d. were

10. If you _______________ any problems, I’ll try to help you.a. has b. had c. have d. don’t have

Choose the correct form of the verbChoose the correct form of the verbChoose the correct form of the verbChoose the correct form of the verbChoose the correct form of the verb

11. It will be difficult to find a hotel if _______________ late.a. we arrive b. we’ll arrive c. we arrived d. we haven’t arrived

12. _______________ surprised if _______________ married.a. I’m b. they get c. I’ll be d. they’ll get

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○22


13. _______________ to the party if _______________ you? a. Do you go b. Will you go c. they invite d. they’ll invite

Past Simple - Past ContinuousPast Simple - Past ContinuousPast Simple - Past ContinuousPast Simple - Past ContinuousPast Simple - Past Continuous


1. When we _______________ out, it was raining.a. go b. do go c. was d. went

2. _______________ television when I phoned you?a. will you watch b. you were watching c. were you watching d. youwill watch

3. Jane wasn’t at home when I went to see her. She _______________ .a. was working b. does work c. will work d. has been working

4. The postman _______________ while I was having breakfast.a. come b. came c. doesn’t come d. will come

5. We met Joan at the party. She _______________ a red dress.a. does wear b. wears c. will wear d. was wearing

6. The boys _______________ a window when they were playing football.a. break b. broken c. broke d. were broken

7. When the accident happened, Pat _______________ fast.a. not drive b. wasn’t driving c. not driving d. drives

8. While I was doing my homework, my little sisters _____________ in the backgarden.a. were playing b. played c. don’t play d. play

9. I got up at 7 o’clock. The sun _______________, so I _______________ fora walk.

a. shines e. was goingb. was shining f. will goc. will shine g. god. shone h. went

This article was received on February 17th, 2004 and accepted on August 24th, 2004.


Teacher Correction versus Peer-Marking*

Corrección del maestro versuscorrección por revisión de pares

Mariana Correia Mourente MiguelMariana Correia Mourente MiguelMariana Correia Mourente MiguelMariana Correia Mourente MiguelMariana Correia Mourente Miguel**Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

[email protected]

Written language is undoubtedly more often used than oral language in avariety of contexts, including both the professional and academic life.Consequently, developing strategies for correcting compositions and improvingstudents’ written production is of vital importance. This article describes anexperiment aimed at assessing the two most widely used methods of correctionfor compositions –traditional teacher correction and peer marking and theireffect on the frequency of errors. Data was collected by asking students to writeand revise a text. Statistical tests were performed to analyse it. At the end of theexperiment, it was found that no significant difference in efficiency existedbetween the two methods, contradicting expectations (cf. Davies, 2002; Levineet al., 2002 and Ward, 2001).

KKKKKey worey worey worey worey words: ds: ds: ds: ds: English-Teaching, Foreign Language-Teaching Writing,Evaluation, Assessment

El lenguaje escrito es sin duda usado con más frecuencia que el lenguajeoral en una variedad de situaciones o contextos, incluyendo tanto la vidaprofesional como la académica. En consecuencia, el desarrollo de estrategiaspara corregir composiciones y mejorar la producción escrita de los estudianteses de suma importancia. Este artículo describe un experimento cuyo objetivo esevaluar los dos métodos más usados para la corrección de composiciones, lacorrección tradicional por el maestro y la corrección por revisión de pares, conrespecto a su efecto en la frecuencia de errores. Se recogió información haciendoque estudiantes escribieran y revisaran un texto y sobre esos textos se aplicaronpruebas estadísticas para analizar los errores. Contrario a lo esperado, al finaldel experimento, no se encontró ninguna diferencia significativa entre los

* This research project was carried out as part of a non-mandatory internship undertaken by the author during 2002-2003.This internship was offered by an institutional project called Projeto Cursos de Línguas Abertos à Comunidade and was fundedby Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro.

** Mariana Correia Mourente MiguelMariana Correia Mourente MiguelMariana Correia Mourente MiguelMariana Correia Mourente MiguelMariana Correia Mourente Miguel is a graduate student and teacher whose main interest lies in written productionin English as a foreign language as well as its evaluation and assessment. She has co-edited a collection of essays on foreignlanguage teaching in 2003 and is currently co-editing another volume to be published this year.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○24

CORREIA PROFILEPROFILEPROFILEPROFILEPROFILE

resultados encontrados por los dos métodos, (cfr. Davies, 2002; Levine et al.,2002 y Ward, 2001).

Palabras claves: Palabras claves: Palabras claves: Palabras claves: Palabras claves: Inglés-Enseñanza, Idioma Extranjero-Enseñanza,Composición, Evaluación


Nowadays, a great importance is attachedto written language by many institutionssince it is needed in order to succeedacademically. Entrance exams for bothundergraduate and graduate universitycourses require mastery of it. Written Englishis also more common than spoken Englishfor many people both in their personal andprofessional lives. In Brazil, the federalgovernment has helped to give prominenceto written over spoken language bypublishing the National CurriculumProgramme for the teaching of foreignlanguages (Secretaria de EducaçãoFundamental, 1998). This documentinstructs teachers to focus on skills relatedto written language and states many reasonswhy they should be emphasised even whenteaching students as young as ten years old.

This state of affairs naturally leads teachertrainers and teacher trainees to consider themethods of correction for compositions. Ifteachers are supposed to devote a great partof their courses to the written language, theyshould equally make attempts to optimisethe learning process of skills related to it. Inthis article, two of the most commonmethods of correction for written production–traditional teacher marking and peermarking– will be empirically assessed.

THEORETICAL BACKGROUNDTHEORETICAL BACKGROUNDTHEORETICAL BACKGROUNDTHEORETICAL BACKGROUNDTHEORETICAL BACKGROUND

Several studies such as Ward (2001),Levine et al. (2002), and Davies (2002),state that peer-marking is more efficient thantraditional teacher marking. According tothese researchers, peer marking presentsstudents with more opportunities to assumean active role in the evaluation process. Inorder to be able to detect mistakes incolleagues’ compositions, students must beat least familiar with the vocabulary andstructures that were taught in class. Besidesthat, these authors claim that students aremore likely to pay attention in order not tomake the same mistakes again. These authorsalso claim that this method providesstudents with opportunities to reflect on thelearning process and critically evaluate it.Last but not least, students are also exposedmore to the foreign language they arestudying and may learn new vocabularyitems or grammar points.

HYPOTHESISHYPOTHESISHYPOTHESISHYPOTHESISHYPOTHESIS

In the present research project, theobjective is to verify which method is themost efficient: the traditional correction,when only the teacher has the authority tocorrect students’ mistakes, or peer-marking,when the students themselves evaluate theircolleagues’ production. The aspect underanalysis is the efficacy of these methods

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○25PROFILEPROFILEPROFILEPROFILEPROFILE Teacher Correction versus Peer-Marking

concerning the decrease in the frequency oferrors after revision. The research questionthat was drawn from the cited bibliographyis: Would students who practised peermarking commit fewer mistakes whenrevising their texts?

METHODOLOGYMETHODOLOGYMETHODOLOGYMETHODOLOGYMETHODOLOGY

In order to verify this hypothesis, twoactivities were conducted with groups ofstudents belonging to the same level in orderto gather the data required for our research.The students had had approximately 200guided learning hours, being situated at theA2 level (or Key English Test level) accordingto the Common European Framework (seeCambridge ESOL). All students were adults,from 18 to 27 years old. They were attendinga general English course aimed at developingthe four abilities. This course was offered by

a public institution with an especially lowfee to attract disadvantaged students.

The activities designed to gather datainvolved the writing of a composition by thestudents working individually. After thecompositions were written, they werecollected. Then each class was assigned adifferent procedure. In Class A, the traditionalmethod was used while in Class B peermarking was chosen as the way of correctingthe compositions. The corrected compositionswere then given back to the students whowere asked to check the mistakes that hadbeen highlighted, as well as to try toassimilate the right answers. The next stepfor both classes was to give them anuncorrected copy of their compositions andask them to rewrite it, eliminating the errorsthat had been corrected. This procedure isfurther clarified in the diagram below:

Step 1: Students were instructed to write a composition

Step 2—A: Teacher

collected compositions

and corrected them

Step 2—B: Each

student corrected a

classmate’s

composition

Step 3: Students received their compositions and

checked the markings

Step 4: Students revised their compositions

Diagram 1.Diagram 1.Diagram 1.Diagram 1.Diagram 1. Procedure for collecting data

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○26


Both the original and the revised versionsof the composition were carefully read andcompared by the researcher in order todetermine how many mistakes had beenmade in the original and in the revisedversions. The data collected from this activitywere then submitted to statistical analysisbecause this type of analysis allows thedetection of tendencies and the comparisonof groups, which proved useful given theaims of the experiment.

The data were not normally distributed,as one can see in the histogram below(Graph 1), where “Erorig” stands for thenumber of mistakes found in the first version

of the composition (“Erorig” is “erros nooriginal”, or “mistakes in the first version”,shortened due to software limitations.).Considering the data distribution, the nextstep was to perform the chi-square test tosee whether there was a significant differencebetween students’ performance before andafter the correction (cf. Robson, 1975, for adetailed account of how to structureempirical research). As shown in the tablebelow (Table 1), the difference for bothgroups was not significant, which means thatneither of the methods tested in thisexperiment was considerably more efficientthan the other in making students able toidentify and correct their errors.

Graph 1Graph 1Graph 1Graph 1Graph 1

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○27PROFILEPROFILEPROFILEPROFILEPROFILE Teacher Correction versus Peer-Marking

TTTTTable 1able 1able 1able 1able 1

DISCUSSIONDISCUSSIONDISCUSSIONDISCUSSIONDISCUSSION

From the data analysed in the previoussection, one can infer that the assumptionsmade about peer marking are not entirelywell founded. The experiment did not havethe deep impact it was expected to have onstudents’ use of the foreign language. Mistakeidentification did not improve significantlywhen compared to students exposed totraditional evaluation methods, since therewas roughly an equal improvement for bothgroups. Therefore, it may be moreappropriate for teachers to include bothstyles of correction in their courses. This way,students who eventually feel inhibited withone of the methods will be givenopportunities to profit from the other.

A shortcoming in this research that hasto be acknowledged is the fact that it dealtspecifically with Brazilian students. As aresult, this experiment does not account forthe impact cultural background may haveon students’ reaction to different evaluationmethods. Further research, including otherEnglish as a foreign language teachingcontexts such as other Latin Americancountries, is thus needed in order to reach abetter understanding of how assessmentfunctions during the foreign language

acquisition process. It would also bepertinent to verify if these two methods varyin any other relevant aspect.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSACKNOWLEDGEMENTSACKNOWLEDGEMENTSACKNOWLEDGEMENTSACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The author would like to thank fellowteacher Naíra Figueiredo Costa Monteiro deAlmeida, for kindly discussing the design ofthe experiment in its early phase and helpingto collect data as well as all the studentswho willingly participated in the experimentand consented on its publication underanonymity. The author would also like tothank in advance those who take an interestin this research and decide to conductsimilar projects in their schools.


Cambridge ESOL. How many hours of studyare needed to reach the levels of the Main Suiteexams? Retrieved from

http:/ /www.cambridgeesol .org/ faq/ms_gen_faqs.cfm#1

Davies, P. Peer-assessment: No markings,just feedback? Retrieved from http://www.comp.glam.ac.uk/pages/staff/pdavies/caa.htm

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○28


Levine, A., Oded, B., Connor, U., andAsons, I. (2002). Variation in EFL-ESLresponse. TESL-EJ, Berkeley 6: 3. RetrievedDecember 2002, from

http://www-writing.berkeley.edu/TESL-EJ/ej23/a1.html

Robson, C. (1975). Experiment, design andstatistics in psychology. Harmondsworth:Penguin Education.

Secretaria de Educação Fundamental.(1998). Parâmetros curriculares nacionais:

Terceiro e quarto ciclos do ensino fundamental:língua estrangeira. Brasília: MEC/SEF. Retrievedfrom

http://www.mec.gov.br/sef/estrut2/pcn/pdf/estrangeira.pdf

Ward, A. (2001). Experimenting with web-enabled peer assessment. Retrieved from http://www.dcs.warwick.ac.uk/~ashley/Research/OASYS/forumarticle.html

This article was received on May 11th, 2004 and accepted on August 23rd, 2004


Interactive Communicative Teaching

and the Young Indian Learner

Enseñanza comunicativa e interactiva y el joven estudiante de la India

Deepti GuptaDeepti GuptaDeepti GuptaDeepti GuptaDeepti Gupta*

Panjab [email protected]

In classrooms where English is not the mother tongue and where age-oldteaching methodology rules the roost, it is not easy to make changes, especiallyradical ones. This case study shows how these reforms can be self-defeating ifthey are imposed without an attempt at a gradual, gentle and well thought outimplementation. This is a slightly modified and revised version of a paperpresented at the “Language in the Mind” International conference organizedby the Singapore University, Singapore in September 2000.

KKKKKey worey worey worey worey wordsdsdsdsds: Communicative, Task-based, Interactive, Learner-centered,Structural, Lecture-based, Pedagogy

En las clases en las que el inglés no es la lengua materna y en las quepredomina una metodología anticuada de enseñanza, no es fácil efectuarcambios, especialmente cambios radicales. Este caso demuestra cómo estasreformas pueden fracasar si se las impone repentinamente sin unaimplementación gradual y bien planificada. Esta es una versión modificada yrevisada de un documento presentado en la conferencia internacional “Idiomaen la mente” organizada por la Universidad de Singapore en Singapore enseptiembre de 2000.

Palabras claves: Palabras claves: Palabras claves: Palabras claves: Palabras claves: Enseñanza-Lenguas Extranjeras, Enfoque Comunicativo,Enfoque basado en Tareas, Enfoque Interactivo, Enfoque centrado en elEstudiante, Enfoque Estructural

* Deepti GuptaDeepti GuptaDeepti GuptaDeepti GuptaDeepti Gupta is one of the first Indian C.A. teachers, setting up the first undergraduate language laboratory inChandigarh. An M.Phil: in stylistics and a PhD in ELT, interests are methodology, classroom observation and action research. With19 years of teaching experience, she teaches postgraduates and supervises research.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○30

DEEPTI PROFILEPROFILEPROFILEPROFILEPROFILE


The development of English languageteaching methods bears close resemblanceto a cone, as shown in figure 1. The apex ofthe cone begins with the Reform Movementwhen applied linguists and teachers workedtogether to give a scientific orientation toELT in the 1880’s. Communicative languageteaching, language -literature integration

and interactive teaching form the broad endof the cone. Emphasis on the individual ledto the widening of the cone, a widening thatcontinues to be evident in classroomseverywhere. The learner became thepervasive factor in language teaching. Withthe advent of communicative languageteaching and interactive teaching came anawareness of new modes of teaching.

Figure 1.Figure 1.Figure 1.Figure 1.Figure 1. The ELT Cone

Colleges in North India, in Chandigarhand Punjab were quick to pick up the changeand introduced two new courses at thebachelor degree level –English ascommunication and functional English.Although much still needs to be worked outin terms of the perfect implementation ofcommunicative and interactive teaching, itcan be said with a reasonable degree ofconfidence that changes in ELT pedagogyand methodology are around the corner. Fivesignposts of these changes were identifiedin an earlier study (Gupta, 1993).

1. Reduction in chalk-talk routines.2. More active participation by

learners in classroom interaction.3. Better acceptance of new teaching

techniques by teachers.4. Increased frequency of inter-active

tasks in the classroom.5. Improvement in fluency levels of

college students.

Changes in teaching pedagogy foundtheir way to the schools too. In the 1990’sschools in Chandigarh, the city of my birth,

1880-1880-1880-1880-1880-WWWWWORLD ORLD ORLD ORLD ORLD WWWWWAR IAR IAR IAR IAR I•DIRECT METHOD

•PRIMACY OFSPEECH

•APPLIED

INTERWINTERWINTERWINTERWINTERWARARARARARYEARS TOYEARS TOYEARS TOYEARS TOYEARS TO

19401940194019401940•ELT AS AN

AUTONOMUSPROFESSION

WWWWWORLD ORLD ORLD ORLD ORLD WWWWWARARARARARII TO 1970II TO 1970II TO 1970II TO 1970II TO 1970

•STRUCTURALLINGUISTICS

•LANGUAGELABORATORY

1970 TO THE1970 TO THE1970 TO THE1970 TO THE1970 TO THEPRESENTPRESENTPRESENTPRESENTPRESENT

•CLTLANGUAGE

•LITERATUREINTEGRATION

•INTER-ACTIIONALAPPROACH

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○31PROFILEPROFILEPROFILEPROFILEPROFILE Interactive Communicative Teaching and the Young Indian Learner

went through a process of introspection witha special focus on their teaching methods.There were workshops on ‘learner-centeredteaching’, seminars on ‘task-based teaching’and discussions on ‘teaching without thetraditional textbooks’. An over-ridingconcern was the heavy school bag. Thedevelopment that is of interest here was aquestioning of old teaching methods. Afterthese sessions came a virtual blitzkrieg onschool teaching.

School boards prepared English textbooksthat were communicative-task based.Schools prescribed these. In some schools,English came to be taught throughworksheets and assignments. By 1992, mostschools had introduced changes in theirteaching methods and teachers could lookforward to better-equipped students at themaster’s level. The first batch of studentstaught under the new methods reached themaster’s level in 1998. As a teacher, onehad high expectations of this group. Theyhad only been thirteen-years-old in Class VIII,when the changes had been introduced inschools. They had also taken functionalEnglish in college. Functional English in theIndian context is an English course designedas per the communicative approach.


Surprisingly, these learners had notreached the level of communicativecompetence expected. Through classroomobservation, a set of tendencies emerged inthese learners, namely:

1. Heavy dependence on guidebooksand reference books to tackle literary texts.

2. Use of minimal language to achievethe bare minimum of communication. PaulSeedhouse1 calls this tendency indexicalinteraction i.e. context bound, inexplicitinteraction.

3. Constant repetition of utteranceslike you know, I mean, as to say and so on,as fillers.

4. Low level of enthusiasm for readingliterary texts outside the curriculum.

5. Avoidance of long, writtenassignments that demand a good commandof language and a well-developed criticalfaculty.

By no means do learners display thesetendencies for the first time, but this situationwas unique because here was a batch oflearners who came from schools where task-based teaching is the norm, wherecommunicative methods have replaced thetraditional chalk-talk methods and thetextbooks provided have been prepared byELT experts well-versed in the latest currentsof change.

To get to the crux of the matter, in thesummer vacation of 1999, this author gottogether a group of 20 learners from 13 to15 years old. They were from 10 schools inChandigarh. Over a period of five weeks,there was interaction with them, inspectionof their school textbooks and elicitation of

1 Seedhouse writes: “What we also find in task-basedinteraction is a tendency to produce very indexical interaction,i.e. interaction that is context-bound, inexplicit, and henceobscure to anybody reading the extracts without knowledgeof the task in which the participants were engaged. Interactantsin a task seem to produce utterances at the lowest level ofexplicitness necessary to the successful completion of thetask… L2 teachers who are reading the tasks tend to find theactual language produced in task-based interaction to beimpoverished and esoteric” (1999: 153).

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○32


information from them. This exerciserevealed that their schools had worked hardin the following areas:

1. Generation of ELGeneration of ELGeneration of ELGeneration of ELGeneration of ELT MaterialsT MaterialsT MaterialsT MaterialsT Materials:Teachers regularly planned interactive

tasks for their classrooms. Well-stockedschool libraries with seminal works in ELTand the latest pedagogy were at the teachers’disposal. Worksheets were also generated forclassroom use on a regular basis.

2. TTTTTeaching Methods:eaching Methods:eaching Methods:eaching Methods:eaching Methods:ELT experts conducted workshops and

orientation programmes regularly to updatethe teachers’ methodology.

3. Mode of ExaminationMode of ExaminationMode of ExaminationMode of ExaminationMode of Examination:Schools cut down on long-winded

occasional examinations and introducedshorter, more frequent examinations.

4. Method of EvaluationMethod of EvaluationMethod of EvaluationMethod of EvaluationMethod of Evaluation:Through constant discussion and

exchange of ideas, teachers were encouragedto change fixed notions about good and badanswers.

5. Introduct ion of Diagnost icIntroduct ion of Diagnost icIntroduct ion of Diagnost icIntroduct ion of Diagnost icIntroduct ion of Diagnost icStrategies and Error Analysis:Strategies and Error Analysis:Strategies and Error Analysis:Strategies and Error Analysis:Strategies and Error Analysis:

Teachers decided to keep track of learnererrors by maintaining records for individuallearners and going through them regularly.This made the rectification of learner errorseasier.

All this information was collected aftervisits to the 10 schools and conversationswith principals and teachers. The situationseemed an ideal learning situation. If the

scenario continued, one could imagine theproduction of perfect language learners aftersome years. But this did not tally with thelearners who came to this author at themaster’s level. They were also the productsof the same system and represented a widespectrum of learners. By now, it was clearthat the situation demanded a closer analysis.

Providentially, St. John’s High School, aboys’ school of Chandigarh, organized anorientation programme on learner-centerededucation in December, 1999. The specialinterest of the programme was ELT. As a partof the exercise, parents of the schoolboyswere invited to a session. A discussion andinteraction with the resource person ensued.During this event, very strong parentalopposition to any change in teachingmethods emerged. It was more than obviousthat the parents were opposed to any kindsof changes in the traditional classroommethods, an amalgam of structural andlecture-based approaches. They wanted theteacher to lecture at least eighty percent ofthe time. Task-based teaching met withcomplete rejection and stiff opposition, evenas an idea. Worksheets were given a skeptic’swelcome. The fact also came to light thatthis particular school was the only one thatinvited parents to be a part of the process ofchange. In other schools, teachingmethodology had been changed overnightwithout any notice given to parents.Interaction with parents afterwards revealedthat parental approval is indispensable if anychange is to be made in teachingmethodology. If this approval is not granted,young learners cannot benefit from newmethods because they are not encouragedto discuss classroom interactive tasks at


home, which gives them the idea thatinteractive tasks are not ‘real education’.


The learner in this part of North India isalready at a disadvantage due to being partof a bilingual and, at times, trilingual2

society. If the learner has the advantage ofbeing able to understand two or threelanguages, s/he also faces the distinctdisadvantage of living in an environmentwhere English is not a language for everydaycommunication. Using English outside theclassroom is essential in order to developfluency in the language skills, but theenvironment, coupled with parentaldisapproval, may make the learner feelinhibited and out of place while doing so. InIndia, parental intervention still remains a partof the education structure in schools.Education is still assessed in terms of marksand positions. In this scenario, tasks andinteractive teaching seem to be a waste oftime to most parents. This results in a situationwhere parents cannot perceive how fluency canbe transcribed into good marks in theexamination. Therefore, whenever someactivities require inputs beyond the classroomor are not connected with the prescribedtextbooks, they are frowned upon. Thisproblem can be remedied if parents are takeninto confidence in advance and schools takethe trouble to explain in detail the rationalebehind task-based, interactive teaching.

In the area of teacher training, somedistinct shortcomings emerged. Asmentioned earlier, the virtual bombardmentof workshops, seminars and orientationprogrammes gave a rosy tinge to the wholepicture. It seemed as if, overnight, teachersand classrooms had undergone a sea-sizechange. The actual situation was somewhatdifferent. One, for years these teachers hadrelied upon the lecture method and theirteaching had been examination-oriented forachievement type testing. The need of thehour was a systematic training programmespread over weeks, with practicaldemonstration lessons and lesson plans toshow the efficacy of the new methodology.Instead, teachers were pelted withinformation and training without being giventhe time to judge for themselves the rationalebehind this changeover. The schooladministration in every school invitedresource persons without formulating a clear-cut plan for the teacher training. The resultwas that one week was devoted to learner-centered teaching, another to evaluationstrategies, yet another to tasks and theteacher became a sort of jack-of-all-trades,master of none. These teachers had been inthe profession for a good twenty years or so,and had not kept in touch with the winds ofchange in ELT. Two, teacher training, in orderto be effective, has to be an ongoing process.The concept of ‘preset’ and ‘inset’ teachertraining is still foreign to India. Once theresource persons had left, there was no oneto coordinate the teaching programme andthe only guidance came from librariesstocked at random. Three, in theory, reamsof paper bore witness to teachers beingtrained in ELT material generation, but, inpractice, they felt at sea when faced with the

1 North Indian society uses both Punjabi and Hindi insocial interaction. Day by day, English is becoming a part ofeveryday conversation, but only in exclusive areas like bankingor education. By and large, Hindi and Punjabi remain themother tongue and it is not surprising to find smatterings ofUrdu in families who have parents or grandparents who livedin Pakistan before the partition (1947).

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○34


task. Left to fend for themselves, they turnedto their old methods or restricted themselvesto the limited range of tasks provided by thetextbooks.

Since the teachers were a confused andoverburdened lot in the absence of well-directed training, they could not drum upenough enthusiasm in the learners for thechanged methodology. Students for yearshad divided their classroom materials intotwo groups required for examination and notrequired for examination. Unfortunately, inthe absence of parental encouragement andproper teacher guidance, they cataloguedcommunicative tasks and interactiveactivities under the heading “not requiredfor examination”. These were performed forthe satisfaction of the teacher and were lookupon as purposeless, entertaining, lesseducational and conveniently relegated tothe back burner.

In spite of so many changes in other areas,curriculum development still remains anivory-tower exercise in schools. There is acommunication gap between those whoteach and those who frame the syllabus,those who implement it and those whoevaluate. The teacher has no autonomy. Thesyllabus-framer is one person, the policy-maker another, while the paper setter andthe examiner still others. Even when theexamination is not one conducted by a highschool board, all schools follow thishierarchical system. Over a span of time, itis possible to train teachers in a differentteaching methodology, but to make mindsetchanges in a complete hierarchy is a next toimpossible task. And unless the wholesystem is ready to accept and adopt changes,

the learner cannot be blamed for beingsuspicious of new classroom techniques.

The level of implementation of newmethodology is an important factor, too.Some schools introduced task-based,interactive teaching for six-year-old learners,some for ten and some for thirteen. Post-evaluation results were most encouragingwith very young learners. The relationshipis one of inverse proportion: the younger thelearner, the greater the success achievedthrough teaching in the interactive, task-based mode. To quote Rivers (1998: 13),“Collaborative activity of this type shouldbe the norm from the beginning of languagestudy” (Rivers, 1998). Once the learner getsused to the audio-lingual, structural, lecturemethod approach, weaning is difficult andlearners take quite a long time to get usedto a changed classroom environment inwhich the teacher is the facilitator and notthe boss of the whole show. Young andunconditioned minds are best forinnovations.


This study has helped me, as a teacher,to understand the tendencies shown by mystudents in the classroom. When someschoolteachers learnt about this research,they expressed their interest in classroomobservation as a tool for applying diagnosticstrategies. Later on, this can lead to remedialteaching, too. The relationship among thestudent, teacher and research has beenemphasized often enough. Teachers andstudents can be co-researchers in theprocess. Indeed, they are the ultimatebeneficiaries in any research.


When it is an established fact that everyclassroom is unique and, as such, has uniquedemands, no methodology or pedagogy canbe thrust lock, stock and barrel upon a setof learners. Surely, one cannot simply lift amodel for language teaching and impose itupon a classroom without trying tounderstand the environment in which themodel would be expected to take root. Ifchanges are imposed without due thoughtand planning, the result is ‘a goodly applerotten to the core’. In the newspapers andjournals, the adoption of a communicative,task-based, interactive methodologies lookand sound very good. But without therequisite optimal conditions to supportthem, constant research to modify them andincrease their efficacy, it can lead to confusedteachers and learners, giving rise todisappointing outputs.

GLOSSARYGLOSSARYGLOSSARYGLOSSARYGLOSSARY

1. Blitzkrieg: an intense series of inputs.2. Chalk-Talk routines: the method of

teaching with the teacher’s lecture at thecentre, that perceives teachers as givers of apackage called education; learners are purelyat the receiving end with no expectation oropportunity of interaction.

3. Communicative language teaching:method of teaching that aims to developcommunicative competence, as opposed tosimple knowledge of grammatical andsimilar structures.

4. Fluency level: measure of the ability toexpress oneself accurately and articulately ina language.

5. Interactive teaching: method ofteaching that treats language as a tool forthe creation and maintenance of

interpersonal relationships and socialtransactions.

6. Learner-centred teaching: learners arenot treated as passive participants at thereceiving end; they are a part of the wholeclassroom experience and contribute activelyto it through tasks and activities.

7. Lecture-based: the antithesis oflearner-centred teaching; learners are totallypassive listeners.

8. Pedagogy: the method and practice ofteaching, especially as an academic subjector theoretical concept.

9. Preset and inset teacher training:training of this kind is the norm in the West,where English is the mother tongue. Presetrefers to pre-service training and inset refersto in-service training for teachers.

10. Structural: the approach or methodthat views language as a system ofstructurally related elements for theencoding of meaning; in which the systemof speech is primary.

11. Task-based teaching: based on thecommunicative approach, it uses tasks andactivities as the core units of planning andinstruction in language teaching.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSACKNOWLEDGEMENTSACKNOWLEDGEMENTSACKNOWLEDGEMENTSACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The author would like to thank AlastairMurray for translating the abstract of thisarticle.


Allwright, D. (1988). Observation in thelanguage classroom. London: Longman.

Gupta, D. (1993). The teaching of Englishliterature and communicative language teaching

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○36


in the Indian classroom. Unpublished DoctoralDissertation. Chandigarh: Panjab University.

Mc Donough, J. and Mc Donough, S.(1997). Research methods for English languageteachers. Great Britain: Arnold.

Rivers, W.M. (1998). Interactive languageteaching. Cambridge: Cambridge UniversityPress.

Seedhouse, P. (1999). Task-basedinteraction. ELT Journal. 53 (3), 149- 155.

This article was received on May 10th, 2004 and accepted on August 27th, 2004


Elementary English Language Instruction:

Colombian Teachers’ Classroom Practices*

Enseñanza del idioma inglés en primaria: Prácticas de aula de docentes colombianos

Isabel Cristina Cadavid MúneraIsabel Cristina Cadavid MúneraIsabel Cristina Cadavid MúneraIsabel Cristina Cadavid MúneraIsabel Cristina Cadavid Múnera**[email protected]

María McNultyMaría McNultyMaría McNultyMaría McNultyMaría McNulty***[email protected]

Diana Isabel Quinchía OrtizDiana Isabel Quinchía OrtizDiana Isabel Quinchía OrtizDiana Isabel Quinchía OrtizDiana Isabel Quinchía Ortiz****[email protected]

Universidad de Antioquia

An in-progress ethnographic research project about teachers who are facingthe complex task of teaching English to children in 7 public elementary schoolsin the metropolitan area of Medellin is presented in this article. First, the needfor this research is outlined by researchers; second, the methodology of theproject is described; third, up-to-date findings which include a profile of the 12teachers who are participating in this study, and an analysis of their classmethodology in terms of activities, materials, teacher and student roles arereported. Lastly, implications of this research project related to early foreignlanguage instruction are highlighted.

KKKKKey worey worey worey worey wordsdsdsdsds: Public Elementary-English-Language Instruction, English-Foreign Language, Ethnography-Research-Method, Teaching-Methodology

Este artículo presenta los resultados preliminares de una investigaciónetnográfica acerca de las estrategias metodológicas utilizadas por profesoresde básica primaria que enseñan inglés como lengua extranjera en 7 escuelaspúblicas del área metropolitana del municipio de Medellín. En la primera partese resalta la importancia de esta investigación en nuestro medio y en la segunda,

*Project developed by the “Grupo de Investigación en Enseñanza y Aprendizaje de Lenguas Extranjeras”, School ofLanguages, Universidad de Antioquia.

**Isabel Cristina Cadavid MúneraIsabel Cristina Cadavid MúneraIsabel Cristina Cadavid MúneraIsabel Cristina Cadavid MúneraIsabel Cristina Cadavid Múnera, Master in TESOL, West Virginia University. Teacher-researcher in the undergraduateFL teaching program at the School of Languages, Universidad de Antioquia.

***Maria McNultyMaria McNultyMaria McNultyMaria McNultyMaria McNulty, Visiting professor at Universidad de Antioquia. Diploma in TESL, University of Toronto, Canada.Honours B.A. in Psychology, Wilfrid Laurier University, Canada. Teacher-researcher in the undergraduate FL teaching programat the School of Languages, Universidad de Antioquia

****Diana Isabel Quinchía OrtizDiana Isabel Quinchía OrtizDiana Isabel Quinchía OrtizDiana Isabel Quinchía OrtizDiana Isabel Quinchía Ortiz, B.A. in Teaching Foreign Languages. Teacher-researcher in the undergraduate FLteaching program at the School of Languages, Universidad de Antioquia.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○38

CADAVID, McNULTY AND QUINCHÍA PROFILE PROFILE PROFILE PROFILE PROFILE

se describe la metodología empleada en el proyecto. La tercera incluye un perfilde los 12 profesores participantes y un análisis de la metodología empleadapor ellos con respecto a las actividades de clase, los materiales y el rol delestudiante y del profesor. Finalmente, se discuten algunas de las implicacionesde este proyecto de investigación en la enseñanza de lenguas extranjeras aniños.

Palabras claves: Palabras claves: Palabras claves: Palabras claves: Palabras claves: Inglés-Enseñanza-Básica Primaria, Lengua Extranjera-Inglés,Estudio Etnográfico-Investigación, Enseñanza-Metodología


Ten years ago, the teaching of English asa foreign language (EFL) in public elementaryschools started to be introduced inColombia as a result of a general educationallaw related to early foreign languageinstruction. This educational endeavourwould extend over five years of study –fromGrades 1 to 5– and include a space forforeign language instruction in publicelementary schools each year.

To date the Colombian government hasundertaken efforts to help schools andteachers. Curriculum guidelines for foreignlanguage instruction have been establishedand promoted by the ministry of education(Ministerio de Educación Nacional: 1999).Teachers have access to teacher educationprograms and professional developmentcourses concerning early foreign languageinstruction. University-public elementaryschool partnerships through the teachingpracticum have been encouraged anddeveloped. Additionally, some schools haveenriched their teaching resources to includecomputer-based technology and training toteachers. The government has recognizedthe need for curriculum design, academic

preparation of teachers, university-schools’pre-service and professional developmentinitiatives, and technology-basedinstruction.

Colombian public elementary schoolsand teachers have responded to this excitingchallenge but not without encounteringdifficulties. Cárdenas (2001) reports thatteachers may have studied the foreignlanguage and/or how to teach foreignlanguages, but they often lack specializedacademic preparation for teaching children.The author recognizes governmentalsupport but claims a lack of planning andstandards in the implementation of foreignlanguage programs at the regional andnational level. This finding has also beencited by González et.al. (2001) in their studydesigned to assess the professional needs ofEFL teachers who work in the public andprivate sector in Colombia. Public schoolteachers consider themselves lacking anadequate level of proficiency in English,background knowledge of the subject matterand previous training. In addition to theneed for pre-service and professionaldevelopment, inadequate funding toimplement government educational policiesin Latin America, Asia and North America,

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○39 PROFILE PROFILE PROFILE PROFILE PROFILE Elementary English Language Instruction: Colombian Teachers’ Classroom Practices

has been cited by Nunan (1999) as anadverse factor affecting schools andteachers. Murphey (2003) labels thischallenge for professionals as the ‘cart-before-the-horse situation’ where teachersare required to teach English before they arecapable of doing so. Although previousstudies have explored who English languageteachers are in different contexts and thelimitations they have, there is a need forColombian studies which explore the realityof teaching English in the public, elementaryschool classrooms.

Given the above situation in Colombia,researchers proposed the following questionsfor their research project: How have schoolsassumed this educational mission? Who arethe public elementary EFL school teachersin Medellín? Which methodologicalpractices do these teachers use to teachEnglish? How do the teachers understandtheir own practices? What methodologicalprinciples do they report as forming theirteaching practices? Is there a relationshipbetween the teachers’ practices andprinciples, and the government’s curricularguidelines concerning early foreign languageinstruction?

In order to answer these questions, agroup of researchers in the School ofLanguages at the University of Antioquia areconducting a small-scale, particularisticethnographic investigation with 12 EFLteachers in Grades 1, 3 and 5, in seven publicelementary schools in the metropolitan areaof Medellín. Researchers are carrying outfield work that includes observations andteacher interviews about the teaching-learning processes in context. The data from

the teacher interviews will give researchersthe teachers’ points of view about theirclassroom and their principles which guidetheir actions in class. A qualitative approachto the data collection and analysis is beingused in order to enable researchers todescribe, understand and reflect on theteacher ’s classroom methodology,influenced by the class activities, thematerials in class, the teacher and studentroles, and the grouping arrangements.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT’SDESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT’SDESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT’SDESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT’SDESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT’SMETHODOLOGYMETHODOLOGYMETHODOLOGYMETHODOLOGYMETHODOLOGY

To address the above questions raised,the project was designed with fouroverlapping stages. Prior to the first stage,the number and the location of schools weredecided based on a preliminary list of publicelementary schools where English is beingtaught in Medellín. The schools were chosenbased on their typicality or commoncharacteristics i.e. the schools are public andare located throughout Medellín in thenorth, south, and central areas. Furthermore,schools were selected based on theirconvenience in terms of transportation foreach researcher.

In the first stage, researchers began toanalyze important documents related toforeign language instruction. They read anddiscussed the Lineamientos Curriculares tofind out how the Ministry of Education ispromoting the teaching of English as aforeign language in public elementaryschools. In addition, they started to reviewthe literature related to early foreignlanguage instruction.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○40


The second stage consisted of researcherscontacting the schools to give theminformation about the project, confirm theirparticipation, and determine which teacherswould participate in this study. At that time,researchers began to gather a profile of theteachers concerning their educationalbackground and teaching experience with aquestionnaire.

