Repositorio Institucional de Documentos

1 APPENDICES LEARNING UNIT OF WORK Diseño, organización y desarrollo de actividades para el aprendizaje del inglés María Isabel Miñés Añaños Profesoras: Ana Artigas y Victoria Gil Máster en Profesorado de ESO, Bachillerato, FP y Enseñanzas de Idiomas, Artísticas y Deportivas Curso 2011-2012 2 INDEX 1. Introduction 1.1 Justification 1.2 Contextualization 1.3 Organization of the Learning unit 2. Learning Unit of Work 2.1 Contribution to the Key Competences 2.2 General Objectives 2.3 Specific Objectives 2.4 Contents 2.5 Methodology 2.6 Evaluation Criteria 3. Lessons Plans 4. Conclusions 5. References Appendix 3 1- INTRODUCTION. 1.1 Justification This learning unit has been designed according to the REAL DECRETO 1254/2009 24th July, which regulates the curriculum of Vocational Training Superior Courses in Travel Agencies and Events Management. Las necesidades de un mercado de trabajo integrado en la Unión Europea requieren que las enseñanzas de formación profesional presten especial atención a los idiomas de los países miembros incorporándolos en su oferta formativa. En este sentido, este ciclo formativo incorpora en el currículo formación en la lengua inglesa, dando respuesta a lo dispuesto en Real Decreto 1538/2006, de 15 de diciembre, por el que se establece la ordenación general de la formación profesional del sistema educativo. The implementation of this unit was carried out in the IES Miralbueno where I was assigned for my training period corresponding to the Second Practicum of the Master degree I am taking at Zaragoza University. My tutor at the school placement suggested I could teach a class of 24 young adults belonging to the Vocational Training Superior Courses in Travel Agencies and Events Managemen t.It meant a challenge for me. I am of the opinion that the pedagogical emphasis is put on the key competencies, objectives, contents etc...of the ESO and Bachillerato curriculum whereas the Vocational Training seems to be relegated to a second level even for this official Master degree. In some way this would be an opportunity in terms of innovation and creativity. This educational branch seemed to be freed from the grammatical dictates and expected results of the Selectividad exam and finally it would offer me the chance for acquiring new knowledge in a field in which I was a neophyte. 4 My mentor was also the English teacher of my training class of future travel agents. So I would receive first-hand information about the methodology and materials employed in the classroom and especially about the students. The teacher of this Vocational Training course took grammar for granted in her classes. She tried to teach the didactic contents in an integrated way: the first lesson had dealt with Geography and tourist destinations, the second focused on cruises and as for the third lesson she proposed I could try to treat flights and airports as main topic. Since the beginning I tried to set the context in order to achieve semantic coherence in the classroom. My classes would revolve around planes, airports and flights and other specific topics regarding their future profession as travel agents. The tutor told me their personal and academic backgrounds were quite different; as a result there was no class spirit which facilitated both communication and interaction between them. I did appreciate my teacher’s giving me a free hand to implement my own teaching contents, objectives and personal philosophy in the classroom. In fact, she advised me I should be myself. In my opinion the teacher’s personality should not be crushed under the weight of official pedagogical objectives and restricting classroom management. 1.2 Contextualization The educational community of the IES Miralbueno is composed of more than 1000 students and 105 teachers. The Bachelor’s Degree courses are merely testimonial whereas the Vocational Training Courses are numerous and diverse counting with many different professional branches. In my view this makes an important contribution to the uniqueness of the humanist atmosphere of this school. My students group of 1st of Travel Agency was composed of 24 students, ranging in age from 20 to 50; in fact most of them were in their twenties with the exception of an 50 years old student who was almost an initiated in the Shakespearean language. The level of the class was medium-low, except for one of the students (from Ukrainian origin) who was fluent at five languages including English. Twice a week the class was 5 divided into two halves. One of those groups left the classroom so as to attend the French classes also mandatory in their learning itinerary. In short, they had 4 English Classes per week, two of theses classes offering many opportunities for cooperative learning and interaction being only ten or twelve the participants. I had been a neutral observer in some of these classes before starting my personal teaching implementation. It allowed me to obtain a comprehensive view of the idiosyncrasy of my students group. As I had reported before my tutor took the grammatical contents for granted. In fact, students of this superior course were supposed to have acquired this linguistic knowledge throughout the years of immersion in the official itinerary of ESO, Bachillerato or the Vocational Training Medium Courses. Consequently I would have the opportunity and challenge of imparting an English class in a free and creative way but in doing so I would have to abandon the help and support of an non-native teacher of English zone of comfort. This safe area is basically composed of two main elements: blackboard and grammar. During the first part of my training period as mere observer in their classes, my students had surprised me with some quite lively oral presentations made in groups of four. They used powerpoint and realia so as to carry out their cooperative presentations which dealt with European capitals in a quite visual and engaging way. Nevertheless I must dare say that was just a mirage as I would soon find out. The fact was that they felt really insecure and unmotivated without the protection of the virtual technologies which led me to the conclusion that their oral skills in English were virtual too. The degree of fossilization of English in the class was soon evident for me. The teacher did her best; she employed the constructivist theories in their classes trying to contextualize the topics and to help to build good professionals who could communicate in English in their future agencies. I must say this teacher refused to label her teaching as constructivist; she just admitted being faithful to her common sense and her long experience as a teacher. . 6 In my opinion the reason for their reluctance to speak English in a willing, relaxed and enjoyable way was that for many of these students this course for travel agents had not been their first option but a second-rate one in the professional itinerary to follow. Therefore the use of specific English for tourism was too alienating and restrictive to their interests and expectations. I admit adhering faithfully and passionately to Kumaravadivelu’s philosophy which states basically that students need words for life. And I would try to give them some of these words, in my humble measure. 1.3 Organization of the learning unit Flights, Airports and More... It was the title of my learning unit. As I have said before one of my primary aims was to set the context because in this way it is easier for our brain to establish connections between concepts which helps to build more solid learning structures, according to constructivist theories on education. My class was composed of 24 prospective travel agents who obviously needed to be quite proficient in English for social purposes. In implementing lessons in which the social and interactive aspects of the language were taken into account, I would also benefit the interests of those students who tried to learn English for other professional purposes or motivations. ● 1st lesson: I wish I could fly... ● 2nd lesson: Run your own agency. ● 3rd lesson: The terminal.. ● 4th lesson: Know yourself and fly. 2- LEARNING UNIT OF WORK. 2.1 Contribution to the key competences. 7 There is no specific mention to key competences in the REAL DECRETO of 24th July 2009 because the Vocational Training Courses do not adjust to this pedagogical policy. The emphasis is put on the consolidation of the previous knowledge of English and on the development of more specific competences related to the professional field chosen by the students. The intercultural aspects of the language could be easily acquired in this course due to its compulsory contents on culture, geography etc..offered by other subjects of their itinerary. I was interested in helping them in the development of the pragmatic competence as far as the sociolinguistic, functional and discursive aspects are concerned. On the other hand, being able to activate the processual competence and proficiency of the students was the key in my learning unit. I was convinced that if was successful in the implementation of activities which would put into action these processual aspects in a positive way, my classes would be profitable for both my students and I. 2.2 General Objectives The general objectives for VTC in English language are: ● To read comprehensively a range of diverse texts in the L2 as a source of information and leisure. ● To use the L2 in oral and written forms so as to gain access to communication in both in their working environment and in their social context. ● To develop a personal voice in common communicative situations. ● To be familiar with the sociocultural background of the L2 in order to enjoy and participate personally in the foreign culture. ● To improve personal oral productions and to express their point of view in a mature way. ● To develop a critical sense towards sociocultural conventions of the L2. ● To increase students abilities to use and relate their previous knowledge with the that recently acquired to scaffold a more solid but flexible L2 basis. 8 2.3 Specific Objectives: ● Develop proficiency in the basic rules concerning social interaction. ● Improve their personal attitude towards the use of English. ● Actively engage in conversations and discussions about topics proposed in class ● Learn common words and expressions about personality and social behaviour. ● Acquire specific vocabulary related to flights, airports, planes etc... ● Review grammar and vocabulary of previous units in an integrated way. ● Develop class spirit. ● Create short pieces of written discourse in a personal and creative way. ● Perform and to declaim English texts so as to gradually lose those fears to abandon their native accent. ● Know something more about themselves and to have fun. 2.4 Contents: Grammatical and lexical contents: ● Vocabulary and lexical expressions related to flight, airports and planes. ● Review of vocabulary on cruises and tourist destinations. ● Adjectives defining personality. ● Social English: introduction, invitation, refusal, welcoming etc... ● Vocabulary related to the management board of a company. ● Structure of short paragraphs to design an ideal holiday. ● Grammar and vocabulary will be imparted on demand. Intrapersonal aspects: ● Developing a critical sense also “in English”. 9 ● Finding the way towards a “cordial relationship” between the target language and the students themselves. Interpersonal aspects: ● Getting to know better the classmates. ● Contributing to create class spirit. Phonological contents. ● Trying to imitate and repeat the oral texts suggested in class. 2.5 Methodology 1. Integrated: being grammar instruction integrated into the five skills and never given in isolation. 2. Contextualized: given a coherent semantic framework to the lessons that helps to the easier acquisition of the language. 3. Cooperative: encouraging cooperative learning as a new way not only for acquiring and sharing knowledge but also for creating class spirit. 4. Task-based and communicative language teaching oriented, also targeting all types of intelligences in the classroom. 5. Positive: being the assertive approval a daily way of encouraging students to go further and depriving error of any value in the classroom. 6. Formative: being self-evaluation the main tool for measuring the students selfprogress. 7. Student-centered: aiming to satisfy the students interests and expectations; therefore the contents and objectives are voted, modified or implemented according to the learners motivations and needs in a constant and democratic way . 2.6 Evaluation Criteria 16 LESSON 4: Know yourself, nosce te ipsum Learning Goals. At the end of the unit students will: ● Orally express their opinions about the text. ● Understand and learn vocabulary related to personality and character. ● Engage in a class discussion. Description of activities. Reading comprehension of a text in groups (10 min.). ● Explanation on Vocabulary about personality (5 min.). ● Discussion in groups (10 min). ● Debate on the issue (15 min). ● Farewell speeches (10 min.). Classroom Management. ● No discipline is required when the students are interested in what they are doing. ● Meaningful learning is the best tool for an efficient classroom management. Expected Learning Outcomes. ● At the end of the lesson, students are expected to: ● Know new vocabulary about personality. ● know the function of turn-taking. ● Understand the irony and sarcasm of a text. ● Express their personal opinions in public. Materials and Resources. ● Paper and pencil 17 ● Computer ● Worksheets Assessment and Feedback. ● Immediate correction. ● Paraphrasing. ● Personal and in group assistance during the activities. ● No relevance is given to mistakes. Evaluation of the teaching/ learning process. ● Observation of the non - verbal language ● Evaluation of the class attitude. ● Positive reinforcement. ● Celebration of success. 