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APPENDIX I: RESEARCH PROJECT [THE IMPORTANCE OF MUSIC IN L2 ADQUISITION] 29 de Mayo de 2012 2 EVALUACIÓN E INNOVACIÓN DOCENTE E INVESTIGACIÓN EDUCATIVA EN EL ÁMBITO DE LA ESPECIALIDAD DE INGLÉS The importance of music in L2 acquisition Innovation and research project Nora Buey Martínez Silvia Groote Murillo [THE IMPORTANCE OF MUSIC IN L2 ADQUISITION] 29 de Mayo de 2012 3 INDEX INTRODUCTION -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4 JUSTIFICATION --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5 Krashen’s Second Language Hypotheses ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 6 Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7 METHODOLOGY ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8 Aims ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 8 Participants -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 Instruments -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 Surveys ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 Available resources ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10 Procedure -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11 Phase I: Development of the questionnaires. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11 Phase II: Collection of questionnaires and analysis of resources. ------------------------------------------------ 12 Phase III: Analysis of data. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 12 Analysis of the students´ survey --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 12 Analysis of the Teachers´ Survey ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 20 The implementation ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 20 Phase IV: Proposal of teaching resources aimed at improving the learning of English. -------------------- 22 CONCLUSIONS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 24 BIBLIOGRAPHY ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 25 APPENDIX ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 26 Apendix I ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 26 Apendix II --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 28 Apendix III -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 31 Máster Universitario en Profesorado de Educación Secundaria Obligatoria, Bachillerato, Formación Profesional y Enseñanza de Idiomas, Artísticas y Deportivas [THE IMPORTANCE OF MUSIC IN L2 ADQUISITION] 29 de Mayo de 2012 4 INTRODUCTION Music in an essential learning tool because it is part of our identity, it also supports us in the development and practice of listening skill, pronunciation, and vocabulary acquisition. Since an early age we identify words and objects through the songs, so it is assumed that this process can be applied to the education and to the learning of a foreign language, in this case English. Since the moment we are born we listen, we transmit and feel through musical manifestation. We hear the singing of birds, lullabies sung by our mothers and thus music becomes in a universal and transcendental language in our lives. Using music extensive information music is also acquired from the social and historical context of the language. It is also regarded as a vehicle of the language, because it offers opportunities to practice areas which are difficult for some students, areas or features supra-segmental of communication, such as rhythm and intonation, and of course it is an important source of vocabulary. Therefore, music supports the content for the learning of language and the language learning process. Musical ability is recognized as the one of the seven forms of intelligence, although all of them occupy similar space on the brain and equal importance in the development of the global intelligence. Gardner (1993). Songs are not correctly used in the classroom, that is to say they do not just create a friendly and communicative used atmosphere among the students, they should offer much more in practice. They offer an emersion in the culture, especially through the stories and myths from other societies, in this case from English speaking comunity. According to Oller (1993) "teachers should be more innovative and creative, and they must use a wide variety of activities to strengthen, enable and motivate students to learn.” [THE IMPORTANCE OF MUSIC IN L2 ADQUISITION] 29 de Mayo de 2012 5 JUSTIFICATION The reason why we chose this subject for a project is that we consider the music to be a central aspect of language learning acquisition. That is to say we consider music to be central to create relaxed, interactive and dynamic environment in which students will gain confidence and fluency in the English-speaking. From our point of view, we believe that songs stimulate a natural accumulation of vocabulary that students will be able to use in real life situations. This project describes the theoretical and practical reasons for using music on a weekly or daily basis in the teaching of foreign languages. To this end, we decided to implement this project in the state high school “Miguel de Molinos”. The experimental group chosen to carry out the project has been 14 students of 2nd year of ESO who belong to the bilingual program at the center was set up. The bilingual program regulated by the British Council tries to instill their culture in the students helping them by understand their artistic manifestations. During the period of our teaching practices we could collaborate with them in the Irish cultural week checking the effectiveness of