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In this unit we are going to study language and its major functions:
* We will show how learning a language is not only a grammatical process but also a Social
Process.
* We will discuss some important Communicative Theory defining their key factors.
* Finally, we will show how important it is to create Real Communication Situations in our
Classrooms in order to improve language teaching.
A conclusion summing up what has been said throught the unit will follow, ending up with
the bibliography used for the elaboration of this discussion.
INTRODUCTION
We must point out that language is not just a “subject” in the sense of a package of
knowledge. It is not just a set of information and insights. It is a fundamental part of
being human. Traditional approaches used to treat a language as if it were a free-standing
package of knowledge by analysing and observing it. Many of us learnt a language that way.
But this process is a very abstract one and experience has shown that it does not appeal to
everyone. To learn to use a language at all well for ourselves rather than for textbook
purposes, most of us have to become involved in it as an experience. We have to make it a
human event not just a set of information. We do this by using it for real communication,
for genuine giving and receiving of messages.
* Now that we have introduced this particular topic we are going to deal with the study of
language as Communication, its functions and the concept of communicative competence.
Sapir said that “ language is a purely human and non instinctive method of commicating
ideas, emotions and desires by means of voluntarily produced symbols “.
Hall defined language as “ the institution whereby humans communicate and interact with
each other by means of habitually used oral-auditory symbols “
As we can see with these two definitions it is difficult to make a precise and
comprehensive statement about formal and functional universal properties of language, so
some linguists have tried to identify the various properties that are thought to be its
essential defining characteristics.
The most widely acknowledged comparative approach has been that proposed by Charles
Hockett. This set of 13 design features of communication using spoken language are as
follows:
2. Broadcast transmission and directional reception: a signal can be heard by any auditory
system within earshot and the source can be located using the ear’s direction finding.
4. Interchangeability: speakers of a language can reproduce any linguistic message they can
understand.
5. Total feedback: speakers hear and can reflect upon everything they say.
6. Specialization: the sound waves of speech have no other functions than to signal
meaning.
7. Semanticity: the elements of the signal convey meaning through their stable association
with real world situations.
8. Arbitrariness: there is no depency between the element of the signal and the nature of
the reality to which it refers.
9. Discreetness: speech uses a small set of found elements that clearly contrast with each
other.
10. Displacement: it is possible to talk about events remote in space or time from the
situation of the speaker.
11. Productivity: there is an infinitive capacity to express and understand meaning, by using
old sentence elements to produce new elements.
13. Duality of patterning: the sounds of language have no intrinsic meaning, but combine in
different ways to form elements, such as words, that do convey meaning.
* After having studied the main properties of language, and communication, we will now see
how the learning of a language involves a Social Process.
The most usual answer to the question of “why we use language” is to communicate our
ideas, and this ability to communicate or communicative competence will be studied in the
next part. But it would be wrong to think of communicating our ideas as the only aim for
which language is used. Several other functions may be identified where the
communications of ideas has a marginal or irrelevant consideration.
One of the most common uses of language, the expressive or emotional one, is a means of
getting rid of our nervous energy when we are under stress, when we are angry, afraid, etc.
We do not try to communicate because we can use language in this way whether we are
alone or not.
Malinowski termed the third use of language we are studying Phatic Communication. He
used it to refer to the social function of language , that is, to signal friendship or lack of
enemity. Also, to maintain a comfortable relationship between people.
The fourth function we may find is based on Phonetic Properties. The persuasive cadences
of political speechmaking, or the chants used by prisoners or soldiers have only one
apparent reason: people take delight in them.
They can only be explained by a universal desire to exploit the sonic potential of language.
The fifth function is the Performative one. A performative is an utterance that performs
an act. This use occurs in the naming of a ship at a launching ceremony, or when a priest
baptises a child.
- recording facts
- instrument of thought
- expression of regional, social, educational, sexual or occupational identity.
The British linguist Halliday grouped all these functions into three Metafunctions, which
are the manifestations in the linguistic system of the two unique manifestation purposes
which underline all uses of language, combined with the third component (textual) which
breathes relevance into the other two.
1) The Idealistic Funtion: is to organise the speaker’s or writer’s experience of the real or
imaginary world.
3) The Textual Function: which serves to create written or spoken texts which cohere
within themselves and which fit the particular situation in which they are used.
Chomsky defined language as a set of sentences, each finite in length and constructed out
of a finite set of elements. An able speaker has a subconcious knowledge of the grammer
rules of his language which allows him to make sentences in that language. However, Dell
Hymes thought that Chomsky had missed out some very important information:
The Rules Of Use. When a native speaks, he does not only utter grammatically correct
forms, he also knows where and when to use the sentences and to whom.
1) Systematic Potential:
This means that a native speaker possesses a system that has a potential for creating a lot
of language. This is similar to Chomsky’s competence.
2) Appropriacy:
This means that the native speaker knows what language is appropriate in a given situation,
according to: setting, participants, purposes, channel and topic.
3) Occurence:
This means that the native speaker knows how often something is said in the language and
acts accordingly.
4) Feasibility:
This means that a native speaker knows whether something is possible in the language.
These four categories have been adapted for teaching purposes. Thus, Real Decreto
1006/1991 of 14th June, which establishes the teaching requirements for Primary
Education nation-wide, sees communicative competence as comprising five
subcompetences:
1) Grammar Competence.
The ability to put into practice the system of grammar rules by which a language operates.
2) Sociolinguistic Competence.
The ability to produce appropriate utterances in different sociolinguistic contexts
depending on contextual factors such as status of participants, purpose of the
interaction....
3) Sociocultural Competence.
This is understood to be the knowledge of the social and cultural context in which the
language is used.
4) Discourse Competence.
The ability to produce unified written or spoken discourse that shows coherence and
cohesion in different types of texts.
5) Strategic Competence.
The ability to use verbal and non-verbal strategies to compensate for breakdowns in
communication, or to improve the effectiveness of communication, as for example, the use
of paraphrase, tone of voices or gestures.
On the other hand, Canale defined Discourse Competence as the aspect of communicative
competence which describes the ability to produce unified written or spoken discourse
that shows coherence and cohesion and which conforms to the norms of different genres.
Before summarising the main differences between spoken and written language we will
outline their main features independantly.
On the one hand we have spoken language, which is the most obvious aspect of language.
Speech is not essential to the definition of an infinitely productive communication system,
such as is constituted by language. But, in fact, speech is the universal material of
language. Man has almost certainly been a speaking animal. The earliest known systems of
writing go back perhaps some 5000 years. This means that for many hundreds of
thousands of years human languages have been transmitted and developed entirely as a
spoken means of communication.
The description and classification of speech sounds is the main aim of phonetics. Sounds
may be identified with reference to their production, their transmission and their
reception. These three activities occur at the physiological level, which implies the action
of muscles and nerves. The motor nerves that link the speaker’s brain with his speech
mechanism activate the corresponding muscles. The movements of the tongue, lips, vocal
chords, etc, constitute the articulatory stage of the speech chain, and the area of
phonetics that deals with it is articulatory phonetics.
The movement of the articulation produces disturbances in the air pressure called sound
waves which are physical manifestations. This is the acoustic stage of the chain, during
which the sound waves travel towards the listener’s ear. These sound waves activate the
listener’s ear drum.
On the other hand we have written language which evolved independently at different
times in several parts of the world.
We can classify writing systems into two types:
1) Non-Phonological Systems.
These do not show a clear relationship between the symbols and the sounds of the
language. They include the pictographic, ideagraphic, uniform and Egyptian hieroglyphics
and logographics.
2) Phonological Systems.
These do show a clear relationship between the symbols and the sounds of language. We
can distinguish between syllabic and alphabetic systems.
In a syllabic system each grapheme corresponds to a spoken syllable. Alphabetic writing
establishes a direct correspondance between graphemes and phonemes.
In a perfect regular system there is one grapheme for each morpheme. However, most
alphabets in present day use fail to meet this criteria. At one extreme we find such
languages as Spanish, which has a very regular system; at the other we find such cases as
English and Gaelic where there is a marked tendency to irregularity.
Now let’s study the main differences between writing and speech. The most obvious is the
contrast in physical form.
Speech uses phonic substance typically in the form of air-pressure movements, whereas
writing uses graphic substance, typically in the form of marks on a surface. As writing can
only occasionally be thought of as an interaction, we can establish the following points of
contrast:
1) The permanence of writing allows repeated reading and close analysis. The spontaneity
and rapidity of speech minimises the chance of complex pre-planning, and promotes
features that assisst speakers to think standing up.
2) The participants in written interaction cannot usually see each other, so they cannot
make clear what they mean. However, in speech interactions feedback is possible.
3) The majority of graphic features presents a system of contrasts that has no speech
equivalent. Many genres of written language, such as tables, graphs and complex formulae,
cannot be conveyed by reading aloud.
4) Some contructions may only be found in writing, others only occur in speech, such as in
slang and swear words.
5) Finally we can say that writing tends to be more formal and so it is more likely to
provide the standard that society values. Its performance provides it with a special status.
Despite these differences, the written and spoken language have mutually interacted in
many respects. We normally use the written language in order to improve our command of
vocabulary, active or passive, spoken or written.
Loan words may come into a country in a written form, and sometimes everything we know
about a language is from its written form eg: Latin. It is true that writing has derived from
speech in an historical sense, but nowadays their independance is mutual.
* Now we have examined the differences between speech and written language
we shall concentrate on the theory of communication, and those factors defining a
communicative act.
According to Ivor Armstrong Richards, “communication takes place when one mind so acts
upon its environment that another mind is influenced, and in that other mind an experience
occurs which is like the experience in the first mind, and is caused in part by that
experience.”
From this definition we can conclude that any communicative act necessarily happens
among persons or between a person who acts as a speaker and a listener or between various
people who act as receivers. Besides these people there are other elements in a
communicative act:
* The Message
The content of information that the speaker sends to the listener.
* The Channel
The place through which the message flows.
* The Code
A limited and moderately wide group of signs which combine according to certain rules
known by the speaker and by the listener.
* The Context
The situation in which the speaker and the listener are in, which sometimes helps to
interpret the message.
Barnes (1969), in his description of classroom language, labelled these functions “social”.
Social interaction also takes placein foreign language and 2nd language classrooms, but in
many such classrooms native language is used for this purpose.
Fanselow (1977) attempted to set up a system for observing and recording different types
of communication in the language classroom. He established five headings in the form of
questions:
1) Who communicates ?
All of these questions are useful in thinking how language is used in the classroom.
The first of these areas, Language, concerns those times when a teacher is explaining or
illustrating the language, or when the pupils are asking questions about the language, or
practising pronunciation or structures. In most English language classes, this part of the
lesson is conducted in English.
The second, Procedure, concerns those times when the teacher is managing the classroom,
explaining what to do next, how to do it and so on. Some teachers use English for classroom
management, and others use the children’s mother tongue, at least during the early stages.
The third of Fanselow’s categories, Subject Matter, concerns those times when the
language is being used to convey some specific topic as a part of a lesson. For example, if
the teacher tells the story “The Frog Got Lost”, the subject matter is the frog and its
adventures. In this case the teacher’s aim might be to illustrate the use of the past simple
tense, but the content area of language used in that part of the lesson is not tense but the
tale of the frog. In the language classroom, this part of the lesson would be conducted in
English.
The final content category identified by Fanselow, Life, concerns communication between
teacher and pupils about Real Life Matters, not directly about the lesson. This category
embraces the type of questioning that Barnes called “social” as well as any other type of
communication about the real world.
Thus, for example, if the teacher directs a particular student to “open the window” or asks
another who has nothing to write on “Where is your notebook?”, or genuinely asks another
“Is your brother in the football match on Saturday?”, then he/she is using language about
the real world that is part of the learner’s direct experience. This is a great opportunity
for real communication in the English classroom through English. When speaking to children
in English, it is important, as it is when they are learning their first language, to support
communication through the use of gesture, facial expression and action because this gives
children clues to the meaning of what they hear and so draws their attention to and helps
them to become familiar with the sounds, rhythm and stress of the second language.
Strategies that parents use intuitively to draw children into the use of the first language
must be used deliberately by the teachers to draw children into using the second language.
Research has shown that parents generally speak more slowly, articulate more carefully,
and use gesture, facial expression and tone when talking to young children to aid their
understanding and to encourage them to produce.
CONCLUSION
To conclude, we could bear in mind that an important aspect of interaction in the English
classroom is that it must be managed by the learners as well as by the teacher. That is to
say that learners must be confident enough to initiate communication in English, and not
merely respond when they are addressed by the teacher. A pupil that has something to
say, an apology or a request to make, a question to ask, a greeting to give, should be
encouraged to express him/herself in English. If resources are not to be wanted and
opportunities to be missed, children must learn English in the same way they learnt their
mother tongue, as a living language that can be used for active communication as much as
for establishing personal relationships.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
* “Teaching the Spoken Language” by Gillian Brown and George Yule C.U.P. 1997.
* “Teaching English to Children” by Christopher Brumfit, Jayne Moon and Ray Tongue.
Longman 1992.
TEMA 1
0. INTRODUCTION.
1. LANGUAGE AS COMMUNICATION.
3. COMMUNICATION THEORY.
4. BIBLIOGRAPHY.
0. INTRODUCTION.
Traditional foreign language teaching concentrated on getting students consciously to learn items
of language in insolation. These bits of information would be mainly used to read texts and only
occasionally for oral communication. The focus was not on communication but on a piece of language.
Following Krashen’s distinction between acquisition and learning we can say that people got to know
about the language (learning) but could not use it in a real context (acquisition).
The British applied linguist Allwright tried to bridge this dichotomy when he theorised that if de
language teacher’s management activities were directed exclusively at involving the learners in solving
communication problems in the target language, then language learning wil take care of itlself. We may or
may not agree with this extreme rendering of the Communicative approach, but we all agree nowadays on
the importance of letting ous pupils use English for real communication during at least, the production
stage.
In this unit we are going to study language and its functions to see that communication is one of
thes functions. We wil then posit that learning a language is not only a grammatical and lexical process
but also a social process. We also analyze the differences between writing and speech; and finally we will
discuss the most important communication theory models, defining their key factors.
1. LANGUAGE AS COMMUNICATION.
The word language has prompted innumerable definitions. Some focus on the general concept of
language (what we call lengua or lenguaje) and some focus on the more specific notion of a language
(what we call lengua or idioma).
SAPIR (1921) said that “language is a purely human non-instinctive method of communicating
ideas, emotions and desires by means of voluntarily produced symbols”. HALL (1964) defined language
as “the institution whereby humans communicate and interact whith each other by means of habitually
used oral-auditory arbitrary symbols”. As we can see in these two definitions it is diffi cult to make a
precise and comprehensive statement about formal adn functional universal properties of language so
some linguists have trien to indentify the various properties that are thought to be its essential defining
characteristics.
The most widely acknowledged comparative approach has been the one proposed by Charles
HOCKETT. His set of 13 design features of communication using spoken language were as follows:
- Broadcast transmission and directional reception: a signal can be heard by any auditory system
within earshot, and the source can be located using the ears’ direction-finding ability.
- Interchangeability: speakers of a language can reproduce any linguistic message they can understand.
- Total feedback: speakers hear and can reflect upon everything that they say.
- Specitalization: the sound waves of speech have no other function than to signal meaning.
- Semanticity: the elemens of the signal convey meaning through their stable association with real-
world situations.
- Arbitrariness: there is no dependence of the element of the signal on the nature of the reality to which
it refers.
- Discreteness: speech uses a small set of sound elements tha clearly contrast whith each other.
- Displacement: it is possible to talk about events remote in space or time from the situation of the
speaker.
- Productivity: ther is an infinite capacity to express and understand meaning, by using old setence
elements to produce new sentences.
- Traditional transmissión: language is transmitted from one generation to the next primarily by a
process of teaching and learning.
- Duality of pottering: the sound of language have no intrinsic meaning, but combine in diferents ways
to form elements, such as words, than do convey meaning.
After having studied thje main properties of language (what is language?) we will now see its function
(whats language for?).
The most usual answer to the question “why do we use language?” is “to communicate our ideas”
and this ability to communicate or communicative competence is studied in the next part. But it would be
wrong to think of communicating our ideas as the only way in which we use language (referential,
ideational or propositional function). Several other functions may be indentified where the
communication of ideas is a marginal or irrelevant consideration.
One of the commonest uses of languages, the expressive or emotional one, is a means of getting
rid of our nervous energy when we are under stress. We do not try to communicate ideas because we can
use language in this way whether we are alone or not. Swear words and obscenities are problably the most
usual signals to be used in this way, especially when we are angry. But there are also many emotive
utterances of positive kind, such as expressions of fear, affection, astonishment...
MALINOWSKY (1844-1942) termed the third use of language we are studying “phatic
communication”. He used it to refere to the social function of language, which arises out of the basic
human need to signal friendship, or, at least, lack of enmity. If someone does not say hello to you when hi
is supposed to, you may think hi is hostile. In these cases the sole function of language is to maintain a
comfortable relationship between people, to provide a means of avoiding an embarrassing situation. Phatic
communication, however, is far from universal, some cultures prefer silence, eg, the Aritama of Colombia.
The fourth function we may find is based on phonetic properties. The rhythmical litanies of
religious groups, the presuasive cadences of political speechmaking, the dialogue chants used by prisoner
or soldiers have only one apparent reason: people take delight in them. They can only be explained by a
universal desire to exploit the sonic potential of language.
The fith function is the performative one. A performative sentence ins an utterance that performs
an act. This use occurs in the naming of a ship at a launching ceremony, or when a priest baptizes a child.
- recording facts.
- Instrument of thought
- Expression of regional, social, educational, sexual or occupational identity.
The British linguist HALLIDAY grouped all these functions into three metafunctions, shich are the
manifestation in the linguistic system of the two veryu general purposes shich underlie all uses of
language combine whith the rhird component (textual) shich brethes relevance into the other two.
1.- The ideational function is to organize the speaker’s or writer’s experience of the real or imaginary
world, i.e. language refers to real or imagined persons, things, actions, events, states,etc.
2.- The interpersonal function is to indicate, establish or mantain social relationships between
people. It includes forms of address, speech function, modality ...
3.- The third component is the textual function which serves to create written or spoken texts which
cohere within themselves and which fit the particular situation in which they are used.
CHOMSKY (1957) defined language as `a set of sentences, each finite in length and constructed
out of a finite set of elements. A capable speaker has a subconscious knowledge of the grammar rules of
his language which allows him to make sentences in that language’. However, Dell HYMES thought that
Chomsky had missed out some very important information: the rules of the use. When a native speaker
speaks, he does not onlu utter grammatically correct forms, he also knows where and when to use these
sentences and to whom. Hymes, then, said that competence by itself is not enough to explain a native
speaker’s knowledge, and he replaced it with his own concept of communicative competence.
- systematic potential
- appropriacy
- occurrence
- feasibility
Systematic potential means that the native speaker possesses a system that has a potential for creating a
lot of language. This is similar to Comsky’s competence.
Appropriacy means that the native speaker knows what language is appropriate in a given situation. His
choice is based on the following variables, among others:
Setting
Participants
Purpose
Channel
Topic
Occurrence means that the native speaker knows how often something is said in the language and acts
accordingly.
Feasibility means that the native speaker knows whether something is possible in the language. Even if
there is no grammatical rule to ban 20-adjective prehead construction, we know that these constructions
are not possible in the language.
These 4 categories have been adapted for teaching purposes. Thus, the Royal Decree 1006/1991 of
14 June (BOE 25 June), which establishes the teaching requirements for Primary Education nationwide,
sees communicative competence as comprising five subcompetences:
The terms grammar, sociolinguistic and sociocultural competence are quite self explanatory so we will
only analyze discourse and strategic competence.
CANALE (1980) defined discourse competence as an aspect of communicative competence which
describes the ability to produce unified written or spoken discourse that shows coherence and cohesion
and which conforms to the norms of different genres. Our pupils must be able to produce discourse in
which successive utterances are linked through ruoles of discourse competence.
It is traditionl in language study to distinguish between spoken and written language. Before
summarizing their main differences we will outline their main features independently.
The most obvious aspect of language is speech. Speech is not essential to the definition of an infinitely
productive communication system, such as it is constituted by language. But, in fact, speech is the
universal material of human language. Man has been a speaking animal from early in the emergence of
Homo Sapiens as a recognizable distinct species. The earliest known systems of writing go back perhaps
5.000 years. This means that for many hundreds of thousands of years human language were transmitted
and developed entirely as spoken means of communication.
The description and clasification of sounds is the main aim of phonetics. Sounds may be identified
with reference to their production, transmission and reception. These three activities occur at a
physiological level, which implies the action of nerves and muscles. The motor nerves that link the
speaker’s brain with his speech mechanism activate the corresponding muscle. The movements of the
tongue, lips, vocal folds, etc. Constitute the articulatory stage of the speech chain, and the area of
phonetics that deals with it is articulatory phonetics.The movement of the articulators produces
disturbances in the air pressure called sound waves, which are physical manifestations. This is the acoustic
stage of the chain, during which the sound waves travel towards the listener’s ear-drum. The study of
speech sound waves correspons to acoustic phonetics. The hearing process is the domain of auditory
phonetics. This can be seen in the following table:
In this table we can see how phonetics is the study of all possible speech sounds.
This is not the most important task for linguist, however. A linguist must study the way in which a
language’s speakers systematically use a selection of theses sounds in order to express meaning. In this
activity he is helped by phonology. Phonology is continually loking beneath th surface of speech to
determine its underlying regularities. It is not interested in sounds but in phonemes, ie. Smallest
contrastive phonological units which can produce a difference in meaning. The study of speech is
therefore, the field of both Phonetics and Phonology.
Non-phonological systems do not show a clear relationship between the symbols and the sounds of
the language. They include the pictographic, ideographic, cuneiform and egyptian hieroglyphic and
logographic.
The cuneiform method of writing dates from the 4 th. Millennium BC, and was used to express both
non-phonological and phonological writing systems. The name derives from the Latin, meaning ‘wedge-
shaped’ and refers to the technique used to make the symbols.
Egyptian hieroglyphic developed about 3000 BC. It is a mixture of ideograms, phonograms and
determinative symbols. It was called hieroglyphic because of its prominent use in temples ad tombs
(Greek, ‘sacred carving”).
Logographic writing systems are those where the graphemes represent words. The best known case
is Chinese and Japanese kanji. The symbols are variously referred to as logographs, logograms or
characters.
Phonological systems do show a clear relationship between the symbols and the sounds of
language. We can distinguish syllabic and alphabetic systems.
Alphabetic writing establishes a direct correspondence between graphemes and morphemes. This
makes it the most economic and adaptable of all the writing systems. In a perfectly regular sustem there is
one grapheme for each morpheme. However, most alphabets in present day use fail to meet this criterion.
At one extreme we find such languages as Spanish, which has a very regular system; at the other, we find
such cases as English and Gaelic, where there is a marked tendency to irregularity.
Historically speaking, written language was considered tobe superior to spoken language for many
centuries. It was the medium of literature, and literature was considered a source of standards of linguistic
excellence. Witten records provide language with permanence and authority and so the rules of grammar
were illustrated exclusively from written texts.
On the other hand, spoken language was ignored as an object unworthy of study. Spoken language
demostrates such a lack of care and organization that cannot be studied scientifically; it was said to have
no rules, and speakers have thought that, in order to speak properly, it was necessary to follow the correct
norm. As this norm was based on written standards, it is clear that the prescriptive tradition rested
supremacy of writing over speech.
This viewpiont became widely criticized at the turn of our century. Leonard Bloomfield insisted
that "writing is not language but merely a way of recording language by means of visible marks". This
approach pointed out several factors, some of which we have already mentioned:
If speech is the primary medium of communication, it was also argued that it should be the main
object of linguistic study. Actually, the majority of the world's cultures' languages have never been written
down and this has nothing to do with their evolutionary degree. It is a fallacy to suppose that the
languages of illiterate or so-called primitive peoples are less structured, less rich in vocabulary, and less
efficient than the languages of literate civilization. E. Sapir was one of the first linguistics to attack the
myth that primitive peoples spoke primitive languages. In one study he compared the grammatical
equivalents of the sentence "he will give it to you" in six Amerindian languages. Among many fascinating
features of these complex grammatical forms, note the level of abstraction introduced by the following
example:
Southern Paiute
Many linguistics and ethnographerstherefore stressed the urgency of providing techniques for the
analysis of spoken language and because of this emphasis on the spoken language, it was now the turn of
writing to fall into disrepute. Many linguistics came to think of written language as a tool of secundary
inportance. Writing came to be excluded from the primary subject matter of linguistic science. Many
grammarians presented an account of speech alone.
Nowadays, there is no sense in the view that one medium of communication is untrinsically better.
Writing cannot substitute for speech, nor speech for writing. The functions of speech and writing are
usually said to complement each other.
On the other hand, there are many functional para llels which seem to be increase in modern
society. We cannot use recording devices to keep facts and communicate ideas. On the other hand writing
is also taken the social of phatic function typically associated with the immediacy of speech.
Research has begun to investigate the nature and extent of the differences between them. Most
obviously, they contrast in physical form:
Differences of structure and use are the product of radically different communicative situations.
Crystal (1987) pointed that `speech is tme-bound, dynamic, transient, part of an interaction in which,
typically, both participants are present, and the speaker has a specific addressee in mind´. Writing is space-
bound, static, permanent, the result of a situation in which, typically, the producer is distant from the
recipient and, often, may not even know who the recipient is. As writing can only occasionally be thought
of as an interaction it is just normal that we can establish the following points of contrast:
1.- The permanence of writing allows repeated reading and close analysis. The spontaneity and
rapidity of speech minimizes the chance of complex preplanning, and promotes features that assist to
think standing up.
2.- The participants in written interaction cannot usually see each other, and they thus cannot rely
on the context to help make clear what they mean as they would when speaking. As a consequence, deictic
expressions are normally avoided. On the other hand, feedback is available in most speech interactions.
3.- The majority of graphic features present a system of contrast that has no speech equivalent.
Many genres of written language, such as tables, graphs, and complex formulae, cannot be conveyed by
reading aloud.
4.- Some constructions may be found onlu¡y in writing, such as the French simple past, and others
only occur in speech, such as `whatchamacallit´, or slang expressions.
5.- Finally we can say that written language tends to be more formal and so it is more likely to
provide the standard that society values.
Despite these differences, there are many respects in which the written and the spoken language
have mutually interacted. We normally use the written language in order to improve our command of
vocabulary, active or passive, spoken or written. Loan words may come into a country in a written form,
and sometimes, everything we know about language is its writing.
3. COMMUNICATION THEORY.
3.1. Definition
Since about 1920 the growth and apparent influence of communication technology have attracted
the attention of many specialists who have attempted to isolate communication as a specific facet of their
particular interest.
In the1960s, Marshall McLuhan, drew the threads of interest in the field of communication into a
view that associated many contemporary psychological and sociological phenomena with the media
employed in modern culture. McLuhan's idea, `the medium is the message´, stimulated numerous
filmmakers, photographers, and others, who adopted McLuhan´s view that contemporary society had
moved from a print culture to a visual one.
By the late 20th century the main focus of interest in communication seemed to be drifting away
from McLuhanism and to be centring upon:
In short, a communication expert may be oriented to any number of disciplines in a field of inquiry
that has, as yet, neither drawn for itself a conclusive roster of subject matter nor agreed upon specific
methodologies of analysis.
3.2. Models
Dynamic models are used in describe cognitive, emotional, and artistic aspects of communication
as they occur in sociocultural contexts. These models do not try to be quantitative as linear ones. They
often centre attention upon different modes of communication and theorize that the messages they contain
including messages of emotional quality and artistic content, are communicated in various manners to and
from different sorts of people.
Many analysts of communication such as McLuhan assert that the channel actually dictates, or
severely influences, the message, both as sent and received. For them, the stability and function of channel
or medium are more variable and less mechanistically related to the process than they are for followers of
Shannon and Weaver.
Claude Shannon and Warren Weaver's Mathematical Model of Communication is one of the most
productive schematic models of a communication systems that has ever been proposed. The simplicity,
clarity, and surface generally of their model proved attractive to many students of communication in a
number of disciplines. As originally conceived, the model contained five elements arranged in linear
order:
- An information source
- A transmiter
- A channel of transmission
- A receiver
- A destination
This model was originally intended for electronic messages so, in time, the five elements of the
model were renamed so as to specify components for other types of communication transmitted in various
manners. The information source was split into its components to provide a wider range of applicability:
- a source
- an encoder
- a message
- a channel
- a decoder
- a receiver
Another concept, first called a `noise source´ but later associated with the notion of entropy was
imposed upon the communication model. Entropy diminishes the integrity of the message and distorts the
message for the receiver. Negative entropy may also occur in instances where incomplete or blurred
messages are nevertheless received intact, either because of the ability of the receiver to fill in missing
details or to recognize, despite distortion or paucity of information, both the intent and the content of the
communication.
But not only negative entropy counteracts entropy. Redundancy, the repetition of elements within a
message that prevents the failure of communication of information, is the greatest antidote to entropy.
Redundancy is apparently involved in most human activities, and, because it helps to overcome the
various forms of entropy that tends to turn intelligible messages into unintelligible ones, it is an
indispensable element for effective communication.
We can see that the model, despite the introduction of entropy and redundancy, is conceptually
static. To correct this flaw, Norbert Wiener, the father of cybernetics, added the principle of feedback, ie,
sources tend to be responsive to their own behaviour and to the context of communication. Interaction
between human beings in conversation cannot function without the ability of the message sender to weigh
and calculate the apparent effect of this words on his listener.
This unit title mentions some of the key factors affecting any communicative interaction such as
the sender and the receiver. After putting them in the broader framework of the Mathematical Model of
Communication we will analyze the intended effects of our communicative interactions (speech acts) and
the environment in which they are exchanged (social context).
The information source selects a desired message out of a possible set of messages. The transmitter
changes the message into a signal which is sent over the communication channel where it is received by
the receiver and changed back into a message which is sent to the destination. In the process of
transmission certain unwanted additions to the signal may occur which are not part of the message and
these are referred to as noise or entropy; negative entropy and redundancy counteract entropy. For somo
communication systems the components are simple to specify as, for instance:
In face-to-face communication, the speaker can be both information source and transmitter, while
the listener can be both receiver and destination.
J.L. Austin (1911-1960) was the first to draw attention to the many functions performed by
utterances as part of interpersonal communication. He distinguishes two main types of functional
potential:
- performative
- contative
A performative is an utterance that perform an act: to say is to act, as we have already seen when
studying language functions. Performatives may be explicit and implicit performatives, which do not
contain a performative verb.
Constatives are utterances which assert something that is either true or false.
In speech act analysis the effect of utterances on the behaviour of speaker and hearer is studies
using a threefold distinction:
A locutionary act is the saying of something which is meaningful and can be understood. For
example, saying the sentence `shoot the snake´ is a locutionary act if hearers understand the words `shoot
´, `the´and `snake´ and can identify the particular snake referred to.
An illocutionary act is using a sentence to perform a function. For example `shoot the snake´may
be intended as an order or a piece of advice.
A perlocutionary act is the result or effect that is produced by means of saying something. For
example, shooting the snake would be a perlocutionary act.
Austin´s three-part distinction is less frequently used than a two part distinction between the
propositional content of a sentence and the illocutionary force or intended effects of speech acts. There are
thousands of possible illocutionary acts, and several attempts have been made to classify them into a small
number of types:
- representatives
- directives
- commisives
- expressives
- declarations
In declarations the speaker alters the external status or conditions of an object or situation solely by
making the utterance.
As we can infer from the examples there are some fuzzy areas and overlappings between different
types of illocutionary force. But an utterance may lose its illocutionary force if does not satisfy several
criteria, known as felicity conditions. For example the preparatory conditions have to be right: the person
performing the speech act has to have the authority to do so.
Ordinary people automatically accept these conditions when they communicate. If any of these
conditions does not obtain, then a special interpretation of the speech act has to apply. Both normal and
special interpretations of utterances have much to do with the context in which they are made.
3.3.2. Context.
1. The parts of a piece of writing, speech, etc, that precede and follow a word or passage and
contribute to its full meaning.
2. The conditions and circumstances that are relevant to an event, fact, etc.
The first definition covers what we may call linguistic context, but as we can infer from the second
definition, linguistic context may not be enough to fully understand an utterance understood as a speech
act. In fact, linguistic elements in a text may refer not only to other parts of the text but also to the outside
world, to the context of situation.
The concept of context of situation was formulated by Malinowski in 1923. It has been worked
over and extended by a number of linguistics, specially Hymes and Halliday. Hymes categorizes the
communicative situation in terms of eight components while Halliday offers three headings for the
analysis:
CONTEXT OF SITUATION
HYMES HALLIDAY
1. Form and content of text 1. field
2. Setting 2. mode
3. Participants 3. tenor
4. Ends
5. Key
6. Medium
7. Genre
8. Interactional norms
We will now analyze Halliday´s more abstract interpretation as it practically subsumes Hymes´s
one.
The field is the total event, in which the text is functioning, together with the purpose activity of
the speaker or writer; it thus includes the suject matter as one element in it.
The mode is the function of the text in the event, including therefore both the channel taken by the
language, and its genre or rethorical mode, as narrative, didactic, persuasive and so on.
The tenor refers to to the participants who are taking part in this communicative exchange, who
they are and what kind of relationship thay have to one another. It is clear that role relationships, ie, the
relationship which people have to each other in a act of communication, influences the way they speak to
each other. One of the speakers may have, for instance, a role which has a higher status than that of the
other speaker or speakers.
4. BIBLIOGRAPHY.
- Richards, J. C, Platt, J., and Platt, H. Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied
Linguistics. Longman. London, 1992.
- Materiales para la Reforma. Primaria. MEC. Madrid, 1992.
Tema 1
LA LENGUA COMO COMUNICACIÓN: LENGUAJE ORAL Y LENGUAJE
ESCRITO. FACTORES QUE DEFINEN UNA SITUACIÓN
COMUNICATIVA: EMISOR, RECEPTOR, FUNCIONALIDAD Y
CONTEXTO.
1. INTRODUCTION
Traditionally, theories of language have concentrated on the study of its different components in isolation,
such as grammar, semantics, phonology, seeing language as a system that included all of them. However,
when language is first acquired in childhood, is merely by means of communicating with the people
around. In this sense, new approaches in the last third of the 20 th C, paid attention to language as
communication.
We, as human beings, need to communicate, and as most of us live in a literary society, we normally use
oral and written language to transmit or receive information. As far as oral communication is concerned,
most human beings speak using oral language in order to exchange information and interact with other
people, but the use of oral language entails the knowledge of certain particular elements, norms, routines,
formulae and strategies that are put into work when we are in conversations.
On the other hand, writing and reading require formal instruction, and children face a series of difficulties
when learning these skills, because they have to comfort oral to written discourse, adapting rules, learning
spelling, dividing speech chains into chunks called words, etc.
However, learning to write and read is probably the most fundamental step in education, because is the
basis for future instruction and access to many fields of knowledge. In this unit, we are going to review
the main characteristics of oral and written language, and then we will analyse the factors that define a
communicative situation, namely the sender and the receiver of the message, the functionality and the
context.
Therefore we can say that oral language comes first in our history as individuals. Therefore, speech and
writing are not alternative processes, but rather we must consider them counterparts: all oral language
should have a good representative system in a written form.
From a psychological point of view, oral communication is a two-way process in which both speaker
(encoder) and hearer (decoder) must be present in the same situational context at a particular time and
place (unless we talk about special cases of oral communication such as phone conversations). The
functions of oral communication are, as we said before, to communicate or exchange our ideas or to
interact with other people. Unlike written communication, in oral interaction we can monitor the reactions
of the hearer through the feedback so that we can our speech in the course of the communication, as well
as use different linguistic and non-linguistic features (gesturing, intonation...) to make our messages
clearer. However, as it takes place in a particular place and time, the interlocutors have to make their
contributions at a high speed, without much time to think, unlike writing.
Along history, the study of spoken language has not much tradition, unlike written language, due to
several reasons:
- it was considered a secondary type of language as it was not reserved only to cultivate people.
-
- unlike written language, there was a lack of permanent records of oral language during our past
history.
-
- it presents more mutability in the understanding and interpretation of what it is said than in
written lg.
-
Halliday was among the first linguists to study oral language, saying that it was not a formless and
featureless variety of written language. Since then, there has been an increasing interest to which it has
contributed the inventions of audio, video and computer devices. In oral communication, we distinguish
two different types:
Prepared speech The formal setting is organised as writing (syntax, lexis & discourse
organisation) It is memorised or written down before (lectures, speech, oral poetry)
Spontaneous speech Speaker has not thought or memorised the message beforehand. It may
present inaccuracies, hesitations, silences and mistakes
As spontaneous speech is the main form of oral communication, and directly reflects real communication
processes with different demands and situations, and prepared speech does not allow for feedback and
monitoring, the analysis and study of oral communication should concentrate on spontaneous speech,
where the negotiation of meaning plays an important role for the communication purpose to be correctly
achieved.
But because of its pervasive and everyday nature, its scientific study has proved particularly complex. It
has been difficult to obtain acoustically clear, natural samples of spontaneous conversation, especially of
its more informal varieties. When samples have been obtained, the variety of topics, participants, and
social situations which characterise conversation have made it difficult to determine which aspects of the
behaviour are systematic and rule-governed.
Linguistic elements
STRESS When we talk we have to bare in mind there is a regular distribution of accents along
words and sentences. However, if we want to give special emphasis to a particular word or
phrase, we change that regular pattern of stress and accent in order to make more prominent
what we want.
RHYTHM It is the relationship we make between accents (chunks of words) and silences.
Rhythm can range from very monotonous one (in quick or prepared speech) to rhythm with
contrasts in order to give expressiveness and sense to our speech. Pauses are also important,
because sometimes are made to divide grammatical units and other times are unpredictable
and caused by hesitations.
INTONATION is the falling and rising of voice during speech. Any departure from what it is
considered “normal” intonation shows special effects and expresses emotions and attitudes.
Normally, falling tones show conclusion and certainty, whereas rising tones may show
inconclusion or doubt (I´ll do it / I´ll do it... )
Paralinguistic elements
We cannot consider oral verbal communication without remembering that the whole body takes
part. In fact, many times, a person can express sympathy, hostility or incredulity by means of body
and facial gestures. This “body language” is normally culturally related & is learnt the same way
as verbal behaviour is learnt, although it allows for spontaneity and creativity: we use head, face,
hands, arms, shoulders, fingers...
Speed of speech is relatively rapid; there are many assimilations & elisions of letters; compressions of
auxiliary sequences (gonna); it can be difficult to identify sentence boundaries in long loose passages;
informal discourse markers are common ( you know, I mean); great creativity in the vocabulary choice,
ranging from unexpected coinage (Be unsad) to use of vague words (thingummy).
2.2. RULES
When we use language, we do not only utter grammatically correct sentences, but we know where, when
and to whom we are addressing our utterances. This is the reason why a speaker needs to know not only
the linguistic and grammatical rules of a language (Chomsky´s linguistic competence) or rules of usage,
but also how to put into effect these rules in order to achieve effective communication, so that we also
need to be familiar with rules of use.
Rules of usage In order to produce and understand messages in a particular language we need to be
familiar with:
Rules of use To be communicatively efficient, we need to show our linguistic competence in real speech
through:
Man´s ability to be creative with language is something obvious, but there are times when we choose how,
when and why not to be creative, to repeat what has been said or heard many times, often in exactly the
same form. Linguistic routines are fixed utterances which must be considered as single units to
understand their meaning, and they are of a learned character (Hi! familiar or empty How do you do?), the
process through which we acquire ritual competence being perhaps the most important socialisation we
make of language.
Understanding routines & formulae require shared cultural knowledge because they are generally
metaphorical in nature and must be interpreted at a non-literal level. People are often quite opposed to
routines, formulae and rituals because they are meaningless and depersonalise our ideas, because literal
semantic value is largely irrelevant. Some typical routines and habitual formulae are used in funeral
condolences, religious ceremonies, weddings, graduation ceremonies...
Particular attention has been paid to the markers of conversational turns: how people know their turn to
speak. In formal dialogue, there are often explicit markers, showing that a speaker is about to talk; in
debate, the person in the chair more or less controls speakers´ turns. In conversation, however, the cues
are more subtle, involving variations in the melody, rhythm, and speed of speech, and in patterns of eye
movement.
When people talk in a group, they look at and away from their listeners in about equal proportions, but
when approaching the end of what they have to say, they look at the listeners more steadily, and in
particular maintain closer eye contact with those they expect to continue the conversation. A listener who
wishes to be the next speaker may indicate a desire to do so by showing an increase in bodily tension,
such as by leaning forward or audibly drawing in breath. In addition, there are many explicit indications,
verbal and non-verbal, that a speaker is coming to an end (Last but not least...), wishes to pass the
conversational ball (What do you think?, staring to someone), wishes to join in (Could I just say that...),
leave (Well, that is all...), change the topic (Speaking of Mary...), or check on listeners´ attention or
attitude (Are you with me?).
The subject-matter is an important variable, with some topics being “safe” in certain social groups (in
Britain, the weather, pets, children, and the locality), others more or less “unsafe” (religious and political
beliefs, questions of personal income such as How much do you earn¿). There are usually some arbitrary
divisions: for example, in Britain, it is polite to comment o the taste and presentation of a meal, but
usually impolite to enquire after how much it cost.
In Grice´s view, we cooperate in a conversation in order to produce a rational and efficient exchange of
information, so that to reach a good final result in a communicative process, we apply 4 cooperative
principles or maxims:
- Maxim of quality: Our contributions have to be sincere, believing what we say & avoiding things we
lack evidence of
- Maxim of quantity: We should make our contributions as briefly, orderly & informative as required for
the exchange.
- Maxim of relevance: An utterance has to be relevant with respect to the stage the conversation has
reached.
- Maxim of manner: Which concerns the manner of expression (avoiding obscurity, ambiguity...).
When we write, we use graphic symbols, which relate to the sounds we make when we speak. But
writing is much more than the production of graphic symbols, just as speech is more than the production
of sounds: these symbols have to be arranged, according to certain conventions, to form words, and
words to form sentences. These sentences then have to be ordered and linked together in certain
ways, forming a coherent whole called text.
Since classical times, there have been two contradictory approaches to speech and writing: firstly, the
view that writing is the primary and speech the secondary medium, because writing is more culturally
significant and lastingly valuable than speech; and secondly, the view that speech is primary and writing
secondary because speech is prior to writing both historically and in terms of a child´s acquisition of
language. But leaving aside this dichotomy, the first thing we must notice is that speech and writing are
not alternative processes: speech comes first, but writing demands more skill and practice, and they have
different formal patterns.
Most important of all, however, is that written and spoken language are counterparts: a writing system
should be capable of representing all the possible wordings of a person´s thoughts. This implies that both
systems could be regarded as the two sides of the same coin.
From a psychological point of view, writing is a solitary activity, the interlocutor is not present, so we
are required to write on our own, without the interaction or the help of the feedback usually provided
in oral communication. That is why we have to compensate for the absence of some linguistic features
which help to keep communication going on in speech, such as prosody and paralinguisic devices such as
gesturing, intonation, etc. Our texts are interpreted by the reader alone, and we cannot monitor his or
her reactions, unlike the speaker: we have to sustain the whole process of communication and to stay in
contact with our reader through words alone, and this is why we must be very clear and explicit about our
intentions when we write.
However, not all the acvantages are on the side of the oral communication: in writing, we normally have
time to think about what we are trying to express, so that we can revise it and re-write it, if need be, and
the reader, to understand a text, can also read and re-read it as many times as wanted.
There are some features characteristic of written language, but this should not be taken to imply that there
´s a well-delimited dividing line between writing and speech. However, the extend to which each of them
makes use of different resources is directly related to the nature of the two channels: speech is the
language of immediate communication, and writing is a type of communication with a distance in
between. This is the reason why written texts present the following formal elements:
Linguistic features of written language A good writing system must be fixed, flexible, and adaptable
at a time, so that:
- it must provide a codified expression for the elements expressed by oral language: each idea =
a written form
-
- it must provide means for creating expressions for elements not codified yet: neologisms,
borrowings...
-
Syntactic features of written language The syntactic elements which make writing different from
speech are:
- markers and rhetorical organisers for clauses relationships and clarity (written texts are more
permanent)
-
- use of heavily pre-modified NPs , SVO ordering and use of passive constructions and
subordinate phrases
-
Lexical features of written language In order to compensate the absence of paralinguistic devices and
feedback:
- more accuracy in the use of vocabulary, avoiding redundancy and ambiguity (due to its
permanent nature)
-
- use of anaphoras and cataphoras, repetitions, synonyms... to signal relationships between
sentences
-
- there is more lexical density in writing than in speech (more lexical items than grammatical
ones)
-
Graphological implications Texts can be presented in different ways, as our culture value many times
more the form than the content. To compensate for the absence of feedback and paralinguistic devices,
written texts need to be accurate in spelling, punctuation, capital letters to mark sentence boundaries,
indentation of paragraphs, different fonts to call attention (italics, bold...) and in poetry or texts to draw
attention, exploitation of resources such as order and choice of words, variations in spelling (Biba la
kurtura).
In any case, what is most characteristic of written communication is that we see it (the organisation,
length...).
In writing, communication also takes place following system and ritual constraints: this is the reason why
when we look at a text we can distinguish and obtain information regarding different types of
organisation, different purposes and different lengths.
Traditionally, written texts were divided following the classification of genres. Then, linguists linked their
rhetorical mode to the syntactic structures, routines and formulae that characterised them, and established
the following classification:
Postcards Pieces of writing normally directed to friends or family when travelling ,and sometimes
used for congratulations and greetings. We just write on one side and the language used is
colloquial.
Letters They can be formal (to enterprises or someone we are not closed to) and informal (to
friends or family) There are some routines to write letters: apart from the writer´s address
on the top right-hand corner, the date, the first line (dear + name/sir/madam/Mr/Mrs...), the
closing (Yours...) and the signature, present in both types of letters, each type of letter
follows this structural organisation into paragraphs:
Formal: 1st = reason why writing, 2nd = what you want from addressee, 3rd =
conclusion.
Informal: 1st = introduction, 2nd = reason, 3rd = additional info, 4th = conclusion.
There are also directive letters, to provoke some reaction on the reader, using imperatives
& remarks.
Filling-in forms Consist of answering what you are asked, as briefly as possible, so no writing style
is needed to do so.
Curriculum vitae Consists of a clear summary to give the academic knowledge and experience
someone has on a certain matter, so it includes personal details, current occupation,
academic qualification and professional experience.
Summaries Brief résumés of articles, booklets and books that due to their special form of composition
and writing they allow the reader to gather the main information about the original work
without reading it.
Reports They are used to present clearly and with details the summary of present and past facts or
activities, and sometimes of predictable future facts from checked data, sometimes
containing the interpretation of the writer but normally with the intention of stating the
reality of an enterprise or institution without deformative personal visions, and can be
expositive, interpretative & demonstrative
Narrative texts The most universal of all the types of written texts, refer back to the story-telling
traditions of most cultures. In fact there seem to be some basic universal structure that
governs this type of texts:
- Orientation (time, place and character identification to inform reader of the story
world), Goal. Problem. Resolution. Coda and sometimes a morale at the end.
For this characteristic structure, some of the routines and formulae used are presentatives
(there is...), relatives, adjuncts of place and time, flash-backs, different narrative p.o.v.,
narrative dialogues, etc...
Descriptive texts They are concerned with the location and characterisation of people and things in
the space, as well as providing background information which sets the stage for narration.
This type of texts is very popular in L2 teaching, and all types have the same pre-
established organisation. Within descriptive texts we might find:
- External descriptions, presenting a holistic view of the object by an account of all
its parts
- Functional descriptions, which deal with instruments and the tasks they may
perform
- Psychological descriptions, which express the feelings that something produces in
someone
Some of the most characteristic structures are presentatives (there...), adjuncts of location,
stative verbs (look, seem, be...), use of metaphors, comparisons, qualifying adjectives and
relative sentences.
Expository texts They identify and characterise phenomena, including text forms such as definitions,
explanations, instructions, guidelines, summaries, etc...They may be subjective (an essay)
and objective (definitions, instructions), or even advice giving. They may be analytical,
starting from a concept and then characterising its parts, and ending with a conclusion.
Typical structures are stative verbs, “in order to”, “so as to”, imperatives, modals and verbs
of quality.
Argumentative texts They are those whose purpose is to support or weaken another statement whose
validity is questionable.
The structures we find are very flexible, being this the reason for the existence of several
types:
Classical/Pros & cons zigzag/One-sided arg/Ecclectic appro/Opposition´s arg first/Other
side questioned
There are sometimes when we choose how, when and why not to be creative with language to repeat what
is normally used in a given situation: we use linguistic routines and formulae. These are defined as fixed
utterances or sequences of utterances which must be considered as single units, because their
meaning cannot be derived of them unless considered as a whole.
In written texts we find different types of routines and formulaic expressions, which vary depending on
the type of text, as we have been previously seeing. Understanding them usually requires sharing cultural
knowledge, because they are genarally metaphorical in nature and must be interpreted at a non-linguistic
level (for instance, Dear in a letter does not always carry affective meaning).
All those phrases and sentences that, to some extend, have a prescriptive character, can be considered as
routines and formulaic expressions: to consider all the different existing routines would take too long, but
some examples are, in letters & postcards (Yours sincerely) in C.V´s, the organisation of info in different
blocks, in narration (Once upon a time) in descriptions (on the left, high above),etc...
All in all, we can say that they are sometimes very useful but often meaningless & depersonalise our
expressions & ideas.
The study of human communication in all its modes is known as semiotics. There are several types of
communication, and although in principle any of the five senses can be used as a medium of
communication, in practice only three (tactile, visual and aural) are implemented in both active-
expressive and passive-receptive ways.
Tactile communication involves touch (e.g. shaking hands, grasping the arm) and the manipulation of
physical distance and body orientation in order to communicate indifference or disagreement, and is
studied by proxemics. Visual communication involves the use of facial expressions (smiling, winking...,
which communicate a wide range of emotions) and gestures and body postures of varying levels of
formality (kneeling, bowing...). Visual non-verbal communication is studied by kinesics. Often, visual
and tactile effects interact closely with verbal communication, sometimes even conveying particular
nuances of meaning not easy to communicate in speech (such as the drawing of inverted commas in the
air to signal a special meaning), and most of the times culturally related.
The chief branch of communication studies involves the oral-aural mode, in the form of speech, and its
systematic visual reflex in the form of writing. These are the verbal aspects of communication,
distinguished from the non-verbal (kinesics and proxemics) aspects, often popularly referred to as body
language.
The term language, as we understand it, is usually restricted to speech and writing, because these
mediums of transmission display a highly sophisticated internal structure and creativity. Non-verbal
communication, by contrast, involves relatively little creativity. In language, it is commonplace to find
new words being created, and sentences varying in practically infinite complexity. In this respect,
languages differ markedly from the very limited set of facial expressions, gestures, and body movements.
According to Harmer, the characteristics apply to every communicative situation is that a speaker/writer
wants to communicate, has a communicative purpose, and selects language, and a listener/reader wants to
listen to something, is interested in a communicative purpose, and process a variety of language.
Models In order to study the process of communication several models have been offered;
fragmentation and problems of interdisciplinary outlook have generated a wide range of discussion
concerning the ways in which communication occurs. Most communication theorists admit that
their main task is to answer the question Who says what to whom with what effect? The most
important models are:
Dynamic Used to describe cognitive, emotional and artistic aspects of the different modes
(narrative, pictorial, dramatic...) of communication as they occur in sociocultural contexts in their
various manners and to and from different sorts of people. For those using this model, the stability
and function of the channel are more variable and less mechanically related to the process than the
linear models.
Linear Proposed by Shannon and Weaver, though very mathematical, its simplicity, clarity
and surface generality proved very attractive. Originally intended for electronic messages, it was
then applied to all sorts of communication. In its conception it contained five elements arranged in
linear order: information source, transmitter, channel, receiver, destination. Then, the five
elements were renamed so as to specify components for other types of communication, and the
information source was split into its components to provide a wider range of applicability: source,
encoder, message, channel, decoder, receiver.
Key factors
In theory, communication is said to have taken place if the information received is the same as that
sent. In practice, we have to allow for all kinds of interfering factors, such as entropy (noise
distorsion) which can be counteracted by negative entropy (receiver´s ability to clear blurred
messages), by redundancy (used by the encoder), or by feedback (the sender calculates and
weights the effects on the receiver and acts accordingly); and then we have the context, which
covers the references to the linguistic aspects of the message or endophora (anaphora and
cataphora) and the external aspects of situation or exophora (such as the field, or total event and
purpose of the communication, the mode, or function of the text in the event, including channel
and genre, and the tenor, which refers to the participants and their relationships).
The most usual answer to the question “why do we use language?” is “to communicate our ideas”. But it
would be wrong to think that communicating our ideas is the only purpose for which we use language.
Several other functions may be identified where the communication of ideas is marginal or irrelevant. We
hardly find verbal messages that would fulfil only one function , although the verbal structure of a
message depends primarily on the predominant function;
Following Jakobson, we agree that language must be investigated in all the variety of its functions, but an
outline of these functions demands a concise survey of the constitutive factors in any act of verbal
communication: the ADDRESSER sends a MESSAGE to the ADDRESSEE that to be operative requires
a CONTEXT referred to and to be grasped by the addressee (either verbal and situational, a CODE, fully
or partially common to the addresser and addressee, and a CONTACT, a physical channel and
psychological connection enabling them to enter and stay in communication
If the main purpose of our use of language is to communicate our ideas, concentrating on the context to
which these ideas refer to, then we are dealing with the referential or ideational function.