4. CONCLUSIONS The implementation of this learning unit in my teaching placement has been a creative, enriching experience. To be assigned to a Vocational Training Superior Course class was a challenge for me. No grammar contents formed part of the didactic philosophy of this class and their English teacher who happened to be my mentor let me know from the very beginning she took grammar for granted. I faced two a-priori important obstacles that could hamper my easy way towards successful teaching. On the one hand, both Communicative Language Teaching and Task-based Language Teaching seemed to be too abstract concepts so as to be applied and implemented by a neophyte. On the other hand, my students attitude and proficiency on the English language were literally fossilized under hundred of prehistoric layers of insecurity, frustration and the subsequent lack of motivation they bring about. I was in need of something that could make them awake from that long silence. 18 I was conscious that the study of specific English for tourism was not appealing enough for some of my students. In fact, this travel agency course was not their first vocational option but a second best one as the teacher had told me. The challenge for me implied awaking some emotions in my students. I took advantage of my interpersonal abilities and encouraged them to dare to have fun and to be themselves so as to partake and interact in the classroom. I did try to promote a rich, friendly atmosphere in a group that formerly was strictly divided into two factions. That division had nothing to do with social, economic, psychological differences. Curiously enough it was smoking habits that split the class into two: those who used to go out to smoke to the outdoors cafeteria and those who remained on the building premises. Some of the activities implemented did work whereas some others did not. I think these students are not used to being asked to put their creativity and spirit on the tasks they carry out in class. So those activities that meant a creative effort were quite difficult for them. These learners were sort of sleepers that had lost their faith in themselves because of a system that plunges their minds in a sort of trance from which it is difficult to wake up. I must dare say that their teacher of English was brilliant and motivating but after some quite sterile years in ESO, they lacked the motivation and the constancy required to persevere in the pursue of the almost unattainable goal of learning English in an effective way. I like paraphrasing Kumaravadively when he affirms that students of English as a second language need words for the world. I do faithfully believe that this is the infallible formula for engaging the students in the English class. If the learners feel the need to express themselves they will put their effort on the attempt. They will find the better way for them to state their opinions. But there must be a need and a will to speak because in other way there is no real communication but mere empty words. That is why I tried with my last activities to appeal to themselves in a direct way. We talked about their personalities and tastes and they enjoyed the process of learning. And they enjoyed learning how to talk about themselves in English. 19 Kumaravadivelu paraphrases Paulo Freire in his last interview for an Spanish journal. He says, adhering to Freire’s pedagogical philosophy, that the students have the right to take words for life. I would like just to help students to express and to make use of their rights . They should be given the chances to talk and to express themselves in the freest and most enjoyable way in the English class. Kumaravadivelu also paraphrases some of the Antonio Machado’s verses in his last interview. He states that teachers “create their own path as they walk” as the “caminante” does. I strongly subscribe to this idea after my training experience in my school placement. 5. REFERENCES -Larsen-Freeman, D and Anderson, M. 2011. Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching. Oxford University Press. -Kumaravadivelu, B. 1994 ‘The Postmethod Condition: (E)merging strategies for second/foreign language teaching’, TESOL Quarterly, 28: 27-48. ---. 2006 ‘TESOL Methods: Changing Traces, Challenging Trends’, TESOL Quarterly, 40 (1): 59-81. -Ellis, R. 2006. Current issues in the teaching of grammar: An SLA perspective. TESOL Quarterly 40, 1 83-107 Nunan, D 1989. Designing tasks for the communicative classroom. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. ---. 2004. Task for language teachers. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. -The Internet TESL Journal, Vol. XIV, No. 10, October 2008 http://iteslj.org/ 20 -The Word and the World. Interview to B. Kumaravadivelu. 2012. marcoELE REVISTA DE DIDÁCTICA ELE ISSN 1885-2211 – NÚM. 14, 2012. Accessed 8 August, 2012. APPENDIX CONFESSIONS IN ENGLISH: I designed some personal interviews for my students which would take place outside school. They voluntarily subscribed to my initiative and it turn out to be the most clarifying and profitable pedagogical experiment of all during my training period. In the cafeteria, they actively interacted and partook. In such a relaxed and cheerful atmosphere, they talked about their interests and dreams and their speeches sounded more personal and mature. It was during these interviews that I understood the concept of meaningfulness that has been one of the key fundamentals in functionalist and constructivist theories. Learners performed better because the discourse was meaningful for them and they found a fertile context where to construct and organize their ideas. Intrapersonal and interpersonal abilities on the part of both teacher and students come into play in short distances better than in the conventional English classes. Learners find more easily their own cognitive paths to express themselves in this social context. My students tried hard to find alternative ways to convey their personal opinions. Their needs to express themselves made up for the lack of morphosyntactic accuracy in their speeches. This alternative activity allowed the transversal implementation and development of several key competences as recommended by the Curriculum. Together with the linguistic competence implicit in every oral activity, the interpersonal and intrapersonal 21 competences also had an important role in these interviews. The topics dealt with in these conversation entailed cinema, literature, music, sports etc...which define the subject matter of the cultural competence. On the other hand, the competence in knowledge of and interaction with the physical world together with the competence in social skills and citizenship were also implemented in such sociocultural environment. Finally, this pedagogical experiment offered the students the possibility of autonomy for the organization of discourse and for self-evaluation of their performance in English all of it linked to the learning to learn competence. MATERIALS AND RESOURCES: 1 Make a short interview to your partner. Afterwards introduce him/her to the rest of the classmates. You have to refer to his/her tastes and personality as well as the places she/he has visited in his/her travels. The teacher may ask you some questions about him or her. 2 Listen to this Roxette’s song and find the mistakes in its lyrics. "Wish I Could Lie" Halfway through the light I wake up in a dream Echoes in my head Make every whisper turn into a scream I dreamed I could lie Out in the glue Over this clown Following you Over the trees Subways and stars 22 I'd try to find out Who you really are In the middle of the night Cool sweatin' in my bed Got the windows open wide Thinkin' about all the things you said I wish I could lie Out in the blue Over this clown Following you I'd fly over rooftops The great boulevards To try to find out Who you really are Who you really are I wish I could lie now Wish I could lie now Wish I could lie now I wish I could lie Around and around Over this town The dirt on the ground I'd follow your course Of doors left ajar To try to find out Who you really are To try to find out 23 Who you really are 3 Some volunteers will help the teacher in a performance which will deal with the safety instructions on a plane Some of these students will leave the classroom so as to be welcomed on board by the teacher. Other students will interpret through mimicry and gestures the instructions read aloud by the teacher. They will play the part of crew assistants. The atrezzo required: a reflective jacket ( it will work as lifejacket ), a mask for painting ( oxygen mask), a whistle and a straw ( as parts of the life jacket).The passengers (the rest of the class) can follow the instructions by reading them on a worksheet that later on will be studied and analysed, just in case... SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS. Ladies and gentlemen welcome to our Iberia 380. Thank you for your attention while important safety information is renewed. To fasten your seatbelts, place the flat end into the buckle. To release, lift the faceplate of the buckle. Tighten by pulling on the strap. Your seat belt should be fastened low and tight across your hips. It must remain like this during the takeoff, landing and whenever the seatbelt sign is on. And in the unlikely event of an emergency it is important you are familiar with the brace position appropriate to your seat. If you can reach the seat in front of you, please brace by folding your arms on the back of the seat in front, and rest your forehead on your arms. If you can't reach in front, you put your head on your knees or lean as far forward as you can and hold onto your legs. Keep your feet firmly on the floor to prevent from 24 moving forward. If you are seated in First your brace position is to sit upright, place your hands on your knees and bring your chin towards your chest. Our flight is non-smoking. There is no smoking in the aircraft, including the lavatories. The lavatories are equipped with smoke detectors. Tampering with, disabling or destroying a lavatory detector is prohibited. There are 6 exits on this aircraft. Two doors at the front of the cabin, two window exits over the wings and two doors at the rear or the aircraft. Please take a moment to check where the nearest exits are as they vary from aircraft to aircraft. Our team is currently pointing them out. A good way of remembering the route to your nearest exit is to count the number of rows between you and that exit.Next team will also point out the lights that show a path to the exit. The cabin is pressurized for your comfort and safety. In the unlikely event of a cabin depressurization oxygen masks will appear overhead. Reach up and pull the mask closest to you, fully extending the plastic tubing. Place the mask over your nose and mouth and slip the elastic strap over your head tighten by pulling on the ends. The bag does not need to inflate for oxygen to be flowing. If you are seated next to a small child or somebody needing assistance, secure your own mask first, then assist the child. Please make sure you are familiar with the location of your life jacket. Yours is under your seat or under your armrest if you are in Business. The team is now demonstrating how to put a life jacket on. Slip the jacket over your head, clip the waist strap together at the front then, tighten as the team is now showing. Your jacket comes with a mouthpiece for inflation and a whistle and a light for attracting attention. And remember, only inflate your jacket as you leave the aircraft. And just in case you missed any of this, please refer to our safety card, located in your seat pocket. Your safety is our priority. Thanks for your attention, enjoy your flight. 25 4 Read these sentences taken from a genuine article in The Times; try to deduce with your partner which of the sentences define Economy class travels, Business class and First Class. Can you see irony and sarcasm in this text?. Economy, Business or First Class?. 1 When talking about-------- there´s no end to the complaints. 2 Travelers receive an extra 8 inches or more seat pitch. 3 Passengers are herded into tiny seats. 4 It has important perks such as the ability to sleep, technology like power adaptors for laptops, onboard internet and personalized screen for movies. 5 No space to stretch your legs makes coach so awful. 6 It offers extra space and comfort. 7 It is a hybrid class of travel between economy and first class. 8 A long-haul flight with screaming children, stale food and mounting minutes on the tarmac characterizes this class of travel. 9 You can enjoy “yacht-style” cabins. 10 Passengers are stuck in. 11 Service, the lounge access and food are important. 12 Fares are dramatically higher than economy. 32 Libra (September 23—October 22) --Positive personality traits: diplomatic, easygoing, sociable, --Negative personality traits: changeable, unreliable, superficial Scorpio (October 23—November 21) --Positive personality traits: passionate, resourceful, focused --Negative personality traits: narcissistic, manipulative, suspicious Sagittarius (November 22—December 21) --Positive personality traits: optimistic, adventurous, straightforward --Negative personality traits: careless, reckless, irresponsible 33 iNVESTIGATION AND INNOVATION RESEARCH PROJECT: The Curriculum, that Big Unknown Evaluación e Innovación docente e investigación educativa en el ámbito de la especialidad de Inglés (Ana Artigas mayayo) Máster Universitario en Profesorado de Educación Secundaria Obligatoria, Bachillerato, Formación Profesional y Enseñanzas de Idiomas, Artísticas y Deportivas María Reyes Blecua Galindo Sara duplá prada laura gavieiro agud 34 isabel miñés AÑAÑOS University of Zaragoza 2011-2012 TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................................. 36 First steps on the process ............................................................................................................................ 36 METHODS .......................................................................................................................................................... 37 Participants ................................................................................................................................................... 37 MATERIALS AND PROCEDURES.................................................................................................................... 