The third stage consisted of observing andinterviewing teachers about their classes.Each teacher was observed 3 times in eachgrade reaching a total number of 63observations. While observing, researcherswrote detailed objective descriptions of classevents in a diary (see Appendix 1: ClassroomObservation Format). After observing,researchers interviewed teachers in a semi-structured interview format to find out whatprinciples guide their actions in class (seeAppendix 2: Teacher Interview Format). Themajority of the interviews were recorded andtranscribed to facilitate the data analysis.

In the fourth stage, researchers arecompleting the data analysis of theobservations and interviews. Researchershave completed the class observations butare currently analyzing the teacherinterviews. To analyze the data from theobservations, a thematic analysis was used.In the data gathered, researchers identifiedand named thematic codes using a theory-driven approach. For example, researcherscategorized the data concerning classactivities using a taxonomy of languageteaching techniques proposed by Brown(2001), Richards and Lockhart (1996), andVale and Feunteun (1995). To analyze thedata from the teacher interviews, a data-driven approach is being used.

During the last step of the research, thefindings will be shared with the participantsin this study and the community at large.


This section will begin with a profile ofthe teachers in this project. Thequestionnaire showed the followinginformation which has been divided into twoparts: teachers’ personal information, theirwork and educational experience, andinformation about their English classes.

Concerning the TConcerning the TConcerning the TConcerning the TConcerning the Teachers’ Educationeachers’ Educationeachers’ Educationeachers’ Educationeachers’ Educationand Wand Wand Wand Wand Work Experienceork Experienceork Experienceork Experienceork Experience

The teachers’ ages range from 20 to over50 with the majority of teachers in the rangebetween 31 and 50 years of age. Concerningthe teachers’ academic preparation, all ofthem hold Bachelor of Education degrees indifferent areas: Five teachers hold a B. Ed. inelementar y, preschool or childhoodeducation; four in areas such asmathematics, Spanish, methodology andsocial studies; and three in foreignlanguages. Seven out of the twelve teachershave completed a specialization, but not oneis related to teaching English. Regarding theteachers with degrees in foreign languages,although they possess the languagepreparation and the theoretical and practicalpreparation related to the methodology ofteaching English, they neither possessknowledge about pedagogical principles andprocedures in teaching children nor have thebackground in child language development,or experience in teaching groups of children.This situation has been previously reportedby Cárdenas (2001) as she questions who is


in charge of teaching English to children inColombia. In her study, she found that themajority of elementary English teachers werelacking in pedagogical and linguisticpreparation. Although Cárdenas describesthe situation in Colombia, it is striking tosee how similar characteristics of teachersin other countries have been found. Forexample, Murphey (2003: 1) has describedthe situation in Asian countries as follows:“The reality of the EFL situation in manyAsian countries is that ministries aredemanding that regular content teachers inprimary schools teach English to theirstudents with little or no training in English”.Likewise, Crooks (1997: 68) has stated that“Almost all the public sector elementary FLinstruction in my home state of Hawaii isconducted by untrained teachers becausethere are no permanent full-time positions”.

Many of the teachers in our study havetaken professional development coursesrelated either to learning the Englishlanguage or to the methodology of teachingEnglish. With respect to learning English,just 1 teacher with a B. Ed. in languages, 5elementary and preschool teachers, and 2teachers from different areas were involvedin this type of instruction. Those with a B.Ed. in languages and in other areas did notpursue any English language training.

Concerning professional developmentrelated to the methodology of teachingEnglish, two teachers with a B. Ed. inlanguages and one from a different area didhave this type of training. Teachers with a B.Ed. in elementary or preschool did notpursue this kind of training because of thenature of their undergraduate programs. A

few teachers have had no further academicpreparation at all.

The majority of teachers have had from10 to 29 years of general teachingexperience, while only a few have beenteaching for fewer than four years. Mostteachers have had a least 1-to-4 years ofexperience teaching English at the schoolwhere they are working now. In addition toteaching English, many teachers are requiredto teach other subjects such as physicaleducation, mathematics, Spanish, socialstudies, etc. In terms of job stability, mostteachers have a permanent teaching positionat their school while a few are working withyearly contracts.

Concern ing the Engl i sh ClassConcern ing the Engl i sh ClassConcern ing the Engl i sh ClassConcern ing the Engl i sh ClassConcern ing the Engl i sh ClassAAAAActivities, Materials and Tctivities, Materials and Tctivities, Materials and Tctivities, Materials and Tctivities, Materials and Teacher andeacher andeacher andeacher andeacher andStudents’ RolesStudents’ RolesStudents’ RolesStudents’ RolesStudents’ Roles

As it is the case in many public schoolsin our country, the English classes in theschools researchers visited haveapproximately 40 to 49 students and theclasses are offered once a week for 45minutes. Interesting issues were identifiedwhen researchers started exploring thedifferent ways in which teachers spend thistime with their students.

The activities observed were classifiedaccording to their purpose within theframework of the class as a whole. Aspreviously stated in the methodologysection, in order to carry out such analysis,we designed a chart using and adaptingtaxonomies presented by various authors (seeAppendix 3: Chart of Observed Classroom

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○42


Activities). The broad categories in the chartare presentation, practice, memorization,comprehension, application, affective,feedback, strategy, assessment, andorganizational. Within each broad category,there is a list of different activities whichteachers use in the foreign languageclassroom.

Based on the data analysis, otheractivities that were recurrent in the observedclasses needed to be added to the chart suchas giving instructions, praising, assigninghomework, peer correction, buildingsentences, and translation as a strategy forpresentation, etc. Even though some of themare not activities per se, we found that theyare widespread practices among teachers andtherefore need to be included in the chart.

Researchers also found that most of theclass period is spent on activities that areeither organizational (giving instructions ordisciplinary actions), presentational (introducingthe lesson topic) or affective (warm-ups).Even though giving instructions andorganizing the children are paramount in theelementary school context, these are carriedout in Spanish and therefore children arebeing exposed more to Spanish than Englishin class. Teachers tend to use the targetlanguage only when presenting a topic orreviewing vocabulary with children in class.

Another common characteristic of theseclasses is that the presentation activities,mentioned above, often take place in themiddle of the class period and are not usuallyaccompanied by practice or applicationexercises in the same lesson. A very commonstrategy for presentation of topics or related

vocabulary is the use of flashcards andtranslation at the same time. Translationseems to play a very important role in theseclasses. It is used as a strategy to presentnew material, to explain content, or to checkcomprehension.

It is interesting to note that activities weexpected the teachers to use in class wereeither not frequently used or they were notobserved in the number of classes we visited.Games and singing songs are not sofrequently used by the teachers. There wereonly two games with an affective purpose;one as a practice activity, and another as anapplication activity. Singing songs were usedas both practice and affective activities.Other activities that are not being used byteachers include role-plays, story-telling,referential question-answer exercises,meaningful drills, problem-solving activities,and information exchange activities, etc. Thismight be due to the fact that most of theseactivities are so specifically related to thefield of foreign language teaching thatprobably the teachers participating in thisstudy are not familiar with them.

Finally, if we look at the activities in termsof language skills and sub-skills, we can seethat classes are focused mainly onvocabulary, pronunciation and grammar.Reading and writing are seen as recognitionof words and copying them down. In veryfew cases is there comprehension of oral orwritten texts.

Concerning ResourConcerning ResourConcerning ResourConcerning ResourConcerning Resourcescescescesces

In terms of resources, although theschools have equipment such as televisions,


VCRs and tape recorders, they are lackingvideo or audio tapes that can be used withthis equipment. Classroom materials suchas worksheets and paper products areavailable, but books, posters, flashcards, andgames are scarce in most of these schools.Teachers often have to adapt and/or creatematerials like flashcards, worksheets, orbooklets, using their own abilities andresources. A small percentage of the schoolshave computers and multimedia.

Confronted with this lack of resources,teachers try to do their job mainly with visualaids like the board, classroom realia, and afew teacher and/or student-made flashcards.Vocabulary is presented through thesematerials and then worksheets or exercisesin a booklet are used to practice the words.In some schools, even though there are audioor videotapes, listening comprehension isnot developed with these aids, and it is thevoice of the teacher that students listen tomost of the time. It is important to note thatchildren are exposed mainly to isolatedwords and not to complete sentences or texts.

In many cases, a textbook becomes thebasis of the course. Teachers rely on it toestablish the sequence of contents, tostructure the lessons, to design activities andeven to choose the interaction patterns tobe used in class.

Role of TRole of TRole of TRole of TRole of Teachers and Studentseachers and Studentseachers and Studentseachers and Studentseachers and Students

According to Richards and Lockhart(1996), the roles of teachers can beconsidered from two different perspectives:One is the role of the teachers within theinstitution and the educational system in

general, and the other is their role inside theclassroom. Concerning the first aspect, it isinteresting to see how these teachers are alonein their duty of teaching English. Schoolprincipals and even the Ministry of Educationrecognize the importance of including aforeign language in the regular schoolcurriculum, but they have not promoted theestablishment of clear guidelines to helpteachers design syllabi, materials or activitiesto be used in their classrooms. The Ministryof Education published the LineamientosCurriculares (general guidelines for theteaching of foreign languages) and schoolprincipals have given teachers the autonomyto make all the decisions about how English istaught at their schools. Teachers are, therefore,free to do what they consider best, but they arealso alone, without any support to do their jobappropriately.

Concerning the role of teachers andstudents in the classroom, researchersobserved that the teacher is mainly themodel, class organizer and class controller.Children are usually repeating individuallyor chorally after the teacher, answering theteachers’ questions or responding to theinstructions s/he gives. Individual work intheir notebooks, booklets or worksheets is ageneral pattern.

As there are many students in the classes,the most common interaction patterns arewhole-group and individual work, with littlepair or group work.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDYSIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDYSIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDYSIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDYSIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

This research project is an attempt tobecome aware of our reality and understand

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○44


it in order to find ways to work with teachersto improve what they do. We recognize thatour view as outsiders is important but notsufficient in this endeavor. However, ourpurpose goes beyond exploring anddescribing the reality observed. We want towork together with the teachers on the basisof what we have learned through thisresearch experience and what they knowabout their own classrooms, their experienceand pedagogical knowledge. Based on theseaspects, we are planning to offer aprofessional development course for thoseteachers and simultaneously carry out anaction research project with them.

This study is also a contribution toresearch in the field of teaching English as aforeign language to children that is scarcein our country where most of the literatureavailable deals with teaching English as asecond language, and/or research in thisfield. A brief reference to the concepts ofESL (English as a Second Language) and EFL(English as a Foreign Language) might beuseful here to support this point. When wespeak about ESL we refer mainly to thesituation of learners who learn a secondlanguage in a country where the languageis used in commerce, education and politics.A Colombian who is learning English in theUnited States is an example of this concept.In this scenario, learners can have variedopportunities being exposed to the languageand using it out of the classroom. InColombia, we refer to EFL because learningEnglish takes place in formal classroomsituations and is not within the targetlanguage culture. This foreign languagecontext offers the learners very few

opportunities to be in contact with thelanguage outside the classroom. Therefore,the concepts of ESL and EFL imply verydifferent approaches to language teachingand learning. Even though second languageacquisition and teaching have been explored,more research on foreign language teachingin Colombia and its specific characteristicsis needed if our aim is to improve the qualityof education we are providing our children.

This study is also an invitation toteachers, teacher educators andadministrators to become more sensitive andcritical towards our own reality. Educationalpolicies should not be implemented blindlywithout a careful analysis of our contexts,and without knowing the real needs of ourteachers and students.


This study has shown that even thoughpublic elementary schools in Medellín haveadopted the New Education Act, theirteachers who are willing, enthusiastic andcommitted, require encouragement andsupport in this endeavor. Teachers with eitherlimited or unrelated educationalpreparation, and insufficient training andtarget language preparation are workingagainst all odds. Educational processes inColombia need to be observed from areflective perspective that will lead to adetermination of characteristics of such aprocess, its strengths and weaknesses, andsuggestions for improvement.

Exploring teachers’ methodologicalpractices through class observations and


teacher interviews can provide a startingpoint for this task. Several methodologicalissues have come to light as a result of thisprocess. We found that the English that isbeing taught to children in publicelementary school is rather limited, or iscomprised of basic vocabulary, grammar andpronunciation. Also, the use of English inthe classroom is restricted to affectiveactivities, presentation of vocabulary itemsby the teacher, and repetition of simple wordsor phrases by students. Comprehension ofthese items is often done through translationin class. Therefore, students’ exposure toEnglish in class is reduced because of thisand also a high incidence of teacher talk (forexample, organizing the classroom, givinginstructions, disciplining students, andassigning homework, etc.) which is carriedout in the native language. This is notsurprising, given the teachers’ lowproficiency in English. Supportive actionsdirected towards the teachers could focuson target language development andpedagogical enhancement related toteaching-learning strategies as well asresources, and teacher and student roles inthe foreign language elementary classroom.

Even though the importance of teachingEnglish as a foreign language in the regularelementary school curriculum is undeniable,it is also important to be aware of the broaderimplications that go hand in hand with this.This means that education policies shouldno longer come only from the analysis ofliterature on the topic, but also from arealization of actual needs of teachers andstudents. Classrooms, schools, and theeducation system at large need to become acommunity in which the voices of students,

teachers, administrators and policy-makersare heard. Thus, a process of inquiry shouldenlighten not only the learning processes ofstudents inside the classroom, but also allthe decisions made by schools, by municipaleducation boards, and by the Ministry ofEducation as well. Teachers cannot becomereflective if they are not given the chance toparticipate in decision making; they cannotbe agents of change if their voices are notheard. A process of critical reflection leadingto principled actions is required in ourschools.

In Murphey’s (2003: 1) analysis of asimilar situation facing English teachers inAsia, he states that we need to “developmaterials and methods to acknowledge thesituation of these teachers and to supportand encourage them as they grow moreprofessionally through their own learningand teaching of English. In some cases, thiswill require a shift in beliefs, strategies, andmethods, our own as well as those of theteachers and local administrators.” InColombia, it is important for elementaryschool English teachers and policy makersto gain understanding of our reality if we areto attend our real needs and the specificchallenges of teaching English as a foreignlanguage in elementary public schools.


Brown, D. (2001). Teaching by principles.New York: Addison Wesley Longman.

Cárdenas, R. (2001). Teaching English inprimary: Are we ready for it? HOW: A ColombianJournal for English Teachers, 8, p. 1- 8.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○46


Crooks, G. (1997). What influences whatand how second and foreign language teachersteach. The Modern Language Journal, 81, p.67- 69.

González et al. (2001). EFL teachers lookat themselves: Could they grow together?HOW: A Colombian Journal for EnglishTeachers, 9, p. 27- 33.

Ministerio de Educación Nacional deColombia. (1999). Lineamientos Curriculares:Idiomas Extranjeros. Santafé de Bogotá. MEN.

Murphey, T. (2003). NNS primary schoolteachers learning English with their students.

Retrieved April 2004, from http://www.tesol.org/pubs/articles/2003/tm13-4-02.html

Nunan,D. (1999). Does younger=better?TESOL Matters, 9: 3.

Richards, J.C. and Lockhart, C. (1996).Reflective teaching in second languageclassroom. Cambridge: Cambridge UniversityPress.

Vale, D. and Feunteun, A. (1995). Teachingchildren English. Cambridge: CambridgeUniversity Press.


APPENDIX 1: CLAPPENDIX 1: CLAPPENDIX 1: CLAPPENDIX 1: CLAPPENDIX 1: CLASS OBSERVASS OBSERVASS OBSERVASS OBSERVASS OBSERVAAAAATION FORMATION FORMATION FORMATION FORMATION FORMATTTTT

Investigación: Estado de la enseñanza del inglés en la Básica Primaria del sectorpúblico del área metropolitana. Escuela de Idiomas, Universidad de Antioquia.

DATE SCHOOLTIME TEACHERGRADE OBSERVER

ITEMS: Activities; teacher/student roles; grouping arrangements; materials

Interpretation/ReflectionInterpretation/ReflectionInterpretation/ReflectionInterpretation/ReflectionInterpretation/Reflection NarrativeNarrativeNarrativeNarrativeNarrative

X

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○48


APPENDIX 2: TEACHER INTERVIEW FORMAAPPENDIX 2: TEACHER INTERVIEW FORMAAPPENDIX 2: TEACHER INTERVIEW FORMAAPPENDIX 2: TEACHER INTERVIEW FORMAAPPENDIX 2: TEACHER INTERVIEW FORMATTTTT

Investigación: Estado de la enseñanza del inglés en la Básica Primaria del sectorpúblico del área metropolitana. Escuela de Idiomas, Universidad de Antioquia.

Entrevista para los profesores de inglés en la escuela primaria

El propósito de esta entrevista es identificar y entender los principios que fundamentansu proceso de enseñanza y aprendizaje en su clase de inglés. Nos gustaría tener informaciónacerca de la planeación de sus clases, las actividades, materiales y patrones de interacción.Esta información será confidencial y se usará solo con propósitos investigativos. Graciaspor sus comentarios y su tiempo.

A.¿Qué razones lo llevaron a usted a enseñar inglés en la básica primaria?¿Es importante para usted la enseñanza de inglés en la básica primaria?Si_ No_ ¿Por qué?¿Cuáles dificultades cree usted que tiene para la enseñanza del inglés en esta institución

y por qué?

B.¿Existe en el colegio un plan de estudios para el área de inglés?Si_ No_ ¿Por qué?¿Si su respuesta es positiva, cómo es ese plan?¿Si su respuesta es negativa, cómo decide el contenido del curso?¿Está su colegio planeando con base en lineamientos curriculares propuestos por el

MEN?¿Qué criterios tiene usted en cuenta para la enseñanza del inglés en cada uno de los

grados?¿Qué logros espera alcanzar a través de la clase de inglés?

C.¿Cómo describiría su forma de trabajar el inglés con niños?¿Cuáles son las actividades que usted utiliza con mayor frecuencia para laenseñanza del inglés y por qué?¿Qué tipo de actividades le parecen efectivas y por qué?¿Cuáles son las materiales que usted utiliza con mayor frecuencia para laenseñanza del inglés y por qué?¿Qué tipo de materiales le parecen efectivos y por qué?


¿Qué tipos de interacción utiliza con mayor frecuencia en sus clases de inglésy por qué?¿Qué tipos de interacción le parecen más efectivos y por qué?

D.¿Qué estrategias usa para el manejo de la disciplina en la clase de inglés?¿Integra usted el trabajo de unas materias con otras? (opcional)

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○50


APP

END

IX 3

: C

HA

RA

PPEN

DIX

3:

CH

AR

APP

END

IX 3

: C

HA

RA

PPEN

DIX

3:

CH

AR

APP

END

IX 3

: C

HA

R T O

F O

BSER

VED

CL

T O

F O

BSER

VED

CL

T O

F O

BSER

VED

CL

T O

F O

BSER

VED

CL

T O

F O

BSER

VED

CL A

SS A

CTI

VITI

ESA

SS A

CTI

VITI

ESA

SS A

CTI

VITI

ESA

SS A

CTI

VITI

ESA

SS A

CTI

VITI

ES

Inve

stig

ació

n: E

stad

o de

la E

nseñ

anza

del

Ingl

és e

n la

Básic

a Prim

aria

del S

ecto

r Púb

lico

del Á

rea M

etro

polit

ana.

Regi

stro

Gen

eral

de R

ecur

renc

ias d

e Ac

tivid

ades

C

oleg

io

Pro

feso

rG

rado

AC

TIV

IDA

DE

S

O

bser

vaci

ón 1

O

bser

vaci

ón 2

O

bser

vaci

ón 3

War

m-u

p

Set

ting

C

onte

nt e

xpla

natio

n

Rol

e-P

lay

D

emon

stra

tion

D

ialo

gue/

Nar

rativ

e pr

esen

tatio

n

Bra

inst

orm

ing

S

tory

telli

ng

Q

uest

ion-

answ

er/

refe

rent

ial.

Gam

es

T

rans

latio

n

Cop

ying

Que

stio

n/A

nsw

er

disp

lay

P R E S E N T A T I O N


Rea

ding

alo

ud

C

opyi

ng

M

eani

ngfu

l dril

l

Cue

d na

rrat

ive/

Dia

logu

e

Info

rmat

ion

exch

ange

Pre

para

tion

D

ialo

gue/

Nar

rativ

e re

cita

tion

Rec

ogni

tion

S

imul

atio

n

Gam

es

D

rill

R

epet

ition

(wor

d/

sent

ence

)

P R A C T I C E B

uild

ing

Sen

tenc

es

D

rill

C

opyi

ng

N

arra

tion/

expo

sitio

n

Gam

es

M E M O R I Z A

T I O N

Son

gs

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○52


Dia

logu

e/N

arra

tive

pres

enta

tion

Que

stio

n-an

swer

/dis

play

Dic

tatio

n

Iden

tific

atio

n

Rec

ogni

tion

S

tory

telli

ng

In

form

atio

n tr

ansf

er

In

form

atio

n ex

chan

ge

W

rap

–up

N

arra

tion

expo

sitio

n

Rep

ort

P

robl

em s

olvi

ng

D

ram

a

Dis

cuss

ion

A

pro

pos

T

rans

latio

n

G

ames

Son

gs

C O M P R E H E N S I O N Q

uest

ion-

answ

er

refe

rent

ial


Que

stio

n-an

swer

/ref

eren

tial

Info

rmat

ion

tran

sfer

Nar

ratio

n/ex

posi

tion

R

ole-

play

Rep

ort

P

robl

em s

olvi

ng

S

imul

atio

n

Inte

rvie

w

D

iscu

ssio

n

Com

posi

tion

A

pro

pos

A P P L I C A T I O N G

ames

Set

ting

R

ole-

Pla

y D

emon

stra

tion

Iden

tific

atio

n

Tra

nsla

tion

Q

uest

ion-

an

swer

/ref

eren

tial

Wra

p- u

p

Pre

para

tion

A

ssoc

iatio

n

Pee

r-co

rrec

tion

H

omew

ork

S T R A T E G Y E

xpla

natio

n

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○54


War

m-u

p

Sto

ry-

telli

ng

Q

uest

ion-

answ

er/r

efer

entia

l

Wra

p-up

Gam

es

R

epor

t

Pro

blem

- so

lvin

g

Dra

ma

P

rais

ing

A F F E C T I V E S

ongs

Che

ckin

g

Rev

iew

Tes

ting

In

form

atio

n ex

chan

ge

W

rap-

up

In

terv

iew

Tra

nsla

tion

P

rais

ing

P

eer-

corr

ectio

n

Che

ckin

g ho

mew

ork

F E E D B A C K T

each

er c

orre

ctio

n


This article was received on May 15th, 2004 and accepted on August 23rd, 2004.

Dic

tatio

n

Tes

ting

C

ued-

Nar

rativ

e/D

ialo

gue

Dis

cuss

ion

A S S E S S M E N T G

radi

ng

Son

gs

G

ivin

g in

stru

ctio

ns

G

reet

ings

Dis

cipl

inar

y ac

tions

Sea

ting

M

onito

ring

T

akin

g at

tend

ance

Ass

igni

ng h

omew

ork

O R G A N I Z A T I O N A L

Col

lect

ing

hom

ewor

k

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○56


The English Component of the 2002

Entrance Examination of the Federal University

of Amazonas:

An Analysis of its Reliability and Validity

El componente de inglés del examen de admisión de la Universidad Federal delAmazonas: Un análisis de su confiabilidad y validez

Nilton HitotuziNilton HitotuziNilton HitotuziNilton HitotuziNilton Hitotuzi*****Federal University of Amazonas

[email protected]

The study reported in this paper was: to estimate the reliability and validityof the English test administered to the candidates sitting the 2002 entranceexamination for undergraduate courses at the Federal University of Amazonas(UFAM/2002). The test’s reliability was estimated in the form of the correlationcoefficient found with the test-retest method, and its validity was establishedon the basis of face validity and content validity. The sample population consistedof students completing their education at a high school in 2002. The resultsindicated that, albeit significantly generalisable to the entire population ofexaminees, the UFAM/2002 English test had neither reliability nor face orcontent validity.

KKKKKey worey worey worey worey words: ds: ds: ds: ds: English-Examination, Research-Reliability, Research-Validity

El estudio reportado en este documento tuvo como finalidad estimar laconfiabilidad y validez de un examen de inglés administrado a los candidatosdel año 2002 al examen de admisión para cursos de pregrado en la UniversidadFederal de Amazonas (UFAM/2002). La confiabilidad del estudio se estimómediante la correlación de coeficiente encontrado con el método test-retest yla validez se estableció a partir de la validez de forma y de contenido. La muestrapoblacional consistió en un grupo de estudiantes que estaba culminando susestudios de secundaria en el 2002. Los resultados indicaron que a pesar de lageneralización significativa a toda la población de examinados, el examen deinglés de la UFAM/2002 no tuvo ni confiabilidad ni validez en su contenido.

Palabras claves:Palabras claves:Palabras claves:Palabras claves:Palabras claves: Evaluación-Inglés, Confiabilidad-Investigación, Validez-Investigación

***** Nilton HitotuziNilton HitotuziNilton HitotuziNilton HitotuziNilton Hitotuzi holds an MA in TEFL/TESL from the University of Birmingham and a BA in Liberal Arts from the FederalUniversity of Amazonas. Currently he holds a lecturing position at the State University of Amazonas. He is interested in TeachingMethodology and Pronunciation Teaching.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○57PROFILE PROFILE PROFILE PROFILE PROFILE The English Component of the 2002 Entrance Examination of the Federal University of Amazonas

1. INTRODUCTION1. INTRODUCTION1. INTRODUCTION1. INTRODUCTION1. INTRODUCTION

“There will always be some tensionbetween reliability and validity. The testerhas to balance gains in one against losses inthe other” (Hughes, 1989, p. 42).

The first institution of higher educationestablished in Brazil, the Federal Universityof Amazonas (UFAM), was founded in 1909in the State of Amazonas (UFAM-PSM2001- Manual do Candidato, 2000, p.1, 7). UFAM is home to twenty thousandstudents attending undergraduate courses(US) in the main city, Manaus, and in othermunicipalities of the State. Recently theUniversity has increased its intake from1,785 to 1,941 students (UFAM-PSM2003– Manual do Candidato, 2002, p. 1, 6).Nonetheless, EFL teachers have informallyargued that the English component of theentrance examination to UFAM technicallyhas no influence on the selection ofcandidates for its undergraduate courses:candidates can completely fail the test, andstill enter the University (UFAM-PSM2002– Manual do Candidato, 2001, p. 4). Seeingthat the rationale behind this policy mayentail an array of sociocultural, political andeconomic factors, any attempt at verifyingsuch expostulation would be likely to adopta bottom-up approach. Thus it was decidedthat the reliability and validity of the testmerited priority in the investigation, beingthe English test administered to thecandidates sitting the 2002 entranceexamination for undergraduate courses ofthis University (UFAM/2002) a goodstarting point. However, considering theinvolved dimensions of these concepts

(Bachman, 1990), the results hereindescribed are tentative at best.

The reliability of the UFAM/2002 Englishtest was estimated in the form of thecorrelation coefficient found with the test-retest method, and its validity wasestablished on the basis of face validity andcontent validity. The sample populationconsisted of students completing theireducation at a secondary school in 2002.The results indicated that, albeit significantlygeneralisable to the entire population ofexaminees, this test had neither reliabilitynor face or content validity.

2. LITERA2. LITERA2. LITERA2. LITERA2. LITERATURE REVIEWTURE REVIEWTURE REVIEWTURE REVIEWTURE REVIEW

Traditionally, tests have been consideredthe commonest measurement instrumentsused for assessing learners’ language abilities(Bachman, 1990; Cohen, 1994; Harris,1969; Henning, 1987; Hughes, 1989).Carroll (1968: 46, quoted in Bachman,1990, p.20) defines a test as “a proceduredesigned to elicit certain behaviour fromwhich one can make inferences about certaincharacteristics of an individual”.

However, when devising tests forlanguage learners, test developers shouldconsider a number of crucial aspects andconditions such as the focus of the test interms of the language abilities being tested,the method employed, and the issues ofreliability, validity and feasibility. In this briefreview, each one of these facets will beexpanded on with a focus on learners ofEnglish as a foreign or second language.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○58

HITOTUZI PROFILE PROFILE PROFILE PROFILE PROFILE

2.1. T2.1. T2.1. T2.1. T2.1. Testing Learners’ Lesting Learners’ Lesting Learners’ Lesting Learners’ Lesting Learners’ LanguageanguageanguageanguageanguageAbilit iesAbilit iesAbilit iesAbilit iesAbilit ies

An important factor in determining thelanguage abilities to be tested is the purposeof the assessment. Cohen (1994: 23)suggests three general purposes, and twelvespecific purposes (Figure 1), but maintainsthat “the major split is often betweenproficiency tests intended for administrativepurposes and achievement tests for

assessment of instructional results”. Themarking difference between these two typesof tests is that the former is ‘theory-based’(e.g., TOEFL, Cambridge CPE, and ELTS),and the latter is ‘syllabus-based’ (Bachman,1990; Henning, 1987). Moreover, whileproficiency tests may also be administeredto assess students’ achievement in aparticular course, achievement tests canrarely be suitable for assessing generallearner proficiency (Cohen, 1994).

General purpose of the assessmentGeneral purpose of the assessmentGeneral purpose of the assessmentGeneral purpose of the assessmentGeneral purpose of the assessment Specific reason for the assessmentSpecific reason for the assessmentSpecific reason for the assessmentSpecific reason for the assessmentSpecific reason for the assessment

AdministrativeAdministrativeAdministrativeAdministrativeAdministrative general assessmentplacementcertificationexemptionpromotion

InstructionalInstructionalInstructionalInstructionalInstructional diagnosisevidence of progressfeedback to the respondentevaluation of teachingor curriculum

ResearResearResearResearResearchchchchch evaluationexperimentationknowledge aboutlanguage learning andlanguage use

Figure 1.Figure 1.Figure 1.Figure 1.Figure 1. The Purpose of Assessment (Cohen, 1994, p. 23)

Another vital distinction betweenachievement tests and proficiency tests isthat, while there seems to be no irreparabledamage to examinees when results divergegreatly from their actual languagecompetence (either due to temporary

instability on their part or inadequacy inachievement test construction), the profileand number of examinees and examiners,examiners’ limitations regarding candidates,and the purpose of the assessment make alarge margin of error by both examinees and


test developers in respect to proficiency testsunavoidable (Harris, 1969).

In the last part of the 1960s, focusingmostly on proficiency tests and achievementtests, Dr. David P. Harris proposed a six-waydivision of language test contents, namely:listening, speaking, reading, writing,grammatical structure, and vocabulary. Thefirst four categories being labelled complexskills, and the last two ‘components whichmay merit separate testing by virtue of theirgeneral importance and applicability to allfour skills areas’ (Harris, 1969).

While no substantial change has affectedthe range of categories in language testssince Harris’s six-way division, there havebeen major developments in the mappingof communicative language abilities as aresult of a number of research studiesconducted in this area. This is amplyexemplified by the comparison betweenHarris’s (1969) and Cohen’s (1994)

descriptions of components of oralcommunicative ability. For one thing, theformer suggests that either four or fivecomponents are generally recognized inanalyses of the speech process:

1. Pronunciation (including thesegmental features –vowels andconsonants– and the stress and intonationpatterns)

2. Grammar3. Vocabulary4. Fluency (the ease and speed of the flow

of speech). (Harris, 1969, p. 81).

Whereas the latter divides componentsof communicative ability into four differentcategories: (sociocultural ability,sociolinguistic ability, grammatical ability,and strategic ability (Figure 2), in passing, itseems worth observing that these categoriescharacterise some of the essential elementsof communicative competence (Stern,1992; Bachman, 1990)).

Sociocultural abilitySociocultural abilitySociocultural abilitySociocultural abilitySociocultural ability The appropriateness of the strategies selected for realisingcommunicative functions in given contexts, taking intoaccount (1) the culture involved, (2) the age and sex of thespeakers, (3) their social class and occupations, and (4) theirroles as status in the interaction.

Sociolinguistic abilitySociolinguistic abilitySociolinguistic abilitySociolinguistic abilitySociolinguistic ability The linguistic forms that respondents use to express the intentof the communicative act (e.g. the grievance in a complaint).

Grammatical abilityGrammatical abilityGrammatical abilityGrammatical abilityGrammatical ability Vocabulary, morphology, syntax, and phonology.

Strategic abilityStrategic abilityStrategic abilityStrategic abilityStrategic ability Following Bachman’s (1990: 100) suggestion, Cohen dividesthis ability into three components: (1) set of communicativegoals, (2) retrieval of relevant items from language ability,and (3) planning of use of items retrieved.

Figure 2.Figure 2.Figure 2.Figure 2.Figure 2. Cohen’s Communicative Ability (Cohen, 1994, p.10- 11)

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○60


For another thing, while Harris’s view oforal proficiency seems to focus strictly onsurface structures of the target language,Cohen clearly recognises other importantaspects involved in communication, such asexophoric relationships (Brown and Yule,1983), schemata (Bransford et al., 1984;Steffensen and Joag-Dev, 1984), andstrategy (Bachman, 1990).

Bachman (1990) also dismisses the ‘skill/component model’ (to put it in his words) asbeing seriously limited. His (1990) detailedmapping of language abilities susceptible totesting underscores the increase in researchachievements in the field towards the end ofthe millennium (Figure 3). This seems tosuggest that assessing learners’ languageabilities, be it for administrative orinstructional purposes, requires thedevelopment of tests so comprehensive asto embrace as much of the vast range oflanguage competencies catalogued to dateas possible.

2.2. T2.2. T2.2. T2.2. T2.2. Testing Methodsesting Methodsesting Methodsesting Methodsesting Methods

There is a large variety of language testingmethods (LTM) especially designed forassessing each and every language ability (Fora detailed description of LTM, see Harris,

1969; Cohen, 1994; Henning, 1987; andBachman, 1990). Bachman (1990), forone, seems to have a broad view of LTM.So much that, in his ‘framework of testmethod stet’ (Bachman, 1990, p. 116),aspects, other than the type of testadministered, are considered importantvariables influencing test results. One suchis time allocation: examinees not used toworking under pressure may panic andthus score very little on their exams if theyare told that they have, say, 42 seconds toanswer a question, as is typical of speedtests (Harris, 1969: Pearson and Buffa,1994). The nature of the language, interms of vocabulary, for example, is anotherinfluential aspect in test results: taskshaving specialized jargon, for instance,may be too daunting for test takers. Finally,the format of the test both in terms of inputand output should be yet another concernfor test developers. This is the case whenexaminees are asked to respond in writingto listening comprehension tests, forexample. If, because of physical debility,psychological problems, or other latentfactors, they have a short retention span,they will fail the test, not so much for failingto understand the target-language items,but because of memory problems.


2.3. The Matter of Credibility2.3. The Matter of Credibility2.3. The Matter of Credibility2.3. The Matter of Credibility2.3. The Matter of Credibility

Notwithstanding the existence of anumber of types of tests and a variety ofaspects that can distinguish one test fromanother, there are some specificcharacteristics inherent in a test that makeit reliable, valid, and feasible.

2.3.1. Reliability2.3.1. Reliability2.3.1. Reliability2.3.1. Reliability2.3.1. Reliability

Reliability, in simple terms, is theprecision of a measuring instrument(Bachman, 1990; Cohen 1994; Harris,1969; Henning, 1987; Hughes, 1989).Other things being equal, as much as thereare various types of such instruments, so arethe ways in which their reliability can beestimated. One way the reliability of a test,

Language

Competence

Organisational Competence Pragmatic Competence

Grammatical

Competence Textual Competence Illocutionary

Competence

Sociolinguistic

Competence

Vocabulary

Morphology

Syntax

Phonology/Graphology

Cohesion

Rhetorical

Organisation

Ideational

Function

Manipulative Function

Heuristic Function

Imaginative Function

Sensitivity to Dialect or

Variety

Sensitivity to

Register

Sensitivity to

Naturalness

Cultural References and

Figures of Speech

Figure 3. Figure 3. Figure 3. Figure 3. Figure 3. Bachman’s mapping of language abilities susceptible of testing(Bachman, 1990, p. 87)

for instance, can be established is by findingits reliability coefficient (RC). Harris (1969)argues that while “a reliability quotient of1.00 would indicate that a test is ‘perfectly’reliable, a quotient of zero would denote acomplete absence of reliability.” Testingexperts make the point that the test-retestmethod (TRM) is a practical way of findingRCs (Henning, 1987). It consists of theadministration of the same test to the samesubjects twice, and its RC can be obtainedthrough the Pearson Product Momentcoefficient of correlation (PPM) formula(Henning, 1987):

rtt = r

x,y =

NΣXY – ΣXΣY

[NÓX2 – (ÓX)2] [NÓY2 – (ÓY)2]

“

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○62


where, rtt = the reliability coefficient usingthe TRMr x,y = the correlation of the scores of thenumber of respondents (N) of the firstadministration (X) with those of the secondadministration (Y) of the same test.

In statistics books, one can find detailedexplanations on how to use this formula onpaper. Fortunately, with the help of personalcomputers or certain types of calculators,precious time can be saved, and laboriouswork can be avoided when determining rtt(Owen et al., 1997).