If there is a direct expression of the addresser´s attitude toward what is being communicated, tending to
produce an impression of a certain emotion, that is the emotive or expressive function (also very
common), which differs from the referential one in the sound pattern, and it flavours to some extend all
our utterances.
If we orientate our message towards the addressee because we want a certain reaction, we are dealing with
the conative function, syntactically and often phonetically deviate from other functions (vocatives and
imperatives).
We talk about the phatic function when the language we use is for the purpose of establishing or
maintaining social relationships, to check if the channel or contact works, to attract or confirm the
attention of the interlocutor or to discontinue communication, rather than to communicate ideas, and is
normally displayed by ritualised formulas (Well..., How do you do?).
If we use the language to talk about the language, such as when checking if addressee is using the same
code as the addresser (Do you follow me? Do you know what I mean?), we talk of the metalingual
function.
If, on the contrary, the focus is on the phonetic properties of the message, althogh not being the sole
function of the message, we say that we are using the poetic function of language.
To end up, we will say that Halliday grouped all the functions into three interrelated metafunctions:
ideational, to express ideas or experiences, the interpersonal to indicate, establish or maintain social
relationships, and the textual, to create written or spoken texts that fit in the particular situation in which
they are used.
However, if communication were simply a matter of applying the adequate schema, we wouldn´t have to
worry about the addressee´s response to the communication process. Therefore, we need procedures to
integrate these abstract schemata into the concrete process of discourse itself.
All communication depends on the alignment and adjustment of each interlocutor´s schemata, and
the procedures we use are the interactive negotiating activities that interpret the directions provided
and enable us to alter our expectations in the light of new evidence as the discourse proceeds, and
this procedural ability which traduces the schematic knowledge into communicative behaviour is called
capacity (inference, practical reasoning, negotiation of meaning, problem solving...).
This capacity apply to two different dimensions: one referred to the kind of schema that is being realised,
and the other to the kind of communicative situation that has to be negotiated, that is, to the way in which
the relationship between the schemata of the interlocutors is to be managed. We find that there are
occasions in which we use procedures to clear up and make more explicit and evident the frame of
reference, or use rhetorical routines to specify more accurately our illocutionary acts (the intended
effects of our utterances) or that felicity conditions are not satisfactory so that we must use those
procedures.
Other procedures, this time on the part of the addressee, are interpretative (as in A-“I have two tickets for
the theatre” B- “I´ve got an exam tomorrow”). In some occasions, however, negotiation is too long, too
difficult or even fails (as in interethnic interaction) because the schemata are very different, so that
interlocutors may use other signalling system (e.g. pictorial), or use (re)-formulation procedures (So
what you say is... Now let´s put it straight..)
7. CONCLUSION
Communication is , therefore, the main purpose of a language, and the use and function that fulfils
depends greatly on the characteristics of the information or the form of the message. In any case, for a
communication process to be complete, it is necessary that both addresser and addressee negotiate the
meaning of what is being transmitted, overcoming any possible obstacles difficulting that process.
8. BIBLIOGRAPHY
MacArthur, T. The Oxford Companion to the English Language OUP Oxford 1992
Hedge, T. Writing. OUP. Oxford. 1993
1. COMMUNICATION
Communication abilities at a very early stage are one of the primary aims of foreign language teaching.
Modern approaches to communication do not include only linguistic production but gesture, behaviour,
mime and other aspects occurring in first language communication.
The communicative use of the visual and tactile modes in their non-linguistic aspects is referred as “non-
verbal” communication or “body language”.
Communication means to say something to someone with a communicative purpose and in an appropriate
way.
4. NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION
The communicative event is not based on the verbal component only. It also implies paralinguistic devices
such as gesture, facial expression, body language, sight. They are information and emotional sources.
These non-verbal acts are culturally related. Different cultures may use different gestures (hand using,
head movement, …e.g.: nodding in Hungary is opposite to everywhere else)
There is also the silent language like the physical distance maintained between individuals, the sense of
time appropriate for communication under different conditions… The sight directs very well
communication. If we do not like someone we put our eyes away, insecurity makes eyes go down or if we
are very interested our eyes are widely open to make the speaker go on.
5. EXTRALINGUISTIC STRATEGIES
The most common strategies of language learning are:
Learning grammar rules and using them
Imitating linguistic habits
Learning vocabulary and structures by heart
Finding out strategies, making hypotheses, contrasting them and getting the knowledge
Non verbal reactions to messages in different contexts:
Games: guessing games, drawing games,…
Drama: acting, miming, …
Role play: using sentences as a native speaker, which is funny and vividly remembered.
Total Physical Response: is a teaching method built around the co-ordination of speech and action. It
attempts to teach language through physical activity.
The more intensively a memory connection is traced the stronger the memory association will be and the
more likely it will be recalled.
It makes second language learning a process like first language acquisition. Comprehension abilities
precede productive skills but they transfer from one to others.
The speech directed to children consists mainly of commands. Most of the grammatical structures of the
target language and hundreds of lexical items can be learned from the skilful use of the imperative.
The lower the stress is the greater the learning is. Successful learning normally occurs in stress controlled
classrooms, in pleasurable experiences and low anxiety situations.
Grammatical features and lexical items are selected according to the classroom situations and the ease
they can be learnt. Total Physical Response is uses after language presentation and practice in order to
consolidate structures and vocabulary.
The teacher is the director of the stage play and pupils are the actors. The teacher decides what to teach,
how to present the new material, how to select materials.
Correction should be used only when our pupils will really benefit from it. in the beginning the learner
cannot attempt efficiently to the corrections because all attention is directed to producing utterances.
Learners listen attentively and respond physically to our commands. Teachers monitor and encourage to
speak when learners fell ready to speak.
Procedure:
Warming up or introductory review
Introduction of new language, new commands and new items
Simple questions which can be answered with a gesture such as pointing
Pupils utter commands. Manipulating teacher and pupils’ behaviour.
Reading and writing activities (blackboard, notebooks, …). Writing, reading and acting out the
sentence.
It is very suitable for our primary lessons. It is only valid for beginners. When our pupils’ knowledge is
very limited we do not expect them to talk: they have to watch, listen and act.
Our main objective is to provide children as much understable listening as we can while they are doing an
enjoyable activity.
The use of gesture allows them to talk when they cannot speak. Commands can be responded by physical
actions (e.g.: point)
INTRODUCTION.-
Communication is a key word for us as English teachers. Not only is it the essence
of human interaction, it is the centre of language learning.
Chomsky was one of the first language investigators to try to explain why a child
learns language; he says that the enfant begins to produce language by a process of
deduction using the input received and with natural resources construct an internal
grammar.
But later, linguists such as Hymes, noted that a child doesn´t know just a set of rules.
He/she learns how and when to use them, and to whom.He says that when a native person
speaks, he or she takes into account factors such as:
Halliday considers that language is, indeed, learned in a functional context of use.
To summarize all the above, a communicative context governs language use, and language
learning implies an acquisition of these rules of use.
We shall now look at what this means in terms of verbal and non verbal
communication.
This is part of their preparation for life in general, and for their development as
people.
VERBAL COMMUNICATION:
We need to remember that there are differences between the Spanish sounds and the
English sounds. We must allow the children to be clear on these differences, using accent,
rhythm and entonation.
All material used in teaching sounds and meaning should be based on its usefulness
in real communicative interaction.
There are many ways of presenting material so that it can be a means of helping
children in oral-comprehension. We may use flash-cards, real objects, pictures from
magazines, gestures, mime, language laboratory, radio, t.v., fims, tape-recorder and so on.
This encoding and decoding is not only on a grammatical level, as Chomsky inferred
at first, but as Guiraud affirms a process which takes logic from phonology, semantics, etc,
but also subjective experience and social rules.
At first, the pupil hears a series of noises and he/she can´t tell what the difference is
between them. After some time, he/she begins to note that the sounds are in some sort of
order, with regularity in the pauses and voice pattern.
As he/she learns some simple expresions, he or she begins to see that there are
recurring sounds, and he/she associates them with meaning. So, he or she is starting to
recognise familiar elements, but doesn´t see all the relationship. He/she does not really
understand.
As he or she becomes more familiar with the language, he/she recognizes the
different elements, but doesn´t remember what he/she recognized. This is because he/she is
recognizing single elements and not the whole message. The mind is eliminating
information which it can´t take at first; only a certain amount can be taken into short-term
memory.
The receptive system in the brain then takes these selected elements into long-term
storage. But only a small part of the total message will be remembered, this is why pupils
seem to be able to understand very little at first. They have to concentrate very well to be
able to take in not only the sounds, but their meaning, the brain is not able to do this too
fast, and we must remember this.
That´s why we help our pupils by giving them short sequences of sounds so that they
can get the meaning easily and store it automatically. So, REPETITION is essential for
acquiring this process
The LOGSE, in its 9 objectives of the curricular design, reflects the importance of
proficiency in these skills.
No child can ever really communicate in English without some ability to listen and
speak. In traditional “Grammar Translation” these skills were often neglected.
The reason for this neglect was that some people consider speaking and listening to
be primitive skills. They saw that children acquired these abilities naturally and so it was
felt that verbal communication was less sofisticated than the written form of the language.
So, more importance was given to a study of the written language and for many
years verbal communication was nor considered to be worthy of study.
So, speaking and listening are complex skills and even though they are acquired in
an apparently natural way there is a process involved which is intricate.
As an example of this we can look at some of the features which are unique to verbal
communication.
These strategies include back signals such as the hearer nodding his/her head or
expressions such as “really” or “umhm”.
If he or she feels that the adressee is having difficulty in receiving the message
because he/she notes a lack of interests,comprehension, etc, he/she may choose to use
strategies such as raising the voice, repetition or gestures to improve attention or
understanding.
We can not do this in written communication because the adressee is not usually
present and we can´t judge the receiver´s response and then react.
Further to this in verbal communication speakers and listeners pay attention to the
norms of what is acceptable in a given context as regards quantity, for example.We could
imagine that a British conversation consists of shorter exchanges than in an anaerobic
context.There are also, of course, complex rules of what is socially and culturally
acceptable in specific contexts depending on the relative age, social class and regional
origin and so on of speaker and hearer. For example, the speaker is aware of taboo words
or topics and of conventions which are appropiate in a given situation.It would be
inappropiate, for example, to use some swearwords in polite company.
In written communication the writer does not always know who will read the
message and cannot always select suitable exppressions, topics and vocabulary.
Taking the above into account we can affirm that when a child begins to listen with
understanding and to speak with intelligibility he/she is acquiring very useful social skills
for everyday use.
These skills are not primitive instruments but elaborate competences which society
demands and values.
Within verbal communication we recognize that there are non verbal elements. We
will now look at these aspects of spoken communication.
In all verbal communication we are aware that the message is sent through a code
that is made up of sounds travelling trough the air, having been emitted trough the
articulation of the speaker´s speech organs. But this message is communicated by non
verbal signals too real componets of normal communication.
The importance of drama, mime, action songs, role-plays, simulation of real life
situations to include as many non-verbal elements as possible cn not be underestimated.
In this part of the topic we will see how the use of extralinguistic elements is linked
not only to achieving grammatical and sociocultural competence but to strategic
competence.
This is the ability to plan and adapt communication, so that the desired end is
achieved.
1) Strategies develop and are sought when a need is seen. Children look for
extralinguistic help when they are interested in, or enthusiastic about, or are
seeing the advantage in communicating.
2) We shoul put children in different situations of verbal communication and help
them to develop non verbal aids with games and activities which link non-verbal
elements with the context and communication need.
3) This acquisition of language skills and non-verbal strategies requires an
atmosphere of relaxation, with no tension, ridicule, pressure.
4) Children should see how language verbal and non verbal changes in different
context, ruled by situation,climate, social class, age, formality and informality
and so on.
Though we may not wish to use a TPR methodology with all its implications, the
contributions it makes to the teaching-learning process as part of our methodological plan
in an eclectic approach can be valuable.
As teachers we will be aware that elements such as furniture, space, decorations and
so on can help or hinder communication. There will be occassions when we will want to
re-arange desks, chairs, decorations, posters or other objects, so that they can help in a
communicative process. For example, if we are perfoming a play we can set up various
objects as scenary so that the children fell contextualized. For instance, in a play about
Goldilock and the three bears we could put a table in the centre of the classroom with three
different-size chairs beside it.This extralinguistic elements help children, who can use them
as aids in communication.
From the very first days of learning a foreign language, children become accostumed
to deducing meaning from the context, which is full of extralinguistic clues. When we say:
- “ close the door, please” pointing to the open door and miming a closing movement. This
is a very simple but effective T.P.R. activity.
Not only do children learn to understand spoken messages in this way. They begin to
try to communicate using non-verbal and stralinguistic strategies at their disposal, from
gestures to mime and with the use of other artifacts.
CONCLUSION.-
The spoken language in each productive and receptive forms depends not only on
the understanding of sounds or the creation of these sounds.
The context of this communication includes many elements which are aids in the
process and we should be aware of how we can maximized verbal and non-verbal items to
encouraged children to infer meaning and to use all sorts of extralinguistic strategies to
improve communication.
I will start with a short introduction to let you know what this topic is about
0. INTRODUCTION
-Once we have taken these steps, we must teach our children to develop
skills, and according to Harmer, we can divide these skills into TWO TYPES:
GENERAL UNDERSTANDING and SPECIFIC UNDERSTANDING:
a. GENERAL UNDERSTANDING is concerned with the treatment of a text
as a whole, and includes the following microskills:
PREDICTION: because it is useful to encourage children to predict what they
think might come next in a spoken message. This means that they then listen to checks
whether their expectation matches the reality of what they hear.
EXTRACTING SPECIFIC INFORMATION and GETTING THE
GENERAL PICTURE of an activity of listening and,
b. SPECIFIC UNDERSTANDING, which involve a detailed comprehension of
the text. They also include the following microskills:
- INFERRING OPINION and ATTITUDE because an awareness of stress,
intonation and body language, such as facial expressions or gestures, will
help the children work out meaning, specially in dialogues or story- telling.
- DEDUCING MEANING FROM CONTEXT because although the teacher
might like to gloss new words before the children listen to something, she
also needs to encourage them to use pictures and their general knowledge
about a topic to work out the meaning of unfamiliar words.
-And RECONGNIZING DISCOURSE PATTERNS and MARKERS: words such
as first, then, finally, or but, so, give important signals about what is coming
next in a spoken text. This is especially important when listening to a
sequence of events, such as in a story or a set of instructions.
-About LISTENING ACTIVITIES,, we make sure the children are clear
about why they are listening. This means spelling out which part of the
message they need to focus on and what they are going to do before listening,
while listening or after listening. So, to develop these skills, are commonly
divided into THREE CATEGORIES: PRE-LISTENING, WHILE and POST-
LISTENING.
o PRE-LISTENING ACTIVITIES have as a main aim to arouse our pupils’
interest and include MAKING LIST OF IDEAS or LABELLING.
o In WHILE LISTENING ACTIVITIES we have TRUE/FALSE or
SPOTTING MISTAKER and
o POST- LISTENING ACTIVITIES include SUMMARIZING or
DICTATION.
An activity type could be for instance:
-Listen and perform actions/ follow instructions: this kind of activity is used
with action songs, rhymes or games such as “ What’s the time Mr. Wolf?”
-Purpose: listening for enjoyment and to improve memory and concentration
span.
-Materials: instructions for games.
According the book “The Primary English Teacher’s Guide “ by Brewster, Ellis
and Girard, existing methods and materials for primary school English
contain recorded phrases for use in the initial classes.
However, it is primarily the teacher who, by conducting the class in English,
will provide the opportunity for the pupils continually to improve their
listening ability in as natural a manner as possible.
There are other simple ways of training pupils to listen effectively such as
the teaching of numbers and letters with dictations, or visuals aids, such as
pictures of plants, animals or people, can also be used by the pupils to
respond to dictations involving the names of objects.
We have to bear in mind that once we have chosen a context for the
presentation, we must decide on a procedure, which includes points in this
order:
a) First, build up the situational context by means of pictures and tapes
b) Elicit the new language.
c) Focus our pupils’ attention on the model sentence, and (to) get the
repetition both chorally or individually.
d) And, check students’ understanding.
The teacher’s main role during this stage is as INFORMANT
In PRACTICE STAGE our pupils assimilate and memorizes the new language
Finally to say that reading in English in the early stages will usually
remain at the word level, where children play simple games as
dominoes, snap or bingo.
For instance, an activity type could be:
Playing games such as odd- one out or spot the difference. Pupils
identify similarities and differences between letters or words.
Purpose: to develop phonic skills and sight recognition of words.
Material: flashcards or worksheets with words grouped in three or
fours.
And about the last skill, writing, we can say that in the early stages of
learning English, the pupils will generally write very little. It is a good idea to
use copying in a way, which encourages pupils to think, this means using
crosswords, and matching, sequencing or classifying activities.
3. CONTENTS
Sociocultural expressions are shown mostly in traditional material (e.g.: songs: “I love sixpence”,
“Teapot”)
Traditional games and sports also help.
Establishing differences and contrasts in:
Some jobs (e.g.: milkman)
Social politeness (Mr., Mrs., Miss, Excuse me, please…)
Everyday activities (meals, time, school timetable)
Weather (clothes, seasons)
Sociocultural distinctions (driving on the left)
Celebrations (Halloween)
THEME 4
3. BIBLIOGRAPHY
PART TWO: PRACTICAL DEVELOPMENT
1. LEVEL
2. TIME OF SESSIONS
3. OBJECTIVES
3.1. General
3.2. Specific
4. METHODOLOGY
5. THE TEACHING UNIT: SPECIFIC CONTENTS
6. ACTIVITIES AND TASKS
7. MATERIALS
8. FINAL TASK
9. EVALUATION
PART ONE: TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION
Modern textbooks take into account the linguistic aspects of a second language. In Fanfare, for
example, Barbara Wilkes cites the following as her aims and objectives: to create an initial interest and
enjoyment in foreign-language learning; to develop a positive attitude towards foreign cultures and
people; to develop and awareness of the link between language and culture; to develop an awareness of
language as an instrument of communication (Wilkes 1994: 8-9).
Thus, in addition to contributing “to the process of the development of the child’s intellectual,
social, emotional, and physical skills,” and fostering “improved learning skills”, teaching English as a
foreign language (TEFL) should also include aspects related to intercultural appreciation and
communication.
2. CONTENTS
2.1. Language and communication
Louis Porcher has observed that one of the objects of teaching a foreign language “is to give the
learner some measure of communicative competence in that language. This competence may correspond
to a future need of the learner (1980: 18).” In effect, that the mastering a second language has become a
need for most people today is no longer a debatable issue. Schools not only have the responsibility of
teaching a second language as a linguistic system, but also as a social system to be used by the learner.
Hence, communication should begin in the school where the learning of a second language is taking place.
Porcher maintains that since all teaching is itself a message, “It must therefore be suitable for those for
whom it is in fact intended (19).” For the author, a language is a social practice, a part of a people’s
history. Thus, it becomes necessary to educate pupils in the socio-cultural context which is characteristic
of the countries in which the foreign language is the mother tongue. It is evident that inter-culturism is fast
becoming an essential dimension in all teaching.
The Modern Languages Programme of the Council for Cultural Co-Operation of the Council of
Europe has specifically defined the political objective which guides the programme in the following
manner: “to facilitate communication and interaction among Europeans of different mother tongues in the
service of European mobility, mutual understanding and cooperation, and in order to overcome prejudice
and discrimination (Trim 1981: I).” The following members of the CDCC Project Group 4, D. Coste, C.
Edelhoff, R. Bergenthoft, J. L M. Trim, each other has something to say in this respect.
Daniel Coste writes, “As far as we are concerned, ‘learning to communicate’ does not involve
learning something totally new: all language learners are communicators already; what foreign language
learning involves is learning to communicate differently and to communicate with a different set of
people." Coste holds that different ways of communicating have to be learned (and not just linguistic
ones). Furthermore, it is his belief that in order to learn to communicate with a different set of people, one
must also learn about them. Hence, communication is inseparable from a cultural context. The learning
process itself becomes one of learning to communicate: “For adults, adolescents and children alike,
learning is a process which, however slightly, involves and changes the whole individual as a person and
social agent; when it comes to learning a different language to communicate differently with a different
set of people, it is a fair assumption that the changes and the involvement will be all marked (34).”
Rume Bergentoft reminds us, “In the final Act of the Conference on Security and Co-operation in
Europe, signed in Helsinki in 1975 by the heads of state of the participating nations, the latter expressed
their conviction regarding the role now played by a knowledge of languages in connection among other
things with closer international cooperation. It was decided that a wider knowledge of languages was
needed to promote world peace and cooperation (33).
Finally, J. L. Trim warns of the “classical paradigm” of language teaching and “elitism” in
traditional language teaching at school. “The ‘classical paradigm’ continued to dominate grammar schools
until recently, and is till strong in many member countries...” The author explains that the ‘classical
paradigm’ tends to extend certain values and attitudes, which reflect the classics to the languages and
cultures of modern Europe. He points out that from this perspective, the study of a foreign language is but
an intellectual discipline, based on the translation of passages from the classics which have little bearing
on the real world in which learners actually live. Trim further declares, “This ‘classical paradigm’ is
avowedly elitist.” He feels that it creates barriers to communication which tend to reinforce and perpetuate
divisions in society. However, Trim concludes that, though the classical paradigm continues to be
powerful, contemporary creative writing no longer employs the criteria of clarity and refined taste “to
which the classical paradigm attaches the greatest importance (p. XX-XXI).”
Other authors have taken similar positions. Earl W. Stevick refers to a language class as being “one
area in which a number of private universes intersect one another (1980: 7).” He feels that each learner,
though a total individual, is in fact affected by what the others do. The teacher should be aware –and
sympathize with the fact- that there are times when a learner will resist learning something which violates
certain peer norms. For example, learners may at first reject the language simply because of its
foreignness. Teachers should therefore be aware that the fear of losing support from those closest to the
learner (peers, parents, etc.) may be an inhibiting factor. Stevick refers to a “world of meaningful action”,
which, he says, tends to draw peers, family members, and life-goals during the language learning process.
He concludes, “Foreignness, shallowness, irrelevance, and the subordinate position of the student –all may
be obstacles to a learner’s feeling of ‘primacy in a world of meaningful action’ (10).”
In the author’s opinion, second language learning not only stimulates better human understanding,
but it also leads to greater independence and self-steem. By learning another language, learners care more
both for themselves and others.
Caleb Gattegno believed in “the spirit of language.” He felt hat by learning another language one
absorbs the culture and history of the language users. Human beings incorporate into their languages
conscious or unconscious collective aims, passions, and vision, which are taken on by the learner. He
suggested that languages are reflections of the various modes of thought of a people: “The spirit of each
language seems to act as a container for the melody and the structure of the language and most users are
unconscious of it (1978: 19)”.
2.4. The importance of having materials in the resource room to achieve a good
intercultural atmosphere
Brumfit and Finocchiaro suggest that acquiring a language also implies acquiring “enough
knowledge about the culture of the target community to participate fully in a conversation at the beginning
of a stay in a foreign country”. Additionally, they hold that EFL teaching should provide “the implicit and
explicit learning of culture and language varieties through a multi-media approach and an active
methodology based on creative use of language (1985: 26)”. In order to achieve this they suggest using
the following resources: radio broadcasts, television, tapes, cassettes, documentary, recreational films,
pictures, and short dialogs dealing with everyday situations. Furthermore, paralinguistic features need to
be considered as well as gestures and facial expressions. The authors insist that learners cultural insights
are a must in EFL learning.
The French immersion research programme in Canada, which began in 1965, “illustrates the
effectiveness of an ‘immersion’ approach to second language learning (1984: 66)”. In both studies,
communication or communicative competence was one of the prime objectives.
Stern further points out that the term “communicative competence”, is a term which is used a great
deal. Hymes was the first to employ the term, in contrast to Chomsky’s “linguistic competence”.
“Communicative competence” reflects the social view of language. The concept of communicative
competence is integral with communicative language teaching. It has become a central focus for EFL
teaching, which involves the study and practice of functional, structural, lexical and sociocultural aspects.
The learning experience itself should be personal and engage in a direct use of the language and contact
with the target language community (Stern 1984: 26).
2.6. How to experience the culture of the English-speaking world in the classroom
Finally, to develop cultural insights, Finocchiaro suggests the classroom should “reflect the culture
of the English-speaking world (1974: 94)”. She submits that the following aspects be incorporated into
EFL teaching: maps and posters, a bulletin board with newspaper and magazine clipping, including comic
strips, proverbs and pictures; a table or shelf with objects such as stamps, money, artifacts, and a library
corner. She also recommends the carrying out of “projects related to English-speaking culture which will
then serve for class reporting and discussion (95)”. Such projects might include the following: preparation
of maps, travel itineraries, floor plans, menus, calendars indicating holidays, scrapbook, flimstrips or
pictures, play readings, a book fair. Additionally, culture may be experienced through songs, festivals,
poems, multimedia resource material. She also suggests, “A pen pal project should be initiated very soon
after the students learn to write (97)”.
3. BIBLIOGRAPHY
FINOCCHIARO, M.: (1974). English as a second language: from theory to practice. Reprint ed. New
York: Regents.
FINOCCHIARO M. And BRUMFIT, C.: (1985). The functional-notional approach: from theory to
practice. Reprint ed. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press.
GATTEGNO, C.: (1978). Teaching foreign languages in schools: the silent way. 2nd ed. New York:
Educational Solutions.
LA FORGE, P. G.: (1983). Counseling and Culture in Second Language Acquisition. Oxford:
Pergamon Press.
MOSKOWITZ, G.: (1978). Caring and sharing in the foreign language class: A sourcebook on
humanistic techniques. Rowley, Massachusetts: Newbury House.
PORCHER, L.: (1980). Reflections on language needs in the school. Strasbourg: Council for Cultural
Cooperation of the Council of Europe.
STERN, H. H.: (1984). Fundamental concepts of languge teaching. 3rd ed. Oxford: Oxford Univ.
Press.
STEVICK, E.W.:(1980). Teaching languages: a way and ways. Rowley, Massachusetts: Newbury
House.
TRIM, J. L. M., project adviser: (1981). Modern languages programme 1971-1981. Strasbourg:
Council for Cultural Co-Operation of the Council of Europe.
2. TIME OF SESSION
Four periods of class, one week before Christmas.
3. OBJECTIVES
3.1. General
- To recognize the communicative value of learning a foreign language, showing a positive
attitude of understanding and respect for other languages and cultures.
3.2. Specific
- Students will be able to increase their understanding of and compare Christmas customs in
English speaking countries.
- Learn the lyrics and music of popular Christmas Carol and sing it.
- Experience and extract information from the song in the past tense.
- Interact with other cultures.
4. METHODOLOGY
The methodology used should be suitable to a communicative approach to teaching English as a
foreign language. That is, taking into consideration the age, ability and needs of the students, as well as
the criteria specified in the overall objectives of the course, the EFL teacher should apply leaning
strategies which are based on learning by doing, i.e., task oriented strategies. The tasks required elicit a
participative attitude on the part of the learners and a guiding role on the part of the teacher. Additionally,
the teacher should help the students to learn both to think and to do in the target language.
7. MATERIALS
- A cassette tape of the song “Rudolph...” and a cassette recorder.
- Wrapping paper, glue, scissors, coloured markers and optional material (tacks, staplers, etc.).
- A textof Mary’s diary talking about Christmas customs in her country.
8. FINAL TASK
SS write about what they did last Christmas: The pages will go into a class diary that everyone can
read.
9. EVALUATION
(See thematic number 14)
1.- INTRODUCTION:
F.- PHILIPPINES.
The republic of Philippines is an independent state since 1946.
Language: Tagalo; English as a commercial language.
Religion: Catholic.
Capital: Manila.
Spain lost the colony in 1898, under the domain of USA in 1935, it was constituted as a sovereign state under the
North American supervision.
3.- DIDACTIC APPLICATION OF THE MOST MANINGFUL GEOGRAPHIC HISTORIC AND CULTURAL
ASPECTS.
The teacher of a modern language must teach not only the foreign language but also the civilization of the
countries and people who speak that language.
Apart from history and geography, our pupils must get familiar politics, mass media, etc.
INTRODUCTION
Every aspect of language is enormously complex. Yet, children learn most of the intricate system of their
mother tongue before the age of six. Before they can add 2+2, children are putting sentences together, asking
questions, negating sentences, using the syntactic, phonological, morphological, and semantic rules of the
language. Children are not taught language as they are taught arithmetic. They learn language in a different way.
We are far from completely understanding the language acquisition process. We are just beginning to
grapple with those aspects of the human neurological and biological make up which explain the child’s ability to
acquire language. Certainly it is clear that the child is equipped from birth with the necessary neural
Our knowledge of the nature of human language tell us something about what the child does and
1) Children do not learn a language by storing all the words ant all the sentences in some
giant mental dictionary. The list of words is finite, but no dictionary can hold all the
2) Children learn to understand sentences they have never heard before, and to construct
4) No one teaches them these rules. Their parents are no more aware of phonological,
syntactic, morphological, and semantic rules than the children are. Children, then, seem
to act like very efficient linguists equipped with a perfect theory of language, who use
In addition to acquiring the complex rules of the grammar (that is, linguistic competence),
children must also learn the complex rules of the appropriate social use for language, what
certain scholars have called communicative competence. These include, for example, the
greetings which are to be used, the “taboo” words, the polite forms of address the various
Usually around the sixth month period, the infant begins to babble. The sounds produced in this
period seem to include the sounds of human languages. The role of babbling is not clearly understood, but
it is absolutely clear that in order that the language develop finally, the child must receive some auditory
input.
Sometime after children are one year old, they begin to use same string of sounds repeatedly to
“mean” the same thing. Most children seem to go through the “one word=one sentence” stage. The child
uses just one word to express concepts or predications which will later be expressed by complex phrases
and sentences.
THE TWO-WORD STAGE
Around the time of their second birthday children begin to produce two-word utterances like:
“allgone sock”; “bye-bye boat”; “it ball”; “hi mommy”; “dirty sock”; mummy sock”.
During this stage there are no syntactic or morphological markers; that is, no inflections for
number, tense, or person. The two words a child utters can express a number of different grammatical
TELEGRAPH TO INFINITY
There does not seem to be any “three-word sentence” stage. When a child starts stringing more
than two words together, the utterances may be two, three, four, or five words or longer. The words in a
“sentence” are not strung together randomly; from a very early stage, children’s utterances reveal their
These first utterances of children which are longer than two words have a special characteristic.
Usually, the small “function” words such as to, the, can, is, etc, are missing ; only the words which carry
the main message –the “content” words– occur. Children often sound as if they were reading telegrams,
which is why such utterances are called “telegraphic speech”. For example: “Cathy build house”; “No sit
approximate the adult grammar, they not only begin to use function
along with the syntactic rules, and finally the child’s utterances sound
IMITATION
There are those who think that children merely imitate what they hear. Imitation is involved, of
course, but the sentences produced by children show that they are not imitating adult speech. Even when
children are deliberately trying to imitate what they hear, there are unable to produce sentences which
POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT
Another theory suggest that children learn to produce “correct” sentences because they are
positively reinforced when they say something right and negatively reinforced when they say something
wrong. This view does not tell us how children construct the correct rules.
Whatever “correction” takes place is based more on the content of the message than on its form.
That is, if a child says ”Nobody don’t like me”, the mother may say “Everybody likes you2. Besides, all
attempts to “correct” a child’s language are doomed to failure. Children don’t know what they are doing
wrong and are even unable to make the corrections when they are pointed to them.
CREATIVE CONSTRUCTION
The reinforcement theory fails along with the imitation theory. Neither of these views accounts for
the fact that children are constructing their own rules. Different rules govern the construction of sentences
The “imperfect” sentences children use are perfectly regular. They are not “mistakes” in the child’s
language; they reflect his or her grammar at a certain stage of development. The child seems to form the
simplest and most general rule he can from the language input he receives, and is so “pleased” with his
The most obvious example of this “overgeneralization” is shown when children treat irregular
verbs and nouns as if they were regular. We have probably all heard children say “goed”, “singed”, or
“foots”, “childs”. These mistakes tell us more about how children learn language than the “correct” forms
they use. The child couldn’t be imitating; children use such forms in families where parents would never
The child’s ability to generalize patterns and construct rules is also shown in the development of
the semantic system. For example, the child learns the word “daddy” and later applies it to other men.
Thus, a third theory suggests that language acquisition is a creative construction process, and that
children have to “construct” all the rules of the grammar. According to the famous linguist Noam
Chomsky., “it seems plain that language acquisition is based on the child’s discovery of what from a
formal point of view is a deep and abstract theory – a generative grammar of his language”.
Children seem to be equipped with special abilities or with a “language acquisition device”,
residing principally in the left side of the brain, to know just what they can ignore, to find all the
The details of this “innate” device are far from understood. As we gain more information about brain
functions and the preconditions for language acquisition, we will learn more about the nature of human
language.
second or foreign language, it becomes evident that the processes and theories involved seem to be, at
least to a certain extent, parallel. Other aspects, on the other hand, keep less similarity , as it the case with
subsystems implied, but rather by a global approximation which in the initial stages implies a considerable
simplification and an exclusion of peculiarities that are not perceived as essential. Progress consists then in a
continuous process of completing, polishing and enriching this global apprehension of the new communication
system. Thus, the teaching and learning of a foreign language should not be viewed so much in terms of a series
of elemental units of content which are perfectly apprehended before proceeding to the next, but in terms of a
communication system which is globally elaborated and whose complexity and communicative potential
It should be pointed out that the information processing mechanisms often work efficiently even when the
student is not producing utterances. During the first moments in the learning of a foreign language, there are
often silent periods during which the student does not produce at all. This silence, however, cannot
unmistakably be interpreted as a lack of learning; it often covers an intense activity that cannot be directly
observed and which sometime in the future, will let him produce utterances which reflect the internal
representation that he has built during those silent periods. If we accept that creative construction can take place
without generating an immediate production, we will have to admit that receptive activities specific
comprehension competencies can be developed, but also, what is not so evident, the general communicative
The above explained makes clear that the process of language learning is complex and that this process
takes place in a personal and distinct way for each individual since the strategies which let the subject receive
and transform the input he receives are always used in a particular way.
According to Krashen there are five hypotheses, which try to explain the process of acquisition of
a second language:
Acquisition in a not conscious process in which the person is not aware of the grammar or the rules
he uses. In many ways acquisition can be compared to the process by which a child becomes proficient in
his mother tongue. In this way, fluency is progressively gained as the proficiency in consolidated. Errors
govern a given language. We are not responsible for our fluency since
This Hypothesis states the grammatical structures are acquired in a fairly predictable order in L1
native language and L2 (second language). In other words, just as children learn their native language in a
a) We do not have information about the order of acquisition of every structure in every language.
b) The existence of a natural order of acquisition does not imply that we should teach second
The monitor hypothesis states the relationship between acquisition and learning. Acquisition plays
a far more important role than learning because learning is used as editor or monitor only. The function of
monitor is to make self corrections and change the output before of after speaking or writing.
a) Time: in order to make a self-correction we need time. Self correction can hardly be used
b) Focus on form: we have to be aware of the grammar forms we are using and know that there is
a choice of forms.
c) Finally, once we have stopped and concentrated on the form, it is necessary to have a correct
Thus, it can be easily deducted that monitor “overusers” may have difficulty in acquiring fluency.
Monitor, however, can be a great help if used for grammar tests and writing.
THE INPUT HYPOTHESIS
“i + 1” means a step by step progression. In order to progress the input (i) should be only a
information, and our knowledge of the world. In the same fashion, language is made
understandable to us through the use of devices such as simplified, visual clues, key words and
Speaking fluency emerges on its own over time, thus, the best way to “teach” speaking is to
provide comprehensible input. For the same reason, early speech is typically not accurate. Direct
organize content on the basis of themes or topics which are relevant to the students’ needs and
It deals with the effect of affective variables on L2 acquisition. They are variables like anxiety,
motivation or self-confidence.
The affective filter produces a mental block which prevents inputs to enter the “language
acquisition device”.
“Comprehensible input is the only causative variable in second language acquisition. People
acquire second languages when they obtain comprehensible input and when their affective filters are low
Older acquirers are faster in the early stages of second language acquisition because:
a) they are better at obtaining comprehensible input as they have good conversational
management;
b) they have superior knowledge of the world, which helps to make input comprehensible;
c) they can participate in conversation earlier, via use of first language syntax.
Younger acquirers tend to attain higher levels of proficiency in second languages than adults in the
The five hypothesis about L2 acquisition predict that any successful L2 teaching program must
- Comprehensible.
b) It must not force students to speak before they are ready and must be tolerant of errors
error correction.
c) It must put grammar in its proper place. Some adults, and very few children, are able to
use conscious grammar rules to increase the grammatical accuracy of their output; and
even for these people, very strict conditions (time, focus on form, and knowledge of the
rule) need to be fulfilled before the conscious knowledge of grammar can be applied,
The first language has long been considered the major cause of a learner’s problems with the new
If a structure in L1 differs from that of L2, errors that reflect the structure on the L1 will be
If a structure in both languages is the same, there will be positive transfer or zero interference, and
The contrastive Analysis treatment of errors was popular up through the 1960’s. A large part of the
rationale for the Contrastive Analysis hypothesis was drawn from principles of behaviourist psychology.
There are two central concepts in transfer:
a) the automatic and not conscious use of the old behaviour (habits) in new learning situations
(behaviourist view);
b) the use of past knowledge and experience in new situations (other educational and
psychological views).
In recent years there have been enough data accumulated to place the L2 learner’s first language in a
“respectable” role. Present research results suggest that the major impact the L1 has on L2 acquisition may have
Many teachers and researchers noticed that a great number of the errors that students make could
not possibly be traced to their native languages. The theoretical climate of the late fifties and early sixties
Noam Chomsky’s, Review of B.F. Skinner’s Verbal Behaviour (1959) questioned the very core of
the behaviourist habit theory which accounts for language learning. Chomsky’s views, along with
Piagetian psychology, succeeded in highlighting the previously neglected mental make-up of learners as a
The term error is used to refer to any deviation from a selected norm of language performance, no
In the Error Analysis view, errors that reflect the learner’s L1 structures are not called interference
Development errors are errors similar to those made by children acquiring their native tongue. For
This error is also found in the speech of children acquiring English as their first language.
Researchers have consistently found that, contrary to widespread opinion, the great majority of
errors made by second language learners are not interlingual, but developmental. Although adults tend to
exhibit more L1 influence in their errors then children do, adult interlingual errors also occur in small
proportions.
Error Analysis has yielded insights into the L2 acquisition process that have stimulated major
changes in teaching practices. Studying learner’s errors serves two major purposes:
a) it provides data from which interferences about the nature of the language acquisition process
b) it indicates to teachers and curriculum developers, which part of the target language students
have most difficulty to produce correctly and which error types detract most from a learner’s
INTERLANGUAGE
Interlanguage is the linguistic system that a learner constructs on his way to the mastery of a target
language.
Analysis and Error Analysis. While Contrastive Analysis contrasts the learner’s native language and the
target language, and conventional Error Analysis involves contrast between the learner’s performance and
the target language, interlanguage take all three elements into account, explicitly incorporating the
contrastive analysis of the learner’s interlanguage with both his native and the target language.
Tema-6
We will start our discussion with a sort of introduction and continue with the first
point that deals with the influences of Linguistic Language Teaching, as well as the
influences of other sciences. At this point from a definition of Linguistics, we then
move onto Compared Linguistics. Two linguistic theories are also looked into:
Structuralism and Generative Grammar. Sociolinguistic is also defined. We will finish
this block with the contributions of other sciences such as Pedagogy and Psycology
to the process of foreign language teaching.
Secondly, we will look into the language learning process and we shall try to find
the differences between the acquisition of the mother tongue and the learning of a
foreign language. Within this block, we will also refer to the Curriculum, and the
Constructivist Model proposed by it; the difference between acquisition and learning
is established and different suggestions to avoid problems in the second language
learning.
A conclusion summing up what has been discussed throughout the unit will be fo-
llowed by the bibliography used for the elaboration of this topic.
As a sort INTRODUCTION we shall point out that in the last twenty years the need for change in
language didactics has been analysed along the following lines:
1-Change of the concept of Education, where a stronger a stonger focus on communication is
given;
2- the need for the study of foreign languages through a better education;
3- how the technological progress and the development of audivisual aids have contributed
to the modernisation of teaching;
4- the students demand of an active learning of foreign languages.
Teachers have to take advantage of the large numbers of pedagological theories and approaches
and choose those that can be best applied in their students' specific situation.
Therefore, the teacher has to develop an eminentely creative task and learn how to incorporate
into his methodology the latest findings in the field of Linguistics, and the contributions of many
other sciences.
Once having begun the unit we are going to deal with the first block of our discussion; which
considers the influences of Linguistics on FLT.
The teaching of any subject must be supported by a series of general disciplines that are
common to the teaching of any subject, such as Psychology, Sociology and so on.
In LT these disciplines assist in the teaching from any perspective. Linguistics are included here,
or more accurately Macrolinguistics, which includes Sociolinguistics and Microlinguistics. The
findings from these disciplines used on the teaching of L, help us to make decisions to overcome
the problems involved in teaching.
The so called, Linguistic Science or Linguistics, that is, the study of language is a very recent
science. For centuries, the interest was only centred on the research of a universal grammar. In the
19th century Compared Linguistics, appeared which established that the relationship among
language can be explained in a scientific way. Nowadays, however Applied Linguistics deal with
collecting data from those disciplines whose objectives are the study of language, its learning, its
use, and to utilise those facts to clarify the factors related to LT.
Let's move on now to consider what Applied Linguistics is for. It collects data and interprets
the results that may achive its aim and uses its findings to carry out its own experimental research.
Applied Linguistics has to do with all those theories that analyse how they can be useful LT and
then proceed with their pedagological application.
This knowledge is use to build grammars, to do comparative analysis between two or more
languages, to carry out research on the illiteracy rates of the population and to study languages
and their regional varieties.
The most interesting field of study deals with second L learning and acquisition. Applied
Linguistics uses these findings from other sciences and applies them to LL.
We are going to consider some sciences on which the concept of FLT is based. The most important
theories are Structuralism and Generative Grammar.These theories are example of how
research in Applied Linguistics can be helpful in explaining the process of mother tongue
acquisition and second LL.
Structuralism first appeared with Saussure in the 19th century. This theory defends that
language is a social phenomenon which is useful because it works in a community. This approach
implies a psychological perspective, its study is centred on speech and not on grammatical
structures. He made a distinction between language ( the system ) and speech ( the individual
of the system ). They begin with an active study of all speeches, arriving at the general rules. All
these structuralistic principles have in commonthe assumption that grammar does not consist of a
system of rules that govern the isolated elements of language, but of a set of structures that
have to be taught, especially those that are different in the learners' first language.
The application of structuralism in LT was developed after the 2nd World War. Linguistics
examined and classified the structure of the first L and the second L being studied. They analysed
which structures were similar to that language and which offered interference, they made drills.
Before Chomsky students were given correct grammatical examples, nowadays students can
compare sentences with and without errors, and they are allowed to make mistakes because that is
understood as an important step in an autonomous process of learning. This theory gives special
importance to free expression and creativity.
Chomsky establishes a distinction between competence (the knowledge that the person has
about his mother tongue) and performance, that is the effective use of this knowledge in his
normal speech.
We should point out here an essential aspect of the research of applied linguistics, that is, to
what extent can the process of first L acquisition be equivalent to the process of 2nd L learning.
Thus it can be seen that the process is the same, 2nd Language learners draw hypothesis about
the L system, apply the rules and modify them according to the feedback they receive. A 2nd L
learner learns from his effort to communicate. If what the learner wants to communicate lies within
the possibilities of his system, he will have no problems. The problem arises when he wants to
communicate something that is not in his system. Therefore, he can choose to follow other paths,
such as using gestures, or transfering the limits he knows, in other words, he will take a risk.
We could conclude from the above that errors that students make reveal the state of
development of his system. We must give him enough information on the success or failure of his
communicative attempt. He requires input to contrast his production. The student then learns
through the process of communicating; he who takes a risk will be the one who learns most.
Up to this point we have shown some of the linguistic theories which help us to explain the
acquisition of a mother tongue and the learning of a FL.
Now let us move on to mention the importance of another science: Sociolinguistics. This
science studies and states the relationship between the possession of a L and the control of reality.
The social level of the family conditions the development of speech abilities and level of
performance. The classroom can be a useful substitute for a poor linguistic environment.
We should also mention the studies of some linguists, like Firth and Martinowsky. They spoke
about the concept of situational context, that is the meaning of an utterance is a consequence of
the cultural and situational context where it takes place.
In the Eighties many programs in ELT were developed. All of them were based on the
consideration of a L as an instrument of communication. The threshold level, for instance, whose
author is Wilkins, established a program model for a European adult student of foreign L in terms of
his communicative needs. It was intended to
create a program based on the areas of his interests.
In Europe L teaching was slowly changing. Linguistics were mainly concerned with oral language
as a means of communication. Learners were taught to comprehend and then to speak. The
interferance of the first L had to be avoided. Conversation was the main focus of the class.
The process of LT goes parallel to the learning process. In the 70s special attention waspaid to
this learning process. The concept of interferance, introduced by Corder, refers to the problems of
interferance caused by the mother tongue on the learning of a foreign language.
Now, we shall study the contributions of other sciences to the process of foreign LT.
On the one hand, we find Pedagogy whose contribution to the teaching of foreign L and to the
concept of modern education is the following: that the educational principles are flexible, and
should be adapted to every social change. An individualised teaching is required, as well as the
formation of an integral person with special attention to his creative ability. Group work,
collaboration and the participation of students in all the educational process should also be
considered.
On the other hand, we find he science of Psycology. Some important studies are the following:
in the teaching of foreign L motivation is very important. Apart from motivation a deep knowledge
of the pupil's psychological characteristics is required; we need to know the student's abilities and
rhythm of learning to better adopt the structure of the subject to his structure of knowledge. So the
teacher will be able to allow pupils to learn more depending on their own needs and rhythm.
Summarising, we could say that the most important contribution of Pedagogy and Pedagogy to
foreign L teaching is that the teaching must be centred on the pupils' needs and personality;
creativity whilst imagination should be developed through motivation.
After having dealt with some of the contributions of Linguistics and other sciences to FLT, we
shall analyse the process of L learning and the similarites and differences between the acquisition
of the mother tongue and the learning of a foreign L.
The starting point of the theoretical basis of the conception of 2nd L learning is found in the
Curriculum: " The foreign L acquisition process can be characterised as a creative construction
process during which the student, relying on a set of natural strategies, based on the input
received, formulates hypotheses in order to make up the internal representation of the new L
system."
Knowing a L implies knowing its sociolinguistic, discourse and strategic aspects. The
sociolinguistic aspect implies the knowlwdge of the rules related to a given sociolnguistic context;
the discourse aspect organises cohesion and coherence in different spoken and written statements;
the strategic aspect is responsible for completing the interaction when taking into account the
objective of
communication.
The Contructive Model proposed by the Curriculum is based on the following aspects:
1- The student is considered the centred of the teaching process;
2- The student has a certain knowledge that adds to the new information
and combines them to produce significant learning.
Another important aspect of the contructive model is that of learning through discovery. L
functions as regards rules are learned by a process of discovery. The students generates
hypotheses himself and check that they match the established rules.
Before moving on to study some of the theories on the L learning process, let us focus on the
differences between the acquisition and learning.
Krashen in his book Language Acquisition Hypothesis makes a clear distinction between
acquisition and learning. According to him, the acquisition is a natural process whereas learning is
conscious formal process. Acquisition implies an implicit knowledge of rules in contrast with
learning which implies the explicit knowledge of rules.
Acquisition is the way a child acquires his mother tongue, whereas learning is the way students
learn a foreign language.
After having looked into the differences between acquisition and learnig, we are going to study
some of the theories on the acquisition and learning of a second language.
Vigotsky establishes three main stages in language acquisition. The first one is when language is
only a means of external communication in a child, both in form and function. The third one is
when language is interiorised and becomes verbal thought and then guides cognitive
development.
Today it is believed that the first statements of children are due to their individual system,
independent from that of adults; language is built or rebuilt by the child who gradually makea a
system of rules, an implicit grammar and a set of communication rules with which he interprets
what he receives.Thus, the child produces statements correctly but these are mere repetitive
routine. The interesting aspect is that the child makes incorrect statements which shows that he is
trying to create a language using his own linguistic mechanism, according to certain opearating
rules that he himself has generated, it is an internal implicit grammar.
The second language acquisition process goes through three different phases:
1.- Cognitive elaboration: the learner centres his attention on types of models presented
to him in the 2nd L. He has an attitude towards comprehending or remembering the different
aspects of the models presented.
2.- Associate phase: the child begins to form hypotheses about the input received, as well
as its organisation and arrangement, contrasting them with his knowledge and exemplifying them
with the production of such models in similar contexts.
3.- Autonomy phase: the child can use what he has learned spontaneously.In order for this
phase to take place, a great amount of previous practice is required.
Another important aspect of the constructive model is that the student has an active role in
which he will have to implement certain strategies similar to those used in first L acquisition to
adapt, generalise, correct rules and so on.
Lastly an assumption in the previous model is that in any learning process there is a semantic
motivation. There is a natural predisposition for producing meaning, which is motivating when
learning a 2nd L.
Moving on, another section of this topic concerns the basic differences and similarities between
the acquisition of a mother tongue and the learning of a foreign
L.
Firstly, we will examine the similarities. They are three:
We are going to explain now what we undertand by the interlingual development process.
When a language is learned, the learner is not ready to use it for some years. Interlingual
development is the process a learner must go through before is able to speak fluently or as well as
a native speaker.
The second similarity is the subconcious mental process; the brain organises the input
received to allow the mechanisms to speak.
The third similarity is the variation. Not all language learners follow the same path. There are
individual variations which make some students learn slower than others. Phychological personality
and others also come into play here.
Now, let us consider the differences. There are three important differences between the
acquisition of the mother tongue and the learning of a FL. These are:
-the age,
-the phenomenon of fossilitation and
-the transference.
According to many authors, age is a factor that determines the success or failure in 2nd LL.
Today there is absolute unanimity in the fact that is approximality in puberty
when the ability to acquire L under natural conditions is lost.
Another difference is the phenomenon of fossilitation. Many 2nd L learners never quite learn
the L correctly. Thie causes may be due to the type of teaching is given, the problems of motivation
or the students personal characteristics.
The third difference is the transference. When we speak a 2nd L, it is almost impossible not to
make mistakes influenced by our native L.
As we have explained, a basic difference between the acquisition of a mother tongue and the
learning of a FL is that the first one is a natural process which does not need a methodology,
whereas the 2nd one does; the FLL happens in a classroom and not in social life.
In mother tongue acquisition there is a continuos linguistic information, and a direct contact
between the L and its cultural envirinment; the correction of errors appears after training and
effort. On the contrary, we find that FLL involves planning with special objectives and a specific
didactic method.
We should finally point out some suggestions to overcome problems in the 2nd LL process.
Firstly, we should not change the natural order of the interlingual process.
Secondly, pupils must receive a high input. We must respect a silent period and allow children to
express themselves in a spontaneous and natural way.
Finally, regarding how to overcome the fossilitation phenomenon, we find different opinions by
different authors. Some of then think that pupils should be push to produce, and grammar should
be taught. Others state that grammar should be taught in an inductive way, without forcing pupils
to use it correctly.
Summarising, we can point out the following. In this unit we have presented some of the most
important contributions to FLT; especially the principles of Linguistics, Structuralism and
Generative Grammar. After that, we have looked into the most important differences and
similarities between the acquisition of the mother tongue
and the learning of a FL.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
UNIT 6
The teaching of foreign languages has always developed along with Linguistics,although it has been in
this century when the traditional conceptions of science of language has been transformed by a widening
and specializing of its knowledge. On the other hand, in the current situation of Linguistics, there is an
intention to overcome the contradictions of previous beliefs, in order to elaborate a new model, much
more eclectic and useful for the process of language teaching and learning.
The theoretical aspects upon which the main methods and approaches are based and studied in the field of
Applied Linguistics, and a first systematization of these theoretical principles at the beginning of the 19th
century.
Before that, the methodology used in the language teaching processes in the 17th and 18th was
Grammar-Translation Method whose techniques were based on the model of Latin teaching, when this
was already a dead language. This model was, in fact,unsuitable to teach living languages,as it was a mere
adaptation of techniques belonging to a prestigious discipline.
However, just from the second half of the 19th century the first applied linguists appeared, looking for
some theoretical basis on which they could support the language teaching processes. To do so, they
observed the children´s acquisition mechanisms of their first language, the importance of oral
communication, and the first steps done in the studies of Phonetics.
Although these first principles had less impact at the moment, they served as an influence on later works.
Thus, they are very related with the second researching line, the Reform Movement which supported, on
the one hand, the adoption of an inductive approach in which oral production was considered more
important than written production, and on the other hand, a deep study of Phonetics in order to introduce
more efficient exercises to improve pronunciation.
In the 19th century appeared the Direct Method, based on the model of the first language acquisition.
According to this approach, the best way to learn the second language was the practice of oral production
just since the beginning with the help of non-verbal strategies to explain the meaning of some of the
words or phrases which were likely to appear.
In the 20th century, the works of Applied Linguistics on the field of language teaching point out to their
application on academic contexts, and they require the adoption of teaching techniques which take into
account the classroom reality.
At the end of the World War II, the American Army had to organize intensive language courses in order to
prepare the military staff to work as translators or interpreters in the occupied countries because the
Reading Method which was most used, did not guarantee enough fluency in oral comprehension and
production, they appealed to the structuralist linguists´ experiences such as Bloomfield.