38 Observation............................................................................................................................................... 39 eso and vocational training students’ Survey......................................................................................... 39 Relationship between questions of the survey and the aragonese curriculum .................................. 40 TEACHERs’ survey ..................................................................................................................................... 44 EMPIRICAL PART OF OUR INVESTIGATION ............................................................................................. 45 ANALYSIS OF ESO STUDENTS’ SURVEYS .......................................................................................................... 45 ANALYSIS TEACHERS’ SURVEYS ........................................................................................................................ 57 ANALYSIS VOCATIONAL TRAINING STUDENTS’ SURVEYS .............................................................................. 60 DISCUSSIONS ..................................................................................................................................................... 63 CONCLUSIONS ................................................................................................................................................... 70 New knowledge: ........................................................................................................................................... 70 Competences: ............................................................................................................................................... 71 If we carried out this Project again, would we do it the same way? ........................................................ 72 Effects on our future career as teachers: ................................................................................................... 72 FUTURE PROPOSALS ......................................................................................................................................... 72 REFERENCES ...................................................................................................................................................... 75 APPENDICES ...................................................................................................................................................... 75 35 ESO and Vocational Training students’ survey ........................................................................................... 75 Teachers’ survey ........................................................................................................................................... 80 Graphs ........................................................................................................................................................... 81 1. A) Why do you think English is useful for you? Do you think there is a relationship between the topics approached in class and real life? Why?................................................................................................. 81 B) Do you think there is a relationship between the topics approached in class and real life? Why?82 2. How do you feel during your English class? Why? ....................................................................... 83 3. In which situations do you feel better in order to speak in English? .......................................... 87 4. Do you have the same perception in Spanish? ............................................................................ 89 5. Do you think you will be able to communicate in English by the end of the Secondary Education? 90 6. To which extent is the teacher important in order to learn English? Why? .............................. 92 7. What can the teacher do so as that you get involved with the subject? ................................... 93 8. Which skill do you like the most? .................................................................................................. 96 9. Do you like the topics you are proposed to write about? Why? Can you choose them? ......... 97 10. How do you prefer working in class: alone, in pairs, or in group? Why? ................................... 99 11. Which activities do you like working the most: book’s, workbook’s or activities different from those? Why? 100 12. Regarding the topics seen in class, which one do you prefer? ................................................. 101 13. Do you remember any activity that attracted your attention for good or for bad? ............... 101 14. Would you like to discuss and choose the topics to be dealt in class? Why? Why not? ........ 105 15. Which of these topics would you like to deal in class?.............................................................. 107 36 INTRODUCTION Statistics on education and English learning at the secondary school offer a dismal picture of our public pedagogical system. The academic failure affects 25% of our Aragonese students which will form part of those bottom steps of the European ladder in terms of proficiency in English as a second language. We wanted to evaluate for ourselves whether this outlook made any justice to the reality of the schools assigned for our training period. For us it was important to check that the English teaching had evolved from a teacher-centered pedagogy to a student-centered philosophy in the classroom. In our view this would make the difference between the old system and the new one that the Aragonese Curriculum advocates in its articles. Moreover, we considered important to make the whole educational family reflect, in our humble measure, on the issue; we thought a self-conscious analysis of the state of affairs of our public system of education that could raise our awareness of its defects and virtues was required. For this reason, we elaborated a series of questionnaires which would shed light on whether the students needs and requirements were being met in our educational system because in our opinion this aspect is one of the most relevant in order to improve the teaching of English in our prospective profession. First steps on the process In our first meeting for our investigation research, we agreed that the age difference between us (the youngest being 23 and the eldest 40) could offer diverse perspectives to our work. We started by putting in common our personal perception of the English learning at school. Paradoxically, our stories about the English class were not as different as it should be expected because of our age gap. We talked about the commonplace, trite topics dealt with at the English class whose teacher spent most of the time speaking in our mother tongue. We also commented on the black and white lessons on the blackboard. And above all we conversed long and hard about those feelings of frustration and lack of competence when it came to oral communication in the Shakespeare's language. In a rapture of naive optimism we all concluded that something must and could be changed in the customary itinerary of the public education with respect to English teaching. Our first “revolutionary” question for our endeavour to innovate in our professional field was: who cares about London Bridge? Children had had enough of tedious grammar lessons and traditional cultural clichés, we all agreed. Then, the sacrosanct concept of emotion appeared as in every reunion of a new batch of teachers worthy of the name. We wanted emotion in the teaching of English as a Foreign Language. Our refrain seemed to read: there is no communication without emotion 37 which we used to repeat ab nausea. Our first step in our investigation research would be to reflect on the necessity of changing topics and the way these topics were dealt with in class. We would collect information and statistical data which would help us, teachers-to-be, to easily capture the attention of the English students. Afterwards, we would scientifically seek further information about the ways in which pupils wanted to learn and how to make it easier for them. We would try to discern the manner to build solid foundations for the best class spirit. Furthermore, we will attempt to construct an idyllic place for the students to feel at ease, an ideal retreat where all their needs for an efficient oral communication were met. Some meetings had to pass to become aware that our endeavour was quite pretentious and futile. Definitively we did not reinvent the wheel. The Aragonese Curriculum, one of the main documents a teacher-to-be should ever handle, already abridged in its articles a new way of teaching English as a second language. Our next logical question for further investigation was to ask if the orientations of the Curriculum of Aragon were being observed in the secondary school classes. For that purpose we designed a research plan that consisted of direct observation at classes (the more, the better) and a posterior survey in which we created questionnaires addressed both to students and teachers. Our questions would deal with curricular issues related primarily to learning to learn competence, intrapersonal and interpersonal matters, topics dealt with at class. METHODS Participants The centres where our investigation has been carried out are IES Miralbueno and IES Tiempos Modernos. Both of them chosen by chance since they are the centres where we have done our school placement, Reyes, Sara and Isabel in IES Miralbueno and Laura in IES Tiempos Modernos. These two centres are situated in outlying districts of the town which are suffering a demographic expansion during recent years. This has resulted in the creation of new public education centres and the renovation of the former ones to cope with the demands of the greater numbers of students. Both centres’ educational programs read that constitutional rights, academic freedom and participation in the control and management of the centers are the driving forces that inspire their educational work. These institutional Decalogue state that pluralism in the expression of thought and opinion is promoted against any discrimination. They are lay secondary schools where free and full development of the students’ personality must be cherished as their official pedagogical documents postulate. The IES Miralbueno is located in an area of demographic expansion in the west part of the city. It used to be a rural area becoming an urban district after a period of 38 demographic expansion taking place during the 50s, 60s and 70s which brought an outflow of migrants coming for labour from different regions of Spain. Nowadays, the demography of this urban area is changing due to the real estate development. Middle class families are settling down in the new detached houses and residential complexes. The IES Tiempos Modernos is situated in the North of the city of Zaragoza and belongs to the district called Actur, which is a new urbanized area inhabited by middle-class families. Actually, this Secondary School was the first educational centre to be built in the area. An important factor to be taken into account about the centre is that it shares facilities with the Official School of Languages nº2 Lázaro Carreter. Both Secondary Schools Tiempos Modernos and Miralbueno offer a wide range of educational programmes: Compulsory Secondary Education, Bachillerato, Vocational Training and Programas de Cualificación Profesional Inicial (PCPI). Apart from these ones, the centres also promote the integration of learners with special educational needs by means of different programmes such as Programa de Aprendizaje Básico (PAB), Programa de Compensatoria, Programa Ramón y Cajal. Furthermore, pupils with physical disabilities are provided with the help of a physiotherapist in the centres. Moreover, two years ago the IES Tiempos Modernos started to promote a plurilingual programme where students are taught Natural and Social Sciences subjects in French and English and they also have two extra hours of French a week. This programme follows the basis of the so-called Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL). Finally, both centres also count on the help of the Department of Orientation, which works on the programmes of Acción Tutorial, Orientación Académica and Apoyos al Proceso de Aprendizaje and which are responsible for Plan de Atención Tutorial (PAT) and Plan de Atención a la Diversidad (PAD). The experience of Juan Antonio Planas, President of the Asociación Aragonesa de Psicopedagogía endorses the work of this department work and future projects in the IES Tiempos Modernos. Regarding the participants who took part in the surveys carried out, there were 115 students involved in ESO, 12 teachers who belonged to both centres in the following proportions: concerning the ESO students’ there were 59 participants of IES Miralbueno (13 students belonging to 1st Year ESO, 18 students belonging to 2nd Year ESO, 20 students belonging to 3rd Year ESO, and 8 students belonging to 4th Year ESO) and 56 of IES Tiempos Modernos (20 students belonging to a class of 2nd Year ESO, 19 students belonging to another class of 2nd Year ESO, 13 students belonging to 3rd Year ESO of Diversification, and 4 students belonging to 4th Year ESO). With reference to teachers, there were 6 of each centre. Nevertheless, we completed our investigation with the opinion of a more mature group of students of English as a foreign language, i.e.: 10 students belonging to a Vocational Training module about Tourism of IES Miralbueno. MATERIALS AND PROCEDURES 39 Observation In order to start with our investigation, we dedicated almost three weeks of our teaching placement to carry out a detailed observation on which we based our further investigation. We tried to attend as many English lessons and to observe as many different teachers as possible. Although we based our observation on the Aragonese Curriculum, we needed to create a common point of view for the four of us; consequently, we created a list of points that should be analyzed during the attendance to each lesson. In order to designed that list, we took into account the Aragonese Curriculum in first place, as well as some of the points gathered by Richards in The Language Teaching Matrix. TEACHER-STUDENT INTERACTION · How much teacher-to-student communication occurs in a lesson? · How much student-to-student interaction is there? · Do teachers take into account students’ interests, feelings, needs…? · To what extent does the lesson engage the learners? · How is student attention and interest maintained? · Do students have any choice to channel their learning process? GROUPING · What grouping arrangements are employed? · Is there a clear relationship between grouping patterns and instructional goals? · Are grouping arrangements effective? · How are groups established? Do students always work with the same patterns or in the same groups? · Do students work cooperatively anyhow? TASKS · What kinds of task or activities are employed during a lesson? · What kind of demands do these tasks create? · For how much of the lesson are students actively engaged in learning task? · Are the tasks interesting and challenging to students? TEACHING RESOURCES · Which kinds of materials are used? · How appealing are those materials to students? eso and vocational training students’ Survey 40 The observation carried out provided us the key ideas on which we should based or investigation as a tool to try to improve the negative points. Consequently, we decided to ask students by means of a questionnaire which reads as follow: 1. Why do you think English is useful for you? Do you think there is a relationship between the topics approached in class and real life? Why? 2. How do you feel during your English class? Why? 3. In which situations do you feel better in order to speak in English? 