the music. For example we used songs such as "Molly Malone" and "Whiskey in the jar" immersed in a context, to help students to develop the four basic skills and also to learn more about Irish culture. [THE IMPORTANCE OF MUSIC IN L2 ADQUISITION] 29 de Mayo de 2012 6 Krashen’s Second Language Hypotheses Following the “Nativist Tradition” of Noam Chomsky (1965), which say that all human beings are born with the predisposition to acquire a language. Krashen developed his five hypotheses, being the best known of which are referred to as the “Input” and “Affective filter” hypotheses. According to Krashen’s Input Hypothesis, new, unfamiliar vocabulary is acquired when its meaning in a contact is made clear to the learner. Meaning is transmitted with the help illustrations, actions, photos and realia. Krashen refers to "comprehensible input" when the linguistic input is made comprehensible to the second language learner. Krashen says that the amount of comprehensible input is proportional to the amount of vocabulary acquired. Thus, according to Krashen (1989), vocabulary is incidentally acquired through stories because familiar vocabulary and syntax contained in the stories provide meaning to less familiar vocabulary, and picture illustrations clarify the meaning of unfamiliar words. There is evidence that picture illustrations succeed at supporting the reading process clarifying the meaning of incoming verbal information (Hudson, 1982; Omaggio, 1979; Mueller, 1980; Bradsford and Johnson, 1972). In short, meaning is critical to the acquisition of second language vocabulary. The use of music in the second language classroom is consistent with both of Krashen’s hypotheses. When second language learners hear “story songs”, that is stories which have been set to music, it is possible to assimilate and acquire vocabulary. As in the case of orally-read stories, story songs which are presented with picture illustrations, photos or gestures provide the necessary extra linguistic support which results in language acquisition. Furthermore, because of the positive effects which music has upon second language learners, story songs may motivate and captivate the attention of second language learners in ways that oral stories cannot. Krashen’s second hypothesis, the “Affective Filter hypothesis,” also refers to the use of music in the second language classroom. According to this hypothesis, the extent to which linguistic input is received from the environment depends largely upon the learner’s “affect”, that is his inner feelings and attitude. Negative emotions, functioning much like a filter, can prevent the learner from making total use of the linguistic input from his environment. Therefore, if he is anxious, unmotivated, or simply lacks [THE IMPORTANCE OF MUSIC IN L2 ADQUISITION] 29 de Mayo de 2012 7 confidence, language acquisition will be limited. Therefore, a positive mental attitude has to be present in the interest of the second language teacher to provide an environment which evokes positive emotions. Music does precisely that. Whether learners simply listen to instrumental music, vocals in the target language, or sing in unison, it is a pleasurable experience. Furthermore, as reported in the literature, singing songs in unison produces a sense of community and increases student confidence when speaking the second language. In others words, music lowers the “affective filter” and brings about language acquisition. Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences The use of music in the second language classroom is supported by the work of still another theorist, Howard Gardner (1993). According to this psychologist, there exist eight distinct types of intelligence: musical, spatial, logical, linguistic (verbal), logicalmathematical, bodily-kinesthetic (movement), interpersonal (understanding others) and intrapersonal (understanding self) and naturalist (observing and understanding natural and human-made patterns and systems). Brain research supports the notion that these distinct abilities appear to be independent of one another. That is, patients experiencing difficulties in one location in the brain do not generally experience problems in other areas. To him, all humans are born with a propensity to excel in all of these areas, yet their ability to bring these up to date is largely dependent upon the influences of culture, motivation level and experiences (1998). As a result, most individuals tend to excel in only one or two of these areas. There are several implications for educators. First, Gardner believes that it is the responsibility of educational institutions to cultivate these intelligences. Also, educators need to be reminded that historically schools have focused on the development of only two of these intelligences: linguistic and logical/mathematical skills. Such a perspective is narrow since humans possess a greater number of intelligences, According to Gardner, given this, schools need to acknowledge and foster a broader range of intelligences. Therefore, teachers need to instruct in ways that tap a wide variety of intelligences. Although it is impossible to tap all intelligences at all times, teachers need to incorporate a variety of strategies. Using music as a vehicle for second language learning is consistent with Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences. Music [THE IMPORTANCE OF MUSIC IN L2 ADQUISITION] 29 de Mayo de 2012 8 can be used in any number of ways to instruct the second language to second language learners. Students may listen to