After the World War II, the Audiolingual Method appeared, partially based on the Army courses. In this
method there is a relationship between Structuralism (Bloomfield) and Psychological Behaviourism
(Skinner), whose stimulus-response-reinforcement theories would have a great influence on the layout of
the mechanic exercises which are characteristical of the Audiolingual Method. For this method, oral
production is more important than written and the order for practising the skill is: aural comprehension
(listening), oral production (speaking), written comprehension (reading), and written production (writing).
In Great Britain another linguistic school appeared, which worked independently from the Audiolingual.
It developed a very similar method of teaching foreign languages: The Situational Language Teaching.
It is based on Structuralism but much more formal in their linguistic references.It gives more importance
to the situational context and to a selection of vocabulary. Nevertheless, the exercises of both methods do
not prepare the students for real situations of communication.
In the Sixties, a new approach appeared in Great Britain: The Communicative Language Teaching in
which the situational component of the Situational Language Teaching is the frame for communicative
interactions and not only for the practice of structures. In this approach, the term communicative
competence was coined by American linguist D.Hymes to refer to the ability of using the linguistic system
in an efficient way to communicate in society.
From the decade of the 60s,other approaches have appeared which have contributed to development of
Applied Linguistics. These methods are interested in the cognitive processes and in the affective and
contextual conditions which must take place for the learning or acquisition of the foreign language.
The first one is the Total Physical Response, based on J.Asher´s methodological criteria. One of the
main principles of this new approach is that pupils remember more easily those utterances which they can
relate with actions made by themselves. Thus the comprehension of meaning the orders that the teacher
asks the pupils to do lead them to produce no-verbal responses such as getting up,opening the
door,drawing,etc.
Following the same line, the Natural Approach, based on S Krashen and T.Terrell works, propose the
possibility of acquiring a second language in an academic context if the conditions which are similar to
those which can be found in the process of acquiring the first language by young children are fulfilled.
Language learning as a conscient process lead children to acquire some knowledge which will help them
to correct their mistakes, what is called Monitor Theory.
Finally, it is important to quote some approaches, such as The Silent Way, which looks for the learners´
hard concentration on the utterances; Suggestopaedia, which uses relaxation and suggestion as helpers for
language learning; and the Community Language Learning, based on group therapy and which uses the
target language as a means of expressing feeling.
THE MAIN LINGUISTIC SCIENCES.
These two sciences deal with sounds and how they can combine to make meanings.
Phonetics works the whole sound body of a language, studing its phonic elements in a systemic way. It
gives the representation of sounds which helps to pronounce the language in a correct way. The main parts
of Phonetics are: Articulatory Phonetics, which concentrates on how the sounds are emitted by speakers;
Auditory Phonetics, which studies those sounds in relation to the listeners; and Acoustic Phonetics, which
deals with the physical part of sounds by using different instruments to register them.
Phonology deals with the function of those sounds in the communicative process and gives an exhaustive
analysis of the rules of the sound system within the language.
Phonetics is ,together with Linguistics, one of the main sciences concerned with language and arose in the
16th century as the science that studied the relationship between spelling and sound. In 1886 the
International Phonetic Association (IPA) was founded. This association devised a phonetic alphabet, or set
of symbols that would serve to represent the sound of any language. This alphabet is now widely used in
textbooks and pronouncing dictionaries.
As our present objective is the teaching of a foreign language, the most useful view for this purpose is to
regard Phonetics and Linguistics as the two Linguistic Sciences. Both of them study language, but from
different angle. Phonetics is interested in sounds and how they are organized and transmitted,whereas
Linguistics is concerned with how language is structured grammatically and semantically.
Grammar.
Within Grammar we can find two sciences: Morphology and Syntax.
Morphology studies the form of the words of a language, and deals with the word flexions of genre,
number and case, and with the problems which may arise in this area. It also studies among others, the
changes which are produced in meaning by the influence of affixes.
Syntax established the rules for sentence combination and analyses the different of the words within the
sentences.
Grammar has two main objectives; it gives the rules necessary to generate the meaningful chains or
strings which are characteristical of a language. On the other hand, it gives rules useful for the speaker to
verify that a chain of meaning belongs to the language s/he speaks.
The most important ideas in the field, nowadays, are given by Chomsky´s Generative Grammar, which
sets up that a language is built upon a finite vocabulary corpus, this being a group of symbols which
combine to make sentences.
Semantics.
Semantics studies the meaning and sense of words, and it applies its researches to three important fields:
Structural Semantics, based on Saussure´s works. He claimed that the signification of a sign is not
only limited to the relationship between the signifier and signified parts of it, but also between this
sign and the others.
Distributional Semantics, in which the meanings of the linguistic units are in relation with the contexts
in which they appear.
Generative Semantics, which does not take into account the different elements of the sentence but the
sentence itself as a model.
Pragmatics.
It is a modern science which considers speech an act by itself, because language is inserted in a
productive context. This context is the communicative situation and knowledge shared by the speaker and
the listener.
The speech act is regarded as a cooperative process in which the participants´intentions must be
interpreted. H.P. Grice established in his book Logic and Conversation,that, in every speech act, there is a
conventional meaning given by speakers´knowledge of the language rules, and an implicative meaning,
given by the speakers´intention towards their message and towards the listeners, as well as by the context.
In this sense, Grice´s Cooperative Principle established that speakers cooperate in their engagement in
conversation, their engagement being on four maxims:
The maxim of Quantity, which says: Make your contribution as informative as it is required.
The maxim of Quality, which says: Make your contribution true; be sincere.
The maxim of Relation, saying: Make your contribution relevant; do not be unconnected.
The maxim of Manner: Avoid obscurity, ambiguity; give order to your speech.
Normally, speakers fulfill these four maxims in their speech acts. However, when one or more of them
are broken up intencionally, this fact gives place to what Grice calls a conversational implicature, that is,
an implication made by the speaker who intends to say something, in an indirect way, to the listener.
The experiments carried out about the learning of the first language lead to the conclusion that only
before puberty the child´s brain has a great plasticity that allows him/her perfectly the languages that s/he
hears around, but when puberty comes, that plasticity seems to decrease gradually.
Nevertheless, this conclusion says nothing about what happens in the person´s brain when learning a
language, nor does it explain how some people after puberty have achieved a mastering of one or several
languages, even with a great degree of perfection. Moreover, the methods and techniques of foreign
language teaching are exclusively based on the results of teaching experience, but never on a precise
knowledge of how the individual´s internal mechanisms work, although, on the other hand, as the process
of learning the mother tongue coincides with the first years of life, when the child experiments the most
spectacular physical and mental development, it is natural to think that there exists a narrow relationship
between these two processes: the first and the second language learning.
Although, up to now, the several researches that have been undertaken on this matter have not been able
to explain appropiately how second language learning process works, they have shown that some methods
and techniques are more efficient than others. In order to establish a solid scientific basis, these researches
have leaned on learning processes in general, and on the process of first language acquisition.
There are essential differences between the learning of a second language and the acquisition of the first
language. When children acquire their native language, they are answering to their vital necessity of
dominating the environment in which they are inserted. When they have this tool, their purpose to learn
another language is very different. Indeed, the circumstances in which we acquire our L1 are very
different from those in which we learn a L2.
Three important theories can be applied both to the acquisition and the learning of languages:
- CHOMSKY´S Innatism appeared in the 60s as a contraposition to Behaviourism. For him, all human
beings have innate universal grammatical rules just from before they are born. These rules are valid
for all languages. When the child starts speaking s/he applied them to the language s/he listens to
around him/her. At the same time, s/he makes his/her own grammatical rules of his/her own language
and during the whole process of acquisition , these rules are adapted to the general concept s/he has.
ASSOCIATIONISM, for its part, include these factors in its researches. This theory claim that
communication factors transmit aditional information which children associate with a concrete
situation. In this sense, they make relations between expressions that they may hear and the objects or
actions which accompany those expressions. Their need to fall back on these relationships decrease as
they memorize the associations. Thus, the end of this progression is in their use of the linguistic
system without appealing to extralinguistic elements.
Associationism coincides with Behaviorism in making relations between words and object. However,
in Associationis, the process is not mechanical, but it result as a consequence of the individual´s
intelligence. In this sense, s/he is active participant in the communication process and in the learning
processes because s/he is able to draw his/her own conclusions.
It is important to say that, to speak a language, we have to know both the vocabulary and grammar of
that language, and that children lean on their own intelligence to establish the rules which will help
them to make suitable speech acts. During the whole learning process these rules are continuously
revised.
On the other hand, if we want to learn a second language, it is necessary to mention the importance of
the teaching process, which is of less relevance in the process of acquisition.
FACTORS.
When learning a second language, people have different purposes and the achieve different result. This
fact make us suppose that there exist different factors which make influence on this process. Several
studies have given place to some conclusions and they set up three main factors which are of great
importance in the second language learning process.
1. Motivation.
Motivation seems to be the most interesting factors of all three, because it does not make any influence
on the L1 learning processes. The L1 acquisition allows children to get into relation with their
environment and to satisfy their needs. As they get to master the use of their first language, they discover
the possibilities they have to cover up other necessities and functions which may appear.
If the L2 is learnt when older, the concepts belonging to the L1 language are already settled up and they
are used by adults in their L2 learning process. If there is an interest in learning the L2, this teaching-
learning process will be followed in a very efficient way because knowing another language implies
knowing another culture.
At a glance, it seems that if the learner stays in the host country of the language s/he is studying. S/he will
find it easier to learn that language. However, this is only true if the learner is actually interested in
participating in social contacts with native speakers. His/her wishes to control the environment are more
important here than the teaching aspects.
When speaking about motivation, it is not only important to appeal reward, in the behaviouristic sense of
the word, but we must also include human psychological needs. Among them we can find essential ones,
such as hanger o fear; and some others dealing with personal security, feeling of belonging to a
community, self-confidence and relation with the other members of the community we belong to. Apart
from the motivation in satisfying these psychological needs, every individual is more encouraged as
his/her objectives are more important for him/her, as for example, those referring to cultural interest,
family well-being, etc.
This second type of motivation is very common in Primary Education, and as teachers, our role is to
encourage in our students the integrative motivation. To do so, there are a series of techniques: bringing to
the classroom material (pictures,brochures,leaflets,...) about the country; organizing competitions on
sports characteristical of the country; or accompanying the students to shows (films,plays,concerts,...) in
the foreign language.
On the other hand, teachers must have in mind that children are better receivers of these kinds of
activities than adults, and that they are easily encouraged to participate in tasks where they can play an
active role (dramatizations,games,mural making,..).
Language aptitude.
It has been shown that there are some people who can learn a language more easily than other
people,who, in turn, find it rather difficult to get enough competence in that new language. A lot of
research has been made in this sense to find the relationship between our own aptitude or inner ability and
the results achieved in our learning process. Thus, it has been shown that there is no direct connection
between our intelligence and our aptitude for language learning. On the contrary, it seems to exist a
dependence on series of factors, such as the brain ability to record and memorize certain phonetical
material; our own faculty to tackle grammatical information; our capacity to remember new words; and
our ability to discover or infer, without help, linguistic forms and rules.
The Modern Language Aptitude Test (MLAT) is used to measure these abilities, although it is only based
on linguistic elements. Besides, it seems that this test only gives us 50 per cent of certainly, and that is the
reason why the Language Aptitude Battery (LAB) was also used to measure language aptitude, but
including other extralinguistic elements such as motivation. According to the results given by this test, the
students who get satisfactory results in the other subjects usually get good qualifications in foreign
language. Indeed, this is usually true, but there are other students as well who are very good at foreign
language, but not at rest of the subjects. In conclusion, there does not exist definitive criteria for us to base
on when dealing with this matter.
However, the fact that intelligence does not make great influence over foreign language acquisition does
not mean that teacher leave it aside. On the contrary, it is important to take intelligence into consideration
when choose the appropiate methodology in class. Thus, for less intelligent students, the most useful
method seems to be that of repetition, whereas a methodology based on explanation of what they are
learning seems to suit better to cleverer pupils.
Age.
Here, the question is, “which is the appropiate age to start learning a second language?”. According to
some studies the best age to foreign language learning is between four and eight years, because the child
experiments an intensive process of evolution characterised by his/her ability to learn through mere
exposition to data. Nevertheless, there some teachers who think that children should not start learning a
second language until they have enough fluency on their first language. They even say that an early start
in L2 learning can prevent children from acquiring their L1 efficiently.
All these opinions leads us to analyse the advantages and disadvantages of foreign language learning
early start. In order to do that, we can have a look at those cases of emigrants´children who get
competence in a L2. As opposed to them, those children who learn a foreign language at school do not
usually achieve that degree of perfection.
For all this, one of the main reasons to introduce L2 learning in Primary Education is the better
assimilation of phonetical elements that children have at this age. Besides, children usually are less
reticent to participate actively in class, just as they do not have the adults´sense of ridiculous, although
adults normally have less dificulty on getting concentrated. All these age factors, however, should not
interfere on the teaching-learning process, and we should think that, wether younger or older, the human
being has mechanisms of every type to acquire foreign languages if they are motivated to do so.
What, in fact, should worry us is the fact that the little success which the student may have in Primary
School is, unfortunately, due not to the factors of age, aptitude or motivation, but the teacher´s low level
of preparation in relation with how to let the students into a foreign language.
SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE ACQUISITION OF THE FIRST
LANGUAGE AND THE FOREIGN LANGUAGE AT SCHOOL.
According to Chomsky, the difference between acquisition and learning is that acquisition can only take
place up to a certain age because when we have already got the mechanisms which allow us to register
those cncept, procedures, and pieces of information in order to use them in our daily lives for different
purposes,all which we can get afterwards is not tackled through our mechanisms of acquisition, but
through our learning processes. It is just during acquisition when children make their own grammar, by
verifying which rules are correct and which are wrong. This checking process is made through their
analysis of input data which are contrasted with their own innate rules.
Chomsky´s theories on this field are nowadays considered and followed when dealing with how children
acquire their first language, and they are very useful to study those processes which give place to foreign
language learning and to put them into practice when teaching that foreign language at school.
When they begin speaking, children produce certan utterances which they have not heard before. Thios
fact leads us to think that there must be an inner mechanism which, basing itself on the outer linguistic
data, allow the production of different grammatical structures. From this generative-transformational point
of view (Chomsky´s) these phenomena can be explained through the Language Acquisition Device, which
make childen know the linguistic universals (word order,linguistic categories, etc), as well as the
procedures which are necessary to acquire a language.
Mother tongue acquisition begins in the very moment the child is given birth, when s/he hear the first
sounds,voices and even his/her own cry. When s/he is three or four years old, s/he has already got hold of
the way how his/her language works, and is able to communicate more or less effectively with the
speakers of the same language.
The innate ability to oral communication is characteristical of all human beings, except from those who
suffer from some sort of serious congenital illness or disability. As it has been said before, intelligence is
not directly related to language acquisition because those people who are not relatively clever have been
succesful in acquire their native language.
Within the whole process of mother tongue acquisition, there exist some steps followed by children:
Prelinguistic stage: From birth to the age of eight months, children acquire spontaneously the use of
auditory mechanisms. It is the stage when they produce non-symbolic sounds.
First word production: When they are 11 months old, children produce a voice sound which is
somehow symbolic for them. This is the stage in which they give names to people or objects placed
around them.
Second year: Children´s messy vocalic structures begin to get shape and they begin to participate into
communicative exchanges. Their parents´role gets more and more important. However, it is not a
matter of repetition of what they say, but beyond that, children create by themselves sounds which
they regard as correct or wrong depending on the adults´reactions. These criteria of validation help the
child to take or opt out the different strings of language they are giving birth to. Those strings which
s/he considers to be correct are the same that the ones produced by adults and are reinforced by means
of continuous repetition.
Between 3 and 4 years old: The process of acquisition keeps on developing. This a period of great
creativity and less difficulty for auditory discrimination, and for imitation. The essential aspects of the
process of acquisition are developed in full. The following grammatical system children build on are
very similar to those which respond to the adults´grammatical rules.
Entering school: The school substitutes their parents in the acquisition process and provides them with
written code. It is just in this moment when the process of learning behings, and it will all their lives.
The fact that children start acquiring their mother tongue when they are babies suggests that it would be
quite a good idea to take advantage of this ability to make them acquire some others. Indeed, there are
people in many places who are bilingual since they were born, this ocurring in families where two or more
languages are spoken at the same time. Besides, we must take into account that, from a phonetical and
auditory point of view, children have all the biological characteristics to be able to acquire naturally more
than one language just from their childhood.
In some cases children can acquire simultaneously their mother tongue and their father tongue. However,
“bilingualism” does not mean “same lingualism”, that is, both languages being used with the same
frequency of time. On the contrary, their use depends on the circumstances around, and normally, one
language is more often used that another.
On the other hand, several researches have shown that it would be of great help for children to be
bilingual since the beginning, in terms of psychological development. However, this is only possible
whenever the contact with their parents´languages is as more natural as possible; if not, there may exist a
possible slowing down in their acquiring process.
Bilingualism is essentially the result of family circumstances, or of other natural ways of contact with
different languages, such as those cases in which children live long periods of time in a foreign country, or
in which two languages coexist in the same country.
Nevertheless, those bilingual or multilingual countries, such as Belgium, Switzerland, Canada, or Spain,
can not always offer their citizens the possibility to take advantage of this situation when they are
acquiring their first language/s. The main reason for this is that those languages often compete among
them, that is, they are rivals, and people belonging to one of the linguistic communities often have a
negative attitude towards the other/s, as it is case of Canada.
It is in Canada where an inmersion program was put into practice in 1965. The experiment began in a
little village called Saint Lambert, and it was completed and assesed by the psychological department of
the University of Montreal. The program consisted in the alternation of French and English. Children
spoke English at home, but at school, they were taught French by using it in the different subjects they had
to study. This project had great relevance and has given place to a lot of research in that country.
With regard to Europe, only in bilingual countries can this program be put into practice. Luxemburg is a
case apart, because it is a trilingual country: Luxemburguese is spoken at home, German is taught from
the first year of Primary Education, and French, from the third year. This early trilingualism is completed
in Secondary Education with the teaching of English. The citizens of Luxemburg, where there are not
universities, have the possibility of choosing among those universities of Germany, Austria, Switzerland,
France, Belgium, Canada and the United States. This situation is very difficult to achieve in many other
European countries.
However, something similar is what is called bilingual education, which implies the teaching in a foreign
language of one or more topics well kown by the pupils. The methodology is being carried at school in
Netherlands, Germany, France and Scandinavian countries.
TOPIC 7:
I.- INTRODUCTION
1.- Characteristics
What to be learnt
How to teach
What material to use
What activities will be done
Pre-listening activities
Prediction exercises
Vocabulary exercises
Grammar exercises
While-listening activities
Post-listening activities
IV.- SPEAKING
Repetition drills
Substitution drills
Transformation drills
Guessing drills
Controlled activities
Autonomous interaction
Functional communication
Social interaction
V.- SUMMARY
VI.- REFERENCES
I.- INTRODUCTION
In this topic, we’ll start from the idea that the Foreign Language Area Curriculum mentions
a sequence which must be followed when teaching the different skills: the oral skills (listening
and speaking) are stressed over written skills (reading and writing). That's because learning to
speak and to understand means learning the language, whereas reading and writing implies that
the language is already known and that we are using its graphic representation.
Although it's better to teach a FL following this sequence, teachers have to take into
account that every skill should be reinforced by the rest and none of them can be taught in
isolation.
In this topic we'll concentrate on the oral language, analysing in the first part the main
characteristics of it and the differences with the written language.
In the second part of the topic, we'll go into detail about both types of oral language, listening and
speaking skills, examining some of the activities we can do in order to improve them. We’ll take into
account that listening is a receptive skill, while speaking is a productive skill.
1.- Characteristics
Perhaps, the most important difference between writing and speaking is related to the need for
accuracy. Native speakers constantly make mistakes
when they are speaking: they change the subject in the middle of a sentence, hesitate an say the same
thing in different ways,… These mistakes, except in extremely formal situations, are considered as
normal. However, it's expected that writing should be "correct".
Another characteristic is that speech is time-bound, dynamic and transient. It's a part of an interaction
in which both participants are present, and the speaker has a specific addressee in mind. Meanwhile,
in most of the cases, the writer doesn't know who the addressee is, so that there is a little expectation
of a reply.
In this regard, participants are in a face-to-face interaction and share the same situational context; as
a result, they can rely on non-verbal devices, as body language, facial expression and gesture, as well
as rely on the context, in order to help make clear what they mean. This does not happen in speech.
Another characteristic is that speakers do at least three things at once: planning what to say next,
saying what they have planned, and monitoring
what they are saying in order to check that it is what they meant to say. On the other hand, in the
speech prevails the spontaneity and the speed, so it's more difficult to engage in complex advanced
planning. Whereas, writers can be more precise and organised about what they have to say, and also
because they have more time for planning and revision.
Talking about the linguistic features, a speaker has a great range of expressive possibilities,
since he can vary his intonation and stress. The writing system cannot directly represent the
prosodic features of speech. Only a very few graphic conventions relate to prosody, such as
question marks.
As grammar and vocabulary regards, the syntax of speech is much simpler than the syntax
of writing. The lexicon of speech is also often vague, using words which refer directly to the
situation (deictic expressions, such as that one, in here, right now). In written language these
expressions are very unusual.
III.- LISTENING
1.- Definition of the process
Let us concentrate on the listening skill. It is a receptive skill and it wasn't until the
development of the Communicative Approach in the 70's when the listening skill took importance
in the language acquisition. Some previous methods, such as the Direct Method and the Audio-
Lingual Method, put emphasis in the oral comprehension, but listening was concentrated on the
lower levels.
The Communicative Approach postulated the use of realistic and authentic language and
learners were trained to match what they heard into a context; the context helped them to
understand the meaning.
The process of writing goes on through different stages, which we'll analyse as follows.
Firstly, the pupils have to identify the phonic and syntactic patterning, that is, to recognise
the familiar elements in the mass of speech without being able to recognise the
interrelationships within the whole system.
Then, the pupils must identify and select them without retention, that is, listening for
pleasure with no questions to be answered.
After that, SS must do an identification and guided selection with short term retention, that
is, they are giver a prior indication of what they are going to listen. They demonstrate their
comprehension immediately in some sort of exercise.
An the last stage is the identification and selection with long term retention, that is, SS
demonstrate their comprehension developing activities which require the use of the material
previously learnt.
What to be learnt; we have to decide the listening skills to be developed. In the early stages
we should concentrate on listening at the level of recognition.
How to teach; the procedure to follow.
What material to use; we have to make a choice regarding materials, and it has to be made
according to two criteria:
- The linguistic difficulty of the listening text; the text should be within the students
language proficiency range.
- The learners’ motivation; the materials used should be motivating for the students.
We should remember that the teacher can also be a source of spoken language, he / she
can also provide input.
What activities will be done; they should also be motivating and relevant to the students
needs.
There are some guidelines that may be useful when planning how to develop pupils'
listening skill, which we’ll mention as follows:
Firstly, we must try to give children the confidence; the SS should be told that they cannot
always be expected to understand every word.
Secondly, we must help the SS to develop the strategies for listening; the most important
strategy is the use of "intelligent guesswork", that is, they can use their background knowledge
to work out the meaning of a word. They can also use other strategies such as predicting,
working out the meaning from the context,… The SS should be encouraged to notice the body
language or the way the speaker use his/her voice.
Finally, we must explain them why they have to listen; this means spelling out which part of
the message they need to focus on and what they are going to do before listening, while they
listening or after listening.
We will now focus on two of the aspects when planning a lesson, the listening subskills and
the listening materials.
The listening subskills are: listening to confirm expectations, listening to extract specific
information, listening for general understanding and inferring the speaker’s attitude.
Listening to confirm expectations. We can ask students to predict what they are going to
listen and then, listen to it to confirm their expectations. In this way, the students’ interest is
aroused and they have a definite purpose for listening.
Listening to extract specific information. Extracting specific information when listening is a
major subskill since a great deal of what is said in conversation in redundant and unnecessary.
Listening for general understanding. Students listen to conversations in order to get a
general idea of what the main points are. The students’ task is fairly simple but it is a vital skill
(because they listen to authentic spoken language) that they must develop.
Inferring the speaker’s attitude. An awareness of stress, intonation or any body language,
such as facial expression or gestures, will help the children to work out meaning.
Talking about the listening materials, the most useful ones are the songs, the video
recordings, the tapes and the teacher.
Songs are an important source of motivation. They may be used to change the pace of the
lesson or to introduce cultural aspects. They reinforce the learning process since they are very
useful to review and learn vocabulary, pronunciation, grammatical structures and patterns.
Video recordings: When using the video it is essential to choose the right technique
depending on the purpose: recognition, production or a combination of both. There are several
reasons for using video to develop listening skills:
Tapes: We can use tapes adjusting the level to the pupils’ needs.
The teacher: as a matter of fact, can also provide input. The pupils listen to the teacher most
of the time, so he / she must have a good pronunciation.
7.- Listening activities
The listening activities can be divided into pre-listening, while-listening and post-listening
activities. Let us see each one separately.
Pre-listening activities
These activities aim to warm SS up and prepare them to achieve the most from the passage
and to arouse their interest. We can distinguish three types of pre-listening activities: prediction
activities, vocabulary exercises and grammar exercises.
Prediction exercises encourage the SS to draw inferences and increase the amount of
language recognised at first hearing, for instance:
The SS are told the topic of the listening passage and are asked to guess some of the words or
phrases they think they might hear.
The teacher plays the first few sentences of the recording and challenges the SS to work out
what is going on. The SS call out their ideas, which are discussed.
The SS are given a list of words that might occur in the listening text and are asked to listen
for which ones occur and which do not.
The pupils do a picture and word matching exercise. This has two advantages. Firstly you can
bring certain words into the forefront of the SS’ minds, and secondly, you can ensure that they
know the meaning of new words. It is not necessary that all the words which appear in the
exercise should appear on the tape.
While-listening activities
While-listening activities aim to guide the pupils to handle the information in the passage.
Three types of exercises are to be distinguished:
Ear training activities help SS in distinguishing between key sounds, stress and intonation
patterns. They are most suitable in the early stages.
Completing diagrams
Problem solving activities in which SS match or recognise information in a text, for example:
- The SS compare what they hear with the information given to them in a picture.
They listen to see how far the information the speaker provides agrees with, or
contradicts, the information they were originally given.
- Another problem-solving activity is storyline pictures sets: the SS listen to a story or
set of instructions referring to a number of pictures and are asked to recognise the
pictures described and to put them in the correct order according to the passage.
Answering display questions; questions testing understanding of detail. The questions can be
answered individually or in groups and may take various forms: open-ended questions,
multiple choice questions, true/false statements. The questions should be read and understood
in the pre-listening stage.
Following instructions, that is, listen-and-do exercises in which they must listen to what
someone says, understand it and complete a task. They include picture dictation, where SS
have to draw a picture which the teacher or another S talks about without showing it;
completing a map or picture; tracing a route on a map in order to arrive at a particular place.
These activities involve careful listening without requiring a verbal response.
In completion-type activities SS have to complete a version of a story, a description or a song
while they listen.
Another kind of while-listening activity is Identifying mistakes or contradictions: SS hear two
versions of a story or two accounts of an event and have to identify the points of difference.
Many games depend for their success on SS listening carefully to each other, e.g. Simon
says, in which a S in front of the class gives commands, some preceded by the words Simon
says and others not. The class obeys the former only.
Post-listening activities
In post-listening activities SS take the information they have gained from the listening
passage and use it for another purpose (composition, discussion).
Some extension work can also be done based on the content of the passage.
IV.- SPEAKING
1.- Definition of the process
As follows, we'll concentrate on the speaking skill. During the first half of this century, this
skill was neglected, since in the FL teaching, the emphasis was on the written skills. Moreover,
speaking has received more attention in the last twenty years.
Although in the Direct and the Audio-Lingual method the emphasis was on oral
communication, students could not do free activities until they have mastered the new language in
controlled exercises, in drills. Now it is accepted that some sort of dynamic and meaningful
exercises should be included in speaking lessons from the beginning.
When SS are learning a FL, they want prompt results and speaking is the aim when they
come to class. They want to speak and that's the most important thing to them. When listening, the
input received can be in a higher lever than expected; in contrast, when speaking, the speaker
choose the language according to his/her level and that's an easy aspect in comparison with
listening.
Although the speaker can choose the level, speaking is one of the most problematical skills
since successful oral communication involves many things:
When a child is learning a FL, he usually makes mistakes. A solution would be to guide oral
practice to avoid the SS' mistakes, or at least to try that they make as few as possible. Then, the
psychological aspect is important, because when children realise that they can speak without
mistakes, they'll be motivated to go on speaking properly.
The main goal of speaking will be fluency, which can be defined as the ability to express
oneself intelligibly, reasonably, accurately and without too much hesitation.
2.- Planning a speaking lesson
When planning a speaking lesson, we must bear in mind that speaking activities should
fulfill certain requirements:
Speaking activities fall into the following three categories: activities based on repetition
and imitation, controlled activities and autonomous interaction.
Littlewood’s structural and quasi-communicative activities belong to this group. They are
preparatory activities, intended to prepare learners for communicative activities. The former focus
on the grammatical system and on ways in which items can be combined. The latter consist of two
or more conversational exchanges.
Drills are an example of this type of structure-orientated exercises. They help to assimilate
facts about new language and enable the student to produce the new language for the first time by
helping him master the basic structural patterns of the language. They are usually very controlled
and have a fairly limited potential. They shouldn't be used either too frequently or for too long.
The teacher will insist on accuracy, correcting where SS make mistakes. In addition, the
SS' talking time can be notably increased in large groups. There are different kinds of drills:
Repetition drills; SS have to repeat the sample pattern accurately and quickly; e.g. "I went to
the market and I bought…"
Substitution drills; SS are required to replace a word or phrase of the model sentence by the
cue word/phrase provided by the teacher.
Transformation drills; e.g. putting affirmative sentences in the negative or active sentences
in the passive.
Guessing drills; they get SS to try to find out through guessing. They are thus based on the
information gap principle. Some examples are:
- SS think of something they did the previous weekend and then they take turns to find
out what it is by asking.
- SS imagine that they have been ill and they take turns to find out each other’s illness
by asking.
Controlled activities
Controlled activities help SS develop confidence and the ability to participate in simple
conversations. Texts (dialogues and prose passages) can be exploited for oral practice. The
advantage of the activities based on them over the drills we have looked at is that they offer a
well-defined context for practice.
Question and answer practice is one of the commonest ways of giving language practice in
the classroom.
Other techniques are right / wrong statements and corrections. SS are asked to say whether a
statement is right or wrong within the context of the text and, if it is wrong, they give the
correct version; or they are asked to correct statements.
A third technique can be stating consequences, in which the SS have to say what happened as
a result of an event or action described.
Pairwork activities provide SS with a greater amount of meaningful practice. There are
various types of pairwork activities: model dialogue and key words, gapped dialogues, cue words,
picture cards, language games, decision-making activities and questionnaires. Let us outline each
one of them:
Model dialogue and key words: SS work with a set of 4-5 dialogues related to the same theme
together with a list of key words which they can use to produce different dialogues.
In gapped dialogues one of the speakers has to supply the missing utterances. The speaker’s
missing words may also be cued by indicating what functions he has to express, e.g.
Cuewords: SS are given cards with a number of cuewords on them, around which a dialogue
can be modelled, and a model dialogue to work with.
Picture cards can be used for a range of activities:
- Finding uses; SS have to find uses for an object within a particular environment, to
compare the uses for an object in two environments, or to find two uses for an object,
one normal use, the other absurd.
- Association activities; SS have to link two objects e.g. in terms of use, material, etc.
Language games also help to improve speaking skills, e.g. Hide and seek, where SS “hide”
and object somewhere in a picture. They then take turns to find out where the object has been
hidden by asking questions like Is it on the bookcase? Is it under the TV?
Decision-making activities require SS to make certain decisions. They employ the information
gap principle, that is, SS have to try to find out what each has decided. For instance, they are
given a set of numbered places and they write the numbers on a street plan to indicate their
positions, which their partners have to guess.
Non-pictorial aids such as maps, menus, radio and TV programmes are another way of
getting SS to interact using fairly controlled language. For example, with maps SS can practise
giving directions. With menus they can decide what they are going to eat and drink. With TV
and radio programmes they can discuss what they are going to watch or listen.
Questionnaires with mixed structures are effective ways of getting SS to draw on all their
linguistic resources. They involve identifying somebody who corresponds to a requirement of
the questionnaire. For example, the questionnaire may read:
Autonomous interaction
The last type of speaking activities is related to the autonomous interaction, that aims to get
from the students a free production of language.
Communicative activities provide the learners opportunities to use the language for
themselves. The opportunity to say something has to be given to them, so that they can see for
themselves the value and use of what they are learning. The activities must be geared to the
learners’ needs and the teacher should formulate the tasks in terms that SS can understand and
ensure that the instructions are clear. If the task is very complex, it is advisable to set up a
rehearsal before asking SS to start. Moreover, the teacher should:
make sure that everybody speaks English and that everything runs smoothly.
set up mixed ability pairs/groups because SS learn from one another.
elicit or pre-teach the language SS will need during the activity.
monitor the task discreetly. H / S should intervene only if he/she is quite certain that learners
cannot manage on their own.
should not keep correcting and demand too high a standard of accuracy.
Littlewood distinguishes two types of communicative activities: functional communication
and social interaction.
Discovering identical pairs: one S has to find which of four other has the same
picture as his.
Discovering missing information: two SS each have an incomplete table and each
has to get missing information from other.
Discovering secrets (guessing games). These games are accuracy-focussed games
chose purpose is to reinforce what has already been taught. For example “Twenty
questions” (one player thinks of a famous person or place and the others try to find out
what by asking no more than twenty questions).
Open-ended dialogues, e.g. dialogues which leave the learners free to decide how to
develop them.
Mapped dialogues: SS are given functional cues on separate cards. We may define
the relationship between the two speakers, e.g. they are friends.
1 Invite B to go out with you 1 Decline
2 Suggest another possibility 2 Accept
3 Confirm arrangements 3 Agree
Role instructions describe the situation and tell the participants how they should
interact. Example: you go into a bookshop to buy a book (describe author and title). Ask
the bookseller is he has the book. If the book is not available, decide whether to order it.
Other activities are discussions and fluency-focussed games, i.e. games in which SS use
language rather than simply practise it, for example in a debate to choose the SS that will controll
the class library.
V.- SUMMARY
To summarise, in this topic we have dealt with the oral skills (listening and speaking),
which, in the Foreign Language Area curriculum, are stressed over the written skills (reading and
writing). We've given some guidelines in order to make a proper planning and we've suggest some
of the activities we can do when teaching both skills.
VI.- REFERENCES
The techniques of Language Teaching by Billows, F.L.
Teaching Language as communication by Widdowson, H.G. Oxford University Press.
Teaching Oral English by Byrne, D. Published in 1986.
Getting Students to Talk by Golewiowska, A. Published in 1990.
INDEX
1. INTRODUCTION
2. D.A. WILKINS AND J.A. VAN EK
3. SPECIFYING THE DISCRETE LINGUISTIC-CULTURAL ITEMS
4. AUDIOLINGUALISM AND NEO-FIRTHIANISM
5. THE INTERPERSONAL SPEECH ACT
6. AUTONOMOUS INTERACTION
7. LISTENING AND SPEAKING
1. INTRODUCTION
Speech, or spoken language, is the most obvious aspect of language, it is the universal material of
human language. For many hundreds of thousands of years human language was transmitted and
developed entirely as spoken means of communication.
Using a foreign language eefectively requires having a number of different abilities. Linguistists have
identified four major abilities, which are called linguistic skills. They are: listening, speaking, reading
and writing. (about their classification and their integration, see topic 3).
In this unit we are going to study the listening and speaking skills, first how our pupils evolve from
hearing to active listening, and second, from imitative speaking to autonomous talking.
Listening in a foreign language is hard work. It is a principle that listening should precede speaking. Clearly,
it is impossible to expect our pupils to produce a sound which does not exist in their mother tongue or a natural
sentence using the stress, rhythm and intonation of a native speaker of the foreign language without first of all
providing them with a model of the form they are to produce. It is not possible to produce satisfactorily what
one has not heard. The logical step, then, is attempting to achieve oral fluency or accuracy is to consider our
pupils´ ability to listen.
At first sight it appears that listening is a passive skill, and speaking is an active one. This is not really
true, since the deconding of the message calls for active participation in the communication between
the participants. A receptive skill is involved in understanding the message. Understanding is usually
signalled in a face-to-face conversation by the nods, glances, bbody-movements and often phatic
noises of the listener. This visual and verbal signalling confirms to the speaker that listening and
understanding has taken place so, while hearing can be thought of a passive condition, listening is
always an active process.
Studies of classroom interaction show that children spend a large part of their time listening – listening
to the teacher, to each otther or to pre-recorded material. Problems are likely to arise if teachers do not
teach children how to listen, so that they can cope effectively with these demands. Besides, our work
as teachers of young learners is much easier if the children are motivated and enjoy what they are
doing. It is up to us to ensure that the activities they are engaged in are interesting and/or fun. We also
have to be clear that our students cannot understand everything they hear. We should provide
purposeful activities where learners are asked to focus on specific points. We must ensure that the
children´s learning is supported wherever necessary. Learners will also of course listen just for fun,
without having to do anything with what they hear.
The first stage in the listening skill learning process is ear-training, if we cannot hear we will not
understand. Later on we must help our pupils develop their aural understanding abilities.
If we want our pupils to be efficient listeners in English we must give them enough practice in both
intensive and extensive listening. Intensive listening is closer to ear-training. If we feel that our pupils
are not producing satisfactorily a certain sound or they have not encountered it yet, we can get them to
listen carefully for the sound in a given passage, as a first step towards imitation, then production of
the sound. This is called intensive listening.
Onn the other hand, we may be aware that our pupils cannot understand ordinatry English of the type
that is used in our coursebook tape. In this case a more general familiaritty with the lexis and grammar
of the listening texts is required so we must prepare aural lessons which will not focus on a sound or
two but on general features of the style of sicourse materials. This is called extensive listening.
EFFECTIVE LISTENING
Language comprehension is generally seen as part of an interactive process arising from the complex
interplay of the three main dimensions of interaction: the social, the cognitive and the linguistic.
Studies of young learners´comprehension skills show that many aspects of listening are mastered at an
early age, particularly in supportive, conversational contexts where social skills are highlighted.
However, when the listening focus involves more demanding cognitive skills, such as processing
information or monitoring the adequacy of a message, children frequently encounter problems.
Many authors currently take the view that there are several parallels between the processes involved in
L1 acquisition and L2 learning. It is felt that children have the ability to transfer some of the skills and
strategies in their L1 acquisition to second language learning. The kinds of information source used in
comprehension can be summarised under two main headings:
a. knowledge about the content of the spoken message
- general knowledge to do with facts and information
- sociocultural knowledge to do with topics, settings and participants in interaction
- procedural knowledge about how language is used, for example, knowing that
questions generally demand responses
b. knowledge about the language used in the spoken message
- recognition of items of vocabulary and sentence patterns
- understanding of phonological features such as stress, intonation and sounds
The role of the teacher is to encourage children to draw upon different information sources, skills and
strategies in order to learn how to help themselves understand. Once the teachers are aware of these processes,
they will be able to include in their planning interactive or specific listening tasks focusing on one or more of
these strategies. Six types of strategy are given below, described in the context of listening to a story:
1. Getting the general picture: this strategy is used when children are being encouraged to listen to a
story simply for pleasure. In this case the learners do not attempt to focus their attention in or
remember details but to listen for gist to get a general idea of what the story is about
2. Predicting: this strategy is useful when children are trying to follow the sequence of events in a
story. If the children are motivated and have some support for their understanding, they can be
encouraged first to predict and then to check whether what they hear matches their expectation.
This is an example of a learning context where knowledge of the language system and general
knoowledge based on previous experience of L1 stories work together to facilitate comprehension
3. Extracting specific information: the focus here is on recognising specific components of the
language system, such as selecting relevant adjectives to describe particular characters in a story to
fill in a tick-chart or recognising specific verbs and nouns when matching pictures with events in a
story. If the aim of the activity is listening comprehension rather than memory testing, for this
strategy to work the learners need to know what kind of information to listen out for. The support
materials (pictures and charts) help the learner distinguish relevant from irrelevant parts of the
message.
4. Inferring opinion or attitude: an awareness of stress and intonation, combined with knowledge of
lexical items and grammatical patterns, enables the learner to determine whether a character is
happy, angry or sad and therefore to work our some of the context of the story
5. Working out meaning from context: it must be made clear to children learning English that they
will not be able or expected to understand every word in a story. Thus the teacher needs to develop
their confidence in facing texts with new vocabulary. Key words may be glossed beforehand while
visual support or written framewords (charts, for instance) will help the learners understand detail.
Some learners might be able to draw upon their knowledge of the langauge system.
6. Recognising discourse patterns and markers: every story will have certain story-tellinng
conventions, for example an introduction beginning, “Many years ago there was a wicked
witch…” The recognition of discourse markers used in logical relationships, as well as the use of
appropriate intonation, will help learners to work out some of the storyline.
It is important to make a distinction between the teaching and testing of listening. The practice of
asking the childrren to listen to something with no support other than questions to answer after
listeniing has many drawbacks. It concentrates too much on the testing of comprehension or memory
rather than encouraging children to develop strategies to coping with the spoken message. This kind of
methodology tends to overload the child´s capacity for porcessing and retaining information. Thus the
emphasis is placed on assessing what the children have understood rather than in supporting their
understanding so that they can show that they have understood.
It is only when teachers direct the children´s attention to the pupose of the listening task beforehand
and procde a suitable framework for providing acees to the spoken message that they can be said to be
teaching listening. Possible frameworks to be used can take the form of pictures, charts or questions
which aim to create interest and supply motivation and support for the successful completion of the
task. This kind of methodology reflects the view that the listening process is a form of interaction
between the listener and the text. The meanings which learners construct in this interactive process
depend on the one hand on their “set” to the text and on the other hand on the content and the language
contained in the ttext. The “set” can be described in terms of what the learner brings to the text, that is,
the schematic knowledte described earlier such as background knowledge and feelings, attitudes or
interest. The content of the text will of course draw upon linguistic items such as vocabulary and
grammar as well as discourse geatures such as refference, lexical relations, logical connectors and
intonation. The linguistic content may serve to refer to events, people, animals, places, objects,
feelings, attributes, concpets and so forth. With the help of the teacher, who creates a context and a
purpose for liistening, the focus of the comprehension activity can be on any of these aspects.
The teaching of comprehension is said to have three phases: pre-, while- and post- listening activities.
The first stage is an introduction or orientation to the text during which the teacher might elicit what
the children already know about a topic by asking them questions, or create interest by relating aspects
of the content to the children´s own experiences.
The second stage involves an explanation of the pupose of the listening task so that the children are
quite clear what their role is and whether they need to focus on specific aspects of the text. The
purpose mau be simply to listen and enjoy a story, song or rhyme in which case they can participate if
the teacher wishes. If the listening purpose is to extract specific information it is at this point that the
teacher will explain the task and refer to any visual or written support he/she has planned. The learners
will then listen to the text, which may be pre-recorded or spoken by the teahcer or another child, and
complete the activity.
The stage after this is then concerned with checking information by asking questions (oral or written)
or by asking for feedback on any other outcomes the learners may have produced, such as completing
a game, finding the correct sequence of events or drawing and labelling a picture.
It requires patience, imagination and skill to create an interesting environment for young learners to
develop confidence in listening. The teacher´s role is this respect is fourfold:
1. Planning for listening
2. choosing appropriate texts and tasks:
3. Providing support
4. varying the learning context
Listening and speaking tasks should always be properly introduced: the context of the text and the task
involved needs to be clear to the students before they start an exrecise. Teachers should beware of setting
artificially high standards of correctness. Experienced teachers accept different degreees of variation from the
“perfect” model. Additioanlly, there are teachers who use “teacher talk” at certain moments of the lesson.
“Teacher talk” is using a very simplified version of the target language so that the students can understand
better. There is no harm in doing this, as long as studnets also receive natural language input as well. A teacher
might use “teacher talk” when presenting a langauge item; an unnaturally slow pronunciation would help the
students to identify the sounds better. However, during the development session, oral drills practice should be
done using natural speech patterns.
As for fluency and accuracy, the listening and speaking skills should be approached from both of these
perspectives: there are moments in the lesson when accuracy is imperative. For example, when a language item
is presented, accuracy is of the utmost importance; it is equally important during oral drills sessions. However,
during productiooon, especially during free pair work and groups work activities, practice for fluency is
preferable. The teacheer can monitor the production of the studnets, noting language weakness which need to be
dealt with in subsequent class sessions.
Listening entails the following aspects: guessing the meaning of unknownn vocabulary; folowing the main
ideas of something spoken using natural speeach; summarizing a speaker´s intention; recognizing style and
register differences; identifying the structures of a spoken statement; making inferences; formulating a
personaly opiniionn about a text; formulating an intellectual attitude and an emotional attitude towards a text;
taking notes while listening to a speech; identifying the amin phonological aspects of the English language
(vowels, dipthongs, tripthongs, consonants, rhythm, stress, intonaation, word junction); comparing pre-
kowledege with what is being said; the speaker´s intention; the speaker´s attitude; phonological aspects.
Speaking entails the following aspects: formal and informal manner; preparing and giving oral reports;
asking and answering questions (interviews); telling a story and expanding narratives; connecting sentences;
dividing speech into paragraphs and main ideas; constrciting dialogues; making correclty formed declarative
and interrogative statements; interpreting a picture story; summarizing a peech hard using notes taken;
paraphrase what another person has ssaid; tell a story (invented or retold).
1. WRITTEN LANGUAGE
Speech uses phatic substance and writing, graphic substance. Speech is considered to be part of an
interaction which both participants are present and the speaker has a specific address in mind. On the
other hand, in written language the producer is distant from the receiver and sometimes even do not know
who the receiver is. While speech is time-bound and dynamic, writing is space-bound and static.
So writing allows repeated reading and close analysis. It needs careful organisation and structured
expression. Some words must be avoided when the meaning relies on the situation.
Ambiguity must also be minimised in writing, as there is no possibility of asking for immediate
explanation.
Some constructions might be fond only in writing (formal) and others, in speech (slang, swear words, …)
INTRODUCTION.
In the first part of the unit, I am going to explain the relationship that exists between the
reading and writing skills. Both terms are narrowing linked because these skills are present
from the first stages in the approach of the foreign language. The language is firstly heard
and then it is read.
Reading, is an important skill, which can contribute to the accomplishment of a language
in posterior stages. This skill can be useful in order to achieve vocabulary, or it can be a
motive to read for pleasure. The additional lecture, which is read in a voluntary way, offers
the opportunity to learn in an unconscious way aspects like culture from the foreign
language. The main advantage of the reading for the students is that it improves their
general English level. We have as teachers to encourage the complementary readings,
which has to be chose by the students.
We have to realise that, when we are going to teach a language in the first stages, our
students do not have knowledge about grammar or syntax. Due to that, the teacher will be
the guide in the learning. Teachers will have to use some strategies like the comment of the
illustrations, the chose of easy situations… In the first stages, it would be advisable direct
to our students with patters, which has the same structure.
In order to improve the reading-writing process, we can use a great variety of activities
and techniques. It is obvious that we have to start from easy to texts that are more complex.
We will try to offer to the students short tales with familiar situations related to their daily
life, alternating with fantastic stories like adventures with monsters.
In class we have to exploit the illustrations, because they are very important in order to
understand the context of the situation. In a great variety of activities, the introduction of
the teacher will help the students to understand the aim of the activity.
Then, the teacher can ask some questions to check if they have understood what is pretend
in the activity. After that, we can do the reading. In the first curses, the texts are read aloud
to continue to silent reading, and later, to the summaries. Then, we can do the
comprehension exercise:
- questions made by the teacher, from open to more close answers,
- judgements made by the teacher, which can be true or false and
- summaries of texts using synonymous and paraphrases of a text.
It is advisable that, whenever possible, the teacher relates the current situations that is carry out to more
familiar situations.
Now, it is time to discuss the reading comprehension. Reading in the foreign language
must start from the first year when the language is studied.
We have to interact with the text in order to understand the message, even where the text contains
language which the students are not able to produce.
One aspect of reading that concerns many teachers, is the difference between authentic
and non-authentic texts.
The authentic texts are designed for native speakers, not for language students. This kind
of material can be newspapers, advertisements or radio-programmes.
A non-authentic text in language teaching terms is one that has been written especially for
language students. Such texts sometimes concentrate on the language they wish to teach. In
these texts appear some particular grammatical structures, vocabulary or some particular
tenses.
When teachers choose the right kind of material and the students are successful, then the
benefits are obvious. What we need, therefore, are texts where the students can understand
the general meaning of, whether they are truly authentic or not.
The job of the teacher is to train the students in a number of skills which they will need for
the understanding of reading and listening texts. These skills can be divide into two
groups.
a) Type one skills, are those operations that students perform on a text when they tackle
(enfrentar) it for the first time. The first thing the students are asked to do with a text
b) Type 2 skills are those that are subsequently used when studying reading or listening
material and they involved detailed comprehension of the text.
They are practised after type 1 skills have been worked on. They are:
- Extracting detailed information like: what does the writer mean? What
precisely is the speaker trying to say? How many…?
- Recognising functions and discourse pattern. To recognise some
discourse markers are an important part of understanding how a text is
constructed. We need to make students aware of these features in order to help
them to become more efficient.
- Deducing meaning from context.
It is convenient that in class, the student gets used to extensive and intensive reading.
For the intensive readings, the students will work with short texts, from which they
understand basically all the words.
In the extensive reading, students make the effort to understand the message using all
kind the strategies. These are some ideas of reading activities:
- PRE QUESTION: A question is given before reading, to find out a piece of central
information.
- DO IT YOURSELF QUESTIONS: Students compose and answer their own question.
- PROVIDE A TITTLE: Students can suggest an alternative tittle.
- SUMMARISE: Students summarise the content in two or three sentences.
- CONTINUE THE TEXT: Learners suggest what might happen next in a text.
- PREFACE: Learners suggest what might happen before.
- GAPPED TEXTS: Gaps are left which can only be filled in if the texts have been
understood.
- MISTAKES IN THE TEXTS: Towards the end of a text, there can be some mistakes.
Students have to know in advance how many mistakes there are in the text.
- COMPARISON: There are two texts on similar topics, students note points of
similarity or difference.
- RESPONDING: The text is a letter or a provocative article and the students discuss
how to respond to the letter or write an answer to the article.
- RE-PRESENTATION OF CONTENT: The text gives information and students
represent its content through different graphics mediums.
WRITTEN EXPRESSION.
In the last part of the unit, I am going to explain the written expression. Frequently, writing
is relegated to the status of homework. This is a pity since writing, especially
communicative writing, can play a valuable part in the class.
Reading has a notable influence in the writing expression, the more we read the better we
write. It can be said that, there is a better level in the written expression in those students
who use a more variety of written texts in their daily life.
When we are going to planning the written activities, we have to consider the following
aspects:
a) Contextualization: when we write a message in real life, we always do it within a
context or situation, because who writes presupposes certain aspects determined by the
situation. We have to be in mind aspects like the type of the register.
b) Aim: writing has always a purpose, according to this, there will be determined the
expressions, vocabulary, etc. The purpose has to have a meaning for the student. Due to
that, the students need to know different kind of writings and practise them in order to
connect with the possible reader.
c) Creativity: it seems convenient to provide the student with occasions where they can
create their own texts and feel that it is the product of their will and personal effort.
d) Motivation: the essential objective in language production is to provide the student with
motivation to learn. If the activities are motivating, the students will feel an inner
satisfaction to learn, to communicate with others and carry a task they like.
e) Integration: in a communicative approach of writing, it is necessary the integration with
other skills which contributes to several purposes:
- allows the practise of the some linguistic or functional contexts in the same skills,
- develop two or more linguistic skills within the same context and
- approximates the use of the language to the real world.
A receptive or an oral activity can precede the writing activity.
There are a lot of techniques to help students to develop their writing expression, from
the very controlled expression to the free writing. Some techniques are:
- Writing guides with model and visual stimulus (description of a person). We can use
photographs, drawings, magazines…
- Writing guides from a stimulus. Transferring information from the oral to the written
language, (the elaboration of questionnaires can be an example).
- Writing guided by the establishment of a situation and give instructions to write a text.
Leaving or taking messages can be an example.
- Free writing, in order to develop the student’s imagination (creation of novels, short
tales, stories, diaries about the English class…).
- Diaries can be interesting for the teacher. Thus, the teacher can obtain interesting data
about the student’s attitude.
UNIT 8- LENGUA EXTRANJERA ESCRITA. APROXIMACIÓN, MADURACIÓN Y
PERFECCIONAMIENTO DEL PROCESO LECTOESCRITOR. LA COMPRENSIÓN
LECTORA : TÉCNICAS DE COMPRENSIÓN GLOBAL Y ESPECÍFICA DE TEXTOS. LA
EXPRESIÓN ESCRITA : DE LA INTERPRETACIÓN A LA PRODUCCIÓN DE TEXTOS.
Introduction
Conclusion
Reaching this point, the student is able to interpret a complementary text. We’ll try
to offer the student short tales with familiar situations, related to their daily lives,
alternating with fantastic stories in order to get the success and arise the student´s interest.
We can work out different types of activities: in class, the teacher will comment
superficially the plot and then he will read the text; the first texts are read aloud, to
continue gradually to silent reading and later to the summaries or brief written
commentaries.
After the reading, the teacher suggests a series of judgements that will have to be
determined as true or false.
We can propose different endings or return to writing the text but under another
point of view, composition of a text whose sentences appear disarranged, etc.