4. Do you have the same perception in Spanish? 5. Do you think you will be able to communicate in English by the end of the Secondary Education? 6. To which extent is the teacher important in order to learn English? Why? 7. What can the teacher do so as that you get involved with the subject? 8. Which skill do you like the most? 9. Do you like the topics you are proposed to write about? Why? Can you choose them? 10. How do you prefer working in class: alone, in pairs, or in group? Why? 11. Which activities do you like working the most: book’s, workbook’s or activities different from those? Why? 12. Regarding the topics seen in class, which one do you prefer? 13. Do you remember any activity that attracted your attention for good or for bad? 14. Would you like to discuss and choose the topics to be dealt in class? Why? Why not? 15. Which of these topics would you like to deal in class? Relationship between questions of the survey and the aragonese curriculum These questions have to do with the points of the Curriculum that we consider more relevant to investigate about: 1. Why do you think English is useful for you? Do you think there is a relationship between the topics approached in class and real life? Why? The first question in the survey tries to obtain information about a main fact that appears several times in the Curriculum: the importance of the students feeling the language as something real and useful. As the introduction to the area of Foreign Languages in the Curriculum reads, “learning a foreign language gives to students the possibility to understand reality better, to get a proper education, to communicate with people from 41 other countries, to enrich their culture and to develop their attitudes toward respect and flexibility […].” (Aragonese Curriculum, 200) Out of the ten general learning objectives for Secondary Education in Aragon regarding Foreign Languages, two of them explicitly refer to the usefulness and reality needed in class. According to it, learners should be able to: 8. “Appreciate the foreign language as an instrument to access to the information and as a tool to learn varied contents.” (Aragonese Curriculum, 204) 9. “Acquire, through the contact with the foreign language, a wider vision of the cultural and linguistic environment different from the one students belong to, considering positively the contribution to their personal development and to relations with foreign language speakers […]” (Aragonese Curriculum, 204) 2. How do you feel during your English class? Why? This question is much related to the third content in the Foreign Language’s Curriculum, and above all, with the one dealing with the intrapersonal competence. Learners should “be able to recognize and accept their own characteristics as learners; to deal with emotions such as frustration, annoyance, tension, etc.; to self-motivate all along the process; to trust their own capacities; to tolerate the ambiguity; etc.” (Aragonese Curriculum, 207) 3. In which situations do you feel better in order to speak in English? 4. Do you have the same perception in Spanish? As the Curriculum gathers in its introduction, “In this stage- Secondary Education- a relevant importance is given to oral communication […]”.(Aragonese Curriculum, 201) Consequently, we want students to consider the way they feel when speaking in English since one of the learning objectives to be pursued is to make learners able to: 2. “Express themselves and orally interact in daily communicative situations in an intelligible and appropriate way and with autonomy” (Aragonese Curriculum, 204) Moreover, we want them to think about the differences with their feelings when speaking in Spanish in order to have a clearer answer and to know if it is only a problem of shyness and embarrassment, or if it has to do with speaking English itself. 5. Do you think you will be able to communicate in English by the end of the Secondary Education? In close relationship with question number 2 and the intrapersonal competence, we want to verify if students think they will have got the first content outlined in the Curriculum, i.e. the morphosyntactic competence, by the end of their period in Secondary Education, and consequently, evaluate the way the 10th learning objective in the Curriculum is being managed. According to it, learners should be able to: 10. “Demonstrate a receptive and self-confident attitude on respect to their capacity of learning and using the foreign language.” (Aragonese Curriculum, 204) 6. To which extent is the teacher important in order to learn English? Why? 7. What can the teacher do so as that you get involved with the subject? 48 3rd A –Diversification Module, whose percentages do a break in the graph because most students in this class think they are not going to be able to speak English at all at the end of ESO. Finally, the three 2nd Year classes seem to be quite different among them even when they are in the same centre. On the one hand, regarding their future level of English, students in 2nd-Year B in IES Tiempos Modernos do not show themselves as sure as 2nd-Year C in IES Miralbueno. On the other hand, 2nd-Year A in IES Tiempos Modernos gathers a higher amount of learners showing doubts about the way they will speak English at the end of the Secondary Education. 6. To which extent is the teacher important in order to learn English? Why? Answers given to this question in all classes show that most students think the role of the teacher is really important in order to learn English. In a scale from 1 to 5, 60% of all students asked agree that teachers are completely important and 20.9% give them a 4. However, we can see some classes showing some data out of the standard. As it can be easily appreciated in the graph, 2ndB in IES Tiempos Modernos does not give as 0,00% 10,00% 20,00% 30,00% 40,00% 50,00% 60,00% 70,00% 80,00% 90,00% 1º (M) 2ºC (M) 3º (M) 4ºA (M) 2ºA (T.M.) 2ºB (T.M.) 3ºA (div.) (T.M.) 4ºB (T.M.) MIRALBUENO TIEMPOS MODERNOS Do you think you will be able to speak English by the end of ESO? (by classes) Yes I am already No I don’t know/somehow -20% 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 The importance of the teacher to learn English (ESO) 1º (M) 2ºA (T.M.) 2ºB(T.M.) 2ºC (M) 3º(M) 3ºA (div.) (T.M.) 4ºA(M) 49 much importance to the teacher as the rest of the classes, even 26,3% of the students in that class consider her/his importance to be 2 in a scale from 1 to 5. Regarding the reasons students give to justify their answers, almost half the students see teachers as a source of knowledge, while almost 25% say their function is helping students to understand and correct them while learning. However, almost 5% of the students consider teachers are not that useful since students learn when studying at home from books or the Internet and others add self interest is needed in order to learn English. Some noticeable answers are found in 2nd Year B in IES Tiempos Modernos, whose students consider teachers to be important because they are able to motivate students; on the other hand they also give some negative points to teachers not speaking in English in class. Other information gathered belongs to less supported answers, for example, most 4th Year A in IES Miralbueno reflect on the teacher as a guide toward what is useful to know. Other reasons for younger students show teachers as needed to maintain good behavior in class. 7. What can the teacher do so as that you get involved with the subject? This question has given us different opinions depending both on the age and on the centre. However, one of the most relevant answers is that the 76.9 % of learners in the 1st year of ESO in Miralbueno Secondary School says that the teacher could make the subject funnier dealing with topics they are interested in. The same happens in both the 2nd year and the 4th year of ESO in Miralbueno where the 66.7% and the 62.5% of the students respectively ask for appealing and actual topics. 50 If we observe for example, the two different groups of 2nd year of ESO in Tiempos Modernos Secondary School, we can notice that the age is not a reason to have the same opinion for this question and that is why we have thought to analyse them separately. On the one hand, group A would like to watch films and to play games in English. On the other hand, group B points out with a 52.6% that the teacher cannot do anything at all to motivate their students. This reply is in fact, common in almost all the analysed groups although they obtain different percentages ( from a 7.7% in 3rd year of ESO in Tiempos Modernos to a 20% in the 3rd year of ESO in Miralbueno). However, apart from demanding attractive topics, in the 4th year of ESO in Tiempos Modernos Seconday School, students also ask for the teacher to be motivated and show passion for the subject and to have more explicit explanations. Moreover, another reason we take into account from the students is the reply about the solution of using English as the target language in class for being stimulated. 8. Which skill you like the most? Regarding to this question, where students had to mark their inclination from 1 to 5, being 1 the minimum and 5 the maximum, we can notice that what students clearly prefer is the skill of listening. On the contrary, the skill which obtains low marks is writing. 0 0,05 0,1 0,15 0,2 0,25 0,3 0,35 0,4 Nothing Help Make it more participative Make it funny with actual topics they like Less homework Easier More difficult Developing students’ opinions and creativity/ more freedom Being friendly, create a nice feeling in class Explain more explicitly Motivate and show passion Explain in English and Spanish Doing activities out of the classroom Speaking (more time) in English No prejudices Showing the usefulness of English Games/films in English Using more the computer What can teacher do to involve students? MIRALBUENO 1º MIRALBUENO 2ºC MIRALBUENO 3º MIRALBUENO 4ºA TIEMPOS MODERNOS 2ºA TIEMPOS MODERNOS 2ºB TIEMPOS MODERNOS 3ºA (div.) TIEMPOS MODERNOS 4ºB 51 These quantities are an average that has been obtained thanks to the addition of the previous averages analysed group by group. Conversely, there are disparities for example, between group A and group B in Tiempos Modernos Secondary School. As we can observe in group A, the listening has an average of 5 points and in group B has an average of 2.9. On the other hand, the skills of reading and speaking have got a similar average. Nevertheless, these numbers for example speaking about the reading skill and as what happened in the other skills, can vary from 5 points in the 2nd year in Tiempos Modernos (group A) to 2.5 points in the 4th year in Tiempos Modernos as well. These poles apart likes and dislikes can be interpreted thanks to different reasons. In fact, we think that the topics of writing, listening, speaking and reading are the main explanation. 9. Do you like the topics you are proposed to write about? Why? Can you choose them? In relation to the first question about their opinions on writing topics, students say with a rema rkabl e perce 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 Speaking Writing Listening Reading Which skill do you like the most? MIRALBUENO 1º MIRALBUENO 2ºC MIRALBUENO 3º MIRALBUENO 4ºA TIEMPOS MODERNOS 2ºA TIEMPOS MODERNOS 2ºB TIEMPOS MODERNOS 3ºA (div.) TIEMPOS MODERNOS 4ºB 0,00% 10,00% 20,00% 30,00% 40,00% 50,00% Yes No Sometimes Do you like the topics you write about? TIEMPOS MODERNOS 4ºB TIEMPOS MODERNOS 3ºA (div.) TIEMPOS MODERNOS 2ºB TIEMPOS MODERNOS 2ºA MIRALBUENO 4ºA MIRALBUENO 3º MIRALBUENO 2ºC MIRALBUENO 1º Yes No Sometimes Can you choose the topics to write about? TIEMPOS MODERNOS 4ºB TIEMPOS MODERNOS 3ºA (div.) TIEMPOS MODERNOS 2ºB TIEMPOS MODERNOS 2ºA MIRALBUENO 4ºA MIRALBUENO 3º MIRALBUENO 2ºC MIRALBUENO 1º 52 ntage (almost the 50%) that they like the subject matters the teacher proposes. Nonetheless, we have to comment that there is another percentage that reveals that not always occur the same and not everybody thinks alike. Actually, between a 7.7% and a 20% in each group tell us that they only like the topics sometimes. This information can be explained by the variety of themes they have to study. Consequently, the answers are very subjective; there are issues that appeal more to them than others. A significant percentage (38.7%) of the students answer that they do not have the option for choosing the topics they have to write about. On the other hand, a certain percentage (12.2%) states that the answer is “sometimes”. 