instrumental background music while writing an essay. To elicit verbal responses, students may be asked to listen to classical or jazz music. In order to acquire new vocabulary, students may listen to a song that tells a story while the teacher points to picture, illustrations of key vocabulary words. Students may learn to sing songs with lyrics containing key target language structures. Clearly, there are numerous ways in which music can be used to instruct the second language, so students will also cultivate the musical intelligence which Gardner speaks of. Furthermore, those students who have superior musical intelligence will benefit ever more. METHODOLOGY The following study has been based on our observation and the results which we have obtained during Practicum II and III at the State High School Miguel de Molinos, with a group in the second year of ESO. Aims Our proposed objectives are:  To promote the use of and production of music as a tool of encouragement and motivation in the development of the skills in English.  To offer a tutorial on the correct use of music as a tool in the English classroom.  To analyze the uses of music in the educational of our case study the High School.  To show the development of the learning strategies as a result of our experience.  To demonstrate the degree of influence and effectiveness of music in the English learning process. [THE IMPORTANCE OF MUSIC IN L2 ADQUISITION] 29 de Mayo de 2012 9 Participants Before starting our project, we considered it important to know the context in which we were going to put into practice our reaching method. As we said before, the subjects of our study have been supposedly bilingual students in the second year of ESO. This bilingual program is regulated by the British Council. We should say that these students came from a bilingual Primary School called Jose Antonio Labordeta. We could see that the bilingual classes were dynamic, distended and also entertaining because the teacher used a great variety of strategies such as reading books and preparing different cultural events like Saint Patrick´s day, etc It is important to say that they have a Native English language assistant who collaborated in the practical teaching of the language so the level of these students corresponded to an intermediate level. For all these reasons we decided to work with them. Instruments Music is something easily accessible, for this reason, we decided to plan some activities with songs taking advantage of the audio provided by the High School. Since the implementation of the program web 2.0, we have been able to use the digital board and also the radio cassette, internet, tablet pc for students, etc. These resources have favoured the use of the ICT. Surveys We have also conducted some surveys to find out the interests of our students, because we consider it very important to motivate/ captivate their interest in the activities. These surveys [see Apendix1] show their interests and also their habits with regard to music. The questions which appear in them were selected mainly in order to answer the following questions: [THE IMPORTANCE OF MUSIC IN L2 ADQUISITION] 29 de Mayo de 2012 16 The results in the first part of the survey demonstrated that students like working with music, in the second part we can see that songs are not worked enough in English lessons. For this reason, we found interesting to evaluate aspects such as: they like to learn through games, therefore we will try to promote the use of them in the implementation of our project as well as visual supports to complement their learning. The results reveal that students are supporters of innovation and not traditional methods. It will be an advantage to work with a small group because we can carry out some groups activities, so the cooperative learning will be present in the development of this research. The motivation to study English among these students is promoted by several reasons. They consider English as a useful tool to their future, so using songs in their learning process provide them real contexts which do not appear in text books. [THE IMPORTANCE OF MUSIC IN L2 ADQUISITION] 29 de Mayo de 2012 17 The students always preferred to have clear constructions about what to do. Therefore, one of our goals was be precise with our instructions. Students do not like learning alone, as far as possible we avoided this. We promoted tasks in small groups or pairs. The fact that we carried out this type of activity made tasks easier, because, by not working alone, the students always had a peer who could help them. It is important to take into account the relative learning speeds of the students in the activity groups. An effective way to make groups would be to use the following chart which was established by Spencer Kagan (1990). He proposed that group work should be done in groups with mixed learning speeds. The following table shows how a group of four can be made up. Similarly, different combinations are possible for pairs (horizontal groupsavoiding the low and high level combination) Low Middle low Middle high High [THE IMPORTANCE OF MUSIC IN L2 ADQUISITION] 29 de Mayo de 2012 18 19 Finally we focus our questionnaire on learning and how our students like to acquire their knowledge. First it is important to say that this was an active and eager group, so there was good participation and interaction. They preferred to learn new vocabulary with visual supports as well as by reading and listening. Therefore, new vocabulary or structures were noted down in their notebooks after hearing to consolidate the learning process and make the words easier to remember in the long term. We have the view that music will improve their pronunciation as well as their knowledge of many other areas such as vocabulary, grammar, etc. This questionnaire demonstrates that students like music, something which promotes foreign language acquisition. Therefore we provided material for the students to be able to work at home in a playful way. This avoided the dangers of the passive listener. In conclusion, this questionnaire has been our main source of information to know the reality about the importance of music for the children and how this can be used to help them to learn English. 