We are going to continue with the improvement of the reading-writing process. We
have to consider the texts will present a greater difficulty, they may be more long extended
and, in some occasions, without pictures.
When finishing these readings, a simple comment will help understand and place the
text. We´ll elaborate in class a summary, we can divide the text in parts with subtitles, the
students can answer questions and they can explain their personal opinions about the
central idea.
On the other hand, we can use complementary readings. The additional text will
consist on a reading already chosen by the student, although we can provide him with
comics, series of cartoons, magazines, etc.
The traditional tales and the easy poems are a good source of reading materials.
Now that the possibilities of the students reading-writing are better, it is advisable
the use of the dictionary, the preparation of their own vocabulary and the elaboration of his
own notebook where he can register in alphabetical order.
In relation to reading comprehension we have to bear in mind that the reading
capacity of the students from Primary Education, starts to acquire a more systematic
characteristic. It´s convenient the student gets used to extensive and intensive reading.
For the intensive reading, the student will work with short texts, from which he will
understand basically all the words (labels, advertisements, letters from friends, etc.).
In the extensive reading, the student will make the effort to understand the messages
although he may not known the meaning of some words. In this case, he can ask for the
teacher´s help, other classmates, basic bilingual dictionaries and other communication
strategies (inference by the context, similarity with the mother tongue...).
In the foreuign language class we can practise activities of different kind focused on
global or specific comprehension.
At first, the short of games proposed will be in relation with with what the student
already knows in his mother tongue so he can infer from his previous experience the sense
of formal or referntial elements (headings, presentation...) which allow him to formulate
hypothesis about the content.
We can work out a great number of clues which help the comprehension as
photographs, charts, pictures, presentation of the text, the headings, words in the text
which are repeated, familiar words, ask the students questions: Who? When? How?
The age to start reading must start from the first year when the language is studied
(from the beginning).
The techniques will be suitable to the student´s level, the complexity will vary as he
is acquiring more knowledge and promoting to new courses. Firstly, they’ll read short
sentences and later they´ll achieve the interpretation of a brief and simple text.
We can find a serie of advantages in reading, which consists, have learn other
cultures, review structures and vocabulary and a better-written expression.
In the same way, we must distinguish three types of pupils. Those who find difficult
to get a global idea, those who don´t pay attention to details (quick reading) and those who
are imaginative readers because they interpret the text as they like.
As result, we have to be careful with the texts we choose. We have to adapt the
readings to the group and the individuals.
In relation to the techniques for the global comprehension, skimming, we have to
consider that it can be achieved using the following strategies or techniques:
- The student relies on the clues previously mentioned who writes? When?
Where? Why?
- The text will be adpated to the student´s level.
- Comprehension of the main idea in the text being neccessary to make student
understand that is perfectly possible to understand the main idea without knowing all the
words completely. Nouns and verbs have more important meaning than other words.
- Deduce the neaning of unknown words from the context.
- Register the vocabulary in a notebook.
- Look up words in the dictionary.
- Identify relations between sentences by connectors.
- Recognise discourse patterns (conjuctions, etc.)
As examples we can include reading based on the inference system, reading carried
out by the teacher in aloud voice, reading made by the students in class, reading aloud and
normal reading.
As for the techniques for specific text comprehension, scanning, we´ll take into
account reading performs by the teacher in aloud voice where the students have the text
and repeat it. Also, they can infer, deduce a specific information by means of clues,
questions, etc.
The students reading in class aloud would be another strategie provided them with
narrative or descriptive passages or short poems; reading at home as an enjoyable activity,
not as a school task. Advertising will be interesting at the time of finding specific
information. The teacher could bring a written example, preferably original and with
drawings or colour photos.
The scanning is a technique related to the speed in reading and involves the
attainment of information by means of searching words or key propositions. It´s a very
productive exercises where the student answers questions reading the text very quickly.
Finally, it is important to point out that although there are different techniqes for the
global and for the specific comprehension of texts, both will have to be always together or
integrate in order to achieve a better acquisition of the foreign language.
We are going to continue with the written expression. Firstly we are going to expone
a serie of writing skills visual or graphical as spelling, punctuation and capitalization;
grammatical as sentence pattern and constructions; expresive using different styles;
rethorical in order to link parts of the text into logical related sentences; organisational
rejecting irrelevant information or summarizing relevant points and finally the fact of
knowing formal structures.
Also it´s important to emphasize that the more we read the better we write.
Krashem develops the hypothesis that the written skill is acquired in the same way
as the speaking skill. The student would request a given language, comprehensive input, in
a quantity enough to develop his capacity. This input should be accomplished for pleasure
and interest, so his attention would be focused on the message or content and not on the
form how the message is expressed.
We have to follow a serie of criteria for planning activities of written expression, which consists of
contextualization, because when we write a message in real life, we always do it within a context or situation.
The place where the written activity is generated may be as well a determinant element of it. If this takes place
in a relaxed atmosphere, the result will be very different that the outcome obtained in an examination
atmosphere.
An another criterion is the aim, that is, writing has always a purpose which
determine the expressions, vocabulary, etc.
The type of register is also important according to descriptions, informal or formal
letters, etc.
The creativity since when we write we elaborate ideas trying to express the contents
by means of words or sentences. It´s important to provide the student with occasions where
he can create his own language and feel that it is the product of his effort. We suggest the
importance of programming activities, where the student writes spontaneously short
messages or informal notes in the target language, we´ll select subjects about which the
students have read or had a personal experience and therefore are interesting for him.
It´s interesting the reasoning of the writers and the integration with other skills in
order to aproximate the use of the language to the real world, develop two or more
linguistic skills within the same context so the students aware of the written text, the
resources to achieve, the conventions of personal or institutional writings, headings,
address, greetings,etc.
The last criteria we are going to comment is to provide the student with a motivation
to learn.
We can develop two kind of motivation, intrinsic and extrinsic. If the activities are
motivating, the student will feel satisfaction to learn, to communicate with others and carry
out a task he likes.
In relation to the step from interpretation to text production we are going to consider
some activities or preparatory techniques as well as techniques of written expression.
Firstly we have to bear in mind we can find two main kind of writings. On one hand
the personal writings for personal use which appear reflected in shopping lists, telephones
and adresses, dates, reading books, recipes, etc. Or directed to other people (messages,
invitations, letters, postcards, etc.)
On the other hand, the institutional or public writings that are found in daily life:
commercial letters, biographies, posters, songs, puzzles, crosswords, games, compositions,
etc.
The preparatory techniques are related to the development of reading
comprehension. We may emphasize the inference technique of the meaning of a word in
the context, or the ones guessing the meaning of unknown words and the meanings implicit
in the text, and the techniques of predicting the content of a text from the knowledge of
one of its parts.
In the first place, the students are provided with a text where there are a key word
missing. We ask them to pay attention to the context surrounding this word (vocabulary,
structures, idioms, etc.) to infer the meaning. In pairs or small group, the students try to
guess which word it is.
Other technique is the “linguistic reflection”, which help the student to perceive
specific aspects from the text.
Later, the students can write letters to the students from another class or formal letter
to travel agencies. The next activity is based on “braimstorming” and helps the student to
remember and learn the vocabulary necessary to develop a subject.
The students are asked to say the words they can think about a topic and later they
will write a composition using the vocabulary noted down.
After the preparatory techniques, we suggest techniques to help students to develop
their written expression, so the task they carry out will be attractive and easy. These will
vary from the very controlled to the free writing. In most of the activities the student is
encouraged to write his own communicative text with his experiences, interests, feelings,
etc to a possible reader.
We can work out activities following a model where we can present an illustrative
drawing as orientation and stimulus, transferring information activities as elaboration of
questionaires, activities from a situation and given instructions to write a text, activities
without specific support (creation of tales, short novels, writing diaries, etc.).
As conclusion of the topic we consider very important students feel the interest and
curiosity towards the written text as well as the capacity to elaborate them.
The bibliography used has been:
- Bello y otros. Didáctica de las segundas lenguas. Aula XXI Ed. Santillana.
Madrid. 1990
- Harmer. The practice of English Language Teaching. Longman. Burnt Mill.
1983
- Byrne. Teaching writing skills. Longman. Burnt Mill. 1988
- White, R. Process Writing. Longman. London. 1991
- Cajas Rojas
TEMARIO A: TEMA 9
Sistema fonológico de la lengua inglesa II: Acento, ritmo y entonación. Comparación con
el sistema fonológico de la lengua o lenguas oficiales de la Comunidad Autónoma
correspondiente.
CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION
1. Phonetics and Phonology
2. Phonemes and Speech Sounds
3. Stress/Rhythm and Intonation
2. STRESS
1. Degrees of Stress
2. Position of Stress
3. Stress in the Canarian Dialect/ Spanish language
3. RHYTHM
1. Weak and Strong Forms
2. Regularity of Rhythm
3. Rhythm in the Canarian Dialect/ Spanish language
4. INTONATION
1. Falling Tone
2. Rising Tone
3. Fall-rise Tone
4. Rise-fall Tone
5. Level Tone
6. Fall+rise Tone
5. TEACHING IMPLICATIONS
1. INTRODUCTION
The most noticeable feature of a foreign language is often intonation and rhythm. Some languages
are described as sounding "like music", other languages as being "flat and without melody". If the
pronunciation of individual sounds can be compared with the individual notes in a piece of music, the
intonation can be compared with the melody or tune.
When studying the pronunciation system of a language we differentiate two categories:
PHONETICS: is the science that studies the language sounds; how sounds are
produced in general.
PHONEME: is the smallest unit of speech that can change the meaning of a word.
SPEECH SOUND: is any unit of sound produced by the speech organs. They are the
muscles and parts of the mouth, which we use to speak.
The Phoneme is also defined as "only in terms of its differences from the other
phonemes in the same language".
When dealing with the concepts of Stress, Rhythm and Intonation, we should start by
referring to the concept of prominence
Prominence: is the characteristic in common with all stressed syllables. Four different
factors are important:
a. Loudness
b. Length
c. Pitch: is closely related to the frequency of vibration of the vocal cords.
d. A syllable will tend to be prominent if it contains a vowel that is different in quality from
neighbouring vowels.
Stress concerns the relative prominence with which one part of a word or a longer utterance
is distinguished from other parts.
Rhythm concerns the relative prominence, or pattern of the stresses being perceived as
peaks of prominence, occurring at somewhat regular intervals of time. English is a language
with a tendency for a stress-timed rhythm.
Intonation is the association of the relative prominence with pitch, the aspect of the sound
which we perceive in terms of "high" or "low".
Other prosodic systems include factors such as tempo and the relative speed of utterance.
Perception of the rhythm base may involve observing variations of loudness, pitch and
speed.
1. STRESS
We can study stress from the point of view of production and of perception. The production
of stress is generally believed to depend on the speaker using more muscular energy than is
used for unstressed syllables. Many different sound characteristics are important in making a
syllable recognisably stressed.
In English, stressed syllables are longer then unstressed ones, the vowels are more voiced
within them. Stress is not marked in the spelling system, but it can be transcribed
phonetically.
The importance of stress should be noted, given that incorrect stress on syllables is an
obstacle to communication, because it may lead the speaker to understand a different word,
that follows a different stress pattern.
1. Degrees of Stress
We can distinguish between the primary and secondary stress. The first one is also
called tonic strong stress, while the second one is also called non-tonic strong stress.
Ex: ‘presup,ose
There are other authors who consider that there exist three stresses.
2. Position of Stress
Ex: ‘mission
A wide selection of words that can operate equally well as nouns/adjectives or verbs, are
differentiated by their stress in the two functions:
g. Compound nouns
They are generally stressed on the first element with a secondary stress on the second
element in contrast to the normal noun phrase stress pattern:
Ex: ‘black ,bird (compound nouns) a ,black ‘bird (noun phrase)
h. Stress in phrases
When we come to stress in phrases and other syntactic units, we provide different underlying
relations between juxtaposed items.
Ex: An ‘English ,teacher (someone who teaches English)
An ,English ‘teacher (a teacher who is English)
The Canarian speakers should keep in mind the different importance given to the secondary
accent in Spanish as compared with English. The pronunciation of isolated words rarely occurs
in Spanish, it only happens in Adverbs ending in "-mente", and in a few compound adverbs.
The secondary stress occurs in the Canarian dialect as well, but it is not prominent:
Although English compounds generally turn into a secondary stress the one which was the
primary in the root, and this secondary stress still keeps a considerable strength; Spanish
moves the stress to the suffixes:
A secondary stress does not appear except in the cases where the general rules of Spanish
regulate it.
c. Stress position and Effect
In two-syllable words both languages have a preference for stressing the syllable before the last;
English tends to stress the antepenultimate syllable in three or more syllables words whereas
Spanish keeps the penult position for stress.
English vowels are deeply affected by their stress, whether primary or secondary. Stressed vowels
have a precise and clear pronunciation, whereas unstressed vowels have a tendency to become
indistinct.
Finally , in Spanish the stress is represented in the spelling, what makes it easier to be remembered
and pronounced , whereas in English it’s not represented.
1. RHYTHM
Rhythm may be defined as the regular succession of strong and weak stresses in utterances.
The notion of rhythm involves some noticeable event happening at regular intervals of time.
The theory that English has stress- timed rhythm implies that stressed syllables will tend to
occur at relatively regular intervals whether they are separated by unstressed syllables or
not.
Some writers have developed theories of English rhythm in which a unit of rhythm, the foot is
used. Some theories of rhythm go further, and point to the fact that some feet are stronger
than others, producing strong-weak patterns.
The weak form, in which the vowel is pronounced with the schwa vowel, is more
common than the other.
Obviously the use of one or another form may affect the meaning of the utterance.
Ex: ‘Jane and her ‘mother ‘’are ‘stupid = it is not true that they are not stupid
‘Jane ‘’and her ‘mother are ‘stupid = not just one, but both are stupid
Weak forms are a manifestation of stress and rhythm in English, and must not be
avoided in teaching, or the learner will sound unnatural in connected speech.
2. Regularity of Rhythm
The natural rhythm of English provides roughly equal intervals of time between the stressed items.
The prevailing tendency in unstressed syllables and words is to reduce the vowels to the obscure / /,
thus we have / / in a great many syllables:
Ex: a kilo of potato / ‘ki:l v p ‘ te t z/
Regularity of rhythm is used for specific pourposes:
a. Counting:
b. Inventory or lists
c. Emphasis:
Ex: you should ‘always ‘look be’fore you ‘cross the ‘’road
It is essential in English to have a sentence rhythm, which does not exist in Spanish.
In an English sentence certain words which are too close to the initial rhythmic beat lose their lexical
stress in spite of having lexical stress. This does not happen in Spanish.
Ex: Mary’s younger brother wanted fifty chocolate peanuts
In this example we can see the difference with the Spanish stress, in Spanish all the words will be
stressed; however, in English only the syllables in bold type are really stressed, thus favouring
rhythm.
The behaviour of prepositions and conjunctions differs in both languages: they are usually stressed
in English; in Spanish only the preposition "según" is stressed.
Stress also varies in English depending on whether it is used on strong or weak forms of the same
words. There is nothing in Spanish, which resembles the English strong and weak forms so this will
prove difficult for Spanish students.
1. INTONATION
Intonation is the tune within the sentence that may alter the meaning. Here the pitch of the
voice plays the most important part. We describe pitch in terms of high and low. There is
another necessary condition and that is that a pitch difference must be perceptible.
Intonation is generally found in sequences of stressed and unstressed syllables, though it can
be a single word. We call it the tone unit, within which there is the nucleus (capital
letters). The first stressed syllable in a tone unit is a onset (‘), the end will be (‘’)
The rise and fall of pitch throughout is called its intonation contour. English has a number
of intonation patterns which add conventionalized meanings to the utterance: question,
statement, surprise, disbelief, sarcasm, teasing. An important feature of English intonation is
the use of an intonational accent (and extra stress) to mark the focus of a sentence. Normally
this focus accent goes on the last major word of the sentence, but it can come earlier in order
to
""
onset nucleus
Tone unit
1. Falling Tone
This is the commonest tone in English affirmative sentences, wh-word question, one
word answers to questions, and on words, names, numbers and letters said in
isolation.
‘LÓNDON’’
‘TWÓ’’
‘´R’’
2. Rising Tone
A question will use a rising tone while the question tag uses the falling tone.
The fall and rise are by far and away the most common of the nuclear tones.
3. Fall-rise Intonation
It often occurs in the nucleus of a doubtful condition, but it is particularly common
with the initial adverb:
4. Rise-fall Intonation
It expresses as it does both genuine and assumed warmth, as well as feelings of shock
or surprise.
5. Level Tone
6. Fall-rise Intonation
2. TEACHING IMPLICATIONS
All languages have their own intonation patterns. Why is intonation important? Intonation conveys
both meaning and attitude, so when a non-native speaker gets the intonation wrong, s/he can be
misunderstood or sometimes misinterpreted as sounding rude or demanding when this is not
intended. If a non-native speaker is almost fluent in the English language, intonation is often the
only way in which one can tell that s/he is foreign. Moreover, if a foreign speaker is advanced in
terms of grammar, vocabulary, etc., native speakers will make fewer allowances for intonation
problems than they would with speakers who are obviously at a more elementary level. For example,
if an advanced level speaker unintentionally sounds rude or demanding, the listeners will assume
that s/he means it.
What can be done to improve intonation? First of all students should be aware of the differences
between their intonation and the English one:
Spanish intonation is much more measured, so we have to teach the students how to intonate
the different English elements.
Intonation in Spoken Spanish does not rise and fall as much as English. Students should try
and keep the voice as levelled as possible.
Listen to as much spoken English as possible (on cassette if you are unable to listen to native
speakers) and be aware of where the voice rises and falls. When you listen, try to consider
the attitude and feelings being conveyed. One word, for example, can be said in several
different ways, depending on the meaning you wish to convey.
Stories motivate children to listen and learn, and help them to become aware of the sound
and feel of English. A selection of ready-to-tell stories is included although the activities can
be used with any story.
Creating Drama with poetry is an exciting language learning experience. The use of poetry as
drama in the English as a second language (ESL) classroom enables the students to explore
the linguistic and conceptual aspects of the written text without concentrating on the
mechanics of language. Through this technique, apart from several other aspects the teacher
can model student’s pronunciation, intonation, stress, rhythm, and oral expression;
We as teachers have to take into account all the differences existing between L1 and L2 patterns of
stress, rhythm and intonation, and try our students to differentiate them. So English people can
understand their speaking.
TEMA 9: DESCRIPCIÓN DEL SISTEMA FONOLÓGICO DE LA LENGUA INGLESA. MODELOS Y
TÉCNICAS DE APRENDIZAJE. PERCEPCIÓN, DISCRIMINACIÓN Y EMISIÓN DE SONIDOS,
ENTONACIONES, RITMOS Y ACENTOS. LA CORRECCIÓN FONÉTICA.
3.1.- Introducción.
3.3.- Consonantes.
3.4.- Semivocales.
Para alguien que estudie una lengua fuera del país de origen, se hace absolutamente necesario el
establecimiento de unos códigos que permitan la explicación de los sonidos de dicha lengua. El hablante
no nativo sólo tiene como recurso la IMITACION de dichos sonidos. Esta "imitación", llevará a un mejor
o peor grado de "exactitud" dependiendo de muchos factores. Entre ellos, a mi modo de ver, el principal es
la comprensión exacta de todos los sonidos de la lengua que se estudia.
Y para una buena comprensión de los sonidos, es necesaria una BUENA DESCRIPCION de los
mismos: el oído tiene tendencia a "asimilar" fonemas -que a veces distan bastante de los de la lengua
materna--. Esto significa que escuchamos lo que estamos acostumbrados a escuchar. De forma muy
simplista, un español sólo es capaz de distinguir una "a", y todo lo que se parezca a ella lo "escuchará"
como una "a".
1.2.- ¿Qué inglés? ¿Acentos?
Lo primero que uno descubre cuando quiere comenzar a hablar inglés, es la gran diferencia de
"formas" del idioma que existen(tanto habladas como escritas). La riqueza de acentos del inglés es
realmente sorprendente, por lo que, teniendo en cuenta que hemos de IMITAR a un angloparlante, ¿a
quién elegimos como modelo?
Esta es realmente una difícil pregunta, a la que solo puedo responder: elija el modelo que más le
guste, que más se adapte a sus necesidades y a sus posibilidades. Pero, sobre todo, el que le sea más
accesible y le permita un mayor número de horas de audición. Por ejemplo, si usted puede sintonizar con
la BBC, utilícela como modelo. ¡Sería absurdo pretender imitar un acento escocés sin haberlo oído
nunca !
Me parece fundamental explicar, aunque sea brevemente, los mecanismos de producción de la voz
humana y los elementos que en ella intervienen. Sólo mediante un conocimiento de los mismos podremos,
de una forma consciente, poder influir en la producción de los sonidos que emitimos y así conseguir una
aproximación máxima a la pronunciación del inglés.
Durante el proceso de la respiración el aire pasa a través de la traquea desde los pulmones. Llegado
a un punto -la nuez--, se encuentra con un obstáculo primordial: las cuerdas vocales, situadas en la región
conocida como laringe.
Las cuerdas vocales son dos bandas elásticas situadas una enfrente de otra. No hay que pensar en
ellas como "tiras", sino más bien como, repito, "bandas". Sus bordes están un poco engrosados y se
conocen como ligamentos vocales. El conjunto de cuerda y ligamento tiene la capacidad de aproximarse y
alejarse de su opuesto, produciendo una obturación total del "tubo" traqueal -impidiendo el paso del aire
completamente--; o pueden separarse -posición de descanso-dejando un hueco entre ellas que permite el
paso del aire. A ese hueco le denominamos GLOTIS, o abertura glotal.
La voz se genera durante el proceso de expulsión del aire, y se puede resumir en dos grandes
apartados: (1) La fonación; y (2) la articulación.
1.4.2.- Fonación.
La gran velocidad a la que discurre el aire por la laringe provoca la vibración de las cuerdas, a una
velocidad realmente sorprendente: 800 pulsos por segundo y más. Esa vibración tan rápida y regular,
provoca una nota musical, que es, en esencia, la producción de la voz.
El tono de la nota, puede ser modificado, lo que produce una variedad de "sonidos" que provocorán la
esencia del lenguaje hablado. Ese tono se modifica por dos mecanismos:
El estiramiento o relajación de las cuerdas, que produce una mayor o menor frecuencia de la
vibración(tonos altos o bajos)
La modificación del volumen de sus bordes: el adelgazamiento para altas frecuencias; el
engrosamiento para bajas frecuencias.
1.4.3.- Articulación.
El sonido primario formado en la laringe, será luego modificado en el transcurso del trayecto que le
queda al aire por recorrer. La participación, unas veces activa y otras pasiva, de diferentes órganos,
modificará ese sonido hasta convertirlo en un "fonema", es decir, la expresión lingüística más reducida.
Los órganos que participan en la articulación se denominan también órganos auxiliares y son los
siguientes:
La lengua: su posición y su forma son pilares fundamentales en la articulación del lenguaje. Para
demostrarlo simplemente recordar la forma en la que habla un borracho: su incapacidad
articulatoria deriva, fundamentalmente, de la pérdida del control sobre los movimientos de la
lengua. Sin duda es el órgano auxiliar más importante para el habla.
Podemos distinguir en la lengua tres partes fundamentales:
El ápice o punta de la lengua, que será utilizado con extrema precisión para articular
ciertos sonidos.
Su parte media, en la que distinguiremos dos partes también:
la parte que descansa bajo los alvéolos superiores, a la que denominaremos
pala. Disfruta de una movilidad extrema y pude acceder, junto con el ápice, hasta
los labios, dientes, alvéolos, etc.
La parte que le sigue, a la que denominaremos cuerpo, y que descansa bajo
el paladar duro. La posibilidad de modificar su forma, desde un aplanamiento a una
concavidad notable, modificarán en mucho la calidad del sonido emitido. También
puede contactar con el paladar produciendo una obturación a la corriente aérea.
La raíz: puede también aplanarse o elevarse para contactar con el paladar blando.
En todos los modelos y técnicas de aprendizaje el profesor debe tener e siguiente papel:
- Debe ayudar a los alumnos a percibir sonidos. Los alumnos tendrán una fuerte tendencia a imitar
los sonidos del español. El profesor debe comprobar que sus alumnos están escuchando sonidos
de acuerdo con las categorías apropiadas y ayudarles a crear nuevas categorías si es necesario.
- Debe ayudar a los alumnos a producir sonidos que no ocurren en su lengua en este caso el
español. Si la imitación no es suficiente, el profesor debe capaz de dar trucos y técnicas que le
ayuden a producir el nuevo sonido.
- Debe ser capaz de reconocer posibles problemas con los que los alumnos puedan encontrarse.
El objetivo a alcanzar debe ser razonable en función de las necesidades del alumno. Un objetivo
razonable para la enseñanza primaria es el de ¡legar a una máxima comprensibilidad, es decir, ser capaces
de identificar con precisión el mayor número de palabras.
Para enfrentar a los alumnos con sonidos “extraños” hay que evitar que se perciban como variantes
de los sonidos que ya conocen. Para ello deben practicar con ejercicios de discriminación auditiva. Una
vez que son capaces de “escuchar” las diferencias, podrán trabajar hacia una mejor pronunciación.
Existen varios tipos de ejercicios de discriminación:
En un contexto familiar:
Where is it? Come in.
En palabras aisladas: live, sit, if finish.
En un contexto más amplio: Come in, Mrs Mitchell.
Inglés/español:
it, it (igual)
fin, fin (diferente)
vida, vida (igual)
Inglés/inglés:
Mediante estas técnicas, el alumno produce los sonidos que ya es capaz discriminar correctamente.
Hay varios tipos:
- Ejercicios de producción imitativa, en los que el alumno repite un modelo corregir o confirmar su
pronunciación.
3.1.- Introducción.
La lengua inglesa tiene 46 fonemas o sonidos distintos, mientras que su alfabeto consta tan sólo de
26 letras. De ello resulta que algunas letras responden a más de un sonido. Por otra parte, algunos sonidos
pueden escribirse con diferentes letras.
La letra u, por ejemplo, en bus y put representa a dos fonemas diferentes y se pronuncia de distinta
manera, en tanto que, aun cuando su ortografía no sea la misma, sí es el mismo fonema o sonido el que se
da en las palabras: she, east, receive, field, key, police.
Los sonidos de una lengua se agrupan en «familias» constituidas por cada uno de estos sonidos y
sus variantes según ocurren en las distintas secuencias; y cada una de estas «familias de sonidos»
constituye un fonema cuya pronunciación puede variar ligeramente mientras no rebase los límites de la
frecuencia fundamental y las armónicas correspondientes a dicho fonema.
Cada fonema tiene, pues, como hemos dicho, una o más letras que lo representan ortográficamente y, a la
vez, corresponde a un sonido fonológico que, en ocasiones, no tiene una letra especial que lo represente.
Por ello, y para facilitar la adquisición de todos los sonidos de una lengua, se recurre a la representación
de los mismos por medio de unos símbolos especiales recogidos en el llamado alfabeto fonético, en el cual
cada fonema tiene una representación gráfica especial que contribuye a identificarlo. El alfabeto fonético
es, pues, de indudable utilidad en el aprendizaje de una lengua.
A continuación se especifican los símbolos del Alfabeto Fonético Internacional que corresponden a
cada fonema y su representación ortográfica.
- /i:/. La i de tree es siempre una vocal larga, anterior, casi cerrada, que se articula con los labios
distendidos y una apertura estrecha entre las mandíbulas. Los bordes laterales de la lengua se apoyan
firmemente en los molares superiores Es siempre un sonido largo; más largo y más cerrado que la
española de “sí”.
Ortografía:
e even
e (final) he
ee tree
ea speak
ie field
ei receive
i police
ey key
- /i/. La i de it es siempre una vocal breve casi semicerrada. Es más breve y más cerrada que la anterior
y el contacto entre los bordes de la lengua y los molares superiores es también menor. Se articula con las
mandíbulas y los labios en posición casi relajada. Es un sonido más breve y más relajado que la i española
de cinco, silbo.
Ortografía:
i big
y only
e England
ie ladies
a (te) climate
a (ge) village
ay Sunday
ey money
Obsérvese el fonema [i] en mountain, biscuit, build, business, busy.
be- become
re- return
de- demand
-less careless
-ness goodness
-es glasses
-ed wanted
- /e/. La e de pen es un fonema breve que se articula con los labios en posición natural y una apertura
mediana entre las mandíbulas. Se parece a la e española de clavel, pero es algo más abierta.
Ortografía:
e pen
ea head
a any
ai said
- /ae/. La a de man es un sonido breve, entre semiabierto y semicerrado. Se articula con los labios
distendidos y una apertura mediana entre las mandíbulas, ligeramente más abierta que para [e]. Se articula
con cierta tensión de la lengua y la faringe; su timbre se aproxima a la a palatal de calle. No obstante, la
calidad de este sonido sólo se adquiere por imitación directa. Corresponde a la a ortográfica y sólo la
combinación a¡ tiene idéntica pronunciación.
a cat
ai plait
- /a:/. La a de car es un fonema posterior. Es siempre larga y totalmente abierta y se articula con los
labios en posición natural y la apertura entre las mandíbulas bastante amplia. No hay contacto entre los
bordes laterales de la lengua y los molares superiores. Se parece a la a velar española de causa, pero es
aún más larga y más velar. La -r que en sílaba trabada sigue a a no se pronuncia en posición final excepto
cuando le sigue una palabra con vocal inicial.
Ortografía:
- /o/. La o de not es siempre breve. Es un fonema totalmente posterior y abierto que se articula con los
labios ligerísimamente abocinados y sin contacto alguno entre los bordes laterales de la lengua y los
molares superiores. Es mucho más abierta que la o española y parece un sonido intermedio entre y a velar
españolas.
Ortografía:
- /o:/. La o de short es una vocal bastante larga que se articula con los labios medianamente
abocinados y sin contacto entre los bordes laterales de la lengua y los molares superiores. Es más cerrada
que la o breve inglesa, y la posición de los labios es menos abocinada que para articular la o española d
Roma. Su timbre se aproxima, aunque es más abierto y más largo, a la o española de orden. En los últimos
tiempos, la calidad de [o:] se ha ido desplazando hasta aproximarse a la o cardinal, por lo que, hoy en día,
es un sonido más cerrado que el que aún se oye en hablantes más conservadores.
Ortografía:
or short
ou bought
au daughter
aw saw
ore before
oor door
oar roar
our four
a+l all, talk
(w)a walk, wall
o+f, th, s often, cloth, loss
Las palabras cuya ortografía pertenece al último grupo pueden pronunciarse también con el fonema
[o], pronunciación adoptada por mayoría de la generación más joven. Siguen también la misma tendencia
la palabras cuya ortografía es au o a(l). Así se oyen, pronunciadas indistinta mente con [o] o con [o:],
palabras como Australia, Austria, salt, etc.
Este fonema [o:] ha desplazado casi totalmente el diptongo final que, hace unos años, se empleaba
exclusivamente para la ortografía o+r.
- /u/. La u de full es siempre una vocal breve que se articula exactamente por encima de la posición
semicerrada y próxima a la región central. Se pronuncia con los labios bastante abocinados, la lengua
relajada, y sin tensión. No hay contacto entre los bordes laterales de la lengua y los molares superiores
Como la vocal [i], tiene una posición centralizada respecto a su correspondiente fonema largo. En timbre,
es más abierta que la u abierta española de lujo.
Ortografía:
u pull, put
o woman
oo good,look
ou would, could
- /u:/. La u de moon es una vocal posterior larga y cerrada que se articula un poco por debajo de la
posición cerrada y ligeramente centralizada. Se articula con los labios abocinados, pero sin tensar, y las
mandíbulas más cerradas que en el correspondiente fonema breve [u].
Ortografia:
u June, Susan
ue blue
o do
oo soon, too
ou soup, you
ew new, few
- /^/. La u de but, tal como la pronuncia la generación joven es un fonema breve y casi abierto. Se
articula hacia el centro, en posición ligeramente anterior, con los labios abiertos y las mandíbulas bastante
abiertas, sin que la lengua llegue a tocar los molares superiores. Este sonido no existe en español y ha de
adquirirse directamente por imitación. Hay otra variante de [^] que usan las personas mayores, que es más
posterior y se aproxima a la a velar española de la exclamación ¡Madre!
Ortografía:
u cup, much
o come, mother
ou young, couple
- /3:/. La vocal de girl es un fonema siempre largo que se articula con los labios distendidos y sin
contacto entre los bordes laterales de la lengua y los molares superiores. Se forma en un punto central
entre las vocales posteriores y las anteriores, y en una región que se extiende desde un punto ligeramente
superior al de las vocales semiabiertas hasta un punto situado un poco por encima de las semicerradas. En
español no hay un sonido semejante a éste que podríamos describir como intermedio entre e y o, pero con
los labios distendidos. Se parece a la vocal compuesta francesa eu en feu, jeux, peu.
Ortográficamente, este fonema corresponde, en la mayoría de casos, a un vocal seguida de -r, pero
dicha -r no se pronuncia, excepto cuando está en posición final absoluta o final de sílaba y le sigue una
vocal.
Ortografía:
ir, yr
bird, myrtle
er, err
her, err
ear heard
- // Esta vocal, como la anterior, se articula en la región central y es siempre débil. Se articula con
los labios en posición natural y su timbre varía según su posición en la palabra. Así, de articularse en una
región por debajo de la semiabierta, cuando está en posición final como en sister, pasa a ser entre
semiabierta y semicerrada, en otras posiciones, y puede llegar has semicerrada junto a -k, -g y -ng. Dado
que [z] sustituye con mucha frecuencia a otras vocales en las sílabas no acentuadas, es el fonema más
ampliamente usado del habla inglesa.
Ortografía:
a along
e sentence
o London
oar cupboard
u chorus
ou colour, famous
a (final) Canada
ar collar
er father
- /ei/. El diptongo de lady es un fonema que se articula partiendo de una [e] situada en un punto
más próximo a la región semiabierta que a la semicerrada, y que se desliza hacia [i] con los labios
distendidos.
Ortografía:
a table
ai Spain
ay day
ey they
ea break
- /ou/. La o no tiene dos variantes principales, una conservadora y otra más moderna usada por las
generaciones más jóvenes. La primera realización, [ u] parte de una [ ] realizada en un punto en la región
entre semiabierta y semicerrada y algo centralizada, y se desliza hacia [u], a la vez que el abocinamiento
de los labios se acentúa. La segunda variante [au], parte de una posición central, por debajo de la
semicerrada de [] y se desliza hacia [u] con los labios en posición natural, que se abocinan ligeramente
hacia la última parte del sonido.
Ortografía:
o old
ou shoulder
ow know
oa road
- /ai/. El diptongo [ai] de child se articula partiendo de una [a] abierta situada más cerca de la posición
anterior que de la posición posterior, y se desliza hacia [i] sin alcanzarla. Los labios pasan de una posición
natural, al iniciarse el sonido, a una posición relajada al terminarlo.
Ortografía:
i wife
y why
ie cries
ei height
- /au/. El diptongo [au] de house se articula partiendo de un punto por delante de la región posterior y
ligeramente por encima de la abierta y se desliza, si alcanzarla, hacia [u]. Los labios pasan de una posición
natural a un ligero abocinamiento.
Ortografía:
ou blouse
ow brown
- /oi/. El diptongo [oi] de boy se articula partiendo de una o, más próxima a semiabierta que a abierta
y se desliza sin alcanzarla hacia [i]. La posición de los labios pasa desde ligeramente abocinados, al iniciar
el sonido, a naturales hacia el final del mismo.
Ortografía:
oi noise
oy boy
Además de los cinco diptongos arriba mencionados, hay en inglés cuatro diptongos cuyo segundo
elemento es aproximadamente un mismo punto central que corresponde a [] como se pronuncia al final
de father.
- /i/. El diptongo de here se articula partiendo aproximadamente de [i] y deslizándose hacia []. La
posición de los labios es natural, ligeramente distendidos a comienzo de la articulación.
Ortografía:
ere here
eer beer
ear dear
ier fierce
-/e/. El diptongo de chair se inicia partiendo de la posición semiabierta de [] y deslizándose hacia
el fonema [], como se pronuncia en father, con los labios en posición natural.
Ortografía:
air chair
ear pear
are care
Obsérvense las palabras their, heir, que se pronuncian con este diptongo.
- /u/. El diptongo de tour empieza partiendo de la posición de [u] y se desliza hacia [ ] como los
anteriores, con los labios ligeramente abocinados al iniciar el sonido y realmente distendidos hacia el
final.
Ortografía:
ure sure
our tour
oor poor
ewer fewer
3.3.- Consonantes.
- /p/. La p de pen se articula con mayor fuerza que la española. Los labios, fuertemente comprimidos
uno contra otro, se separan con violencia y dejan es capar el aire acumulado detrás. En posición inicial es
aspirada cuando ocurre en sílaba acentuada; es decir, que al separar los labios se deja escapar un ligera
espiración de aire parecida a una brevísima h que se articula entre la p y el sonido que le sigue, como en
Peter.
- /b/. La b de bed es muy semejante a la [b] oclusiva española después de pausa, se articula con los
labios fuertemente comprimidos. Como ocurre con [p], la [b] inglesa se realiza con mayor fuerza que la
española, y la explosión de aire que ocurre al separar los labios es más violenta. En posición final
precedida de m, la b es muda. También es muda en algunas palabras, precediendo a t: doubt [daut].
- /t/. La t de ten se articula apoyando la punta de la lengua en los alvéolos superiores, pero
evitando que toque los dientes. En posición inicial es aspirada cuando se da en sílaba acentuada.
- /d/. La d de do se articula con la punta de la lengua apoyada contra los alvéolos superiores
pero sin tocar en absoluto los dientes. Hay que evitar articular una d semejante a la española, en la
que la lengua avanza hasta los dientes pues con ello entraríamos en el área de otro fonema y podría
dar lugar a confusión. La d fricativa española de venído no se da en inglés.
-/f/. La f de five se articula como la española. La realización ortográfica de [f] puede ser también ph,
como en telephone.
- /v/. La v de give se articula apoyando ligeramente los dientes superiores en el labio inferior y
espirando el aire libremente. Es semejante a [f], pero sonora La calidad de esta [v] es muy distinta
de la española que se realiza fonéticamente como b. Hay que cuidar especialmente la articulación
de dicho fonema para evitar posibles confusiones de significado.
- //. La th de think es una articulación fricativa que se realiza apoyando la punta de la lengua
contra el borde y la parte posterior de los dientes, dejando escapar el aire entre éstos y la punta de la
lengua. El contacto es menos firme con los incisivos que con los demás dientes laterales. El sonido de
th inglesa es muy parecido al de c española seguida de e, i, aunque ésta es algo más interdental y más
enérgica que la th inglesa.
- //. La th de the es un sonido fricativo que se articula como el anterior, pero e menos
interdental. Este sonido no se da normalmente en español, pero se aproxima a la d fricativa
española de cada, aunque es menos relajada y más interdental.
- /z/. La realización sonora del fonema [s], es decir [z], no tiene equivalencia exacta en español
y debe adquirirse por imitación directa. Se aproxima a la s española de rasgo, a la francesa de
maison y a la catalana de rosa. Los estudiantes que no posean este sonido en su lengua materna se
deben esforzar para que su realización sea lo suficientemente sonora para que no se confunda con
la s sorda, lo que podría dar lugar a confusión. Se realizan como fricativa sonora [z]: el morfema
de plural de los nombres cuyo singular termine en consonante sonora o en vocal; el morfema de
tercera persona del singular del Presente de Indicativo cuando sigue a una consonante sonora o
vocal; y el morfema del plural o de la tercera pers. sing. del presente de indicativo -es. También se
realiza como [z] la z inicial y la final cuando va seguida de e muda.
pens [penz]
cars [ca:z]
days [deiz]
ladies [leidiz]
zoo [zu: ]
size [saiz]
Obsérvese que, cuando el morfema de plural -es se añade a una palabra que termina en -y precedida de
consonante, dicha -y se cambia por -i antes de añadir la terminación. El morfema -es se realiza siempre
como [iz].
- /S/ La sh de she se articula elevando la punta y el predorso de la lengua hacia los alvéolos
superiores, estableciendo un ligero contacto entre ambos y espirando el aire por este conducto. No tiene
equivalencia en español, pero timbre se aproxima algo a la fricación de la última parte de la ch española
de techo. Para realizar una [S] correcta hay que colocar la lengua más hacia atrás que para articular [s] y,
además, abocinar un poco los labios. Corresponde a sh ortográfica.
- //. El fonema [] de treasure se articula como el anterior, pero es sonoro. No tiene
equivalencia en español, aunque se aproxima un poco a la ll pronunciada en Andalucía, Canarias e
Hispanoamérica.
- /tS/ El fonema [tS] de chocolate se articula elevando la punta y el dorso de la lengua hacia los
alvéolos superiores. Es muy semejante a la ch española pero la fricación es menos aguda y más larga que
en la consonante española. Corresponde a ch ortográfica.
- /d/. El fonema [d] de jacket es muy semejante al anterior pero es sonoro. Corresponde a j y g
ortográficas.
- /h/. El fonema [h] de have se articula espirando libremente el aire de los pulmones de forma que
cause una fricación sorda muy débil que puede ocurrir e cualquier punto de la boca, ya dispuesta para
realizar la vocal que le siga. Este sonido debe practicarse con suma atención porque no es una j española
Aunque se parezca, su sonido es mucho más suave. La mayor parte de lo españoles pronuncian este
fonema demasiado parecido a la j española. Corresponde a h ortográfica. En inglés, la h se pronuncia
siempre, exceptuando un número muy reducido de palabras
- /m/. La m de man es semejante a la española pero algo más fuerte. Se articula comprimiendo los
labios y separándolos con cierta violencia para dejar es capar el aire acumulado detrás, que a la vez, sale
también por la nariz. Su ortografía normal es m, mm o mb.
- //. El fonema [] tal y como se pronuncia al final de king, se articula elevando el predorso de
la lengua contra el velo del paladar y espirando el aire por la nariz. Ortográficamente, corresponde a ng y
n seguida de k. Puede darse en posición final, como en king y en wrong y en medio de palabra cuando la
terminación de ésta es un morfema separable, como en kingly, singer. Pero si se da en posición intermedia
y la terminación no es separable, ha de pronunciar se como [n] más [g] o [k] y no como [ ]. Este
fonema, por sí solo, no se da en español (salvo en posición final -con- en algunas regiones como Galicia
Andalucía y Canarias). No obstante, ocurre cuando n precede a g y a k. Po lo tanto, el sonido final de king
o think se aproxima al español de tengo o de cinco.
- /r/. El fonema [r] de red se articula elevando la punta de la lengua hacia la región postalveolar,
para dejarla caer inmediatamente, sin tocarla y casi sin fricción y pasar a articular la vocal siguiente. El
fonema [r] se pronuncia de esta forma cuando le sigue una vocal aunque ésta sea inicial en otra palabra
que siga inmediatamente [r]. En posición intermedia la r se pronuncia como fuera inicial cuando precede
inmediatamente a una vocal en la sílaba siguiente. En posición final, no seguida de palabra con vocal
inicial [r] no pronuncia, ni tampoco delante de consonante.
- /l/. En inglés el fonema [l] tiene dos variantes principales. La primera corresponde de a una l
clara, parecida a la española, que se articula apoyando la punta de la lengua en los alvéolos superiores y
dejando escapar el aire por los lados de la misma. Esta variedad se emplea delante de vocal, exceptuando
e muda. La segunda variante es una l velar «oscura» parecida a la l catalana, que se realiza delante de e
muda, delante de consonante y en posición final Se articula con la punta de la lengua en posición
semejante a la primera variante de l pero con el predorso de la lengua bajo y el postdorso retraído.
Corresponde a l y ll ortográficas: feel, all.
3.4.- Semivocales.
En inglés hay dos sonidos que no encajan en ninguno de los grupos descritos. Son fonemas que
lingüísticamente funcionan como consonantes pero que mejor diríamos que fonéticamente se realizan
como vocales por la forma de su articulación. Son [j] y [w].
- /j/. Se articula como una i muy breve con los labios distendidos o naturales y ella se pasa
rápidamente al sonido que siga. Con frecuencia este sonido realiza fonéticamente en ew, ue, ui, u. Su
realización fonética responde principalmente a la semivocal y a la vocal i. Las palabras en las que ocurre
deben practicarse especialmente para que su realización sea lo suficientemente rápida. yes [jes], new
[nju:].
- /w/. Se articula como una u, realizada con los labios muy redondeados, de la cual se pasa
rápidamente al sonido que le sigue. Cuando el sonido que sigue a [w] sea una vocal que se realice con los
labios abocinados, como por ejemplo [o] o [u], la posición de los labios será tanto más redondeada para
resaltar la diferencia. Hay que cuidar especialmente la realización de este sonido como queda dicho, sin
confundirlo con la g fricativa española, con el que no tiene ninguna conexión. Esta asimilación es
frecuente entre personas de habla española: incluso llega a escribirse en palabras adoptadas del inglés,
como ocurre con la voz sandwich, realizada fonética y ortográficamente, en español, con g.
TABLA DE PRONUNCIACIÓN
3.5.- Entonación acento y ritmo.
La curva melódica de la voz al hablar constituye la entonación de una lengua. Dentro de cada una
de éstas, hay distintas variantes de ritmo y de entonación por medio de las cuales se expone, no sólo la
expresión fonológica de dicha lengua como distinta de las demás, sino matices intelectuales y emocionales
debidos a circunstancias transitorias que alteran el ritmo usual de la oración que podríamos llamar básica.
Aquí nos limitaremos a dar las curvas melódicas fundamentales del inglés, que todo estudiante de
dicha lengua debe conocer si quiere comunicarse con hablante nativos sin correr el riesgo de que sus
palabras puedan ser incorrectamente comprendidas por su interlocutor.
El ritmo del inglés es muy uniforme. Las palabras que tienen acento tónico (nombre, verbo,
adjetivo y adverbio) se suceden a intervalos regulares en la cadena del habla, y cuantas sílabas no
acentuadas se dan entre dos de estos acentos tónicos han de pronunciarse en un período de tiempo igual,
tanto si es una sola como si son varias. De aquí que algunas sílabas no acentuadas hayan de pronunciarse
con gran rapidez, en tanto que otras sean más largas. Esto da a la lengua un ritmo muy peculiar y ha
contribuido no poco a la neutralización de muchos sonidos, que son por ello difíciles de recoger por un
oído poco acostumbrado.
Hay en inglés tres curvas melódicas fundamentales. La primera de ellas se conoce como curva
descendente o entonación melódica final descendente. En ella la voz empieza en una nota bastante alta y
desciende hasta una nota muy baja Este descenso de la voz se hace de manera gradual, partiendo de la
primera sílaba acentuada de la oración y descendiendo un tono en cada sílaba acentuada en la que
desciende hasta una nota realmente grave. Cuantas sílabas no acentuadas se den entre los acentos tónicos
que haya en la frase deben pronunciarse e el mismo tono que el acento tónico precedente. Las últimas
sílabas después del último acento son totalmente débiles y se pronuncian en un tono muy grave, sin que la
voz se eleve nunca por encima del tono del último acento:
Dentro de esta misma curva existe la posibilidad de que haya una palabra que se quiera destacar
especialmente en la oración o, sencillamente, aligerar la monotonía de la inflexión. En este caso, al llegar
a dicha palabra, la voz se eleva ligerísimamente y desciende después hasta el final como en la primera
variante.
La segunda curva melódica es la curva melódica ascendente. En ella, la voz desciende, como en la
anterior, hasta la última sílaba acentuada en la que alcanza nivel más grave de la inflexión, y el tono
vuelve a elevarse un poco, aunque sin alcanzar gran altura. Si, después de la última sílaba acentuada,
hubiese sílabas débiles, la inflexión ascendente se realizará en éstas.
Como en la variante anterior, puede recalcarse cualquier palabra de la oración que se desee. En
este caso, la voz descenderá hasta alcanzar su tono más grave en sílaba acentuada de esta palabra y seguirá
en el mismo tono hasta la última sílaba acentuada, en la que efectuará la inflexión ascendente.
- El factor edad. Los estudios demuestran conclusiones divergentes, debido interacción de la edad
con otros factores como la habilidad, la motivación, interés, etc.
- Cantidad de exposición a la lengua. No sólo es importante este factor, también la manera en que
el alumno reacciona a las oportunidades para y usar el inglés.
- Habilidad fonética. Algunos alumnos ven mejor las diferencias entre sonidos otros. De todos
modos, la práctica puede mejorar sus habilidades.
- Actitud e identidad. Imitar correctamente el habla de una persona puede ser forma de demostrar
respeto e interés hacía esa persona y hacia el grupo que representa. Las personas con actitudes
positivas hacia la lengua de desarrollar acentos más perfectos.
- Motivación y preocupación por una buena pronunciación. La mentalidad “No quiero decirlo si no
puedo hacerlo perfectamente”.
Para corregir errores de pronunciación, sobre todo aquellos que afectan ¡comunicación, es necesario
que el alumno practique con ejercicios de discrímii hasta la total identificación de los sonidos. Aquellos
alumnos que no son distinguir ciertos sonidos tampoco serán capaces de producirlo. Es necesario,
concentrarse en posibles focos de errores:
- Aquellos sonidos en inglés que no tienen equivalente en español, como /s , z/ o /f ,
v/.
Aquellos sonidos en inglés que son similares a algunos en español pero que tienen distinta
distribución, como / / en this, que es un fonema en inglés, pero un alófono en español: dado
(/da o/).
TEMARIO A: TEMA 9
CONTENTS
6. INTRODUCTION
1. Phonetics and Phonology
2. Phonemes and Speech Sounds
3. Stress/Rhythm and Intonation
7. STRESS
1. Degrees of Stress
2. Position of Stress
3. Stress in the Canarian Dialect/ Spanish language
8. RHYTHM
1. Weak and Strong Forms
2. Regularity of Rhythm
3. Rhythm in the Canarian Dialect/ Spanish language
9. INTONATION
1. Falling Tone
2. Rising Tone
3. Fall-rise Tone
4. Rise-fall Tone
5. Level Tone
6. Fall+rise Tone
10.TEACHING IMPLICATIONS
2. INTRODUCTION
The most noticeable feature of a foreign language is often intonation and rhythm. Some
languages are described as sounding "like music", other languages as being "flat and
without melody". If the pronunciation of individual sounds can be compared with the
individual notes in a piece of music, the intonation can be compared with the melody or
tune.
When studying the pronunciation system of a language we differentiate two categories:
PHONEME: is the smallest unit of speech that can change the meaning of
a word.
The Phoneme is also defined as "only in terms of its differences from the
other phonemes in the same language".
When dealing with the concepts of Stress, Rhythm and Intonation, we should
start by referring to the concept of prominence
e. Loudness
f. Length
g. Pitch: is closely related to the frequency of vibration of the vocal cords.
h. A syllable will tend to be prominent if it contains a vowel that is different in
quality from neighbouring vowels.
Stress concerns the relative prominence with which one part of a word or a
longer utterance is distinguished from other parts.
Intonation is the association of the relative prominence with pitch, the aspect of
the sound which we perceive in terms of "high" or "low".
Other prosodic systems include factors such as tempo and the relative speed of
utterance. Perception of the rhythm base may involve observing variations of
loudness, pitch and speed.
2. STRESS
We can study stress from the point of view of production and of perception.
The production of stress is generally believed to depend on the speaker using
more muscular energy than is used for unstressed syllables. Many different sound
characteristics are important in making a syllable recognisably stressed.
In English, stressed syllables are longer then unstressed ones, the vowels are
more voiced within them. Stress is not marked in the spelling system, but it can
be transcribed phonetically.
The importance of stress should be noted, given that incorrect stress on syllables
is an obstacle to communication, because it may lead the speaker to understand
a different word, that follows a different stress pattern.
1. Degrees of Stress
We can distinguish between the primary and secondary stress. The first
one is also called tonic strong stress, while the second one is also called
non-tonic strong stress.
Ex: ‘presup,ose
There are other authors who consider that there exist three stresses.
2. Position of Stress
Exceptions:
Ex: ‘mission
o. Compound nouns
They are generally stressed on the first element with a secondary stress on the
second element in contrast to the normal noun phrase stress pattern:
p. Stress in phrases
When we come to stress in phrases and other syntactic units, we provide different
underlying relations between juxtaposed items.
Ex: An ‘English ,teacher (someone who teaches English)
An ,English ‘teacher (a teacher who is English)
The Canarian speakers should keep in mind the different importance given to the
secondary accent in Spanish as compared with English. The pronunciation of
isolated words rarely occurs in Spanish, it only happens in Adverbs ending in "-
mente", and in a few compound adverbs.
Although English compounds generally turn into a secondary stress the one which
was the primary in the root, and this secondary stress still keeps a considerable
strength; Spanish moves the stress to the suffixes:
A secondary stress does not appear except in the cases where the general rules
of Spanish regulate it.
In two-syllable words both languages have a preference for stressing the syllable before
the last; English tends to stress the antepenultimate syllable in three or more syllables
words whereas Spanish keeps the penult position for stress.
English vowels are deeply affected by their stress, whether primary or secondary.
Stressed vowels have a precise and clear pronunciation, whereas unstressed vowels
have a tendency to become indistinct.
Finally , in Spanish the stress is represented in the spelling, what makes it easier to be
remembered and pronounced , whereas in English it’s not represented.
2. RHYTHM
Rhythm may be defined as the regular succession of strong and weak stresses in
utterances. The notion of rhythm involves some noticeable event happening at
regular intervals of time. The theory that English has stress- timed rhythm
implies that stressed syllables will tend to occur at relatively regular intervals
whether they are separated by unstressed syllables or not.