Practical as the TRM may be, one shouldbe quick to recognise its inadequacy toaccount for the various facets posing a threatto test reliability. Bachman (1990), forinstance, maintains that the computation ofreliability by this method can be underminedby two factors: practice effect and change inability. The former occurs if, when taking thetest for the second time, examinees becomeacquainted with the questions or the testformat. The latter is characterised by anincrease or decrease in respondents’proficiency in the target language. Thisusually results from broadening the timespan between the two administrations as anattempt to avoid practice effect. On accountof that, Henning (1987) suggests ‘aninterval of no more than two weeks’ followingthe administration of the first test.

Other variables that can jeopardise testreliability are examinees’ psychological stateand physical health (Cohen, 1994).Normally one would not be expected toperform well on a test on the day of theirmother’s funeral, or when having a splitting

headache, for example. Similarly,administrative environment may also lead toinconsistency of test results (Henning,1987). Overcrowded rooms, lack of properventilation, pneumatic hammers rattlingoutside test centres, room acoustics (in thecase of verbal instructions or listeningcomprehension tests) are some examples ofadministrative elements that can pose athreat to test reliability. Furthermore, raters’estimates of examinees’ language ability maybe subjective (Bachman, 1990), which isanother important variable affecting scores.Many would agree that this may be even moreevident with components such as writtencompositions and interviews. Perhaps, thefrequent use of multiple-choice test formatscharacterises an attempt at minimisingsubjectivity (Bachman, 1990). Finally – nosuggestion of being exhaustive intended –the inadequacy of the sampling of tasks isbound to render a given test unreliable. Asa countermeasure to this problem, Harris(1969) maintains that, generally, the moresamples of examinees’ performance aretaken, the more reliable will be theassessment of their language competency.

2.3.2. V2.3.2. V2.3.2. V2.3.2. V2.3.2. Validityalidityalidityalidityalidity

Testing specialists elaborate on aconsiderable number of types of validity(Bachman, 1990; Cohen, 1994; Harris,1969; Henning, 1987; Hughes, 1989),from which only four types will be examinedin this paper, namely, face validity, contentvalidity, construct validity, and criterion-related validity.

The first type, face validity, is establishedon the basis of impression; therefore,


without any empirical evidence, one assumesa given test measures what it is supposedto. However, although ‘this is not validity inthe technical sense,’ as Harris (1969)suggests, one significant aspect of facevalidity relates to how “testees” may translateteacher or school policy on the basis of testformats. Thus, tests that look silly, forinstance, are likely to undermine teachers orinstitutions’ credibility.

The second type, content validity, relatesto the representativeness of the knowledgea given test is designed to measure. If, forexample, a group of L2 students havecovered adjective building involving prefixesand suffixes in a given course, and the testthey sit is restricted to adjective building onlyin terms of suffixation, one can hardly arguethe content validity of such a test. Likewise,if the test includes questions involving itemssuch as a two-hour journey and caramel-cum-butterscotch-cum-coffee-cum-toffeespread (Kay and Jones, 2001, p. 76), whichare types of adjectives that have not yet beentaught in the imaginary course, the test issaid to have no content validity.Nevertheless, a satisfactory paradigm forjudging whether or not a test has contentvalidity seems to be a specification of thelanguage abilities which are bound to becovered in a course. Hughes (1989: 22)maintains that ‘such a specification shouldbe made at a very early stage in testconstruction.’ He also argues that althoughnot all of the language items listed in thespecification may appear in the test, thistypology ‘will provide the test constructorwith the basis for making a principledselection of elements for inclusion in the test’.

Briefly, the third type, construct validity,is verified by testing given abilities or sub-abilities in various ways. If, as a result, testscores correlate highly in line with theresearcher’s theory of what the frameworksof those abilities or sub-abilities are, thenthe test is said to have construct validity(Cohen, 1994; Henning, 1987; Hughes,1989). Nevertheless, while arguing thatthere is no sufficient evidence fordetermining construct validation in test-score correlations, Bachman (1990) drawson Messick (1988, cited in Bachman, 1990,p. 258) to suggest other ‘types of empiricalevidence’: “These may include any or all ofthe following: (1) the examination of patternsof correlations among item scores and testscores, and between characteristics of itemsand tests and scores on items and tests; (2)analyses and modelling of the processesunderlying test performance; (3) studies ofgroup differences; (4) studies of changes overtime, or (5) investigation of the effects ofexperimental treatment” (Bachman, 1990,p. 258).

Finally, the fourth type of validity,criterion-related validity, embraces two othertypes: concurrent validity and predictivevalidity. The determination of the first is onthe basis of the relationship between a giventest and a construct-validated externalcriterion measure administered concurrently.The second is normally conveyed as acorrelation coefficient with some futurecriterion measure, as Cohen exemplifies: “Asan example of predictive validation, alanguage aptitude test may be validated bya test of a student’s achievement in thelanguage class in which the student was

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○64


placed on the basis of the aptitude test”(1994: 39- 40).

There are some caveats, though,involving these varieties of criterion-relatedvalidity. In the case of concurrent validity,even if the criterion measure has constructvalidity and highly correlates with a giventest, no guarantee is given whether or nottest scores, indicators of a given ability, arenot influenced by other abilities (Bachman,1990). On the other hand, tests developedto predict future performance cannot beconsidered ‘valid indicators of ability’(Bachman, 1990). In a sentence, the authorunderscores the limitations of criterion-related validity: “information about criterionrelatedness – concurrent or predictive – isby itself insufficient evidence for validation”(Bachman, 1990, p. 253).

Reliability versus VReliability versus VReliability versus VReliability versus VReliability versus Validityalidityalidityalidityalidity

Generally speaking, reliability and validityare closely related concepts and useful toolsfor test analysis (Bachman, 1990, Hughes,1989). However, they can on certainsituations be completely unconnected. Thus,for example, a test that is considered reliablebecause of high correlation of scores maybe dismissed as invalid due to lack ofconsistency in terms of its purportedmeasurement objective. In other words, allvalid tests are reliable, but not all reliabletests are valid (Henning, 1987).

2.3.3. Feasibility2.3.3. Feasibility2.3.3. Feasibility2.3.3. Feasibility2.3.3. Feasibility

While reliability and validity are regardedby testing experts as essential measurement

qualities, feasibility seems to be, as Harris(1969) puts it, another sine qua non, withoutwhich the other two are rendered useless.This is mainly due to such things asadministrative costs, availability ofequipment, manpower, and appropriatefacilities. While one cannot overlook otherpotential factors that may render a testunviable, in the last analysis, it seems theless costly the more feasible a test becomes,notwithstanding the danger of sacrificingquality for the sake of economy.

3. METHOD3. METHOD3. METHOD3. METHOD3. METHOD

3.1. Subjects3.1. Subjects3.1. Subjects3.1. Subjects3.1. Subjects

The subjects were two groups ofsecondary school (SS) students (N 45) in the17 to 20 age bracket. When theinvestigation was conducted, these 45students were sitting their SS finalexamination at Colégio Amazonense DomPedro II, a State school for primary (EF) andsecondary (EM) education1 in the State ofAmazonas (Brazil).

3.2. Materials3.2. Materials3.2. Materials3.2. Materials3.2. Materials

For data collection, ninety copies weremade of the UFAM/2002 English test(Appendix A). Additionally, a copy of thecandidate handbook (CH) was examined interms of whether or not that particularEnglish test sampled adequately the abilities(or sub-abilities) it purported to measure(Figure 4).

1 Ensino Fundamental (EF) and Ensino Médio (EM)respectively .


Figure 4.Figure 4.Figure 4.Figure 4.Figure 4. PSM/2002 Candidate Handbook: study guide (UFAM-PSM2002 – Manualdo Candidato, 2001, p. 9) (My translation of the ‘study guide’

in the PSM/2002 Candidate Handbook)

Study guidefor the foreignlanguage test(Spanish, Frenchor English)

Guia de estudopara a prova delíngua estrangeira(Espanhol,Francês e Inglês)

For the foreign language test (FLT), there is no specificstudy guide. The objective of this test is just to verifywhether or not the candidate has basic knowledge ofthe selected foreign language.Therefore, the FLT will involve the experience thecandidate may have acquired in secondary school(ensino médio). It will include reading comprehension,basic vocabulary, and grammatical structure of the targetlanguage.

Para a prova de Língua Estrangeira, não há umprograma específico. O que se pretende é apenasverificar se o candidato possui os conhecimentosfundamentais do idioma que escolheu.Assim sendo, a prova procurará levar em consideraçãoa experiência que o Ensino Médio, geralmente,proporciona aos estudantes. Ela versará sobre odomínio de um vocabulário básico e sobre a estruturagramatical da língua.

3.3. Procedure3.3. Procedure3.3. Procedure3.3. Procedure3.3. Procedure

On the basis of the test-retest method,the UFAM/2002 English test wasadministered twice to the forty-five studentsconcluding SS at Colégio Amazonense DomPedro II. In agreement with Henning’s(1987) suggestion on time lag between testadministrations, the first testing was held on18 November 2002, and the retesting wassat on 26 November 2002, seven days afterthe first administration. The test was thenrated on a scale of zero to ten marks, and itsreliability was estimated on the basis of thePPM formula (see section 2.3.1).

As more than twenty thousandcandidates sat the 2002 entrance

examination to UFAM, 45 respondents isobviously an insignificant sample of theentire population of examinees. Therefore,so that ‘the level of significance, or the p-value of the statistic’ (Henning, 1987) couldbe verified, the Critical Values of the PearsonProduct-Moment Correlation Coefficient(reproduced in Henning, 1987, p. 170) wasused (Table 1, in Appendix B). Additionally,on the grounds that the correlation betweenthe scores of respondents representative ofthe entire population aforementioned shouldbe positive, a one-tailed test of significancewas conducted. Yet, if a positive or negativecorrelation would be equally acceptable,then a two-tailed test of significance wouldbe adequate (Henning, 1987).

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○66


The content validity of the test wasverified by comparing the UFAM/2002English test both with the specifications forthe test outlined in the CH (Figure 4) andthe parameters for the teaching of modernforeign languages (PCN) found in the

National Curriculum Parameters forSecondary School –Modern ForeignLanguages (Parâmetros CurricularesNacionais: ensino médio – PCN, 1999, p.147- 153; see Figure 5).

Representationand communication

Investigationand comprehension

Socio-culturalContextualisation

NationalNationalNationalNationalNationalCurriculumCurriculumCurriculumCurriculumCurriculumParametersParametersParametersParametersParametersfor Secondarfor Secondarfor Secondarfor Secondarfor SecondaryyyyySchool:School:School:School:School:ModernModernModernModernModernForeignForeignForeignForeignForeignLanguageLanguageLanguageLanguageLanguagecompetenciescompetenciescompetenciescompetenciescompetenciesand abilitiesand abilitiesand abilitiesand abilitiesand abilitiesto beto beto beto beto bedevelopeddevelopeddevelopeddevelopeddeveloped

• Choose the adequate register andvocabular y for the occasion whencommunication occurs.

• Use coherence and cohesion devicesin the oral/written production.

• Use verbal and non-verbal strategiesto compensate for lack of ability in the targetlanguage both in production and reading.

• Know and use modern foreignlanguages as a means to have access to othercultures, and other social groups.

• Understand the various ways a givenexpression can be interpreted on the basisof socio-cultural aspects.

• Analyse verbal language expressionresources considering the nature, function,organisation and the structure of the targetlanguage (TL). Such analysis should becarried out on the basis of the properconditions for production/reception of theTL (intention, time, place, interlocutors, andavailable technological resources).

• Distinguish linguistic variants. •Understand to what extent oral/writtentexts reveal speaker traits such as behaviour,thought, and mood.


Figure 5. Figure 5. Figure 5. Figure 5. Figure 5. The National Curriculum Parameters for Secondary School – ModernForeign Language (Parâmetros Curriculares Nacionais: ensino médio, 1999,

p. 153. My translation).

CompetênciasCompetênciasCompetênciasCompetênciasCompetênciase habilidadese habilidadese habilidadese habilidadese habilidadesa serema serema serema serema seremdesenvolvidasdesenvolvidasdesenvolvidasdesenvolvidasdesenvolvidasem Línguaem Línguaem Línguaem Línguaem LínguaEstrangeiraEstrangeiraEstrangeiraEstrangeiraEstrangeiraModernaModernaModernaModernaModerna

• Escolher o registro adequado àsituação na qual se processa a comunicaçãoe o vocábulo que melhor reflita a idéia quepretende comunicar.

•Utilizar os mecanismos de coerência ecoesão na produção oral e/ou escrita.

• Utilizar as estratégias verbais e não-verbais para compensar as falhas, favorecera efetiva comunicação e alcançar o efeitopretendido em situações de produção eleitura.

• Conhecer e usar as línguas estrangeirasmodernas como instrumento de acesso ainformações a outras culturas e grupossociais.

• Compreender de que formadeterminada expressão pode ser interpretadaem razão de aspectos sociais e/ou culturais.

• Analisar os recursos expressivos dalinguagem verbal, relacionando textos/contextos mediante a natureza, função,organização, estrutura, de acordo com ascondições de produção/recepção (intenção,época, local, interlocutores, participantes dacriação e propagação de idéias e escolhas,tecnologias disponíveis).

• Saber distinguir as varianteslingüísticas.

• Compreender em que medida osenunciados refletem a forma de ser, pensar,agir e sentir de quem os produz.

Representação ecomunicação

Investigação ecompreensão

Contextualizaçãosócio-cultural

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○68


4. RESUL4. RESUL4. RESUL4. RESUL4. RESULTS OF CORRELTS OF CORRELTS OF CORRELTS OF CORRELTS OF CORRELAAAAATIONALTIONALTIONALTIONALTIONALAND DOCUMENTAND DOCUMENTAND DOCUMENTAND DOCUMENTAND DOCUMENTAL ANALAL ANALAL ANALAL ANALAL ANALYSESYSESYSESYSESYSES

4.1. Estimating the Reliability of the4.1. Estimating the Reliability of the4.1. Estimating the Reliability of the4.1. Estimating the Reliability of the4.1. Estimating the Reliability of theUFUFUFUFUFAM/2002 English TAM/2002 English TAM/2002 English TAM/2002 English TAM/2002 English Testestestestest

On the basis of the PPM, the reliabilitycoefficient of the UFAM/2002 administeredto the forty-five respondents at ColégioAmazonense Dom Pedro II was rtt = 0.57(Table 2, in Appendix B). Furthermore,assuming that the sample of respondents waspotentially comparable with samples chosenat random from the real universe of UFAM/2002 candidates, and that the correlationof their scores should be positive, the one-tailed level of significance was established.Following Table 1 (Appendix B), the valueof the PPM found with the sample wouldhave to exceed 0.2428 at a desirable levelof significance for one-tailed tests (p <0.05) so that generalisation of the UFAM/2002-candidate population could be made.Since rtt emerged as 0.57, this correlationcoefficient is considered significant and thusit could be generalised to that population ifthe respondents were a random sample ofit. Additionally, to achieve a level ofsignificance of p < 0.01, which represents99 percent confidence in the generalisation(Henning, 1987), the PPM of the UFAM/2002 sample would have to exceed 0.3384.As the correlation coefficient found with thesample did exceed those figures, it can beconsidered highly significant, thus highlygeneralisable to the entire population, werethe samples chosen from the real universeof UFAM/2002 candidates.

4.2. Estimating the V4.2. Estimating the V4.2. Estimating the V4.2. Estimating the V4.2. Estimating the Validity of thealidity of thealidity of thealidity of thealidity of theUFUFUFUFUFAM/2002 English TAM/2002 English TAM/2002 English TAM/2002 English TAM/2002 English Testestestestest

For the sake of operational viability, thevalidity of the UFAM/2002 was checkedagainst the two simpler types of validity: facevalidity and content validity. The analysis basedon ‘impression’ has revealed important factsabout this all-reading comprehension test.

Following the typical multiple-choiceformat of four alternatives (Cohen, 1994),the UFAM/2002 English test was based ontwo texts: the first, a 211-word excerpt,apparently part of a newspaper feature article;the second, a 290-word passage, whichmight have been quoted from a magazine.Furthermore, the former text was followedby three items and the latter by two items.However, as one of the items of the first texthad eventually to be declared void (there wasno correct alternative in it), the test wasreduced to four items, most of which werebadly written.

For one thing, besides the fact that therespondents’ native language was thelanguage of response (Bachman, 1990),some distractors were either clearly absurd,or conflicting with one another:

(26) According to the text: A. All of them are the same size,

and larger than Earth. B. There is no certainty about the

discovery of these planets. C. There is certainty only about the

existence of three new planets. D. There’s certainty about the

discovery of eight new planets.


E. All of them can be seen fromEarth with the naked eye.

(UFAM – PSM2002, Prova 1, 2001, p. 5;see Appendix A for complete translation ofitems – my translation).

B and E represent the only real choicesin this item for two reasons. One is thatchoice A can be instantly dismissed withoutreference to the excerpt (Appendix A), sincethe idea of a planet being ‘the same size’ asanother seems as untenable as the existenceof the perfect circle. The other is that choicesB, C, and D eliminate one another. Thus,one might choose B on the optimisticassumption that no celestial body that canbe seen ‘with the naked eye’ from Earth hasescaped astronomers’ records.

For another thing, other distractors couldalso be easily eliminated particularly owingto bad semantics:

(28) The text mentions brown dwarfs.Brown dwarfs are: A. Small stars similar to Earth, but

which have their own interiornucleus (sic).

B. Small planets which have littleinterior nuclear power source.

C. Stars which have nuclear massinterior (sic) above normal.

D. Celestial bodies without anucleus of their own (sic),but which have large mass.

E. Celestial bodies lacking interiornuclear power source, andhaving less mass than planets.

(UFAM – PSM2002, Prova 1, 2001, p. 5;see Appendix A for complete translation ofitems – my translation)

The prime example of this is the use of theword próprio (own) in choices A and D, whichadmits the assumption that a celestial body can‘borrow’ other celestial bodies’ nucleus.Similarly, the word interior (interior) combinedwith núcleo (nucleus) in choice A generatesblatant redundancy in Portuguese. Choice C isexemplary of the nonsensical quality of the item.Additionally, while choice E is the correctanswer, its opposition to choice B seems toundermine test credibility (Harris, 1969). Thesefacts appear to be crucial to determining theface validity of the UFAM/2002.

The comparison between the content ofthe UFAM/2002 with the study guideoutlined in the candidate handbook and theparameters in the PCN manual has alsoprovided valuable data for estimating thecontent validity of this test.

In the CH study guide it is claimed that“For the foreign language test (FLT), there isno specific study guide. The objective of [theUFAM/2002 English test] is just to verifywhether or not the candidate has basicknowledge of the selected foreign language.Therefore, the FLT will involve the experiencethe candidate may have acquired insecondary school (ensino médio). It willinclude reading comprehension, basicvocabulary, and grammatical structure of thetarget language” (UFAM-PSM2002 –Manual do Candidato, 2001, p. 9 –Mytranslation; Figure 4).

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○70


Nevertheless, irrespective of the sentencestructuring system and the load of Latinatewords typically found in academic textswritten in English, which in passing favoursPortuguese speakers a great deal, nometiculous examination is required to noticethat the two texts selected for the UFAM/2002 are patently loaded with somewhatinvolved syntactic and morphologicalstructures, and complex lexical items, thusdemanding from the candidates far more than‘basic knowledge’ of the target language. Interms of lexis, for instance, words andexpressions such as ‘stars’, ‘hunt for’, ‘scanthe heavens’, ‘pull’ ‘brown dwarfs’, ‘lack’, inthe first text; and ‘hard’, ‘ought to’, ‘set up’,‘entire’, ‘too early’ in the second seem to bechallenging for most Brazilians whoseEnglish was learnt solely at regular schools.

Regarding the complexity of syntactic andmorphological structures found in theUFAM/2002 English test, an example fromthe first text is:

European astronomers on Mondayreported detecting signs that eight planets,some of them larger than Jupiter, may beorbiting stars outside our own solar system.(UFAM – PSM2002, Prova 1, 2001, p. 4;Appendix A)

The inexistence in the Portugueselanguage of a structure similar to the typeunderlined here which would fit thisparticular co-text seems to contribute topotential misinterpretation of the sentenceby Brazilian learners of English. In thisenvironment, the English -ing form wouldmost certainly be replaced by the Portuguese‘compound personal infinitive’ (infinitivo

pessoal composto), e.g., terem detectadosinais (Cunha, 1986, p. 387).

In the third paragraph of the second text,the sentence “Because everyone has Internetaccess, older people participate as much asyounger ones, and everyone can visit distantlibraries and museums as easily as nearbyones” (UFAM – PSM2002, Prova 1, 2001,p. 5; Appendix A) appears to be a goodexample of complex sentence structuring,mainly concerning the use of comparatives.A more complicating factor, however, seemsto be the instances of test-writingnegligence, which is transparent in this sameparagraph: ‘where’ and ‘and’ are written as‘whwre’ and ‘end’ respectively. Thisinattentiveness is indeed more markedlynoticed in the construction of item twofollowing the first text, which was declaredvoid for lacking a correct alternative.

About the ‘experience’ the candidate mayhave acquired in EM, this is a rather involvedissue, inasmuch as, regardless of the PCN(Figure 5), the EFL classroom reality,especially in state schools, seems to indicatethat students finishing EM have onlysuperficial knowledge of English – this is yetto be empirically investigated though.

5. DISCUSSION5. DISCUSSION5. DISCUSSION5. DISCUSSION5. DISCUSSION

5.1. The Reliability of the UF5.1. The Reliability of the UF5.1. The Reliability of the UF5.1. The Reliability of the UF5.1. The Reliability of the UFAM/AM/AM/AM/AM/2002 English T2002 English T2002 English T2002 English T2002 English Testestestestest

The reliability coefficient of the UFAM/2002 found with the 45 respondents (rtt =0.57) through the TRM indicates anextremely low level of reliability. Harris(1969) maintains that tests designed to


select candidates ‘should have a reliabilityquotient of at least 0.90, and preferably evensomewhat higher’. Nevertheless, as hepoints out, the limitations of this methodshould be considered when makingdecisions on the basis of correlationcoefficients. In the case of these respondents,for instance, I noticed that some of themreturned the test far sooner than theestimated time for them to answer it.Considering the degree of difficulty of thepassages, it was established that therespondents should be able to answer thetest in twenty minutes. However, some of therespondents returned the test in about sevenminutes after they were given it. Thisphenomenon seems to constitute a differentsource of inconsistency other than the classicones: ‘differential practice effect anddifferential changes in ability’ (Bachman,1990, p. 182). Perhaps these respondents’attitude is an indication of disappointment.It is possible that they may have felt that theEnglish they had been learning so far atschool was not enough for them tounderstand the texts in the UFAM/2002English test. Hughes (1989) seems toendorse this view: “Now it might be arguedthat to base test content on objectives ratherthan on course content is unfair to students.If the course content does not fit well withobjectives, they will be expected to do thingsfor which they have not been prepared”(1989: 12).

5.2. The V5.2. The V5.2. The V5.2. The V5.2. The Validity of the UFalidity of the UFalidity of the UFalidity of the UFalidity of the UFAM/2002AM/2002AM/2002AM/2002AM/2002English TEnglish TEnglish TEnglish TEnglish Testestestestest

In the light of the evidence provided inthe previous section, it seems reasonable to

say that the UFAM/2002 English test lacksboth face validity and content validity. Inregard to the former, although the word-count of the two selected texts fluctuateswithin the range of acceptable text length,both the number of texts, and items per textare far below testing experts’ prescription forthis type of test. Harris (1969) suggestsabout five passages, each ranging from 100to 250 words, and followed by four to sevenitems or more. Furthermore, the badlywritten items and the two spelling problemsdetected in the second passage alsoundermine the face validity of the UFAM/2002English test. At this point, it is important notingthat the lead in (26) is rather vague, thusrequiring that ‘them’ be replaced by a nounphrase in choice A (or A could be swapped forB), so that A could be clearly understood inisolation. This appears to be endorsed by Harris(1969: 62): “The vocabulary and syntax of theitems should be kept as simple as possible sothat the real problem is the interpretation ofthe passage, not of the questions that are askedabout it”.

Importantly, on the basis of Harris’s(1969) ‘advice on item writing’, asuggestion for items following the firstpassage of the UFAM/2002 English test isoutlined in Appendix C.

To consider the next point, the contentvalidity of the UFAM/2002 English test, onehas to partly assume a speculative stance,inasmuch as a study is yet to be conductedon whether or not the PCN are in factfollowed in the EFL classroom at both privateand state schools in the State of Amazonas.Nevertheless, when collating the CH study

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○72


guide with the two texts of the UFAM/2002English test there can hardly be any doubtabout the gap between what is stated in theCH, and the actual level of proficiencyrequired by those texts. This nonethelessseems to be mitigated by both the choice ofthe candidates’ native language as thelanguage of response and the unchallengingquality of the items.

Albeit the suggestion in Appendix Cseems to offer more reliable items for thefirst passage of the UFAM/2002 English test,many would be likely to agree that the testwould still have no validation consideringthe argument on the comparison betweenthe UFAM/2002, the CH study guide andthe PCN. As testing experts suggest, a testis valid only insofar as it constitutes a sampleof what it purports to measure (Bachman,1990; Cohen, 1994; Harris, 1969;Henning, 1987; Hughes, 1989).

6. CONCL6. CONCL6. CONCL6. CONCL6. CONCLUSIONUSIONUSIONUSIONUSION

According to the results presented in thispaper, the expostulation of ELT teachersworking at state schools in Manaus wasconfirmed: the English component of theentrance examination to the FederalUniversity of Amazonas administered in2002 was neither reliable nor valid. In otherwords, the UFAM/2002 English test wasconsidered dispossessed of basicrequirement to be qualified as a seriousscreening test of English. However, theweight of this conclusion is put into questionon account of sample reliability. Thus, tovalidate the findings reported here, therepetition of this investigation under morereliable conditions appears to be necessary.

Nevertheless, as tentative as this study maybe, it is felt that, once confirmed, theseresults seem to have serious implicationsparticularly for the English undergraduatecourse (EUC) of this University whoseunstated required level of proficiency in thetarget language is at least two years ofcomprehensive and continuous study – EUCfreshmen have to deal with New Interchange2 (Richards and Sandy, 1998) in a classroomwhere English is supposed to be the languageof instruction. Unfortunately, consideringthe length of the EUC, the adoption of sucha tacit policy is understandable: it is ratherunlikely that beginners could becomeadvanced learners in only eight terms ofstudy. One can suggest two alternativesolutions to this dilemma though.

One solution would be the addition oftwo more terms to the EUC, so that freshmencould start studying English as ‘real’beginners. Hopefully, they would achieveadvanced level proficiency by the end of thecourse. The other solution would be thedevelopment of a reliable and valid screeningtest for candidates applying for the EUC.However, this measure could be dismissedby both the University and the localcommunity for different reasons. For onething, lack of manpower and money tooperate the logistics involved in theadministration of such a test may potentiallybe UFAM’s strong claims. For another thing,this new policy may attract widespreadcriticism from the Amazonian community.For instance, one might argue against thediscriminatory quality of the process,claiming that the seven years of EFL learningat state schools (as well as private schools)fail to prepare candidates to succeed in this


type of test. From this perspective, then, it islikely that only those who could afford tostudy in a language institute would be aptto attend the EUC at UFAM.

Since no empirical study has beenconducted on this issue to date, thesuggestion that Amazonian students cannotachieve an intermediate level of proficiencyin English after having studied this subjectfor fourteen terms at state and privateschools can only be speculative. However,the results presented in this paper seem tolead to a number of questions about the roleof English (or any other modern foreignlanguage) in the Brazilian formal educationalsystem, which may merit further research.

For one thing, one might want toinvestigate, for instance, the extension towhich the PCN are based on sound principlesof foreign language teaching, or the validityof the assumptions underlined in Figure 5about the level of proficiency of EM students.Another concern is how closely the PCN arefollowed in the EFL classroom of state andprivate schools. One way of verifying thiswould be through an analysis of the ELTmaterial used in these schools. This mightdetermine whether or not the EFL classroomof EF is conducive to the development ofthe target language in EM.

For another thing, assuming the Englishcomponent of the entrance examination tothe Federal University of Amazonas weredecisive to admission not only to the EUC,but also to the other undergraduate coursesoffered by this University, how would Englishcompare with other subjects in the EF and

EM curricula? How seriously would EF andEM students take it? What influence wouldthese conditions have on school policyconcerning the selection of EFL teachers,and adequacy of environment for EFLteaching?


Bachman, L. F. (1990). Fundamentalconsiderations in language testing. Oxford:Oxford University Press.

Bransford, J. D. et al. (1984). Learning fromthe perspective of the comprehender. InAnderson, J.C. and Urquhart, A. H. (eds.)Reading in a foreign language. London:Longman.

Brasil. (1999). Ministério da Educação,Secretaria de Educação Média e Tecnológica.Parâmetros Curriculares Nacionais: EnsinoMédio. Brasíla: Ministério da Educação.

Brown, G. and Yule, G. (1983). Discourseanalysis. Cambridge: Cambridge UniversityPress.

Carroll, J.B. (1968). The psychology oflanguage testing. In: Bachman, L. F. Fundamentalconsiderations in language testing. Oxford:Oxford University Press.

Cohen, A. D. (1994). Assessing languageability in the classroom. (2nd ed.). Boston, Mass:Newbury House.

Cunha, C. F. (1986). Gramática da línguaportuguesa. (11ª ed.). Rio de Janeiro: FAE.

Harris, D. P. (1969). Testing English as asecond language. New York: McGraw-Hill.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○74


Henning, G. (1987). A guide to languagetesting: Development, evaluation, research.Boston, Mass: Newbury House.

Hughes, A. (1989). Testing for languageteachers. Cambridge: Cambridge UniversityPress.

Kay, S. and Jones, V. (2001). Inside outupper intermediate: Student’s Book. Oxford:Macmillan Heinemann.

Owen, C., et al. (1997). Testing.Birmingham: Centre for English LanguageStudies (CELS).

Pearson, L. and Buffa, L. (1994). ThePrinceton review: Cracking the TOEFL, 1995edition. New York: Villard Books.

Richards, J. C. and Sandy, C. (1998). NewInterchange 2: Student’s Book. Cambridge:Cambridge University Press.

Steffensen, M. S. and Joag-dev, C. (1984).Cultural knowledge and reading. In Anderson,J. C. and Urquhart, A. H. (eds.). Reading in aforeign language. London: Longman.

Stern, H.H. (1992). Issues and options inlanguage teaching. Oxford: Oxford UniversityPress.

Universidade Federal do Amazonas.(2000). Processo Seletivo Macro –PSM2001: Manual do Candidato. Manaus:Imprensa Universitária.

Universidade Federal do Amazonas.(2001). Processo Seletivo Macro –PSM2002: Prova 01, Conhecimentos GeraisI. Manaus: Imprensa Universitária.




APPENDIX A: THE UFAPPENDIX A: THE UFAPPENDIX A: THE UFAPPENDIX A: THE UFAPPENDIX A: THE UFAM/2002AM/2002AM/2002AM/2002AM/2002

Processo Seletivo Macro – Psm2002 Prova de Conhecimentos Gerais IProcesso Seletivo Macro – Psm2002 Prova de Conhecimentos Gerais IProcesso Seletivo Macro – Psm2002 Prova de Conhecimentos Gerais IProcesso Seletivo Macro – Psm2002 Prova de Conhecimentos Gerais IProcesso Seletivo Macro – Psm2002 Prova de Conhecimentos Gerais I

Língua Estrangeira - Inglês

(Passage one)(Passage one)(Passage one)(Passage one)(Passage one)LEIA O TEXTO LEIA O TEXTO LEIA O TEXTO LEIA O TEXTO LEIA O TEXTO “EIGHT NEW POSSIBLE PL“EIGHT NEW POSSIBLE PL“EIGHT NEW POSSIBLE PL“EIGHT NEW POSSIBLE PL“EIGHT NEW POSSIBLE PLANETS DETECTEDANETS DETECTEDANETS DETECTEDANETS DETECTEDANETS DETECTED””””” E RESPOND E RESPOND E RESPOND E RESPOND E RESPONDAAAAAADEQUADAMENTE:ADEQUADAMENTE:ADEQUADAMENTE:ADEQUADAMENTE:ADEQUADAMENTE:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – European astronomers on Monday reported detecting signsthat eight planets, some of them possibly larger than Jupiter, may be orbiting stars outsideour own solar system.

These discoveries bring the number of potential extrasolar planets to more than 40. Thehunt for these planets candidates has intensified in the last year, as space scientists fromaround the world scan the heavens for Sun-like stars and planets that might orbit them.

The newest candidates were detected by astronomers working with the European SouthernObservatory’s La Silla observatory in Chile. The scientists are based in Geneva, Switzerland.

None of the planet candidates have ever been seen by humans, but scientists believethey are there because of the gravitational pull they exert on the stars they orbit.

Two of the eight new candidates may not be planets at all, the European scientists said ina statement, but could instead be brown dwarfs, which have a bit less mass than stars andcompletely lack a star’s interior nuclear power source.

Three of the new planet possibilities are about the size of Saturn or smaller, three are oneto three times the size of Jupiter and two are 10 times the size of Jupiter or larger.

All of these are far larger than Earth.

26. De acordo com o texto:a) Todos são do mesmo tamanho e maiores do que a Terrab) Não há certeza quanto à descoberta desses planetasc) Há certeza só quanto à existência de três novos planetasd) Há certeza quanto à descoberta de oito novos planetase) Todos podem ser vistos da Terra a olho nu.

27. Os sinais detectados indicam que: (NULA)a) os oito planetas seriam maiores do que Júpiter e estariam fora de nosso sistema

solar.b) os oito planetas seriam menores do que Júpiter e estariam dentro de nosso sistema

solar.c) os oito planetas seriam iguais a Júpiter e estariam na orla de nosso sistema solar.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○76


d) os oito planetas são, na verdade, maiores do que a Terra e dentro de nosso sistemasolar (sic).

e) os oito planetas são bem maiores do que a Terra e próximos de Saturno (sic).

28. O texto faz menção a “brown dwarfs”. “Brown dwarfs” são:a) pequenas estrelas semelhantes a Terra, mas com núcleo interior próprio (sic).b) pequenos planetas com pouca fonte de energia nuclear.c) estrelas com interior de massa nuclear acima do normal (sic).d) corpos celestes sem núcleo próprio(sic), mas grande massa.e) corpos celestes desprovidos de fonte de força nuclear interna e possuem menos

massa do que os planetas.

(My translation of instructions and items for the first passage)

READ THE TEXT “EIGHT NEW POSSIBLE PLANETS DETECTED” AND ANSWERADEQUATELY:

26. According to the text:a) All of them are the same size, and larger than Earth.b) There is no certainty about the discovery of these planets.c) There is certainty only about the existence of three new planets.d) There’s certainty about the discovery of eight new planets.e) All of them can be seen from Earth with the naked eye.

27. The detected signs indicate that: (VOIDVOIDVOIDVOIDVOID).1

a) The eight planets would be larger than Jupiter and would be out of our solar system.b) The eight planets would be smaller than Jupiter and would be inside our solar

system.c) The eight planets would be similar to Jupiter and would be bordering our solar

system.d) The eight planets are in reality larger than Earth and inside our solar system (sic).*e) The eight planets are by far larger than Earth and next to Saturn (sic).*

1 Because the existence of the eight planets is assumed in all choices, this item wascancelled.* In Portuguese ser and estar (to be) convey different meanings.

28. The text mentions brown dwarfs. Brown dwarfs are:a) Small stars similar to Earth, but which have their own interior nucleus (sic).b) Small planets which have little interior nuclear power source.c) Stars which have nuclear mass interior (sic) above normal.


d) Celestial bodies without a nucleus of their own (sic), but which have large mass.e) Celestial bodies lacking interior nuclear power source and having less mass than

planets.

(Passage two)(Passage two)(Passage two)(Passage two)(Passage two)LEIA O TEXTO LEIA O TEXTO LEIA O TEXTO LEIA O TEXTO LEIA O TEXTO “WILL TECHNOLOGY REPL“WILL TECHNOLOGY REPL“WILL TECHNOLOGY REPL“WILL TECHNOLOGY REPL“WILL TECHNOLOGY REPLACE SCHOOL?”ACE SCHOOL?”ACE SCHOOL?”ACE SCHOOL?”ACE SCHOOL?” E RESPOND E RESPOND E RESPOND E RESPOND E RESPONDAAAAAADEQUADAMENTE:ADEQUADAMENTE:ADEQUADAMENTE:ADEQUADAMENTE:ADEQUADAMENTE:

Some people believe that soon schools will no longer be necessary. These people saythat because of the Internet and other new technology, there is no longer any need forschool buildings, formal classes, or teachers. Perhaps this will be true one day, but it is hardfor me to imagine a world without schools. In fact, we need to look at how we can use newtechnology to make schools better-not to eliminate them.

We should invent a new kind of school that is linked to libraries, museums, sciencecenters, laboratories, and even corporations. Corporations ought to create learning programsfor schools in their area of expertise. Independent experts could give talks on video or overthe internet. TV networks and local stations could develop programming about things studentsare actually studying in school. Laboratories could set up websites to demonstrate newtechnology so students could view it on the Internet.

Is this just a dream? No. Already there are several towns whwre (sic) this is beginning tohappen. Blacksburg, Virginia, is one of them. Here the entire city is linked to the Internet,end learning can take place at home, at school, and in the office. Businesses provide programsfor the schools and the community. The schools provide computer labs for people withouttheir own computers at home. Because everyone has Internet access, older people participateas much as younger ones, and everyone can visit distant libraries and museums as easily asnearby ones.

How will this new kind of school change learning? It is too early to be sure, but it is veryexciting to think about. Technology will change the way we learn; schools will change aswell; and we will all learn something in the process.