10. How do you prefer working in class: alone, in pairs, or in group? Why? This question reveals relevant results for us. In general, what students do not like is working alone because they think it is boring and they cannot solve the problems as easily as when they work with someone else. If we look at the options of working in pairs or in groups, the first one obtains a higher average mark in relation to the second one. However, the average of working in pairs is not very far from the average of working in groups. In fact, there is only 1.2 points between both of them in favour of working in pairs, as we have said. 11. Which activities do you like working the most: book’s, workbook’s or activities different from those? Why? In order to analyze which activities students prefer doing, it has been considered the averages marks given by each class to three possible options: working with the book, with the 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 Whole group In pairs Alone How do you prefer to work in class? 1º (M) 2ºA (T.M.) 2ºB (T.M.) 2ºC (M) 3º (M) 3ºA (div.) (T.M.) 4ºA (M) 4ºB (T.M.) 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 Book Workbook Activities different from book and worbook’s Which activities do you prefer? 1º (M) 2ºA (T.M.) 2ºB (T.M.) 2ºC (M) 3º (M) 3ºA (div.) (T.M.) 4ºA (M) 4ºB (T.M.) 53 0,00% 5,00% 10,00% 15,00% 20,00% 25,00% 30,00% 35,00% 40,00% 45,00% No Yes Do you remember any activity that attracted your attention? TIEMPOS MODERNOS 4ºB TIEMPOS MODERNOS 3ºA (div.) TIEMPOS MODERNOS 2ºB TIEMPOS MODERNOS 2ºA MIRALBUENO 4ºA MIRALBUENO 3º MIRALBUENO 2ºC MIRALBUENO 1º workbook and with activities different from those. Most students give a higher mark to activities different from those in books and workbooks. On the other hand, most students consider books have got the least attractive activities. However, there are some classes that do not coincide much with the average mark, such as 4th B (IES Tiempos Modernos), whose students think workbook’s activities are better than other kinds of activities and much better than those in the book. On the other hand, 4th A (IES Miralbueno) says completely the opposite, their opinion about different activities is much better than about the other two options. In respect to the reasons they argue to support that activities different from book and workbook’s are better than the rest, they say these activities are funnier and the other more repetitive. However, this same repetition is considered to makes activities easier by 3thA-Diversification Module and 4th B, both in IES Tiempos Modernos, whose students prefer workbook instead the book or other activities. 12. Regarding the topics seen in class, which one do you prefer? The results for this question are an average about if learners like or not the topics studied in class. All classes’ averages give a pass mark to the topics gathered in books. However there are differences among them, we can confirm that the 3rd year and group A of the 2nd year of ESO in Tiempos Modernos Secondary School are very satisfied with the topics they have seen in their didactic units. On the contrary, the group that is more discontent with the themes is the 4th year of ESO in Miralbueno Secondary School. 13. Do you remember any activity that attracted your attention for good or for bad? Most of the students that belonged to both Secondary Schools of Miralbueno and Tiempos Modernos, exactly the 44.3%, answered negatively to this question; whereas the rest of the learners, a 34.8%, replied that they remembered at least an activity that attracted their 0 0,5 1 1,5 2 2,5 3 3,5 4 4,5 1º 2ºC 3º 4ºA 2ºA 2ºB 3ºA (div.) 4ºB MIRALBUENO TIEMPOS MODERNOS 3,7 3,6 3,5 2,9 4,5 3,2 4,1 3,6 Topics (by classes) 54 attention in the English class. However, it is also truth that the difference between the two kinds of opinions is not so sharp since it is only a 9.5% of the totality. Nevertheless, this distinction is remarkable regarding some specific groups such as 2ºESO “C” and 4ºESO “A” from IES Mirabueno, where the majority of the students answered negatively, 77,8% against 16,7% in 2ºESO and positively the 62,5% against the 12,5% in the 4ºESO group. In addition, in IES Tiempos Modernos, the majority of the learners of the group of 3ºESO of “Diversificación”, a significant 53,8% against a 7,7%, believed that they had not noticed any appealing activity so far in the English subject throughout the academic year. The students who replied “yes” to the question proposed an activity that they remember and which was developed in the English subject, therefore in the Secondary School Tiempos Modernos what the 7% most enjoy was to be able to interact with the American Assistant Teacher that is working at the centre. He usually gives students talks and lessons together with their main teachers. The four groups included in the survey gave some information about the Native Assistant’s work. On the other hand, we can observe that 2ºESO “B” shows a higher enthusiasm than the rest of the groups. The following appealing activity is to elaborate and present expositions with 5.2%. “Creating an avatar” is the next more attractive activity with a 4.3%. Finally, a 3.5% of 0 0,01 0,02 0,03 0,04 0,05 0,06 0,07 0,08 Visual illusions Descriptions of … With real English … (-) unexpected oral … Restaurant Signal Creating an Avatar Doing surveys Animals Expositions Speaking Peace Day Invent a composition … English Camp Famous people Optional reading … Types of activities MIRALBUENO 1º MIRALBUENO 2ºC MIRALBUENO 3º MIRALBUENO 4ºA TIEMPOS MODERNOS 2ºA TIEMPOS MODERNOS 2ºB TIEMPOS MODERNOS 3ºA (div.) TIEMPOS MODERNOS 4ºB 55 the learners is interested in the activity that dealt with inventing an alternative ending of the fairy tale “Little Red Riding Hood”. 14. Would you like to discuss and choose the topics to be dealt with in class? Why? Why not? In this question, the 54.8% of the students from both Secondary Schools believe that they would like to have a debate and be able to decide what topics could be dealt in the English class. The other 32.2% prefer not to be offered this opportunity and to be given the issue that it is going to be tackled. There is only one person; a 0.9%, that is not totally sure about what to answer and a relevant 4.3% is indifferent. We would like to point out that in the group of 2ºESO “B” of IES Tiempos Modernos percentages related to the “yes” and “no” options are equal (42%) and in the 4ºESO “A” group there is a big difference between the ones that are willing to have the debate in class (87,5%) and the others that do not agree with them (12,5%). 15. Which of these topics would you like to deal with in class? In this question there are several sections regarding some topics that could be dealt with in the English classroom and which are important to be observed. The results that are going to be commented on afterwards refer to Secondary Schools Miralbueno and Tiempos Modernos. The first section was about sports where “strange sports” stands out from the rest with a 40.9% and the following topic that seems interesting for all the students is the “types of the sports” with a 32.2%. What it is clear about these data is that learners find the topic of “rules of sports” boring since only the 12.2% of them chose it. Regarding the second section about television, there is an obvious advantage of the “series and programmes” that they like against the rest since the 55.7% believed that it was one of the most interesting topics. In the third section we proposed the Internet and the topic of the “social networking sites”, which turned out to be the most popular option with a big difference (71.3%) against a 23.5% and a 20.9% of “computing in English” and “shorts used in the phone” respectively. In the section of relationships, the 0% 20% 40% 60% Yes No Maybe It doesn’t mind Would you like to discuss the topics to be dealt in class? TIEMPOS MODERNOS 4ºB TIEMPOS MODERNOS 3ºA (div.) TIEMPOS MODERNOS 2ºB TIEMPOS MODERNOS 2ºA MIRALBUENO 4ºA MIRALBUENO 3º MIRALBUENO 2ºC MIRALBUENO 1º 56 difference was not so sharp because they felt happy for choosing “friendship” (51.3%), “famous couples” (29.6%) and “love” (32.2 %). Section number four concerns about music, therefore they were very interested in “groups and singers” they like (56.5%) and “songs” (52.2%) and finally in section number five, which dealt with cultures in the world the two most appealing topics for them were “travels” with a 51.3% and “famous, exotic and interesting places” with a little difference, 47.8%. 57 ANALYSIS TEACHERS’ SURVEYS In order to complete our research, we took into consideration the idea of including the opinions of the English teachers that belonged to both educational centres. As well as Types Olympic games Others: Series and programes they like Write an alternative ending for a film Others: Shorts used in the phone Computing in English Famous couples Others: Groups and singers they like Types of music Others: Customs from English speaking countries Travels Others: Sports Television Internet Relationship Music Cultures in the world Which of these topics would you like to deal in class? MIRALBUENO 1º MIRALBUENO 2ºC MIRALBUENO 3º MIRALBUENO 4ºA TIEMPOS MODERNOS 2ºA TIEMPOS MODERNOS 2ºB TIEMPOS MODERNOS 3ºA div. TIEMPOS MODERNOS 4ºB 64 students reported on the possibility of personal development that the English learning offers according to the Curriculum (204).Moreover neither of them related their readiness to develop their attitude toward respect and flexibility (200). These points of our survey seem to contradict again the main attempts that are being postulated in the curriculum to change the traditional pedagogical orientation in the subject. Conversely, Vocational Training students show a more mature point of view on the matter. They demand topics related to their personal interests that can engage them more actively in the English class. They seem to ask their teachers to go further from the official syllabus of their professional brand (travel agency). We agreed that the vocational training students might be demanding an English class that provides them with a useful input not only for their professional expectations but also for their personal future. The subsequent questions make explicit reference to interpersonal and intrapersonal of the learning of English as a foreign language. We thought that the result obtained was somehow expected. Studies on the issue relate a higher level of anxiety in students when using the target language. Nevertheless something must be done on that respect to make English teaching less alienating to students and more effective to teachers, we concluded. Something must change to this respect in our educational system. The Curriculum of Aragón makes explicit reference to the intrapersonal and interpersonal aspects of the Processual Competence. The feelings and emotions of the students must be taken into account in the English class. In other words, the critical self-appraisal of the emotions should be encouraged by the teachers in class as it is reflected in the Curriculum. On the other hand, since the Curriculum provides relevant importance to oral communication at this stage of the public education some immediate measures should be taken to make the classroom a better place for communication and dialectical intercourse. Again the vocational training students seem to be more explicit when it comes to talk about uneasiness in the English class. They enjoy the productive skills in English but they feel under a quite severe scrutiny and evaluation. This feeling impedes their progress in the target language, as later explained. Error and mistakes are given high relevance by the teachers and it thwarts the fluency of their speech and their eagerness to talk. Regarding the issue of the students feeling able to communicate in English by the end of their period in the Secondary Education, we consider students are really optimistic and not aware of the actual situation of the Spanish learners ending ESO nowadays. As a matter of fact, statistics as the ones provided by PISA1 (Programme for International 1 PISA1 (Programme for International Student Assessment) (http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/54/12/46643496.pdf) 65 Student Assessment) shed light to the fact that Spanish students’ performance at the age of 15 is significantly below the OECD average position. As a result, we claim that it can be a problem of ignorance about the effort required in order to be able to communicate in a different language in an effective way. Since both centres are attended by students from families with middle standards of living students or even low ones in the case of IES Miralbueno, we have to keep in mind that this can be a problem of the context of the students asked. Thanks to the global crisis living nowadays travelling is not such an easy thing and it is more than probable these students are not used to go abroad and be in contact to the difficulties to communicate in a real context. On the other hand, although they consider English as a tool to get a better job in the future, they seem to have been taught that somehow due to the crisis once again. Finally, we have also inferred from these results that students are willing to learn English, even though they do not get it at the end of the process. Teacher should reinforce students’ wills and expectations in order to keep them motivated throughout the process. Although most students consider fundamental the role of teachers in the class, we can find some differences between learners’ and teacher’s conceptions. On the one hand, most teachers seem to have the idea of being in class in order to motivate and guide their learners as well as to be supportive, and do not focus that much on being a source of knowledge to their students. However, a lot of students consider that teachers should have encyclopedic knowledge, and others think teachers are no longer useful due to the Internet and books. From these data, we infer that the learning to learn competence is not being well strengthened in these centres. Our conclusions on this respect point