The weak form, in which the vowel is pronounced with the schwa vowel,
is more common than the other.
Obviously the use of one or another form may affect the meaning of the
utterance.
Ex: ‘Jane and her ‘mother ‘’are ‘stupid = it is not true that they are not
stupid
‘Jane ‘’and her ‘mother are ‘stupid = not just one, but both are stupid
Weak forms are a manifestation of stress and rhythm in English, and must
not be avoided in teaching, or the learner will sound unnatural in
connected speech.
2. Regularity of Rhythm
The natural rhythm of English provides roughly equal intervals of time between the
stressed items.
The prevailing tendency in unstressed syllables and words is to reduce the vowels to the
obscure / /, thus we have / / in a great many syllables:
Ex: a kilo of potato / ‘ki:l v p ‘ te t z/
Regularity of rhythm is used for specific pourposes:
d. Counting:
e. Inventory or lists
f. Emphasis:
Ex: you should ‘always ‘look be’fore you ‘cross the ‘’road
It is essential in English to have a sentence rhythm, which does not exist in Spanish.
In an English sentence certain words which are too close to the initial rhythmic beat lose
their lexical stress in spite of having lexical stress. This does not happen in Spanish.
Ex: Mary’s younger brother wanted fifty chocolate peanuts
In this example we can see the difference with the Spanish stress, in Spanish all the
words will be stressed; however, in English only the syllables in bold type are really
stressed, thus favouring rhythm.
The behaviour of prepositions and conjunctions differs in both languages: they are
usually stressed in English; in Spanish only the preposition "según" is stressed.
Stress also varies in English depending on whether it is used on strong or weak forms of
the same words. There is nothing in Spanish, which resembles the English strong and
weak forms so this will prove difficult for Spanish students.
3. INTONATION
Intonation is the tune within the sentence that may alter the meaning. Here the
pitch of the voice plays the most important part. We describe pitch in terms of
high and low. There is another necessary condition and that is that a pitch
difference must be perceptible.
The rise and fall of pitch throughout is called its intonation contour. English has
a number of intonation patterns which add conventionalized meanings to the
utterance: question, statement, surprise, disbelief, sarcasm, teasing. An
important feature of English intonation is the use of an intonational accent (and
extra stress) to mark the focus of a sentence. Normally this focus accent goes on
the last major word of the sentence, but it can come earlier in order to
""
onset nucleus
Tone unit
1. Falling Tone
‘LÓNDON’’
‘TWÓ’’
‘´R’’
2. Rising Tone
A question will use a rising tone while the question tag uses the falling
tone.
The fall and rise are by far and away the most common of the nuclear
tones.
3. Fall-rise Intonation
It often occurs in the nucleus of a doubtful condition, but it is particularly
common with the initial adverb:
4. Rise-fall Intonation
5. Level Tone
6. Fall-rise Intonation
4. TEACHING IMPLICATIONS
All languages have their own intonation patterns. Why is intonation important?
Intonation conveys both meaning and attitude, so when a non-native speaker gets the
intonation wrong, s/he can be misunderstood or sometimes misinterpreted as sounding
rude or demanding when this is not intended. If a non-native speaker is almost fluent in
the English language, intonation is often the only way in which one can tell that s/he is
foreign. Moreover, if a foreign speaker is advanced in terms of grammar, vocabulary,
etc., native speakers will make fewer allowances for intonation problems than they
would with speakers who are obviously at a more elementary level. For example, if an
advanced level speaker unintentionally sounds rude or demanding, the listeners will
assume that s/he means it.
What can be done to improve intonation? First of all students should be aware of the
differences between their intonation and the English one:
Intonation in Spoken Spanish does not rise and fall as much as English. Students
should try and keep the voice as levelled as possible.
Listen to as much spoken English as possible (on cassette if you are unable to
listen to native speakers) and be aware of where the voice rises and falls. When
you listen, try to consider the attitude and feelings being conveyed. One word, for
example, can be said in several different ways, depending on the meaning you
wish to convey.
Stories motivate children to listen and learn, and help them to become aware of
the sound and feel of English. A selection of ready-to-tell stories is included
although the activities can be used with any story.
Creating Drama with poetry is an exciting language learning experience. The use
of poetry as drama in the English as a second language (ESL) classroom enables
the students to explore the linguistic and conceptual aspects of the written text
without concentrating on the mechanics of language. Through this technique,
apart from several other aspects the teacher can model student’s pronunciation,
intonation, stress, rhythm, and oral expression;
We as teachers have to take into account all the differences existing between L1 and L2
patterns of stress, rhythm and intonation, and try our students to differentiate them. So
English people can understand their speaking.
.
2.S.P.C.
6.BIBLIOGRAFÍA
No deben ser considerados como definitivos o excluyentes del lenguaje oral, sino que se
ofrecen como una herramienta de sustitución del mismo, aunque en algunos sujetos si se
pueden convertir en la única forma de comunicación debido a su grado de deficiencia.
2.SPC, SISTEMA DE SÍMBOLOS PICTOGRÁFICOS PARA LA
COMUNICACIÓN.
A la hora de aplicar éste método, hay que tener en cuenta algunas consideraciones:
3.SISTEMA BLISS
HISTORIA Fueron creados por el australiano CH. BLISS, quien quiso crear un lenguaje
internacional que pudiera ser entendido por cualquier persona del mundo.
En 1949 publicó su primer manual, pero no obtuvo ningún éxito, hasta que en 1971 fue
utilizado por un grupo de especialistas para la comunicación en niños deficientes físicos.
Otros factores, además de la forma, sirven para determinar el significado del símbolo:
Tamaño posición dirección amplitud referencias.
Una característica, es que los símbolos se agrupan en categorías que reciben un color
específico (igual que en el SPC).
El sujeto posee un tablero donde están los símbolos con un orden concreto, en cada uno
aparece escrito lo que significa facilitando así la interpretación a personas que no conozcan el
método y quieran comunicarse con el sujeto.
Es un método especialmente indicado para personas con deficiencia física.
Las habilidades básicas que debe poseer el sujeto son:
Habilidad cognitiva
Habilidades motrices
Fáciles de aprender
Fácil generalización
Contribuyen a la estructuración mental
Ayudan a la adquisición de la lectura
El grupo oralista, se basa en el uso del lenguaje oral, descartando el lenguaje de signos por
considerarlo poco estructurado y entorpecer el lenguaje oral.
El manualista, defiende la expresión de la palabra mediante signos realizados con las manos y
los dedos.
El tercer grupo lo forman los métodos mixtos,educar al sujeto sordo valiéndose de todos los
recursos y procedimientos que estén a nuestro alcance, ya sea mímica, oralismo, gestos....
Dactilología : o alfabeto manual, representa cada una de las letras del alfabeto por medio
de distintas configuraciones de la mano. Se realiza con una sola mano y suele servir de
complemento al lenguaje de signos para designar nombres propios o términos sin traducción.
No es universal, lo que significa que sordos de distintos países ( o incluso del mismo país,
pero de diferente ciudad) utilizan signos distintos.
En este tipo de lenguaje nos podemos encontrar signos icónicos y signos arbitrarios.
No consiste solamente en un conjunto de gestos, sino que presenta una estructura,
determinada por una serie de parámetros:
Configuración de la mano
Localización
Movimiento
A partir de los estudios realizados a niños sordos españoles, se producen las siguientes
hipótesis:
En la práctica educativa, tanto profesores, padres..., deberían utilizar este método para la
comunicación. Los signos deben aprenderse de forma natural, según surjan las necesidades
del niño, aunque es conveniente trabajar algunas de forma más sistematizada como las
nociones espaciales, temporales, causales, las categorías y preguntas concretas.
En este sistema, el niño adquiere ante los signos que las palabras, por lo que debemos
enseñarle a partir de nociones y construcciones ya adquiridas en el niño su correspondencia
oral.
La elección del sistema, está condicionada por las posibilidades reales que presente el sujeto
con el que vamos a trabajar. Es evidente que son muchos los factores a tener en cuenta para
realizar la elección:
Ambos métodos son muy similares en cuanto a su estructura y composición, lo que incluso
puede llevar el uso conjunto de ambos sistemas.
Puede estar indicado para personas que no estén preparadas para el uso del alfabeto,
pero que necesitan comunicarse con las personas de su entorno.
Favorece el desarrollo personal global del niño a nivel social, emocional, y de mejora
de la propia imagen.
Es necesario elaborar el tablero con los símbolos, siendo casi siempre necesario
realizarlos manualmente (por ausencia de impresoras que realicen estos símbolos).
EVALUACIÓN DE LOS MÉTODOS LENGUAJE DE SIGNOS, CUED-
SPEECH Y BIMODAL.
LENGUAJE DE SIGNOS
CUED-SPEECH
El niño aprende a hablar antes que a leer y escribir, como ocurre con el niño
normoyente.
Los INCONVENIENTES,son:
LENGUAJE BIMODAL
BIBLIOGRAFÍA
Señalizadores: Licornios
Varilla-muñeca
Linterna
Soportes: Tablero
ETRAN
Comunicador.
Todas estas adaptaciones van encaminadas por una parte a posibilitar el acceso físico del niño
a los materiales didácticos que más adelante se exponen, así como a conseguir una posición
corporal que inhiba los movimientos reflejos anormales que caracterizan a los niños con P.C.:
PROGRAMA BLISS
Primer paso
Sería establecer las respuestas SÍ/NO mediante dibujos significativos. Podrían ser:
Un niño coge suavemente a un gato....................SÍ
Un niño coge a un gato por el rabo......................NO
Estos dibujos se harían en la pizarra, cada uno en un extremo, y servirían para iniciar la
comunicación entre los niños “normales” con el niño con P.C.
Cualquier pregunta que se hiciese sería contestada con un movimiento de los ojos, que se
dirigen hacia el dibujo representativo de SÍ o NO.
Más tarde se añadiría a estos dibujos los signos (+) y (-), como una iniciación a la
simbolización.
Segundo paso
Puesta en contacto con los símbolos pictográficos básicos. Estos símbolos serían
siempre en negro y se les añadiría color como ayuda.
Ejemplo: el símbolo “alimento” (círculo con una línea horizontal debajo) se le añadiría un
tenedor y un cuchillo en color a los lados.
Tercer paso
Plastilina: los niños hacen árboles, barcos, animales...y los emparejan con los
símbolos correspondientes con “churros” de plastilina.
TOPIC 10
This unit is about English orthography, how it changes depending on the morphological
functions of words.
The topic is divided into six different sections:
- The first section is a brief introduction.
- The second one is the orthographic codes.
- The third one is the relationship between sound and letter.
- The fourth one is where we are going to talk about different activities to
improve the pupil’s writing.
- The fifth one is the conclusion.
- And the last section is the bibliography.
Now we are going to go on the next point, which deals with spelling codes. I am
going to talk about the main orthographic rules in English, but of course, there
are so many that it would be impossible to remember each one of them.
I will start by these concerning capital letters.
The initial letter of the following cases must be written in capital:
- Days, months and bank holidays.
- People first name and places.
- Mr, Miss, Mrs, Dr.
- Countries, places of origin and language.
- The first written word of tittles in books, films, places, etc, as well as the rest
of initial except prepositions and articles.
After having seen plural formation, we are going to look at duplication of final
consonants.
When we add the following endings: -ed, -ing, -er, -est, to a word in order to
form compounds, the final consonant duplicates whenever it is –b, -d, -g, -l, -m,
-n, -p, -r, -t. (rob/ robber)
Nevertheless, there are cases where the consonants don’t duplicate even though
the circunstances stated above are given. (open/ opening).
It is due to the fact that the consonant duplicates only when the accent falls on the last
syllable of the word.
Now the change of –y to –i. Apart of the rules already stated above, there are
some more changes:
- Whenever any suffix is added to any word ending in –y, it will change to –i .
(hurry / hurried, easy / easier)
- Exceptions, a suffix beginning in –i such as –ism, -ish, -ize, -ing makes –y
be kept. ( boy / boyish). Except ( say/said, lay/laid, pay /paid)
- Words ending in –ie change this ending to –y before –ing. ( die/ dying, lie/
lying).
The last rule we are going to mention is hyphened compouns, but as we said
before there are too much rules that is impossible to explain each one.
- Compound adjectives are usually joined by a hyphen. ( blue-eyed).
- A group of words which are commonly used as adjectives before a noun are
also joined by a hyphen. ( a five-pound note).
- Hyphen is also used in group of words forming a compound whose first
word is the stressed one.
Once having studied some orthographic rules in English we are going to move
onto the next point in the topic which deal with the relationship between sound
and orthography.
Whereas the English written form starts to be fixed during the 8 th and 9th
centuries, the phonological system takes a more or less fixed structure about 18th
and 19th centuries.
This fact makes almost impossible to establish a correct correspondence
between phonemes and letters, in order to have a model to follow both when
writing what we hear and when pronouncing what we read.
When an equivalence is observed and we try to systematise it, exceptions are so
many than it is useless to establish a rule.
Nevertheless, among the very few equivalences we will point out the following:
- At the end of a word and after a vowel, both phonemes /k/ and /tf/ may be
represented by –ck and -tch. ( pack, watch)
- After a consonant or two vowels both phonemes /k/ and /tf/ are usually
represented by –k and –ch.( bank, bench).
- The vocalic phoneme /i:/ is frequently written –ie and in some cases –ei.
( believe, ceiling).
- The consonantal group –gh usually represented the phoneme /f/. Sometimes
it is no pronounced. ( cough, enough). Exception ( although)
- The phoneme /k/ is represented by –ch when it is in between-vowel position.
( headache)
- The letter a is read as /e/ in: any, many.
- The letters ea are read as /e/ in : breakfast, head.
- In other cases the letters ea are pronounced /ei/. (steak).
- The vowel o is pronounced as /^/ in : mother.
- The phoneme /^/ may be also represented by the letters ou: country.
- The letter u is read as /u/: put.
- The phoneme /ai/ corresponds to several different letters: buy, dial.
- There are letters which in particular positions within the word don’t
represented any phoneme, they are not pronounced, ‘ silent letter’.
L, should, walk.
T, preceded by s, castle, listen.
W and K in initial position when following by a consonant: writer,
knife.
G, sign, campaign.
Consonants B, N preceded by M, plumber, autumn.
H, when, where.
R after a vowel makes the vowel be long, car, iron.
- We can find three-syllable written words, the stress falls on the first one and
the central vowel is not pronounced. ( evening) .
- As far as plurals are concerned, the regular ending is –(e)s has three different
pronunciations:
After /s/, /z/, /f/, /tf/ and /d3/ the plural ending is –es, which
corresponds with the phoneme /iz/. ( buses).
After any voiceless phoneme /p/, /f/, /Q/, /t/ and /k/ the plural ending –
(e)s corresponds with the phoneme/s/. (caps).
After all the vowels and voiced consonants the plural ending –(e)s
correspond with the phoneme /z/. (plays).
Exceptions to this rule are found in words where the plural ending
affects the pronunciation of the word root.(house).
- Third person singular of the present of verbs and possessive case followed
these rules above.
I should like to say that it is difficult to establish rules for the pronunciation of
words in English that students should learn.
To follow with this topic we are going to analyse some proposals for the
teaching of the written code. And also, orthographic applications in written
productions.
We shall start this section by saying that the pupils to whom we are teaching the
foreign language in the first year are likely to have problems when reading or
writing their own mother tongue. Therefore, introducing them a new writing
code may be confusing for them. We must also consider that in real life they
write very little, even in their mother tongue, that is why we propose that the
students should start by copying words.
Which serves as a starting- point for making this activity enjoyable or boring
and monotonous.
- We can try to avoid it by giving them a card with drawing and card with
words related to these drawings, they only have to combine the words with
the drawings, by copying both in their notebook.
- We can also give them a strip of comics with the chosen words and the
students will have to insert the words in the speaking bubbles of each comic.
Matching pictures to speech bubbles.
- Another activity is called word machines, consisting of obtaining one word
by means of two or more transformations of a previously given word. ( pin
from den).
- We may also ask the students to group the words containing two or more
equal letters in different order.
- We may give them groups of four or five words in which one of them is not
correctly written and they will have to find one and tell why it is incorrect.
- Another rather successful game is called hangman, where we can eliminate
as many elements as we think necessary according to the difficulty of the
words for our student’s level. Similar to this game is the shark with stairs.
- We cam also use crosswords or word games focused on words about a
particular topic. It is useful for warming up and relaxing activities.
- Another game is ‘I spy with my little eye’ which has endless possibilities of
explotation. With good level, make sentences with mistakes and students
have to correct them.
- The well-known game ‘noughts and crosses’ may be adapted to our
orthographic needs.
- We find also very valuable the use of a dictionary. It is convenient to have a
dictionary in the class. Tasks and games in groups or pairs are particularly
useful, that is, when the teacher plays the role of a facilitator. Another
encouraging task for the students is to make their own dictionary where they
can include the vocabulary already studied in class.
- In order to make the students aware of how difficult it is the relationship
between sounds and letters we can also make colleges where to include
drawings referred to a word which they know both the orthography and the
pronunciation and then add a short clue referred to a different word which is
pronounced the same and, however, is written differently.
The chief processes of English word-formation by which the base may be modified
are:
3.1. Affixation:
a) Prefixation
Adding a prefix to the base: happy---unhappy
-Types of prefixes.
Negative prefixes
Un-: unfair
Reversative prefixes
Dis-: discontent
Pejorative prefixes
Mis-: misinform
Prefixes of degree or size
Super-: supermarket
Prefixes of attitude
Anti-: anti-social
Locative prefixes
Sub-: subway
Prefixes of time and order
Pre-: precaution
Number prefixes
Tri-: trident
Conversion prefixes
En-: endanger
Other Prefixes
Vice-: vicepresident
b) Suffixation
Adding a suffix to the base: happy-----happily
-Types of suffixes.
1. Noun suffixes:
Occupational
-er: gangster
Diminutive or femenine
-ess: waitress
Status
-hood: childhood
Other noun suffixes
-ful: spoonful
Noun/adjectives suffixes
-ese: Chinese
Deverbal suffixes
-er: driver
De-adjectival suffixes
-ee: employee
2. Verb suffixes:
-ify: simplify
-(ize): popularise
-en: sadden
3. Adjective suffixes:
Suffixes added to nouns
-ful: useful
Suffixes common in borrowed and neo-classical words
-ic: Arabic
Other adjective suffixes
-able: readable
4. Adverb suffixes:
-ly: happily
-ward (s): backwards
-wise: weatherwise
4. SEMANTIC FIELD.
As I have said, the semantic field refers to the understanding of words (homonyms,
synonyms and antonyms).
4.1. Homonymy and Polysemy.
Homonymy is when a single word has different meanings not closely related.
For example:
File - a box for keeping papers in order
- a tool for smoothing surfaces
- a line of persons or things one behind the other
We can find two classes of homonymy:
1. Homophones: are the words that show identity of pronunciation: “no”---“know”
2. Homographs: are the words that have the same spelling: “saw (noun)”----“saw
(verb)”
- Homomorph is the term to refer to those words which share the same morphological
form, the same stem. This concept is relevant to grammar: fast (adjective)—fast
(adverb).
And, Polysemy is when a word has several different but closely related meanings.
For example:
Branch - of a tree
- family
- railway line…
4.2. Synonymy.
Synonymy is the relationship between words that mean exactly the same. It is a semantic
relation.
For example:
Foggy---Misty
Fiddle----Violin
4.3. Antonymy.
Antonymy is when a word is opposite in meaning to another. For example: better---
worst
a) Complementaries: words that are incompatibles and there is no possibility of a
third lying between them: true---false
b) Multiple Incompatibles: Days, seasons, months… “It’s Monday” excludes all
other the days.
c) Gradable Antonyms: There are intermediate terms between them: hot/ warm/
cool/ cold.
d) Converses: The words are reciprocal: husband---wife // father---son.
5. FALSE FRIENDS.
We call false friend to a word that is similar to another in our language.
For instance, Spanish students must pay attention to Latin fields because they may
change:
“Success”---éxito, not “suceso”
“Contamination”----infección, not “contaminación”----“pollution”
6. TEACHING VOCABULARY.
To learn vocabulary words, the teacher should pronounce the new item, in association
to the orthographic realization of the same and also to teach it meaning.
The teacher also has to use the new word on a context to help students assimilate this
word with its meaning.
After this, student must try to use the new item, inserting it in a context they think
suitable to use it.
Finally, the student should use this word as many time as possible to fix it in their
minds.
There are some techniques in vocabulary teaching that may help 2.82.72.127students.
These are the followings:
a) The use of visuals
Flashcards; blackboard; transparencies; “clock board”; labels; magazine pictures; props;
colour coding; classroom objects; posters…
b) The use of gestures
Students can gesture when describing adjectives as tall,…
c) The use of known vocabulary
The teacher can use synonyms and antonyms; categories; definitions… to explain the
new meanings.
7. CONCLUSION.
There are many different methods to teach vocabulary. These methods depend on the
level of the students and on the types of items we want to teach them.
However, as the students advance in their learning process, their needs become more
and more important. For that reason, we must study which are the most common fields that
they would like to deal with in the class.
The first thing a child does in his/her Mother Tongue, once he/she has
carried out the emission of sound stage, is to say words, isolated words but
with meaning. They are connected with the world around him/her and are
probably those with which the child has a narrow relationship. According to
the increase of his/her perception and knowledge of the reality, his/her
vocabulary also increases.
So, in order to establish which vocabulary can have MORE INTEREST
for our students´ learning, we must take into account the world they live in
and the purpose they have when they learn a Foreign Language, with the
purpose of being a SIGNIFICANT VOCABULARY for them.
It must be a vocabulary for COMMUNICATION, based on the child or
being specially interesting to him/her.
So, vocabulary is an important factor in all language teaching :
students must continually be learning words at the same time they learn
Grammar and Phonetics.
Presenting new words is only the first step in the process of language
learning, and students must remember them and make them part of their
own vocabulary. But sometimes it is quite difficult because there are SOME
PROBLEMS that do not allow the acquisition process to be easier :
On the one hand, some of the words taught in Foreign Language lessons
occur naturally in sequence : days of the week, numbers, etc… and
these series are easily memorized, but the problem arises when students
have to use them out of the sequence.
On the other hand, some similar words or COGNATES facilitate the
learning of new words ; some of them are “True cognates”, it is, their
meaning is more or less equivalent in both languages (ex., “real” =
“real” ), and some of them are “False cognates”, which lead students to
confusion (ex., “Actually” means “en realidad”, not “actualmente” ). In
the first case they are easy to remember, but in the second case we have
to help our students.
Another problem arises when the words in the Mother Tongue and in the
Foreign Language do not cover the same area of meaning. There are
words in the Target Language which do not make distinctions that the
Foreign Language does (ex., “trip, travel, journey,…”). These distinctions
imply that there is a change in the way of viewing reality and, therefore,
this change must be learnt too.
At the same time we should look for general centres of our students´
interests so that we could choose the most suitable vocabulary for those
settings, which could be the following ones :
-Informal conversations with the classmates.
-Descriptions of objects, persons or animals.
-Interviews.
-Telephone calls.
-Children´s stories, etc…
So, OUR MAIN TASK is to provide our pupils with a series of resources
that help them to have independence when they have to communicate in a
Foreign Language. The use of these resources will make their vocabulary,
more or less limited, be increased in a way that does not require a lot of
effort.
The first step consists of making our students be aware of that in
English there is the same possibility as in their Mother Tongue to form new
words by means of the following TECHNIQUES :
1.CONVERSION
2.AFFIXATION
3.COMPOUNDING
1. CONVERSION
2. AFFIXATION
6. Etc…
3. COMPOUNDING
4.- Acronyms , which are words formed from the initial letters of words that
make up a descriptive or a proper name, such as “FBI”
(Federal Bureau of Investigation), UFO (Unidentified
Flying Object), …
a. The students´ needs. It is very useful to study in depth which are the most
common fields that the children would like to deal with in class. These
fields will depend very much on the students´ age, social background,
interests and hobbies, etc…
b. The frequence of the item, because it is not very useful to keep on teaching
new words which are NOT frequently used.
f. And the Receptive and Productive Vocabulary. The first kind comprises the
words students recognize but which are not mostly used; the second type
are the words which are mostly used by them. For example, the Receptive
vocabulary is “pullover and sweater” and the Productive one could be only
“jumper”.
B. Using flashcards or transparencies with the picture and the written form
of the new item.
F. Synonyms and Antonyms, what let pupils associate the new word with a
concept they already know.
I. Etc…
A. Games, such as :
-“Kim´s game” .
-“Dominoes” or “Bingo”.
-Memory games, such as:
. “Chinese Whisper” (the Spanish “Juego del Teléfono”).
. “I went to the market” (in which a child starts saying, “I went to the
market and I bought potatoes”, then the next student adds a word
and says, “I went to the market and I bought potatoes and tomatoes”,
and so on).
- Etc…
G. Ordering a text, in which we have a text and we cut it into stripes; then
we hand them out to pupils for making the text up.
H. Etc…
3.Many children learn new words relatively quickly, but they also forget
them quickly. Once vocabulary has been introduced and practised, some
techniques may be used to CONSOLIDATE and REVISE it, such
as :
C. Word families/sets with pictures coloured and labelled. They are kept into
envelopes which can be labelled too, for example, “Clothes” , “Fruit”,
etc… and may be used, from time to time, as games to revise it.
*We could conclude that, starting from our class´ characteristics, we will
select which vocabulary and which of the previous techniques explained are
the most suitable and useful.
The use of varied resources and materials will encourage children and will
make the English lessons be more effective and pleasant, which is very
important if we want to create a suitable atmosphere in the class and to
develop our students´ motivation.
THEME 11
1. Introduction.
2. Lexical and semantic fields in the English language.
2.1. Meaning.
2.2. Word formation.
3. Necessary lexicon for socialisation, information and expressing
attitudes.
3.1. Socialisation.
3.2. Information.
3.3. Expressing emotional attitudes.
3.4. Expressing intellectual attitudes.
4. Typology of activities tied to teaching and learning vocabulary in the
classroom.
4.1. Teaching vocabulary.
4.2. Activities.
4.3. The importance of dictionary.
5. Bibliography.
1. INTRODUCTION.
There are a vast number of words that are not found everywhere,
words that are restricted to a particular country or to a particular part
of the country. Attending the lexical and semantic fields, there are a
great number of varieties. We can emphasise regional and colloquial
varieties.
Regional dialect words have every right to be included in an English
vocabulary count. They are English words even if they are used only in a
single locality. But no one knows how many there are. Most regional
vocabulary -especially that used in cities - is never recorded. There must
be thousands of distinctive words inhabiting such areas as Brooklyn, the
East End of London, San Francisco,... none of which has ever appeared in
any dictionary.
1.1. Meaning.
Words can change their shape and their grammatical value too.
Students need to know facts about word formation and how to twist
words to fit different grammatical contexts.
Students also need to know how suffixes and prefixes work. There
are over 100 common prefixes and suffixes in English.
Another important technique is to join two words together to make
a different word, a compound, as in blackbird, shopkeeper and frying-pan.
Note that the meaning of a compound isn’t simply found by adding
together the meaning of its parts. Also not that compounds aren’t always
written as single words.
3. NECESSARY LEXICON FOR SOCIALIZATION, INFORMATION AND
EXPRESSING ATTITUDES.
3.1. Socialisation.
Our aim in teaching English is enable students to use the language in real
life and to develop his/her communicative competence. We are going to see now,
at a elementary level, the necessary lexicon and structures to develop social
relations.
ŸTo greet people: Hello, Good morning. Nice to see you...
ŸWhen meeting people: How are you? I’m fine, thanks. What about you?
ŸIntroducing and being introduced: My name is... Have you met...?
ŸWhen leaving: Good bye. See you later. Good night.
ŸAsking for things: Can you give me...? Could you lend me...?
ŸRequesting others to do something: Could you ..., please?
ŸExpressing sympathy: I’m sorry. That’s too bad. what a shame!
ŸApologising: I’m sorry about ...gerund.
ŸCongratulating: Congratulations. I’m glad! That’s wonderful!
ŸOffering things: Do you want...? Would you like...? Do you fancy...
gerund?
ŸOffering to do sth: Do you want me to...? Shall I...?
ŸAsking for permission: May I...? Do you mind if I...?
ŸInviting: Would you like to...?
ŸAgreeing to meet: I’ll see you... Let’s meet...
ŸThanking: Thank you/ Thanks.
3.2. Information
ŸFeelings:
-Pleasure: What fun! I love watching...
-Displeasure: I hate homework. I don’t like washing up.
-Satisfaction: I’m so pleased you have come.
-Disappointment: What a pity! You’ve missed the party.
-Preference: I prefer skating to skiing.
-Gratitude: Thanks!
ŸWishes:
-Want, desire: I would like to have long hair.
-Polite request: Would you mind picking up my suitcases?
-Offering to help: Shall I help you downstairs?
-Request for oneself: May I borrow your classnotes?
-Making requests: May I have a glass of water?
ŸIntentions:
-Explaining intentions: I’m going to work hard this term.
-Persuading: Oh, come Tom! You will enjoy the party a lot.
-Making plans: Let us meet at 6’30 in the post office.
-Promises: I will be there.
-Asking about intention: What are you going to do?
5. BIBLIOGRAPHY.
INTRODUCTION
In this topic we will go into detail some aspects of semantics (study of meaning in
language). The unit of semantics is the lexeme or lexical item.
We will discuss how vocabulary is organized, the vocabulary needed to express common
communicative functions and some activities that we can use in learning and teaching
vocabulary.
There are several ways of organizing lexemes. We can study also the paradigmatic
relationships.
We will now focus on lexical and semantic items.
2. LEXICAL AND SEMANTIC FIELDS IN ENGLISH
2.1. Lexical / Semantic fields
Semantic or lexical fields can be defined as semantically related groups. The words of a
language can be classified into sets which are related to conceptual fields and divide up
the semantic space: feeling, possession, perception, speech, existence.
2.2. Sense relationships
They are the internal organising principle that creates lexical fields. There are two types:
• syntagmatic relationships: are the relationship on the horizontal axis when two items
are often used together e.g. rural life, green area, dark, hair..
• Paradigmatic relationships: are the relationships on the vertical axis. We can find
several types:
a) Synonymy /sinonimi/: it should be noted (es importante decir) synonymy is not
frecuent in the language. They are groups of words that share a general sense and
so may be interchangeable in a limited numbers of contexts. e.g. die (morir), pass
away (pasar al otro mundo)
b) Antonymy: antonymy is the relationship of oppositeness of meaning.
Non-gradable or ungradable antonyms, are mutually exclusive, eg.
alive/dead, male/female...
Gradable antonyms permit the expression of degree, e.g. big/small,
cold/hot. And the comparative (warm, cool, chilly, cold).
Converses denote a reciprocal relationship: one term presupposes the
other (family and social relation- e.g. parent/child...)
c) Hyponymy: it is the relationship of inclusion in that the meaning of the general
term (superordinate) is included in the meaning of the specific term e.g.
flower/rose, colour/blue, season (superordinate)/winter (hyponymy).
d) Incompatibility: exclusive members of the same superordinate category are
referred to as incompatibles, e.g. winter/summer. Relationship between
hyponymyns.
3. 2. Information vocabulary
a) Information about oneself: name (what’s your name?), origin, Nationality, date of birth,
address, telephone numbwer, age, mental status, job, family,..
b) Information about the time: What time is it? / what’s the time?
C) Narrating
We can list the elementos that are essential for narration
- Verbal tenses
- Link (Connectors) (then, afterwards, later, so...)
E) Clarifying
- I mean / in fact / in other words
b) Expressing opinions:
- In my opinion / I believe / If you ask me / From my oint of view
e) Expressing obligation:
- I must begin working now (internal obligation)
- you have to be here by five again (external obligation)
B) Emotional attitudes
a) Expressing a feeling:
- Likes and dislikes: I like / I love fish / I enjoy / I am ford of / I hate
I dislike / I can’t stand / I am tired of ..
- Sadness: I really feel down today / I am under the weather
- Indifference: I don’t care at all
- Surprise: This is a surprise / It is surprising / How amazing / What a surprise..
- Hope: I hope so / I expect to come tonight
- Fear: I’m afraid of exams
- Gratefulness: thank you very much
b) Expressing intention:
- I’m going to + infinitive (intention to do something)
- I intend to come back on Sunday
1) Once the teacher has introduced the new lexical item, h/s should provide the students
enough opportunities to bring the item into active meaningful use.
2) The lexical items taught should be relevant to the learners’ needs and interests.
3) In introducing vocabulary, the teacher should use visual aids. Visual back up is very
important to help convey meaning and to help pupils memorize new words. (Flash cards,
photos, realia, mime...)
ACTIVITIES
5. SUMMARY
In this topic we have expounded the different ways in which lexemes can be organised:
semantic or lexical fields, sense relationships and componential analysis
We have then presented the vocabulary our pupils need to communicate with others in
habitual situations. We have grouped this vocabulary into socialization vocabulary,
information vocabulary and attitude expression vocabulary.
In last section of the topic we have suggested various types of vocabulary activities.
REFERENCES:
INTRODUCTION
Traditionally, the teaching of a foreign language has focused on the teaching and
learning of grammar as well as of vocabulary. The first thing children do in their
mother tongue, once they are able to, is to say words. These words will be isolated, they
won’t say sentences, but they are words which come from their surrounding and which
have meaning anyway. At the same time that the children are more aware of reality,
they learn more and more words.
In the process of learning a foreign language, the teacher must take into account the
natural process of language learning. The 4 skills are naturally acquired in the following
order: LISTENING, SPEAKING, READING and WRITING . Therefore it seems to
be quite logical to learn a foreign language in the same way.
However, as it was mentioned above, the teaching of a foreign language has been always
based on both grammar and vocabulary aspects. The reason for this is that a child that
can already read and write in his/her own language would feel frustrated if he/she could
only produce isolated words.
Choosing which vocabulary of the foreign language should be taught is not easy.
Throughout the history of the teaching of foreign language there have been 2 basic
trends trying to select the most adequate vocabulary:
The first of them was based on the frequency of use . This means there are words
which are used more frequently than others due to determined circumstances. Some
works have been published, trying in an attempt to show the most frequently used
words in written English.
The second trend is based on the fact that there are some words that are more
necessary than others due to their direct relationship with learning aims. It is very
difficult to establish which words are necessary and which words are not because
many different factors and realities can vary the criteria. That is why the teacher
has to take into account the students’ world and interests. As well as this , the
vocabulary cannot be presented in isolation but within real situations or linguistic
contexts. This will facilitate both comprehension and production. The important
factor is that they are useful words for communication. Thus teachers should look
for these ‘interesting’ contexts, for instance:
a) informal conversations with classroom mates
b) phone calls
c) children stories
d) instructions for the functioning and organisation of the classroom, house ,
work... .
e) descriptions of objects, people or animals
f) jokes and games
g) interviews
h) penfriends
The classroom is the place where interaction in the foreign language mainly takes place.
Often, the language used in the classroom does not have a real application outside but
there are many other sentences that are also used in normal social situations, such as:
Could you open the door, please?, Sit down, please.
Students should be provided from the beginning with simple linguistic tools that allow
them to express their necessities and problems, such as :
a) asking and giving information: Excuse me!, Could you repeat that?, ...
b) expressing attitudes and actions: I don’t like it at all, I hate it,...
c) using social formulae: Happy birthday!, How old are you?, Good
morning!,...
d) asking questions in class for information: How do you spell it?,... .
Our main task as teachers is offering the students a series of resources that allow them
to communicate in a foreign language. That is why, apart from the teaching the above-
mentioned vocabulary and structures, we must make them aware of the fact that a great
deal of new words can be formed, as in their mother tongue, by means of:
WORD FORMATION
2. CONVERSION
A word changes its cathegory but it doesn´t change its
form. E.g.: A verb can be changed into noun . There are
different types:
3. COMPOUNDING
4. BACK FORMATION
5. REDUPLICATION
6. CLIPPING
8.ACRONYMS
9.WORD-MANUFACTURE/ COINAGE
10.BORROWING
Linguistic forms can be taken by one language or dialect
from another. E.g.: restaurant, café, pizza, patio... .
A)PRESENTATION OF VOCABULARY
B) PRACTICE
Once the vocabulary has been presented, the next step is
to give the pupil the possibility to put into practice in
adequate real contexts inside the classroom in order to
check that the student has understood. For this step there
is a series of adequate activities:
a) arrange drawings and words
b) riddles ( object, people or animals)
c) Bingo. This game can be used in order to practise
any type of vocabulary ( number, fruits, colours) .
We can use this activity and revising the
vocabulary.
d) Arrange and classify ( in different categories:
colours, liquids,...)
e) Domino
f) Telephone
g) Picture dictation
h) Arrange a text step by step
i) Association game. E.g.: I went to the market and
bought some bread//I went to the market and
bought some bread and some fish // ... .
j) stories
CONCLUSION
We will decide which vocabulary and resources are the
most appropriate and useful setting out from the
peculiarities of our classroom . None of them excludes
one another. The use of motivating varied resources will
make the English class effective as well as amusing.
In this unit we will study how we can order vocabulary (lexical fields) and how
vocabulary is organised (semantic features), then we will see some vocabulary needed to
express some common communicative functions (socialization, information and attitude
expression and finally techniques used in learning and teaching vocabulary.
Without vocabulary, structures and function haven’t got any sense. We can see
the importance of vocabulary when we don’t find the words we need to express
something. However, many teachers spend more time in teaching grammar than in
teaching vocabulary.
Firstly, I am going to start talking about the semantic structure. There are
several ways of oraganizing lexemes. We can try to group them into fields of meaning, or
studying the types of paradigmatic relationships existing between them, or analyzing
lexical items into a series of semantic features or components.
Talking about semantic or lexical fields we can say that lexemes can be organised
into a system, in which these lexemes interrelate, and define each other in specific ways,
For example, the various lexemes for “ parts of the body” (head, neck, shoulders, etc.) It
has been argued that the whole of a language’s vocabulary is structured into fields; but
there is in fact a great deal of variations as we move from one part of the language to
another. There would be little difficulty gathering together all the English lexemes for
“body parts”, for example; but it would be very difficult to do the same job for “noise” or
“sociology”.
There have been many philosophical and linguistic attempts to classify the
concepts or words in a language. In recent times, the most influential and popular work
has been the Thesaurus of Peter Mark Roget (1779-1869), fir published by Longman in
1852. Roget divided the vocabulary into six main areas: abstract relations, space, matter,
intellect, volition and affections. Each area was given a detailed and exhaustive
subclassification, producing 1.000 Semitic categories in all. The first three classes cover
the external world. Abstract relations deals with such ideas as number, order and time;
Space is concerned with movements, shapes, and sizes. Matter covers the physical world
and humankind’s perception of it by means of the five senses. The last three classes deal
with the internal world of human beings. Intellect studies the human mind. Volition deals
with the human will. Affections, whose original tittle is emotion, religion and morality,
deals with the human heart and soul. There is a progression from abstract concepts
through the material universe, to mankind itself, culminating in what Roget saw as
humanity’s highest achievements: morality and religion.
Oral: One path through the thesaurus is the following:
affections
Thesauri of this kind have now been produced for several languages, and prove to
be a useful adjunct to many practical linguistic activities, such as professional writing,
translating, and setting or solving crosswords. For the semanticist, however, their value is
limited, as they contain no information about the sense relationships between individual
lexemes, and items that come from different regional, social, or professional varieties are
juxtaposed without comment. To study the structure of a semantic field, more precise
means of plotting the sense relations between lexemes need to be used.
In this point we have to talk about sense relationships too. The organization of the
lexemes of a language is based on our intuitions that groups of lexemes are related in
sense. The relationships between lexemes can be analyzed under two main headings:
2. Paradigmatic relationships that refer to the way in which lexemes can substitute
for each other. Several types of paradigmatic relationships have been recognized. These
include:
For language learners, there is a further type of sense relation but most learners
find this useful to make a conscious effort to link words between a foreign language and
their own.
The second main point of the theme refers to the necessary lexicon for
socialization, information and expressing attitudes. In verbal communication, six
main categories within the functions of language can be distinguished:
Each one of these categories, and each one of the functions, can be carried out
separately in speech acts. Often, however, two or more functions will combine in the
same speech act. Moreover, a person can search for information and at the same time
express surprise (emotional attitude).
This list of functions is not exhaustive. First of all, it is difficult to make a complete
list. Secondly, the list represents a list contemplated for the “threshold level” (nivel
umbral). More functions can be added at higher levels.
We will then examine the structures and lexicon needed for social relations and to
give and receive information, as well as how emotional and intellectual attitudes are
expressed.
1. Socialization vocabulary.
* Introductions:
Hello I am Jim. Hello, Jim./ Nice to meet you.
How do you do? My name is James How do you do, James?
b) Complimenting and congratulating:
* complimenting: responses
What a marvellous meal! I’m glad you liked it.
That was one of the best book I’ve ever read It’s nice of you to say so.
* congratulating: responses
Well done! thanks a lot.
May we congratulate you on... It’s very kind of you.
C) Offering and thanking:
* offering:
Would you like another helping? Yes, please, No, thank you.
* thanking:
thanks a lot. You’re welcome/ Not at all.
I regret that
e) Expressing condolences:
Probably one of the most important reasons we use language for is to give
someone some piece of information which we think they do not know. Questions and
statements are the structures we typically use to convey or ask for information. They do
not need, however, the use of a specific vocabulary, with the exception, perhaps of
interrogative pronouns. Where we do need to teach our pupils specific vocabulary is
when we consider people’s reactions to information, for instance opinion, agreement,
interruption and so on.
a) Opinion:
* asking for an opinion: What do you think about/ What are your
feelings about , What your attitude is to..
* giving an opinion: in my opinion, as I see it, My own view of the matter
is that...
* asking without giving your opinion: I don’t know what to think about, I
have no particular views on, I have no strong feelings about...
d) Clarification:
* Clarifying: , I mean.../..., in other words...
* asking for clarification: sorry?, Pardon?, Could you repeat that?, What
do you mean by..?
The last thing we will see in this point is the vocabulary needed to express
attitudes, where we have to distinguish in the next functions:
a) Volition:
* willingness: I am ready to paint your home/I will do anything for you
* wish: I wish you every happiness in your wedding dayWould you like?
*Intention: I intent to see you tomorrow/ I am going to see her
tomorrow.
* Insistence: I insist on overcome the issue.
i) Emotive emphasis:
* Interjections: Whoops, mm, gosh, whoah
* Exclamations: What a man!, How extraordinary!
*repetition: He is very very silly.
* Emphasizers: She’s an absolute beginner.
As we can see there are many lexical items that our pupils must be able to use in
order to acquire a basic communicative competence.
To finish we will see the third main point in the theme, the techniques used in
learning and teaching vocabulary.
Now we will point out the most common techniques to introduce the new
vocabulary. The first thing we will see is how we must introduce the new vocabulary.
The first step is introducing the new vocabulary, the main thing here is the meaning. To
explain the meaning there are several techniques and these are:
c) The use of records with sounds that they can associate with the object before
they listen to the word in English for instance the transports like a car, train, motorbike,
etc.
d) The use of mime, action and gesture: With gestures the teacher can explain a
lot of words, action verbs such as drink, eat, walk as well as adjectives like happy, sad or
deictic words such as from, to there...
e) Translation: when other techniques are not useful to explain any difficult word,
the teacher can use the translation into the mother tongue. However, translation cannot
be the main technique if we don’t want our pupils to continue to use Spanish as a
framework on which to attach English items.
The second step in teaching vocabulary is that our pupils remember them, and if
we want our pupils to remember the vocabulary we will have to practice it and there are
three main ways of practising it:
a) Revision through denotation: These activities are based on showing our pupils
the real object or action, or a picture:
1. Labelling: our pupils are given a picture and have to write the names of the
objects in the picture.
2. I spy: a pupil think in an object that the rest of the class can see and he/she
gives a clue that is the first vowel. The rest of the class try to guess the word. The
phrase they use is: I spy with my little eye something beginning with B. Is it a book?
3. spot the difference: our pupils are put into pairs. Each member has a slightly
different picture. Without showing it to one another they have to discover the differences.
4. Describe and draw: This activity is similar to the last one, one member of the
pair has a drawing and the other one a blank piece of paper. The pupil with the picture
must tell his partner what to draw.
5. Picture dominoes and picture rummy: this games are based on the associations
our pupils may establish between the objects appearing in cards. In dominoes they do it
with pairs of cards, while in rummy they do it with threes, fours.
6.Kim’s game: we show our pupils a picture or a tray with object on it, or series of
different flash cards or magazine pictures. They have two minutes to memorize as man
as they can, and afterwards they will have to say or write what they saw. And we can
transform this game into Chinese whispers if only one child sees the tray and then
whispers the objects into his partner’s ear. The process goes on and we see the
similarities and differences between the initial and the final list.
7. I spy: A pupil thinks about an object that the rest of the class can see and he or
she says: I spy with my little eye something beginning with... and the first letter of the
object and the rest of the class try to guess it.
1. Word thermometers: these are useful for indicating degree. For example place
these words in the correct place on the thermometer: always, sometimes, usually, never,
rarely. (dibujar un termometro).
2. Series: this game uses lexical fields. Our pupils must write as many words as
they know in one field. We can use these words in Word Bingo. Our pupil write ten words
relating to one lexical field. We call out words connected with this lexical field. The firs
pupil who crosses out all the words on his page is the winner.
3. Spiders: we draw a spider in the blackboard with a topic or a word and they
have to write in the legs all the words they can think of connected with this word.
4. Odd man out: the teacher says four or five words but one of them isn’t related
to the rest and they have to guess it.
5. Categories: we use jumbled words which must be categorised into lexical fields.
1. Cloze test: the pupil must write the words that there aren’t write in the text
because they are necessary.
2. Matching antonyms.
3. Matching words with their definition.
Bibliography
Alburquerque. R et al. En el aula de Ingles. Longman. London, 1990
Gairns R& Redman S Working with words. CUP. 1986.
Wallance M Teaching Vocabulary Heinemann 1982
Propuesta de Secuencia. Lenguas Extranjersa. Mec. Escuela Española. Madrid. 1992.
Picture dictionaries.
Abbs B Picture Workbook Longman 1986
Oxford Children’s Picture Dictionary OUP. 1981
THEME 12: ESSENTIAL MORPHOSYNTACTICAL ELEMENTS IN ENGLISH.
ELEMENTARY COMMUNICATIVE STRUCTURES AND USE OF GRAMMATICAL
CATEGORIES IN ORAL AND WRITTEN PRODUCTIONS.
1. Introduction.
The structures of a language, the rules governing the
changes of their forms and the combination of elements
composing it, constitute the grammar of that language. If our
intention is to learn a language, we cannot just learn its
vocabulary but we will have to learn also the elements making
it up.
Apart from learning a language, if we want to communicate with it productively, we will
have to learn that there are other factors shaping the meaning of a grammatically correct sentence
in a language, such as: situations, speakers and social background, that is, the context.
In English is difficult to analyze irregular nouns and verbs; mice is the plural of mouse, but
it is not obvious how to identify a plural morpheme in the word, analogous to the –s ending of cats.
Another complication is that morphemes sometimes have more than one phonetic form, eg. The
past tense morpheme –ed in English is pronounced in three different ways. These variant forms of a
morpheme are known as allomorphs.
Words have been grouped into word classes, traditionally labelled the parts of speech.
a) Closed classes: They can be composed of all the existing elements or of those
that may be created. In order to define them in relation with other words, we must do it with those
with which they have a semantic relation.
- prepositions: of, at, in without, in spite of.
- pronouns: he, they, anybody, one, which
- determiner: the, a, that, when, although
- conjunctions: and, that, when , although
- modal verbs: can, must, will, could
- primary verbs: be, have, do
- articles: the, a, an
- demonstratives: this, that, these, those
b) Open classes: The components of this group do not admit any addition of other
elements.
- nouns: John, room, answer, play
- adjectives: happy, steady, new
- full verbs: search, grow, play
- adverbs: steadily, completely, really
Predicate: has a close relationship with what is being dealt with, what the sentence is about,
and it generally implies that something new is being told about a subject which has
previously appeared in another sentence.
Subject: determines the agreement and it is also the changing part within the sentence, that
is the reason why few generalisations are permitted.
Subject Predicate
Auxiliary Verbal predication
He will write Arthur a letter.
A) Auxiliaries as “operators”.
The verb may be composed of several auxiliaries, e.g. They would have
been..., in these cases the first auxiliary is considered the “operator”: would.
1.3.2.3. Complements.
These elements may have the same structure as the subject itself.
We must distinguish between:
1) Subject complement: this type of complement has a direct
relationship with the subject.
1.3.2.4. Objects.
The objects are placed after the subject and the verb. When the sentence is
passive, both of them assume the subject status.
indirect object
1.4. Adverbial categories.
Adverbials may be many and varied. From a syntactic point of view the only classification
which is important to make is that between obligatory adverbials and the remainder. Some
adverbs can be omitted and the sentence would only suffer a slight change, remaining its sense
almost untouched, like this time adverbial:
Yesterday she opened the door noisily – She opened the door noisily.
However, other types of adverbial like manner adverbials: noisily and use carefully,
silently, etc., when they are replaced by other, the meaning of the sentence would change although
the sentence will continue being grammatically correct. The same happens when we place some
of these adverbials in a sentence with a stative or non-progressive verb:
John is a student noisily (WRONG)
2. Adjective.
The adjective has neither genre nor number. In most cases, it admits
inflexion to form the comparative (-er) and the superlative (-est). Other adjectives
which do not admit inflexion form their comparative and superlative differently:
good, better, best, bad, worse, worst.
Adjectives are placed before the noun. When there is more than one
adjective referred to the same noun the order is as follows:
1) Subjective opinions: careful, naughty,...
2) Size and weight or other subjective opinions: small,
wealthy...
3) Age: old, young...
4) Shape: round, square, oval...
5) Colour: blue, green, red, brown
6) Country or origin: German...
7) Material: glass, leather, woollen...
3. Adverb.
The main characteristic of an adverb is of morphological type: most
adverbs add the –ly suffix. They are formed by adding the –ly suffix to an adjective.
Syntactically, adverbs are characterised by two types of functions:
1) Adverbial function.
There are three different types of adverbial clauses:
a) adjuncts (they are integrated in the sentence):
We usually go there.
b) disjuncts (not integrated and used to express an
opinion about what is being said):
Honestly, I am tired.
c) conjuncts (not integrated and have a connecting
function):
If you go on smoking, them, I am leaving.
4. Preposition.
They expresses the existing relation between two entities, being one of
them the one represented by the prepositional complement.
There are simple, like at, in, for... and compound, like in front of, along with...
5. Pronoun.
They substitute the noun. There are personal, reflexive, reciprocal,
possessive, relative, interrogative, demonstrative universal (each, all, every and its
compounds, partitive and quantifying pronouns.
6. The articles.
We must distinguish between specific reference article and generic
reference article. The reference is specific when we refer to a specific element within
a group:
A man and two women are waiting outside.
When we refer to the group to which the element belongs to, then the
reference is generic:
The monkey is a funny animal.
7. Pro-forms.
We shall refer to two subdivisions:
- Pronouns: they substitute the noun:
We wrote Arthur a letter – We wrote him a letter.
- Pro-verbs: they also substitute nominal clauses:
Come home – Come here.
8. Question and negation.
1) Question.
a) Wh-questions.
Within the category of substitutes there is a series of words
forming a special class which substitutes certain parts of a sentence
which may need explanation. These substitutes are: which, when,
why, where, who, whose and how.
Who writes her a letter every day?
b) Yes-no questions.
There are questions demanding an affirmative or negative answer with reference to a full
sentence:
Did John write her a letter?
2) Negation.
Its use implies a full predicate negation with the operator and the
negative adverb not, placed between the operator and the verbal
nucleus:
John did not write her a letter.
Interaction will make possible that in particular moments specific needs of certain
structures, either new or more complex ones arise. Then, first of all, the student will be able
to use non linguistic resources and when the latter are not sufficient, the pupils can ask their
teacher so that he can give them the appropriate mechanisms. It is the teacher duty to design a
series of activities progressively demanding more complex linguistic uses.
TEACHING-
LEARNING FORM MEANING
GRAMMAR
CATEGORIES
LISTENING Perception and recognition of the Comprehension of what the
spoken form of the grammar spoken grammar category means
categories. in context.
SPEAKING Production of well-formed Use of the grammar categories to
examples in speech. convey meanings in speech.
READING Perception and recognition of the Comprehension of what the
written form. written grammar categories
means in context
WRITING Production of well-formed Use of grammar categories to
examples in writing. convey meanings in writing.
2) Through explication.
Learning through explication requires two essentials:
- basic knowledge of the language of the explanation
- advanced cognitive development
The formal learning of grammar is not our objective when teaching
English to our pupils. We want them to use grammar categories to improve
their communicative competence. We can do this using, for example, songs
and stories, which can introduce our pupils to the grammatical patterns of
English in a natural and authentic way.
1. INTRODUCCIÓN
1. Los límites del área de estudio que abarca parecen estar más claros.
Ejemplo 1:
ORACIÓN
Ejemplo 2:
- Presente Simple de los verbos (to be, have got), there's, there're.
- Nombres plurales.
- This/that/the.
- Saludarse y presentarse.
- Decir adios.
- Disculparse.
- Expresar arrepentimiento.
- Decir la hora.
- Hacer la compra.
- Hacer preguntas en una agencia de viajes o solicitar información sobre
viajes.
- Especular.
- Telefonear a alguien.
- Hacer sugerencias.
- Aconsejar a alguien.
- Advertir a alguien.
- Anunciar públicamente una opinión.
- Protestar.
- La edad.
- El estado civil.
- El origen y la nacionalidad.
- Los lugares.
- Los muebles.