29. Leia as colocações abaixo e assinale aquela com as quais o autor concordaria.1. Escolas não são necessárias.2. As novas tecnologias irão substituir as escolas.3. O uso de novas tecnologias é positivo.4. A aprendizagem deveria se dar só nas escolas.5. As empresas deveriam se envolver com a educação.

a) 1 – 3 – 4b) 3 – 5c) 4 – 5d) 1 - 2 – 5e) 3 – 4

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○78


30. Na frase “perhaps thisthisthisthisthis will be true one day...” (1o. parágrafo), this this this this this refere-se:a) a um mundo sem mestres, só tecnologia.b) à necessidade de acabar com as aulas e com os professores.c) a não necessidade de prédios escolares, aulas formais ou professores.d) à invenção de uma nova escola sem estruturae) à dominação dos prédios escolares pelos computadores

(My translation of instructions and items for the second passage)

READ THE TEXT “WILL TECHNOLOGY REPLACE SCHOOL?” AND ANSWERADEQUATELY:

29. Read the statements below, and indicate the ones with which the author wouldagree.a) Schools are not necessary.b) New technologies will eventually replace schools.c) The use of new Technologies is positive.d) Learning should take place only at school.e) Companies should participate in the educational process.

a. 1 – 3 – 4b. 3 – 5c. 4 – 5d. 1 - 2 – 5e. 3 – 4

30. In the sentence “perhaps thisthisthisthisthis will be true one day...” (1st paragraph), this this this this this refers to:a) a world without teachers, only technology.b) the necessity to banish lessons and teachers.c) the fact that school buildings, formal lessons or teachers are not necessary.d) the creation of a new school, without structure.e) the supremacy of computers in school buildings.


APPENDIX B: TAPPENDIX B: TAPPENDIX B: TAPPENDIX B: TAPPENDIX B: TABLESABLESABLESABLESABLES

TTTTTable 1. able 1. able 1. able 1. able 1. Critical Values of the Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Coefficient(reproduced in Henning, 1987, p.170)

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○80


TTTTTable 2able 2able 2able 2able 2


APPENDIX C: NEW ITEMS FOR THE UFAPPENDIX C: NEW ITEMS FOR THE UFAPPENDIX C: NEW ITEMS FOR THE UFAPPENDIX C: NEW ITEMS FOR THE UFAPPENDIX C: NEW ITEMS FOR THE UFAM/2002AM/2002AM/2002AM/2002AM/2002

Here is a suggestion of items for the first reading passage of the UFAM/2002 English test.

After this passage, you will find five unfinished statements about it, each with fiveAfter this passage, you will find five unfinished statements about it, each with fiveAfter this passage, you will find five unfinished statements about it, each with fiveAfter this passage, you will find five unfinished statements about it, each with fiveAfter this passage, you will find five unfinished statements about it, each with fivesuggested ways of finishing. Ysuggested ways of finishing. Ysuggested ways of finishing. Ysuggested ways of finishing. Ysuggested ways of finishing. You must choose the one which you think fits best.ou must choose the one which you think fits best.ou must choose the one which you think fits best.ou must choose the one which you think fits best.ou must choose the one which you think fits best.

EIGHT NEW POSSIBLE PLANETS DETECTED

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – European astronomers on Monday reported detecting signsthat eight planets, some of them possibly larger than Jupiter, may be orbiting stars outsideour own solar system.

These discoveries bring the number of potential extrasolar planets to more than 40. Thehunt for these planets candidates has intensified in the last year, as space scientists fromaround the world scan the heavens for Sun-like stars and planets that might orbit them.

The newest candidates were detected by astronomers working with the European SouthernObservatory’s La Silla observatory in Chile. The scientists are based in Geneva, Switzerland.

None of the planet candidates have ever been seen by humans, but scientists believethey are there because of the gravitational pull they exert on the stars they orbit.

Two of the eight new candidates may not be planets at all, the European scientists said ina statement, but could instead be brown dwarfs, which have a bit less mass than stars andcompletely lack a star’s interior nuclear power source.

Three of the new planet possibilities are about the size of Saturn or smaller, three are oneto three times the size of Jupiter and two are 10 times the size of Jupiter or larger.

All of these are far larger than Earth.

1. According to the information given in the passage about stars, one can argue that

A. they can be larger than planets such as Jupiter and Earth.B. normally their gravitational field is less extensive than that of the planet Earth.C. their interior nuclear power source is exhaustible.D. they are especially orbited by planets.E. they can be sun-like celestial bodies smaller than the Sun.

2. The writer suggests that these discoveriesA. evidence that celestial bodies can be precisely measured.B. may be stars orbiting outside our solar system.C. may be celestial bodies with narrow gravitational fields.D. increase the number of extrasolar planets to more than forty.E. were made from Chilean ground.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○82


3. The scientists who discovered the celestial bodies areA. Swiss.B. Spanish native speakers.C. North Americans.D. South Americans.E. Europeans.

4. According to the text brown dwarfsA. are larger than Earth.B. can be larger than some stars.C. can be characterised by their similarity with distant planets.D. can be confused with stars.E. are ten times the size of Jupiter or larger

5. One may conclude from the passage that these celestial bodiesA. are orbiting outside our solar system.B. are planets that can be confused with stars.C. total eight extrasolar planets.D. could be seen from the observatory thanks to modern technology.E. are planets which have more mass than Earth.

This article was received on May 12th, 2004 and accepted on August 22nd, 2004

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○83PROFILE PROFILE PROFILE PROFILE PROFILE Reading Aloud Activities as a Way to Determine Students’ Narrative Template

Reading Aloud Activities

as a Way to Determine Students’

Narrative Template

Actividades de lectura en voz alta como una forma de determinarel modelo narrativo de los estudiantes

José Aldemar Álvarez VJosé Aldemar Álvarez VJosé Aldemar Álvarez VJosé Aldemar Álvarez VJosé Aldemar Álvarez Valenciaalenciaalenciaalenciaalencia*

Universidad Pedagógica [email protected]

This article focuses on the description of a methodological innovationimplemented in a beginner’s English class at university level in Bogotá, Colombiawhich had two aims: First, to explore the role of reading aloud activities in theteaching of English, and second, to describe the narrative template studentsuse when retelling a story in writing. Data collection sources for this small-scale project incorporated class observation during the reading aloud activity,students’ written samples as the means for them to retell the story, and interviewsthat were held at the end of the research process. This experience allowed boththe teacher and the learners to approach English and see themselves playing adifferent role in the classroom. Moreover, it helped students foster theircommunicative competence as well as their motivation toward English languagelearning. Thus, this study promotes pedagogical debate about literacy processesin English in adults and the applicability of this kind of innovation in an EFLcontext.

KKKKKey worey worey worey worey words:ds:ds:ds:ds: Literacy, Reading Aloud, Storytelling, Narrative Template, EnglishInnovation, Foreign Language-Innovation

El objetivo de este artículo es describir una innovación que se implementóen un curso de inglés básico a nivel universitario en Bogotá, Colombia y el cualtuvo dos objetivos: primero, explorar el rol de de las actividades de lectura envoz alta para el aprendizaje del Inglés y segundo describir el modelo narrativoque usan los estudiantes cuando narran una historia. Los métodos de recolecciónde datos para este proyecto a menor escala incorporaron observación de clasesdurante las actividades de lectura en voz alta, producción escrita de losestudiantes como un medio para que ellos narraran las historias y entrevistas alfinal del proceso de investigación. Esta experiencia permitió al profesor y a los

* José Aldemar Álvarez VJosé Aldemar Álvarez VJosé Aldemar Álvarez VJosé Aldemar Álvarez VJosé Aldemar Álvarez Valenciaalenciaalenciaalenciaalencia is a teacher of English graduated from Universidad Pedagógica Nacional. Currently he isa fourth semester student of the Master in Applied Linguistics at Universidad Distrital in Bogotá. He works at UniversidadPedagógica Nacional and Universidad de Ciencias Aplicadas y Ambientales U.D.C.A as a teacher of English.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○84

ALVAREZ PROFILE PROFILE PROFILE PROFILE PROFILE

estudiantes acercase al inglés de una manera diferente y verse a sí mismosasumiendo otro rol en el aula de clase. Además, incentivó el desarrollo de lacompetencia comunicativa así como la motivación hacia el aprendizaje de lalengua. En consecuencia, este estudio promueve la discusión pedagógica acercadel proceso de desarrollo de lectura y escritura en inglés en adultos y la aplicaciónde este tipo de innovación en un contexto de enseñanza del inglés como lenguaextranjera.

Palabras claves: Palabras claves: Palabras claves: Palabras claves: Palabras claves: Proceso Lecto-escritor, Lectura en voz alta, Narración-Historias, Modelo Narrativo, Inglés-Innovaciones, Innovación- Lengua Extranjera


This paper describes the development of asmall-scale project that was part of theassignments of two seminars of the Master inApplied Linguistics of the TEFL program ofUniversidad Distrital. The interdisciplinarywork on both subjects –the seminars onDiscourse Analysis and Classroom Interactionand Teacher Preparation about Theory andon Methodology of Foreign Language Teaching–prompted carrying out an innovationgrounded on the articulation and generationof pedagogical knowledge between thesetwo areas in order to enrich the teaching-learning task. The study carried out duringthe second semester of 2003 aimed atpromoting the literacy process not only inits linguistic dimension (reading and writing)but also in its socio-cultural dimension sinceany literacy practice constitutes a socialpractice (Baynham, 1995).

Next, I describe the background and thebasic constructs that support this study; then Ireport on the methodology, participants andsite, the data collection procedure, and analysis.Later, I discuss the findings in order to describe,first, the components of the narrative template

that students use to retell a story and second,the impact of the reading aloud activity uponthe students and language learning. Finally, Iexamine the conclusions and pedagogicalimplications of the experience.

REVIEW OF LITERAREVIEW OF LITERAREVIEW OF LITERAREVIEW OF LITERAREVIEW OF LITERATURETURETURETURETURE

When I started thinking about theinnovation that I was required to develop inmy teaching context, I became interested inproviding my students with exposure andinteraction in a different language source.My first step was to carry out an informalneeds analysis whose results revealed thestudents felt that reading aloud activitiesgave them more possibilities to interact withthe foreign language. Thus I found itinteresting to integrate reading aloud withdiscourse analysis. Hence, the reading aloudof a story would act as the input to enablestudents to use the components of thenarrative genre. In this sense, I posed thesetwo research questions:

• What are the components of thenarrative template students deal withwhen they retell a story in writing?


• What is the role of the readingaloud activity in the foreign languageteaching-learning process of a beginnersclass?

Reading aloud as part of a literacy processattempts to encourage students’ oral andwritten production. In this sense it agreedwith the basic concept that literacy is themastery of the written and oral languageforms. Nevertheless, being literate is not onlyhaving the ability to read and write; it is asocial practice (Kramsch, 1998; Baynham,1995). As stated by Zuñiga (2001), it is asocial and cultural construction built upwithin the interaction of individuals.Therefore, literacy is interpreted either in alinguistic dimension or in a socio-culturaldimension. Thus, reading aloud nurturesboth dimensions in a teaching-learningcontext.

The Process that UnderliesThe Process that UnderliesThe Process that UnderliesThe Process that UnderliesThe Process that UnderliesRead-AloudsRead-AloudsRead-AloudsRead-AloudsRead-Alouds

According to Ellis and Brewster (2002),a person can retell a story in several ways;for instance, s/he can tell a tale without abook, an anecdote, a joke or can tell a storyfrom a book by reading it aloud. When youread aloud, you open a space for retelling astory. Retelling is part of our culture and dailylife; we retell jokes, songs, poems, plays, andstories. For this reason, reading aloudcomprises the bases for students to startperforming retelling little by little in thesecond language (Wright, 1997) thusprompting at a more interactional ratherthan transactional approach (McCarthy,1991). As such, it will enhance the establishing

of roles and relationships between andamong the teacher and the students, theteaching and the learning process.

During my experience as a languageteacher, I have noticed that reading aloudor read-alouds, as named by Campbell(2001), is a term that is generally used torefer to children’s literacy processes.However, I consider that the scope of thisactivity goes beyond this limited perception.It can provide an innovative approach toliteracy instruction not only for children butalso for adults (Nurss, 2000 as cited inSmallwood, 1992). Readings can be adaptedto any kind of language command and thecharacteristics of the students. Children’sliterature, for example, widely used withelementary ESL students can be adapted toteach literacy skills to adult ESL learners aswell (Smallwood, 1992).

Read-alouds help the literacy process offoreign language learners in many waysaccording to Ellis and Brewster (1991).Some of these are as follows:

• Stories are motivating and funny andcan help develop positive attitudes towardlanguage learning.• They exercise the imagination aslisteners become engaged and interpretand infer issues related to the narration.• They constitute a source for sharingsocial experiences different from theindividuality that the writing and readingactivity demands. This agrees withTrealease (1989), as cited by Campbell(1998), who claims that story readingsupports emotional, social, andpsychological development.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○86


• Students learn more because they learnabout language -new words, newsyntactic forms, new meanings, and newways of organizing discourse (Dombey,1988 as cited by Ellis and Brewster,1991).• They also support the teacher whenevers/he wants to address any kind of topicbecause stories provide cross-curricularlinks.• They allow the teacher to convey her/his love and excitement for both readingand learning and that starts building upthe knowledge required for eventualsuccess in reading (Cooper, 1993).• It helps us to change traditional classesinto perhaps very interesting ones(Barreto, 2002, p. 55).

There are different aspects that play aparamount role in the reading aloud activity.They are the kinds of stories the teacherchooses and the procedure used to carry outthe reading. The former refers to the typesof storybooks. According to Ellis andBrewster (1991) you can select humorous,rhyming, animal and everyday stories. Thelatter relates to the reading aloud modelutilized in this study. Ellis and Brewster(2002) propose a model made up of threecomponents: Plan (pre-activity), Do (while-activity) and Review (post-activity).

The pre-activity refers to all of thestrategies the teacher uses to introduce thestory, creating an environment and raisinginterest and motivation toward the readingaloud of the story. The while-activity is thereading aloud activity itself in which the teacherprompts students to infer, make relations, draw

conclusions and so forth. During the post-activity, students will engage in differentactivities of retelling orally or in writing,discussions, games, presentations, etc.

Essentially, reading aloud constitutes agreat source to enable students to improvein regards to their learning of the foreignlanguage (reading, writing, grammar,spelling, listening, speaking, socio-culturalissues, etc.). In other words, learners will notbe learning the language but living it whenengaged in meaningful activities.

Narrative Genre on the Spot ofNarrative Genre on the Spot ofNarrative Genre on the Spot ofNarrative Genre on the Spot ofNarrative Genre on the Spot ofDiscourseDiscourseDiscourseDiscourseDiscourse

‘Discourse analysis’ is defined as a varietyof procedures for examining chunks oflanguage, whether spoken or written, that arethe product of different interactions indifferent contexts (Allwright and Bailey, 1994;Hatch, 1992; McCarthy, 1991). In this sense,discourse is made up of the pragmatic contextand it embraces various domains such associo-cultural, political and ideological issues.

Hatch (1992) describes three streams thatfunction as the umbrella terms that cover thedifferent approaches to analyzing discourse.First of all, those streams that explain thestructure of a text (linguistic cognitivetemplates); second, those that show the textstructure as the result of the speakers’ orwriters’ goals and intents (linguistic andcognitive processes); and finally, those thatdepict structure as evolving from socially andcooperatively built communication (social,linguistic and cognitive processes).


This study is grounded in a rhetoricalgenre analysis that comprises part of the firstgroup of methods of discourse analysis.Rhetoricians have traditionally dividedgenres into narrative, descriptive, proceduraland persuasive discourses (Hatch, 1992).Since this particular study focuses onstorytelling, I decided to work on thenarrative genre; hence, narrowing down itsscope towards the narrative text.

Narration is thought to be the mostuniversal genre because all cultures havestorytelling traditions. According to researchdone in this area (Labov, 1972; Labov andWaletsky, 1967) and Mandler (Mandler,1978; Mandler and Johnson, 1977; andMandler et al., 1980) as cited by Hatch(1992), there is a basic universal templatefor the narrative based on the analysis ofstorytelling tasks of different languages.Narrations usually begin with an orientationthat includes the time, the spatial settingand the characters as well as their role inthe story. Later, when the story setting iscomplete, the storyteller sets up the storyline. In general, the story lines revolve arounda hero who has a goal which involves aproblem, an adversary and some steps toresolve it. In addition, there is a resolutionand a coda that includes a possible moralwhich represents an evaluative componentthat might also occur at various pointsthroughout the narrative. As a finalcomponent of the narrative template wehave the abstract. This is what we know asthe title of the story. The components ofthe narrative template can either bedescribed in an oral or written text;however, the current study decided toconcentrate only on the written text.


The researcher acted as a participantobserver and followed a qualitative studyunder the scope of a social constructivistapproach as the means for students to growas language learners and social beings whoconstruct meaning through their interaction.Social constructivism deals with theconstruction of knowledge andunderstanding that the learners make out ofthe social and interactional environment ina classroom context (Wells, 1995).

Participants and SiteParticipants and SiteParticipants and SiteParticipants and SiteParticipants and Site

The participants of this study were 19 EFLstudents from the extension courses at apublic university in Bogotá. The class, abeginners English level, was made up of 13female students and 6 male students whoseages ranged from 16 to 40. In general, thetarget participants were professionals orstudents of different majors.

Data Collection and AnalysisData Collection and AnalysisData Collection and AnalysisData Collection and AnalysisData Collection and Analysis

The data collection procedure was madeup of class observations that were carriedout during the four reading aloud activities,the students’ written samples, summariesof the stories read, and a semi-structuredinterview at the end of the semester. Dataanalysis aimed at describing the incidenceof the reading aloud activity regardingstudents’ language development and alsoto determine their narrative template. Tothis end, I used a coloring code in order tosee the common patterns in all theinstruments applied.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○88


TTTTTable 1.able 1.able 1.able 1.able 1. Categories found when analyzing the data

1 During the class I read four stories: “Leo and Pip”,“Going to School”, “The Raven and the Fox” and “The ThreeBilly Goats Gruff”.

Narrative componentsNarrative componentsNarrative componentsNarrative componentsNarrative components

AbstractCharactersGoal and problemSteps to resolve theproblemClimax and resolution

Language issuesLanguage issuesLanguage issuesLanguage issuesLanguage issues

SpeakingPronunciationWritingListeningGrammarVocabulary

InteractionsInteractionsInteractionsInteractionsInteractions

Teacher-studentStudent-student


In order to analyze the data gathered, Itook written samples that the students hadcompleted after the reading aloud activitywas carried out (see one sample in annex 1).

In addition, I used class observation sheets(see annex 2) and three interviews (see annex3). The chart below displays the categoriesfound in order to answer the two mainquestions.

Narrative ComponentsNarrative ComponentsNarrative ComponentsNarrative ComponentsNarrative Components

In the table above we can see that for thefirst category the students included in theirwritten texts only four of the sevencomponents of the universal narrativetemplate proposed by Labov. With fewexceptions, the samples included anabstract: “Summary of the story ‘Leo andPip’.”1 There was always the introduction tothe characters: “They are a family; there arethree billy goats…” Although in some of thesamples the students incorporated the timeand setting, it was only in a few of the retoldstories that these components wereincluded. The stories always presented a goal,a problem and, therefore, a hero: “Three billygoat, They are hungry… The small billy goatsees grass”. In addition, the written samplesshowed cohesion through the componentsof the steps to resolve the problem: “The

hunter ran and he found a fisherman theyplanned to catch the lion with thefisherman’s net and fish. Leo fell in the netand her mouse friend cut the net with theteeth”. In reference to the climax orresolution, I saw that the students consideredit an important component as a way to bringthe story to a conclusion. “He hits the trolland continues his road.” Finally, the lastcomponent of the narrative template, the coda,was barely included in some of the papers.

In short, the written samples showed thatthe students took into account what theyconsidered most important to retell the storyin writing. For example, they ignored somecharacters that are not significant for thedevelopment of the story or omitted placesand actions that would scarcely affect themeaning of the story. This finding was alsovalidated through the interviews in whichthey talked about the beginning, the plot anda resolution:


----- ¿Qué aspectos debe tener una historiapara que sea fácil de entender o para poderlanarrar?

What aspects should a story have for itto be easy to understand or narrate?

----- “Hay unos personajes que hay quedefinir, qué pensamos acerca de ellos y quépueden hacer… Una historia tiene un inicio,que es donde se atrapa a la persona paracrear interés y un problema principal; unatrama, que es lo que acontece paradesenredar el problema principal y undesenlace, un final feliz para los buenos.”

- - - - - “There are some characters that weneed to define, and say what we think aboutthem and what they can do… A story has abeginning which is where the interest of theperson is captured and where there is aprincipal problem; there is a plot thathappens to disentangle the principalproblem, and there is a resolution that is ahappy ending.”

(Interview in Spanish)

This interview also showed that thesetting and the time were not a concern inthe kind of narrative template that they dealtwith. Although not all of the summariesincluded the setting and the time, they wereaccurate in describing and contextualizingthe reader in order to guide her/him throughthe process of finding a goal, a problem,some steps to resolve the problem and aresolution.

By the same token, the coda is notmentioned as an important factor in thedevelopment of a story. This one componentcould tell more about the amount ofreflection that a story stimulates when

listening to it or when retelling it. In general,the lack of reflection displayed in the writingsuncovers the shallow or literal kind of readingand interpretation that students do whenthey are involved in this kind of literacy event.This outcome represents a call for teachersto consider critical reading an important toolin the development of reflective minds thatgo beyond what is at first sight visible in awritten or oral text.

To sum up, I would assert that thenarrative template posed by Hatch is to acertain point universal, yet it is shaped bythe different literacy processes that make upthe experience of every learner of a givenculture.

Language IssuesLanguage IssuesLanguage IssuesLanguage IssuesLanguage Issues

Now I will concentrate on the secondcategory –language issues. The analysis ofthe students’ written samples and theirdynamics during the reading aloud shed lighton this category and sub-categories.Considering that the second question refersto the role of reading aloud in the students’language development, I came up with thesub-categories of speaking, pronunciation,writing, listening, grammar and vocabulary.

First of all, I will deal with the sub-category of speaking. The application of themodel proposed by Ellis and Brewster (2002)to carry out the reading aloud activity Plan(pre-activity), Do (while-activity) and Review(post-activity), represented the best strategyfor students to improve their oral skills. Thepre-activity allowed students to recallprevious knowledge in terms of experiencesand predictions; and because of this activity,

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○90


they used vocabulary, structures orexpressions they knew beforehand. Thewhile-activity exposed them to newgrammatical structures, lexicon, stress andintonation patterns where they interactedasking and answering different kinds ofquestions. During the post-activity, thestudents discussed and gave their opinionabout the story and finally wrote a summaryof it. The reading aloud model applied servedthe purpose of increasing the students’ oralinteractions. This is one excerpt taken fromthe first reading activity of the story “Leoand Pip”:

- Teacher (T): (Showing the cover of thebook) What do you see?

- Student (S): A lion and a mouse.- T: (reads the title) “Leo and Pip”. Who

is Leo and who is Pip?- S1: Leo is the lion and Pip is the

mouse…- T: What is the story about?- S1: The lion and the mouse friends.- S2: The lion eats the mouse.- T: What do you imagine when I say

lion?(They all started recalling different words aslong as the teacher wrote them down on theboard: big, furious, wild, jungle, hunter…)… What happened to the hunter? (Theteacher asked individually)

- S3: The lion eat the hunter.- S4: The hunter run…- S5: Escape…

The excerpt shows how the studentsparticipated using what they knew about theL2 and feeling free to take risks and makemistakes since the teacher was notovercorrecting. Additionally, we observe how

they inferred, guessed, agreed or disagreedwhen constructing meaning through negotiation.Thus, the dynamics of participation and inquiryabout new vocabulary enhanced the possibilityfor them to improve their pronunciation. Ingeneral, all the unknown words were writtenon the board and were pronounced by theteacher. The students asked for repetitioneither of the teacher or of their classmatesor they looked up the words in the dictionary.At the end of every activity the teacher oftenrequired the students to read the words aloudby themselves. He would only correct whenit was necessary.

“Finally, I ask for the repetition of the wordsthat I wrote down on the board. They readthem and I only have to correct thepronunciation of the words: anxious, diseaseand rabies.”(Excerpt from the first class observation)

In brief, they achieved better results interms of their oral production andpronunciation. They interacted amongthemselves and with the teacher and thathelped them improve in terms of theiraccuracy and fluency.

The next sub-category shows that theirlistening understanding increased during theprocess. Although this ability draws uponother language issues such as knowledge ofgrammar, vocabulary and pronunciation, Iconsider their level of understanding grewnot only when they listened to the teacher’sregister but also to their partners’ register.Moreover, another indicator is their capacityto rephrase what the teacher had just read.In the two last reading aloud activities theuse of the board was not very necessary on


account of the understanding they weredepicting as the reading was being done.This is one extract from a class observation:

“… the students are not asking me towrite the words on the board as they usedto. Some of them write what they hear andconfirm with their classmates.”

In regards to the writing sub-category, Iwould say that this aspect of the literacyprocess in L2 experienced a majorimprovement. The students were alwaysmaking notes on what I read or wrote on theboard. They asked for the spelling when theydid not know how to write a word. However,the part that most contributed to theirimproving their writing skill was the post-activity of the reading aloud exercise. Duringthis phase they were asked to write asummary of the story which they successfullydid. Writing is the conjunction of what oneknows about grammar and vocabulary andit also constitutes a way to check onstudents’ understanding through theircohesion and coherence.

Due to the relevance of vocabulary andgrammar for the writing task, I will addressthese other two sub-categories. Thesummaries of the different stories comprisedthe best source of information to find outabout grammar and vocabulary. The readingaloud served as the means to introduce newsyntactical items and vocabulary related tothem. The students tried to make use of thestructures learned in class:

T: Where is the lion?S4: Near the tree.S5: Behind the tree.(Other students nod their heads agreeingwith him)

The excerpt above describes how thestudents used prepositions, one of the topicsthat had been studied the previous classesin the reading aloud activity. In addition, theyutilized a great deal of the vocabularyintroduced during the reading:“Once upon a time three Billy Goats Gruffin the forest.They are very hungry, but in this place thereis no food.They have to cross a bridge because in theother place there is grass green.However, in the bridge is the troll, a hungrymonster…”

This passage from the third read-aloudpresents different issues related to vocabulary,grammar and management of writtendevices such as cohesion and punctuation.Although the introductory sentence needsthe inclusion of the expletive “there is”, wecan see the use of the narrative device “onceupon a time” that the students retained fromthe reading aloud. Besides, this group ofstudents used connectors such as “but” and“however” as well as punctuation andcapitalization in order to give cohesion tothe story. By the same token, there is aconsiderable use of vocabulary like BillyGoats Gruff, bridge, troll and grass takendirectly from the story read. The writtenproduction shows how students profit fromthe readings-aloud to reinforce or approachnew vocabulary, grammar and writtendevices. This is also expressed through theinterviews:

T: “¿Qué opinión tiene de las actividades delectura en voz alta?”What do you think of the reading aloudactivities?”

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○92


S: “Muy bien, muy acordes con el nivel queestamos utilizando, poco a poco se introdujoel vocabulario. Con las últimas historias eramucho más fácil participar y se entendíamás.”“Very well, very in accordance with the levelwe are dealing with, little by little thevocabulary was presented. In the last storiesit was much easier to participate and moreunderstandable.”

T: ¿En qué manera relacionas el uso de estasactividades (lectura en voz alta) con respectoa tu aprendizaje del inglés?How do you relate the use of these activities(reading aloud) regarding your Englishlanguage learning?

S: Enriquece el vocabulario, crea estructurasbásicas para crear oraciones, se relacionanimagen y palabra y se utilizan. Lapronunciación también mejora.“Vocabulary is enriched, basic structures areprovided to create sentences; image andwords are related and used. Pronunctiationis also improved.”

T: ¿Te ayudó a mejorar en esos aspectos,cierto? ¿En algún otro aspecto?It helped you improve in those aspects, right?Any other aspect?

S: “La escritura con la actividad (la escrituradel resumen), el habla uno se atrevía a decircosas, a inventar, a inferir. También, lapronunciación y la escucha cuando se narrala historia”.“The writing with the activity (The writingof the summary), the speaking, one dares tosay things, invent, infer. Also, the

pronunciation and the listening when thestory is narrated.”(Interview in Spanish)

Broadly speaking, the reading aloudactivity contributed as the means to promotethe development of the students’ receptiveand productive skills. Likewise, it helpedthem approach English language in anunconventional way so as to have a moreaccurate and fluent command of it.Compared to previous classes that I had,there was more improvement regardinglanguage issues such as speaking,pronunciation, writing, listening, grammarand vocabulary. I could see how throughoutthe process of the reading aloud the studentsbegan to write and utter longer and betterconstructed sentences: “There are threegoats and they are hungry…”. “They haveto cross a bridge because in the place thereis grass green”. They made fewer spellingmistakes and showed more listeningunderstanding as long as the reading-aloudactivities were carried out. On the otherhand, the sense of achievement that studentsexperienced fostered different interactions inthe classroom that I discuss in the thirdcategory.

InteractionsInteractionsInteractionsInteractionsInteractions

The third category that I established wasinteractions. There are two sub-categoriesthat underlie this last category: student-student and teacher-student interaction.During the read aloud activities the students’interactions tended to be more collaborativeand supportive. They felt confident to askquestions among themselves. An excerptfrom a class observation illustrates this:


“Some of them are asking the partners forany meaning of words”. Not only did theyinteract to ask their classmates about aword’s meaning or pronunciation, but alsoto play jokes about the reading. There was alively and enthusiastic environment thatfacilitated their participation and promotedcooperative learning among the students.For instance, when they gathered in groupsto write the summary of the story, theyhelped each other and divided the tasks suchas using the dictionary, drawing and writing.Also, they clarified doubts amongthemselves or shared different experiencesrelated to the story.

The interaction depicted in the classroomallowed the students and I to see ourselvesplaying a different role as participants of aneducational process. I acted as a facilitatorand promoter of an appropriate classroomenvironment. The aim of the reading was toencourage students to participate in aninformal and voluntary way since they werenot being graded or overcorrected. In thissense, students perceived me as a supportduring the classes where I would sit downto work with them as another participant ofthe work group. As a whole, I found myselfas a co-participant (Wells, 1995) whoshould provide a suitable context forstudents to interact in the L2 without anykind of pressure.

To conclude, I would like to quote someextracts from two interviews where thestudents refer to my participation and theirroles:

S1: “Me sentí bien, traté de participar, huboun buen ambiente. Su actitud frente a la

narración fue muy buena entonces uno sesiente seguro de participar.”S2: “…bien, todos participaban y uno poneatención.”

S1: “I felt good, I tried to participate, it wasa good environment, your attitude towardsthe narration was very well so one feelsconfident to participate.”S2 : “... good... everybody participated andone pays attention.”(Interview in Spanish)

There is a positive outcome concerningthe last category of student-student andteacher-student interactions. Studentsaccomplished a different role where theysupported each other cooperatively. Theyconsidered the teacher an important factorin the encouragement of a favourableenvironment for the class. Therefore the roleof the teacher was that of a facilitator forstudents to improve as language learners andhuman beings. The experience helped theteacher grow as a professional. Besides, itprovided both the teacher and the studentswith a different view of how to approachforeign language teaching-learning.

CONCLCONCLCONCLCONCLCONCLUSIONSUSIONSUSIONSUSIONSUSIONSAND IMPLICAND IMPLICAND IMPLICAND IMPLICAND IMPLICAAAAATIONSTIONSTIONSTIONSTIONS

This study has provided informationregarding students’ narrative componentsthrough the use of reading aloud activitiesin the language classroom. The writtensamples analyzed showed that studentsomitted narrative components which wouldnot affect the general understanding of astory. On the other hand, it described howthe use of reading aloud activities improved

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○94


the students’ learning process of L2. The datacollected pointed out that students madeprogress in order to handle different languageaspects like speaking, pronunciation, writing,listening, grammar and vocabulary. In short,read alouds helped determine the student’snarrative template; nevertheless, it can alsobe used to enhance the inclusion of theelements that students disregard when theyretell a story. It can become a way for studentsto enrich the way they handle the narrativegenre and represent another source forlanguage improvement.

The interaction among and between thestudents and the teacher; and the learning-teaching process projected a sense ofclassroom community. There was asupportive and cooperative environment thatplayed a significant role in students’motivation. They learned in a socialconstructivist way sharing and helping eachother. As a result, this small-scale researchprovides worthwhile input for further studyand poses some pedagogical implicationsthat I discuss below.

First of all, there seems to be a belief thatreading aloud is an activity exclusivelyregarded for children. It is easy to find massesof literature about reading aloud for children;however, it is not so for adolescents or adults.Perhaps there is a belief that only childrenenjoy this activity and consequently, that itis uniquely used in the process of firstlanguage acquisition. The experiencedescribed illustrates how this kind of activitymotivates students and provides another wayto approach language. Likewise, it isnecessary to pinpoint the relevance of readalouds to promote the reading literacy

process in L2. It constitutes the point ofdeparture for learners to start negotiatingmeaning, constructing knowledge andreaching an understanding of what readingis conveying.

There are some other issues that are tobe considered regarding reading aloud. First,we need to bear in mind the role of theteacher. The teacher as the reader will in partdetermine the students’ role. His/her attitudetoward the activity of reading aloud has toaim at the creation of an enjoyableatmosphere. The use of different intonationand kinesthetic patterns as strategies willcontribute to the students’ understandingand enrollment in the activity. Second, it isadvisable to think about the type of reading.Illustrated books of short stories can providea good source for introducing or rehearsinggrammar, vocabulary or pronunciation items.As a third aspect, using a reading procedurehelps obtain better response from thestudents. For this purpose, Ellis andBrewster’s (2002) model for reading aloudmay supply an organized and logicalsequence for the activity.

Time is another component that needsto be addressed. In this specific study, timeconstituted a constraint. I had initiallyplanned five reading aloud activities but onlyfour were carried out due to the little spacethat a daily one-hour class leaves for otheractivities different from the completion of atextbook’s units. Although reading-aloudcan be adapted to any English learningprogram, it is necessary to make a balancebetween the amount of time the teacher spendson this activity and the fulfillment of theprogram of any institution. Thus, read-alouds


can work as a very valuable complementaryactivity for any program. This article onlypresents the results of the implementation ofread-alouds as a complementary activity inan English program that uses an EFL text. Itopens the doors for further research toexplore on the development of a readingaloud-based program.


Allwright, M. and Bailey, C. (1994). Focuson the language classroom. Cambridge:Cambridge University Press.

Barreto, G. (2002). Story-telling: A path toimagination and creativity in the primary Englishclass. PROFILE 3, 55- 57.

Baynham, M. (1995). Literacy practices:Investigating literacy in social contexts. London,New York: Longman.

Campbell, R. (1998). Facilitating pre-schoolliteracy. United Kingdom: International ReadingAssociation.

Campbell, R. (2001). Read-alouds withyoung children. United Kingdom: InternationalReading Association.

Cooper, D. (1993). Literacy: Helpingchildren construct meaning. USA: HoughtonMifflin Company.

Ellis, G. and Brewster, J. (1991). Thestorytelling handbook for primary teachers of

English. England: Penguin Books.

Ellis, G. and Brewster, J. (2002). Tell it again:The new storytelling handbook for primaryteachers. Edinburgh Gate: Penguin English.

Hatch, E. (1992). Discourse in languageeducation. New York, CUP: CambridgeUniversity Press.

Kramsch, C. (1998). Language and Culture.Oxford: Oxford University Press.

McCarthy, M. (1991). Discourse analysis forlanguage teachers. Great Britain: CambridgeUniversity Press.

Smallwood, B. (1992). Children’s literaturefor adult ESL literacy. National Clearinghouseon Literacy Education, Washington DC. AdjunctERIC Clearinghouse on Literacy Education forLimited-English-Proficient Adults, WashingtonDC. Retrieved from

http://www.ericfacility.net/databases/ERIC_Digests/index/

Wells, G. (1995). Language and the inquiry-based curriculum. Curriculum inquiry.Cambridge and Oxford: Blackwell Publishers,233-269.

Wright, A. (1997). Creating children’sstories. London: Oxford University Press.

Zuñiga, G. (2001). Constructing literacyfrom reading in first and second languages.Neiva: Oti Impresos.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○96


ANNEX 1: SAMPLE OF A SUMMARYANNEX 1: SAMPLE OF A SUMMARYANNEX 1: SAMPLE OF A SUMMARYANNEX 1: SAMPLE OF A SUMMARYANNEX 1: SAMPLE OF A SUMMARY

STORSTORSTORSTORSTORYYYYY: : : : : The Three Billy Goats Gruff (Used with permission)


ANNEX 2: OBSERVANNEX 2: OBSERVANNEX 2: OBSERVANNEX 2: OBSERVANNEX 2: OBSERVAAAAATION SHEETTION SHEETTION SHEETTION SHEETTION SHEET

Date ________ Time ______ Place __________Class Observation No. ______ Teacher _________________________Number of students ________ Male___________ Female _________Activity _________________________________________________

OBSERVATIONS

ANNEX 3: INTERVIEW ANNEX 3: INTERVIEW ANNEX 3: INTERVIEW ANNEX 3: INTERVIEW ANNEX 3: INTERVIEW *****

Objetivo: Saber acerca de las percepciones de los estudiantes con relación a lasactividades de lectura en voz alta de cuentos que se realizaron a lo largo del semestre eidentificar los componentes del modelo narrativo que son mencionados como necesariospara narrar una historia.

Student’s name: ______________________________ Date: ____________

1. ¿Qué opinión tiene de las actividades de lectura en voz alta que se realizaron en clase?