20 Analysis of the Teachers´ Survey Our main goal is to know: how, when and why music is used in classroom. -Do they consider it useful or not to use music in the acquisition of a second language? Most teachers consider that songs are very useful in the acquisition of the English language and they use them in class in a timely way. They argue that songs are useful to develop the student ear, to learn new vocabulary and to review grammar, because music brings the students in contact with colloquial English and some songs provide relaxation and awaken the students to the taste for English. It is a different method of learning. Following this point, we will show you the reasons why teachers consider songs as a useful resource. The main abilities to pronounce well and the ability to learn new vocabulary quickly are improved with the use of the songs in the learning process. On the other hand, sub-skills such as intonation, correct use of grammatical structures and speaking are also present. These teachers expressed that the activities carried out are usually “fill in the gaps” or reorder the sentences. Rarely, they used an integrative group technique. The modern Integrative method in Education means that language learning in school happens at the same time as the development of other abilities, such as creativity and individual investigation. One example of the integrative approach is the integration of language learning with musical appreciation development. Phase IV: Implementation of the project. The implementation Through our observation and experience we can say these students are not used to working with songs in class, so we think that it is better to begin to work with songs from an earlier age. We did some activities with songs which they like, so they were motivated and participative. After finding out their favorite singers and types of music, we followed the three steps established by Lems (1996) y Poppeton (2001) to choose the songs: 1- The lyrics of the songs have to be clear and heard clearly. 2- The semantics of the song must be appropriate to the level of students. 3- The songs have to be reviewed to avoid controversial contents. 21 However, as we said before, an essential criterion which has to be in mind before selecting a song is the aim didactic purpose of the lesson. There are many reasons for using a song as a resource in the second language class such as: - To provide a variety of worked skills: (listening, reading, writing and speaking). A song allows you to work the four basic skills in two stages. The first stage develops the listening and reading skill when you are hearing and listening the song, and in the second stage the students can produce oral or written outputs. - Exposition to English phonetics: (pronunciation, stress, rhythm, rhyme). One of the most difficult things about this foreign language is the difference between the pronunciation and spelling so using songs you can work on it. - Learning about grammatical and lexical points: a positive aspect about using songs is that you can see the grammatical points learned in class in a real context. Moreover, the students can learn colloquial expressions which do not appear in the textbooks. - Introduction to socio-cultural and educative aspects: using songs, teachers can promote educational values. - Translation technique: some teachers do not agree with this technique in the leaning process, however in some moments it is beneficial for the students because they can see the difference between their mother tongue and the second language reflecting on their differences and resemblances to reinforce the second language. - Adequate atmosphere: working with songs allows the students to be relaxed and at the same time motivated. As we said before, we carried out some activities taking into account the information we got from the questionnaires. Some of this activities were individual (“why don´t you continue?”, “fill in the gaps” and “order the song”) and some were in groups (comic strips and debate club). The group activities had better results than the individual ones. In general the students were very participative in all the activities because all of them loved the songs we used. In the next chapter we will explain the development of some of these activities. 