out that most students do not find themselves as the centre of the process as the Aragonese Curriculum states they should be. On the contrary, most teachers seem to know learners should be the centre of the learning process, and consequently, we think students in ESO are so used to not to have any kind of role or decision inside the classroom that it makes it difficult to break the cycle for teachers whenever it is wanted. Moreover, students in Vocational Training give a more mature point of view that is more similar to the teachers’ one. They consider that the teacher is important as a guide toward the knowledge. This supports our conclusion that students do not feel as having any control on their learning process during their Secondary Education, and it is only when they have come back to the education system in a chosen way that they realize students should be the centre of the process. According to question number 7, we believe that their answer saying that the teacher has nothing to do with to get them involved with the subject can be explained by two reasons in the years of ESO. On the one hand, we suppose there are students that do not need more motivation because they like the subject and they are already motivated and immersed in English classes, and, on the other hand, we think that the lack of 66 interest for the subject from the part of some pupils is just a fact and the role of the teacher is not relevant to change it. We clearly think that in spite of being a small percentage, it is a very important answer for us concerning the way English has been taught and is still being taught in Spain. Per contra, students of Vocational Training show an opinion closer to the opinion of the teachers regarding the importance of the teacher’s role. In fact, these adult learners see the teacher as a guide to obtain knowledge. Nevertheless, they not show this mature thought regarding the methodologies due to the command they ask for. Vocational Training students demand funnier and more appealing classes where games, watching films and these kind of tasks are needed for them to be motivated; aspect that coincide with the wishes of ESO students. At the end, both teenagers and adult people want to learn by entertainment. However, in spite of the maturity they show in this respect, these students do not propose any suggestion in relation to the topics they would like to deal with when they are asked. Then, we can also point out a king of lack of interest, the same that happens with ESO students. What is more, there are reasons such as their capacities or abilities to some skills that elucidate their preferences. Actually, some students of ESO show more abilities to produce both oral and writing passages and others show more abilities to comprehend both oral and reading texts. Nevertheless, there exists the possibility of finding students that do not have the capacity to produce or to comprehend. If we take into account Gardner’s theory about the multiple intelligences, this information might reveal that some students do not possess the linguistic aptitude at all. In spite of being fond of a Communicative Approach, it is remarkable the percentage of students that prefer to be only involved in the most passive skills (listening and reading). This result can be explained by the student’s likes for a teacher centered approach. In fact, listening and reading are the skills that require less effort in the process of learning. This attitude is caused by the typical immaturity that characterized teenagers. In general terms, they are lazier than adult students. Actually, ESO and Vocational Training learners are poles apart. Adults prefer with a high percentage the production of the language, both oral and written. Production always entails a higher willpower that is translated into an effort and a motivation to study and to learn. In fact, Vocational Training students have chosen their studies just for vocation and that is why they put emphasis on it. Definitely, there exists a clear difference between Vocational Training and ESO students regarding their process of learning. 67 With regard to the likeness of the topics proposed to write, the number of students that declare they do not like the topics is also a consequence of this subjectivity in relation to their likes and dislikes. Obviously, if we take into account the age of the students, there are divergences between the topics they are amused at. A twelve-year student has not got the same interests than a sixteen-year student and, even, within students with the same age, the disparity of preferences is a reason as well. Some students are attracted by some issues and other students by others. It may be caused by the students’ perspective about if they can choose or not. In other words, we suppose that in the cases in which teachers sometimes offer the topics, on the one hand, they opt for saying “yes” and, on the other hand, they can opt for answering “No”. As a consequence, we assume that the question has been somehow misunderstood. Moreover, it is significant to mention that writing is the skills they dislike the most, so any topic in writing will be rejected. Thus, the proposed topics to write about would be as appealing as possible. At the end, the importance does not fall on the topic itself but in the ability of writing correctly. Relating to their readiness to discuss and choose the topics to be dealt with in class, as far as these results are concerned, it is observed that there are more students who want to create a debate in class so as to have the chance of discussing the topics that may be dealt with in the lessons. We believe that this is mainly due to an important feeling of motivation on the part of these students who will enjoy and become more interested in the subject since they will be in contact with issues that are closer to their realities. On the other hand, there is also a proportion of students who are not very happy with the idea of having this kind of debate in class. At the beginning, we were surprised by this fact, nevertheless we understood that they justified their choice by saying that they preferred not to have this option and just adapt to the teacher’s demands as they were used to. We also believe that this is due to the laziness that current teenagers have. Nowadays, and above all in our educational system, students are not used to think logically; they do not make the effort and use their brains to develop their own thoughts. They may be very influenced by technologies and they lack some values as having and expressing their own opinions. On the other hand, we also point out our belief that the majority of the students have a kind of fear to say what they think because they assume they do not have the power to change things. The information that students gave us about the topics that they liked dealing in class is very useful in order to know what kind of matters interest or bore them. For instance, we believe that being in contact with issues that appeal their common interests and emotions is very important for them. This has also to do with the data that resulted from question number 13, where students’ own reality and current world are also involved. 68 For this purpose, we think that the more up-to-date topics are the more appealing learners will find them. Therefore, this is also related to the materials used in the English lessons at the educational centres. For instance, teachers from IES Miralbueno and IES Tiempos Modernos claimed in the surveys that the currency state of textbooks affects the students’ engagement since topics may be up to four years old. In addition and spite of the comments that we have stated in the previous question, it is clear that students have somehow an opinion. When providing them some examples of topics to be dealt with in class, they were capable of underlining the ones that they liked the most. However, if they had to think about the topic on their own, what we found was that only a few more that the 50% would suggest a subject matter. In relation to the most attractive topics for them, we can point “social networking sites”, which highlights again the society in which we live. We are surrounded by technologies and this is what teenagers enjoy now, which is also interesting to mention as well as paradoxical due to the little use of the ICT that it is carried out in the Secondary schools nowadays despite the fact that they are apparently strongly considered. Furthermore, the data reveal that TV series and programmes, social networks and music groups, singer and songs could be very relevant topics to be tackled in our lessons with our future learners. The interpretations we can infer concerning the results the question number 10 are that students always prefer working with others but they prefer doing it in pairs because this way is more efficient. They state that when they work in groups the required concentration can be lost due to the high number of members. As we know, when we work with a lot of people, the efficiency of each member can change. Actually, there are groups where a part of the members really work and the other part of them do not do anything at all or even, they disturb others’ work. Furthermore, one of the things that attracts our attention is that in both Secondary Schools they are mature enough to say the previous argument, and even, to realize that they can learn listening to their own and others’ mistakes when speaking English. Moreover, most teachers are also conscious that cooperative learning is a useful tool and make their students understand it that way. On the other hand, the small percentage that answered they like to work alone can be explained by the fact they do not admit the correction of their partners, they are not very sociable or they cannot concentrate and focus on their own work because of others’ presence, or bad behaviour in a messier atmosphere. As some teachers state, it is very important to show an appropriate classroom management in order to implement this type of practices. In Vocational Training levels, working alone is the less popular way of learning. Actually, as ESO students, they demand the presence of at least, a partner in order to be 69 monitored. In addition, adult students share the opinion that is much better work in pairs than in groups regarding cooperative learning. As far as teacher’s feeling in relation to this, they state that classroom behaviour can be improved with the cooperative learning but they show a very realistic consciousness about when is appropriate to use this methodology and when it is not. Taking into account the extracted results, we can state that the general feeling of the students concerns the lack of appealing and motivating activities in the English subject lessons. Most of the students believe that there are not enough activities that worth their attention in class, which is a bit depressing. However, it is also surprising and interesting that several pupils think about at least one activity that attracts their attention. Moreover, the students that belong to Vocational Training claim that they like to be autonomous and use the ICT in class in order to carry out their activities. On the other hand, if we consider the teachers’ surveys, we can realize that only the most motivated teachers feel frustrated when they try to do something different in their classes and students do not respond. With regard to the particular aforementioned groups, there is a marked difference between 2ºESO “C” and 4ºESO “A”, despite the fact that they belong to the same educational centre (IES Tiempos Modernos). At first, this can seem shocking because the results prove that both groups think exactly the opposite, but this case may be explained by diverse reasons; for instance the existence of different teachers, methodologies and so on. In addition to this, we consider that the presence of the native assistant in the centres is essential since they encourage students in their use of the English language. We think that these figures have an important role in the current Spanish educational system because pupils appreciate and enjoy their work in class. This is not only beneficial in the sense that learners feel confident when understanding the native’s speech and so they start speaking by themselves but also because they get immersed in the Anglo-Saxon culture and they become more open-minded. To achieve the aforementioned confidence with teenagers is paramount, especially in the English subject where they feel extremely shy and uncomfortable since they tackle with a non-native language. Therefore, the teacher assistants’ role is not a waste of time but an investment. Furthermore, this proves and contradicts what we have been able to observe in our educational centres sometimes, where Spanish teachers use their native language in order to teach English. On the other hand, we can see that most activities that learners mention in question 13 have little to do with activities gathered in book or workbooks. Therefore, it is not rare that both students of ESO and Vocational Training claim that working with activities different from those in books or workbooks is much better. Moreover, most teachers also state to be in favour of working with activities different from those in books and workbooks and, consequently, they propose several ideas as working with authentic materials and ICT. However, observation carried out points out 70 that most teachers base their lessons on books or workbooks and implement merely their activities. Different answers have been given to question number 12 where students were asked which topics they preferred. On the one hand, teachers argue that the topics that appear in ESO textbooks are attractive but the ways in which they are developed are not. Nevertheless, it is an issue that students never have thought about it. They are very used to follow a textbook and they do not mind if the topics are engaging and useful for them. In addition, they neither remember nor show interest for them. On the other hand, students of Vocational Training bear in mind all the topics studied in class and what is more, they are able to connect some themes with others. This could be justified by the statement that every topic has to be contextualized in order to be learned. At least, that is what the curriculum says. As every 4 years, textbooks have to be changed; there are subject matters that are oldfashioned and incorrectly approached. This is what publishing companies should work on it or at least try it. Teachers could also put their effort in searching for other materials that give students another point of view, different from the book. CONCLUSIONS In the following section of the Project, we are going to present the main conclusions that we draw from our piece of work. In order to do so, we would like to make several distinctions that will be properly detailed and explained as follows: 1) New knowledge, 2) Competences, 3) If we carried out this Project again, would we do it the same way? 4) Effects on our future career as teachers. New knowledge: To begin with, we would like to comment on the new knowledge that we have acquired when elaborating this project. First, we think that the Spanish educational system creates students who are focused on memorizing ideas with the only intention of passing their tests. This means that learners always have an extrinsic motivation that leads them to study and which makes them obsessed with exams. As a result, they do not attend lessons in order to study and learn new knowledge, which is supposed to be important and useful in the long run, but to pass their exams and get a mark. This idea is related to the lack of the learning to learn key competence that students should acquire at the end of the Secondary Compulsory Education. Nowadays, students are not used to think by themselves because they do not own any ideas. There is not democracy in the classroom and they even prefer be given the work done by teachers and not having the option to choose. Moreover, the teacher is still the main figure in the classroom because we still live in a teacher-centred world, in other words, students have no option to negotiate with their educators. 