2. ¿Cómo se sintió durante este tipo de actividades?

3. ¿En qué manera relaciona el uso de estas actividades (lectura en voz alta) con respectoa su aprendizaje del inglés?

4. ¿En qué habilidades o áreas del Inglés cree que mejoró?

5. ¿Qué aspectos debe tener una historia para que sea fácil de entender o para poderlanarrar?

* * * * * The interview was of a semi-structured type; therefore, these questions only constitutedthe general guidelines for the interviewer. This format was not submitted to the interviewee.

This article was received on April 6th, 2004 and accepted on August 23rd, 2004.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○98


Strategies to Support High School Students’

Reading Comprehension in the English Language

Estrategias de apoyo para la comprensión de lectura del idioma inglés enestudiantes de educación secundaria y media

FFFFFreddy Oswaldo Zabala Palacioreddy Oswaldo Zabala Palacioreddy Oswaldo Zabala Palacioreddy Oswaldo Zabala Palacioreddy Oswaldo Zabala Palacio*

Universidad Nacional de [email protected]

Teachers are often concerned about the low reading level of their students inboth English and Spanish. One way to solve this problem is by using readingstrategies. Promoting the development of reading competences in English willoffer the students tools that allow them to comprehend texts and will contributeto a closer relation with the second language culture. This article reports on astudy carried out when doing my teaching practice in a public high school inBogotá, Colombia, in 2002. The main objective of my research project was tosupport the development of eleventh graders’ reading comprehensioncompetence in English. Hence, I refer to the group’s views on English readingcomprehension, their handling of strategies to develop reading competence inEnglish and their progress after having applied those strategies.

KKKKKey worey worey worey worey words: ds: ds: ds: ds: Foreign Language-Teaching, Reading Strategies

El bajo nivel de lectura en los estudiantes de inglés y español es una de laspreocupaciones comunes de los docentes. Una forma de solucionar esteproblema es a través del uso de estrategias de lectura. De tal manera, promoverel desarrollo de competencias lectoras en los estudiantes de inglés les ofreceráherramientas que les permitirán comprender los textos y contribuirá a crear unarelación más cercana entre ellos y la cultura de la segunda lengua. Este artículoreporta un estudio llevado a cabo durante mi práctica docente en una escuelapública de Bogotá, Colombia, en el año 2002. El objetivo principal de miproyecto de investigación fue apoyar el desarrollo de la competencia encomprensión de lectura en el idioma inglés en estudiantes de undécimo grado.Por lo tanto, menciono los puntos de vista de los estudiantes sobre lacomprensión de lectura, la forma como utilizan las estrategias para desarrollaresta competencia en inglés y su proceso después de su acercamiento a lacomprensión lectora a través del uso de las mismas.

Palabras claves:Palabras claves:Palabras claves:Palabras claves:Palabras claves: Lengua Extranjera-Enseñanza, Estrategias de Lectura*Freddy Oswaldo Zabala PalacioFreddy Oswaldo Zabala PalacioFreddy Oswaldo Zabala PalacioFreddy Oswaldo Zabala PalacioFreddy Oswaldo Zabala Palacio holds a B. Ed. in Philology and Languages from Universidad Nacional de Colombia.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○99PROFILE PROFILE PROFILE PROFILE PROFILE Strategies to Support High School Studentes’ Reading Comprehension in the English Language


While doing my teaching practice, Iexplored the area of reading comprehensionin English. Through a survey I foundinformation about the way teachersincorporated learning strategies, theirreasons to incorporate them, the frequencyof working with reading strategies, and thecontribution of the reading strategies insupporting the development of students’reading competence (see annex 1).

In relation to students’ perceptions of themethodology introduced by the teachers,they stated that lessons were taught mainlythrough reading workshops and definitionson the blackboard. Students said thatcontents were introduced according to theirown difficulties, the topic of the class andtheir preferences. Regarding the frequencyof working with reading strategies, most ofthe students mentioned that the teacherrarely incorporated new reading strategies.Additionally, students acknowledged thecontribution of reading strategies in thedevelopment of reading competences. Theyhighlighted the use of the followingstrategies when reading texts in the foreignlanguage: passage completion, scrambledstories, cloze tests, hypothesis identification,propositions extraction, argumentative netsconstruction, and semantic relations.

RESEARCH PROBLEMRESEARCH PROBLEMRESEARCH PROBLEMRESEARCH PROBLEMRESEARCH PROBLEM

Based on the results mentioned above,my interest in examining the group’s viewsregarding reading comprehensionexperiences in the English class, the way theyhandled strategies to develop reading

competences and their progress afterapproaching reading comprehension usingthose strategies, led me toward a mainquestion: How to support the developmentof the reading comprehension competencesin the English area for eleventh graders? Inorder to answer that query, I posed tworelated questions, namely:

* How could I incorporate the use of readingstrategies to support the development ofreading competences in the students?* What kind of competences do studentsdevelop through the use of readingstrategies?

Likewise, the main objective of the studywas to support the development of readingcomprehension competences in English foreleventh graders. This, in turn, guided meto achieve two specific objectives: To fomentthe use of reading strategies’ application bythe students and, second, to promote thedevelopment of reading competencesthrough situations related to the socialcontext of the students.

RESEARCH FRAMEWORKRESEARCH FRAMEWORKRESEARCH FRAMEWORKRESEARCH FRAMEWORKRESEARCH FRAMEWORK

This research has followed the qualitativecase study principles. This kind of researchallowed me to study an aspect in depth for aperiod of time. “In particular, qualitative casestudies are ideal designs to understand andto interpret the observations made on aneducational phenomenon in a secondlanguage acquisition” (Merriam, 1998, p. 40).

The data techniques used were:questionnaires, recordings, diaries andinterviews. The participants were eleventh

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○100

ZABALA PROFILE PROFILE PROFILE PROFILE PROFILE

graders at a public school in Bogotá,Colombia, and who had only studied Englishfor six years in a non-intensive program (threehours per week). The institution belongs toa social zone of the 2, 3 and 4 strata. Thecourse was made up of 31 students: 24males and 7 females. The average age wasseventeen years old.

In connection with the foreign languageschool project, I took into consideration thefollowing achievement indicators that werepart of the English area for the eleventhcourse and which had to do with readingcomprehension processes, namely:

02 Analyze information provided by differenttypes of texts in English.05 Deal with reading comprehensionstrategies in English.06 Go in depth in the argumentative,propositional and interpretative aspects inthe foreign language.09 Identify the main topic of the differentEnglish readings and apply new vocabularyto daily life.

I did this study during my teachingpractice. I made an agreement with theteaching practice director, the class teacherand students to apply a plan that allowedthem to develop their reading skills. Ideveloped 13 workshops in which we usedtexts with topics such as Holy Week andinternational conflicts.

To approach these texts I designedmaterials applying different readingstrategies discussed by Tanner and Green(1998). They were: skimming, scanning,contextual guessing, outlining, paraphrasing,

scrambled stories, extensive reading andcloze. (Relevant guidelines on extensivereading are also provided by Bamford andDay, 1998). I also included three of the sixlevels of reading decodification proposed byMiguel de Zubiría (1995): the primary,secondary and third decodification. Moreover, Iconsidered the auxiliary mechanisms that operatein each of the previously mentioned levels. Theauxiliary mechanisms were the synonymy, theantonymy, which constitutes part of the primarydecodification; the pronominalization, thepropositional inference and the chromatismfrom the secondary decodification; and theproposition extraction, and the semanticstructure discovery, levels that make part of thethird decodification.

These mechanisms were complementedfollowing the ideas proposed by JuliaBaquero (1994, 2002) in the courses ontext comprehension and production. Fromthose courses, I adapted two types ofreading: first level reading and functionalreading. The former is approached throughdifferent types of questions like referentquestions and contextual questions –bothused in this research. In the latter, thestudent should be able to extract the hypothesisand the argumentative propositions thatsupport the reading.

The students were guided at theoreticaland practical levels. At the theoretical level,I explained a determined number of strategiesby session. Practical guidance was given inworkshops composed of a reading followedby exercises related to it in which the studentshad to put in practice each one of theexplained strategies in order to decode thereading passages. (See a sample workshop,in Annex 2).


THEORETICAL FRAMEWORKTHEORETICAL FRAMEWORKTHEORETICAL FRAMEWORKTHEORETICAL FRAMEWORKTHEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

I took into account the following aspectsthat made up part of this research: the notionof the concept of competence andcommunicative competence as well as theanalysis of competence in the school and arevision of the aspects of reading, readingcomprehension and reading strategies. Also,I found practical recommendations forhandling reading lessons in the studiescarried out in Colombian public schools byCorreales, Mendivelso and Santacruz (2000)as well as by Santoyo and Morales (2000).

Regarding the concept of competence,Chomsky relates it to grammatical rules andto the generation of knowledge. This author,as pointed out by Maldonado (2001),founded two dimensions which arecompetence as an inherent capacity to knowgrammatical rules and to demonstrate it inconcrete speech events. On the other hand,Maldonado (Ibid.) states two definitions ofcompetence: The first relates competencewith terms such as achievement, indicatorand capacity, whereas from the labor pointof view, competence is defined asproduction, honesty and efficiency.According to Torrado (2000), competencecan be understood as the knowledgesomeone has and the use s/he makes of thatknowledge to solve a task in a specific

situation and in relation to context, needsand concrete demands.

Miguel de Zubiría (1995) points out thedifferent mechanisms that occur in thereading process and proposes that theteacher should introduce them instead ofteaching them. Due to the fact thatdecodification mechanisms play animportant role in the reading process, mymain interest was to reinforce these in thebelief that students could find in them thestrategies that allowed them to comprehendan English text.

In my opinion the strategies proposed byTanner and Green (1998) support thedevelopment of reading competences,particularly when dealing with the form ofthe text (aspects of textual cohesion) whilethe strategies stated by De Zubiría (1995)look for a semantic approximation. Likewise,I consider the strategies stated by theseauthors to be similar in their functioning ascan be observed in the following chart.Contextual guessing keeps up a relation withpropositional inference. On the other hand,outlining and unscrambling stories correspondin a certain way to the macro-propositionsextraction mechanism and semanticstructure discovering, respectively, becausethey all support the reader’s comprehensionat a structural level of the text.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○102


Chart 1Chart 1Chart 1Chart 1Chart 1. Comparison of some reading strategies proposed by Tanner and Green(1998) and De Zubiría (1995)

Strategies prStrategies prStrategies prStrategies prStrategies proposed by Toposed by Toposed by Toposed by Toposed by Tanner andanner andanner andanner andanner andGreenGreenGreenGreenGreen

ConteConteConteConteContextual guessing: xtual guessing: xtual guessing: xtual guessing: xtual guessing: To makeconjectures about the meaning of thewords’ meaning looking at the words thatsurround the unknown word or situationsthat are being dealt with.

Outlining:Outlining:Outlining:Outlining:Outlining: It is a note taking strategythat helps us to see the organization ofthe overall text.

Unscrambling stories:Unscrambling stories:Unscrambling stories:Unscrambling stories:Unscrambling stories: The readermust re- organize the mixed pieces of atext to show that s/he understands howthe components fit together.

Strategies proposed by De ZubiríaStrategies proposed by De ZubiríaStrategies proposed by De ZubiríaStrategies proposed by De ZubiríaStrategies proposed by De Zubiría

Propositional inference:Propositional inference:Propositional inference:Propositional inference:Propositional inference: Its goal is todiscover the meaning found in phrases andsentences.

Macro-proposit ion extraction:Macro-proposit ion extraction:Macro-proposit ion extraction:Macro-proposit ion extraction:Macro-proposit ion extraction: Itconsists of extracting the macro-propositions and eliminating the remaininginformation. The macro-propositions’structure must explain the relationshipsamong phrases/sentences.

Semantic structure discoveringSemantic structure discoveringSemantic structure discoveringSemantic structure discoveringSemantic structure discovering: It isthe system of the linked macro-propositionsrespecting the linkage among them.


To collect data, I used questionnaires todiagnose the students’ readingcomprehension domain in English, theirknowledge of reading strategies in a secondlanguage and the reading strategies’effectiveness. Field-notes were also used toregister aspects such as students’ progressand difficulties, evidenced skills andattitudes, and their success when workingwith reading strategies. Through

videorecordings I looked for identifyingstudents’ problems, participation, differencesamong students’ performance, their progressin reading, their reasoning, and the use ofmeta-language in the English class.

An analysis of the data gathered throughthe procedures mentioned above led me tothe subcategories shown in the followingdiagram under a core category:Incorporation of strategies for the pedagogicprocess.


Diagram 1Diagram 1Diagram 1Diagram 1Diagram 1. Categories found when analyzing data on reading comprehension

INCORPORAINCORPORAINCORPORAINCORPORAINCORPORATION OF STRATION OF STRATION OF STRATION OF STRATION OF STRATEGIES FOR THE PEDTEGIES FOR THE PEDTEGIES FOR THE PEDTEGIES FOR THE PEDTEGIES FOR THE PEDAGOGIC PROCESSAGOGIC PROCESSAGOGIC PROCESSAGOGIC PROCESSAGOGIC PROCESS

Strategies used bystudents to comprehendthe readings in English

Students’ difficultiesin the reading process

Progress shown by thestudents after a theoreticaland practical approach toreading comprehension in

English

• Students’acceptance ofthe workshops

• Interest inreading

• Handling ofimplicitinformation

• Difficulties foundregardingstudents’ mistakes

• Progress in using formalstrategies

• Progress in semanticstrategies

Within the core category incorporationof strategies for the pedagogic process, Ifound three important subcategories. Thefirst one is related to the strategies usedstrategies usedstrategies usedstrategies usedstrategies usedby students to comprehend theby students to comprehend theby students to comprehend theby students to comprehend theby students to comprehend the readingsreadingsreadingsreadingsreadings.Results showed that the strategies most usedwere studying vocabulary and analyzing themain idea. This can be seen in one of thestudents testimonies, to wit: Well, first at allthe words I more or less know…to have anidea, if it has dates, by the dates one canhave a guide, translation also and to translateto comprehend the text and by the wordsthat one more or less knows how to guideoneself and by the title (Anibal Andrés).

The use of the dictionary and imaginationwas also evidenced: My strategy is to imagineevery action of the text in English (Isauro).In addition, students turned to prediction,

translation, and attempted to use inferenceto make sense of what they read.

I could also observe the students’acceptance of the workshops when I adaptedthe argumentative model proposed byBaquero (2002). This acceptance could beevidenced through the familiarization ofstrategies such as semantic structurediscovering and their interest in readingprocesses. As I wrote in my journal, studentswere motivated when they foundfunctionality in the different topics asevidenced by the following: As every pointof the exercise was explained, students foundthis exercise practical for the readingcomprehension in English.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○104


I could note that students’ motivation forthe functionality of the topics was due to theapplication of topics from different fields suchas biology, history and anthropology. Thisshows us that, as stated by Maldonado (2001:22), we have to promote the development ofcross-curricular competences which impliesdecoding technical language that characterizesareas like physics, chemistry and linguistics.

In addition, the students were motivatedwhen a new strategy was introduced as shownby the following: When I taught some types ofquestions such as referential and contextualones, the students were “amazed” becausethese types of questions had not beencommonly used in the English class (Field-note,April 1). They also got engaged in readingactivities when these were not too long or whenexercises were not too numerous.

A second important subcategory has todo with students’ difficultiesdifficultiesdifficultiesdifficultiesdifficulties in the readingprocess. I could observe that the studentshad difficulty with the handling of implicitinformation as shown by this statement: Eventhey have not comprehended that there isimplicit information that is also relevant. Thestudents also showed difficulties with theintensive reading, outlining and unscramblingstories strategies. In relation to this point, Ithink that the students are guidedunconsciously and easily toward predictionthan toward the fulfillment of strategies whoseobjective is the comprehension of thestructure of the text (including intensivereading). This might be due to the nature oflanguage itself because, as Torrado (2000)states, language is more than a system of signsthat allows us to communicate and todecompose the sentences in their grammatical

elements. Language is used to live reality inother ways, from multiple and magicalpossibilities of approaching, removal andconstruction of the world.

Difficulty in making outlines was anotherpattern found as revealed by the following:Outlining was another strategy used tocomprehend this text; however, most of thestudents did not make an outline. For thecomprehension of a text, the students wereasked to make an outline of the text; however,a great number of the students left this pointout of the workshop (Field-note, April 1).They had also difficulties with the domainof the grammatical tenses. On severaloccasions I found that students had notunderstood clearly the concept of proposition.Lastly, they also demonstrated problemsidentifying the hypothesis and main idea, asshown in the following excerpt from a videorecording:

T: …Underline the main idea of the text…The students start to speculate… (Later on)T: Which is the main idea?…Other students look at their texts to find themain idea and to express themselves inEnglish…Steve: That a couple goes to a party, and thenthe girl, and then the girl looks quite beautifulto them…T: And assign titles… And the title?. Youcan give an option for the title…A student raises her hand…T: O.K. Can you write it please? ...The student writes a title for the outline…T: All agree?Some students do not agree…T: Why not?…They do not answer.


The students also evidenced difficultiesconcerning their own mistakes. For instance,they answered meaninglessly with parts ofthe text as can be seen in this extract from avideo-recording: Well, actually what is thisparagraph talking about?… Yeah, that a lotof salmon is found…In Spanish we will saythat the main idea of the text is?… A girl.Some students answer.

On the other hand, it should be pointedout that sometimes low achievers copiedanswers from high achievers. This could beseen as a strategy to fulfill the tasks and notnecessarily as an application of the readingstrategies being promoted in class. In othercases, they copied bits from the text itselfand no real extracts of propositions.

Observing their own difficulties, Iidentified some students’ attitudes towardsreading comprehension. Some studentssimply did not continue working in classwhen they faced difficulties, to wit: JuanCamilo continues working and checkingwith the text. Andrés quits (From videorecording). Another reaction to difficultieswas evidenced by fear, to wit: Let us listen toPaola’s conclusion. Do you have any idea?Who has another idea? Who wants to cometo the board to write a logical conclusion?A volunteer. German, can you pass? All ofus are going to help him (Video recording).

In brief, I could notice that prediction wasthe main mechanism used by students tosolve their difficulties. They analyzed the textsuperficially and from this analysis predictedits possible meaning. This showed they hadnot worked effectively in the use of those

reading strategies that could guide them toa deeper analysis of the text.

As a third category, I can talk aboutstudents’ progress. The students showedprogress as a result of using strategies likeprediction and scanning. This was seen intheir ability to complete outlines and tocorrect wrong sentences by using the clozestrategy.

With respect to the process evidenced bythe students in the fulfillment of certainstrategies, I could say that there was progressin their argumentation skills and inestablishing connection among propositions,illustrated as follows: Here we have the bearscan not survive without a forest but couldnot prosper without it. That is because thebears eat salmon and provide nitrogen forthe forest when they defecate or take partsof bits…When this passes defecations orparts of meat three times faster thanothers… (Juan Camilo).

Students also showed progress in thecomprehension of the concept of propositionand recognition of argumentative textscharacteristics, to wit: It has a hypothesis…somepropositions…that argue…(Steve). Throughthe data analysis, I could conclude thatimagination, prediction and translation werethe most important mechanisms used by thestudents to comprehend the reading texts.Dealing with the incorporation of strategiesinto the classroom, I could notice threeelements such as a preference for the noveltyof new strategies; their functionality, and thestudents’ preference for short tasks. It wasin the incorporation of unknown strategies

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○106


in which students presented biggerdifficulties and evidenced fear.

CONCLCONCLCONCLCONCLCONCLUSIONSUSIONSUSIONSUSIONSUSIONS

The results showed that readingcomprehension competences in eleventhgrade can be supported through theincorporation of strategies which strengthenthose mechanisms they already use tocomprehend a text; which raise theirawareness regarding the utility of the readingstrategies; which follow a systematicmethodology that promotes the applicationof reading strategies, and which motivatethem to read texts. It is also important totake into account the role of the teacher as aguide and the students as protagonists ofreading processes. Moreover, we should bearin mind that the importance given to thestudents’ previous knowledge and to theEnglish reading skills is an essential part inthe learning process of a foreign languageas it constitutes an important support forthe development of reading competences inEnglish.

As pointed out previously, by incorporatingthe reading strategies, we can witnessdevelopment of competences like theimprovement of oral and writing skills, theincrease of the capacity to organize texts aswell as to establish relations betweenpropositions and terms, a better performancein workshops and presentations, and theenrichment of vocabulary.


Bamford, J. and Day, R. (1998). Extensivereading in the second language classroom.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Baquero, J. (2002). Apuntes de clase.Bogotá: Universidad Nacional.

Baquero, J. (1994). Textos científicos yargumentativos. Una didáctica para sucomprensión y reseña. Bogotá: Lambda.

Correales, R., Mendivelso, O. and Santacruz,F. (2000). Reading comprehension: A viablechallenge for public school students. PROFILEJournal, 1, 38- 41.

De Zubiría, M. (1995). Teoría de las seislecturas. Bogotá: Fondo de PublicacionesBernardo Herrera Merino.

Maldonado, M. (2001). Las competencias.Una opción de vida. Bogotá: Ecoediciones.

Merriam, B. (1997). Case study research ineducation. San Francisco: Jossey-BassPublications.

Santoyo, B. and Morales, L. (2000).Reading: A motivating and interactive process.PROFILE Journal, 1, 59- 60.

Tanner, R. and Green, C. (1998). Tasks forteacher education. Essex: Longman.

Torrado, M. (2000). Educar para el desarrollode las competencias: Una propuesta parareflexionar. Competencias y proyecto pedagógico.....Bogotá: Universidad Nacional. CD ROM.


ANNEX 1: DIAGNOSTIC SURVEYANNEX 1: DIAGNOSTIC SURVEYANNEX 1: DIAGNOSTIC SURVEYANNEX 1: DIAGNOSTIC SURVEYANNEX 1: DIAGNOSTIC SURVEY

Objective: To identify options according to the methodology carried out during theincorporation and development of reading strategies in the classroom.

INSTRUCTIONS: Read the following questions and choose the option(s) that apply to you.

1. In which way has your teacher introduced reading strategies in the classroom?a- Defining them on the boardb- Through reading workshopsc- As investigation carried out by the studentsd- Other(s). Specify ________________

2. How often does your teacher incorporate new reading strategies in English?a- Every classb- Once a weekc- Rarelyd- Seldom

3. The teacher introduces the use of reading strategies depending on:a- The topic of the classb- Students’ difficulties in comprehending a textc- Students’ requestd- Other(s). Specify ________________

4. What do you understand by competence in reading comprehension?a- To know a lot of vocabularyb- To handle grammatical structuresc- A set of skills that allows you to comprehend a textd- Other(s). Specify ________________

5. What reading competences do you believe you can develop when you read a text? Gradethem from 1 to 4. Note: 1= The least important and 4= The most important

__ To determine relations that are present among the different terms of the text__ To be aware of established relations among the text’s propositions__ To know the overall organization of the text__ To make outlines of the text__ Other(s). Specify ________________

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○108


6. Which reading strategies have contributed to the development of reading competences?Note: 1= The least important and 4= The most important__ Fill in the gaps__ Unscrambling stories (paragraph organization)__ Hypothesis extraction and argumentative nets creation__ Semantic relations (e.g. synonyms, antonyms)__ Other(s). Specify ________________


ANNEX 2: READING WORKSHOPANNEX 2: READING WORKSHOPANNEX 2: READING WORKSHOPANNEX 2: READING WORKSHOPANNEX 2: READING WORKSHOP

Notes:Notes:Notes:Notes:Notes:1. The strategies proposed by Tanner and Green (1998) and the mechanisms proposedby Baquero (2002) were used through interdisciplinary topics: ecology, biology and chemistry.2. Text adapted from the “Text comprehension and production course” taught by Prof. GloriaMora, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, 2002.

1. Organize with numbers the paragraphs of the text.1. Organize with numbers the paragraphs of the text.1. Organize with numbers the paragraphs of the text.1. Organize with numbers the paragraphs of the text.1. Organize with numbers the paragraphs of the text.

__ Barry Gilbert, ecologist of the State University of Utah, and ___ colleague ArthurMorris penetrated the forest that borders the Koeye river, in British Columbia, and discoveredthat the feces of the bears and the terrain around ____ contained high concentrations of aheavy isotope of nitrogen, found usually in the meat of salmon.

__ Jim Helfield, of the University of Washington, found that the trees nearest to therivers with plenty of salmon in Alaska grew three times faster than the ones nearest to therivers without great quantities of that ____.

__ Gilbert and Morris believe that the bears ___ salmon and provide the forest withnitrogen when they defecate or leave parts of uneaten fish. ________ is a powerful fertilizer.

__ The brown bears of the Pacific northwest in the United States cannot survive withouta forest as home. But a forest could not prosper without them ______.

2. Fill in the gaps in the te2. Fill in the gaps in the te2. Fill in the gaps in the te2. Fill in the gaps in the te2. Fill in the gaps in the text above with the following worxt above with the following worxt above with the following worxt above with the following worxt above with the following words:ds:ds:ds:ds:

his either fish them eat nitrogen

3. Extract the hypothesis and the argumentative propositions from the text.3. Extract the hypothesis and the argumentative propositions from the text.3. Extract the hypothesis and the argumentative propositions from the text.3. Extract the hypothesis and the argumentative propositions from the text.3. Extract the hypothesis and the argumentative propositions from the text.

4. Construct the argumentative net.4. Construct the argumentative net.4. Construct the argumentative net.4. Construct the argumentative net.4. Construct the argumentative net.

5. Complete.5. Complete.5. Complete.5. Complete.5. Complete.a. The brown bears and the forest...b. Gilbert and Morris analyzed...c. The trees nearest to the rivers grow faster because...

6. 6. 6. 6. 6. Predict a logical conclusion related to the future of the brown bears and the forest.Predict a logical conclusion related to the future of the brown bears and the forest.Predict a logical conclusion related to the future of the brown bears and the forest.Predict a logical conclusion related to the future of the brown bears and the forest.Predict a logical conclusion related to the future of the brown bears and the forest.

This article was received on April 15th, 2004 and accepted on August 24th, 2004

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○110


Ethnography in Foreign Language Teaching

Etnografía en la enseñanza de lenguas extranjeras

Ilona HusztiIlona HusztiIlona HusztiIlona HusztiIlona Huszti*Transcarpathian Hungarian Pedagogical Institute in South Ukraine

[email protected]

The aim of the present article is to describe ethnography as a qualitativeapproach frequently applied in foreign language acquisition research (Pollard,1985; Smith, 1992; Robinson-Stuart and Nocon, 1996). Reviews of two studieshaving used ethnographic techniques are presented in the paper to highlightthe theoretical background for such an investigative method. The first studydiscusses issues about participant observation, while the second depicts thelanguage learner in the role of the ethnographer. The paper also tries to throwlight on the various tasks of the ethnographer as well as the values (emic andholistic view) and limitations (the insider/outsider dilemma) of ethnography.

KKKKKey worey worey worey worey wordsdsdsdsds: Culture, Ethnography, Ethnographer, Qualitative Research-Techniques, Participant Observation

El objetivo de este artículo es describir la etnografía como un métodocualitativo que es utilizado frecuentemente en la investigación de la adquisiciónde una lengua extranjera (Pollard, 1985; Smith, 1992; Robinson-Stuart andNocon, 1996). En el documento se presentan reseñas de dos estudios queimplementaron técnicas etnográficas, con el propósito de resaltar losantecedentes históricos de este tipo de método de investigación. El primerestudio trata acerca de temas relacionados con la observación de losparticipantes, mientras que el segundo estudio presenta al aprendiz de lenguaen el rol de etnógrafo. El documento también da varias pautas sobre las tareasdel etnógrafo, así como los valores (el punto de vista émico y holístico) y laslimitaciones (el dilema interno y externo) de la etnografía.

Palabras clavesPalabras clavesPalabras clavesPalabras clavesPalabras claves: Cultura, Etnografía, Etnógrafo, Técnicas InvestigaciónCualitativa, Observación Participativa

* Ilona HusztiIlona HusztiIlona HusztiIlona HusztiIlona Huszti is an English teacher at the Transcarpathian Hungarian Pedagogical Institute in South Ukraine, where she hastaught for eight years. Her research interests include teacher training, teaching and developing reading skills, and the use of oralreading in lessons of English as a foreign language.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○111PROFILEPROFILEPROFILEPROFILEPROFILE Ethnography in Foreign Language Teaching

1. INTRODUCTION1. INTRODUCTION1. INTRODUCTION1. INTRODUCTION1. INTRODUCTION

Without being aware of it, every personis an ethnographer in that he or she tries tomake sense of the environment surroundinghim or her “through observation, listeningand eventually talking” (Barro, Jordan andRoberts, 1998, p. 76). People learn how tobehave or what to say in different situationsand how to act within their own social milieu.This is very close to the tasks of ethnography,with the difference that ethnography is “thestudy of ‘other’ people and the social andcultural patterns that give meaning to theirlives” (Ibid.). Ethnography is tightly linkedwith culture because the main purport ofethnography is to describe it (Spradley andMcCurdy, 1972, in Hornberger, 1994).

Ethnography is a research approachwidely used in foreign languageinvestigations (see, for example, Pollard,1985; Smith, 1992; Robinson-Stuart andNocon, 1996). The present paper discussesissues regarding ethnography as animportant tool in foreign language teachingand acquisition research. It also aims atemphasizing the crucial role of this techniqueby reviewing two recent studies that haveused ethnographic research techniques.

2. ETHNOGRAPHY AND THE2. ETHNOGRAPHY AND THE2. ETHNOGRAPHY AND THE2. ETHNOGRAPHY AND THE2. ETHNOGRAPHY AND THETTTTTASKS OF THE ETHNOGRAPHERASKS OF THE ETHNOGRAPHERASKS OF THE ETHNOGRAPHERASKS OF THE ETHNOGRAPHERASKS OF THE ETHNOGRAPHER

2.1 What is Ethnography?2.1 What is Ethnography?2.1 What is Ethnography?2.1 What is Ethnography?2.1 What is Ethnography?

Before making an attempt to defineethnography as a research approach, oneshould look at the definition of culturebecause the target of ethnographicinvestigations is the description of culture.

Geertz (1975) defines culture as “anhistorically transmitted pattern of meanings,embodied in symbols, a system of inheritedconceptions expressed in symbolic forms bymeans of which men communicate,perpetuate and develop their knowledgeabout and attitudes towards life” (pp. 89;cited in Byram, 1989, p. 60). According toValette (1986), this “historically transmittedpattern of meanings” consists of two majorconstituents. The first component is whatshe calls “anthropological or social culture:the attitudes, customs and daily activities ofa people, their ways of thinking, their values,their frames of reference” (p. 179). Valettedescribes the second component of cultureas “the history of civilisation”. She states thatthe first component’s framework is formedby the second component itself, whichsymbolises the heritage of a nation and “assuch must be appreciated by the studentswho wish to understand the new targetculture” (Valette, 1986, p. 179).

In order to obtain information on theculture of this or that people, one can makeuse of an anthropological method which canprove to be of help in this intention. Thisdescriptive technique is ethnography. It is aqualitative type of research that makes useof non-quantitative techniques (e.g. open-ended interviews) and/or naturalistic data(e.g. diary studies, participant observation,etc.) (Larsen-Freeman and Long, 1991;Nunan, 1991).

It is a common view (considered to be amajor problem by quantitative researchers)that qualitative studies (ethnographic ones,too) do not result in “hard”, replicable andgeneralisable data as do quantitative studies.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○112

HUSZTI PROFILE PROFILE PROFILE PROFILE PROFILE

An answer to this criticism is the view ofDavis (1995), who believes that “just as withexperimental or statistical research designs,each and every legitimate qualitative methodis dependent on particular conceptual andmethodological procedures to ensurecredibility, dependability, and transferability”(p. 432).

In Robinson’s view (1985), “ethnographyis a method of describing a culture orsituation from the ‘emic’ or native’s point ofview, i.e. from the point of view of the culturalactor” (p. 73). Therefore, the ethnographer(i.e. the person carrying out an ethnographicresearch) is present in the daily lives ofpeople either explicitly or implicitly “for anextended period of time, watching whathappens, listening to what is said, askingquestions, in fact collecting whatever datais available to throw light on the issues withwhich he or she is concerned” (Hammersley andAtkinson, 1983; cited in Wallace, 1991, p. 76).

Sperber (1985) thinks that ethnographyas an anthropological approach to culture“answers the legitimate curiosity as to whatit is like to belong to another culture” (p.10). He believes that ethnography is a“curiosity” which focuses on how facts areexperienced by the individual and whichrequires interpretations of these facts ratherthan only their descriptions.

What is more, Byram (1989), in hiscomparison of reading an ethnographicaccount and reading a critical analysis of anovel or a film, argues it is descriptions,photographs and films by which the writerof the ethnographic account tries to makethe reader understand the object described.

2.2 The T2.2 The T2.2 The T2.2 The T2.2 The Tasks of the Ethnographerasks of the Ethnographerasks of the Ethnographerasks of the Ethnographerasks of the Ethnographer

It has been mentioned that theethnographer is the participant of the culturehe attempts to depict and that he describesit from the insider’s perspective at an emiclevel. He has to explain and “interpret thesignificance of particular phenomena as theyoperate within the semantic system of aparticular culture at the emic level” (Guthrieand Hall, 1981, in Byram, 1989, p.66).Thus, the tasks of the ethnographer are toparticipate in a culture and observe it, theninterpret what he has seen or heard orexperienced. One may criticise this kind ofobservation as being subjective. Robinson(1985) responds to this criticism by sayingthat “to the extent that the ethnographerloses objectivity and interprets things fromthe native’s point of view, we are getting aninside, emic account of culture” (p. 74)which is the aim of those interested inethnographic accounts.

3. ETHNOGRAPHY IN PED3. ETHNOGRAPHY IN PED3. ETHNOGRAPHY IN PED3. ETHNOGRAPHY IN PED3. ETHNOGRAPHY IN PEDAGOGYAGOGYAGOGYAGOGYAGOGY:::::A REVIEW OF TWO STUDIESA REVIEW OF TWO STUDIESA REVIEW OF TWO STUDIESA REVIEW OF TWO STUDIESA REVIEW OF TWO STUDIES

3.1. The T3.1. The T3.1. The T3.1. The T3.1. The Teacher in the Role ofeacher in the Role ofeacher in the Role ofeacher in the Role ofeacher in the Role ofEthnographerEthnographerEthnographerEthnographerEthnographer

Pollard (1985) reports of a teacher-ethnographer who conducted anethnographic study of his own school whileteaching full-time teacher at the sameinstitution. The account aims at giving athorough description of what it means to bea participant-obser ver, and whatopportunities and difficulties a teacher-ethnographer has when trying to fulfil theduties of the teacher and of the researcher.


The research method applied in this studywas that of participant observation. It wasevident from the circumstances that theinvestigator could easily function as aparticipant because of his teaching position.He also had to fulfil the role of the“observer” (Pollard, 1985). When doing so,it was essential to avoid “going native”,which meant that while the investigator gotvery much involved in the whole researchand identified himself with its participants,he did not manage to meet the requirementsof the investigation itself.

Before the investigation began,permission from the head teacher, who wasvery supportive throughout the research, wasobtained. The attitudes of the teachers andchildren regarding the study were similar tothat of the head teacher i.e. both teachersand children were helpful and willing toparticipate, although some teachers hadfears when being interviewed. They wereafraid because they thought the headteacher would not like their answers aboutthe school and the administration of theschool, even when they were told that theinterviews were anonymous.

Some major difficulties emerged whileteaching full-time and conducting theresearch at the same time. One of these wastime. Although the researcher had easyaccess to classrooms for observation, hisbiggest problem was that during teachingtime he himself was fulfilling his teacher role.This he thought to be the origin of a“considerable methodological weakness”,because, for some parts of the research, hehad to depend solely on data from interviews(Pollard, 1985).

Data were collected from seventy-fiveCaucasian children and fifteen children ofAsian parentage via one and a half hour longinterviews during dinner breaks. During thedata collection procedure, the researcher washelped by children who volunteered to playthe part of ‘interviewers’ and be the memberof the Moorside Investigation Department(MID) (the study was conducted at MoorsideMiddle School, England, between 1976-1978). The reason for having childreninterviewers help in collecting the data wasthat the respondents would answer questionslike What do you think of your school? orWho is your favourite teacher? more sincerelyfrom children interviewers (i.e. their peers)than from a person who is a teacher at theinstitution where they studied (Pollard,1985).

The conclusion Pollard draws is that tocarry out a study in which the researcher is afull participant-observer is exhausting anddifficult, but at the same time it is“fascinating and rewarding to identifypatterns in the data” (Pollard, 1985, p.105)and to arrive at an in-depth understandingof events and surroundings in which theresearcher participates.

3.2. The Language Learner in the3.2. The Language Learner in the3.2. The Language Learner in the3.2. The Language Learner in the3.2. The Language Learner in theRole of EthnographerRole of EthnographerRole of EthnographerRole of EthnographerRole of Ethnographer

The second study introduced in thissection is about second culture acquisitionand the use of ethnographic interviewingtechniques in the language learning process“to promote positive attitudes towards thespeakers of the language studied” (Robinson-Stuart and Nocon, 1996, p. 431). The studywas conducted at San Diego State University,

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○114


San Diego, USA, in a multinational andmulticultural area, where knowledge of alanguage other than English was a useful toolin understanding cross-cultural interactions.