22 In short, the most important reasons for using songs in the second language acquisition are the following: to motivate and create interest in the students in the English language and to teach a foreign language in a funny and interesting way. Phase IV: Proposal of teaching resources aimed at improving the learning of English. Using music in the classroom is an effective way for teachers to achieve successful learning with L2 learners. In this chapter we propose some activities to carry out in L2 lessons using music. These activities are not the typical activities such as “fill in the gaps” or “correct the mistakes”. Students will be more involved in the activities and individually responsible for their learning. There are lots of activities to carry out with our students, it is only necessary to be creative and take into account their interests. Some of them are detailed below: - Does it really rhyme? In this activity, students have to look for words in order to make rhymes, so they can use all the vocabulary they know. - Comic strips: story songs can be used to promote cooperative learning. In this kind of activity students are divided into groups and the song is divided into strips. Each one has to represent a part of the song. They can to the story or change it. It is important to select the song carefully, being sure that students understand it. We did this activity with our students. The song we used was Imagine, The Beatles. They enjoyed performing this song so much. Before the performance, we were working on the vocabulary so that the students could understand the story of the song. - Debate club: it is possible to create a debate among out students, so we can use a song to introduce and talk about topics. We used a song by Coldplay in order to talk about the story of the group. They were very motivated and participative because they liked this group. - “Why don´t you continue?” We can carry out this activity giving them a song with some sentences deleted and they have to complete them through listening or they can complete them as they want. This activity was carried out with a song by Bruno Mars. They could use their vocabulary and grammar structures to complete the song. It allowed them to use their knowledge and imagination. - It is also possible to carry out some projects with the whole class. For instance you can divide the class in small groups. Each group has to choose a song and work on in order to prepare an activity to be carried out by classmates. 23 Activities have to be adapted to the level of the students, so you can include reinforcement of the vocabulary in order to make it easier for low levels. You don´t need to include them if the level is higher. You can also use visual supports such as photos, videos, realia, etc to promote a better understanding. To sum up, it is important to know the context where you are teaching to achieve successful results. 24 CONCLUSIONS The conclusions we have achieved in relation with our work research and its implementation are the following: - Songs are useful tools to develop the basic skills - Songs can connect the students with real contents - Students can learn quickly in a familiar environment - It is important to work on the songs properly in order to achieve successful results - Teachers should receive more training about how to work with music. 25 BIBLIOGRAPHY  Bernal Agudo, J.L. (2006): Comprender nuestros retos educativos. Zaragoza, Mira editores.  High. S (1997): An introduction to teaching English to Children, London. Richmond  M. Olivera, C. Myers, G. Morales, R. Norris T. Morton. (2000): Aspectos didácticos de inglés 7. Zaragoza, ICE.  M. Grenfell, S. Thornbury, A. Mª Artigas, C. Pérez-Llantada.(2002): Aspectos didácticos de inglés 7. Zaragoza, ICE.  Rodríguez Viñas, J.L. (): Los recursos didácticos en la programación de aula. (Año desconocido) . Zaragoza, Fundación investigación y futuro.  MasterKey english. MasterKey english. [Online] 2010 . [Cited: 2 Abril 2012.] http://www.masterkeyenglish.com/blog/.  Adelina Leal Olivia; Pablo Sánchez Rodríguez. 2010. Revista digital: Innovación y experiencias educativas. [Online] Granada, Febrero 2010. [Cited: 29 Marzo 2012.] http://www.csicsif.es/andalucia/modules/mod_ense/revista/pdf/Numero_27/VARIOS_ADELI NA_LEAL_1.pdf.  Brewer.C. 2005. Sound tracks for learning: using music in the classroom. Song for tearcing. Using music to promote learning. [Online] 2005. [Cited: 13 Abril 2012.] http://www.songsforteaching.com/teachingtips/classroomoutcomesofusingmusic .htm.  Rosová, Veronika. The use of music in teaching English: diploma thesis.. Faculty of Education, Department of English Language and Literature, 2007. [Online] [Cited: 13 Abril 2012.] http://is.muni.cz/th/84318/pedf_m/diploma_thesis_1.pdf Página 32 Encyclopedia of Popular Music http://www.musicstrands.com/action/detailArtistBio/artistId/53089 1. Fill in the blanks with the following words: take - saved - wanted - singing - brought - closing The lights go out and I can’t be ________________. Tides that I tried to swim agains Have ________________ me down upon my knees Oh I beg , I beg and I plead________________. Come out of the things unsaid Shoot an apple off my head And a trouble that can’t be named A tiger’s waiting to be tamed Singing You are You are Confusion that never stops The ________________ walls and ticking clocks Gonna come back and ________________ you home I could not stop, that you now know Singing come out upon my seas Cursed missed opportunities Am I a part of the cure Or am I part of the disease Singing You are, you are (4x) And nothing else compares (4x) You are, you are Home, home where I ________________ to go (2x) Home, home where I wanted to go (You are) (2x) Página 33 2. Write the sentences in the past tense. a-The lights go out and I can’t be saved b-Oh I beg, I beg and I plead. c-Gonna come back and take you home. I don't want to miss a thing 1.Put the sentences into the correct order : Where a moment spent with you is a moment I treasure, Watch you smile while you are sleeping, While you are far away and dreaming I could stay