- El trabajo.
- El tiempo libre.
- La comida y la bebida.
- Preferencias.
- Días de la semana.
- Números ordinales.
- El tiempo.
- Generalizar.
- Cuantificar.
- Graduar.
- Las rutinas.
- Los colores.
- La ropa.
- Las tallas.
- La pobreza y la riqueza.
- La felicidada y la infelicidad.
- El racismo.
- La infancia.
- La educación.
- El clima.
- Planes futuros.
- Las vacaciones.
- Los contrastes.
- El tiempo pasado.
- Los deportes.
- La música.
- El cine y la televisión.
- La lectura.
- Las máquinas.
- Los horóscopos.
- El peligro.
- El futuro.
atributivo predicativo
Susan has got a new car Has Susan got a new car?
Ejemplo: She always gets up at seven and has breakfast has breakfast
She gets up
Estudio desde hace un mes Þ I've been studying for one month
- Yes, he is.
- No, he isn't.
- Probably.
- Probably not.
- Perhaps.
"A construction company is building a house for Mr. Evans. They promised
him a lot of thing for Christmas."
b) Trabajo individual:
- They promised they will put the roof, they will complete the kitchen, etc.
c) Trabajo por parejas: You are Mr. Evans, and your friend is the manager
of the construction company. You are impatient, and you are asking him
questions with will you
..... by Christmas?
SITUACIÓN 2:
- become internationally famous / win the Nobel prize / write more than
30 novels / etc.
b) Trabajo individual:
SITUACIÓN 3:
Kill all the whales / destroy the Amazon forest / Kill fish / etc.
b) Trabajo individual:
- What does Beatrice Wood think we will do by the end of the century?
- She thinks we will kill all the whales and fish, etc.
c) Trabajo por parejas: You are talking to Beatrice Wood. Ask her these
questions:
By the end of the century we will kill the whales, fish and we will destroy
the Amazon forest.
BIBLIOGRAFÍA
ALCARAZ & MOODY. La didáctica del inglés. Ed. Alhambra. Madrid. 1982
M.E.C. Cajas rojas para la Reforma. Área de lenguas extranjeras. Madrid.
1992
BELLO y OTROS. Didáctica de las segundas lenguas. Ed. Santillana (Aula
XXI). Madrid. 1992
SWAM & WALTER. The new Cambridge english course. C.U.P. Cambridge.
1991
TEMA 13
HISTORIA DE LA EVOLUCIÓN DIDÁCTICA DE LAS LENGUAS EXTRANJERAS:
DE LOS MÉTODOS DE GRAMÁTICA-TRADUCCIÓN A LOS ENFOQUES
ACTUALES.
1. EL MÉTODO “TRADICIONAL”
Antes de empezar a hablar del método tradicional debemos puntualizar que el empleo de
dicho término no es muy apropiado; estudiando la historia de la enseñanza de las lenguas se
constata inmediatamente, y como veremos a continuación, que no ha habido “métodos
tradicionales”sino que más bien los distintos métodos se han ido sucediendo o turnando. En
inglés se ha utilizado una denominación más ajustada a la realidad: “método de gramática y
traducción”, respondiendo así a las prácticas más comunes y características del mencionado
método.
Por método tradicional, esquematizando y simplificando, podríamos reducir el contenido de
esta metodología a los siguientes puntos:
1. Visión normativa y prescriptiva del lenguaje, como base sobre la que se asientan los
contenidos que se enseñan.
2. Predominio de un modelo de lenguaje derivado del legado escrito de autores
“consagrados”, es decir, encontraremos una lengua formal , correcta y relacionada con
las corrientes puristas.
3. Convencimiento y creencia (consciente o no) en el hecho de que los procesos
lingüísticos son procesos fundamentalmente lógicos, adquiridos por deducción. En
consecuencia, se hace necesario aprender primero las reglas gramaticales; después la
aplicación de tales reglas permitirá la formación de frases y oraciones bien hechas,
utilizando léxico variado en combinaciones distintas.
4. El concepto de lengua oral y/o coloquial es sinónimo de “vulgar” de bajo nivel o
calidad. No solamente no se toma como modelo sino que incluso se debe evitar en el
uso y rechazar como incorrecto.
5. La memorización de reglas gramaticales por un lado y de largas listas de vocabulario
por otro, son los objetivos prioritarios en una lección del método tradicional.
6. La técnica de la traducción directa e inversa es la más ampliamente utilizada en clase.
7. El vocabulario utilizado es el que mejor sirva a la aplicación de las reglas gramaticales,
no necesariamente el que más se use en la comunicación interpersonal.
Desde el punto de vista histórico, parece lógico asumir que el método tradicional habría sido
difícil de aplicar cuando la gramática no estaba clara o la conceptualización gramatical no
había alcanzado un grado de desarrollo analítico mínimo. En este sentido las aportaciones de
los griegos, particularmente, Aristóteles y Dionisio Tracio fueron hitos importantes que
permitieron acercarse más al estudio de las lenguas desde un punto de vista analítico. Con
toda seguridad, en aquel entonces, las lenguas se aprendían por contacto lingüístico entre los
hablantes, mediante la práctica en el medio adecuado. Así el latín se aprendia sobre todo
mediante tutores que convivían con el educando, hablando ambos en esa lengua. En siglos no
lejanos, Montaigne todavía nos cuenta cómo él aprendió latín con ese sistema, llegando a
hablarlo con soltura y prontitud.
Volviendo de nuevo a Ollendorf, vale la pena estudiar más a fondo cómo se estructura cada
lección de su método, puesto que durante muchos años no cambió.En el siglo XX ,hubo un
intento de cambio, aparecieron libros de texto con el título de “Ollendorf reformado”, pero
tales reformas fueron siempre mínimas y no sustanciales. Como decía, en una lección típica
ollendorfiana encontraríamos los siguientes apartados:
1. Una lista de palabras en ambas lenguas encabezando la unidad; a veces, en vez de lista de
palabras, se presenta una lista de frases que reflejan lo que posteriormente se va a exponer
en la regla gramatical.
Ejemplo:
2. Se enuncian a continuación las reglas gramaticales (aunque a veces pueden aparecer antes).
Ejemplo: “Jamás se hace uso de este genitivo con los adjetivos empleados sustantivamente”
Sin embargo, es fácil encontrar una notable falta de exactitud en la enunciación de las reglas
gramaticales, y en lo relativo a la pronunciación, las explicaciones curiosas abundan:
Por otro lado, los métodos de idiomas no deben estar desconectados de la realidad social en la
que aparecen y se desarrollan. En la actualidad, el método tradicional está fuera de lugar,
desplazado y desfasado. Y es natural que así sea, entre otras razones, porque los estudios
linguísticos apuntan en otra dirección y porque la consideración de qué es necesario en el
aprendizaje de una segunda lengua ha cambiado sustancialmente. Pensemos, por ejemplo, en
la primacía de la lengua oral, favorecida actualmente por los medios de comunicación,
medios que facilitan el contacto entre las gentes y exigen incluso la necesidad de conocer una
segunda lengua para poder entendernos en los frecuentes viajes.
a) El imperio de la gramática.
1. Que la gramática ha sido considerada siempre como básica en el estudio de las lenguas y
del lenguaje.
2. Que si tanta importancia le ha sido dada por lingüístas de todos los tiempos, las razones
deben haber sido serias.
2. EL MÉTODO DIRECTO
Pero el método que hoy denominamos directo, encontró su máximo exponente, desde el
punto de vista de su divulgación y concretización en un libro de texto, en las obras y labor
docente de M.D. BERLITZ. Su método es una amalgama de elementos de distinta índole,
provenientes en parte de autores tan sobresalientes como Comenio y Pestalozzi, y, en parte,
resultado de una reacción frente al método más extendido hasta entonces, el tradicional.
Comenio ya decía que las palabras no podían ser aprendidas separadas de las cosas y
Pestalozzi (1746-1872), habla del método natural. Para él, el aprendizaje de una lengua es
uno de los elementos clave de todo aprendizaje humano. En su obra De cómo Gertrudis
enseña a sus hijos, nos lega su filosofía del aprendizaje referido a las lenguas. En primer
lugar, trata del aprendizaje de la lengua materna. El proceso es “natural”, influyendo de forma
decisiva la impresión por los sentidos, y dichas impresiones provienen de experiencias
exteriores, entre las cuales están los objetos. Dice que se debe buscar, en el proceso de
aprendizaje, la aplicación y la búsqueda de estímulos que ofrezcan los objetos y cosas de las
cuales suele estar rodeado el niño, y, utilizar dichos objetos de formas diversas presentando al
niño las sensaciones más variadas.
La utilización de los objetos del mundo real, y la insistencia en el método natural, hacen que
poco después F. Francke trate de explicar tal proceso aplicado a la enseñanza de idiomas.
Intenta dejar claro que el proceso de traducción utilizado en la enseñanza de idiomas es poco
económico, porque sigue la línea [LE-LM-C], es decir, lengua extranjera-lengua materna-
concepto, cosa innecesaria, puesto que basta seguir la trayectoria lengua extranjera-
concepto,[LE-C]. Se puede aprender la palabra de la lengua extranjera relacionándola con el
objeto en cuestión. Es más,lo primero, dificulta el aprendizaje más que facilitarlo.
Cuando Berlitz habla de “leyes naturales” en el proceso de aprendizaje, añade a lo dicho por
Pestalozzi que el niño al aprender la lengua materna, no aprende gramática, ni reglas, ni
nada semejante y es capaz de hablar una lengua . Además, su aprendizaje es más seguro y
eficaz.
Sin embargo hay que tener en cuenta que el aprendizaje de la lengua materna es diferente al
de una lengua extranjera:
1. Al aprender la lengua materna, el niño no dispone de otro medio lingüístico de
comunicación.
2. Aprende una lengua por primera vez.
3. La lengua que aprende le es vital para poder comunicarse con lo que le rodea y con
aquellos con quienes convive a diario.
4. Vive hora tras hora en un contexto lingüístico apropiado para aprender el idioma que usa,
sin nada que se lo impida y con todo a su favor.
Pestalozzi exprime el tema al ampliarlo al mundo de los adultos; dice que no se puede
comparar el aprendizaje del niño y del adulto porque a la hora de aprender una lengua
extranjera, el adulto está mejor equipado al poseer un sistema y estar habituado ya a
establecer relaciones objeto-pensamiento-palabras. Mientras, el niño ha de empezar por lo
más elemental: la captación e identificación del objeto en cuanto a tal (evidentemente se
refiere a niños muy pequeños).
En realidad, este método que nos ocupa está enfocado al aprendizaje de una lengua extranjera
por adultos, y sus defensores lo que quisieron fue encontrar un paralelo con el proceso de
aprendizaje de la lengua materna de un niño. Pero dicho paralelismo era sólo parcial porque:
Volviendo de nuevo con Berlitz, añadamos algunas de sus palabras, decía que con su método
se aprende “como si se estuviese en el país en que se habla el idioma”. Pero tal comparación
no se da ni en el mejor de los casos, falla la premisa fundamental, el que aprende
permaneciendo en su país de origen, estudia dos, tres, cuatro, seis u ocho horas diarias,
dificilmente más. El resto del día se sumerge de nuevo en el ambiente que le es propio,
escucha la televisión, la radio, lee...en su idioma nativo. En cambio el que reside en el país de
la lengua que está aprendiendo tiene otra composición mucho más favorable. Para empezar
tiene que aprender el nuevo código de comunicación para sobrevivir, integrarse...,aprende la
lengua todo el día, tv, radio, trabajo...
En líneas generales los defensores del Método directo se oponen a la explicación de las reglas
gramaticales y la traducción en una clase de lengua extranjera. Pretenden la asociación
objeto-palabra. Pero bien pensado el alcance de este resorte es más bien reducido: los objetos
que se pueden llevar al aula no son muchos, en tal momento tenemos el recurso de los
dibujos. Es el recurso ya preconizado por Comenio: “podemos recorrer la selva sin salir de
nuestra aula”, aunque la variante es que se utiliza la imagen, no el objeto real.
Frente a lo ofrecido por los métodos tradicionales, basados en la gramática y traducción, este
método representa una alternativa totalmente opuesta: ausencia de gramática, ausencia- en los
primeros niveles al menos- de textos literarios, ausencia de listas iniciales de palabras a las
cuales se habían de aplicar las reglas gramaticales. En contrapartida se ofrece la lengua “ tal
cual se habla “ en la vida diaria, y el inmediato uso de la misma en situaciones de interacción
comunicativa a nivel oral.
El profesor del Método Directo suple la traducción mediante el uso de objetos, mímica o
similares. Pero este procedimiento en sí inocuo, encierra muchos peligros. Sobre todo el
peligro de que el alumno no capte el significado correcto y aprenda un error que si no se
soluciona lo repita siempre y pueda ser el origen de una cadena de errores o de acumulación
de deficiencias.
Por otro lado, a medida que avanza el nivel , las frases sencillas de la vida cotidiana van
dejando paso a otras más complejas, que seguramente requerirán un análisis más detallado,
incluyendo las explicaciones gramaticales.
Con el Método Directo se intenta sumergir al alumno desde el principio en el contexto de la
lengua que aprende, pero no cabe esperar que esa inmersión sea del mismo calibre que la del
niño que aprende su primera lengua. El hábito de pensar en el idioma que se aprende es un
objetivo primordial. De hecho una vez logrado eso, ya se puede decir que en verdad se ha
llegado a un pleno dominio de esa lengua. Pero es un objetivo difícil de alcanzar y muy pocos
lo logran. Con este método se supone que al utilizar siempre la lengua que se aprende se
facilita tal objetivo. Contrastando esto con el método tradicional el cambio de énfasis y
direccionalidad es muy notable.
Desde el punto de vista de el profesorado, el profesor del Método Directo ha de tener dos
cualidades sobresalientes:
1. Hablar muy bien la lengua que enseña y desenvolverse en ella con agilidad y facilidad.
2. Ser activo en la clase.
En cuanto a lo primero, uno de los motivos del fracaso inicial de dicho método fue la carencia
de personal docente preparado. Sin el excelente conocimiento de la lengua a enseñar es
imposible llevar la clase, es más, es muy difícil que el profesor transmita al alumno una
creatividad en la lengua que enseña cuando él mismo carece de ella. Referente al segundo
punto, al ser una metodología activa se necesitan profesores con temperamento activo, de lo
contrario no podrían llevar este tipo de clases con desenvoltura.
3. EL MÉTODO AUDIO-ORAL
Con el Método audio-oral, no estamos ante nada realmente nuevo, sigue esta línea, es decir,
fueron profesionales de la enseñanza de idiomas del siglo XIX los que dieron el primer paso.
En nuestros días, tenderíamos a asumir que cualquier método del siglo XIX debería caer
dentro del denominador común de “método tradicional”. Sin embargo, existían métodos
como el del señor LLAUSAS o el señor ROBERTSON que lo criticaban. Pero también en
estos años se dieron reacciones de signo totalmente opuesto a las ideas de Llausas. A él se
opone el método JACOTOT , quien opina que todos esos métodos que estaban invadiendo
Europa y América tienen defectos capitales al desterrar todo estudio gramatical y fiar a la
práctica, hecha sin plan ni gradación, el conocimiento de un idioma extranjero.
Además si la lengua era uso, no tenía por qué basarse exclusivamente en la gramática o en el
texto literario, había que aprender ( y enseñar) la lengua tal cual era usada, la lengua
hablada. A esto se unía la necesidad o el afán de comunicarse oralmente en otra lengua (afán
que no es gratuito: las confrontaciones bélicas lo habían hecho importante, al igual que los
nuevos medios de comunicación).
el / hombre/come/pan.
el /niño /da/ limosna.
la/niña/pide/ agua.
Son frases que tienen la misma estructura, y, sus distintos elementos desempeñan la misma
función. Más aún: los elementos que desempeñan la misma función pueden ser sustituidos
por otros equivalentes sin que la estructura cambie. Así, "el hombre”puede ser cambiado por
"la mujer", "la niña"... La conclusión que se va a extraer con relación a la enseñanza es que,
aprendiendo la estructura, el discente será capaz de aplicarla en cualquier otro caso solamente
mediante el cambio de unos elementos por otros funcionalmente iguales, que a su vez,
también serán sustituibles por otros equivalentes. En esta premisa se basan los ejercicios de
repetición mecánica y los ejercicios de laboratorio.
Pero de nuevo, sobre la novedad de este proceder es preciso hacer algunas observaciones: la
repetición de frases y estructuras es un elemento beneficioso para el aprendizaje de idiomas,
este principio ya lo había aplicado anteriormente Erasmo en sus Colloquia; Brookes en la
Inglaterra del siglo XVII..., y por estar más estrechamente relacionado con los
procedimientos del método audio-oral, merece la pena citar a Th. Prendergast y su Mastery
Sistem (1870). Prendergast había observado cómo los niños aprendían repitiendo una y otra
vez estructuras que les llamaban la atención, entreteniéndose con ellas y utilizando cuanto
vocabulario les era posible utilizar. En tales observaciones patentó su método. No había
gramática, pero sí un sistema graduado con el fin de adquirir progresivamente hábitos
linguísticos. Con una tabla en la que aparecen elementos diferentes, conjugados entre ellos de
múltiples y posibles formas, el número de combinaciones es impresionante:
Why did you not ask him to come with two or three of his friends to see my brother's
gardens?
De todos modos, el supuesto, tanto de Prendergast como de los defensores del audio-oralismo
más tarde, no es plenamente sostenible, aunque a primera vista pueda parecer así. Es verdad
que cuando el niño aprende una lengua repite lo que escucha, pero el hablante además de ser
capaz de repetir lo que escucha, crea constantemente estrucuturas que no había practicado
antes.
Otro punto a analizar es el siguiente: las estructuras lingüísticas a que se refieren los del
método audio-oral han de estar basadas en el uso real de la lengua, sin embargo, topamos de
nuevo con una contradicción metodológica. Nada más reñido con la lengua coloquial que los
ejercicios mecánicos o estructurales del cariz siguiente:
A pesar de que se diga que este tipo de ejercicio se realiza para consolidar la estructura, dicha
estructura no se consolidará realmente porque el alumno fuera de ese contexto no sabrá o no
será capaz de producir o generar frases diferentes de las que le fueron inculcadas en los
ejercicios de mecanización. Todo lo humano es más complejo y por eso la reducción del
lenguaje a esquemas simples, fijos y manejables de manera mecánica no da resultados
óptimos. La repetición como técnica se torna en arma arrojadiza cuando se convierte en
técnica casi exclusiva. Y esto es así porque la creatividad, que forma parte del uso de la
lengua por cualquier hablante,queda totalmente anulada y excluida.
En general, hemos de partir de la base de que cualquier técnica utilizada debe reunir dos
requisitos básicos: ser eficiente y favorecer la motivación del alumno. Una técnica no será
todo lo eficaz que se desea si no motiva al alumno. De otro lado, un alumno bien motivado,
verá entorpecido su aprendizaje si las técnicas utilizadas no son adecuadas. Y es precisamente
en este sentido en el que el método audio-oral difícilmente podrá motivar a muchos alumnos
debido a los ejercicios de repetición mecánica. Suponían sesiones demasiado largas en las
que se repetían machaconamente determinadas estructuras, se sobrepasaba con frecuencia la
capacidad de retención de la mente humana porque normalmente después de veinte minutos
ya no suele ser biológicamente capaz de mantener una atención intensa. Las sesiones de
laboratorio solían durar una hora.
El primer contacto de una clase con el método audio-oral solía ser muy positivo y hasta
altamente motivador para el alumno: éste entraba en el aula y se veía enfrentado de inmediato
con la lengua que quería aprender; desde el principio se usaban palabras útiles, estructuras
sencillas y relacionadas con la vida diaria; no se empleaba la lengua materna del alumno y la
gramática ni se mencionaba. Pero no era un método milagroso y de hecho era frecuente
comprobar que a partir de las 10 ó 15 primeras horas de clase, algunos alumnos ya no seguían
el ritmo de la clase y se sentían perdidos. Con frecuencia no sabían por qué hacían lo que
hacían y, lo que es más grave, no entendían lo que repetían. Por tanto, la perfecta gradación y
estudio del material que les era ofrecido de poco les servía, ya que no lo asimilaban de forma
eficaz.
Otro de los principios de este método es que se enseñe la lengua y “no algo sobre la
lengua” . Se trata de evitar la insistencia en las explicaciones de tipo gramatical, pero ¿Por
qué ha de existir una contradicción entre enseñar la lengua y dar información analítica de la
misma? Los niños no suelen aprender mediante explicaciones analíticas sobre la lengua -se
dice- y sin embargo, la aprenden. Pero el niño, aunque empieza aprendiendo la lengua en el
entorno familiar, después recibe el complemento y la ayuda proporcionada por la educación
estatal, entre cuyos objetivos se encuentra el perfeccionamiento del lenguaje. Por otro lado, el
conocimiento de las normas gramaticales sirve de gran ayuda a la hora de aprender un
segundo idioma. No hay pues oposición, sino complementariedad.
El cuarto principio “ la lengua es lo que hablan los nativos “, es un principio que deriva, con
toda lógica, de las bases en que se fundamenta el estructuralismo. El sistema lingüístico es
fruto del conjunto de hablantes que lo usan como sistema de comunicación; pero constituye
igualmente, un entramado o código al cual todos los hablantes deben a su vez sujetarse. Sin
este requisito, la arbitrariedad de cada hablante conduciría a un caos, a una carencia total de
comunicación por desconocer el código del otro. El hablante, pues, no es autónomo respecto
a la lengua porque tiene reglas y entre otras, el significante ha de significar lo mismo para el
hablante y el oyente. Los individuos somos sujetos y objeto de un todo coherente que hemos
creado entre todos, y, ese todo es analizable, abstracto, pero sometido a unas normas que hay
que respetar.
Este método aporta una novedad sin precedentes y es que nunca se había dado una ligazón
tan estrecha entre lingüístas y profesores de idiomas . Los primeros se apoyan en los
segundos para llevar a la práctica unos principios determinados; y los profesores ven en las
teorías de los lingüístas la “salvación” a muchos de sus problemas en el aula. Esta fraternidad
no duró mucho tiempo y el lingüísta acabará defendiéndose, cobijándose en su teoría,
aduciendo que él no estudia lo que pasa en la clase o cómo se ha de aplicar su teoría a la
práctica. Chomsky consolidará esta posición en 1968 ante un millar de profesores de idiomas
congregados para oírle.
La la lingüística, sin embargo, con o sin pretensión ha aportado muchos puntos positivos a la
enseñanza de idiomas, entre ellos:
Los métodos audiovisuales tienen como punto de partida más próximo la metodología audio-
oral. Pero, si nos alejamos en el tiempo, los elementos visuales también aparecen en la
enseñanza de idiomas de hace tiempo. Los chinos los usaron y en Occidente, el Renacimiento
ofrece testimonios consistentes en este sentido. Es Comenio en el siglo XVII, quien ofrece
por vez primera una obra en la que los elementos visuales están presentes lección por lección
y coordinados con los elementos lingüísticos. En su Orbis Sensualium Pictus (1654), cada
lección o sección está encabezada por un dibujo y los términos léxicos van señalados con
números que se corresponden con los objetos, animales o personas presentes en los dibujos.
Así, Comenio ponía en práctica su convencimiento de que en el aprendizaje han de participar
todos los sentidos o tantos cuantos sea posible utilizar. El libro supone una verdadera
innovación. Pero el coste económico de la impresión debía ser todavía un importante
obstáculo para continuar por tal camino. Hoole maestro de inglés de aquel entonces, se
quejaba precisamente de que el libro de Comenio era demasiado caro para ser accesible a la
clase.
Sin lugar a dudas, la invención de la imprenta es el principal elemento novedoso que facilita
el uso de elementos visuales en la docencia. Lo que antes tenía que dibujarse en carteles
murales o pizarras, se reproducía fácilmente por medio de la imprenta. Y, aunque en un
principio era en blanco y negro, las facilidades fueron considerables en relación con lo que
existía anteriormente. Que Comenio publicase todo un libro con dibujos para enseñar latín
fue el inicio de lo que ocurriría después y siempre estaría presente hasta nuestros días.
Podríamos decir que los medios audiovisuales se popularizaron por varias razones:el simple
hecho de que intervenga un sentido más, la vista, es positivo por sí mismo; se sustituye el
empleo de la lengua materna por la representación pictórica del objeto, y, no olvidemos que a
través de las imágenes se pueden ofrecer materiales mucho más atractivos, motivantes para
el alumno al reforzar su atención y predisponerlo para que en su conjunto la clase sea más
agradable y apetecible a la vista.
En el siglo XX la utilización de la imagen no sólo se ha enriquecido en razón de las
posibilidades técnicas que están a nuestro alcance,sino que también se ha profundizado en su
uso. En este campo hay que destacar lo realizado en Francia, especialmente en la escuela de
St. Cloud, donde se insistía en la utilización de la imagen como sugeridora de un contexto
global. Cada elemento se considera estrechamente unido a otros elementos, formando
conjuntos o estructuras interrelacionadas. Por un lado, los elementos individuales conducen a
un todo, y por otro, ese todo es analizable y conducente a cada uno de los elementos
individuales. En realidad, lo que se hacía era seguir las pautas del estructuralismo en cuanto
que este movimiento consideraba el lenguaje como un conjunto de estructuras
jerárquicamente interdependientes.
2. Existe una realidad que no es precisamente lingüística, pero que afecta directamente a la
lengua: la realidad socio-biológica que hace que la persona tienda a rechazar todo nuevo
sistema cuando ya posee uno adecuado a su entorno, sus necesidades, etcétera. Se trata de una
resistencia incosnciente pero real.
3. La lengua oral es prioritaria. La lengua escrita debe ser introducida más tarde. Este sistema
de prioridades deriva del hecho de que -según ellos- la lengua escrita provoca en el alumno la
rememorización de los mecanismos articulatorios propios de su lengua materna, actuando
como interferencia importante en el proceso de aprendizaje de cualquier otro sistema
lingüístico. En consecuencia hay que eliminar ese obstáculo, al menos hasta el momento en
que el alumno ya tenga las defensas básicas necesarias para enfrentarse a tal interferencia.
Una de las técnicas consiste precisamente en eliminar en cada sonido aquellas frecuencias
que puedan recordar al alumno el sistema de sonidos de su lengua materna. El Profesor
Guberina, investigador fundamental, tenido en cuenta por los defensores de esta metodología,
ideó y construyó un aparato (SUVALINGUA) para filtrar los sonidos, haciendo concentrar la
atención en aquellos que interesa que el alumno capte con mayor rapidez, teniendo en cuenta
en todo momento las interferencias previsibles en relación con la lengua materna del alumno.
1. El alumno es sordo a los sonidos de la lengua que aprende si éstos no son iguales o
similares a los de su lengua materna. El alumno que aprende una segunda lengua ha de ser,
pues, estimulado para captar esas peculiaridades de los sonidos que no son propias de su
lengua materna. Para ello ha de ser entrenado mediante el estímulo de su capacidad
perceptora, capacidad que depende de complejos mecanismos cerebrales. Así, un japonés
pronunciará calo o lalo, por caro/raro, al aprender español; él, naturalmente piensa que ha
pronunciado “caro/raro”, pero no es consciente de que en realidad él oye en un principio
(hasta que su oído sea entrenado para ello) “calo/lalo”.
- La necesidad de una continuada e intensa exposición del alumno al idioma que aprende.
- La insistencia en la entonación como método para asimilar el sistema global y configuración
de los sonidos de la lengua cuya adquisición se pretende lograr.
- El trabajo intensivo y regular por parte del alumno.
Los elementos audiovisuales tienen también como finalidad expresa el evitar el uso de la
lengua materna, para ello se requiere que cada imagen se ajuste de la mejor manera posible y
con la debida precisión a los contenidos del texto. La imagen, dicen, tiene la función de
sugerir el contexto y no sólo el texto, de acompañar al sonido para asociarlo a la imgen y
evitar el recurso a la lengua materna.
BALANCE
5. LA METODOLOGÍA NOCIONAL-FUNCIONAL
Los diversos métodos basados en el estructuralismo, abrazados por tantos como soluciones
milagrosas, se dejaron de lado con furia. Este desencanto no fue ocasional sino que llegó de
la mano con la llamada teoría lingüística
transformacional, que hacía hincapié en la creatividad del lenguaje. Supuso una reacción
diametralmente opuesta a la teoría estructuralista y a los métodos audio-orales al observarse
que ambos procederes carecían de creatividad y que la lengua enseñada estaba demasiado
disociada de los aspectos comunicativos que más la caracterizan en su utilización cotidiana.
JESPERSEN como gran lingüísta y profesor, ya había afirmado que no se debe pensar en un
sólo enfoque o método para la enseñanza de idiomas, también se había adelantado a nuestros
tiempos señalando que las lenguas deben ser aprendidas en contexto y en situaciones
comunicativas. La “lengua es comunicación” era uno de sus lemas. En nuestros días todo
apunta hacia esa meta, los medios de comunicación, a todos los niveles son la realidad
dominante.
No obstante, los métodos situacionales no alcanzan quizás una autonomía real, a pesar de ser
ampliamente utilizados. Están muy ligados al audiovisualismo en general, a la preocupación
por aspectos gramaticales, a la ordenación e introducción gradada, a aspectos conductistas
relativos al apredizaje, a la introducción del vocabulario en función de listados de
frecuencia..., es decir, intentan reunir todo lo hecho hasta el momento en los métodos de
idiomas. En este contexto nace lo que en inglés se denominó, al principio de los años sesenta,
Notional-functional syllabus (programa nocional-funcional).
Las definiciones de dicho método no coinciden plenamente entre sí, pero todas ellas se
reducen a dos elementos clave: ausencia de aspectos gramaticales e insistencia en los
aspectos comunicativos de la lengua a enseñar.
WILKINS precisa diciendo “ el método nocional-funcional contrasta con el gramatical y el
situacional porque toma como punto de partida la necesidad comunicativa del lenguaje... En
vez de preguntar cómo se expresan los hablantes o cómo y cuándo utilizan la lengua, nos
fijamos más en qué es lo que se comunica mediante la lengua. Así podemos organizar la
enseñanza de la lengua en fución del contenido y no de las formas lingüísticas.”
2. La elaboración del material docente en un libro de texto, no toma como punto de partida
una organización por temas gramaticales, ni léxicos de frecuencia, ni situaciones de la vida
real, sino aquellas unidades de comunicación (actos de comunicación lingüística) que forman
parte integrante de la comunicación en la vida real.
3. Esas unidades del lenguaje se ordenan adecuadamente de acuerdo con las necesidades de
comunicación de aquellos que aprenden un idioma.
4. Dado que los actos de comunicación lingüística admiten varias formas, se debe proceder
también a una selección de las formas o estructuras lingüísticas, de acuerdo con el grado de
dificultad o complejidad de las mismas y siempre teniendo en cuenta las necesidades y
objetivos de quien aprende.
BALANCE
No quiere ello decir que los problemas gramaticales se eliminen, pero se abordan de manera
distinta: no mediante la programación gramatical previa a la que se estaba habituado, sino
como exposición descriptiva ,a posteriori, de lo que resulta de los actos de comunicación
lingüística, que constituyen el objetivo de cada lección. Así, por ejemplo, si el acto de
comunicación lingüística que queremos enseñar se refiere a saludar, apareceran registros
como el siguiente:
Esta simple manera de saludar a un amigo, a nivel coloquial, implica una serie de vocabulario
y de estructuras: flexión del verbo estar; qué, cómo...Pero dichas estructuras se pueden tornar
más complejas, dentro de la misma situación comunicativa a otro nivel ( el formal):
La presentación del material lingüístico a la clase se hace en términos de globalidad, tal cual
se da en la realidad de los actos de comunicación. Y el profesor no debería actuar de forma
distinta porque los problemas pueden incrementarse y desbordar la situación debido a que en
los actos de comunicación presentados en los textos las implicaciones gramaticales pueden
ser muy heterogéneas. Y su explicación explícita podría dar lugar a sesiones interminables e
incluso complicadas que perderían tanto al alumno como al profesor. De hecho, puede ocurrir
que algunas estructuras gramaticales consideradas como difíciles por los métodos
tradicionales, aparezcan desde las primeras lecciones, simplemente porque aparecen en actos
de comunicación lingüística de importacia básica. Por ejemplo, para pedir un favor a alguien
en español podríamos encontrarnos algo así:
La estructura Haría usted el favor de..., tanto en la gramática tradicional como en los
métodos audio-orales, aparecería en los libros de texto con toda probabilidad sólo después de
que el alumno hubiese visto ya las formas de presente y quizá también las de futuro. Sin
embargo, el acto de comunicación que implica el uso de estas formas de condicional es
evidentemente de importancia suma y capital en la comunicación interpersonal. Queda pues
justificada su aparición temprana en el material de aprendizaje. Pero que el profesor se
entretenga en explicar las formas del condicional sería imprudente; posiblemente es lo que
haría un profesor inexperto en el uso de esta metodología y acostumbrado a hábitos propios
de otros métodos.
Este método espera que los alumnos aprendan una lengua basándose en actos de
comunicación sin que necesariamente tengan que aprender todas las implicaciones
gramaticales. La idea es óptima para lenguas como el inglés, pero con el francés, el español y
todas aquellas que son más flexionadas, el problema de la morfología es ciertamente menos
ineludible.
Comparando con otros métodos, el método nocional-funcional no está muy lejos del método
situacional. Tanto las nociones lingüísticas como los actos de comunicación lingüística se
dan dentro de un contexto más amplio: la situación. Y también este método tiene elementos
estrucutralistas, en el sentido de que la explotación y transferencia, así como el refuerzo de
las funciones, se logrará mediante la repetición de contextos paralelos y en base a las mismas
estrucuturas funcionales. Tiene igualmente elementos visuales, porque también éstos pueden
ayudar a comprender mejor un acto de comunicación, global o especificamente. Y tiene
elementos de gramática tradicional porque la “gramática funcional” puede también
explicitarse en aquellos casos en los que sea más compleja o, sencillamente porque los
alumnos pidan que se den explicaciones para comprender mejor lo que están aprendiendo..
El método nocional-funcional responde muy bien, sin embargo, a los objetivos que se
propusieron en el Cojnsejo de Europa: una homogeneización de niveles de aprendizaje
mínimos para facilitar la comunicación interpersonal entre quienes, por razones políticas y
comerciales, han de estar en contacto permanente. Y esto ocurre sin lugar a dudas entre los
países que forman la Unión Europea.
De todos modos, y para finalizar, lo que debe quedar muy claro es que la metodología
nocional-funcional requiere un cambio de mentalidad en el profesor y en el alumno, un buen
entrenamiento del profesor para que no fracase en su uso y sobre todo tener en cuenta que
hasta ahora no existen métodos mágicos que permitan aprender o enseñar una lengua
sin esfuerzo y prescindiendo del factor tiempo.
TEMA 14
0. INTRODUCTION.
2.2. Design.
2.2.1. Objectives and syllabus.
2.2.2. Learning and teaching activities.
2.2.3. The roles of the learner and teacher.
2.2.4. The roles of materials.
2.3. Procedure.
3. BIBLIOGRAPHY.
PAG 1
0. INTRODUCTION.
In the long search for the best way of teaching a foreign language, a
proliferation of new
approaches and methods has been devised. Crertain methods are widely
recognized because
of their influential role in the history of ideas surrounding this
subject, for example, the grammar-translation method, the natural method,
the direct method or the audio-lingual method.
During the 1970, however, there was a strong reaction against methods that
stressed the
teaching of grammatical forms and paid little or no attention to the
way language is used
in everyday situations. Aconcern developed to make foreing language
teaching more
communicative.
The change from one methold to another or from one set of classroom
techniques and
procedures have reflected responses to a varietiy of historical issues and
circumstances. As
the study of methods and procedures assumed a central role within applied
linguistics from
the 1940s on, various attempts have been made to conceptualize the nature
of methods.
- Approach
- Method
- Technique
ANTHONY'S MODEL
Skills to be taught
Contents to be taught
Order of presentation
Richard s and Rodgers (1986) have revised and extented the original model.
They see
approach and method treated at the level of design, that level in which
objectives, syllabus,
and content are determined, and in which the roles or teachers, learners and
materials are.
specified. Anthony'slevel of technique is referred to as procedure. They
see, therefore, that
a method is theoretically related to and approach, organizationally
determined by a desing,
and is practically realized in a procedure.
PAG 3
Design-------------------------------------- Objectives
The syllabus
Teaching and
learning activities
The roles of the
learner
The roles of the
teacher
The roles of the
materials
1.2. Approach
- Structural view
- Functional view
- Interactional view
The funcional view is the view that language is a vehicle for the expression
of functional
meaning. We will see later how the communicative movement in language
teaching
embodies this view of language .
The third view is the interactional view. It sees language as a vehicle for
the realization
of interpersonal relations and for performance of social transactions
between individuals.
Community Language Learning seems to have embodied this point of view
lately.
PAG 4
These principles may or may not lead to a method. We may divise our own
teaching
Procedures following a particular approach, and then change this procedures
on the basis
Of the performance of our pupils. Theory does not dictate a particular set
of teaching
procedures. What links approach with procedure is what Richards and Rodgers
call design.
1.3. Design.
1.3.1. Objectives.
At the level of design we must deal with the specification of the general
and specific
Objectives of the method. Some methods may focus on oral skills. Some
methods may focus
On communication skills. Other may place a greater emphasis on accurate
grammar or
Pronunciation.
As we have to use the target language in order to teach it, we must make
decisions about
The selection of language items we are going to use. These languages items
are to be
PAG 5
PAG 6
We must be aware of the roles we can play in the classroom, as only when we
are sure of
our role and our pupils´concominant one will we depart from the security of
traditional
coursebook-oriented teaching.
The role of materials will reflect decisions concerning the primary goals of
the materials (to
present content, to practice content, to facilitate communication,...) the
form of the
materials (textbooks, audiovisuals, supplementary readers,...) the relation
of materials to
other sources of input (whether they are the principal source or not), and
the abilities of the teacher (degree of training and competence).
1.4. Procedure.
PAG 7
1.6. Conclusion.
PAG 8
2.1. Approach.
Systematic potential means that the native speaker possesses a system that
has a potential
for creating a lot of language. This is similar to Chomsky's competence.
Appropriacy means that the native speaker knows what language is appropiate
in a given
situation. His choice is based on the following variables, among others:
setting, participants,
purpose, channel, topic...
Occurrence means that the native speaker knows how often something is said
in the
language and act accordingly.
These four categories have been adapted for teaching purposes. Thus, Royal
Decree
1006/ 1991, of 14 June ( BOE 25 June), which establishes the teaching
requirements for
Primary Education nationwide sees communicative competence as comprising
five
subcompetences:
- Grammar competence: the ability to put into practice the linguistic units
according to the rules of use established in the linguistic system.
PAG 9
All these elements are part of the language as language is not something
abstract but a tool
for effective communication.
PAG 10
2.2. Design.
2.2.1. Objectives and syllabus.
- a desire to communicate
- a communicative purpose
- content not form
PAG 11
- variety of language
- no teacher intervention
- no materials control
In reaching a consensus activities our pupils must agree with each other
after a certain
amount of discussion. Consensus activities are very successful in promoting
free an
spontaneous use of English, e.g. they have to decide what ten objects they
will take with
them if they have to go to a camping site near a mountain range.
Story construction uses the principle of the information gap and adds the
jigsaw principle.
We give our pupils partial information and then ask them, to use that
information as part
of a story they must complete by asking other pupils who have other items of
information.
2 A role play is an activity for which the context an the roles of the
students are
Determinated by teacher, but in which students have freedom to produce the
language
Thei feel appropiate to that context and assigned roles
PAG 12
PAG 13
2.3. Procedure.
PROCEDURE
Stages activities
Presentation Strucutural Pre-communicative
Practice quasi-communicative Pre-communicative
PAG 14
3. BIBLIOGRAPHY.
Brumfit, C, and Johnson, K, The communicative approach to language teaching.
OUP.
Oxford, 1981.
0. Introduction.
Even at the early stages students can in fact do a great deal with the language: identifying
sounds; produce them orally; recognize then in a text. In short, even the very beginners can do
something with the language. We must build from that point by adding input which is neither too
advanced, nor too easy.
Cinema, music and literature are rich and motivating materials. If we manage to know how to
select and to present content in such a way that it will both challenge and motivate them.
Our curriculum establishes two general aims which are related this topic. They read as follows:
Objectives Assessment
criteria
1. To understand easy written and oral texts... 7. To read with the help
of the teacher...
4. To read short and easy texts...
According to this it is clear that we can and, it is possible, we should use literature in our
classroom. The general aim of our approach to the teaching of literature is to let our pupils derive
the benefits of communicative activities for language improvement within the context of suitable
works of literature.
We may find three types of justification for using literary texts. Each one deals with a different
type of content:
Concepts: literary texts offer genuine samples of a wide range of styles, register
and text-types, they provide a rich context in which individual lexical or
syntactical items are made more memorable.
Skills or procedures: the opinion gap between one pupil’s interpretation and
another’s can be bridged by genuine interaction.
Attitudes: the genuine feeling of literary texts is a powerful motivator.
When selecting a work of literature we must bear in mind that we want our pupils engage
interactively with the text, with classmates, and with us, the teachers. To reach this we must follow
these guidelines:
a) The text itself, and not information about it, is of central importance.
b) Our pupils must genuinely interact with the text, their classmates and the
teacher and not be mere recipients.
c) Our activities must be designed so as to enable our pupils to share their
personal experiences, perceptions and opinions.
d) Our activities must be varied and interesting.
e) The selection must be based on their potential interest for our pupils and
not in the literary qualities of the works.
1.2. Storybooks.
1. Criteria for selecting storybooks.
We can find many simplified storybooks which have been graded with children learning
English in mind. Most authors, however, consider that the use of authentic materials can be more
fruitful (real language and motivation). We can also find authentic books with high-quality
illustrations which will play an important role in aiding comprehension.
Our youngest pupils, those in the second cycle, will not be able to read at this speed in English
so we must use short, simple texts with illustrations. We can also use reading techniques to
improve our pupils’ reading speed. These are normally divided into technical or practice methods.
Technical methods: use a device of some kind to cover up the written words as
our pupils read, forcing them to speed up their reading. These methods may be
more useful for the Spanish language classroom.
Practice methods are more suitable for the English class our oldest pupils, as the
texts they are able to cope with begin to increase in size, e.g. texts followed by
certain tasks, decrease the time allowed for reading.
1. CRITERIA FOR SELECTING STORYBOOKS (Ellis and Brewster).
Needs and abilities.
1. Content/subject matter. a) Relevant; b) Interesting; c) Amusing; d) Memorable.
2. Visuals. a) Use of illustrations; b) Attractive/colourful; c) Size; d) Target culture.
3. Encourage participation. a) Repetition; b) Prediction; c) Develop memory; d) Build confidence.
4. Motivating. a) Relate to their experiences and characteristics.
5. Arouse curiosity. a) Interest in getting to know more about English language and culture.
6. Create positive attitudes. a) Target language, b) Target culture; c) Language learning.
We can see how these first criteria of suitability depend on each particular group of pupils,
their needs and interests.
Given the problems that lexical and structural difficulty pose, we may
need to assess linguistic difficulty in a systematic way. From the point of
view of EFL it would be better, as Hill suggests to use a cloze test:
Stylistic level.
The use of unusual word order, divergent vocabulary, and son will produce instances of
foreground that cannot be appreciated if we do not have a solid knowledge of what
constitutes the linguistic norm.
It is useless therefore to choose texts of great stylistic complexity for the early stages of
language learning. Style analysis should be based on the linguistic features with which our
pupils are already familiar.
It is clear that our pupils’ limited knowledge of the world will not allow us to expand on
most of these topics. Once and again we can obviously see that the linguistic, stylistic and
background knowledge which is required for a fully understanding of most classic children’s
literature works is far beyond our pupils’ ken. Modern storybooks are also more suitable
from needed background knowledge point of view.
e) Conclusions.
The study of the previous sections enables us to come to the following
conclusions about the most suitable periods, literary genres and authors.
Once we have decided on the previous questions we can begin to plan a story-based lesson:
Planning story-based lessons.
There are many ways to plan a lesson. However, a predominantly oral lesson normally
follows quite a fixed plan with small variations. We may have for example:
- Warm-up and review: informal chat to maintain rapport with our pupils. We
remind our pupils of what we did during the last lesson.
- Presentation: both of the aims of the lessons and subsequently of the new
language.
- Practice: controlled stage.
- Production: communicative stage.
- Final rounding-up.
2. Types of storybooks.
There is a wide range of texts that we could use for the teaching of English. However, we
consider storybooks as one of the most useful for that purpose, hence, we will mainly focus on this
type.
We have also made distinctions based on the level of difficulty but it is even more important to
distinguish between authentic and graded or adapted texts. We prefer to use authentic texts if this
is not possible, at least we should use real-simulated texts giving suggestions to adapt too difficult
texts.
Nunan describes authenticity as follows “authentic materials are usually defined as those which
have been produced for purposes other than to teach language (video clips, recordings of authentic
interactions, extracts for TV…).
Authentic materials are easily justified on the grounds that specially scripted texts are artificial.
Manipulating these texts does not mean that our pupils will comprehend and manipulate language
in real communicative situations.
However, especially with our pupils, who are beginners, it may be necessary to edit authentic
materials in a way. Edited materials can be classified into simulated authentic and artificial.
A non-authentic text, in language teaching terms, is “one that has been designed especially for
learners” (Harmer). We can make a distinction here, however, between texts which have been made
to illustrate particular language points for presentation (artificial) and those which appear to be
authentic.
Manipulating and comprehending simulated authentic texts will help our pupils to acquire the
necessary skills they will need when they come to handle authentic material. So we can conclude
saying that the material designed to foster the acquisition of communicative competence must at
least be simulated authentic.
We will finally see how we can adapt authentic texts which are slightly above our pupils’ level.
ADAPTING STORIES
Vocabulary and 1. Check unfamiliar content or words.
general meaning. 2. Check idioms.
3. Check clarity
Grammar. 1. Check tenses.
2. Check use of structures.
3. Check word order.
Organization of ideas. 1. Check sentence length and complexity.
2. Check time references.
3. Check the way ideas are linked.
4. Check the way ideas are explained.
Story length. 1. Check the number of ideas in the story.
By following the previous criteria of selection and use of storybooks we will intend to make the
most of literature in the classroom.
3. Bibliography.
Children’s literature:
The Cambridge Guide to English literature. CUP. Cambridge, 1990.
Methodology:
ELLIS, G. and BREWSTER, J.: The storytelling Handbook for Primary
Teachers. Penguin. London, 1991.
WELL-LOVED TALES SERIES: Loughborough: Ladybird Books, 1974.
OPOSICIONES AL CUERPO DE MAESTROS
GALICIA
ESPECIALIDAD: INGLÉS
THEME 15
1. INTRODUCTION
If we consider that level is what students can actually do with the language, it will become
obvious that even at the early stages students can in fact do a great deal with the language:
They can identify sounds (vowels. consonants, intonation, stress, rhythm), certain words and
structures. They can produce these orally; recognize them in a text and, at the very least,
underline words, if they can't actually set them down on a separate sheet of paper. In short,
even the very beginners can do something with the language. The teacher then must build
from that point by adding input which is neither too advanced, nor too easy. The input must
be motivating enough for them to want to try to understand, first, and then try to reproduce in
some way.
Cinema, music, and literature are rich in motivating material, if the teacher knows how to
select and to present content in such a way that it will both challenge and motivate them.
2. CONTENTS
The English language is certainly rich in literary figures and genres; and the literary ages are
full of intriguing aspects that students can find extremely motivating. Chaucer, for example,
is not merely an author who wrote a few famous tales in a strange dialect that nobody uses
today. But rather he tells some very good stories which, if a teacher can get beyond the
purely academic side of the great literary figure, could well be introduced to students in such
a way that suits their particular age group and level. The Canterbury Tales, for example, is
tremendously full of material that will motivate students. As long as the teacher knows how
to select and to present the content (keeping in mind Krashen's model of "input + 1" (input
just a little above the students' level) a great many literary figures can be successfully used in
TEFL.
Without forgetting, of course, that literature must be suitable to the students' level and age
group, and that any text can be adapted to suit the needs and capabilities of EFL students, the
following is a selection of authors. genres, and periods that could be used in TEFL.
The following are some of the well known tales which are often published in colourful and
easy-to-read graded readers: "The elves and the shoemaker," "The three little pigs," "The
gingerbread boy," "The little red hen," "The princess and the pea," "The sly fox and the little
red hen," "The three billy-goats gruff," "Chicken licken," "The three bears," "The ugly
duckling," "The emperor's new clothes," "Town mouse and country mouse.,"Sleeping
beauty," "Puss in boots," "Rumpelstiltskin Rapunzel," "The wolf and the seven little kids,"
"Little red riding hood,” The brave tailor," "Jack and the beanstalk," "Hansel and Gretel,"
"Cinderella," "Beauty and the, beast," "Snow White and the seven dwarfs," "Tomb Thumb",
"The little mermaid," and "The Wizard of Oz” ("Well-loved tales" Ladybird: 1966).
oWell-Know Rhymes
Additionally, the following are a few well known rhymes and songs: "One, two, put on your
shoe,“ "Where is thumbkin," "Polly put the kettle on," "Rain, rain, go away,” Two little birds
sitting on a wall,” This is the way,” “Old Mlacdonald had a farm," "Hickory, dickory. Dock,”
“Diddle, diddle, dumpling," "This little pig,” “This old man”, “Baa, bas, black sheep," "Three
blind mice,” “Here is a church,” ”Insey winsey spider," "Pat a cake," "Pussy cat, Pussy cat,"
"Humpty dumpty," "Ride a cock horse,” “Jack and Jill," "Hey diddle, diddle,” “Little miss
muffet," "Little Jack horner,” “Wee Willie Winkie," "One potato, two potatoes,” “Ten green
bottles," "Eeny, meeny, miny, mo," "There was a girl,” “It's raining, it's pouring,” “Fie, fie,
foe, fum,” “The brave old Duke of York," "There's a hole in my bucket”, “There was an old
woman who lived in a shoe." "Hush little baby," "Little bo-peep," "Sing a song of sixpence,"
"Oh dear, what can the matter be?," "Little boy blue The house that Jack built," "She sells
seashells," "Peter piper." "Thirty days has September,” There was an old woman who
swallowed a fly," "Ten green and speckled frogs The owl and the Pussy cat," (Dakin 1968).
Beowulf The text, in Old English. is from the 10th-cent. But it was believed written in the
6th-cent. The tale is about the life of the Geatish hero Beowulf who in his youth fights and
kills Grendel, a monster and then kills the monster's mother. Fifty years later he battles a
dragon and both are killed.
Chaucer's The Canterbury tales, in prose and verse, was written in the late 14th-cent. The
story begins when twenty-nine pilgrims on their way to Canterbury agree to tell tales as they
go to make the time pass by quicker. There are twenty-four tales told altogether. They
include the following: "The knight's tale," "The miller's tale," "The reeve's tale The cook's
tale," "The man of law's tale," "The wife of bath's tale," "The friar's Tale," "The summoner's
tale,” “The clerk's tale,” “The merchant's tale," "The squire's tale The Franklin's tale," "The
physician's tale The pardoner's tale," etc.
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is an alliterative poem from the second half of the 14th-
cent. The story begins at King Arthur's court in Camelot during a new year's feast. A large
green man appears and dares the knights to cut his head off. Young Gawain obliges him,
after accepting the challenge that he will allow his own head to be cut off on the same day the
following year. The Green Knight picks up his severed head and retires. A year later,
Gawain sets out to meet his fate, coming to a castle, where he is invited in as a guest. The
lord of the castle comes to an agreement with him, that whatever comes to pass the young
knight will report it to the lord. When the lord's wife tries to seduce him, he resists. but the
lady insists and he allows her at last to make a present to him of her garter. He does not
report this to the lord of the castle who reveals his true identity: he is the Green Knight. The
Green Knight honors him for his honesty and courage, and pardons Gawain the debt he has
come to pay. Nevertheless, he cuts the young knight's neck with his axe, for not telling him
about his wife's garter.
Piers Plowman, a late 14th-cent. poem in Middle English by William Langland, tells of how
the narrator fell asleep in the forest one day and of the many things that passed in his dream.
Sir Philip Sidney (1554-86) is an attractive figure: He was a romantic poet and a courageous
knight who was killed in Flanders in an attack he led on a Spanish supply convoy. There are
aspects of his life-if not some of his literary work-which students would find interesting.
Edmund Spenser (c. 1552-99) was author of, among other works, The Faerie Queene, which
contains some interesting material about courtiers and knights, dragons and medieval castles.
Spenser's life is of some interest, especially his friendship with Sir Walter Raleigh and his
encounter with the Irish people.
William Shakespeare (1564-1616) has a great many plays which are of particular interest to
the young. His history plays are full of intriguing stories of English kings and queens (Henry
VIII, Richard III). There are parts of some of his tragedies which are particularly motivating,
such as the three witches in Macbeth, or the ghost scene in Hamlet, and of course, Romeo
and Juliet attracts much attention among the young. Seviral of his comedies are appealing to
young students, especially A Midsummer Night's Dream and The Tempest , both of which
have a good many, scenes involving youths about the same age as the students.
Though the “metaphysical” writings of John Donne (1572-1631) are very difficult to
appreciate, the life of the man can be of interest to you and students. The poet sailed with
Essex to sack Cadiz in 1596 and with Raleigh to hunt the Spanish treasure ships off the
Azores in 1597.