The participants were twenty-fourstudents in a third semester universitySpanish class (Robinson-Stuart and Nocon,1996). The subjects’ task comprised ofconducting interviews with a native Spanishspeaker (these usually were Mexican friendsor acquaintances of the students living inthe San Diego area). The writing up of thefindings was the students’ term assignment.They were pre-trained in order to be able toconduct an inter view involving theethnographic technique of active listening(Robinson-Stuart and Nocon, 1996).

Concerning this interviewing technique,one must bear in mind that the questions inan ethnographic interview are open ones.There is no pre-composed interviewprotocol. The questions are “built upon theutterances of the interviewee … Theinterviewer must continually listen to andinteract with what the speaker has said”(Robinson-Stuart and Nocon, 1996, p.436). After each answer of the interviewee,the interviewer has to probe by asking thequestion What do you mean? (Ibid.).

Before students carried out their tasks,they were pre-surveyed, and after they haddone the practical part of their assignment,they were also post-surveyed. To be ableto compare pre- and post-survey results,the subjects were given codes. This wasalso useful for preserving anonymity. Inthese surveys, students were askedquestions like Why did you begin to study

Spanish?, Do you have Mexican friends?or How would you describe your goal inyour study of Spanish?, etc.

There was a separate post-survey inwhich the researchers wanted to know howthe subjects perceived the task of doing anethnographic interview and whether theirattitude towards the Spanish language andthe Mexican people living in San Diegochanged because they had undergone sucha task.

The findings proved that a positivechange occurred in the students’ attitudestowards the speakers of the target languageand their culture, and what is moreinteresting, greater desire emerged to learnthe target language itself.

Another important conclusion was thatby taking part in the ethnography project,students acquired the life skill of activelistening, which can make communicationbetween various cultures better and makeunderstanding of the other culture easier(Robinson-Stuart and Nocon, 1996).

4. THE V4. THE V4. THE V4. THE V4. THE VALALALALALUE AND LIMITUE AND LIMITUE AND LIMITUE AND LIMITUE AND LIMITAAAAATIONSTIONSTIONSTIONSTIONSOF ETHNOGRAPHIC RESEARCHOF ETHNOGRAPHIC RESEARCHOF ETHNOGRAPHIC RESEARCHOF ETHNOGRAPHIC RESEARCHOF ETHNOGRAPHIC RESEARCH

So far it has been shown how ethnographyworks in real life situations in educationalcontexts and what responsibilities theethnographer has. This section intends toshow the value and limitations ofethnography as a research approach.

In Hornberger’s (1994) opinion, “thevalue of ethnography lies in its holistic andemic view” (p. 688). The holistic view is


associated with the objective of theethnographer, which is to create a full pictureof the culture or event he is observing andanalysing, “a picture that leaves nothingunaccounted for and that reveals theinterrelatedness of all the component parts”(Ibid). What is appreciated here is that theapproach provides the opportunity tocompare and contrast what actors of thegiven culture say and do in order to receivea whole, detailed and realistic descriptionand interpretation of the processes withinthat culture (Hornberger, 1994).

The emic view implies the intention ofthe ethnographer to show the point of viewof the insider, the cultural actor. He tries todepict the thoughts, feelings, experiences ofthe members of the given culture. The valuein this perspective is “the potential for new,unexpected, and unpredictable understandingsto emerge” (Hornberger, 1994, p. 689).

One of the most obvious limitations ofethnographic studies is the insider/outsiderdilemma (Hornberger, 1994) i.e. how thetwo perspectives can be balanced.Hornberger mentions several dimensions aspart of the dilemma e.g. being too familiarwith the culture under examination maycause distortion in interpretation, while theinsider explanation and understanding maybe inhibited by the ethnographer’s being atotal stranger to the culture.

Another issue that is raised by Byram(1989) when discussing the value andlimitations of ethnographic research is thatof representativeness in ethnographicstudies. He states that ethnographers do not

select their subjects applying statisticalsampling; therefore, their informants cannotbe representative of the population. Incontrast, Boster claims that “individuals’acquired cultural competence is a versionof society’s shared culture” (Byram, 1989,p. 118). If so, then the informants in anethnographic account can be consideredrepresentatives of their own culture.

5. SUMMARY5. SUMMARY5. SUMMARY5. SUMMARY5. SUMMARY

The present paper has intended to throwlight on what ethnography as a researchapproach in the educational context means.It is “the study of the ‘other’ people and thesocial and cultural patterns that givemeanings to their lives” (Barro, et al., 1998).The main task of the ethnographer is toexplain these social and cultural patterns tothose who have never experienced them(Byram, 1989).

The paper has given summaries of twoethnographic studies. In one of them, thepurpose was to show the problems theparticipant-observer has to face whencarrying out such a research type. The othersummary was an account of a study, thefindings of which showed a positive changein the subjects’ attitudes towards membersof another culture.

The value and limitations of ethnographicresearch were also described in the paper,the main value being in its emic and holisticview, while a major limitation being theinsider/outsider dilemma.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○116



Barro, A., Jordan, S., and Roberts, C.(1998). Cultural practice in everyday life: thelanguage learner as ethnographer. In M. Byramand M. Fleming. Language learning inintercultural perspective: Approaches throughdrama and ethnography. Cambridge: CambridgeUniversity Press.

Byram, M. (1989). Cultural studies in foreignlanguage education. Clevedon, Philadelphia:Multilingual Matters Ltd.

Davis, K. (1995). Qualitative theory andmethods in applied linguistics research. TESOLQuarterly, 3, 429-453.

Hornberger, N. H. (1994). Ethnography. InA. Cumming. (Ed.). Alternatives in TESOLresearch: descriptive, interpretative andideological orientations. TESOL Quarterly, 4,673-703.

Larsen-Freeman, D., and Long, M. H.(1991). An introduction to second languageacquisition research. New York: Longman.

Nunan. D. (1991). Methods in secondlanguage classroom-oriented research: Acritical review. Studies in Second LanguageAcquisition, 13, 249-274.

Pollard, A. (1985). Opportunities anddifficulties of a teacher-ethnographer: apersonal account. In B. Burgess. (Ed.). Fieldmethods in the study of education: strategiesof educational research. New York: The FalmerPress.

Robinson, G.L.N. (1985). Cross-culturalunderstanding. New York: Prentice Hall.

Robinson-Stuart, G., and Nocon, H. (1996).Second culture acquisition: ethnography in theforeign language classroom. The ModernLanguage Journal, 80, 431-449.

Smith, D. (1992). Anthropology ofeducation and educational research: CAEpresidential address. Anthropology andEducation Quarterly, 23, 185-198.

Sperber, D. (1985). On anthropologicalknowledge. Cambridge: Cambridge UniversityPress.

Valette, R. M. (1986). The culture test. In J.M. Valdes. (Ed.). Culture bound: bridging thecultural gap in language teaching. Cambridge:Cambridge University Press.

Wallace, M. J. (1991). Training foreignlanguage teachers. A reflective approach.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

This article was received on February 12th, 2004 and accepted on August 20th, 2004

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○117PROFILEPROFILEPROFILEPROFILEPROFILE Developing Plurilinguism in Slovakia: The CLIL Method, A Starting Point

Developing Plurilinguism in Slovakia:

The CLIL Method, A Starting Point

Desarrollo de plurilingüismo en Eslovenia: El método ‘CLIL’, un punto de partida

Silvia PSilvia PSilvia PSilvia PSilvia Pokrivcákokrivcákokrivcákokrivcákokrivcákováováováováová*****

[email protected] MaláEva MaláEva MaláEva MaláEva Malá

[email protected] the Philosopher University in Nitra, Slovakia

The paper deals with an introduction of the CLIL (Content and LanguageIntegrated Learning) - a newly invented and officially recommended method forthe teaching of foreign languages in the European Union. The authors describeits general characteristics and benefits as well as give examples of its applicationin Slovakia, one of the new member states of the EU. Since Slovakia is notwidely known in Colombia, the authors have added a description of the situationin teaching foreign languages in their country, thus providing an importantcontext for teaching objectives and conditions of applying the CLIL.

KKKKKey worey worey worey worey words: ds: ds: ds: ds: Plurilinguism, Foreign Language Teaching-Young Learners, CLIL-Methodology

Este documento trata sobre la introducción del método (Contenido y Lenguajeintegrados en el aprendizaje) CLIL – una nueva metodología diseñada yoficialmente recomendada como método de enseñanza de lenguas extranjerasen la Unión Europea. Las autoras describen las características generales delmétodo y sus beneficios, así como ejemplos de su aplicación en Eslovenia, unode los nuevos miembros de la UE. Debido a que Eslovenia no es muy conocidaen Colombia, las autoras han incluido una descripción de la situación de laenseñanza de lenguas extranjeras en su país. De tal manera, proveen un contextoimportante para los objetivos y condiciones de la enseñanza en la aplicación deesta metodología.

Palabras claves:Palabras claves:Palabras claves:Palabras claves:Palabras claves: Plurilingüismo, Enseñanza-Lenguas Extranjeras-Estudiantes-Jóvenes, CLIL-Metodología

*Silvia PokrivcákováSilvia PokrivcákováSilvia PokrivcákováSilvia PokrivcákováSilvia Pokrivcáková and Eva MaláEva MaláEva MaláEva MaláEva Malá are teacher trainers in the Department of Foreign Languages of the Faculty of EducationConstantine the Philosopher University in Nitra, Slovakia. They are editors of the series Foreign languages at school 1 (2003) andForeign languages at schools 2 (2004).

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○118

POKRIVCÁKOVÁ AND MALÁ PROFILE PROFILE PROFILE PROFILE PROFILE


The aims of this paper are as follows: 1.To introduce the situation regardingteaching foreign languages in Slovakia, oneof the countries which has recently joinedthe European Union; 2. To explain currenttrends and priorities in the field (includingthe latest methodological concepts); and 3.To illustrate the application of the CLILmethod in language classrooms for younglearners as an example of an innovativemethod leading to the development ofplurilinguism.

HISTORICAL CONTEXTHISTORICAL CONTEXTHISTORICAL CONTEXTHISTORICAL CONTEXTHISTORICAL CONTEXT OF OF OF OF OFTEACHING FOREIGN LTEACHING FOREIGN LTEACHING FOREIGN LTEACHING FOREIGN LTEACHING FOREIGN LANGUAGESANGUAGESANGUAGESANGUAGESANGUAGESIN SLOVIN SLOVIN SLOVIN SLOVIN SLOVAKIA (THE EU)AKIA (THE EU)AKIA (THE EU)AKIA (THE EU)AKIA (THE EU)

Slovakia, one of the smallest and youngestcountries in Europe (established in 1993after the disintegration of the formerCzechoslovakia and inhabited by 5 millionpeople), has during the last 3 years witnessedradical changes in teaching foreignlanguages in general, and in teachinglanguages to young learners in particular.

However, its long history is interestingas well. Up to 1989, when the country wasa part of the former Communist block inEurope, the only compulsory language inSlovak schools was Russian. Pupils started

learning it from the 5th year of theircompulsory elementary school attendance(while being 10+, i.e. ISCED 2 level1).Other languages were taught in very limitedcircumstances because they were consideredto be instruments of imperialisticpropaganda. The only language that couldbe taught more extensively in those timeswas German (because of the existence of theformer German Democratic Republic).

After November, 1989, when the so-called Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakiadefeated the communist government, thesituation in teaching languages started toimprove. The schools (mostly secondary)offered a wider scale of foreign languagesthat included English, French, Spanish andItalian. But, paradoxically, languageeducation became available to a radicallylower number of students. Russian as aforeign language was generally refused bylearners, although it was the only foreignlanguage taught by qualified teachers. Otherforeign language teaching suffered from anextreme lack of teachers, even unqualified.

The following table shows the amountsof pupils learning a foreign language onISCED 2 level in Slovakia in 1989 and 1991(based on the data of The Statistic AnnualBook of Education, 1991):

1 ISCED 2 – according to International Standard Classification of Education (revised in 1997) it is a lower secondary levelthat forms an integral part of compulsory schooling. In Slovakia it starts after finishing 4 years of ISCED 1 level. It lasts 5 yearsand its end corresponds with the end of compulsory full-time education .


TTTTTable. 1able. 1able. 1able. 1able. 1 Number of pupils learning foreign languages at Slovak schools in 1989

FOREIGNFOREIGNFOREIGNFOREIGNFOREIGNLLLLLANGUAGESANGUAGESANGUAGESANGUAGESANGUAGES

TTTTTAAAAAUGHT AUGHT AUGHT AUGHT AUGHT AT SLOVT SLOVT SLOVT SLOVT SLOVAKAKAKAKAKSCHOOLSSCHOOLSSCHOOLSSCHOOLSSCHOOLS

Russian

German

English

French

NUMBER OF PUPILSNUMBER OF PUPILSNUMBER OF PUPILSNUMBER OF PUPILSNUMBER OF PUPILSLEARNING A FOREIGNLEARNING A FOREIGNLEARNING A FOREIGNLEARNING A FOREIGNLEARNING A FOREIGNLANGUAGE IN 1989LANGUAGE IN 1989LANGUAGE IN 1989LANGUAGE IN 1989LANGUAGE IN 1989

(IN %)(IN %)(IN %)(IN %)(IN %)

100

12.3

1.4

0.8


(IN %)(IN %)(IN %)(IN %)(IN %)

14.0

22.5

17.6

1.8

FOREIGNFOREIGNFOREIGNFOREIGNFOREIGNLLLLLANGUAGESANGUAGESANGUAGESANGUAGESANGUAGES

TTTTTAAAAAUGHT AUGHT AUGHT AUGHT AUGHT AT SLOVT SLOVT SLOVT SLOVT SLOVAKAKAKAKAKSCHOOLSSCHOOLSSCHOOLSSCHOOLSSCHOOLS

English

German

French

Russian


(IN %)(IN %)(IN %)(IN %)(IN %)

51.3

45.1

1.8

7.0

TTTTTable 2:able 2:able 2:able 2:able 2: Number of pupils learning foreign languages at Slovak schools in 2000

It is clear that together with a decline inlearning the Russian language, the numberof pupils learning all other languagesincreased more or less rapidly. The alarmingfact was that more than 44.1% elementaryschool pupils were not, at that time, learningany foreign language.

Another very important impact on theteaching of foreign languages in Slovakiaoccurred after 1993 when Czechoslovakiasplit up and Slovakia (as well as the CzechRepublic) applied for membership in theEuropean Union. Together with the “openingof windows and doors” to Europe, thenecessity of effective foreign language

teaching has been emphasised. Stateeducational institutions created anenormous activity to increase the numberof qualified teachers of the most frequent/popular foreign languages in Slovakia(English, German, Spanish, Italian, andFrench) and to improve conditions forproviding more available and effective languageteaching at state schools on all levels. Thefirst results became visible in 2000.

Table 2 shows the number of pupilslearning foreign languages at Slovakelementary schools in 2000 (according toThe Statistic Annual Book of Education,2000):

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○120


A higher number of learners appeared inall the languages except Russian; moreover,the number of pupils who did not learn anyforeign language decreased to 0.4%.However, the situation was not so favourablein teaching/learning foreign languages onISCED level 1 (primary level of educationstarting in Slovakia at the age of six andlasting 4 years). By 2000, only 14.5 % ofyoung learners in Slovakia were learning oneforeign language, which means that 85.5 %of pupils between the ages 6 and 10 werenot taught foreign languages at elementaryschools at all.2

CURRENT SITUACURRENT SITUACURRENT SITUACURRENT SITUACURRENT SITUATIONTIONTIONTIONTION

The preparatory processes regardingSlovakia’s entering the EU includedextensive and intensive education in foreignlanguages. Although the Slovak language(the national language of the Slovak people)has become one of the 25 official languagesof the EU, the necessity to acquireappropriate skills for communication withother member countries (there are currently450 million Europeans) has increasedsignificantly. An interesting position is thatthe European authorities do not favourefforts to establish one official language ofthe Union. The European document,“Promoting Language Learning andLinguistic Diversity: Action Plan 2004-2006” (2003), declares that “learning onelingua franca alone is not enough”; on thecontrary, it stresses the necessity of languagediversity, stating that “diversity of languagesis the richness of Europe” (Action Plan,2004, p. 4) and encourages people to learn,

in addition to their mother tongue, at least2 foreign languages on a level of mastery.Moreover, the teaching/learning of rarely-taught languages (i.e. languages of smallcommunities with a constantly decreasingnumber of speakers) is highly valued andextra-funded by European educationalprogrammes. The reality is, however, a littlebit different: The range of foreign languagesfrequently used by citizens is much narrowerthan the authorities would wish. The groupof foreign languages most widely taught/learned at European schools includesEnglish, French, German, Spanish andRussian.

In recent years, the European Councilextended its recommendations and declaredan objective called M+2 “to improve themastery of basic skills, in particular byteaching at least two foreign languages froma very early age”. In an adult age, thecommand of these two languages should beon an advanced level and, in addition to this,it is also recommended that Europeansknow another European language on thelevel of basic communication strategy. Thisrationale is connected with other importanttasks to be fulfilled within nationaleducational systems such as

- to build language-friendly schools andlanguage-friendly educational environments,- to extend the possibilities of teaching/learning a wide range of foreign languages,- to prepare qualified teachers for a widerange of foreign languages,- to develop effective instruments for testinglanguage skills,

2 Precise numbers with detailed interpretations dealing with the situation in all the member states of EU were published instatistics annuals, or in EURYDICE and EUROSTAT reports.


- to apply the ICT in teaching moreeffectively,- to develop new highly-effective methodsof foreign language teaching/learningleading to so-called Europeanplurilinguismplurilinguismplurilinguismplurilinguismplurilinguism (i.e. the ability of Europeancitizens to speak at least 3 languages).

The above EC development hasmanifested itself in the Slovak educationalsystem by the fact that the beginning offoreign language teaching has beenpermanently descending to lower agecategories. This can be illustrated by thelatest research carried out by a team fromConstantine the Philosopher University in

Nitra which showed that in 2003, thenumber of schools where pupils learn at leastone foreign language on ISCED level 1 as acompulsory subject increased to 79.8% (seeTable 3); as an optional subject to 41.7%;and that there was no elementary school inSlovakia which did not provide foreignlanguage teaching for young learners, whichis a radical change when compared to thesituation in 2000. (Precise data and theirdetailed interpretation, which will result fromthe long-term research conducted by theresearch team of the Department of ForeignLanguages at the Faculty of Education of theCPU in Nitra –whose members are also theauthors of this paper– will be published inNovember 2004.)

TTTTTable 3.able 3.able 3.able 3.able 3. The number of Slovak elementary schools teaching foreign languages as acompulsory subject in 2003 (preliminary results)

It is curious that the main propellingforces behind the above changes are theparents of pupils. However, the rule is veryclear: If an elementary school does not offerforeign languages, parents refuse to sign uptheir children and the school loses its statesubventions. This pressure helps extendpossibilities of foreign languages teaching.On the other hand, the range of taughtlanguages is extremely narrow: It is obviousthat Slovak parents are enormouslyinterested in English lessons for their children(It is roughly estimated that nearly 92% ofSlovak pupils learn English.), dismissing

FOREIGNFOREIGNFOREIGNFOREIGNFOREIGN LANGUAGELANGUAGELANGUAGELANGUAGELANGUAGE ISISISISIS CCCCCOMPULSORYOMPULSORYOMPULSORYOMPULSORYOMPULSORY OPTIONALOPTIONALOPTIONALOPTIONALOPTIONAL ISISISISIS NOTNOTNOTNOTNOT TTTTTAAAAAUGHTUGHTUGHTUGHTUGHT

TTTTTAAAAAUGHTUGHTUGHTUGHTUGHT ASASASASAS AAAAA SUBJECTSUBJECTSUBJECTSUBJECTSUBJECT

(in %) 79.8 41.7 0.0

other foreign languages that were popularin the past.

CLIL–AN EFFECTIVE INSTRUMENTCLIL–AN EFFECTIVE INSTRUMENTCLIL–AN EFFECTIVE INSTRUMENTCLIL–AN EFFECTIVE INSTRUMENTCLIL–AN EFFECTIVE INSTRUMENTOF FOREIGN LOF FOREIGN LOF FOREIGN LOF FOREIGN LOF FOREIGN LANGUAGE LEARNINGANGUAGE LEARNINGANGUAGE LEARNINGANGUAGE LEARNINGANGUAGE LEARNING

The most relevant aspects of theEuropean strategy for language learning, orbuilding European plurilinguism, include thedevelopment of language diversity,application of learner-centred approacheslearner-centred approacheslearner-centred approacheslearner-centred approacheslearner-centred approachesas well as respecting learners’ autonomy respecting learners’ autonomy respecting learners’ autonomy respecting learners’ autonomy respecting learners’ autonomy.They are the reasons why the Europeanauthorities singled out CLIL from among

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○122


numerous methodological approaches asone of the most effective, and thusrecommended, methods in foreign languageeducation (The White Paper, “Teaching andLearning – Towards the learning society”,1995). At the same time, it was recognizedas an appropriate approach for the teachingof foreign languages to young learners.

Historically, CLIL as an approach usingcontent (subject matter) for the purposes offoreign language teaching continues in thetradition of English for Specific Purposes(ESP) and Content-Based Instruction (CBI).Unlike other teaching methods, it integratessubject matter learning, which is usuallyprovided in the mother tongue, and foreignlanguage learning in which the foreignlanguage is not a goal of learning, but amedium for the communication of itscontent. It thus enables students to practiseforeign language communication skillsthrough contextualized tasks. It means thatthrough CLIL, a particular foreign language(in the European context it is usually English)is not taught/learned as only a subject, butas a crucial instrument for teaching othersubjects (mathematics, geography, history,etc.) (CLIL Compendium, 2001).

More than other methodologicalapproaches, the CLIL effectively fulfils thefollowing important learners’ needs:

• It provides learners withmeaningful and everyday input (Learners arenot learning language for the sake oflanguage alone, but language for learning,e. g. Slovak pupils are learning about typicalweather in Great Britain through appropriateEnglish vocabulary, or Spanish students are

learning about English history through theEnglish language.);

• It gives learners opportunities touse language meaningfully and productively(Learners communicate in a foreign languagenot for the sake of pure communication, butto give and receive new information.);

• It gives learners opportunities touse a foreign language in natural or veryclose-to-real circumstances (While givingand receiving new information, learners reallycommunicate!);

• It shifts the attention of learnersfrom a foreign language itself to thecommunicated content that couldencourage less-skilled students tocommunicate in a foreign language.

Thus, one can ask whether CLIL is nottoo demanding for language teachers byasking them to become language teachersand content teachers in one person. It isimportant to note here, however, that atelementary schools (ISCED level 1), thecurriculum content is not so demanding thatlanguage teachers cannot manage it. Onhigher levels, standard preparation oflanguage teachers for ESP is adequate.

CLIL AS A PCLIL AS A PCLIL AS A PCLIL AS A PCLIL AS A PAAAAATH TO PLTH TO PLTH TO PLTH TO PLTH TO PLURILINGUISMURILINGUISMURILINGUISMURILINGUISMURILINGUISM

Former definitions of CLIL stressedteaching non-language content. However,today CLIL is used also for teachingcombinations of foreign languages (onetarget language and several complementarylanguages, e.g. teaching French throughEnglish for pupils speaking Slovak as theirmother tongue).

In such a case, this approach integratestarget language learning and content that


is created by selected items (vocabulary,phrases, or functional elements –notgrammar!) of complementary languages. Asa typical example, a lesson in which learnerscollect familiar greetings in variouslanguages (Good morning! Guten Tag!Zdravstvujte! Dobrý den!, etc.) could beused. The main aim of CLIL in such contextis to motivate young Europeans throughfunctional introductions of new foreignlanguages and to learn more foreignlanguages resulting in the development ofplurilinguism and multiculturalism.

The main benefits of such application ofCLIL can be summarized as follows:

• improving overall target languagecompetence;

• deepening the awareness of themother tongue, target language and a widevariety of other languages;

• increasing learner motivation forlanguage learning through creating realistic,educational circumstances in the languageclassroom;

• facilitating the EU integration andfurther internationalisation;

• developing interculturalcommunication skills;

• developing intercultural knowledgeand tolerance;

• getting informed about othercountries, regions, cultural communities andminority groups (developing multiculturalattitudes and interests);

• learning how to live in a widercultural context;

• developing communicative skills ina target language as well as in otherlanguages (developing plurilingualcompetences);

• preparing for future studies and/orworking life.

The application of CLIL as an instrumentof plurilinguism raises demands for foreignlanguage teachers as they themselves shouldbe able to speak several languages, or, atleast, master selected elements. It must benoted here, however, that so far there arejust a few of such teachers in Slovakia. Tocope with the new situation, special coursesin complementary languages are preparedand provided for in-service teachers,widening the scale of their plurilinguism. Atthe same time, curricula of faculties ofeducation are being adjusted by increasingthe number of foreign languages as well asthe number of lessons dedicated to foreignlanguages (Currently every graduate of afaculty of education must have a commandof at least two foreign languages.).

Since the best way to explain somethingis to give a concrete example, we would liketo present a lesson plan of a model lessonapplying the CLIL method. The lesson wasprepared for Slovak pupils learning Englishas a target language, and, at the same time,getting basic vocabulary of other(complementary) languages. In a goodteaching practice of CLIL, max. 2complementary languages are required toavoid overloading children’s attention andmemory. To better illustrate the example, wehave decided to use in our model lesson 4complementary languages: Czech and Polishare languages of the countries neighbouringSlovakia, their sounding being very close tothat of the Slovak language; French andGerman languages are representatives of themost popular foreign languages in Slovakia

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○124


(in addition to English, understandably).Although the lessons also introduce newvocabulary of complementary languages, themain aim is to improve communicative skillsof pupils in the target language.

In applying CLIL, it is important that theteacher be able to communicate not only inthe target language, but s/he must know

basic vocabulary and pronunciation of thecomplementary languages as well. To meetthis condition, multilateral internationalpartnerships of elementary schools (withinthe EU’s Socrates programme) are created,with each partner school usually preparingsuitable CLIL materials for both itself and itspartner schools.

MODEL LESSONMODEL LESSONMODEL LESSONMODEL LESSONMODEL LESSON

TTTTTopicopicopicopicopic: WEATHER IN EUROPEMother language: Mother language: Mother language: Mother language: Mother language: SlovakMedium language: Medium language: Medium language: Medium language: Medium language: EnglishLevel of pupilsLevel of pupilsLevel of pupilsLevel of pupilsLevel of pupils: Beginners (after 60 lessons of English)Other languages involved: Other languages involved: Other languages involved: Other languages involved: Other languages involved: Czech, Polish, , , , , German, FrenchObjectivesObjectivesObjectivesObjectivesObjectives: To learn about weather conditions in Europe through English as a foreignlanguage. The secondary aim is to introduce related basic vocabulary of complementarylanguagesGrammar structureGrammar structureGrammar structureGrammar structureGrammar structure: Practicing questions and answers in the target language:What is the weather like in Germany today? It is sunny in Germany today.What is the temperature in the Czech Republic today? It is 19 degrees centigrade.Previous vocabularPrevious vocabularPrevious vocabularPrevious vocabularPrevious vocabulary revisedy revisedy revisedy revisedy revised: Countries (Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Poland, Germany,Italy, Great Britain, France), numbers (0 – 30).New vocabularNew vocabularNew vocabularNew vocabularNew vocabularyyyyy: Sunny, raining, windy, cloudy, snowing, stormy, tornado, degrees centigradeMaterial aidsMaterial aidsMaterial aidsMaterial aidsMaterial aids: A map of Europe, cards with weather symbols (see Chart 1), weather forecastfrom a newspaper (weather map is necessary), multilingual weather chart (see Chart 2).

Chart 1

� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �


Chart 2

Lesson Steps:Lesson Steps:Lesson Steps:Lesson Steps:Lesson Steps:

1. Introduction: motivating dialogue about weather (in Slovak), using funny questions:What is the weather like today?What was the weather like when you were born?What was the worst weather you remember?What weather does your dog prefer?

2. Introducing new vocabulary by using weather cards as visual aids, pronunciation drill

3. Talking about weather in the target language (English). Practising grammar structures:What is the weather like today? It is sunny.The teacher asks questions and shows the weather symbols as promptsfor a pupil to formulate answers.

4. Talking about weather in Europe according to a weather map that theteacher took from a newspaper weather forecast.What is the weather like in Poland today? It is cloudy.

5. Completing the weather chart:

LANGUAGE

English

Czech

Polish

German

French

��sunny

sluneèno

s³oneczno

Sonnenschein

Soleil

��rainy

déš•

deszcz

der Regen

pluie

��cloudy

oblaèno

pochmurno

bedeckt

tempsnuageux

��snowy

sníh

œnieg

der Schnee

neige

��stormy

bouøe

burza

der Sturm

orage

��tornado

tornádo

tornado

derTornado

tornade

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○126


6. Relaxing activity: mini-pexeso (card game) with weather symbols.

7. Introducing vocabulary of complementary language through English questions:What would Polish people say about today’s weather?How do Polish people say it is sunny?(This is the possibility to fix English vocabulary and grammar structure ina very realistic situation: pupils repeat English phrases rathersubconsciously as they are more focused on their content and on thesound of the Polish words).

8. Drawing pictures “Beautiful/terrible weather in Slovakia” for pupils ofpartner schools.

9. Evaluation of the lesson; assigning homework.

PPPPPossible Vossible Vossible Vossible Vossible Variations of the Lesson for Pupils of a Higher Level of Englishariations of the Lesson for Pupils of a Higher Level of Englishariations of the Lesson for Pupils of a Higher Level of Englishariations of the Lesson for Pupils of a Higher Level of Englishariations of the Lesson for Pupils of a Higher Level of EnglishProficiency:Proficiency:Proficiency:Proficiency:Proficiency:

1. Introducing richer vocabulary2. Practicing tense changes: What was the weather like in Slovakia today? What will

the weather be like in Italy tomorrow?3. Talking about a hypothesis: What would you do if there was a tornado in Nitra

today?

CCCCCOUNTRYOUNTRYOUNTRYOUNTRYOUNTRY

Slovakia

Germany

Great Britain

....

WWWWWEAEAEAEAEATHERTHERTHERTHERTHER

� ........................ cloudy

� ....................

....

TTTTTEMPERAEMPERAEMPERAEMPERAEMPERATURETURETURETURETURE

INININININ DEGREESDEGREESDEGREESDEGREESDEGREES

CENTIGRADECENTIGRADECENTIGRADECENTIGRADECENTIGRADE

....

16 0C

....

....


The aim of our paper was to explain thecurrent situation in foreign languageteaching in Slovakia (in the context of theEuropean Union), with special emphasis onthe development of plurilinguism. We havechosen one of the integrated approaches tolanguages teaching – CLIL (Content and

language integrated learning) which wasproved to be an effective way not only offoreign language learning, but also for thedevelopment of plurilinguism andmulticultural education; that is, the conceptsrepresenting main goals of Europeaneducation for this decade.

Since the CLIL based teaching of foreignlanguages is relatively new and not verified


in the context of Slovak education, it hasnot been possible to offer any empiricalresearch results so far. The Department ofForeign Languages at the Faculty ofEducation of Constantine the PhilosopherUniversity in Nitra is involved in aninternational Comenius/Socrates projectfocused on the measurement of effectivenessand identification of key circumstancesrelevant for a massive application of themethod at Slovak schools (using the methodin the environment of “small” languages - wherethe Slovak language can be ranked,advantages and risks for young childrenresulting from the learning of several foreignlanguages simultaneously, psychological andpedagogical conditions of CLIL, a new roleof the teacher, new impulses for teachertraining, new ways of testing and evaluation,development of materials suitable for CLIL,etc.). The experience of the schools alreadyapplying the method has shown its greatdidactic potential which is, consequently,expected to improve the overall quality oflanguage teaching to younger learners.


CLIL Compendium. (2001). RetrievedFebruary 2, 2003 from http://www.clilcompendium.com

Education across Europe. Statistics andindicators 1999. (2000). European Commision:Eurostat.

Foreign language teaching in schools inEurope. (2001). European Commision:Eurydice.

The Statistic Annual Book of Education.(1991). Bratislava: Ústav informácií a prognózškolstva, mláde•e a telovýchovy.

The Statistic Annual Book of EducationSROV. (2001). Bratislava: ÚIPŠ.

Communication from the Commission tothe Council, the European Parliament, theEconomic and Social Committee and theCommittee of the Regions. PromotingLanguage Learning and Linguistic Diversity:Action Plan 2004-2006. (2003). RetrievedNovember 24, 2003 from http://europa.eu.int/comm/education/doc/official/keydoc/actlang/act_lang_en.pdf

This article was received on May 06th, 2004 and accepted on August 27th, 2004

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○128


Key Aspects for Developing

Your Instructional Materials

Aspectos cruciales para elaborar materiales instruccionales

Astrid Núñez ParAstrid Núñez ParAstrid Núñez ParAstrid Núñez ParAstrid Núñez Pardododododo*[email protected]

Clelia Pineda Báez, Ph.DClelia Pineda Báez, Ph.DClelia Pineda Báez, Ph.DClelia Pineda Báez, Ph.DClelia Pineda Báez, Ph.D**[email protected]

María Fernanda Téllez TéllezMaría Fernanda Téllez TéllezMaría Fernanda Téllez TéllezMaría Fernanda Téllez TéllezMaría Fernanda Téllez Téllez***[email protected]

Universidad Externado de Colombia

This article describes crucial aspects that EFL teachers must consider for theelaboration of materials to support the instructional design component of theirclasses. It also emphasizes that language educators should not only maintain abalance between theory and practice when developing their didactic resources,but they also should keep themselves updated in terms of the latest research inthe language education field. The article also addresses key questions teachersshould formulate before beginning the process of design, and provides usefulideas to develop dynamic, content enriching, and visually attractive materials.

KKKKKey worey worey worey worey words: ds: ds: ds: ds: Course Design, Material Design, Motivational Design, ContentEnriching Materials, Attractive Layouts, Teachers’ Creativity

Este artículo describe aspectos cruciales que los docentes de inglés comolengua extranjera deben tener en cuenta para la elaboración de materiales deapoyo del componente de instrucción de sus clases. También enfatiza que los

*Astrid Núñez ParAstrid Núñez ParAstrid Núñez ParAstrid Núñez ParAstrid Núñez Pardo,do,do,do,do, Degree in Hotel and Tourism Business Management, Universidad Externado de Colombia. PostgraduateDiploma in Linguistic Studies, University of Essex, Colchester, England. Currently, English Program coordinator, teacher-researcherand material designer, School of Education, Universidad Externado de Colombia and author of the series “Economics andBusiness Readings for English 1, 2, 3, and 4” (Publicaciones Externado).

**Clelia Pineda Báez,Clelia Pineda Báez,Clelia Pineda Báez,Clelia Pineda Báez,Clelia Pineda Báez, PhD in Education and Master of Arts in TEFL, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, USA. B.A.in Philology and Languages (Spanish-English), Universidad Nacional de Colombia. Currenlty, English coordinator, teacher-researcher and director of the research group “English Didactics”, officially recognized by Colciencias, School of Education,Universidad Externado de Colombia.

***María FMaría FMaría FMaría FMaría Fernanda Téllez Téllez,ernanda Téllez Téllez,ernanda Téllez Téllez,ernanda Téllez Téllez,ernanda Téllez Téllez, B.A in Teaching Modern Languages, Universidad de Los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia.Currently studying for a degree in Business Management, Fundación Universitaria San Martín, Bogotá. Full-time teacher-researcher, and materials designer, School of Education, Universidad Externado de Colombia.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○129PROFILEPROFILEPROFILEPROFILEPROFILE Key Aspects for Developing Your Instructional Materials

docentes de lengua extranjera no solamente deben mantener un balance entrela teoría y la práctica al desarrollar sus ayudas didácticas, sino que tambiéndeben mantenerse actualizados en términos de los más recientes avances dela investigación en el campo de la educación en lenguas. El artículo discutepreguntas claves que los maestros deben formular antes de comenzar el procesode diseño y brinda ideas útiles para el desarrollo de materiales con contenidosenriquecedores y que resulten dinámicos y atractivos visualmente.

Palabras claves: Palabras claves: Palabras claves: Palabras claves: Palabras claves: Diseño de Cursos, Diseño de Materiales, ContenidosEnriquecedores, Esquemas Llamativos, Creatividad Docente

WHY DESIGNWHY DESIGNWHY DESIGNWHY DESIGNWHY DESIGNYYYYYOUR OWN MAOUR OWN MAOUR OWN MAOUR OWN MAOUR OWN MATERIALS?TERIALS?TERIALS?TERIALS?TERIALS?

There are a good number of commercialbooks that are used as support for theinstructional component of many EFL/ESLclasses. These textbooks have beendeveloped considering learning principlesand research on what works best for learners.There are many advantages to thesecommercial texts. Inside those we findcolourful pictures, nice layouts, variety ofdesigns, etc. However, do we teachers notfeel that sometimes the textbook is notenough? This may be due partly to the factthat through everyday experience, webecome aware of our immediate realities.Such consciousness allows us to becomesensitive to the needs of our students andto examine if the materials employed arehelping them to achieve their particularlanguage objectives. According to Kessler (ascited by Menezes, 2001), “the need formaterials developed by teachers in our fieldis essential because these individuals are themost immediate experts on the needs ofESOL learners, the cognitive abilities ofdifferent age groups and the learning processof their specific learners”. Indeed, it isteachers in their contact with learners who

perceive their most salient characteristicsand needs. Yet, how often do we, teachersengage in the task of adapting and/orcreating our own materials? The answer maybe that we very seldom do so. This article isintended to encourage teachers to developtheir own materials and is an invitation toexplore their own capabilities. It focuses onconsiderations for material design.