awake just to hear you breathing, While you are far away and dreaming, I could stay lost in this moment forever, (Chorus) Cause I miss you baby, And I don't want to miss a thing, I don't want to close my eyes, I don't want to fall asleep, I still miss you baby and I don't want to miss a thing Cause even when I dream of you, the sweetest dream will never do, Then I kiss your eyes and thank god we're together Wondering if it's me you are seeing, I just want to stay with you in this moment forever and forever for ever Lying close to you feeling your heart beating And I wondering what you are dreaming, (Chorus) I feel your heart so close to mine Página 34 And I don't want to miss one smile, I don't want to miss one kiss, I just want to be with you right here with you, Just like this, I just want to hold you close, I don't want to miss one kiss, And just stay here in this moment, For all of the rest of time (Chorus) 2. Answer the following questions about the lyrics: 1.What does he want more? _________________________ 2.Does the title correspond to the text?Why? __________________________________ 3.Why doesn´t he want to close his eyes? ________________________________ 4.For how long does he want to be with his big love? _________________________________________ Página 35 Lyrics and suggested answers I don't wanna miss a thing I could stay awake just to hear you breathing, Watch you smile while you are sleeping, While you are far away and dreaming, I could spend my life in this sweet surrender, I could stay lost in this moment forever, Where a moment spent with you is a moment I treasure I don't want to close my eyes, I don't want to fall asleep, Cause I miss you baby, And I don't want to miss a thing Cause even when I dream of you, the sweetest dream will never do, I still miss you baby and I don't want to miss a thing Lying close to you feeling your heart beating, And I wondering what you are dreaming, Wondering if it's me you are seeing, Then I kiss your eyes and thank god we're together, I just want to stay with you in this moment forever and forever forever (Chorus) And I don't want to miss one smile, I don't want to miss one kiss, I just want to be with you right here with you, Just like this, I just want to hold you close, I feel your heart so close to mine And just stay here in this moment, For all of the rest of time Página 36 Listen to the song and complete the gaps. Enjoy, it is a cool song! (Bruno Mars) Oh, her eyes, her eyes Make the __________________ Her hair, her hair, Falls perfectly without her trying _____________________, _______ ____________________ Yea, I know, i know, When I compliment her she won’t believe me And it’s so, it’s so ______________ to think that she don’t see what I see But every time she asks me, do I look okay, I say When I see your ________________, There is not a thing that I would change ___________________________, Just the way you are ________________, __________________________ Cause girl you’re amazing, Just the way you are, hey Her lips, her lips I could _____________ them all day if she’d let me Her laugh, her laugh She hates but I think it’s so sexy She’s so _________________, And________________ Oh, you know, you know, You know I’d never ask you to ______________ If perfect’s what you’re searching for Then just stay the same So don’t even bother asking if you look okay, You ___________________________ _______________________________, There is not a thing that i would change _____________ __________________, Just_______________ And when you smile, The whole ___________________________ for a while Cause girl you’re amazing, Just the way you are The way you are? The way you are? Girl you’re amazing, ____________________ When _____ ___________________, There’s not a thing I would change Cause____ _____________________, Just the way you are Página 37 And when you smile, The whole ________________ ___________ for a while Cause girl you’re amazing, Just the way you are, yeah IMAGINE (John Lennon) Imagine there's no heaven It's easy if you try No hell below us Above us only sky Imagine all the people Living for today... Imagine there are no countries It isn't hard to do Nothing to kill or die for And no religion too Imagine all the people Living life in peace... You may say I'm a dreamer But I'm not the only one I hope someday you'll join us And the world will be as one Imagine no possessions I wonder if you can Página 38 No need for greed or hunger Imagine all the people Sharing all the world... You may say I'm a dreamer But I'm not the only one I hope someday you'll join us And the world will live as one Página 39 Music is the universal language of mankind. Página 40 APPENDIX II: PRACTICUM PORTFOLIOS Página 41 PRACTICUM II Nora Buey Martínez 16/04/2012 CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE PRACTICUM II Página 48 Practicum III Nora Buey Martínez 07/05/2012 Página 49 INDEX REGISTRATION ABOUT THE PROCCESS OF THE INNOVATION PROJECT ............................................................................................................................... 50 A REFLECTION TOOL FOR LANGUAGE TEACHER EDUCATION .............. 