71 Furthermore, we consider relevant to point out that what we are being taught in the Master’s Degree does not correspond to the reality of the Secondary Schools. This is about the ideal versus the real situation of the educational Spanish system, where we will get immersed some day. We are glad of having familiarized with new ideas such as the Aragonese Curriculum or designing dynamic, motivating and creative activities for our learners which differ from their routine and suppose a big improvement in education; however the awful truth is that all this is not normally carried out in the real contexts. Therefore, we feel uncertain of what we are going to encounter in our real position when our wings will be clipped. It is clear that centres and teachers are not aware that the Curriculum of Aragon even exists. Regarding the situation of the current English teachers, we believe that most of them live in the past. In other words, they are old fashioned when it comes to the use of the ICT, which paradoxically is paramount at present, their use of English is not totally updated and they do not tend to use current topics in their lessons. In addition, teachers do not pay attention to their students’ interests since they follow their own hierarchy in order to execute their teaching which goes from the textbook, themselves and finally their students. What is more, we find really important to mention that teachers of English do not recycle themselves as far as their language is concerned. We do not mean that the command of the language is the most important factor in order to be the best English teacher but teachers are their students’ model and they must always try to do their best. That is why native Spanish teachers of English have to be aware of the necessity of updating and recycling the language that they are teaching. Competences: There are also competences that we have been able to develop throughout this Master’s Degree and especially in the training period that we spent in our placement centres. First, we think that thanks to these studies we have been given the chance of feeling the passion and vocation that every teacher needs in order to be good at this profession. Teachers must transmit their love for their subjects to their students. Second, we also realized that we have to be very patient when dealing with them, especially because we are tackling with teenagers. These students belong to a complicated and unstable period of time in their lives, which is not easy to complete, therefore we understand that we must be comprehensive at some point. Third, we need to be good communicators. Somehow it does not matter how much you know about the subject that you teach but the important thing is to transmit the contents clearly to your students. We have been able to experience this by means of giving concrete instructions or solving problems in class. Moreover, we were able to check that a good attitude on the part of the teacher towards students also works. Just a smile leads to a more confident situation where both the teacher and learners may work 72 better. In addition, in the English subject this confidence is essential in order to make the students dare and be willing to use the foreign language in class. If we carried out this Project again, would we do it the same way? The first thing we definitely agree is that this Project has meant a lot of work for all of us. Despite the fact that we enjoyed investigating about our proposal research, we realized that we have been too ambitious. If we had the chance of starting the project again we would possibly be more concrete and narrow the options when thinking of the topic to be developed afterwards since it turned out to be very wide. Furthermore, we would cut the samples down and specify some questions that we have left too open. Therefore, in a near future we would have to bear in mind yes/no questions, which are easier for learners to respond and for us to obtain their analysis. Some questions could have been removed from the survey since their results were not very relevant for the investigation. Effects on our future career as teachers: This Project has also enabled us to reflect on our future career as English teachers. This way, we consider that we need to be already very aware of being competent when carrying out the teaching-learning process in a real context. We must be professional in order not to make the same mistakes that unfortunately occur and which we have observed and analyzed in our Project. As we have mention previously, we have to be realistic and prepared towards what we are going to face once we get into the Spanish educational system. Nowadays, the situation that we are living is even more controversial and depressing but we, as future English teachers, have to be ready to teach our students in a way that goes against the system that is going to clip our wings. We are aware that the Aragonese Curriculum does exist, how it should be applied and we hope that one day we are able to put it into practice. FUTURE PROPOSALS Regarding the information we have acquired both in the practicum and in the theoretical part of the Master’s Degree, we consider as compulsory to suggest several proposals in order to change the situation we are living in our country these days in relation to education. Within this suggestion we would like to point out two different kinds of aspects to deal with. The first one concerns shifts in the manner of teaching the second language at 73 schools. On the other hand, the second one refers to the fact of modifying the way in which the Master’s Degree is being imparted and evaluated. Our research has provided us with relevant data about the manner English is being taught. These findings enable us to reflect how language instruction in Spain is carried out, above all, very addressed to a final exam that we called Selectividad where only grammar features are important. Actually, we think that this theoretical test should be avoided. Students of both ESO and Bachillerato feel very uncomfortable with the fact of being examined and evaluated just through a written theoretical test which does not confirm their true knowledge. In fact, what learners used to do is to study using just strategies of memorizing. This reveals that the real problem of our education is in fact that Spanish educational system has been focused on memorizing and has forgotten the main point: having a logical thought while acquiring culture. For many educators, the most important way to learn English is to learn grammar. Per contra, the new Curriculum of Aragon and the new methodologies regarding teaching second languages state that teachers should use a communicative approach whose contents and competences are quite well integrated. The emphasis and effort on trying to develop oral skills on the part of some teachers who have read the curriculum becomes sterile because Secondary Education and Bachillerato are focused on writing skills and grammar features. Hence, what we would like to modify is that way of teaching and learning, dismissing of course, this final exam. In fact, we believe that if learners are able to obtain the learning goals of Bachillerato they are prepared enough to access to the University. However, as if the exam has to be done or not, we would suggest the immersion in oral skills in these two Bachillerato years and in ESO as well, where teachers would examine and assess their learners following the Curriculum and applying communicative approaches. Or what is more, we would like to opt for a kind of teaching and evaluation of the four major skills (listening, writing, speaking and reading) as it is done for example in Official School of Languages and in the majority of the English Official Certificates. In addition, the classroom itself and the way that desks are placed constitute another aspect that we would definitely change. The majority of the classes we have seen are arranged just with desks looking at the blackboard individually, or at least, in pairs. The desks arrangement does not contribute to the development of the social competence because it impedes cooperative learning. We would suggest then a layout class with a “U” form. This way, all students are visible for the rest of their peers and the atmosphere of the class could be much better if they share eye contact with their partners. Moreover, some of our classes had the traditional platform where the teacher stands. This place for the teacher only increases the argument that the teacher has the power over the rest of the class; aspect that has to be rejected nowadays. Actually, what we would put forward is a kind of teaching in which students should be the centre of the class. 80 teachers’ survey ● ¿Cómo se considera como profesora? Marque del 1 al 5 siendo el 1 el mínimo y el 5 el máximo. 1 2 3 4 5 MOTIVADORA AYUDA GUÍA FUENTE DE CONOCIMIENTO EDUCADORA DE BUENOS MODALES ● ¿Qué cree que puede hacer el profesor para que a su alumnado le interese la asignatura de inglés? ● ¿Cree que es útil el trabajo en grupos o en parejas en la enseñanza del inglés? Sí/No ¿Por qué? ¿Suele aplicarlo en sus clases o prefiere que sea individual? ● ¿Le gusta trabajar con el libro de texto? ¿Y con el workbook? ¿Suele utilizar otro tipo de actividades? ¿Cuáles? 1 2 3 4 5 El libro? El workbook? Con actividades diferentes a las del libro y el workbook? ● ¿Cree que los temas que proponen los libros de texto son interesantes o “motivantes” para los alumnos? ● ¿Intenta adaptarse a los diversos grupos a la hora de enseñar teniendo en cuenta las diferentes edades y circunstancias de cada uno o imparte clase a todos ellos de la misma forma? 81 ● ¿Qué método cree que es el más adecuado para la enseñanza del inglés? ¿Cuál utiliza en sus clases? ● Comunicativo ● Inductivo ● Deductivo Muchas gracias por su colaboración. Graphs 1. A) Why do you think English is useful for you? Do you think there is a relationship between the topics approached in class and real life? Why? 82 B) Do you think there is a relationship between the topics approached in class and real life? Why? 0,00% 10,00% 20,00% 30,00% 40,00% 50,00% 60,00% 70,00% 80,00% Communication in a foreign country or with foreign people Future Job Acquire culture Communication in a foreign country or with foreign people Future Job Acquire culture TIEMPOS MODERNOS 4ºB (T.M.) 1,70% 0,90% 1,70% TIEMPOS MODERNOS 3ºA (div.) (T.M.) 7,80% 2,60% 1,70% TIEMPOS MODERNOS 2ºB (T.M.) 13% 1,70% 3,50% TIEMPOS MODERNOS 2ºA (T.M.) 10,40% 7,80% 1,70% MIRALBUENO 4ºA (M) 5,20% 6,10% 2,60% MIRALBUENO 3º (M) 11,30% 9,60% MIRALBUENO 2ºC (M) 13% 6,10% MIRALBUENO 1º (M) 9,60% 4,30% 1,70% Why is English useful? 1º (M) 2ºC (M) 3º (M) 4ºA (M) 2ºA (T.M.) 2ºB (T.M.) 3ºA (div.) (T.M.) 4ºB (T.M.) MIRALBUENO TIEMPOS MODERNOS Communication in a foreign country or with foreign people 9,60% 13% 11,30% 5,20% 10,40% 13% 7,80% 1,70% Future Job 4,30% 6,10% 9,60% 6,10% 7,80% 1,70% 2,60% 0,90% Acquire culture 1,70% 2,60% 1,70% 3,50% 1,70% 1,70% 0,00% 2,00% 4,00% 6,00% 8,00% 10,00% 12,00% 14,00% Why is English useful? (by classes) 83 2. How do you feel during your English class? Why? 0,00% 5,00% 10,00% 15,00% 20,00% 25,00% 30,00% 35,00% 40,00% 45,00% 50,00% Yes No Sometimes TIEMPOS MODERNOS 4ºB (T.M.) TIEMPOS MODERNOS 3ºA (div.) (T.M.) 2,60% TIEMPOS MODERNOS 2ºB (T.M.) 10,40% 2,60% TIEMPOS MODERNOS 2ºA (T.M.) 7% 1,70% MIRALBUENO 4ºA (M) 3,50% 0,90% MIRALBUENO 3º (M) 9,60% 2,60% 1,70% MIRALBUENO 2ºC (M) 7% 0,90% MIRALBUENO 1º (M) 9,60% 0,90% Are topics related to real life? 1º (M) 2ºC (M) 3º (M) 4ºA (M) 2ºA (T.M.) 2ºB (T.M.) 3ºA (div.) (T.M.) 4ºB (T.M.) MIRALBUENO TIEMPOS MODERNOS Sometimes 10% 12,50% No 7,70% 5,60% 15% 10% 15,80% Yes 92,30% 44,40% 55% 50% 40% 63,20% 23,10% 0,00% 20,00% 40,00% 60,00% 80,00% 100,00% 120,00% Are topics related to real life? (by classes) 84 1 2 3 4 5 1º (M) 1 0 4 5 3 2ºC (M) 0 1 3 12 2 3º(M) 3 1 6 9 1 4ºA(M) 1 1 1 3 2 2ºA (T.M.) 1 2 3 8 6 2ºB(T.M.) 0 2 9 5 3 3ºA (div.) (T.M.) 0 1 3 3 6 4ºB (T.M.) 0 0 1 3 0 -20,00% 0,00% 20,00% 40,00% 60,00% 80,00% 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 Do you feel comfortable to interact in your English class? 