Developing materials for the EFL/ESLclassroom should not be viewed as a taskconfined to textbook developers. However,we need to consider some limitations. Onehas to do with the fact that it is a time-consuming activity that requires dedication,patience and some expertise. According tothe CIEL Language Support Network (2000),prospective developers of materials shouldbe skillful in relation to subject knowledge,awareness of language learning pedagogies,technical expertise and editing. In addition,the design of materials could turn into acostly enterprise. Nevertheless, it is a uniqueexperience in which teachers can cater tospecific learning objectives and learningstyles. Moreover, materials designed by theteachers are more likely to be updated andmanageable. That is, they have the possibilityof prioritizing the learners and placing them

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○130

NÚÑEZ, PINEDA AND TÉLLEZ PROFILE PROFILE PROFILE PROFILE PROFILE

at the center of the language program whileacquainting them with the current world.

Teachers, as innovative professionals,have the potential to explore their creativityby designing materials for their classes.Notwithstanding, there is a word of cautionfor anyone interested in this field. It shouldnot turn into a meaningless task with thesole purpose of enjoying and keeping thestudents busy. Certainly, we should developmaterials that motivate our learners.Nonetheless, the fact that those activities areenjoyable does not automatically imply thatstudents are learning properly (Dick andReiser, 1989). As Dewey (1938) once stated,an experience could be enjoyable and yetpromote a careless attitude. This implies thatthe teacher must develop meaningful tasksthat emphasize learning which is relevant forstudents’ lives and that helps them understandand challenge their own views of the world.

PREREQUISITESPREREQUISITESPREREQUISITESPREREQUISITESPREREQUISITESFOR MAFOR MAFOR MAFOR MAFOR MATERIAL DESIGNTERIAL DESIGNTERIAL DESIGNTERIAL DESIGNTERIAL DESIGN

It is also important to highlight that theprocess of material design is embedded inthe sequence of a language course design.Learners should know in advance what theirlearning process will consist of. Therefore,objectives must be stated in the materialsand should be clearly defined so that learnerscan accurately interpret them. The materialsshould reflect opportunities for the learners

to achieve the objectives set up. In otherwords, there must be congruency betweenthe objectives and the materials.

Materials designed by teachers shouldinclude prerequisites that are indispensableto promote an adequate atmosphere forlearning. A crucial aspect here is theactivation of prior knowledge. According toDick and Reiser (1989), it helps students tofeel confident when getting in contact withthe information to be learned. This activationcan be initiated by means of rich activitiesbefore the main topic is confronted.Vocabulary exercises, visual aids, mentalmapping strategies, and graphs are usefulmeans by which we can explore priorknowledge. In addition to the activation ofprior knowledge, we should also keep in mindthe type of interaction that our materialsfoster. Besides individual practice, theremust be opportunities for pair and groupwork that could maximize their chances forexchange of information. Finally, as with anyother element of the curriculum, thematerials must be constantly scrutinized fortheir effectiveness. Hence, we can turn againto our point of departure which consists ofthe learning objectives and make thecorresponding adjustments. The followingdiagram depicts the process and the typesof questions we should ask ourselvesregarding the role of our supportingmaterials.


Figure 1. Figure 1. Figure 1. Figure 1. Figure 1. The Process of Course and Material Design

��

Selection and sequence:

What types of tasks, content, and language should I include? What sequence should the activities proposed in the materials follow?

��

Learning/teaching activities:

What activities do my materials require the learners to perform? How do they draw upon their background knowledge? What type of participation is included?

��

Assessment and evaluation: Does my material encourage reflection on progress of language competence? How effective is it in terms of achieving my objectives?

��

Objectives Which skills and what knowledge should my course and my supporting materials aim at?

��

Needs analysis: Which competencies do my

learners need to refine?

The sequence shown here implicitlyemphasizes the idea that teachers’theoretical background must be at the heartof material design. Teachers should possesa grasp of developments in the field ofeducation and particularly in secondlanguage acquisition, and the ability toconnect theory and research to practice.Teachers must be connoisseurs of their field.They should not only be familiar withtheories of foreign language learning andteaching, but also be acquainted with themost recent findings of research. Materialscould lack a solid rationale if they are notconstructed considering principles in whichthe teacher believes. It is by combining theirtheoretical background and their teachingexperience in the development of theirmaterials that they create positive conditionsfor language learning. A combination ofexperience and theoretical backgroundcould guarantee a better developed product.

MAMAMAMAMATERIAL DESIGNTERIAL DESIGNTERIAL DESIGNTERIAL DESIGNTERIAL DESIGNAND MOTIVAND MOTIVAND MOTIVAND MOTIVAND MOTIVAAAAATIONTIONTIONTIONTION

A central aspect in the design ofappropriate materials for our EFL classes ismotivation. Ideally, we should call andmaintain our students’ attention by usingmeaningful, well-elaborated, updated,challenging, enjoyable and relevantmaterials. They must be designed so thatthey tap our learners’ feelings andbackground, and they should enhancelearning acquisition by promoting autonomy.In this respect, Small (1997) cites fourelements proposed in the ARCS Model ofMotivational Design that we considerpertinent aspects when dealing with ways toencourage our learners to learn.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○132


TTTTTable 1. able 1. able 1. able 1. able 1. The ARCS Model of Motivational Design

Attention

It deals with the creation of the concept of newness. It explores the way teachers activate curiosity among students and how to match students´ interest and needs through the use of different methods.

Relevance

It focuses on goal orientation, motive matching, and familiarity emphasizing objectives. It is fundamental for students to know what the objectives are and their importance. The selection of objectives should be focused on learners’ needs. Familiarity takes into account students’ experiences and values when designing the contents.

Confidence

It is the link established between the learning process and students’ abilities.

Satisfaction

It is the enjoyable experience faced by students when objectives are achieved.

It is worth noting that Small capitalizeson the importance of congruency amongobjectives, tasks and materials. However, themodel also implies diversity. More concretely,materials should explore students’personalities, learning styles, languagedevelopment expectations, likes, dislikes,needs and the contexts they are embeddedin. Apparently, this seems an overwhelmingtask, but it is possible if we observe ourlearners meticulously and learn to appreciatewho they are, how they see the world, andhow they interact with each other. Age inthis sense is fundamental. Generationschange and therefore we must bear in mindthat contents and purposes in materials canvary according to learners’ ages. A way tobridge the gap between you as a teacher-material designer and your students is toplunge into their age and put yourself in theirown shoes so that you understand the waythey conceive life.

CONTEXTUALIZACONTEXTUALIZACONTEXTUALIZACONTEXTUALIZACONTEXTUALIZATIONTIONTIONTIONTIONOF CONTENTOF CONTENTOF CONTENTOF CONTENTOF CONTENT

There are two more relevant aspects thatteachers should keep in mind when designingmaterials for their classes. One of them hasto do with the contextualization of allactivities included in the materials. Forinstance, vocabulary and grammar exercisesshould be embedded in the topic that isbeing studied. Activities should promoteexposure to the target language andopportunities to recycle the grammar andvocabulary points to be learned. New words,for example, can be presented in an enjoyablecrossword puzzle. Then, students can beasked to use them to complete sentenceswhile working on word transformation.Finally, they can create their own sentencesand put them together in a story or use thevocabulary learned in games. There are manyoptions upon which to draw so that newforms can be acquired and put into practice.


They include cartoon stories, matchingexercises, memory games, board games suchas taboo, stop and simulation of realconversations, games, etc.

VISUAL VISUAL VISUAL VISUAL VISUAL LALALALALAYYYYYOUTOUTOUTOUTOUT

Finally, a crucial aspect in the design ofmaterials concerns the visual layout.Although this is the aspect that requirescontinuous practice and some familiarizationwith computer programs such as Word andPaint Work, there are basic tips that aid inthe elaboration of attractive materials. Wewill pinpoint the ones that have been ofgreat usefulness for us:

• Include clear and short instructionsusing everyday, plain language. Also, includea name or heading for each activity you planin your materials.

• Provide a concise, straightforwardexample before letting the students work bythemselves. In short, model the behaviour.

• Avoid being stuffy. Distribute theinformation and pictures in a visually-attractive layout so that looking at andreading the material do not becometiresome.

• Use legible fonts that are not tooelaborated and can easily be read.

• Recreate your activities with visuals.Those should portray the meaning of thewords or situations meant to be learned. Do

not include pictures just for the sake of itwith no relationship whatsoever to thecontent. Design your own pictures or useresources from the Internet, but be aware ofcopyrighted material.

• Include a varied set of activities.Examples are: tic-tac-toe, memory games,lotteries, bingos, jig-saw puzzles, stop andso forth. You can also create materials thatpromote interaction and teamwork such ashexagon games, contests, wall-dictation andmutual dictation and simulation games.

• Use eye-catching color in yourresources and make sure they are readable.

SAMPLESSAMPLESSAMPLESSAMPLESSAMPLES

At this point we would like to showmaterials that have been designed to recyclevocabulary. The first exercise reinforces lexisand helps students categorize words undergeneral headings. It is worth noticing thatthe content of the template can be adaptedfor different levels and areas. The secondexample is a board game in which studentsare expected to ask for permission, giveorders, give advice, express ability and invitepolitely. In short, it has been designed tointernalize modal verbs. The exercise ispresented as a game and it allows forgrammar and vocabulary contextualization.It also stimulates the learners to create theirown sentences.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○134


ANSWER KEY THEY ARE ALL (1) …

ANSWER KEY THEY ARE ALL (2)…

1. They are all functions of money 2. They are all imperfect market structures 3. They are all economic growth sources 4. They are all imperfect market features 5. They are all national income variables 6. They are all perfect market features 7. They are all acronyms 8. They are all business cycle phases 9. They are all macroeconomic problems 10. They are all international trade key words 11. They are all negative consumption externalities 12. They are all crimes

1. They are all flowers. 2. They are all family members/ relatives. 3. They are all insects. 4. They are all clothes 5. They are all continents. 6. They are all pieces of furniture. 7. They are all colours. 8. They are all sports. 9. They are all verbs. 10. They are all capital cities 11. They are all vegetables. 12. They are all fruits.


Play with a classmate. Take turns deciding how to label the features / aspects that appearin each of the petals. If you don’t answer, you miss your turn. The winner is the student wholabels the highest number of petals.

12. Shoplifting,

kidnapping,

forgery,

smuggling,

murder, and

rape.

1. Means

of

exchange,

unit of

account

and store of value.

7. IMF,

VAT, GDP,

GNP, CPI,

L&PA, WB or

IBRD, GATT

and NAFTA.

11. Cigarette smoke,

loud music at 2 A.M. and

pollution caused by local automobiles.

10. Tariffs, quotas,

exports and

imports, trade

balance, mutually

beneficial trade.

9. Unemployment,

inflation, economic

growth and business cycles.

8. The peak,

the downturn,

the trough

and the

upturn.

6. Market

forces

interaction,

price takers,

many firms,

many

buyers, and

a variety of products.

4. Price makers, market entry

barriers, unique product,

differentiated products, a

multitude of buyers and one,

or a few firms.

5. Total output, aggregate

savings, total consumption and aggregate investment.

3. Entrepreneurship,

investment in technology

and human capital, capital

accumulation and

institutions that foster

growth.

2. Oligopoly, duopoly

and monopoly.

��

1. They are all __________________________ 7. They are all _____________________________

2. They are ____________________________ 8. They are _______________________________

3. They _______________________________ 9. They __________________________________

4. They are all __________________________ 10. They are all ____________________________

5. They are ____________________________ 11. They are ______________________________

6. They _______________________________ 12. They _________________________________

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○136


Play with a classmate. Take turns to decide how to label the things, places, words, names,items, etc. that appear in each of the petals. If you don’t answer, you miss your turn. Thewinner is the student who labels the highest number of petals

1. They are all ____________________________ 7. They are all _____________________________

2. They are ______________________________ 8. They are _______________________________

3. They _________________________________ 9. They __________________________________

4. They are all ____________________________ 10. They are all ____________________________

5. They are _ ____________________________ 11. They are ______________________________

6. They _________________________________ 12. They _________________________________

1. Sunflowers, roses, irises, carnations, tulips and daffodils.

7. Red, green, mauve, navy, pink, yellow, purple, black, brown, orange and grey.

12. Pear, banana, orange, mango, pineapple and lemon.

11. Carrots, cauliflowers, onions, cucumbers, green peas, lettuce and garlic.

10. London, Rome, Paris, Bogotá, Teheran, and Washington.

9. To talk, to write, to call, to greet, to love, to enjoy, to give, to forgive, and to admire.

8. Football, ice-hockey, swimming, tennis, basketball, hiking, and skating.

6. Chairs, tables, desks, wardrobes, cupboards, sofas, a puff and an armchair.

4. Shirts, jeans, scarves, blouses, underwear and jackets.

5. Europe, Asia, Africa, North, Central and South America, Australia and Antarctica.

3. Bees, ants, mosquitoes, butterflies and grasshoppers.

2. Uncles, aunties, mothers –in-law, cousins, siblings, and nieces.

��


Let’s

play

this

boar

d ga

me

with

a di

e. T

hrow

the

die

and

do w

hat i

s ask

ed in

eac

h bo

x by u

sing

mod

al ve

rbs c

orre

ctly.

If y

ou fa

il to

do th

eta

sk, y

ou m

ust s

tart

again

. Th

e wi

nner

mus

t get

to th

e bo

x mar

ked

finish

ed.

14

. Tel

l you

r cl

assm

ates

abo

ut a

po

ssib

le a

pplic

atio

n fo

r an

inte

rnsh

ip in

a

mul

tinat

iona

l firm

.

13

. Rec

omm

end

your

fello

ws

not t

o dr

ink

and

driv

e be

caus

e it

is

dan g

erou

s.

12

. You

are

a

carin

g pe

rson

. Tel

l yo

ur fr

iend

s to

de

vote

mor

e tim

e to

th

eir

stud

ies.

11

. Inv

ite y

our

frie

nds

to g

o fo

r a

wal

k.

10

. Ask

you

r te

ache

r po

litel

y to

re

peat

the

last

in

stru

ctio

n s/

he

gave

.

9.

Invi

te y

our

girlf

riend

/ bo

yfrie

nd

to h

ave

dinn

er a

t a

quite

fanc

y re

stau

rant

.

8.

Tel

l you

r co

lleag

ue a

bout

the

mai

n re

quire

men

t to

go to

the

Uni

ted

Sta

tes.

15. S

ay y

ou a

re

able

to s

peak

five

la

n gua

ges

fluen

tly.

7. T

ell y

our

clas

smat

es a

bout

a

poss

ible

trip

to

Can

ada.

16. A

sk y

our

boss

fo

r pe

rmis

sion

to

have

a d

ay o

ff.

6. A

sk s

omeo

ne

polit

ely

not t

o sm

oke

in th

e ha

ll.

17

. You

r gr

andf

athe

r is

re

cove

ring

from

su

rger

y. T

ell h

im to

st

a y in

bed

.

1. A

sk y

our

part

ner

polit

ely

for

a bi

g

favo

ur.

2.

Tel

l you

r lit

tle

brot

her/

sis

ter

not

to p

lay

with

fire

.

3.

Ask

you

mot

her

for

perm

issi

on to

st

ay o

ut la

te.

4.

Adv

ise

your

bes

t fr

iend

wha

t to

do to

st

op d

rinki

ng s

o he

avily

.

5.

Tel

l you

r te

ache

r yo

u w

ere

not a

ble

to

do y

our

hom

ewor

k be

caus

e of

a la

ck o

f tim

e.

18

. Tel

l you

r gr

andm

othe

r th

ere

is n

o ne

ed to

wor

k so

muc

h.

19

. You

hav

e ju

st

plan

ted

som

e se

eds.

Tel

l you

r lit

tle b

roth

er n

ot to

st

e p o

n th

e so

il.

20

. Adv

ise

your

cl

assm

ates

wha

t to

do to

impr

ove

thei

r sp

eaki

n g a

bilit

ies.

21

. Ask

the

univ

ersi

ty p

orte

r w

here

you

r cl

assr

oom

is.

22

. Tel

l you

r be

st

frie

nd th

ere

is n

o ne

ed to

take

/ sit

the

exam

toda

y.

23

. Ask

the

shop

as

sist

ant t

o sh

ow

you

som

e le

athe

r ja

cket

s.

24

. Ask

you

r te

ache

r po

litel

y fo

r yo

ur E

nglis

h gr

ades

.

I thi

nk y

ou

shou

ld a

ccep

t th

at jo

b. It

’s a

ni

ce o

ppor

tuni

ty.

��

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○138


SOME RECOMMENDSOME RECOMMENDSOME RECOMMENDSOME RECOMMENDSOME RECOMMENDAAAAATIONSTIONSTIONSTIONSTIONS

Finally, we advise teachers to systematizetheir process. In other words, keep thetemplate used for further reference so thatmore information can be adapted later.Teacher-designers should compile theirmaterials in a diskette or CD to have easyaccess and retrieval. They also should labeltheir designs with pertinent information suchas the type of activity and the target audience.Besides, it is advisable to maintain a file withprinted laminated copies of all materials andcategorize them in a folder. Thus, the processwill turn into a versatile resource pack thatnot only assists teachers in their endeavours,but also helps them to visualize their creativeside.

It is also important to note that manytextbooks and teaching resource packscontain materials that can be adaptedaccording to the needs of the learners.Teachers do not have to reinvent the wheel,and time and energy can be saved that way.However, there are ethical issues that mustbe considered. We strongly caution teachersabout “piracy” and invite them to becomeaware of copyrights. Any selected materialthat is adapted, even if it is slightly modified,must explicitly include a reference to theoriginal sources. According to the PurdueUniversity Online Writing Lab (2004),anybody using others’ work needs todocument the reference when:

• Referring to somebody else’s wordsor ideas from a magazine, book, newspaper,song, TV program, movie, Web page,computer program, letter, advertisement, orany other medium.

• Including information gained throughinterviews.

• Copying the exact words or a “uniquephrase”.

• Reprinting diagrams, illustrations,charts, figures or pictures.

• Applying ideas that others have givenyou in conversations or via e-mail.

It is by giving credit that we acknowledgeand value the work of other people and beginfostering an ethical environment in our job.As can be inferred, creating and adaptingmaterials is a challenging enterprise as itdemands serious considerations in terms ofcurriculum and instructional alignment andethical issues. It is also time-consuming anddemanding. However, it provides teacherswith opportunities to explore not only theirteaching potential, but also their creativeside.


CIEL Project. (2000). Resources forindependent language learning: design and use.Retrieved July 7, 2004, from http://www.lang.ltsn.ac.uk/resources/goodpractice.aspx

Dewey, J. (1938). The Theory of Inquiry.New York: Holt, Rinehart & Wiston.

Dick , W. and Reiser, R. (1989). Planningeffective instruction. New Jersey: PrenticeHall, Inc.

Menezes, A. (2001). Reflections onreadings. Retrieved August 4, 2004, from http://www.geoc i t i e s . com/anna_km2001/reflections.html


Purdue University Online Writing Lab.(2004). Retrieved from http://owl.english.purdue.edu/hadouts/research/r-plagiarism.html

Small, R. (1997). Motivation in instructionaldesign. Retrieved July 15, 04 from http://w w w . i l s . u n c . e d u / D a n i e l / 2 1 4 /MotivationSmall.html

This article was received on May 10th, 2004 and accepted on August 22nd, 2004.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○140


Curricular Units: Powerful Tools to Connect

the Syllabus with Students’ Needs and Interests

Unidades curriculares: Herramientas poderosas para conectar el programa con lasnecesidades e intereses de los estudiantes

Aleida Ariza ArizaAleida Ariza ArizaAleida Ariza ArizaAleida Ariza ArizaAleida Ariza Ariza*

Universidad Nacional de [email protected]

A basic component of any language program is the construction of thecurriculum. There is a variety of approaches to curriculum planning andimplementation from the technical production perspective to the critical view.The current article emerged from the analysis of the syllabus in a Basic Englishcourse in the undergraduate program at Universidad Nacional de Colombiaand the design and implementation of a curricular unit. Such unit proved to bea powerful tool to connect what was set in the program, what students neededin terms of language and what they were interested in terms of culture.

KKKKKey worey worey worey worey words: ds: ds: ds: ds: Curriculum, Curricular Unit Platform, Constructivism, Teaching-Communicative Language, Task-Based Approach

Un componente esencial en un programa de idiomas es la construcción delcurrículo. Existe una gran variedad de enfoques en términos del diseño y laimplementación del currículo; desde una perspectiva reducida a la produccióntécnica, hasta una visión crítica y transformadora. El presente artículo se gestaa partir tanto del análisis de un programa correspondiente al curso Inglés BásicoI en la licenciatura ofrecida por la Universidad Nacional de Colombia, comodel diseño y la implementación de una unidad curricular. Dicha unidad curricularse caracterizó por convertirse en una herramienta de conexión entre loscontenidos y procedimientos planteados en un programa y las necesidadescomunicativas e intereses culturales de los estudiantes.

Palabras claves: Palabras claves: Palabras claves: Palabras claves: Palabras claves: Currículo, Plataforma Curricular, Unidad Curricular,Constructivismo, Lenguas Extranjeras-Enseñanza Comunicativa, Enfoque basadoen Tareas

* Judith Aleida Ariza Ariza,Judith Aleida Ariza Ariza,Judith Aleida Ariza Ariza,Judith Aleida Ariza Ariza,Judith Aleida Ariza Ariza, B.Ed in Philology and Languages, English – Spanish from the Universidad Nacional deColombia, has worked with students from kindergarten to university levels. She was a research assistant for the RED project andworked for one year as a Spanish Assistant in The Weald of Kent in Tonbridge, England. She is currently a professor in the ForeignLanguage Department at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia and a tutor for the PFPD “Profile”. In addition, she is a Mastercandidate in the Master Program in Applied Linguistics to TEFL at Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○141PROFILE PROFILE PROFILE PROFILE PROFILE The Hidden Curriculum


“Schooling is assumed to be a processwhose main purpose is to promote orproduce learning... Thus, schooling isconceived as a production system in whichindividual learning outcomes are the primaryproducts. After all, if learning is not whatschooling is for, then what could be itspurpose? (Posner, 1998, p. 81).

This quote reflects a clear position whichdevelops the idea of the technicalproduction perspective of curriculum.Within this perspective, teachers becometechnicians who plan and implementactivities geared toward students’production.

One of the main concerns teachers havespins around the way to best plan our lessonsso that they are coherent with the objectivesset in the syllabus and, at the same time,meet our students’ needs and interests. Oneof the options teachers have is theconstruction of didactic units based on aclear curricular platform. Such platform musttackle key issues such as the theory ofeducation, the theory of learning, the theoryof teaching, the approach, the method andthe general goals to be achieved. Thereforeit constitutes the base on which thecurricular unit is built upon.

Based on my experience as a teacher andlearner of English as a foreign language, andon literature reviewed, I strongly believe insocial interaction as the key factor in anylearning process. My curricular unit platformhas been constructed on this premise and itcontains a specific philosophy of education,

a theory of communication, a theory ofteaching, a theory of learning and the generalgoals which will frame the curricular unitdesign.

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORKTHEORETICAL FRAMEWORKTHEORETICAL FRAMEWORKTHEORETICAL FRAMEWORKTHEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

Curricular PlatformCurricular PlatformCurricular PlatformCurricular PlatformCurricular Platform

A curricular platform is conceived as thebasic principles underlying the constructionand implementation of a curriculum. Itemerges from the query of how a curriculumis planned. Thus, a curricular platformconstruction is led by three main questionsas stated by Posner (1998). The firstconcerns the procedural questions which aimto go deep into the stages a teacher followsto plan a curriculum. The second query leadstowards the description of the way acurriculum is planned. Lastly, one shouldconsider the elements present in thecurriculum planning process and the waythey are related to one another.

In order to design and implement acurricular unit, I searched for those principlesunderlying the curriculum of my educationalsetting and proposed some elements whichguided me in the construction of theplatform. Such elements were a theory ofeducation, a theory of learning, a theory ofteaching, and an approach.

ConstructivismConstructivismConstructivismConstructivismConstructivismas a Theoras a Theoras a Theoras a Theoras a Theory of Educationy of Educationy of Educationy of Educationy of Education

The curricular unit I developed had as ageneral conceptual frameworkconstructivism, and specifically, socialconstructivism. The philosophical pillars of

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○142

ONATRA AND PEÑA PROFILE PROFILE PROFILE PROFILE PROFILE

this theory have been set by authors likeBruner, Ausubel, Piaget and Vygotsky, amongothers. This philosophical position has beeninfluenced by postmodernism supporting theidea that any reality is the mentalconstruction of those who believe they havediscovered it.

The basic principle of constructivism isthat we construct our understanding of theworld and its phenomena by reflecting onour experience. Thus the teaching –learningdynamics have different principles definingnew paradigms in both teachers’ andlearners’ roles. The two main principleswithin this philosophy are that knowledge isactively built up by learners and “the truth”is not found, but constructed through theexplanation and socialization of our ownexperiences.

Expanding on the previous statements,Brooks and Brooks (1993) as cited byMorison (1997) defined five main issueswithin this philosophical position:

• Use relevant problems for instruction• Learning is constructed around primary

concepts• Value students’ points of view• Adapt curriculum to address students’

suppositions• Assessing students’ learning in the

context of teaching

Social constructivism considers that theculture gives the child the cognitive toolsneeded for development such as culturalhistory, social context, language and, in these

modern times, electronic forms to haveinformation access. It emphasizes educationfor social transformation and reflects a wayof conceiving individuals within a socio-cultural context. In the same train of thought,individual development originates fromsocial interactions as cultural meaning areshared by the group and later they areapprehended by the individual.

As stated by Schütz (2002), Vygotsky isone of the representative authors within thisframework. He emphasizes the importanceof culture and social context for individuals’cognitive development. There are four mainprinciples supporting social constructivism.First, learning and development is a socialcollaborative activity. Then, school learningshould occur in meaningful context and thereshould be a connection between the worldat school and the “real world”. The thirdpillar emphasizes the idea that experienceslived out of school should be connected tothose promoted and carried out within theschool context. Finally, the Zone of ProximalDevelopment1 (ZPD) can be a guide forcurricular and lesson planning. Within thisconceptual framework, knowledge is aconstruction made by each learner regardingwhat he or she has experienced before andis linked to social interaction.

With social constructivism as the theoryof education, learning is viewed as a processof adjusting our mental models in order toaccommodate new experiences we areexposed to by means of daily socialinteraction in a cultural context. Within thisprocess, learners invent rules, discoverconcepts and build representation of the

1 Zone of Proximal Development: The stage a person can reach when being involved in social interaction.


world going through a process ofenculturation into a community of practice.

Although Wolffe and McMullen (1996)consider constructivism as a theory oflearning due to its essence, there are someimportant teaching principles to bear inmind when selecting this philosophy ofeducation. A constructivist teacher createsa context for learning where students canengage in interesting activities that promoteand facilitate the process. Among theimplications this philosophy presents, it isvery relevant to mention:

• The transition of the teachers’ rolesfrom transmitters to facilitators: Teachersguide students when tackling the learningchallenges; they encourage learners to workin groups and support them in theirmodification of previous cognitive schemes.

• Teachers are called on to enablelearners to learn how to learn: Teachersshould provide students with instructionalsettings in which learners can live thelanguage and use it to modify their worldand conditions around them. Thus,autonomy and self-directed learning isencouraged.

• There are more open-endedevaluations of learning outcomes: Learningis conceived as a process of modification inwhich there is not one “correct” way tointerpret phenomena around us.

APPROACH AND METHODAPPROACH AND METHODAPPROACH AND METHODAPPROACH AND METHODAPPROACH AND METHOD

Brown (1995) cites Anthony (1963) toclarify the difference between an approachand a method. An approach is consideredto have a ground assumption dealing with

the nature of language and learning while amethod is a general plan for the presentationof language materials. Thus, an approach ismore axiomatic while a method is moreprocedural as it deals with putting theoryinto practice, it being the level at whichchoices are made about the particular skillsto develop, the contents to be explored, andthe order of such exploratory tasks.

The view of language within thisapproach is an interactional one. Languageis conceived as a vehicle for the realizationof interpersonal relations and for theperformance of social exchanges betweenindividuals. According to Richards andRodgers (1982), as cited by Brown (1995),some of the most relevant characteristics ofthis vision are that language is a system forthe expression of meaning and its primaryfunction is for interaction andcommunication. Such communicationshould be meaningful and purposeful withina specific social context. Accordingly,language is perceived as a social practice inwhich the focus is the empowerment of thelearner through the critical analysis of thesocial situations and the development ofskills to face power differences.

FFFFFramework: Tramework: Tramework: Tramework: Tramework: Task–Basedask–Basedask–Basedask–Basedask–Based

Tasks are conceived as activities wherethe target language is used by the learnerfor a communicative purpose in order toachieve a specific outcome (Willis, 1996).This author makes references to six types oftasks: listing, ordering and sorting,comparing, problem solving, sharingpersonal experiences, and creative tasks.Among the possible starting points for task

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○144


work are learners’ personal knowledge andexperiences, problems, visual stimuli, andspoken or written texts.

As proposed by Willis (1996) andhighlighted by Rooney (2001), the task –based learning framework has three maincomponents: Pre-task, Task cycle andLanguage Focus. The pre-task componentrelates to the introduction to the topic andtask. The task cycle has three moments. Inthe first part, students do the taskcollaboratively; afterwards, during theplanning stage, students prepare to reportto the whole class the way they developedthe task informing on the decisions taken.Finally, students report on the process carriedout. The last component refers to thelanguage focus, which contains the analysisand the practice. In the former, studentsexamine and discuss specific features of thetexts and in the latter, practice of newconcepts is carried out.

One of the advantages this frameworkoffers for learning is the confidence learnersdevelop from trying out the language theyknow. It also promotes and opens spaces forspontaneous interaction. Furthermore,students are given the chance to notice theway others express similar meanings, gettingthem engaged in using language purposefullyand cooperatively, concentrating on buildingmeaning. Additionally, this framework giveslearners more spaces to try outcommunication strategies.

CURRICULCURRICULCURRICULCURRICULCURRICULAR UNIT DESIGN ANDAR UNIT DESIGN ANDAR UNIT DESIGN ANDAR UNIT DESIGN ANDAR UNIT DESIGN ANDIMPLEMENTIMPLEMENTIMPLEMENTIMPLEMENTIMPLEMENTAAAAATIONTIONTIONTIONTION

Based on the curricular platformpreviously described, a curricular unit wasdesigned to develop a specific topic: eatinghabits and food celebrations. The nextsection of the article will account for the unitdesign, implementation and evaluation.


Curricular UnitCurricular UnitCurricular UnitCurricular UnitCurricular Unit

Unit Author

FIRST AND LAST NAME: Aleida Ariza

E – MAIL ADDRESS: [email protected] /[email protected]

INSTITUTION NAME: Universidad Nacional de Colombia

INSTITUTION CITY: Bogotá

Unit Plan Title: Food Time!

Curriculum Framing Questions:

Essential Question: How different or similar are English speaking countries’ eating

habits compared to Colombian ones?

Unit Questions:

• What do people in the class like eating?

• What do people in Britain and the United States normally eat?

• What is the relation between food and a local and an international celebration?

Unit Summary

This unit was concerned with the topic of food habits and the relation of food and

celebration. Students built up new knowledge in terms of some vocabulary and

grammatical structures as well as in social and cultural features based on their

experiences and those experiences narrated by people from English speaking

countries.

Subject Areas

English, Civilization.

Level

Students from English Basic I course registered in the undergraduate English

program (“licenciatura”).

Key Words:

Food, Celebration, Eating habits, Thanksgiving, Meals, Dishes, Eating preferences.

Approximated Time Needed

Ten hours a week, one week.

Previous Knowledge

• Ability to express existence (There is /there are)

• Ability to describe objects (is/ are /have got / has got)

• Reading skills (skimming /scanning to a certain extent)

Unit Overview

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○146


Materials and ResourMaterials and ResourMaterials and ResourMaterials and ResourMaterials and Resources Required for the Unitces Required for the Unitces Required for the Unitces Required for the Unitces Required for the Unit·• Food cards.• Video (Interchange Pre-intermediate chapter 8 video)·• Video player.• Two texts related to food habits in English speaking countries.

TTTTTararararargeted University Fgeted University Fgeted University Fgeted University Fgeted University FrameworkrameworkrameworkrameworkrameworkThe following English Basic I course program standards were taken into account:• Picks out main ideas and key words in familiar material.• Comprehends the gist of the message with adequate competence and confidence.• Handles a narrow range of language.• Comprehension of most adapted material and simple authentic texts.• Needs constant repetition and repair.• Responds to simple speech situations in moderate level contexts with limited confidenceand competence.• Presents false starts and hesitations.

GoalsGoalsGoalsGoalsGoals• Students will construct knowledge by relating new information with previous experiences.• Students will interpret phenomena around them through using the target language.• Students will be able to interact with certain accuracy in different daily life, academicand personal situations.• Students will use the vision given by their culture in order to better understand theworld around them and to set a clear position towards the social context which surroundsthem.

Students Objectives / Learning OutcomesStudents Objectives / Learning OutcomesStudents Objectives / Learning OutcomesStudents Objectives / Learning OutcomesStudents Objectives / Learning OutcomesLinguistic:Linguistic:Linguistic:Linguistic:Linguistic:• To review structures already studied such as there is /there are, have got/ has got,simple present : do/wh questions• To get to know and use vocabulary related to food items·• To master quantifiers such as a, an, some, any

CulturalCulturalCulturalCulturalCultural• To acknowledge food habits in Colombian culture• To be aware of cultural differences regarding food habits, specially between Colombiaand two English speaking countries: The United States and Great Britain.

Affective:Affective:Affective:Affective:Affective:• To share information related to personal preferences in terms of food items• To value team work• To acknowledge partner’ skills and the way they can learn from one another


AssessmentAssessmentAssessmentAssessmentAssessmentAssessment was included along diverse tasks within the unit mainly because evaluationshould be continuous and systematic. Students used self, co-evaluation and peerassessment. The teacher also collected students’ sample of the activities developed andgave individual feedback. Samples of the exercises were kept in students’ portfolios asthis means had been used all through the term as an alternative way to evaluate bothstudents’ performance and materials used to meet course aims.

ProceduresProceduresProceduresProceduresProceduresTTTTTask 1 Task 1 Task 1 Task 1 Task 1 Type: Listingype: Listingype: Listingype: Listingype: ListingPretask: The teacher asked students about food items they remembered, wrote them onthe board and showed the group of students a poster with a lot of food elements. Studentswere asked to find out names of food items by predicting, asking each other or by usingtheir dictionaries. The poster was stuck on the wall next to the board.

Task. In groups of three, students were asked to write on a piece of paper as many wordsrelated to food as possible in two minutes depending on the category mentioned by theteacher (fruit, vegetables, beverages, meat, seafood, dairy products, seasoning). Oncetime was over, students counted the number of words written and the member of thegroup with the highest number read aloud their examples. Groups with the same wordcrossed it out. At the end of each category reading, students counted the number ofwords left and added each number to get a total score at the end of the “game”. Whilestudents were reading the written words aloud, the teacher wrote the words on theboard in two different columns: A/An — Some

Post task: Students were asked to look at the way the words they had mentioned hadbeen grouped and to express their own hypothesis about the reason for such classification.The language focus was addressed to testing students’ hypothesis about the use of aaaaa, an an an an anand somesomesomesomesome, related to those food items.

TTTTTask 2 Task 2 Task 2 Task 2 Task 2 Type: Orype: Orype: Orype: Orype: Ordering and Sortingdering and Sortingdering and Sortingdering and Sortingdering and Sorting

1. Students were given flashcards with pictures of varied food items and their names.They had to stand up and look for another person who had item characteristics on a cardthat were similar to his /hers under the criteria given by the teacher (color, size, taste,food category). The teacher asked two students (who may be strong in their languageuse) to model using different questions such us: “Have you got a/an some...?” “Whathave you got?” “I’ve got an apple”. “I’ve got some wine”.

AssessmentAssessmentAssessmentAssessmentAssessmentStudents were asked to evaluate three aspects orally: First, the activities carried out upto this stage. Second, they evaluated the material used and finally –the most important

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○148


one. If objectives were achieved (to have a reflective look at their own learning process).The most relevant comments on these aspects were written down and kept in theirportfolios. Having the space for assessment at this stage of the curricular unit gave methe opportunity to make informed decisions about the process and reorient the teaching– learning process.

TTTTTask 3. Task 3. Task 3. Task 3. Task 3. Type: Listing, Sharing Pype: Listing, Sharing Pype: Listing, Sharing Pype: Listing, Sharing Pype: Listing, Sharing Personal Experience, Comparingersonal Experience, Comparingersonal Experience, Comparingersonal Experience, Comparingersonal Experience, Comparing

1. In a whole class arrangement, students brainstormed about their eating preferenceswhen asked about giving the first idea that came to their minds to the questions: “Whichtype of food do you like the most?” “What kind of food do you dislike?”2. Students received a chart (see appendix 1) “Food I like... Food I dislike”. They filledout the first column by writing five things they liked in relation to the topic. In thesecond stage of this task students constructed the appropriate questions, stood up andfound someone to fill out the rest of the chart by searching, through questions, forpeople in the classroom who liked and disliked the same type of food.3. Criteria for preparing and assessing the oral account on the information gathered areset in a process of negotiation and construction with students.

TTTTTask 4 Task 4 Task 4 Task 4 Task 4 Type: Skimming / Scanningype: Skimming / Scanningype: Skimming / Scanningype: Skimming / Scanningype: Skimming / Scanning

PretaskPretaskPretaskPretaskPretask: In the session before, I asked students to search for information about eatinghabits in both The United States and Great Britain along with visual support on theirfindings. Students formed groups of three and exchanged some information they found,then everybody changed groups until they had been part of three different groups.Afterwards, students shared what they had learned through these dynamics in a plenarysession.