52 Página 50 Registration about the process of the innovation project First of all, I want to specify the context where I put into practise this project of innovation and investigation which consists of the English language acquisition through music. I made this research with my classmate Silvia Groote Murillo. We considered to research about this topic in different levels due to the fact that we had the opportunity to do it. These levels have been 2nd year of ESO, which has a recently bilingual program regulated by The British Council, so the students have a good level of English, and 2nd of Bachillerato (science and humanistic groups). These last groups have a lower level of English because they have not a bilingual program. Secondly, I am going to talk about the facilities and difficulties in the process of this research. It was easy to work with music in all the groups because they like working with it, so they were motivated and participative in the activities we did with them. We considered so important to take into account the interests of the students about music to elaborate the activities to keep their attention and motivation. We had some difficulties with the elaboration of the activities. At the beginning, it was difficult to adjust the selection of the songs with the level and contents of the group, some of them were too easy and other too difficult in accordance with the level of the students. Moreover, we had a short time to put into practice some ideas we had thought to do with the students. Another difficulty was the scant participation of the English teachers in the surveys we had prepared to know how teachers work with music as a resource, so we have not enough information about it. Finally, about the improvements and utilities, I think it is important to use the music as a resource since the students an early age, because it is more motivated for them, and you can work grammatical structures, vocabulary, pronunciation, culture, etc. Página 51 As teachers, we can do a wide range of activities through music using different methodologies. We can teach whatever we want with a song, but it is important to select it properly in accordance with the contents we want to teach and taking into account the interests of our students to keep them motivated and promote their participation. In conclusion, I can say that the students have been very willing in all the activities which we have done in class, participating as well in the surveys we gave them about their linking and habits in connection with music. It has been a great and enriching experience and I have learnt a lot of aspects during its developing. Página 52 A reflection tool for language teacher education After reading the document Epostl about the skills which a teacher has to have, I found it so interesting to know how your progress as a teacher is, because you can reflect about your didactic knowledge. I have chosen some points which I consider more important for me. I want to analyse them explaining my feelings and my point of view before and after my Practicum at the High School as a teacher. These aspects are the following: First I consider interesting to evaluate the speaking/ spoken interaction and the interaction with the students in class, because I think it is an important point when you are teaching a foreign language. At the beginning I could see that the dynamic of the class with their English teacher was mainly interactional, so I wanted to follow this dynamic in my lessons. In the first lessons I had prepared a lot of speaking activities such as questions, moderated debates, etc. so that the students could express their opinions, feelings... but the problem which I found was that I did not evaluate the participation of all students, I could not encourage all the learners. Then, lesson after lesson, I achieved to resolve this point asking and speaking with all students using different topics which could interest them. Also, using spontaneous questions and interaction work groups where they were more comfortable working with their classmates. Therefore, I could develop the fluency and accuracy. After all, I need to improve my techniques to help the students with the intonation, stress and rhythmic, which I am learning in this second course term with Mº Pilar Mur. The second aspect I would like to talk about is Projects because I like working with projects and I have had the opportunity to collaborate in some of them during my teacher training. The most difficult thing for me has been to plan the project according with the aims and objectives, I think it is the most important thing and you have to do it properly. I have felt comfortable working with other teachers from the bilingual program. We had to elaborate the project in a transversal way because they were the Science teachers, so we were collaborating during the entire project. I was assessing the Página 53 students to elaborate the different activities we did, and they learnt in a cooperative and communicative way. I also consider important the grammar, because in my opinion it is the base of the language, so it is important to explain and practice it in a correct way. In the first lesson I felt that I couldn´t explain well some grammatical rules, I was nervous about if they could understand my explanation. After the lesson we practised the grammar doing some exercises, and they do them well so I guessed they had understood my explanation. I could see that some students needed reinforcement activities that are why I prepared some activities for the next lesson. Definitely, there are lots of things which I still have to improve to be a good teacher, but little by little I will learn from my mistakes not to do it again. I also think that the most important think to take into account is the context of your class, it is difficult to plan the lessons without to know your students, their needs and their interests. Página 54 Henry Wadsworth Longfellow