1º (M) 2ºA (T.M.) 2ºB(T.M.) 2ºC (M) 3º(M) 3ºA (div.) (T.M.) 4ºA(M) 4ºB (T.M.) 85 MIRALBUENO TIEMPOS MODERNOS 1º (M) 2ºC (M) 3º (M) 4ºA (M) 2ºA (T.M.) 2ºB (T.M.) 3ºA (div.) (T.M.) 4ºB (T.M.) Usefulness 53,8% 11,1% 5% 15,4% Self ability 22,2% 5% 12,5% 10,5% Feeling uncomfortable 15,4% 22,2% 5,2% Boredom 16,2% 5% 20% 7,7% 25% Difficulty/ Not understanding 15,4% 30% 25% 20% 10,5% 7,7% 50% Understanding well 5% Teacher’s help 12,5% Low level 12,5% Like English 30% 10,5% 0,00% 20,00% 40,00% 60,00% 80,00% 100,00% 1º (M) 2ºA (T.M.) 2ºB (T.M.) 2ºC (M) 3º (M) 3ºA (div.) … 4ºA (M) 4ºB (T.M.) Main reasons (by classes) Usefulness Self ability Feeling uncomfortable Boredom Difficulty/ Not understanding Understanding well Teacher’s help Low level Like English Dislike English Being calm Unable to pay attention 86 Dislike English 10% Being calm 10% Unable to pay attention 5% Good atmosphere in class 30% Bad atmosphere in class 26,3% Entertainment/amusing class 15% MIRALBUENO TIEMPOS MODERNOS 1º (M) 2ºC (M) 3º (M) 4ºA (M) 2ºA (T.M.) 2ºB (T.M.) 3ºA (div.) (T.M.) 4ºB (T.M.) Usefulness 6,1% 1,7% 0,9% 1,7% Self ability 3,5% 0,9% 0’9% 1,7% Feeling uncomfortable 1,7% 3,5% 3,5% 0,9% Boredom 2,6% 0,9% 0,9% 0,9% Difficulty/ Not understanding 1,7% 5,2% 1,7% 3,5% 1,7% 0,9% 1,7% 0,00% 2,00% 4,00% 6,00% 8,00% 10,00% 12,00% 14,00% 16,00% 18,00% Main reasons TIEMPOS MODERNOS 4ºB (T.M.) TIEMPOS MODERNOS 3ºA (div.) (T.M.) TIEMPOS MODERNOS 2ºB (T.M.) TIEMPOS MODERNOS 2ºA (T.M.) MIRALBUENO 4ºA (M) MIRALBUENO 3º (M) MIRALBUENO 2ºC (M) MIRALBUENO 1º (M) 87 Understanding well 0,9% Teacher’s help 0,9% Low level 0,9% Like English 4,3% 1,7% Dislike English 1,7% Being calm 1,7% Unable to pay attention 0,9% Good atmosphere in class 5,2% Bad atmosphere in class 4,3% Entertainment/amusing class 2,6% 3. In which situations do you feel better in order to speak in English? 88 Some one can correc t you No pressu re/ evalua tion With more pressu re Perso nal questi ons Never With Englis h speaki ng peopl e With partne rs When easy activiti es In class With a/som e memb er(s) of my family TIEMPOS MODERNOS 4ºB (T.M.) 0,90% 1,70% TIEMPOS MODERNOS 3ºA (div.) (T.M.) 0,90% TIEMPOS MODERNOS 2ºB (T.M.) 1,70% 2,60% 2,60% 1,70% 2,60% TIEMPOS MODERNOS 2ºA (T.M.) 2,60% 5,20% 7% 1,70% MIRALBUENO 4ºA (M) 0,90% 1,70% MIRALBUENO 3º (M) 0,90% 2,60% 2,60% 7% 3,50% MIRALBUENO 2ºC (M) 1,70% 13% 0,90% MIRALBUENO 1º (M) 0,90% 0,90% 6,10% 1,70% 0,00% 5,00% 10,00% 15,00% 20,00% 25,00% When do you feel more confortable to speak in English? 89 4. Do you have the same perception in Spanish? MIRALBUENO TIEMPOS MODERNOS 0 0,2 0,4 0,6 0,8 1 1º (M) 2ºA (T.M.) 2ºB (T.M.) 2ºC (M) 3º (M) 3ºA (div.) (T.M.) 4ºA (M) 4ºB (T.M.) 1º (M) 2ºA (T.M.) 2ºB (T.M.) 2ºC (M) 3º (M) 3ºA (div.) (T.M.) 4ºA (M) 4ºB (T.M.) Someone can correct you 11,10% No pressure/ evaluation 7,70% 15% 10,50% 83,30% 5% 12,50% 25% With more pressure 7,70% Personal questions 5,60% When do you feel more confident to speak in English? (by classes) 0,00% 10,00% 20,00% 30,00% 40,00% 50,00% Yes No Sometimes Do you have the same perception in Spanish? TIEMPOS MODERNOS 4ºB TIEMPOS MODERNOS 3ºA (div.) TIEMPOS MODERNOS 2ºB TIEMPOS MODERNOS 2ºA MIRALBUENO 4ºA MIRALBUENO 3º MIRALBUENO 2ºC MIRALBUENO 1º 96 More difficult 0,9% 0,9% Developing students’ opinions and creativity/ more freedom 1,7% Being friendly, create a nice feeling in class 1,7% 0,9% 0,9% Explain more explicitly 1,7% Motivate and show passion 0,9% 1,7% Explain in English and Spanish 0,9% Doing activities out of the classroom 0,9% Speaking (more time) in English 1,7% 1,7% 1,7% No prejudices 0,9% Showing the usefulness of English 0,9% Games/films in English 7% 0,9% Using more the computer 0,9% 8. Which skill do you like the most? 97 9. Do you like the topics you are proposed to write about? Why? Can you choose them? 0 0,5 1 1,5 2 2,5 3 3,5 4 4,5 5 1º (M) 2ºA (T.M.) 2ºB (T.M.) 2ºC (M) 3º (M) 3ºA (div.) (T.M.) 4ºA (M) 4ºB (T.M.) Speaking 3,8 4,4 3 3,4 2,7 3,4 3,5 3,5 Writing 2,8 4,5 3 2,9 3 3,4 2,3 3,3 Listening 3,6 5 2,9 3,7 3,1 3,3 3,9 3,3 Reading 3,4 5 3,4 3,3 2,7 3,2 3,9 2,5 Which skill do you like most? 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 Speaking Writing Listening Reading TIEMPOS MODERNOS 4ºB 3,5 3,3 3,3 2,5 TIEMPOS MODERNOS 3ºA (div.) 3,4 3,4 3,3 3,2 TIEMPOS MODERNOS 2ºB 3 3 2,9 3,4 TIEMPOS MODERNOS 2ºA 4,4 4,5 5 5 MIRALBUENO 4ºA 3,5 2,3 3,9 3,9 MIRALBUENO 3º 2,7 3 3,1 2,7 MIRALBUENO 2ºC 3,4 2,9 3,7 3,3 MIRALBUENO 1º 3,8 2,8 3,6 3,4 Which skill do you like the most? 98 0,00% 5,00% 10,00% 15,00% 20,00% 25,00% 30,00% 35,00% 40,00% 45,00% 50,00% Yes No Sometimes TIEMPOS MODERNOS 4ºB 1,70% 0,90% TIEMPOS MODERNOS 3ºA (div.) 7% 3,50% 0,90% TIEMPOS MODERNOS 2ºB 9,60% 4,30% TIEMPOS MODERNOS 2ºA 8,70% 7,80% 1,70% MIRALBUENO 4ºA 2,60% 3,50% MIRALBUENO 3º 7% 5,20% 3,50% MIRALBUENO 2ºC 7% 5,20% 2,60% MIRALBUENO 1º 4,30% 5,20% 1,70% Do you like the topics you write about? 0,00% 10,00% 20,00% 30,00% 40,00% 50,00% 60,00% 70,00% 1º 2ºC 3º 4ºA 2ºA 2ºB 3ºA (div.) 4ºB MIRALBUENO TIEMPOS MODERNOS Yes 38,50% 44,40% 40% 37,50% 50% 57,90% 61,50% 50% No 46,20% 33,30% 30% 50% 45% 26,30% 30,80% 25% Sometimes 15,40% 16,70% 20% 10% 7,70% Do you like the topics you write about? (by classes) 99 10. How do you prefer working in class: alone, in pairs, or in group? Why? 0 0,05 0,1 0,15 0,2 0,25 0,3 0,35 0,4 Yes No Sometimes TIEMPOS MODERNOS 4ºB 0,90% TIEMPOS MODERNOS 3ºA (div.) 0,90% 1,70% TIEMPOS MODERNOS 2ºB 5,20% 0,90% TIEMPOS MODERNOS 2ºA 0,90% 1,70% 0,90% MIRALBUENO 4ºA 1,70% 2,60% 1,70% MIRALBUENO 3º 0,90% 6,10% 7% MIRALBUENO 2ºC 0 11,30% 0,90% MIRALBUENO 1º 9,60% 0,90% Can you choose the topics to write about? 100 11. Which activities do you like working the most: book’s, workbook’s or activities different from those? Why? 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 Whole group In pairs Alone 4ºB (T.M.) 4,7 4,3 2 4ºA (M) 3,6 3,8 2,4 3ºA (div.) (T.M.) 3,5 4,5 3,7 3º (M) 4,4 4,4 2,4 2ºC (M) 3,8 4,2 2,7 2ºB (T.M.) 3,5 3,6 3,1 2ºA (T.M.) 4,8 4,5 3,1 1º (M) 4,5 4,3 2,8 How do you prefer to work in class? 0 1 2 3 4 5 1º 2ºC 3º 4ºA 2ºA 2ºB 3ºA (div.) 4ºB MIRALBUENO TIEMPOS MODERNOS Whole group 4,5 3,8 4,4 3,6 4,8 3,5 3,5 4,7 In pairs 4,3 4,2 4,4 3,8 4,5 3,6 4,5 4,3 Alone 2,8 2,7 2,4 2,4 3,1 3,1 3,7 2 How do you prefer to work in class? (by classes) 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 Book Workbook Activities different from book and worbook’s 4ºB (T.M.) 2,3 4 2,8 4ºA (M) 2 2,3 4,1 3ºA (div.) (T.M.) 4 4,2 3,9 3º (M) 2,1 3,1 3,6 2ºC (M) 2,7 3,5 3,6 2ºB (T.M.) 3,4 3,1 3,8 2ºA (T.M.) 3,6 3,8 4,3 1º (M) 2,5 3,3 4,4 Which activities do you prefer? 101 12. Regarding the topics seen in class, which one do you prefer? 13. Do you remember any activity that attracted your attention for good or for bad? 0 1 2 3 4 5 1º 2ºC 3º 4ºA 2ºA 2ºB 3ºA (div.) 4ºB MIRALBUENO TIEMPOS MODERNOS Topics: 3,7 3,6 3,5 2,9 4,5 3,2 4,1 3,6 3,7 3,6 3,5 2,9 4,5 3,2 4,1 3,6 Topics (by classes) 102 0,00% 5,00% 10,00% 15,00% 20,00% 25,00% 30,00% 35,00% 40,00% 45,00% No Yes TIEMPOS MODERNOS 4ºB 1,70% 0,90% TIEMPOS MODERNOS 3ºA (div.) 6,10% 0,90% TIEMPOS MODERNOS 2ºB 6,10% 6,10% TIEMPOS MODERNOS 2ºA 2,60% 7% MIRALBUENO 4ºA 0,90% 4,30% MIRALBUENO 3º 11,30% 5,20% MIRALBUENO 2ºC 12,20% 2,60% MIRALBUENO 1º 3,50% 7,80% Do you remeber any activity that attracted your attention? 0,00% 10,00% 20,00% 30,00% 40,00% 50,00% 60,00% 70,00% 80,00% 1º 2ºC 3º 4ºA 2ºA 2ºB 3ºA (div.) 4ºB MIRALBUENO TIEMPOS MODERNOS No 30,80% 77,80% 65% 12,50% 15% 36,80% 53,80% 50% Yes 69,20% 16,70% 30% 62,50% 40% 36,80% 7,70% 25% Do you remember any activity that attracted your attention? (by classes) No Yes 103 1º (M) 2ºC (M) 3º (M) 4ºA (M) 2ºA (T.M.) 2ºB (T.M.) 3ºA (div.) (T.M.) 4ºB (T.M.) MIRALBUENO TIEMPOS MODERNOS Optional reading (novel) 5,60% Famous people 5% English Camp 10% Invent a composition end (Caperucita Roja) 20% Peace Day 5% 5,60% Speaking 5% Expositions 15% 37,50% Animals 11,10% Doing surveys 11,10% Creating an Avatar 55,60% Restaurant Signal 11,10% ( - ) unexpected oral exam 12,50% With real English people 5,60% 26,30% 7,70% 25% Descriptions of pictures 12,50% Visual illusions 12,50% 0 0,1 0,2 0,3 0,4 0,5 0,6 0,7 0,8 0,9 1 Types of activities (by classes) 104 MIRALBUENO TIEMPOS MODERNOS 1º 2ºC 3º 4ºA 2ºA 2ºB 3ºA (div.) 4ºB Visual illusions 0,9% Descriptions of pictures 0,9% With real English people 0,9% 4,3% 0,9% 0,9% (-) unexpected oral exam 0,9% Restaurant Signal 0,9% 0 0,01 0,02 0,03 0,04 0,05 0,06 0,07 0,08 Visual illusions Descriptions of pictures With real English people ( - ) unexpected oral exam Restaurant Signal Creating an Avatar Doing surveys Animals Expositions Speaking Peace Day Invent a composition end … English Camp Famous people Optional reading (novel) Types of activities MIRALBUENO 1º MIRALBUENO 2ºC MIRALBUENO 3º MIRALBUENO 4ºA TIEMPOS MODERNOS 2ºA TIEMPOS MODERNOS 2ºB TIEMPOS MODERNOS 3ºA (div.) TIEMPOS MODERNOS 4ºB 105 Creating an Avatar 4,3% Doing surveys 0,9% Animals 0,9% Expositions 2,6% 2,6% Speaking 0,9% 0,9% Peace Day 0,9% 0,9% Invent a composition end (Caperucita Roja) 3,5% English Camp 1,7% Famous people 0,9% Optional reading (novel) 0,9% 14. Would you like to discuss and choose the topics to be dealt in class? Why? Why not? 112 Auge’s theory leads to the conclusion that the non-places are spaces where thought cannot inhabit. The virtual reality of this places only leaves room to instrumentalism because human relationships and deep feelings of belonging cannot be settled in this almost inhospitable vacuum only suitable for passers-by. In my view the definition of non-place of Augé can be applied to the classroom in our educational system. Transitory noninhabitants (learners) occupy this space in a temporary way.The class is for many of them a sort of stopover in their compulsory educational itinerary. If they are lucky they will acquire some souvenir in the form of some kind of meaningful learning in this transitory area; but this souvenir will be just a memory as the etymology of the word souvenir states . It will never be a personal knowledge that when deeply rooted in the mind and soul of the learner changes his/her life forever. Teachers’ habitual practice consists of imparting their classes from their virtual but advantageous watchtower (the dais) never abandoning either their zone of comfort (blackboard and grammar). In fact this dais-fronted classrooms are in my view laboratoires where language is dissected on the desk as a dead body on the examining table at the morgue. It can be consequently affirmed that English is being given the same mortal treatment as Latin, a dead language and the previous lingua franca. Contrary to this thanatorial practices I advocate that English must be renewed and revived in the classroom. For doing so the interests and expectations of the learners must be met and their expectations, if still existent at all, fulfilled. Kumaravadivelu makes constant references to this conception of teaching that implies “connecting the word with the world” (Kumaravadivelu, 2006, p. 70). And he follows: “It is about creating the cultural forms and interested knowledge that give meaning to the lived experiences of teachers and learners.” (p. 70). Reading Kumaravadively I have understood that the teaching of English has been a preserve of the Anglo-Saxon culture whose limits could only be trespassed by WASPS 113 initiated and acolytes. Conversely this author states that his postmethod pedagogy defends the Mestizo teaching in the English classroom. It opens up new opportunities for the expertise of non Anglo-Saxon educators who can be more knowledgeable and sensitive to the peculiarities of the “exotic” cultures. The exotism of the accent and idiosyncrasy of the non-native speakers of English is contemplated by Kumaravadivelu as an input to be valued in the TESOL class. I do believe that the learners’ L1 must not be forgotten, neither forbidden in a sort of imperialist manicheism that seems to castrate the innate power of the student’s native tongue and its arduous attempts to make its way into the English class. English teachers should use the L1 in a way that benefits and promotes the L2 acquisition. It is not about translating into their own language cryptic texts or about employing parallelism and comparison between their native tongue and their target language. It is about having a clear knowledge of the words in which learners are interested in their own language. The teachers’ job means merely to be able to find these words to make the classes of English meaningful and democratic or as Norton says (cited by Kumaravadivelu, 2006, 71): it is only by understanding the histories and lived experiences of language learners that the language teacher can create conditions that will facilitate social interaction both in the classroom and in the wider community, and help learners claim the right to speak. A real democracy in class implies teachers’ exploring the local realities of the culture and tradition of the students towards whom their lessons are addressed. And above all a real democracy in class means to know that the classroom is not a virtual place but a real one where the students have the right to claim human interaction, actual communication and real life in sum. Finally I would like to conclude by citing a Paulo Freire’s quote that summarizes my view on the English pedagogy in the classroom: “Education either functions as an instrument which is used to facilitate integration of the younger generation into the logic of 114 the present system and bring about conformity or it becomes the practice of freedom, the means by which men and women deal critically and creatively with reality and discover how to participate in the transformation of their world.” – Paulo Friere, Pedagogy of the Oppressed. References: -Augé, M. 1995. Non-places: Introduction to an Anthropology of Supermodernity, trans. J. Howe. London: Verso. - Coyne, R. (2007). “Thinking through Virtual Reality: Place, Non-Place and Situated Cognition”. Technè: Research in Philosophy and Technology, 3. -Kumaravadivelu, B. (2006): TESOL Methods: Changing Tracks, Challenging Trends. TESOL Quaterly, 40, 59-81). -Kumaravadivelu, B. (1994). The Postmethod Condition: (E)merging strategies for second/foreign language teaching, TESOL Quarterly, 28: 27