Ben Jonson (1572/3-1637) is another intriguing literary figure whose life is of particular
interest to students. Coming from the lower class, he struggled to educate himself and
eventually became one of the known playwrights in England. Parts of his comedies are
motivating: Volpone is about a man who pretends he dying to get money from people who
pretend to be honest but are in fact rogues. He wrote The Masque ofBlackness for Queen
Anne because she had always wanted to appear on stage as a Negress. And The Alchemist is
an hilarious comedy about a servant, Face, who, with a fake alchemist, takes advantage of the
absence of the owner of a house in Blackfriars in London during an epidemic. They use the
house to trick roguish people out of money.
John Milton (1608-74) lived during a very crucial period in the history of Britain. He was a
Puritan who sided with those who favored the execution of King Charles I. The subject of the
civil war is intriguing and full of anecdotes. Milton's Paradise Lost, an epic poem in twelve
books written in blank verse, is the story of Adam and Eve and the Garden of Eden. The
character of Satan was unique in that the demon was presented in very humanlike, and at
times sympathetic, terms. There are scenes in long the poem that are worth summarizing,
such as when Satan, Beezelbub, and the legions of the rebellious angels have an assembly; or
when Satan and Eve first meet.
Aphra Behn (1640?-1689) is a tremendously intriguing figure. She was a spy for King
Charles II and worked under cover in Antwerp during the Dutch war. Her play The Rover is
about the adventures of a band of English cavaliers in Naples and Madrid. And Oroonoko, or
The Royal Slave, one of the first novels ever written, is about Africans who are captured and
sold into slavery in South America. The novel is full of interesting anecdotes.
Animals were used in "Books for boys and girls" and "Country rhymes for children",
published in 1686. The stories had a moral to teach. They were well known not only in
Britain but also in Italy, France, and Spain. Furthermore, some of the verse from "Divine and
moral songs for children" are still heard to this day: "How doth the little busy bee?"
Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) is especially well known for his Gullivers Travels, about a
shipwrecked surgeon on the island of Lilliput, where the inhabitants are a mere six inches
high. In the second part, the surgeon is shipwrecked on an island where the inhabitants are as
tall steeples. In the third part, the surgeon finds himself on a flying island, and in the fourth
part he is in a country ruled by horses with more sense (reason) than most humans.
William Congreve (1 670-1729) is of inter est to young students in that he wrote his satirical
plays during the Restoration period, when the monarchy was restored after twenty years of
exile in France. Congreve, Etherege, Farquhar, Vanbrugh, and Wycherley wrote hilarious
satires in the comedy of manners style. The fashion and the influence of the French court on
English society is an interesting topic to develop; it is something which the comedy of
manners style has preserved.
Perhaps less intriguing for the young than Defoe and Swift, loseph Addison (1672-1719) and
Sir Richard Steele (1672-1729) are of interest in that they wrote for newspapers and
periodicals such as the Tatler, The Spectator, The Guardian. Journalism is a very important
literary style today as it was in Addison and Steele's day. Comparing !he two ages and
making periodicals or newspapers in class can be quite motivating.
The writings of the poet Alexander Pope (1688-1744) typify the Neoclassical style in British
literature. His poem in rhyming couplets The Rape of the Lock is interesting as a story in
itself. At a card game, a young gentleman, enamored with a young lady, brazenly cuts off a
lock of her hair in front of everyone. It is not only an excellent piece for discussing the
manners of that time, but also representative of the kind of encounters of a sexual nature that
young people normally face.
Samuel Johnson (1 709-84) is an example of a writer who was born with few economical
means and became one of the most renowned man of letters in the 18th-cent. His early
friendship with David Garrick, before the latter because a famous actor, is interesting, as
there are many of Boswell’s anecdotes in his biography of Johnson’s life. Rasselas, Prince of
Abysinia is a novel which is full of adventures about a young prince and his sister on a
journey to exotic far away places.
John Newbery (1713-67) was one of the earliest known publishers of children's books. He
published fables, poems, tales and novels. "Goody Two Shoes", considered the first book
created especially for children, may have been written by the playwright Olvier Goldsmith (?
1 730-74) -the author of the uproariously funny play She Stoops to Conquer-for Newbery. In
1753, he published "The Lilliputian Magazine", in 1762, "Tuiii Telesuupe", and "Mother
Goose Fairy Tales" in 1765. Nursery rhymes or "verse for children" were a mixture of
popular folklore, myths and age old songs. Having been created for entertainment more than
for didactic reasons, they tended to be playful and imaginative. It is for this reason that they
often seem strange or absurd.
Mary Wollstoneeraft's daughter, Mary Wollstoneeraft Shelley (1797-1851), eloped with the
young Perey Bysshe Shelley at seventeen, and lived with the poet abroad till his premature
death in 1822. She knew Byron and Keats very well, and her life is an example of the young
romantic world view of the early nineteenth century. Her novel Frankenstein is still an often
read classic, and many versions of it have been reenacted.
William Blake (1757-1827) is an alluring figure and his poetry, especially Songs of innocence
and of experience, and is full of material suitable for young people. And as he was also a
painter and an engraver, there are prints available of much of his work. Songs of Innocence
and of Experience contains some very motivating poems, such as "The Chimney Sweeper"
("When my mother died 1 was very young,/ And my father sold me while yet my tongue/
could scarcely cry <<'weep! 'weep, 'weep!>>"), or "The Tyger" ("Tyger! Tyger! burning
bright/ In the forests of the night") or "The Little Black Boy" ("My mother bore me in the
southern wild,/ And 1 am black, but Oh! my soul is white"). And an added plus is that his
poems are generally expressed in a very simple language.
Robert Burns (1759-96) was an extravagant figure who wrote poems in Scottish dialect. His
life is of interest: As a young man he greatly believed in the equality of all mankind, and so
he defended the cause of the French Revolution. One of his poems, "Auld Lang Syne",
though in a language which is difficult to understand, is still sung by a great many native
speakers of English the world over on New Years Eve: "Should auld acquaintance be forgot,/
And never brought to min'?/ Should auld acquaintance be forgot,/ And days o' lang syne?/ For
auld lang syne, my dear, For auld lang syne,/ We'll take a cup o' kindness yet,/ For auld lang
syne."
William Wordsworth (1770-1850) was a poet who was in favour of the French Revolution
when he was young, but who later spoke out against it. He left a French girl, with child and
returned to England and settled down with his sister Dorothy. His Lyrical Ballads, which he
coauthored with Coleridge is considered a landmark in English Romanticism. Of particular
interest to the young is his long poem The Prelude, in which he spends a great deal of time
speaking about his infancy and school days. The psychological insight into his childhood
experience is remarkable.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834) as a young man was an idealist who favoured the
French Revolution and in 1794, along with Robert Southey, planned to start a Pantisocratic
commune in America, which never came to be. Coleridge became addicted to opium, as did
people in Britain in the early 19th-cent. after doctors prescribed huge quantities of laudanum
(opium dissolved in alcohol) to ease pain. There is a lot to his long poem "The Rime of the
Ancient Mariner" that can be adapted: A ship in the South Pole region runs into a streak of
very bad luck when a madner kills an albatross for no particular reason. The story is told by
the mariner, and the scenes he narrates command attention.
Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832) wrote novels of medieval subjects which were popular
in Britain and America. "lvanhoe" is still widely, read among young people: In it, Wilfred of
Ivanhoe, son of a noble Saxon, joins Richard the Lion Hearted at the Crusade in the Holy
Land. John, Richard's younger brother, tries to overthrow him in his absence. Ivanhoe helps
Richard restore authority. In the novel, Robin Hood and Friar Tuck also appear. Other novels
by Scott include The Monastery, The Abbot, and Tales ofv the Crusades.
George Gordon Byron (1788-1824) belonged to the generation of English Romantic poets
that followed Wordsworth and Coleridge. He gave up a seat in the House of Lords to live in
exile. His poem "Childe Harold's Pilgrimage" made him famous in 1812. The poem
describes the poet's travels, among other places, through Portugal and Spain. Byron's
personal life was the talk of Europe at the time, for he was rich and handsome and notorious
for his escapades of pleasure and "sinful" behaviour. He is said to have swum the Hellespont
with a friend for the fun of it. His "Don Juan" contains parts which young Spaniards may find
interesting, especially the part that describes Juan as a youngster in Seville and, when he gets
older, his mother, "Donna" Inez, sends him away to Cadiz and then abroad. He was also an
idealist who armed a body of troops with his own money in order to help the Greeks in their
filht against the Turks. He died of fever, though, before the "Byron Brigade" saw real action.
The poet Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1922) was a friend of Byron. As a student at Oxford,
he was notorious for his unconventional dress and his eccentricity. He was a rebel,
denouncing royalty, and a vegetarian. He eloped with Mary Godwin Wollstonecraft when she
was seventeen, and he lived abroad for the remainder of his life. "Prometheus Unbound" is
perhaps the most promising of his poems for the EFL teacher. Prometheus is said to have
disobeyed Zeus by teaching mankind how to use fire. Shelley has him chained to a rock as
punishment for disobeying the supreme god. But Prometheus does not repent his act, and in
the end, Prometheus triumphs over tyrany. Shelley was drowned when, returning from
visiting Byron, his boat capsized near Livomo.
John Keats (1795-1821) was a friend of Shelley. He didn't write poetry until he was eighteen,
and just in a few years he had earned a name for himself and had a very successful future
ahead of him. But he died of tuberculosis at the age of twenty-six. His poem "The Eve of St.
Agnis" is particularly promising in its treatment of legend that says that if a young girl
performs a certain ritual, she will dream of her future husband on the evening before St.
Agnes' Day (January 21st). Keats writes a breathtaking story of how a young maid is visited
that night by a youn z man who is in love with her, and what betides them.
AlfredTennyson(1809-92) was a popular poet in both England and the UnitedStates. One of
his most often read poems still is "The Charge of the Light Brigade," which he wrote after
reading in The Times about a heroic cavalry charge at Balaclava during the Crimean War in
which three quarters of the six hundred cavalrymen were killed or captured by the Russians
who defended the position.
Another example of expatriate English writers were the poets Robert Browning (1812-89)
and Elizabeth Browning (1806-61) who were married in 1846 and went to live in Italy. The
fact that both were famous poets, married, and expatriates is sufficient enough material to
pursue. Robert's "Soliloquy of the Spanish Cloister" and "Christmas-Eve and Easter-Day"
are alluring titles, but hardly material for young EFL students.
Charles Dickens (1 812-70) is by far one of the most useful authors for EFL teachers.
Especially popular are his novels David Copperfield, Oliver Twist, and Great Expectations,
and his A Christmas Carol is still customat Yuletide reading for the yourth.
The Brontë sisters, Charlotte (1816-55), Emily (1818-48) and Anne (1820-49), are interesting
figures. Their father was an Irishman who was curate of Haworth, Yorkshire. Their mother
died in 1825, leaving them to be cared for by their aunt. They were sent to a Clergy
Daughters' School which, it is believed, proved to be such a harsh place that it impaired their
health and may have hastened the deaths of two elder sisters. The girls grew up reading and
admiring such authors as Byron and Walter Scott, and such exotic tales as The Arabian
Nights. The harshness of schools and schoolmasters at that time is a subject of interest for
young students, as is the story of three girls who eventually became famous authors. Anne's
Agnes Grey was originally published under the pseudonym Acton Bell. Charlotte's Jane Eyre
is especially well known because of the Orson Wells film that was made of it. And Emily's
Wuthering Heights was also made into a film in 1994.
Lewis Carroll, whose real name was Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, (1832-1898) is famous for
two books which he wrote especially for children: Alice in Wonderland and Through the
Looking-Glass. Of the two, perhaps the EFL teacher will find the former more useful:
Certainly many of the scenes, such as the rabbit rushing down the hole after consulting his
watch, are quite well known. The story of how Carrol had made up the tale to entertain the
two daughters –one of whose names was Alice- of a friend on a boat trip offers possibilities
of captivating the attention of the students as well. He apparently later created the second tale
specially for Alice.
Roald Dahl (1926-1991) wrote some of the most popular novels for children in recent years:
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Wiiches, Gremlins, and a many others. As a boy he
was educated in English boarding schools, and many of his novels reflect the many
unpleasant experiences he had there.
Though it did have a few high spots in the early years of the Republic, The United States
had no flourishing literature of its own until the middle of the 19th-cent. It is a good idea for
EFL teachers who are non-native speakers to familiarize themselves with American authors
and their works in order to better understand the culture and the language that Americans use.
Though students can hardly be expected to read these authors themselves, the teacher can
help them to appreciate the literature, in the hope that at some time in the future they will
read the texts on their own. Certainly just talking about any one of the following authors and
the time and place they lived would provide ample motivating material for EFL class
activities.
Washington Irving (1783-1859), a New Yorker, published his well known tale "Rip Van
Winkle" in 1820. Th6 still often told story is about a man who falls asleep on a mountain and
wakes up many years later to find that the colonies have become a republic. The tale offers
many possibilities of comparing life in the U.S. before and after the Declaration of
Independence.
Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864) was a from New England Puritan stock. His stories and
novels depict some of the harshest realities of Puritanism and its effect on people. Aside from
his well known novels The Scarlet Letter and The House of the Seven Gables, he also wrote
some works for children, such as A Wonder Book and Tanglewood Tales. His short story
"Young Goodman Brown" is an intriguing tale of how a man meets a demon in the forest who
invites him to a party.
Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) was from Boston, Massachusetts, but he spent five years in a
primary school in England. His Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque includes one of his
most famous stories, "The Fall of the House of Usher," a Gothic tale in which the narrator
visits a childhood friend in his decayed old mansion. Additionally, his poem "The Raven" is
still popular.
Herman Melville (1819-1891) was friends with Nathaniel Hawthorne. As a boy, Melville
sailed to Liverpool, found work on a whaler bound for the South Seas, jumped ship and
joined the US Navy, serving for three years. From his experience on the high seas he wrote
his famous novel Moby-Dick, about an obsessed captain in relentless pursuit of a great white
whale. Billy Budd, Foretopman is about a sailor who is abused by an officer whom he strikes
dead in a fit of anger and is hanged for it. A well known short story is "Bartleby the
Scrivener", about a law-copyist who decides to move into the office where he works in the
Wall Street district of Manhattan, and his boss's repeated and unsuccessful efforts to get him
to leave. It is a good story for discussing how scriveners used to copy everything by hand,
and what Wall Street was like then and what it is like now.
Mark Twain (1835-1910) was Samuel Langhome Clemens' pseudonym. His years growing
up on the banks of the Mississippi river and later as a pilot on the river were recreated in his
two most famous novels Tom Sawyer-about the antics of Tom in a small town- and
Huckleberry Finn-about the orphan Huck and his excursion down the Mississippi with an
escaped slave. The Prince and Pauper narrates how a prince changes places with a beggar.
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur Court is perhaps one of his most imaginative works,
telling of how a Yankee businessman is clubbed over the head by his factory workers and
comes to in during King Arthur's legendary reign in early medieval England. The novel can
introduce a comparison of medieval life to what life was like in the late 19th-cent. and to
modern life. Mark Twain also wrote some entertaining stories, such as "The Celebrated
Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" and "Baker's Bluejay Yarn".
Bret Harte (1836-1902) wrote a good many stories about life in the American West.
"Tennessee's Partner'. "The Outcasts of Poker Flat," and "The Luck of Roaring Camp"
provide excellent descriptions of what it was like to live in the West. And his poem "Plain
Language from Truthful James," does honour to a culture that respects directness and
unadorned simplicity.
Ambrose Bierce (?1842-1914) also wrote about the American West. He served in the
American Civil war. In “The Boarded Window” he narrates what it was like in the area
around Cincinnatrti, Ohio in the early 1830s, where there is “an inmense and almost
unbroken forest. The whole reghion was sparsely settled by people of the frontier –rstless
souls… (Stegner 1957: 154).”
Henry James (1 843-1916) came from a rich family and was therefore able to travel a great
deal and to study in London, Paris, and Geneva. As a young man he felt more at home
among the European upper class society and thus settled in Europe in 1875. His writings are
a blending of American and European world views: His novel Daisy Miller is a marvelous
example of the impact of American verve on European staidness. Daisy is an energetic and
freespirited young American whom the narrator, an American who has spent most of his life
living on the Continent and, as such, is more European than American, becomes attracted to.
But because he is inhibited by manners and convention, he cannot get close to her. Daisy
scandalizes the members of "respectable society" with her uninhibited language and
behaviour. Other well-known novels of his include Washington Square, The Bostonians, and
Portrait oflady.
O. Henry (1862-1910), pseudonym of William Sydney, famous for his amusing short
stories which he began writing when he was in prison. "The Ransom of Red Chief' is about
the kidnapping of a child who causes his kidnappers so much trouble that they are willing to
throw away the ransom just to get rid of him. "The Gift of the Magi" narrates how a woman
sells her hair to buy her husband a watch chain and how he sells his watch to buy her a set of
combs for Christmas. "The Last Leaf relates how a young lady, bedridden with pneumonia,
is convinced that she will die when the leaves fall from the trees. Her neighbour paints leaves
on her window, thus keeping her alive.
Edith Wharton (1 862-193 7) was a close friend of Henry James. And like him, she wrote
about. Americans in Europe. "Roman Fever" tells of two elderly American ladies in Rome
recalling an incident that happened to them in, that very city when they were young.
Stephen Crane (1 871-1900) became famous at the age of twenty-four with his novel The Red
Badge of Courage about a young soldier in battle during the American Civil War. He was a
journalist and he wrote about the Spanish-American War of 1899. He had tremendously
promising career ahead of him when, on visit to Germany, he died of tuberculosis.
Sherwood Anderson (1876-1941) was famous for Winesburg, Ohio, a collection of short
stories about life in a small town. Tar: A Midwest Childhood is semi-autobiographical.
James Thurber (1894-1961) his humorous short stories, written for the magazine The New
Yorker of life in "middle" America were very popular. His short story "The Secret Life of
Walter Mitty" is still customary reading.
William Faulker (1897-1962), though a difficult novelist for many, wrote a great deal from
the perspective of a boy: The Sound and the Fury, As I Lay Dying, and "Was" in Go Down
Moses. A southerner from the state of Mississippi, he served with the Canadian Air Force in
the First World War because he was not accepted in the US Air Force. His books narrate life
in the "deep" south. He won the Noble Prize in 1950. J. Blotner's biography of him, as
recently translated and published in Spain. A reading of his childhood would give the teacher
a great deal of information about what growing up in the South was like. Go Down Moses
tells of a boy's friendship with an indian and his hunting a bear for the first time. And "Was"
narrates in humorous terms an incident that occurred when a slave runs off to visit his
girlfriend on a nearby plantation. One of the main characters in As I Lay Dying narrates how
his dead mother is transported in a wagon to a family burial ground in another county.
John Steinbeck was from California. Most of his novels and stories deal with the state. The
Grapes of Wrath is about a family, the Jodes, which has been forced off its land during the
depression and tries to get to reach State Califomia is full of immigrants who had to leave
their Midwestern homes as a result of the Great Depresion. There are children in the family
and parts would certainly interest young people. O fMice and Men is also useful for teahers,
since one of the characters is a very large man who, in reality, is a big kid. "The Pearl" is a
very good short story to consider for EFL. He won the Noble Prize in 1962.
E. Hemingway (1 899-196 1) is particularly useful to the EFL teacher for his close
connection with Spain in the 1930s. The Sun Also Rises, Fiesta, and For Whom the Bell Tolls
are directly about Spain. The Old Man and the Sea is about a Cuban fiisherman who catches
an enormous fish he'll never manage to bring to port, and nobody believes him. He won toe
Nobel Prize in 1954.
J. D. Salinger (1919-) is still popular among young readers for his novel The Catcher in
the rye (1951) about an adolescent who runs from a boarding school in a small town to New
York City. And Franny and Zooey (1961) , who is also about two adolescents, a brother and
a sister, members of an eccentric family.
Two Afro-American writers in particular offer material that can be of interest. Alice
Walker's novel The Color Purple was made into a film. It is an excellent story about the life
of an Afro-American woman in the South. It is specially useful for the many parts it has that
involve children. And Toni Morrison, who just recently won the Novel Prize of Literature,
writes excellent stories about Afro-Americans. Her novel Beloved, which won the Pulitzer
Prize in 1988, has some good scenes involving adolescent girls.
3.- BIBLIOGRAPHY
ABRAMS, M. H., ed.: (1993). The Norton anthology of English literature. London: W. W.
Norton. CURRENT-GARCFA, E. and P. WALTON, R.: (1 982). American short stories. 4th
ed. London: Scott, Foresman and Company.
DAKIN, J.: (1987). Songs and rhymes for the teaching of English. Harlow: Longman.
SAMPSON, G.: (1970). The Concise Cambridge History of Engllish Literature. 3rd ed., rev.
and enl. by R. C. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
1. LEVEL
2. TIME OF SESSIONS
One week, in April, to be finished by the day dedicated to the children's book.
3. OBJECTIVES
3.1. General
- To read and comprehend short texts (Narrative form)
- To produce a short written text giving information
3.2. Specific
-Recognize the importance of reading habits
- Improve reading skills in the foreign language - Learn about the literature written in the
foreign language.
4. METHODOLOGY
Conceptual:
- vocabulary: words related to literature (author/ different genres etc.)
- phonological aspects: the pronunciation of the names of the authors worked.
- grammar structures: 'Gulliver's Travels by… /It is the story of… /J. Swift was born in…
and died in …
Procedural:
- group work
- note taking
- investigation in the Library.
Sociological aspects.
- cross curricular activities interactiovn
6.2. (T) divides students in groups of four and gives each group an assignment: a
research project on an author and his or her books.
6.3. Each group decides on its own class project which is to be finished by the end of
the week
6. 4. (T) helps students with the, re.search, bringirig all the materials from the resource-
room need (books, magazines, slides, postcards, movies, music, etc.)
6.5. Each group will be given a big piece of butcher paper where they can stick their
work.
6.6 A class field trip to the local Library, to look for translations of the authors
selected.
6.7. Guided readings of famous stories so the students will be able to write short
sentences informing about some data (name of the author; place and date of birth;
names of the most well known books: what is the story about and famous
characters).
7. MATERIALS
8. FINAL TASK
Each group exposes its work to the rest of the class: they may paste the information (texts,
photocopies, drawings) on the wall paper and perform something about it: Read aloud; sing a
song; read a poem; perform a skit, etc.
9. EVALUATION
(According to Theme Nº 14.)
TEMA-15
LITERARY PERIODS, AUTHORS AND GENRES SUITABLE FOR DIDACTIC
APPLICATIONS IN ENGLISH CLASS.TYPES OF TEXTS.
1. Introduction
According to what has been stated above the traditional tales ,fairy
tales,picture stories,nursery rhymes,jokes,modern or traditional songs and limericks
are considered as Literary Genres more ssuitable to the pupilss of this stage.
Normally ,we can take texts (oral or written )from popular tradition so
the text is as important or more than the authors,especially in the case of the
traditional tales,which are -in most cases-compilattions of tales and oral traditions
which have been translated to the different european languages
(Perrault,Andersen,Grimm,..).
The tales
The use of the tale offers an ideal system of introduction to foreing language
and culture and it creates a possitive atmosphere so that the pupil wants to carry on
learning.
In the psychological field ,the tales exercise the imagination and they offer an
inexhaustible source of experiences and emotions and if the tales are related by the
teacher ,they offer a collective experience of feelings,laughter,sadness...,which
makes the pupil feel integrated in the group ,develop self-confidence and mature
emotionally and socially.
One of the characteristics of tales is the natural repetition of certain elements
of vocabulary, if they are narrated in class .the intonation ,the sense of the rhythm
and the possibility that pupils want tohear the whole story again,this allows the
teacher to use these resources to get a larger number of repetitions of certain
elements of interest without the problem of saturation of the student body.
Respecting the narration of the tales we have the dilemma of the teacher as
narrator or the use of the cassette .The latter has some advantages such as
music,however,the teacher can give to his narration the human factor ,and the
pronuntiation and the intonation can be improved through recordings.Teacher as
narrator facilitates the intervention of pupils with questions when they have not
understood something ,the repetition of fragments which they have not understood
or the slowing down of the narration when it is necessary.
Respecting the suitability of adapting tales in class ,for children from eight
years old, we should thinK of the techniques which are used when tales are
narrated for the first time and howthe narration developes slowly.One of the
characteristic of tales is that they can be narrated in a thousand different ways,which
facilitates the adaptation of the same tale to different levels .The tale is a flexible tool
in our hands.
If we think of tales as reading instead of as narration ,there is a wide range of
tales for English -speaking children of these ages,in addition to a series of simplified
versions directed at children who are learninig Engllish as a Second Language.
Normally ,we consider that the former are better than the latter ,especially
because of the ilustrations done by drawers ,which gives a greater degree of
satisfaccion in the reading .A careful selection of the texts for the E-class in relation
to vocabulary ,structures and themes of interest could permit that the tales which are
read in class are the same that Englissh children read at this age .
As for the most suitable works ,there is a great varieety ,from the traditional
tales (Little Red Riding Hood; Puss in Boots or other tales from Perrault) to the most
modern tales,in which their protagonistscan be animals -which are good for snowing
the daily llife of children (The tale of Peter Rabbit,by Beatrix Potter , and whose
contexts are as British as the language itself )-or the heroes can be personages of
daily life (Postman Pat) or familliar elements of our modern civilization (Thomas , the
Tank Engine).Excepting the series by Beatrix Potter ,which needs be adapted ,either
Thomas ,the tank Engine, or Postman Pat in original version,with a suitable
guide woould be easily accesible to children from eight years old.
We should not forget famous authors ,whose novels and short stories
althought not intended for children ,can be adapted .
-Gulliver´s Travels by Jonathan Swift
-Huckleberry Finnby Mark Twain
- A Christmas Carrol by Dickens
-Alice´s adventures in Wonderland and Alice through the looking -glass by
Lewis Carrol.
And even authors who are not British ,such as
-Julies Verne :Journey to they centre of the Earth
-Fairy tales in which the conventions of the same are parodied .Ex.
The Rose and the Ring by Thomas Thackeray .
-School stories ,such a Tom Brown´s Schooldays by Thomas Hughes.
-Family sagas ,such as Little Women by Alcott.
-Of animals : Black Beauty by Sewell.
-Of adventures ,such as Treasure Island and King Salomon´s Minesby
Haggard or the Jungle Books by Kipling .
The concept of children´s Literature as fun wasn´t a cultivated genre until the
end of the XIX century Children´s Literature before was Literature with didactic
end.Books for adults, ex. Ae sop´s fables,were a resource to try to amuse children
through Literature .In the XVIII century with Locke and Rousseau Books for the
entertainment of children appear ,which begin to abandone the didactic intention .
It is in 1883 when the first adventure book without dictatic intention
appears :Treasure Island.
In the first book of a series of ilustrated tales appears :Little Black Sambo by
Helen Banner,who next to Beatrix Potter was a milestone in reference to the
importance of ilustrations in tales for children.
In the beginning of our century there appear various authors and tittles which
today are considered classics of modern children´s Literature and have been
adapted for television, such as:
The Wind in the Willows by Grahame ,The Secret Garden by Burnett,Martin
Pippin in the Apple Orchard by Farjeon ,Winnie-The Pooh by Milne and finally in
1937 the fantastic genre emerges with the aparition of The Hobbit by Tolkien.
From the decade of the 50 ´s, the importance given to Children´s Literature
foments the appaerance of a great industry and the clear definition of concepts such
as Literature for Children and the distintion between Literature for boys and for girls.
Children´s pleasures of today have changed ,however ,the tales of fantastic
or ecologic themes like especially.
Among the authors of oour days ,who have had special aceptation among
the child´s public because of the themes which they treat is ROALD DAHL,,an
authentic master of the short story :
-Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
-The Magic finger
-Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator
-Matilda
-The wonderful story of Henry Sugar and Sisx more.
All these are stories of modernthemes .The narration is quick and attractive
.The cultural variety that they show is atractive .
In our hands is to do the adecquated adaptations for that their application is
succesful.
. .NURSERY RHYMES
-Use of exclamations and linguistic elements of dayly use ,which is a very rich
resource in the class .
-They have musicality , too.
-Strong rhythm.
-They introduce -the same as the tales-cultural elements ,such as
foods,timetables ,animals ,..
-Repetitive use of words and structures .But N.R.have adifferent
charactheristic:brevity ,which increases the proportion of repetition.
The use of this genre in a language class gives the opportunity to learners to
move in class ,because it can include activities such as jumping or dancing .When
there´re problems of space,those ones which involve playing with hands can be
used:”Two little monkeys fighting in bed (use two fingers),one fell out and hurt his
head (the hand on the head),the other called the doctor (telephoning),and said the
doctor (open and close the hand),that´s what you get for fightingin bed”(move a
finger).
Rhymes that accompany games can also be selected aand they can be used
in the school:
“Teddy Bear,touch the ground,
tum around,
walk upstairs,
turn out the light,
say goodnight”.
The reduced vocabulary that they use,the repetition,the rhythm and the
intonation permit learners to learn them quickly.
It is a popular genre ,although it has been cultivated by prestigious writters:in
the early XVIII century Divine songs for children by Watts,was published.In this
time ,the first collections of N.R were also published, and in18O4 appeared original
Poems for Infant Minds by Ann and Jane Taylor ,which includes Twinkle ,Twinkle
,little star.
In 1942 The Pied Piper of Hamelin by Robert Browing was published .
In1846 A book of Nonsense by Edward Lear appears and in 1885 Stevenson
publishes A Child´s Garden of Verses.
In our century A.A Milne,Robert Graves...stand out
RIDDLES
Ridles are an universal genre too .Their characteristic are -as in N.R.-
the following:
-Brevity and intonation and rhythm very marked .
Ex:”I´m a very big animal
you see at the zoo.
I´ve a very nice trunk
Ican squirt water through”
LIMERICKS
Limercks are funny five -line stanzas whose popular origin had place in
the festive meetings , in which every fellow dinner had to recite or sing a poem
,which are called “nonsense verse” following line :Will you come up
to Limerick?.
The first Limericks collected in a volume appear in the History of Sixteen
Wonderful Women in 1820.
In the book Book of Nonsense by Edward Lear appear examples too.
In the compositions by Lear and Rossety, the first and last line usually use to
finish with the same word ,hoewer ,in more modern examples a third word which
rhymes is added :
“There once was a man who said :” god
Must think it exceedingly odd
If he finds that this tree
continues to be
when there is no-one about in the Quad”.
VOCABULARY
antes de - before analysing
alumnado- student body
expectativas-expectations
analizar - previous to analyse
enfrentarse a una clase de inglés por primera vez -In facing an english class
first
ansioso -anxious
preocuparse- worry
gestos-gestures
por esto -there fore
inquietud-restlessness
actitud demasiado larga -an overlong act,
conducir (llevar)-lead
aburrimiento -boredoom
comprensible -understanble
puesta en marcha -starting
acercar-approach
inagotable-inexaustible
subyacente-underlying
emotividad-emotional
papel-role
transportar -transpose
imaginarias-imaginative fictional
realistas-reallstic
acercar-bring close
acceder-acces
agradable-pleasant
contextualizar-contextualise
por último -lastly
a continuación -finally,next
confianza -confidence
de acuerdo conlo expuesto anteriormente-accordingto what has been stated
above
compilaciones-compilations
continuar -carry on
ejercitar -exercise
caudal -source
relatar-relat
colectiva-collective
risa-laughter
tristeza-sadness
confianza en si mismo -self confidence
madurar -mature
narrar -narrate
saturación -saturation
repecto a -respecting
dilema -dilema
el 1_...el 2_ -the former,the latter
fidelidad -fidelity
mejorar-improve
grabación-recording
fragmentos -fragments
ralentización-slowing down
conveniencia-suitability
pensar en -think of
de mil maneras -in a thoousand different ways
dirigir a -direct at
satisfacción-satisfactión
en cuanto a -as for
obras (novelas)-works
obras(teatro)-plays
cotidiana -daily
héroe-hero/es
civilización-civilization
excepto-excepting
accesible-accessible
intencionar-intend
incluso-even
sagas familiares-family sagas
literatura Infantil-Children´s Literature
divertimento -fun
divertir-amuse
abandonar -abandone
junto con-next to
hito-milstone
fábulas de Esopo-Aesop´s fables
al principio-in the beginning
surgir-aparecer-appear
década-decade
fomentar-foment
aparición -appearance
gustos -pleasures
público infantil -Child´s Public
maestro - master(no de escuela ,maestro en su género)
narración corta -short story
musicalidad -musicality
brevedad-brevity
prestigiosos-prestigious
colección-collection
destacar-stand out
quintillas -five line stanzas
origen -origin
reuniones festivas-festive meetings
comensal -fellow diner
recitar -to recite
estribillo- refrain
surgir -come up
recoger-collect
anónimo-anonym
paulatina-slowly
parodiar-parody
emerger-emerge
índice-proportion
a principios de siglo-in the early century ?
Cercano a -near
acercarnos -bring us close ,close us
tanto..como...-neither...or
ni..........ni- -neither ...or
UNIT 15: PERIODS, AUTHORS AND MOST SUITABLE GENRES FOR THEIR
DIDACTIC APPLICATION IN THE ENGLISH CLASROOM. TEXT TYPOLOGIES.
OUTLINE :
0. INTRODUCTION
2. TEXT TYPOLOGIES
3. CONCLUSION
4. BIBLIOGRAPHY
433
0. INTRODUCTION
This unit will deal with the most popular works in different periods and
differents authors and genres of children literature, and with different types of
story books or children. We will finish with a conclusion and the bibliography
used.
Before the 18th c. Children could read books like Aesop's Fables, romances,
travel books, chapbooks, boardside ballads<, for example, Bunyan's <pilgrim's
Progress (1678 ) , Defoe's Robinson Crusoe (1719) and Swift's Gullivesr's
Travels. They were books written for adults. It was not until the middle or the
18th century That books were specially written for chiuldren . ( Although in
France it was a little better, children had books such as Perrault's Fairy tales, so
popular ( or The Arabian Nights ) translated to English in early 18th c. )
There was a demand for children's books and John Newbery, a book seller of
works illustrated by woodwoodcuts and engravings ), realized it and he published
works such as A little Pretty Pocket-Book and the History of Little Goody two
-shoes.
( There were some of whose books imitations ) but, it was in the letter half of
the 18th c. When works in juvenile literature appeaared. Kwown works like The
History os sandford and Merton by Thomas Day, Fabolous Histories by Sarah
Trimment, Evenings at Home by John Aikin and Mrs Barbauld, The Parents's
Assistant, by Maria Edgeworth ( The novelist ) And in the 19thc. , Charles and
Mary Lamb wrote Tales from Shakespeare.
The history of verse written for children is quite brief. The first identifiable
children's poet was probably Watts, whose memorable jingles, Divine Songs for
Children, were popular from the early 18th c (1715 ) . Also, at about this time,
collections or nursery rhymes began to appear, highghiting Ann and Jane Taylor,
whose first book, Original Poems for infant Minds ( Twinklem twinkle little star
included ) was very successful .
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appeal to the emotions. Extensive reading provides the possibility of
internalizing the language and reinforcing points previously learned vocabulary
and structures are registred and learned without conscious attention as well as
concepts are reinforced by their discovery in a different context, and
motivation probably the most important, coming from the students enjoyment
when reading ( it gave pleasure by engaging the emotions)
And Literature is suitable for our pupils because they are familiarized with fairy
tales, songs, rhymes, riddles...(mainly in their first language)
The students have certain characteristics that help them to acquire a L. By the
exposure to it, like in the case of reading . These are the fact that short age
pupils need demand immediate results to see their progress, so activities must
be short and attractive changing often to another one. They express their
feelings or ideas less inhibitidly than adults, they don't mind mistakes, of what
teachers must take advantages; and they always have expectations about the
English class, they like showing what they have learned.
Foreign learners, to internalize the grammar and work out the meaning of words
from their context, must have sufficient authentic and understandable material
to work from ( Krasen - comprehensible input ). Reading most suitable texts for
our pupils. For this, we must bear in mind aspects such as the students' needs
and abilities, that is to say their interest, age, level, rhythm of learning and
their previous expectations about the FL class; the linguistic and stylistic level
of the text, that is vocabulary, about what we must try the language to be clear,
graded and with repetitions and the text must allow the pupils to make
predictions ( about what comes next ) using their background and expectations
Certain our attention on the most popular works and authors we will
destinguish some periods. As well have said, in the 17th century literature was
written for adults (although read by children as well ) being so known works like
Robison Crusoe, by Daniel Defoe and Gulliver's Travels, by Johnattan Swift. In
the 18th century began to appear some works written for choldren, such as The
History of Sandford and Marter by Thomas Day, or series or short and
attractive books called Gigantic Histories by Thomas Boreman, apart from
rhymes and fairy tales. But it was the 19 th century when Children 's Literature
appeared as a genre. Until then , it didnt's seen necessary to create a literature
specially for children, and it wasn't economically advisable. But, with mass
education appearance a large market was created , permitting the possibility of
distributing books for children.
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In this period, we can highlight famous authors like Brothers Grimm, who
wrote German Popular Stories or H.Candersen, who wrote Rairy Tales and
Stories. About adventures books for boys the first one, Steverson. The most
famous writers or children's stories were Lewis Carroll, who wrote Alice's
Adventures in wonderland and It was the Best Butter and Beatrix Potter, who
wrote The Tales of Petter Rabbit and Tailor of Gloucester. Also , we must
mention Oscar Wilde who, althoug h Irish wrote in English his best works are
some like the Happy Prince and the Canterville Ghost. And within non English
literature there are famous writers such as Louisa M Al cott and her Little
Women , Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures or Huckleberry Finn by
Mark Twain, Heidi , by Johanna Spry or Anne of Green Gables by
L.M.Montgomery. Finally, in the 2=th century we find different sorts of works.
We can mention fairy tales that have become classic such as Peter Pan by J.>M
Barries, The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling , The Lord of the Rings, by J.R
Tolkien. In this period many others authors have become popular. That's the
case of the previously named C.S. Lewis , who apart from his sciencies-fiction
novels wrote the Narnia series; Raymond Breggs who wrote Jim and Beantalk ,
Rather Christmas , and The Snowman; Roald Dahl, who dealt with many
interesting topics, specially for children in books like James and the Giant Peach,
Charlie and the chocolate Factory and many others.
B) GENRES
There exist many types ( genres ) of literature for children. We will describe
some of them.
Probably, one of the most relevant is tales. They provide the possibility of
repeating words and structures, helping children reinforce aspects of the
language and concepts. They give clues helping them to predict about the content
of the text. Tales use argumentative techniques and language suitable for
children. They normally transmit moral values and approach the pupils to the
culture of the language speaking community.
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We can find different types:
- Fairy tales . suitable for children in the age of 9 or 10 like Rapunzel
- Animal´s stories and fables : in which the characters are animals
- Fantanstic literature of Travel´s and adventures : normally from legends
A genre with some characteristic similar to tales, is nursery rhymes. The main
difference is that they are short, what avoid the pupils get bored because they
don´t have to pay attention for a long time.
Rhymes introduce exclamations, many repetitions of words and structures,
helping children to establish vocabulary, intonation, stress, pronunciation, new
structures and also cultural elements and concepts.
This genre of literature permit different ways of explotation. It´s possible to
introduce activities in which pupils move or play games. They are short and
simple., so the pupils learn quickly.
Another genre is constituted by limericks, a light verse and with a popular fixed
verse form in English. They are usually conformed by five lines. The name comes
from the old English. The majority of them are anonymous because they have a
popular origin. This form of verse is useful to practise pronunciation.
When selecting a work of literature we must bear in mind that we want our pupils
to engage interactively with the text, the classmates, and with us, the teachers.
To reach this we must follow these guidelines:
1. The text itself, and not the information about it , is of central importance.
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2. Our pupils must genuinely interact with the text, their classmates and the
teacher and not be mere recipients
4. Our activities must be varied and interesting. Duff and Maley give a list of
general procedures that we can use in our classrooms:
- reconstruction
- reduction
- expansion
- replacement
- matching
- media transfer
- selection
- ranking
- comparison
- analyzing
2.TEXT TYPOLOGIES
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3. cumulative content and language
4. interactive
5. humorous
According to content they ca be divided into :
1. everyday life
2. animal stories
3. traditional/folk/fairy tales
4. fantasy
From layout point of view we can distinguish between:
1. flab
2. cut-away pages
3. minimal text
4. no text
5. speech bubles
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interest in to know more about English
language and culture
6. Create positive attitudes
target language
language training
target culture
Also it is interesting teachers adapt tales for different purpose, giving way to
many possibilities of explotation.
But when adapting a story we can´t simplified too much because our pupils could
lose the flavour of real stories, so Ellis and Brewster give a guidelines to follow:
Aspects to consider
* Grammar
1. Check tenses
2. Check use of structures
3. Check word order
* Organization of ideas
1. Check sentences length and complexity
2. Check time references
3. Check the way ideas are linked
4. Check the way the ideas are explained
* Story length
1. Check the number of ideas in the story.
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By following the previous criteria of selection and use of storybooks we will
intend to make the most of literature on the classroom
5. CONCLUSION
As we have seen, books and stories have existed for centuries. The most
characteristic aspect of them is their special way of enjoyment; also we can
learn different sorts of concepts and knowledge though reading books. So
literature is a useful resource to learn a foreign language, to acquire it without
paying conscious attention to the learning other the language.
We can use different genres of literature in the foreign language class, since a
nursery rhyme or a riddle to a song or books narrating longer stories. But, what
is really important is to bear in mind aspects such as the vocabulary used,
sentence pattern, the topic..., to select a book or story. They must be suitable
for our pupils.
6. BIBLIOGRAPHY
UNIT 16
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1.- Children’s literature in the English language.
1.1. Literacy language.
1.2. Children’s literature in the English language.
1.3. Analysis of literary language through relevant works.
INTRODUCTION
Children’s literature has certain particular features which, apart from the
author’s inspiration, are what make it more attractive and interesting for children,
namely: it is a free and happy activity, contains imaginative elements, reflects inner
grievances suffered by the child, uses argumentative techniques and language suited
to children, has a most intuitive presentation, appeals to feelings, affectivity, transmits
moral values, conveys serenity and balance on the part of the author, has expository
clarity and is interesting.
In children’s literature, children’s folklore can also be included, which is a form
of literature that has been passed on by word of mouth. Carmen BravoVillasante
states that an aesthetic education using folklore enhances sensitivity. Children who
are not taught by means of songs, stories or poetry are children with poorness of
spirit. Children’s literature is an inexhaustible fountain of resources for programming
all sorts of language activities.
1.1.LITERARY LANGUAGE.
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difference in level. In writing there is always an urge to improve which makes the
writer avoid words, sentences or turns of phrases that are used unscrupulously in
informal speech.
The difference begins from the moment that literature acquires enough
development and prestige to impose a select taste for its language. In certain areas,
the literary inflow raises the tone of average speech; in others, while literary language
barely changes, common speech quickly changes, as it occurred with vulgar Latin.
Literary language broadens and enriches vocabulary and refines subtleties of
meaning with its incessant creative process. It chooses between certain forms of
expression and others, thus contributing to the lastingness of a language; and it
serves to halt tendencies that hasten the development of a language.
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- Language is pure when words and constructions are used in accordance with
the particular nature of that language, without the use of unnecessary foreign
elements.
- Barbarisms or superfluous foreignisms must be repudiated.
The reaction against foreign influences may lead to the extremes of purism and correction,
which insist upon absolute purity in language, based on the servile imitation of the classics and on
strict correctness, which often sacrifices naturalness and liveliness.
Children’s literature is a branch of the science of books which has been so useful
and charming as any other type of literature.
Children’s literature includes many books that adults enjoy reading even when
they do not read them to or with children. The most famous children’s book is “Alice’s
Adventures in Wonderland”, and it is read more by adults than children. The same
occurs with “Peter Rabbit”, one of the books best-known for its humanity.
In the past years, the study of children’s literature has regained popularity.
a) FAIRY TALES.
It is one of the most important divisions of children’s literature. It contains a similar
proportion of wishes and fears, which creates a balance that keeps the attention of
readers and listeners. It can tell lots of meaningful stories in many different ways.
Elliot says that fairy tales are best as bedtime stories for young children, but they
are also valuable for older children.
Bottelheim specifies that they are good for children between the ages of nine and
ten, which is when children are maturing in processes that they are afraid of.
b) ANIMALS
They are the strongest bond between fairy tales and modern children’s literature.
Animals are creatures that speak and act like human beings. They are present in
most old and modern children’s stories and are the most important source of power in
the best children’s literature, a source which other types of literature had abandoned
before the 19th century.
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Animals in fairy tales are enchanted and live in a world of human beings, and
human beings play a minor role. Any animal can be used as the enchanted beast in a
fairy tale: a bird in “The Juniper Tree”, a fox in “The Golden Bird”, a prince frog, a cat,
a snake in “Countess d’Aulnoy”. These animals do not wish to be animals and while
they are under a spell, they are the kindest, most patient and civilized of beings.
Modern children’s literature contains animal fables and fairy tales. “The Three
Little Pigs” and “The Little Red Hen” are examples of stories that young children read.
English children’s literature shows signs of persistence in writing and reading. In
England, childhood was considered the only stage in life in which it was good to
believe in a world of magic and imagination and talking animals. Children were seen
as beings that were capable of enjoying instinctive sympathy for animals and of
establishing an alliance with them against adult human beings.
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Rudyard Kipling is known as the writer from India, although he never was an
ardent apologist of the presence of the English there. His main works are “The Jungle
Book” (1894-95) and “Stories” (1902). “The Jungle Book” and “Kim” are blithe books
about the world of ideas. His most important book is “The Jungle Book”: it is the most
accomplished expression of Kipling’s quality of work.
B. Frank Baum, a German-North American novelist, was born in Vienna in 1896 and
died in 1960. He wanted American children’s literature to be free of unpleasant incidents. He
wrote many children’s books: “A New Wonderland”, “The Book of the Hambergs”, “His
Book”, etc.
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adventures that take place in an indefinite past, in an unspecified place; a legend
relates notable events that took place on a given date, in a given place, to a given
person. A difference in function determines these differences in structure: a story
aims to amuse, a legend aims to express and transmit beliefs. The title of a story is
often the hero’s name; the presence of this character alone guarantees the unity of
an account consisting of several episodes: the hero sets off on an adventure with an
open mind and a light heart, facing all sorts of dangers without fear.
Louis Vax states that “a fantastic story” generally deals with men who are faced
with the inexplicable.
The story always begins with a stable situation and certain features remain intact throughout the
development of the action. Every story, therefore, contains two types of episodes:
- Those that describe a stage of balance or imbalance.
- Those that describe the passage from one to another.
The former are contrary to the latter. Sometimes the reader identifies with the
character; then, in turn, he withdraws from reality.
A misadventure of some kind is the main type of plot. These misadventures can
be of different sorts; by and large, towards the end, evil is transformed into good. The
hero continually feels the contradiction between both worlds: the world of reality and
the world of fantasy; and he is overwhelmed by the extraordinary things that surround
him.
As a general rule, a new person is introduced and the action enters a new phase.
Vladimir Propp sees it as an operation of relative rationalization of a myth and the
struggle against it, and its deep unity and great appeal lie beyond its generalized use
as children’s stories.
Important writers, in the English language, of fantastic literature of travels and
adventure:
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Daniel Defoe. He is one of the most important authors of this era in English literature.
His most famous book (“Robinson Crusoe”) is known all around the world and has
been translated into many languages. Many studies have been done on it: man’s
isolation, self-sufficiency, utopia,...
Tobias Smollet was born in 1721 and died in 1771. His main adventure and fantastic
stories are “Roderick Random” and “Humphrey Clinker”.
Laurence Steine is a contemporary of the aforementioned author. He was born in
1713 and died in 1768; his most important adventure story is “Sentimental Journey”.
All the works of this era are not about fantastic stories but about adventures, save
for the work of Jonathan Swift (with “Gulliver’s Travels”). This book hides satire in
such a deft manner that children still read it as a fairy tale. The book starts off
laughing about mankind; when Gulliver finds himself in Lilliput, he is a giant compared
to inhabitants there. In the second part of the book, he goes to a land inhabited by
giants and the author criticizes all men thinkers. He then goes to Laputa, which is a
flying island, and Swift examines and criticizes human institutions. At the end there
are horses with rational minds. This book still today is a masterpiece, a children’s
fairy tale and a serious book for adults, and it has never lost its attractive nor allusive
value.
The work of Walter de la Mare is one of the best works of short fantastic stories.
“Out of the Deep” is perhaps his most original and exciting short story. Here is a
passage from it:
“All that I have to say, he muttered, is just this: I have Mrs. Thripps. I haven’t
absolutely out of the wire. I wish to be alone. But I’m not asking, do you see? In time I
may able to know what I want. But what is important now is that no more than that
accused Pig were your primrose “real”, my dear. You see, things must be real”.
The title of the novel means a number of things: the depths of the house in
which the servants live, the depths of memory, from which remembrances ascend,
and the depths of the misfortunes of the wretch who is seeking help.
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The literary language of the above text is bright and eloquent, neither dull nor
slow.
The protagonist is Jimmie, who is characterized by his desire to surprise and
his liking for black humour. This passage contains his regards for a girl. He is a
timorous boy who shows Soame’s cautious sadism and plays bad jokes on the
lackeys.
When he is talking to the girl, he realizes that he was forbidden to talk to the
lackeys (“...you might pull real bells: to pull dubiously genuine pigtails seemed now a
feele jest”). The word “pigtail” here may infer “pig”, which corresponds to the beast
that appears on the stairs. The gesture of pulling a rope is similar to that of pulling
from a pig.
The word “primrose” (spring) naturally suggests the line from a famous verse
by Wordsworth: “A primrose by a river’s brimm”. The thought of spring may have
suggested Lord Beaconsfield, whom Jimmie refers to: “All of which is only to say,
dear madam, as Beaconsfield remarked to Old Vic, that I’m thanking you now”.
In the text he refers to what the girl says, but then he gives it less importance
and highlights what it is really important. The style is loose and clear, with lots of
imagination. The vocabulary is simple, although some words have several meanings,
like “primrose”. The verb “to ask” means to call on someone; the author uses it to
mean “Do you understand?”. The same occurs with “in time” which means sooner or
later.
“As there was no money, Ginger and Pickles were obliged to eat their own goods.
Pickles ate biscuits and Ginger ate a dried haddock. They ate them by candlelight
after the shop was closed”.
This other text is from “Ginger Pickles”.
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“Moppet and Pittens have found up into very good ratcatchers. They go out cat-
catching in the village, and they find plenty of employment. They charge so much a
dozen and earn their living very comfortably”.
This last text belongs to “The Poly-Poly Pudding”.
The style is clear and bright. Repetition is avoided, which es why in the first
text, in the last line, “amongst” is used instead of “among”, which was used in the
previous line. The language is simple, easy to read, so the words need not be
explained. The author avoids allipsis, by writing “He had forgotten” instead of “He’d
forgotten”, so that children can clearly understand the text. Another characteristic of
this writer, which is more clearly seen in the first two texts, is her use of many verbs in
the past tense. She does not use description very much.
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Motivation. Children have a constant need for stories; that is why they are always
willing to listen or read at the right moment.
Meaning. Children want to find something in a story (meaning) and they listen for that
purpose. If they find what they are looking for, it will be thanks to their ability to
understand the foreign language. If they do not find that meaning, they are motivated
to improve their listening comprehension ability and then find meaning.
Listening and fluency when reading. In a conversation with native speakers, the most
important ability is understanding a substantial flow of the foreign language which
contains new words for the receiver. This ability is only achieved by constant and
ample practice. The child must develop a positive attitude to comprehending
everything and accomplish the ability to search for meaning, predict and “guess” (they
are experts at this in their native language).
Knowledge of the language. Stories help children to become aware of the general
knowledge and sounds of the foreign language. Stories also introduce students to
several language models and sentence structures which they have not yet used in
oral or written production. This makes up their language stockpile. When the time
comes, those language models will flow within the productive language without any
problems, because the language is not new to them. An obvious example of this is
the use of the simple past.
An incentive for speaking and writing. Experiencing a story can give rise to the
production of written or spoken answers. It is natural to express our likes and dislikes,
exchange ideas and associations about the stories we have just heard. In this
manner, stories should be a part of a set related activities.
Communication. Reading, writing and aswering questions about stories through
writing, speaking, acting and making art develop certain feelings for listening, sharing
and collaborating. Learning a language is useless if we are not able to communicate,
in other words, to use language skills. A story serves to share the construction of a
crucial sense of attention for others.
General curriculum. Most stories can be used to develop attention, analysis and
expression, and to relate them to other subjects in the curriculum, such as geography,
history, social and cultural aspects, mathematics and science.
b) COMPREHENSION TECHNIQUES.
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Helping children to predict the contents of a story by telling them beforehand in
their native language, by showing them pictures, or by introducing key vocabulary
from that story.
While they are being told a story, show them pictures, draw on the board, act and
mime, use words that are similar in meaning in both the first and second languages.
Tell the story more than once. Interrupt the story often and repeat the idea in a
differente manner to make sure that the children do not get lost.
Study the story beforehand and simplify some of the vocabulary, if necessary:
words, expressions, verb tenses, word order and complex sentences.
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When choosing them, we must ask ourselves the following:
1. Is the first impression about a book valid for us and for our pupils?
2. Does the book meet the pupil’s interests and hold their attention?
3. Do we accept the values expressed in the book?
4. Can the children understand the story enough to gain something
valuable outside of it?
5. Is the story easy to understand irrespective of their knowledge of its
vocabulary?
6. The story should be the source of activities, such as drama, story
writing, letter writing from one protagonist to another, or activities
relating to a theme.
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Disadvantages: incorrect English.
BIBLIOGRAFÍA
ELLIS AND BREWSTER: The Story telling handbook for Primary Teachers. Penguin.
GARVIE: Story as a vehicle. Multilingual matters.