TTTTTask:ask:ask:ask:ask: Half the students were given the reading “Meals in Britain” taken from HeadwayElementary on page 66. The other half received the text “Food in America” taken fromContact USA on page 52. They were asked to read silently, and to deduce the meaningof new words using the context as a first strategy, then to try a second option (using adictionary, asking a partner, asking the teacher).

Students reading the first article were asked to read again in order to match thephotographs with the appropriate paragraph and, in pairs, to prepare three comprehensionquestions for the reading. They gave the small questionnaire to the teacher.

At the same time the other half of the course followed the same process with theirreading but the mini-task was to write a subheading for each paragraph according to themost relevant piece of information given in each of them. Later students were asked toprepare a small reading comprehension questionnaire based on the text in pairs. Oncethey had finished, their pieces of work were given to the teacher.


Every student looked for a partner who had read the opposite article and gave a concreteoral account, guided by the questionnaires and paragraph headings they had elaboratedpreviously, of the main aspects tackled in the text. In a whole class session studentsdiscussed eating habits in the USA and Great Britain, establishing similarities anddifferences and what those implied in terms of cultural values. The teacher shared withstudents some of the anecdotes that she experienced while living in The United Kingdomwhen she was part of a teacher assistantship in 2000 – 2001. Students were asked tobrainstorm by writing extra questions they wanted to ask on this topic for the followingsession. A guess speaker was invited to the class for a fifteen-minute period. He was anEnglish citizen named Neil Alexander who was teaching at the university as part of anassistantship program in Colombia. Students used their notes from the brainstorm activitycarried out during the session before in order to ask about any interesting aspect relatedto food habits of the native speaker.

AssessmentAssessmentAssessmentAssessmentAssessmentClassroom-based assessment was carried out taking into account both sources ofinformation, notes taken by me during student performance of the activities and students’self-written evaluation, guided by the following heading given by the teacher: What Idid... what I learned... working in pairs was...What I liked and disliked the most was...

TTTTTask 5 Task 5 Task 5 Task 5 Task 5 Type: Prype: Prype: Prype: Prype: Problem Solvingoblem Solvingoblem Solvingoblem Solvingoblem Solving

Pretask: Pretask: Pretask: Pretask: Pretask: Students brainstormed on various types of food from different places aroundthe world.

TTTTTask: ask: ask: ask: ask: Students were given a copy of an activity adapted from New Headway Elementary(see appendix 2) in which five pictures of dishes are shown. Students made predictionsabout the countries those dishes were from. They took notes while listening to a tape inwhich five native English speakers talked about their favorite dishes. They listened tothe tape for a second time and completed the chart. They needed to complete informationunder the headings: Name of the Speaker, Favorite Dish and Additional Information.

PPPPPost task: ost task: ost task: ost task: ost task: Students selected a partner to compare their notes with so they could bothcomment and complement the information. The teacher displayed an empty model ofthe same chart on the board and volunteers were required to fill the chart out. Throughguided questions the teacher led students to the identification of new vocabulary andthe way it supported the topic being developed all through the curricular unit

AssessmentAssessmentAssessmentAssessmentAssessmentStudents wrote their comments on a sheet of paper to evaluate their performance duringthe task in terms of quantity (how much information was written individually), and quality(how accurate the listening task was). The piece of paper was collected along with the

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○150


chart and individual written feedback was given. In order to give students space to reflectupon the task and its performance, students sat in a “U” shape and the teacher askedthem to evaluate the activity as a group. Some of the criteria given to do so includeddegree of difficulty, information interest degree, pair work dynamics, and self-evaluation.

TTTTTasks 6 Tasks 6 Tasks 6 Tasks 6 Tasks 6 Type: Listing, Prype: Listing, Prype: Listing, Prype: Listing, Prype: Listing, Problem Solvingoblem Solvingoblem Solvingoblem Solvingoblem Solving

PretaskPretaskPretaskPretaskPretask: The teacher distributed pieces of paper with words related to Thanksgiving onthem. When every student got his/her card, they stood up and read to as many membersof the class as possible the words written on the cards in two minutes. Then, studentswere given five minutes to tell two partners as many words or expressions he/sheremembered, so that they exchanged information collectively. In a whole class arrangementstudents were asked to predict what the video was about based on the information sharedbefore. Students’ predictions were written on the board.

TTTTTask: ask: ask: ask: ask: Students received the video guide titled “THANKSGIVING!” taken fromInterchange, Pre-intermediate Video Book (see appendix 3) and followed the procedureexplained in it and mentioned below.

Before YBefore YBefore YBefore YBefore You Wou Wou Wou Wou Watchatchatchatchatch• Read the two short texts related to cultural aspects in the United States.• Is there a similar celebration in Colombia? Which date is it?• Look at the vocabulary and put the words given in the appropriate place on the chart.

While YWhile YWhile YWhile YWhile You Wou Wou Wou Wou Watchatchatchatchatch• Watch the first part of the video and complete the chart on the board with moreinformation.• Students are asked to watch the first part of the video and answer some questions veryclearly.• Students watch the second section of the video and tick the food product based onpictures of the people who took part in a survey applied in the U.S.A.• Participants watch the last part of the video and complete some sentences related tountraditional food.

AAAAAfter Yfter Yfter Yfter Yfter You Wou Wou Wou Wou WatchatchatchatchatchStudents were asked to think about a special holiday in our country and share theirinformation with a different partner. They had to talk about types of food in those holidaysand the way they were related to the celebrations.

Assessment:Assessment:Assessment:Assessment:Assessment:The video guides were collected and individual feedback given. Students were asked toself evaluate the activity under negotiated criteria: importance, pertinence, interest level,positive aspects, negative aspects, and strategies to overcome difficulties.


EVEVEVEVEVALALALALALUAUAUAUAUATIONTIONTIONTIONTIONOF THE CURRICULOF THE CURRICULOF THE CURRICULOF THE CURRICULOF THE CURRICULAR UNITAR UNITAR UNITAR UNITAR UNIT

• The current curricular unit wasperceived as very complete by studentseven though some of the activities couldnot be carried out due to time constraints.

• All the objectives proposed wereachieved in terms of language (regardingcooperative work as well as the culturalones).

• Acknowledging students’ previousknowledge proved to be a very useful partof both the curricular platform and thecurricular unit. Students felt moreconfident when they could tackle a newaspect of English using what they hadalready mastered and had practiced withalong the term.

• Learning by doing is a key feature inthis unit. Students enjoyed the activitiesin which they could participate actively.Having students competing against eachother proved to be an effective tool in termsof motivation and quality in students’production.

• A strength in this curricular unit and,at the same time, a reflection of thecurricular platform, is the variety ofcommunicative tasks which involved thefour communicative abilities: listening,speaking, reading (not only texts, butpictures and images) and writing. Abilitieslike ordering, listing, and guessing, amongothers, were also present.

• A drawback observed in the unit byboth students and the teacher was the designof too many tasks for the period of time set.Students felt they were “in a hurry” most ofthe time and that pressure affected somestudents’ pace of learning. This limitationcan be overcome when implementing theunit again by means of selecting the bestand most complete tasks and adjusting theunit to the time needed to develop it.

CONCLCONCLCONCLCONCLCONCLUSIONSUSIONSUSIONSUSIONSUSIONS

Working within the framework ofcurricular units proved to be very beneficialas I could bridge the gap between what wasproposed by the curriculum and what wasneeded by students. It is worth mentioningthat decisions made to build the curricularunit were based on the principles underlyingthe syllabus for the course as well as onstudents’ needs in terms of language andcultural knowledge.

The curricular unit designed encouragedstudents to value their own culture in variousaspects such as eating habits and festivities.Students were able to reflect upon differentcultural expressions in our society whilegetting to know cultural aspects of the targetlanguage communities.

As pointed out by the constructivisttheory, students recreated the knowledgethey had based on their experiences andcompared it to the new information workedon in the curricular unit. I consider thisprocess a very enriching one in terms oflanguage learning and cultural awareness.Likewise, the task-based framework

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○152


encouraged students to use the targetlanguage for a communicative purpose inorder to achieve a specific product. Thus,students faced diverse types of tasks whichmoved them to use English in purposefulactivities.


Abraham, P. and Mackey, D. (1989). ContactU.S.A. Reading and vocabulary book. NewJersey: Prentice Hall, Inc.

Brown, D. (1995). The Elements of languagecurriculum. Boston: Heinle & Heinle Publishers.

Morison, D. (1997). Reviews andCommentaries Section. Retrieved April 2003,from http://www.scientificamerican.com/1997issue/1997review1.html

Posner, G. (1998). Models of CurriculumPlanning. In Beyer, L. and Apple, M., TheCurriculum: Problems, Politics and Possibilities.Albany: State University of New York Press, 79-100.

Richards, J. (1996). New Interchange. VideoActivity Book 2. Cambridge: CambridgeUniversity Press.

Rooney, K. (2001). Redesigning Non-Task-Based Material to Fit a Task-Based Framework.Retrieved December 2002, from http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Rooney-Task-Based.html

Schütz, R. (2002). Vygotsky and LanguageAcquisition. Retrieved May 2002, from http://www.sk.com.br/sk-vygot.html

Soars, Liz and Soars, John. (1993). HeadwayElementary. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Soars, Liz and Soars, John. (2000). NewHeadway Elementary. Oxford: Oxford UniversityPress.

Willis, J. (1996). A framework for task-basedlearning. Essex: Addison Wesley LongmanLimited.

Wolffe, R. J., and McMullen, D.W. (1996).The Constructivist Connection: Linking theory,best practice and technology. Retrieved April2003, from ERIC Clearinghouse on Teachingand Teacher Education, Washington DC.


APPENDIX 1: FOOD I LIKE... FOOD I DISLIKEAPPENDIX 1: FOOD I LIKE... FOOD I DISLIKEAPPENDIX 1: FOOD I LIKE... FOOD I DISLIKEAPPENDIX 1: FOOD I LIKE... FOOD I DISLIKEAPPENDIX 1: FOOD I LIKE... FOOD I DISLIKE

I LIKE I DISLIKE FIND SOMEONE WHO HAS THE SAME TASTE

SPECIFIC INFORMATION

I like chicken

I don’t like spinach Do you like

chicken?

How do you like it?

Carolina C. roasted

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○154


APPENDIX 2: TAPPENDIX 2: TAPPENDIX 2: TAPPENDIX 2: TAPPENDIX 2: TASK 5: FOOD ROUND THE WORLDASK 5: FOOD ROUND THE WORLDASK 5: FOOD ROUND THE WORLDASK 5: FOOD ROUND THE WORLDASK 5: FOOD ROUND THE WORLD

1. Look at the picture of food below. Where is each dish from? Which do you like?

Pictures taken from New Headway Elementary, p. 72

2. Listen to the tape in which five native speakers talk about their favorite dishes. Takenotes.

TTTTTapescript:apescript:apescript:apescript:apescript:

Marian:Marian:Marian:Marian:Marian:Well, I love vegetables, all vegetables - I eat meat too – but not much. I think this is why

I like Chinese food so much. There are lots of vegetables in Chinese food. Yes, Chinese is myfavourite food. I like the noodles too. Can you eat with chopsticks? I can!

Graham:Graham:Graham:Graham:Graham:Now in my job, I travel the world, and I like all kinds of food...but my favourite, my

favourite is... er ... I always have it as soon as I come home... Is a full English breakfast.Bacon, eggs, sausage, mushrooms, tomatoes, and of course toast. I love it, not every daybut when I’m at home we have it every Sunday. Mmmm! I’d like it right now- delicious.

Lucy:Lucy:Lucy:Lucy:Lucy:Oh, no question, no problem. I know exactly what my favourite food is. Pasta. All pasta.

Especially spaghetti. Pasta with tomato sauce – and I like it best when I’m in Italy. I went onholiday to the Italian lakes last year. The food was wonderful.

Gavin:Gavin:Gavin:Gavin:Gavin:...er... I’m not sure. No, I know what it is. My... favourite... food is Indian food. Friday

night I like to go to the pub with friends from work and ... have a few beers...er... no, not too


many... and after we always go to an Indian restaurant and I have a chicken curry with rice.It’s the best! I like it more than chips!

Sally:Sally:Sally:Sally:Sally:Well! Shhh! But my very, very favourite food is chocolate. Chocolate anything, I love it.

Chocolate ice-cream, chocolate biscuits, chocolate cake, but especially just a big bar ofchocolate, Mmmmm! Terrible, isn’t it? Go on! Have some of this! My friend brought it backfrom Switzerland for me!

Tapescript taken from New Headway Elementary, p. 120.

3. Listen to the tape for the second time and complete the following chart.

4. Talk to a partner and swap information so you can finish completing your chart.

No. NAME OF THE PERSON

FAVOURITE FOOD

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

1

2

3

4

5

Marian

Graham

Lucy

Gavin

Sally

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○156


APPENDIX 3: THANKSGIVING!APPENDIX 3: THANKSGIVING!APPENDIX 3: THANKSGIVING!APPENDIX 3: THANKSGIVING!APPENDIX 3: THANKSGIVING!

Before YBefore YBefore YBefore YBefore You Wou Wou Wou Wou Watchatchatchatchatch

1. Culture

Read the following text and comment on it with a partner.

On the fourth Thursday in November, people in the UnitedStates celebrate Thanksgiving. They get together with familyand friends, share a special meal, and “give thanks” for whatthey have. The tradition goes back to 1620, when the firstgroup of Europeans, called Pilgrims, settled in North America.The Pilgrims didn’t know how to grow crops in the NewWorld, so the Native Americans helped them. Later, theycelebrated the good harvest with a special meal. Today onThanksgiving Day, families and friends do the very same thing.

Text taken from Interchange Pre-intermediate p. 30, unit 8

Is there a similar holiday in our country? Comment on it.

2. Vocabulary

• Look at the chart below. What is “main dish”, “side dish” and “dessert”?Can you give examples of them?

• Complete the chart with the dish names shown in the pictures.

MAIN DISHES SIDE DISHES DESSERTS

Activity adapted from Interchange Pre-intermediate p. 30, unit 8

Pictures taken from Interchange Pre-intermediate p. 30, unit 8


While YWhile YWhile YWhile YWhile You watchou watchou watchou watchou watch1. Finish completing the chart above while you watch the whole video.2. Look at the first section of the video and answer the questions below individually:• How did Native Americans help the Pilgrims?• Where is the best place to find people getting ready for this holiday celebration?• Who do people usually invite for this celebration?3. What do these people eat on Thanksgiving? Tick on the right square.

Chart taken from Interchange Pre-intermediate p. 31, unit 8

4. Untraditional Food!

Some people have different types of food to eat on Thanksgiving which are not consideredtraditional. Watch this section of the video and complete the sentences below.

• Sopa is ___________________ in a ________________ and garlic sauce.It has carrots, _______________, corn, and sometimes _______________ in it.

• Greens is a tradition from the _____________________.• Dirty rice is __________________ mixed with rice. Exercise taken from Interchange Pre-intermediate p. 31, unit 8

Compare you answers with a partner’s and complement your exercise.

After You watch

Think about a special holiday in our country and discuss with a partner the type of foodeaten and its importance in the celebration. Write down some of the information from thediscussion you consider valuable.

This article was received on May 10th, 2004 and accepted on august 23rd, 2004.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○158


The Hidden CurriculumEl currículo oculto

AmparAmparAmparAmparAmparo Onatrao Onatrao Onatrao Onatrao Onatra*[email protected]

Mireya PMireya PMireya PMireya PMireya Peñaeñaeñaeñaeña**[email protected]

Institución Educativa Distrital Francisco de Paula Santander

This article shows the way hidden curriculum goes farther than just beingthe conscious and unconscious setting within the formal instruction context. Italso shapes students personality and assigns to each individual the role theyare supposed to play in society. In this process, interaction with the teacher iscrucial since he/she is the one who directly moulds and cultivates the singularityof students according to the specific demands of the social class to which theybelong. This phenomenon is well described in research conducted by Jane Anyon(1980) which is referred to in this paper as an example of the influence of thehidden curriculum on school life.

KKKKKey worey worey worey worey wordsdsdsdsds: Hidden Curriculum, Unconscious Setting, Teacher’s Role,Singularity, Society

Este artículo muestra cómo el currículo oculto va más allá de ser simplementeel escenario consciente e inconsciente en el que se desarrolla la instrucciónformal. El currículo oculto define la personalidad del estudiante y asigna a cadauno el papel que se supone debe ocupar en la sociedad. En este proceso, lainteracción directa con el docente es decisiva ya que es éste quien directamentemoldea y cultiva la singularidad de los estudiantes según las exigenciasespecíficas de la clase social a la que pertenecen. Dicho fenómeno se describe

*Amparo OnatraAmparo OnatraAmparo OnatraAmparo OnatraAmparo Onatra holds a B.A. in Modern Languages from Universidad Distrital and she is currently enrolled in the PFPDPROFILE. She is working at C.E.D. Francisco de Paula Santander, Bosa. She has been a teacher for the District Secretariat ofEducation since 2000 as well as other secondary schools. Since she graduated she has been interested in implementing newtechniques leading to improve her teaching practice and she has received recognition as one the best proposals for the PremioCompartir al maestro 2003.

**Mireya PeñaMireya PeñaMireya PeñaMireya PeñaMireya Peña holds a B.A. in Spanish and Languages from Universidad Pedagógica Nacional. Recipient of the scholarshipby University of New Mexico, U.S.A. All her studies have dealt with foreign language teaching including the current PFPDPROFILE. She teaches English at C.E.D. Francisco de Paula Santander, Bosa. She has worked at different universities in Bogotáfor the last eleven years as teacher of English for in-service/pre-service teachers and other undergraduate professionals.


muy bien en la investigación adelantada por Jane Anyon (1980), a la cual sehace referencia en este escrito, como ejemplo de la influencia del currículooculto en la vida escolar.

Palabras clavesPalabras clavesPalabras clavesPalabras clavesPalabras claves: Currículo Oculto, Escenario Inconsciente, Rol del Docente,Singularidad, Sociedad

It is clear that learning at a school impliesmuch more than the single fact of transferringa bunch of information, and that we teachnot only the things we do but also the oneswe avoid doing. The hidden curriculum isthat set of attitudes which filter the teaching-learning process during everyday lessons aswell as the other activities of school life. Thehidden curriculum implies habitualinteraction with students having academicknowledge as an excuse for showing offlifestyles and social behavior. Hence, one ofthe main ideas behind this concept is thatstudents learn not only from what they arebeing taught through formal instruction butalso, as Jackson (1968, in Seaton, 2002)says, from conscious and unconscioussettings of the learning process.

According to this author, the learningprocess is organized consciously by havingthe school itself as a place separate from thehome, and the classrooms with the teacherstanding at the front and pupils seated inarranged rows, for example. On the otherhand, an unconscious organization refers toindividual teachers interpreting the behaviorof students in class and the expectations thatthey (the teachers) have facing such behavior.

Therefore, it is evident that the hiddencurriculum is a very broad concept thatentails different theoretical viewpointsbecause the socialization process underlying

“education” involves the transmission ofnorms and values as well as a body ofknowledge approved by the society in whichthe school functions.

The hidden curriculum may range fromthe way knowledge is organized in particularsubjects to the way teachers and studentsaddress each other. In this respect theschoolwork suggests characteristics ofeducation in every social setting that hasbeen worth being studied by differentexperts.

As a matter of example, in researchconducted and reported by Jean Anyon(1980), she concluded that “students ofdifferent economic backgrounds are beingprepared to occupy particular ranks on thesocial ladder” and that is thanks to thehidden curriculum that operates in theiracademic life. Of course, while some schoolsfocus on vocational education, others aregeared to produce future doctors, lawyersand business leaders. Anyon describes howin a working-class school the work consistsof following the steps of a procedure. Theprocedure is usually mechanical, involvingvery little decision-making or choice. Theteachers rarely explain how the work mightbe connected to other assignments or whatidea lies behind the procedure. Availabletextbooks are not always used and teachersprepare their own material or put work

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○160


examples on the board. Most of the rulesregarding work prescribe what children areto do. The rules are steps to follow thatstudents copy in their notes and memorizefor further evaluation. Teachers continuallygive orders and control students’ time.Meanwhile, in a middle-class school, workis done by accumulating right answers to geta good grade. Students follow directions forsome figuring or some choice. Answers areusually found in books or the teacher givesthem without leading to controversial topics.Teachers’ decisions are usually based onexternal rules and regulations. Anyon alsoobserved over the same year some schoolsthat she called affluent professional schools,where work is creative and carried outindependently, as well as executive eliteschools, where work is developing one’sanalytical and intellectual powers. Childrenare continually asked to reason through aproblem. A primary goal for them is toconceptualize rules and to prepare for life.This is the only school where the bells donot demarcate periods of time but everybodychanges classes because they had madespecific plans for each session. Children arenot rigidly controlled by teachers but broughtin line by reminding them to controlthemselves as part of their ownresponsibilities. In classrooms children getthe material they need and use it at theirconvenience. Teachers are polite to thechildren but never call them “honey” or“dear” as she observed in other institutions.

We have found the above mentionedsituations as an excellent example toillustrate how complex the hiddencurriculum is and the way it becomes a tacitpreparation for interaction in wider social

contexts. Here we can also deduce thecrucial role that teachers play in the schoolsystem since we are the closest interactorsof our students. We could say that there islike a “ghost” dialogue, which directs theintention of the adults to the young learnersmodeling their personality.

Dealing with the development ofpersonality in our public schools in Bogotá,we could summarize the hidden curriculuminto three main aspects: the teacher’sattitude as possessor of knowledge, theteacher’s attitude as possessor of authorityand the teacher’s attitude as possessor ofacceptance and denial by means ofevaluation. That makes our students“marked” or influenced by the objective andsubjective points of view of their tutors.

The previous idea makes the hiddencurriculum responsible for the process thatwe would call “personalization” where weteachers mold the singularity of a pluralpersonality. A defined culture governs ourliving as citizens; that is to say, the pluralpersonality; but regarding that process eachone of our students has his/her own way tolive it; that is the singularity we have tocultivate. As a matter of fact, we do so notonly as professionals of education but alsoas human beings with particular likes, desiresand viewpoints towards life. Unconsciously,we teach them about ways of living duringeveryday interaction.

Going upwards in our school system wewould also have to analyze the samephenomenon on the part of administratorsinfluencing teachers by means of tools suchas the PEI (the school project) and the way it


implies the surveillance of a hiddencurriculum on a great scale. This could beseen as negative or positive depending onthe level of consciousness we had about it.And this conscience makes us socially activecitizens but not always intellectuallycreative because we could just influencenew tendencies from other fields“borrowing” pedagogy. That is the case ofthe so-called competences, which areconcepts officially coined by the businessworld but because of focused economicdemands, they have been assumed by theschool as appropriate criteria for evaluationand assessment.

In consequence, every member of asocial group must be aware of the influencethat s/he exerts on the rest of the community

and therefore must assume her/his roleresponsibly. Hence, we observe thatalthough we do not refer all the time to anexplicit task, it will always leave its fingerprintin our students’ lives.


Anyon, J. (1980). Social class and thehidden curriculum of work. Journal ofEducation. 162, 28- 32.

Seaton, A. (2002). Reforming the hiddencurriculum: The key abilities model and fourcurricular forms, curriculum perspectives.Retrieved March 23, 2004, from OnlineCurriculum Home Page http://online.curriculum.edu.au/mindmatters

This article was received on April 2nd, 2004 and accepted on September 15th, 2004

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○162


Is the Hidden Curriculum a Relevant

Issue in Educational Processes?¿Es el currículo oculto un aspecto importante

en los procesos educativos?

Esther PatarEsther PatarEsther PatarEsther PatarEsther Patarrrrrroyooyooyooyooyo*[email protected]

Juan Carlos DíazJuan Carlos DíazJuan Carlos DíazJuan Carlos DíazJuan Carlos Díaz**[email protected]

Susana BarSusana BarSusana BarSusana BarSusana Barreto de Quinterreto de Quinterreto de Quinterreto de Quinterreto de Quinterooooo***[email protected]

Institución Educativa Distrital Francisco de Miranda, Bogotá

This paper explores some ideas about the hidden curriculum as an amountof ideas and beliefs which are implicit in an indirect way into the scholar life.Those ideas are regarding to gender equality, social status and racial difference,among others.

We consider teachers are able to integrate the hidden curriculum as apedagogical strategy in the classroom. Examples of integration include activitiessuch as observation techniques, role-plays, peer modeling and particularly, theportfolio as a useful tool for reflection which reveals the hidden curriculum.

KKKKKey worey worey worey worey wordsdsdsdsds: Hidden Curriculum, Pedagogical Strategy, Portfolio, ELTProcesses, Stereotypes

Este documento explora algunas ideas acerca del currículo oculto como unasuma de ideas y creencias que están implícitos de una forma indirecta dentrode la vida escolar. Estas ideas están relacionadas con la equidad de género,diferencias sociales y raciales, entre otros.

*Esther Patarroyo Amaya: Esther Patarroyo Amaya: Esther Patarroyo Amaya: Esther Patarroyo Amaya: Esther Patarroyo Amaya: B. Ed. in English and Spanish from the Universidad La Gran Colombia. She has a specializationin Internal Control Strategic Administration from the Universidad Libre.

**Juan Carlos Díaz ParJuan Carlos Díaz ParJuan Carlos Díaz ParJuan Carlos Díaz ParJuan Carlos Díaz Pardododododo: Teacher of English graduated from Universidad Pedagógica Nacional.***Susana Barreto de QuinteroSusana Barreto de QuinteroSusana Barreto de QuinteroSusana Barreto de QuinteroSusana Barreto de Quintero: B.Ed. in Philology and Languages from the Universidad Nacional de Colombia. Specialist

in Applied Linguistics to TEFL at Universidad La Gran Colombia.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○163PROFILE PROFILE PROFILE PROFILE PROFILE Is the Hidden Curriculum a Relevant Issues in Educational Processes?

Consideramos que es posible para los docentes integrar el currículo comoestrategia pedagógica en el aula. Ejemplos de esta integración incluyen técnicasde observación, juegos de roles, modelamiento en parejas y particularmente, elportafolio como herramienta de reflexión que permita hacer evidente el currículooculto.

Palabras claves:Palabras claves:Palabras claves:Palabras claves:Palabras claves: Currículo Oculto, Estrategia Pedagógica, Estereotipos,Enseñanza de Inglés, Portafolio

Many ideas spring up when we, as teachers, talk about curriculum. We think of syllabuses,plans of study, approaches, methodology, evaluation, resources and others. But have you

heard about the hidden curhidden curhidden curhidden curhidden curriculum? riculum? riculum? riculum? riculum? Maybeyou have, maybe not. We want to reflect onsome key ideas concerning this issue.

The hidden curriculum refers to all theactions or situations developed in classunconsciously, not prepared by the teacher;they are the product of myths or assumptionspeople have concerning teaching-learningprocesses. It involves all the teachings whichare presented to students but are notconsciously received by them, students neversee it so they are not aware of it. Haralambos(1991) defines it as consisting of “…thosethings pupils learn through the experienceof attending school rather than the statededucational objectives of such institutions.”

It can be said that some aspects relatedto the “hidden curriculum” are constructiveand positive, but others can be destructiveand negative; that is, some of them helpstudents to learn good and fruitful thingsunconsciously but in other cases, they learnthings or assume wrong attitudes becauseof stereotyped thinking of teachers orsituations concerning school processes.

Here we have some patterns regardingthe English Language Teaching (ELT) hiddencurriculum:

• Learning a new language givescachet and style.

• English is a very strange language;it is very difficult to learn it.

• State school students have moreproblems learning a new language; it is easierfor private school students.

• Teachers cannot ask for textbooksto state school students; they are too poorto buy them.

Taking into account that education is asocialization process, there are some specificsocial aspects highly affected by the hiddencurriculum such as gender equality, socialclasses, racial differences and so on.

Concerning gender equality, the hiddencurriculum generally transmits a lot of ideas,concepts and attitudes that carry out manyimplications on the treatment given to pupilsconsidering their gender differences. Wemention some examples below.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○164

PATARROYO, DÍAZ AND BARRETO PROFILE PROFILE PROFILE PROFILE PROFILE

• Boys are more intelligent than girls.• Girls are supposed to be more

tender and cuter than boys.• Girls deserve better treatment than

boys.• Some sports like soccer are

appropriate only for boys while someactivities like cooking are more appropriatefor girls.

• Some subjects like math are specialfor boys; girls must prefer languages andartistic areas.

• Teachers are more confident withgirls than with boys.

• Girls must behave better than boys.

Considering the powerful influence thehidden curriculum has on students’ learning,the control teachers must exert in theirclassrooms situations is very important.Since teachers cannot ignore the importanceof the hidden curriculum, they must makethe best use of it for the benefit of thestudents.

Firstly, they must look for strategies toimprove this hidden curriculum byaddressing it in a constructive andmeaningful way. After detecting cases orsituations in which the hidden curriculum iscausing a negative influence on students,teachers must change their attitudes orassumptions when trying to better theteaching processes according to each case.They must be more demanding but, at thesame time, have more motivated classes;they must also be tolerant and confident withstudents so that they can be closer to theEnglish teacher, participating dynamicallyand actively.

Moreover, they must make the hiddencurriculum explicit to students; they may usesome observation techniques such as diariesand video recording, among others. Thus,teachers collect experiences from theirclassroom practice and may note whathappens there in an unconscious andunprepared way. Consequently they canimprove or correct situations they considernegative or inappropriate in the teaching-learning process. Other strategies such as roleplaying, peer modelling and teacher modelling,are all good tools for teaching some socialskills that change stereotyped or ambiguousviews about social actions or habits.

Taking into account our own experience,we want to remark here on another tool wecan use in order to address the hiddencurriculum: the portfolio. The portfolio canbe used as an evaluation tool in whichstudents participate directly in the processesdeveloped in class. Students collect all thematerials (guides, support material, quizzes,essays, etc.) used and produced in class,organize them coherently and meaningfully,and, observing their processes and results,make their own reflection about theirstrengths and weaknesses in order to seekimprovement and commitment plans.Besides, they make comments about the classdevelopment and give suggestions orrecommendations whenever necessary. Here,we have a great opportunity to watch“inside” our classroom practice and conductthe “hidden curriculum” in a useful andcorrect way.

In general terms, we consider the hiddencurriculum an issue of great relevance whentalking about teaching-learning processes.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○165PROFILE PROFILE PROFILE PROFILE PROFILE Is the Hidden Curriculum a Relevant Issues in Educational Processes?

A good management of this issue can leadus to better the quality of educational andcultural processes in our schools.


Haralambos (1991). Themes andperspectives. Retrieved April 23, 2004 fromhttp://www.sociology.org.uk/tece1tl1.htm

This article was received on April 1st, 2004 and accepted on September 15th, 2004

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○166


Guidelines for Contributors

OUR PURPOSEOUR PURPOSEOUR PURPOSEOUR PURPOSEOUR PURPOSE

The PROFILE Journal is mainly interested in sharing the results of classroom researchprojects undertaken by primary and secondary school teachers as well as adult teacherswhile taking part in the Professional Development Programmes carried out by the ForeignLanguages Department at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia. It also includes articleswritten by teacher educators and guest teachers willing to disseminate innovations andresearch findings.

SUBMITTING AN ARTICLESUBMITTING AN ARTICLESUBMITTING AN ARTICLESUBMITTING AN ARTICLESUBMITTING AN ARTICLE

To be considered for publication, you should send three print copies of your manuscriptand a magnetic copy. Articles should be sent or brought directly to the journal editor at theUniversidad Nacional in Bogotá.

The manuscript should be saved as a Word document, double-spaced, Times Roman 12,and with margins of at least three centimetres. Do not write your name or biodata in thearticle. Manuscripts should contain an abstract of no more than 120 words and key words.The abstract and the key words should be both in Spanish and English. Likewise, the completebibliographic information for each citation must be included in the list of references, followingthe American Psychological Association (APA) style (see some samples of referencesafterwards).

The length of your article will depend on the topic. Nonetheless, papers cannot exceed25 pages or 8000 words, including the abstract, key words, footnotes, references, and annexes.

One of the requirements to publish articles about teaching or research experiences inwhich subjects have participated is to have a consent form signed by them in order toauthorize the use of the information in the publication. If your article contains informationprovided by participants, please obtain consent forms and send them to the editor togetherwith your manuscript.

Please send the article and the consent forms –if applicable– together with a letter to theeditor specifying: title of the article, the author(s) name(s), institution, address, a shortbiographical statement (biodata) of no more than 50 words per author, and the date orperiod of time when the document was written. Additionally, you should include a statementindicating that your article has not been submitted to another publication and that it hasnot been published elsewhere.


Manuscripts and letters to the editor should be sent to:Departamento de Lenguas Extranjeras - Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Ciudad

Universitaria. Carrera 30 No. 45-03, Bogotá, ColombiaPhone: 57(1) 3165000 Ext. 16780 Fax: 57(1) 3165000 Ext. 16773E-mail: [email protected]


• Footnotes should only be used to clarify ideas, to include further comments or tocall the reader’s attention towards particular aspects.

• Citations and references in the article should follow the APA system.

Jones (1998) compared student performance…

In 1998, Jones compared student performance…

. . . which offered a theoretical backdrop for a number of innovative behaviour modificationapproaches (Skinner, 1969).

Even some psychologists have expressed the fear that “psychology is in danger of losingits status as an independent body of knowledge” (Peele, 1981, p. 807).

• References are included at the end of the document and before annexes.

A book:Cochran-Smith, M. and Lytle, S. L. (1993). Inside Outside. Teacher Research and

Knowledge. New York: Teachers College Press.

Chapter in a book:Harlow, H. F. (1958). Biological and biochemical basis of behavior. In D. C. Spencer

(Ed.), Symposium on interdisciplinary research (pp. 239- 252). Madison: University ofWisconsin Press.

Article:Peele, S. (1981). Reductionism in the psychology of the eighties: Can b iochem i s t r y

eliminate addiction, mental illness, and pain? American Psychologist, 36, 807- 818.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○168


Internet source:When citing anything from the Web, you still use the Basic APA Format for Citing Print

Materials and Media -including author, date, title, and publication information -followed bya Retrieval Statement that tells where and when you found it on the World Wide Web. Theauthor may not be readily apparent. It may be an organization rather than a person.

Massachusetts Department of Education. (2001, June). MassachusettsEnglish Language Curriculum Framework. Retrieved June 12, 2002, from http://

www.doe.mass.edu/frameworks/0601ela.pdf

Shackelford, W. (2000). The six stages of cultural competence. In DiversityCentral — Learning. Retrieved April 16, 2000, from http://www.diversityhotwire.com/

learning/cultural_insights.html

PUBLICPUBLICPUBLICPUBLICPUBLICAAAAATIONTIONTIONTIONTION

If your article is accepted (after having been read by members of the editorial committeeand the advisory board), you should be ready to revise it if necessary. If major changes arerequired, either the article will be returned to you for amending or the edited version will besent to you for approval.

Upon publication, authors will receive three complimentary copies of the issue in whichtheir articles appear.

COPCOPCOPCOPCOPYRIGHTYRIGHTYRIGHTYRIGHTYRIGHT

Any copyrighted articles appearing in the PROFILE Journal are reprinted with thepermission of the copyright owners. These articles may not be reproduced in whole or inpart without written permission of the copyright owners, except as otherwise authorized byapplicable copyright law. Acknowledgements and copyright notices, when necessary, appearwith the articles. If you wish to use the article again in a publication written or edited by you,you may do so provided that its original publication in the PROFILE Journal is acknowledged.

NEXT ISSUENEXT ISSUENEXT ISSUENEXT ISSUENEXT ISSUE

Deadline for contributions for the next edition: April 15, 2005April 15, 2005April 15, 2005April 15, 2005April 15, 2005


Subscriptions

PROFILE is published once a year. New and renewal subscriptions, and requests for sample copies, should be sent to: Departamento de Lenguas Extranjeras - Universidad Nacional de Colombia Ciudad Universitaria. Carrera 30 No. 45-03, Bogotá, Colombia Phone: 57(1) 3165000 Ext. 16780 Fax: 57(1) 3165000 Ext. 16773 E-mail: [email protected]

SUBSCRIPTIONS RATES

Nos. Year Colombia Other countries

1 2000 $10.000 US$24.00 2 2001 $10.000 US$24.00 3 2002 $10.000 US$24.00 4 2003 $12.000 US$25.00 5 2004 $12.000 US$25.00

Payment Information

Payment is required with all orders and subscriptions to Banco Popular (Grupo AVAL) Account number 012-72006-6 Fondo Especial Facultad de Ciencias Humanas. International purchase: money order is required through the Chase Manhattan Bank

SUBSCRIBER’S INFORMATION

Name: ______________________________________________________

Address: ____________________________________

City: ________________________ Country: ________________________

Phone number: ____________ E-mail: _____________________________

Institution name: ______________________________________________

City: ________________________ Country: ________________________

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○170



The PROFILE Journal is an annual publication for teachers of English interested in increasingtheir professional expertise. Starting from the assumption that our professional knowledgeis enriched by different members of our academic community, this journal is mainly concernedwith promoting the publication of articles written by teacher researchers.


The current issue of PROFILE was printedin November, 2004 in Bogotá, D.C.

Bakersignet BT 13 point fontand Adobe PageMaker 7.0 were used

Printed in Colombia

profile_5_2004

Documents

clelia pineda bez

current textbook selected

teachers professional development

explicit teaching condition

implicit teaching condition

foreign language learning

explicit teaching conditions

implicit language acquisition