PERRY: Into books: 101 literature activities for the classroom. Oxford University
Press. Madrid.
MORGAN and RINVOLUCRI: Once upon a time. Cambridge University Press.
ROSEN: Shapers and Polishers. Teachers as Storytellers. Mary Glasgow.
WRIGHT: Why stories. Oxford University Press. Madrid.
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Tema 16. La literatura infantil en lengua inglesa. Técnicas de aplicación didáctica para
acceder a la comprensión oral, iniciar y potenciar los hábitos lectores y sensibilizar en la
función poética del lenguaje.
16. ENGLISH CHILDREN’S LITERATURE.
1. Introduction.
There is literary work that has been created with the aim of being used by children and there are
some works that, although they were not created with that aim, they have been used for children for
such a long time and have become part of “children’s literature”.
Even if it is children’s literature of not, we as teachers, should develop the interest in
reading of our students. Encourage them to read stories of any kind…
To help students to conquer the written kingdom is one of the most important aims of all
the educative systems.
The reading practice needs two requisites to be fully developed:
- To recognize many diverse forms within the text (paragraphs, letters…)
- To understand the meaning these forms have.
2. Children’s literature in the UK.
Children’s literature in English has been the first literature of this kind studied and
classified. It is a very important type of literature and it is included in the Cambridge History
of English Literature.
Some famous authors of this kind of literature are:
- Daniel Defoe (1660?-1731): “Robinson Crusoe”
- Jonathan Swift (1667-1745): “Guliver’s Travel’s”
- Charles Dickens (1812-1870): “David Copperfield”
- Lewis Carroll (1832-1898): “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”
- Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936): “The Jungle Book”
- Mary Norton: “The Borrowers”
- Pamela Travers: “Mary Poppins”
3. Children’s literature in the USA.
Literature for children in America is the result of the culture, the life and the believes of
this country.
Some famous authors of this kind of literature are:
- Peter Parley: “Tales of Peter Parley about America”
- J. Fennimore Cooper: “The last of the Mohicans”
- Herman Melville: “Moby dick”
- Louise M. Alcott: “Little women”
- Clement Moore: “Night before Christmas”
- Mark Twain: “The adventures of Tom Sawyer”
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- Nan Chauncy: “Tangara”
- Ivan Southhall: “Ash Road”
5. Reasons to use literature for children.
Children enjoy listening to stories in their mother tongue. For this reason books provide an ideal
introduction to the foreign language presented in a context that is familiar to the child.
It is not the same to use a story for adults than a story for children. Children need books with a
suitable language for them.
The reasons to use literature in class may be summarised as follows:
a) Motivation: Stories are motivating and fun and that develops positive attitudes towards
the foreign language.
b) Imagination: Stories exercise the imagination. That involve children with the story,
they try to interpret the narrative…
c) The meaning: They also wish to find a meaning. If they find it, they know they are
able to understand the foreign language.
d) Linking tool: stories are useful in linking fantasy and the imagination with the child’s
real world.
e) Vocabulary: Listening to stories allows the teacher to introduce or revise new
vocabulary and sentence structures.
f) Linguistic accuracy: Develop the ability of understanding new words from the
context.
g) Linguistic knowledge: Contributes to introduce new linguistic structures.
h) One more time: Repetition allows certain language items to be acquired.
i) Communication: Listening, reading and giving an answer to the stories are good ways
to develop communication.
j) Cross-Curricular subjects: Reading stories help to teach them other aspects as social or
cultural aspects.
6. Techniques to develop listening comprehension.
a) Use mother tongue with beginner pupils from time to time.
b) Provide a context for the story and introduce the main characters.
c) Prediction of the contents.
d) Use the help of pictures, draws, cards, etc, while we are telling the story.
e) Follow-up activities.
f) Repetitions of the story: we can tell the story more than once to avoid that the
children get lost.
g) Simplification of the story.
h) Rhymes and songs to reinforce the language introduced.
6.1. Techniques to understand the poetic function of language.
First of all, we need to bear in mind that literature must be a source of amusement and
pleasure for the children.
We can encourage the reading habit of our students at the same time they understand
the poetic function of language.
One of the best methods to achieve these aims is to read and to tell stories in class.
7. Activities to do with a Literary text.
1. Pre-reading activities.
These are the tasks to do before telling the story that helps students to predict what is
going to happen, to predict the vocabulary, the characters, etc.
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2. Activities to do while telling the story: while reading.
The most important objective is that children enjoy the story. Some activities we can
do are:
- Ask them what they think is going to happen next or before.
- Use mime, performances, etc.
- Put some pictures we give them in the correct order.
- Repeat words or sentences.
- Sing a song, etc.
3. Post-reading activities: after telling the story.
These tasks are called “follow-up activities”. They allow children to use what they have learned.
Some activities we could do are:
- Draw part of the story.
- Make mask, puppets…
- Make a poster of the story.
- Invent a similar story.
- Perform the story, etc.
8. Conclusion.
There are many activities that we can do with the children in our classes. They just should be
creative and they should encourage comprehension and communication in the foreign language. If
they fulfil all these requisites they would be motivating for our students and in a step-by-step
process they would love literature.
1.INTRODUCTION
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But it is necessary the use of carefully selected songs or composed
especially for the class, in order to avoid those containing lexical mistakes
that students would fix irremediably in their minds.
Advantages:
- Apart from being a very relaxing activity for the vast majority of students,
singing a song contributes to encourage their interest to study in depth
that language.
- The activity of singing establishes a warm atmosphere and a sense of
Cupertino among students. The feeling of making a fool of themselves can
be overcome easily if we succeed in enthusiasting them with the activity of
singing songs in that language. On the whole, what completely justifies
the use of songs in the foreign language classroom is the possibility of
practices that language.
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- Accurate grammatical contents, and without going beyond the limitation
of the knowledge already acquired for the students.
- Lexical contents useful and easily memorise, without excess of new
elements for the student.
- Rhythmic guidelines, which need to be “normal” so the musical rhythm
matches the natural one of the lyrics: there should not be tonic stress on
the syllables that would not normally have them.
There are songs already graded. Socialisation is, without any doubt, the
main function of songs in the English class.
An activity considered highly enriching from the human and linguistic point
of view is the exploitation of play back, or the preparation of a show in which
the students perform the vision of English music. This is an activity where the
students, on one hand, have the possibility to work harmoniously the oral
and non oral aspects (gestures) of communication and, therefore, the
opportunity to choose singers or characters they want to represent, as well as
the way adopted by this recreation.
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The most serious problem in this field are, on one hand, the lack of
information sources which could allow the teacher to be up to date in the
evolution of he music in the country whose language s/he teaches; and on
the other hand the need of sonorous and audio-visual materials such as
cassettes, videos, etc.
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Make the students to be aware of he importance of investing actively the
linguistic elements stored so as to facilitate their memorisation.
Propose activities integrating the creativity and the sensibility of he
students.
Prepare, taking the linguistic baggage from he songs, a range of linguistic
patterns that allow the student to materialise what s/he wants to express
through these activities.
A. Base strategy:
When the object is the acquisition of an oral comprehension competence, it
is essential to consider a series of elements that determine if a listening
situation is suitable or not.
On one hand, the student. It is necessary that the song and the activities
proposed raise a degree of motivation able to become the purpose of
learning.
On the other hand, the transmission. Material elements and psychological
elements should be taking into account the action of the teacher.
Another element to be considered is the assimilation. The treatment of the
information is the following stage to perception. We have to avoid the
requirement of an oral production immediately after the hearing.
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- Propose a series of staments and ask them to answer if the assertions included are true or
false.
- When the plot in the narration is linear and chronological, it will be used
as a connecting theme. We can supply them with an incomplete text,
asking them to discover the elements that are not included.
Nevertheless, it is clear that not all the songs are equally useful to practice
pronunciation. The teacher should be sure that the students would not have
many difficulties to catch the sounds and the rhythm of the song.
There are songs composed to be accompanied with actions or movements of
the body while they are sung. They are called action songs.
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These songs are particularly useful for small children as they allow practising
orally different formal aspects of the language and, at the same time, they
teach the meaning of the words or the sentences of the text used in the song
through different gestures. (Head, and shoulders...).
b) Arranging words.
The teacher hands a copy of the song to each student; there are gaps in
some places that correspond to certain words or phrases. While the listening
takes place, each student attempts to write the words or sentences that were
omitted in he copy. They also practice the written expression.
d) Reconstruction of a song.
The teacher cuts off all the lines from a song and places them in an
envelope. Then the groups open their envelopes with he corresponding lines
from he song they are going to rebuild among the whole class. The different
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groups should place the sentences in the same order they appear in he song.
It could be repeated twice or three times.
The teacher hands to each student a copy of a song where some of the
original words or sentences have been changed for others that are not the
ones appearing in the song but have some likeness.
As they listen to the song, the students will have to find out where are the
mistakes and correct them in he handed copy.
g) Identifying phrases.
The teacher delivers to each student from the class one, two or three lines
that have been cut from the song. Each student when hearing the text
corresponding to the lines s/he has should rise his/her hand.
h) Classifications of words.
While listening to a song, the students should make a list in which collect a
certain kind of grammatical elements (verbs, prepositions, colours...)
introduced in the song.
Children have a list with some words; they will have to provide one or two
antonyms for each word. After a few minutes of discussion in the groups,
the teacher will play the cassette and encourage the students to guess if in
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the text of the song there are any of the antonym words they have found
previously.
In this case the attention of the students is focused mainly on the phonetic
element.
Before listening to the song, a copy, with some blanks, is handed to the
students. They have to fill them with words that rhyme with the
corresponding verse. After that, the teacher plays the cassette so they can
check if he words they have found are really in he song.
k) Translating a song.
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2.2. Characteristics of songs and rhymes.
Their main characteristics are:
1. They provide a link with home and school life.
2. Help children to develop positive attitude towards language learning.
3. They provide an enjoyable alternative in presentation of the language.
4. They reinforce lexical items and structures.
5. They play an important role in pronunciation, intonation and rhythm.
6. They are used to reinforce listening that leads to speaking, reading and writing
tasks.
7. They are used to reinforce other subjects.
8. They reflect customs and traditions associated with Anglo-Saxon culture.
2.3. Reasons to use songs in the classroom.
The main reasons to use songs are:
1. Motivation: songs easily motivate children to use the foreign language.
2. Change in the routine.
3. Cultural importance: they reflect the foreign culture.
4. Reinforcement: they provide a meaningful way to repeat different items in order to
reinforce the learning (pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, etc.).
3. Types of songs.
It is essential to select carefully the songs we are going to work with in class.
What we must bear in mind are the features of the students we are working with at that
specific moment: their age, interests, likes and dislikes, and of course, their knowledge of the
foreign language.
We already know that the foreign language is introduced in the second cycle of
Primary Education, that is, children from 8 years to 12.
- 2nd Cycle of Primary (8 to 10).
It is the first time the foreign language is introduced in class. It is one of the best
didactic moments because children are very receptive and interested in everything.
- 3rd Cycle of Primary (10 to 12).
At this age their interests begin to change. So that, teachers have to take these changes
into account and adjust the teaching practice to the new needs and interests of the students.
The majority of the students think that songs are childish; they feel shy singing and so
that, it is difficult to make them sing aloud in class.
However, they enjoy music very much but their interests are different. So that, we have
to find songs that they enjoy and are suitable for our purposes too.
We as teachers must select the most suitable songs depending on the level of our
students, on their interests and their needs.
The following are some examples of types of songs we can use in class at these stages.
3.1. Songs for occasions.
Songs that make reference to anything that happens to them in daily life: “Happy
birthday” or “Auld Lang Syne” (New Year’s Eve).
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3.4. Round songs.
A round is a circular song. One group begins singing, then the second group begins the
song when the first group gets to the end of the first line. The third group begins when the
second group gets to the end of the first line and so on. When the singers get to the end of the
last line they continue singing from the beginning again, so the song becomes circular. For
example: “Three blind mice” or “I hear thunder”.
3.5. Dialogues songs.
This type of songs is very useful. They are very easy to sing and at the same time they
require more attention on the part of the children. For example: “I spy” or “I am a music
man”.
3.6. Traditional songs.
These songs will not probably known by the students, but they must learn them
because they belong to the new culture they are studying. For example: “Oh, Susanna”,
“London Bridge” or “Yankee Doodle”.
Furthermore, there are songs that we sing at a specific time of the year like Christmas
Carols: “Merry Christmas” or “Jingle Bells”.
3.7. Other songs.
There are other songs for children which are more difficult but which are also good to
work with them in class. For example songs in all Walt Disney’s films. A good idea to develop
them is to watch the film at the same time we sing the song. For example: “Hakuna Matata”
or “Fly, fly” (Peter Pann).
3.8. Traditional rhymes.
Rhymes can be used in the same way as songs. This could be easier for those students
that are a bit shy. Some traditional rhymes to be mentioned are: “One Potato” or “Spring,
Summer, Autumn, Winter”.
4. Techniques: Types of activities.
There are many different activities that we can do working with songs, depending on
what we want the students to practise and to learn. These can be summarized as follows:
- Activities to communicate new information.
- Activities to understand the social meaning of a song.
- Activities to learn the way language works without paying attention to the
meaning.
As we have mentioned before, the activities with songs we can do in class are very
varied. The following are some examples of these activities, which may be done with different
songs, according to the interests and needs of our students:
a) Invention: the children invent a new song with some music they all know and with
some vocabulary that we may give to them.
b) Stories: the students tell the story of the song.
c) Discussions: use songs to introduced a topic that may be discussed afterwards.
d) Fill in the Gaps: fill in the gaps they find in the lyrics of a song with the words
previously given.
e) Write in Order: write in the correct order the sentences of a song as they listen to it.
f) Singing Competitions: divide the class into groups. Each group chooses a song or
rhyme from the songs worked in previous lessons and perform it to the rest. After all
the performances, the class votes their favourite.
g) What’s the missing word: divide the class into groups. Each group chooses a song
and performs it for the rest of the class. However they miss out the last word in each
line. The rest of the class has to call out the missing word.
h) Rounds: (point 3.4)
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i) Videos: to watch musical videos. The images help the students to understand what
the song is about.
j) Song dictation: to do what the song says. Colour, write, etc.
k) The Picture song: the children try to make up a new song, taking some pictures as
the basis.
l) Fill and draw: two different sheets of paper. One has some draws explaining what is
happening in the song; the other has the lyrics. They must try to fill in.
5. Conclusion.
There are many activities that we can do in class with songs. However, it is going to
depend on our students’ interests, needs and, of course, linguistic level. It is up to us to select
the work and ht songs we are going to work with.
The possibilities of the songs are directed to develop the four linguistic skills: oral and
written comprehension and oral and written expression. But, we may say that the most basic
ability to use songs in class is oral comprehension.
1.1. - Introducción.
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1.3. - El material.
1.4. - El lenguaje.
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2.2.6. - La ruta de Ana.
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1. - FUNCIONES DEL JUEGO Y LA CREATIVIDAD EN EL APRENDIZAJE DE LAS
LENGUAS EXTRANJERAS.
1.1. - Introducción.
La preocupación de todo profesor es poder dar una clase atractiva, que consiga captar
la atención y el interés del alumno hacia su materia.
Pero para que este interés se mantenga a través del curso, tenemos que presentar los
juegos como auténticas actividades dentro de la programación de una lengua segunda. Si el
alumno intuye que improvisamos, que utilizamos el juego para rellenar huecos de cinco
minutos o para mantenerlos dentro de la clase, en vísperas de vacaciones, la función
pedagógica de esta actividad quedará rota.
Para evitar su utilización indiscriminada de deben tener en cuenta los siguientes aspectos:
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El material.
El lenguaje.
Las clases de juegos, que describiremos en un epígrafe aparte y que agruparemos de
acuerdo con la finalidad a la que sirven:
a) Juegos de vocabulario.
b) Juegos de estructuras gramaticales.
c) Juegos de creatividad.
d) Juegos de comunicación, que también veremos, por su importancia, en otro epígrafe
aparte.
Cada profesor en su clase debe saber cómo agrupar a los alumnos para que éstos se
encuentren con posibilidades reales de comunicación y con un material auténtico. Así, los
juegos pueden ser planteados como:
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Pueden ser historias inventadas por los propios alumnos o sacadas de cuentos, de libros de
aventuras, etc.
Los alumnos trabajan de dos en dos formando un tándem frente al resto de las otras
parejas, o haciéndose preguntas uno a otro sobre su vida, trabajo, familia, actividad,
descripción de un documento visual, etc. La finalidad de esta actividad es obtener la
información más completa en un tiempo fijado de antemano. El profesor actúa de monitor y
supervisa la expresión, pronunciación, etc., de las parejas.
Se divide la clase en grupos de trabajo de cuatro o cinco alumnos. Suelen ser los
juegos más atractivos, pues, al igual que en las parejas, se incrementa el número de alumnos
hablando al mismo tiempo y dinamizan mucho más la clase, desarrollando el sentido de
cooperación entre ellos.
Se corre el riesgo de que hablen español, si el profesor no supervisa todos los grupos,
pero una forma de resolverlo es nombrar un moderador en cada grupo que se encargue de
evitarlo.
Dentro de este apartado podemos incluir la división de la clase en dos o más equipos
contrincantes. Esto daría más emoción al juego o actividad, al introducir el sentido de
competición.
1.3. - El material.
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animales, plantas, objetos, mobiliario, medios de comunicación, días de la semana, meses del
año, estaciones, las grandes ciudades (Nueva York, Londres, Sydney,...), los oficios y sus
correspondientes herramientas, cartas con dibujos y otras con los nombres que corresponden a
cada dibujo, etc.
Pero no todos los profesores tienen la habilidad o el tiempo para hacerse sus propias
cartas. Para esto podemos recurrir a los alumnos, o solicitar la ayuda del profesor de dibujo.
Las cartas serán hechas en cartulina del mismo color y tendrán todas el mismo tamaño.
Insistimos, sin embargo, en que es muy práctico contar con un buen número de cartas
plastificadas, pues sirven para muchos juegos. En la formación de familias puede haber
muchas variantes.
1.4. - El lenguaje.
Antes de lanzarse a organizar juegos, el profesor debe familiarizar a los alumnos con
una serie de estructuras básicas que permiten agilizar el comienzo y el final de los juegos.
Estas estructuras pueden ser:
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Sit down. Stand up.
Do the same as myself.
Give the cards, one each.
Ready? Go ahead!
Close your eyes.
Count up to four ...
You win.
You start.
Look at your partner.
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Algunos de los juegos que vamos a presentar son una recopilación de varios autores
citados en la bibliografía. Otros han sido recogidos de forma oral, entre los docentes, o son
simples adaptaciones de juegos infantiles tradicionales. Estos juegos se pueden dividir en
cuatro categorías:
- Juegos de vocabulario.
- Juegos de estructuras gramaticales.
- Juegos de creatividad.
- Juegos de comunicación, que estudiaremos en un epígrafe aparte.
Para responder a estos juegos casi siempre hay que buscar y encontrar la palabra que
falta o la palabra justa de acuerdo con una consigna dada. El objetivo de estos juegos es
desarrollar la escritura y la lectura, aunque muchos de ellos pueden ser orales.
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otro cualquiera: "fifteen". Cuando alguien se equivoca, su equipo pierde un punto. Puede
jugarse en tres partidas de dos minutos cada una.
2.1.2. - El bingo.
Organización: Se hacen cartones con números que vayan del 1 al 100, del 100 al 500,
del 500 al 1000 (dependiendo del nivel de los alumnos). Los números pueden estar escritos en
cifras o en letras. Puede jugarse individualmente o en parejas. El profesor dice números de
forma aleatoria; se premia la línea y el bingo.
Alternativas: Se puede jugar con la última sílaba de cada palabra. De esta forma resulta más
difícil. Otra variante es jugar con el vocabulario específico de un tema y no sobre la última
letra. Por ejemplo, el profesor dice "bread" y cada alumno tendrá que decir nombres
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relacionados con la comida. El que repita, diga mal una palabra o no siga, pierde. Esta
variante es más adecuada para los primeros niveles.
Organización: Los alumnos deben conocer previamente el alfabeto del inglés (hacer varios
ejercicios para comprobarlo, haciéndoles deletrear sus nombres, por ejemplo). El profesor
asigna una letra a cada alumno. Si son pequeños, deberán pintarla bien grande en una hoja. El
profesor dice una palabra. Rápidamente, los alumnos deberán levantarse por orden diciendo la
letra correspondiente hasta formar la palabra. Si una letra se repite, el representante de ella se
levantará y dirá dicha letra cada vez que ésta aparezca en la palabra. Por ejemplo, "window":
el representante de la "w" se levantará en primer y último lugar, pronunciando el nombre de la
letra. Puede jugarse en dos equipos. Se reparte la primera mitad del alfabeto a un equipo y la
segunda mitad al otro. Los equipos parten con 10 puntos. Los alumnos se levantarán a medida
que aparezca su letra. Si alguno se equivoca, resta un punto a su equipo, y así, el que menos
puntos tenga al final, pierde.
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Organización: El profesor reparte un mismo dibujo de una habitación con algunas
personas y animales a toda la clase. Los alumnos deben escribir nombres de objetos, de
animales o de personas que empiecen por la misma letra. Al cabo de dos minutos el juego se
para y ganan los alumnos que hayan encontrado más nombres.
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Organización: Los alumnos, de forma individual o en parejas, leen la primera de las
series de palabras que aparecen en su hoja. El primero o la primera pareja que encuentra la
palabra que no pertenece a la serie levanta la mano, lee la palabra en voz alta y explica por
qué ha elegido ésa precisamente; si está bien, gana; si no, se pasa el turno al otro.
Ejemplos:
Alternativa: Cada pareja puede hacer su propia lista y leerla en voz alta, para que otra
pareja encuentre la oposición. Si la palabra es adivinada, el acertante gana un punto. Si la
palabra no es adivinada, o se da una respuesta incorrecta, el que ha hecho la lista, gana.
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2.1.9. - Palabras y dibujos.
Organización: el profesor reparte una fotocopia a cada alumno o pareja donde aparece
un dibujo. En un tiempo dado (tres minutos) los alumnos tienen que escribir los nombres de
los dibujos que están numerados. Por ejemplo:
Number 1: A hen.
Number 2: A knife.
Number 3: A fork.
Así hasta que terminen. Luego tendrán que agruparlos por categorías, de tres en tres. Por
ejemplo:
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2.2. - Juegos de estructuras gramaticales.
Estos juegos pueden ser orales o escritos y ayudan a fijar unas estructuras gramaticales
específicas, ya conocidas por el alumno. Hay que tener la habilidad de presentárselos como
una actividad recreativa, sin hacer alusión a la estructura. Si el alumno se equivoca, debemos
animarle a que encuentre la alternativa correcta, sin corregirle formalmente, pues ya hemos
indicado que lo más importante del juego es la comunicación.
- I am in a beautiful town.
- It is the capital city of the country.
- I am visiting a big palace where a famous queen lives.
Alternativa: Este mismo juego se puede utilizar para la práctica del futuro si en la tarjeta o la
foto que se entrega aparecen las características del país de donde procede, y se pide a los
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alumnos que imaginen que ése es el lugar al que irán de vacaciones ese verano y lo que harán
allí.
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Material: Ninguno.
Agrupación: Tres grandes grupos.
Objetivos: Práctica de "some, any, an, a" con nombres contables e incontables.
Destrezas: Comprensión y expresión orales.
Nivel: Elemental e intermedio.
Material: Cartas o recortes de revistas con dibujos de alimentos, objetos personales, ropas,
etc. En su defecto, trozos de papel con el nombre de estas cosas.
Agrupación: Gran grupo.
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Destrezas: Comprensión y expresión orales.
Nivel: Intermedio.
Material: Cartas con dibujos, o papel con el nombre de objetos fáciles de describir.
Agrupación: Dos grandes grupos.
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Alternativa (sin dibujo): Para complicar el juego, en niveles avanzados, el profesor lee
un texto descriptivo de un lugar, y los alumnos tienen que imaginarlo y dibujarlo. Luego se
comparan los dibujos y se discuten las diferencias hasta conseguir e que parezca más correcto
a todos.
Son más abiertos que los del apartado anterior. Los llamamos así porque el alumno puede
crear un lenguaje más imaginativo, más amplio. Son eminentemente comunicativos, por lo
que el profesor deberá vigilar un uso "adecuado" de la lengua sin insistir demasiado en la
perfección de la forma.
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- What did they do?
- What did X say?
- What did Z say?
- What happened later?
El primer alumno de cada grupo escribe el nombre de un hombre famoso o célebre y dobla la
hoja para que sus compañeros no lo lean; el segundo alumno escribe el nombre de una mujer
célebre y dobla la hoja; el tercero escribe dónde se desarrolla la acción y dobla también la
hoja. Así hasta que hayan terminado todas las preguntas. Siempre que la contestación lo
permita, se harán frases completas. Luego un alumno de cada grupo lee en voz alta la historia
completa. Gana la historia más divertida y que tenga menos fallos gramaticales.
Organización: El profesor explica que se trata de hacer correctamente una frase muy
larga, escucharla dos veces y repetirla. Se divide la clase en dos equipos. Cada uno se encarga
de hacer un par de frases largas, supervisadas por el profesor. Un alumno de un equipo lee una
de las frases para que la repitan alumnos del otro equipo. La lectura debe ser correcta y
pausada. Si alguno duda o se equivoca, hace perder un punto a su equipo. Gana el equipo que
tenga menos puntos negativos.
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Organización: Los alumnos se dividen en grupos de ocho. El profesor explica la
dramática situación: "Eight people travel in a globe which is relieving air very quickly. The
pilot says that at least one of them must jump out to make the globe lighter, or otherwise the
globe will crash and everybody will die". Los ocho personajes, que son los mejores en sus
profesiones, tienen que justificar su derecho a la vida. Pueden elegirse varias profesiones:
médico, arquitecto, abogado, poeta, enfermero, policía, político, profesor,... Los alumnos
tendrán que utilizar las condicionales: If I die, "there won't be buildings any longer".
El cuarto tipo de juegos son aquellos conocidos como juegos de comunicación. En ellos, el
énfasis no se pone en la corrección absoluta del lenguaje utilizado por el alumno, sino en el
mensaje general que el alumno emite, en la eficacia comunicativa del lenguaje. Ello no
significa que esta clase de juegos no mejore la corrección y la competencia lingüística, pues
un lenguaje que esté plagado de errores no podrá servir de medio de comunicación efectivo y
además la gama lingüística que se usa en este tipo de juegos es limitada y los alumnos repiten
las mismas estructuras muchas veces.
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compañeros adivinen de qué se trata. Los compañeros hacen preguntas a las que se
contesta "Yes/No". El tiempo para cada frase es de un minuto. Si lo adivinan, ganan un punto.
A continuación participa el equipo B. El juego se repite varias veces, y gana el equipo que
tenga más puntos.
Organización: Se juega en parejas. Cada una recibe un par de dibujos similares, pero
con alguna diferencia. Cada alumno esconde su dibujo para que no lo vea su compañero.
Luego lo describen y se hacen preguntas para tratar de averiguar las diferencias.
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Material: Una fotocopia de un plano completo y otra con el esquema de las calles sin
ningún nombre o dato.
Agrupación: Parejas.
1. INTRODUCTION
The characteristics of the language used in an act of communication in real life are different from the
language produced in the English class.
The limited field of real experiences in the use of the language that is offered by the small context of the
classroom obstructs to imprint on the language there produced the characteristics related to the natural
and spontaneous use in real life.
All those activities developed by the teacher in order to reproduce aspects that characterise the real use
of the language should be always positively valued. As regards this, one of the activities that helps best the
student in the practice of these characteristics peculiar to the communicative language is dramatisation.
In the foreign language class, dramatisation has got the objective of getting the student to develop a
creative production of the language.
We want that the language in the class would reproduce as accurately as is possible, the naturally and
spontaneity that characterise any normal act of communication.
The dramatisation as a technique of awakening and expression can be carry out through any activity in
that artificial or imaginary situations are created to encourage the student to act representing his/her own
role or the one representing another person. The interaction established among the participants provokes
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a number of reactions not only of linguistic nature, but also emotional, close to the ones typical in an act of
communication in real life.
Dramatisation in the sense dealt here is not far from the certain games of imitation so characteristic in
childhood. In both cases we deal with activities that consist on assuming or simulating certain roles in
imaginary situations. On the other hand, also the players, as they pursue the enjoyment and the individual
entertainment unconsciously. Also propose to experiment the communicative efficacy of the language.
Besides, these two activities are not radically different from the drama as genre or literary art. In the
three cases we deal with the expression of an inherent desire, to imitate behaviours that attract our
attention by means of artificial reproduction or events in human life that have developed in those.
The communicative practice of a language will only be complete if we succeed in dealing with all the
aspects, linguistic and non-linguistic, that defines the real use of the target language. It is drama itself that
set up as one of the most effective activities to introduce the student to the communicative practice of a
language.
At the beginning of a foreign language lesson not all the students are motivated to the same extent,
neither are they in the same mood. That is why it is necessary to create an atmosphere of Cupertino
previously and estimulate in each the desire of working together.
There is a series of exercises whose main objective is to prepare the students psychologically, creating in
them a favourable disposition to participate in the following language activities.
The imaginary ball: In pairs. The students are asked to pretend to be throwing an imaginary ball at
each other. It would be interesting that the teacher first tell the students what kind of ball they are
going to throw: a tennis ball, a balloon, a football...
Physical representation of words: Groups of five or six students. The task of each group consists on
finding a word whose number of letters corresponds with the number of members forming the group.
Once the word has been chosen, each of the members from the different groups make, either with the
hands or with the fingers, one of the letters from the established word, the rest of the groups will try to
guess the word.
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The talking blackboard: In pairs. A student is back to back with the other, and this draws with his/her
finger the letters of any word. The student who represents the blackboard has to guess the word.
Introducing oneself and being introduced to others: Circles of six or seven pupils. A student starts
saying his/her name and an imaginary occupation. The student who is on his/her right repeats this
information and, then, says his/her own name and the imaginary occupation, and so on until all the
members of the group have taken part in the game. This practice is very useful when exercising the
capacity of remembering.
With this we pretend to exploit the observation capacity of the student as a means to achieve the
communicative use of the language.
The teacher invites the students to pay attention, during a couple of minutes, to the things in the
classroom. Once the time is up, the teacher asks the pupils to close the eyes and listen, without answering,
to a series of questions about the wall, the door, the blackboard... Made the questions, the teacher asks the
students to open the eyes and comment with the rest of the pupils the things that are able to remember.
The most important thing about this exercise is the interest the student has to discover his/her nearest
environment and this is transformed into a real production of language that is not always easy to reach in
the classroom and it is also important to get the students used to observe the details.
Standing up and with the hands behind their backs, the students make circles of four or five. The
teacher, covertly, places a small object on the hands of one pupil from each group, trying not to disclose it,
not even to the student who receives it. This, using the sense of touch, can easily know the name of the
object.
The activity of the rest of the members from the team involves guessing, by questioning him/her, which
the object is. The only clues given are the questions made by the different members of the group.
This activity requires a great effort of concentration, in which intelligence and memory play an
important role.
Groups of four or five students. Each group thinks about a fruit and decides which gestures are suitable to
imitate the action of eating the fruit.
At a signal given by the teacher, the groups disperse and each pupil goes to a classmate from another
group and interchanges the gestures agreed in their respective groups and makes some comments about
their performances.
What it is sought with this activity is the opportunity to exercise certain functions of language such as
praising or criticism other’s people performance.
These exercises are created to bring in operation the fantasy of the student as a means to carry him/her
from the situation or immediate reality of the classroom to imaginary situations in the non-academic
world.
Besides stimulating the creative and interpretative capacity of the students, we intend the pupils to achieve
a suitable production in accordance with new situations created by their imagination.
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In pairs. Each pair must find for certain object from the classroom a different use from the one it usually
has. (A chair may be used as an umbrella). After this, each pair must reach an agreement about the way of
imitating the action that may be performed with that object.
After a brief break, each pair shows the stabilised action before the other pairs or the whole class.
From this activity is easy to achieve a creative and spontaneous use of the language: “I think it is an
umbrella”.
In order to carry out this activity, it is essential to have a set of photographs of different characters. The
pupils are distributed into groups of three or four. Each group is given a photograph of a different
character, along with a sheet containing the following questions: How old is this person? What does s/he
do?, Do you like this person?, What is s/he doing now? ...
With the photograph in front of them, the members of each group answer the different questions and try
to agree in the most interesting interpretations. It is advisable that somebody from the group takes notes
of the conclusions. Once the task is finished, the groups interchange the photographs and make comments
about the new character.
What is expected with this activity is exploiting linguistically the first impression that instinctively has
any human being when pays attention to somebody.
In pairs. Each pair decides to represent a joke in front of the rest of the English class. In this way we
foster the creative use of the language by all the students because they use it in a personal manner so as to
represent a comical situation in front of the other pupils.
By turns, all the pairs represent the jokes or funny situations previously chosen. The teacher undertakes
the responsibility for the jokes not being repeated. This activity may be carried out with the characters of
a tale known by all the students, although this kind of representation may require a previous rehearsal.
The teacher asks the students to bring into the classroom any object from their house that feel
particularly keen on. At the same time, s/he will also indicate the necessity of wrapping the object so the
rest of the pupils cannot see it until the activity starts.
The teacher asks the students to distribute themselves into groups of four. Then, they are informed they
have a few minutes to, before opening their respective parcels in front of the classmates, guess the content.
Once the objects are exposed, each student explains to his/her group some details about the object (who
gave it to him/her, when, etc.). Meantime, the rest of the pupils can ask about any detail about the object.
They are very interested in the objects they bring into the classroom, so all the activities about them will
be accomplished with equal interest.
The students get used to learning applying the knowledge instead of memorising it. The skills acquired
in this way become easily part of the permanent linguistic competence.
The students learn sharing and joining their efforts, checking their work reciprocally and helping one
another in natural, dynamic and communicative situations.
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The fact of joining their efforts, perceptions and knowledge helps the student to make up for the
individual deficiencies.
Working in-groups multiplies the opportunities for oral communication in the classroom.
When the teacher has succeed in having each group of students working as a team, s/he also achieves
they pay more attention to the task undertaken.
It is necessary to emphasise that the responsibility of the teacher for dividing the class into groups
changes, and, at the same time the traditional relation teacher/student is transformed into a responsibility
shared with the students and developed in different modalities.
Keeping a lively rate in the activities usually helps to diminish the discipline problems, as it is unlikely
that students get bored.
Besides, the mischievous student cannot disrupt the class so often if everybody is busy. The traditional
opposition teacher/student is reduced when the students, instead of establishing an exclusive relation with
the teacher, relate to their classmates.
4.2 Criteria for the classification of activities.
Analysing an activity taking in consideration these three criteria helps to foresee the reaction of the
group. Provided that each activity normally requires more than a skill, the classification by skills (oral,
written, comprehension,etc.) indicates its main approach.
The activities must be selected depending on the objectives of the class, the level of knowledge in the
target language, the students and their interest. It is obvious the flexibility offered by working in-groups
and the utility within the language class.
Perhaps, the role of the teacher is deciding when work group can improve the learning of a language by
means of creative activities.
While the work group takes place, the teacher performs several roles:
Organiser: decides the size of the group and the way to select its members. Defines the activity and its
result.
Manager: observes the dynamic of the group and suggests improvements. Co-ordinates the different
groups to avoid unnecessary repetitions. Checks that the tasks are carried out according to the given
specifications.
Resource: gives information or materials when asked. Proposes several and variable alternatives.
Assessor: gives explanations depending on the necessities of each group. Clarifies grammatical
difficulties, organises sessions to practice pronunciation. Provides positive feedback about the
development of the activity.
Evaluator: evaluates the work or performance of the group; propose criteria so the groups can
evaluate themselves.
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Problem detector: observes the difficulties appeared in the performance of the group, clarifies the
problems and suggests solutions. While the group is working, the teacher can perceive a wide variety
of problems.
During any session of group work, the teacher will have to move from a role to other, applying the
techniques required in each situation, and will adopt the role of pronunciation connector in a group,
source of resources or manager in others. In each case the teacher individualises his/her help depending on
the group, offering his/her presence in a diplomatic manner, and not imposing it to the group. Thanks to
these roles, the teacher is able to monitor the progression of the students, to follow closely the difficulties
they encounter, the personal relations and the dynamic of the group which help him to select successfully
the activities in the future.
THEME 20.
THE FOREIGN LANGUAGE AREA IN THE CURRICULUM. CRITERIA TO BE
REFLECTED IN THE EDUCATIONAL PROJECT AND THE CURRICULAR PROJECT.
1. INTRODUCTION:
The Organic Act 1/1990 of General Organisation of the Educational System introduced some
important changes, aimed at improving the quality of education in Spain. Among these changes
we can mention:
- The extension of compulsory education to the age of 16 years old
- The establishment of new educational stages such as: Infant Education, Primary Education,
and Compulsory Secondary Education.
- These stages are organised in cycles, which is the period that should be considered for
teaching programs and promotion.
- The establishment of a curriculum which, in spite of having certain aspects which are
compulsory for all the country, is also open and flexible, as the different autonomous
educational services could adapt it to their real context. Then, each school should adapt the
official curriculum to their real environment by means of the design and development of the
Curricular Project.
- Besides, the Centres have the right to define their educational options, their objectives and
their organisational structure that will make possible the attainment of such objectives.
These aspects must be included in a document called the Educational Project.
Then, taking into account these basic aspects of the educational reform, we are going to deal
with:
- The Foreign Language area, as it is reflected in the official curriculum.
- The criteria to be reflected in the Educational Project and the Curricular Project, in relation
to this area.
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The teaching of a foreign language is included among the areas of Primary education, as we can
see in the articles number 14 of the Organic Act 1/1990, and also in the article number 5 of the
Royal Decree 1344/91, which established the national curriculum for Primary Education.
According to these legal documents, the teaching of that foreign language starts in the second
cycle. However, in most autonomous regions of Spain, the teaching of a foreign language has
been brought forward to the first cycle.
In Extremadura, this introduction came into force from the beginning of the last academic year,
according to an Order of the 30th of August, 2000.
The importance given to the learning of a foreign language in current society has to do with
certain social, educational and psychological demands, which Brewster, Ellis and Girard, in
their book “The Primary English teacher’s guide’ summarised as follows:
- Social demands: derive from the need of communicating with people from other countries
in a world, which is becoming a ‘global village’. The success in business and international
relations is closely linked to the learning of foreign languages, especially in the context of
the European Union, where goods and people can move freely through the member states.
Besides, the ability of communicating in a foreign language (especially in English) is quite
useful to travel abroad, and for the transmission of news and knowledge.
- The Educational demands have to do with the development of cognitive and social
abilities by means of the learning of a new language and its culture. This knowledge help
children to overcome their natural egocentrism, as they realise that there are other ways of
living and seeing reality different from their own. At the same time, this contact will help
them to develop tolerance and respect as well as a better understanding and appreciation of
their own language and culture.
- Finally, the psychological demands refer to the need of introducing them to the learning
of a foreign language, as young as possible, because they are less distanced from the age
in which they learn their first language than teenagers or adults, and they are still good at
understanding and imitating what they hear. Besides, they realise that the same functions
and notions they have just learn in their native language, can be expressed, equally well,
using a different language.
Once we have seen the importance of teaching a foreign language in Primary education, we are
going to see how the foreign language area is reflected in the official curriculum through the
analysis of its different elements.
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- Grammar competence: the ability to implement rules and lexical items
from the language system.
- Discourse competence: which refers to the ability to produce different
types of discourse organising them according to the communicative situation and the
interlocutors.
- Sociolinguistic competence: refers to the ability to adapt statements to
different contexts observing the usage of a given linguistic community.
- Strategic competence: implies being able to use verbal and non-verbal
strategies to compensate for breakdowns in communication.
- Sociocultural competence: refers to the student’s knowledge of the
cultural aspects of the countries where the foreign language is spoken.
All these elements are part of the language, as language is not something abstract, but a tool
for effective communication.
3. This new system is gradually contrasted and improved as new input is presented. Therefore
error is seen as an integral part of the learning process, as it is the manifestation of the effort
our pupils are making to acquire the new system.
4. This acquisition process may be fostered, especially at first, in ways that do not require a
linguistic response by using Total Physical Response techniques.
5. Receptive skills (listening and reading) are very important at this stage, specially listening,
since oral communication is the most direct form of communication among human beings.
6. We will try to familiarise the children not only with the target language from a functional
point of view, but also as a means of cultural and social transmission.
8. The four linguistic skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing) should be integrated
through meaningful communicative activities.
Then, the General objectives of the foreign language area are designed according to the
principles we have just mentioned. As we will see, these objectives refer to the development
of the four linguistic skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing), and also to the use of
linguistic and extralinguistic strategies and the knowledge of sociocultural aspects, in
order to get communicative competence in the foreign language.
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There are nine general objectives, expressed in form of interrelated abilities:
1. To understand simple and oral written texts about known objects, situations and events,
using general and specific information taken from those texts for specific purposes.
2. To use the foreign language orally to communicate with the teacher and students in common
class activities and in communicative situations created for this purpose, observing the
basic rules of interpersonal communication, and adopting a respectful attitude towards the
contribution of others.
3. To produce short simple texts about topics that the students are familiar with observing the
basic writing rules.
4. To read and understand short simple texts related to class activities, to their knowledge of
the world and to their experiences and interests, with the purpose of obtaining general and
specific information as desired.
5. To recognise and appreciate the communicative value of foreign languages and their ability
to learn them, showing understanding and respectful attitude towards other languages, their
speakers and their culture.
6. To understand and use the linguistic and non-linguistic conventions used by the foreign
language speakers in common situations (greetings, farewells, introductions,
congratulations...) in order to make communication easier.
7. To use in foreign language learning, previous knowledge and experience with other
languages, developing autonomous learning strategies.
- Concepts
- Procedures
- Attitudes
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- Oral communication uses and forms.
- Written communication uses and forms.
- Sociocultural aspects.
The CONTENTS OF THE FOREIGN LANGUAGE AREA are also designed around
communicative needs and situations. We have summarised the three blocks of contents, which
appear in the RD 1344/91 of the 6th of September, as follows:
A. ORAL COMMUNICATION USES AND FORMS:
a.1) Concepts:
Basic communicative needs and situations in the spoken form: greeting, identifying oneself,
giving and asking for information expressing needs and requests...
Characteristics of communicative situations:
Number and type of interlocutors.
Moment and place.
Formal or informal communication.
Vocabulary and structures needed to express basic communicative needs in the spoken form.
Topics related to the interests of the students and wide notions:
Colours, numbers, time, daily life, food, animals, time, sports…
a.2) Procedures.:
Recognising sounds, rhythm and intonation patterns of the foreign language.
General comprehension of spoken messages (face to face or recorded) about familiar topics.
Specific comprehension of spoken messages (face to face or recorded) in contextualised
situations.
Producing oral messages to satisfy common communicative needs.
Participating in linguistic exchanges for specific play purposes (simulations, role-play).
Recognising and using basic common strategies (linguistic and non-linguistic) to overcome
communicative difficulties.
Recognising grammatical forms to ask questions, state, deny, express possession, gender and
number, quantify, express facts in present, past, future… and using them effectively for
communication.
a.3) Attitudes:
Awareness of the importance of oral communication in a foreign languages
Willingness to speak a foreign language by participating in group activities (games, group
work, role, play…).
b.1) Concepts:
Basic communicative needs and situations in the written form.
Characteristics of communicative situations.
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Topics of general use and wide notions…
The names of the letters in the foreign language and their correspondence with their written
form.
Relationship between meaning, of the vocabulary studied its pronunciation and its graphic
representation.
b.2) Procedures:
General comprehension of written messages related to class activities, and common
communicative needs.
Specific comprehension of simple authentic material.
Recognising in written texts grammatical structures used to request, state, deny, express
possession, gender and number, state, deny…, using them effectively for communication.
Producing short simple written texts in response to oral or written stimulus aimed at different
readers.
b.3) Attitudes:
Appreciating the importance of knowing how to read and write in the foreign language.
C. SOCIOCULTURAL ASPECTS:
c.1) Concepts:
Social and cultural aspects of the countries where the foreign language is spoken which may
be interesting for our pupils such as:
Expression and gestures that go with speaking, such as: polite gestures, tone of voice,
symbols…
Aspects of every-day life: schedules, habits of children of this age, food.
Games, popular songs, favourite meeting places and sports in the countries whose
language is studied…
Presence in Spain of the foreign language studied by means of: products,
labels, songs, films, TV programs...
c.2) Procedures:
Using rules of behaviour and habits of the foreign language speakers in context.
Comparing the most relevant aspects of everyday life in those countries with the
corresponding aspects of the students’ native country.
Using authentic materials from different sources close to the learners’ in order to obtain
specific information.
c.3) Attitudes:
Curiosity and respect for the most relevant aspects of everyday life in theses countries.
Appreciation of the sociolinguistic behaviour as a means to improve communication.
Interest in getting to know people from other countries.
After the contents which should be taken into account to develop the abilities expressed in the
general objectives, the Royal Decree 1344/1991, presents nine ASSESSMENT CRITERIA,
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which should be understood as a tool to check if students have got the abilities expressed in the
General Objectives. These assessment criteria refer to abilities, but also make a little reference
to contents as well as a brief explanation.
According to the R.D. 1344/91, the attainment of the general objectives of the foreign language
area, will be assessed in relation to the following criteria:
1.- To recognise and reproduce characteristic phonemes of the foreign language as well as
rhythm and intonation patterns in words and sentences used in real language situations.
This criterion tries to check if students are familiar with the sounds, rhythm and intonation of the
foreign language in listening and speaking. The texts they should listen to or produce must make sense and
be in context.
2.- .-To grasp the overall meaning of oral texts emitted in face to face communicative situations
supported by gestures, and miming and any necessary repetitions in which combinations of
previously studied elements appears and which deal with topics that the learners are familiar
with.
This criterion considers the ability of students to understand the global meaning of oral text in the
best conditions, which imply: direct communication, contextual support and topics related to their
previous knowledge.
3.- To extract specific information, which has been previously studied, from oral texts with a
simple structure and vocabulary, which deal with topics that, are interesting and familiar to
the students.
4.- To participate in short oral exchanges related to common classroom activities, producing
comprehensible discourse adapted to the characteristics of the situation and to the
communicative aim.
This criterion refers to the student’s ability to express basic communicative needs in the context of
the class such as: asking something, asking for something, asking for permission to do something,
asking for help, greeting... These messages should be expressed correctly enough to be understood.
(for example, they should use the correct expression to ask for permission such as: “Can I go to the
toilet, please?, or Can I open the window/door?, Can I borrow your pen, please?
5.- To participate in simulated communicative situations, which have been previously studied in
class using common social formulas correctly in the foreign language.
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This criterion checks the student’s ability to communicate orally in the most basic situations of daily
life using social relation formulas, especially those which are typical of children of this age, such as:
“How are you? Fine, thanks”.
“Happy birthday!”
. “Many happy returns”...
“Hello!”/“Hi!“
5.- To grasp the general meaning and extract specific information from short written texts,
with a linear layout, and simple structures and vocabulary, which deal with topics that are
interesting and familiar to the student
This criterion refers to the student’s ability to understand short written texts from the teacher or
other students, such as: informal letters or instructions, public advertisements, charts and other
written texts with visual support such as simple comics for children.
.
6.- To read, with the help of the teacher or a dictionary simple books for children with
redundant visual support and written in foreign language, and showing the level of
comprehension attained by performing specific tasks.
With this criterion, we assess if the student is able to read simple books written in the foreign
language, but with pictures that help them to understand. Then they have to show us what they have
understood by means of verbal on non verbal task, which could be done even in the student’s native
language, as we want to check comprehension, not expression.
7.- To produce short comprehensible written texts that are adapted to the characteristics of the
situation and to the communicative aim and reflect to the subject matter studied in class.
This criterion means that students should be able to write short simple messages, related to their
interests and needs, such as: the list of things they need for an excursion, a short letter giving basic
personal information about themselves, or an invitation to a birthday party.
8.- To recognise some sociocultural features of the communities of foreign language speakers
that are contained in the language samples studied in class.
Finally, this criterion is designed to check if students are able to recognise some sociocultural elements
of the countries where the foreign language is spoken, especially those related to the daily life of children
such as: schedules, habits, subjects at school, games, greetings, favourite meeting places, popular songs,
festivals, food...
Once we have analysed the elements of the official curriculum, which corresponds to the first
level of concretion, we must deal with the documents that each center should design in order to:
- Define their educational options and structure through the Educational Project.
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- Adapt the different curricular elements to their context by means of the Curricular Project.
First, we will deal with the Educational Project, which is a document that must be designed and
approved by the entire School Community, through their representatives in the School Board.
According to the Royal Decree 82/1996 of the 26th January, which establishes the organic
regulations of the Infant and Primary Schools, the Educational Project consist of:
1.- The analysis of the sociocultural context of the center, which is the first step to establish the
following elements.(identity signs and educational objectives)
2.- The identity signs refer to those educational options that agree with the educational ideas
of the school community.
3.- Taking into account these identity signs, the school community should establish the
educational objectives as well as reviewing the general objectives of every stage established in
the official curriculum to adapt them to their context, and to the identity signs of the centre.
4.- To get these aims, the school community has to define the organisational structure they are
going to adopt including:
- A general guideline about the relations of collaboration among the different members of the
school community, and also the relations with other institutions.
-The organisational structure of the school, that should be reflected in a document about the
distribution of tasks among the different organs of the school community and also the internal
rules of the center.
Now, we are going to see how the foreign language area could be reflected in the design of the
Educational Project, by means of a practical example.
1.- Regarding the school identity signs the teaching of a foreign language could be considered
by the School community as a means to promote:
- Respect for all the cultures
- Development of democratical habits.
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- Autonomous learning.
2.- Taking into account the identity signs we have expressed, we could include the following
educational objectives:
- Promote the learning of a foreign language as a tool for social
development.
- Learning a foreign language as a tool for social development.
- Learning a foreign language and its culture to increase tolerance and
being open-minded.
- Enlarging the psychological development of children learning a new
language and its culture.
3.- After establishing the identity signs and the educational objectives, we have to take some
practical decisions about the organisational aspects that will make possible the attainment of
our objectives. Following with our example we can adopt the following decisions:
According to the R.D. 82/1996, the Curricular Project should include the following elements:
- The general objectives of the stage adapted to the socio-cultural context of the school.
- The sequence of objectives, contents and evaluation criteria of the different areas per
cycle.
- General methodological decisions that affect the following aspects: Methodological
principles, groupings, space, time and materials.
- General decisions about the attention to pupils with special needs.
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3.2.1. - Criteria to be reflected in the Curricular Project in relation to the foreign language
area:
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‘To understand simple and oral written texts about known objects, situations and events, using
general and specific information taken from those texts for specific purposes.’
We can sequence the abilities expressed in this objective, for
the second cycle of Primary education, as follows:
‘At the end of the second cycle pupils will be able to understand the general meaning of simple oral texts
emitted by the teacher with a simple structure and vocabulary, in familiar contexts, and with the help of
gestures, mime and any necessary repetition’
- The channel
As far as channel is concerned we should consider if the oral or written messages that our students
should understand or produce are going to be transmitted in a face to face communicative situation, or
by means of a cassette recording or a written text. In this sense, we should start from face to face
communication, because mime, gestures and expressions help pupils to understand.
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The type of comprehension refers to the information we ask them to extract from an oral or written
message. This comprehension may be global ( if they should get the general sense of the message) or
specific (if they have to extract specific details). The most logical progression goes from global to
specific comprehension.
- The interlocutor
Regarding the interlocutor we should take into account if he/she is known or unknown for the student, if
he/she belongs to the school context or not. At the beginning we should work with close interlocutors
such as the teacher and the classmates.
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Procedures Concepts Attitudes
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expressions
such as: What
´s your name,
How old are
you?...)
- These
communicati
ve functions
should be
related to
topics of
general use
and wide
notions,
which are
interesting
for children,
such as:
*The school,
family,
friends,
animals,
body, home,
numbers,
colours...
- Of - Showing a
Specific information receptive attitude
comprehension previously towards people
required in who speak a
contextualis foreign language.
ed
509
situations*
ANNIE no yes no
As we can see this task ask them to extract specific information (about favourite sports), previously
required by the teacher, in a contextualised situation,( as they already recognise the characters voices,
and know what they are talking about).
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the foreign language area, should be sequenced for three
cycles, instead of two”
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- Written language should be avoided, especially in the first
year of the cycle, because they are learning to read and write
in their native language and the complex English spelling
could be confusing for them.
SECOND CYCLE:
According to the Resolution of the 5th of March, which
establishes some principles for the sequence of objectives,
contents and evaluation criteria, during the 2nd cycle we must
consider that:
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Listening is still the most important skill, and we must help
children to:
Understand the global meaning of simple oral messages and
extract specific information previously required in
contextualised situations.
- The oral messages they have to understand should
present a simple structure and vocabulary and deal with
topics related to children’s interests and needs (such as
school, home, family, games, sports...)
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develop their reading abilities in the foreign language, working
on words, short sentences, class instructions, simple
descriptions and very short stories, supported by pictures.
Children must start just identifying the written form of words
and sentences that they already know in the oral form. Then,
matching written words and sentences with pictures is the
typical reading activity at the beginning of the second cycle.
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IN THE THIRD CYCLE:
The oral texts we must offer them must be also related to their
interests and needs. For example:
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Non verbal strategies are: making gestures or sounds,
drawing, or pointing to objects, to solve communicative
problems)
Use social relation formulas and expressions, which are
used to satisfy basic communicative needs such as
greeting, congratulating, thanking, apologising,
introducing oneself.... In this cycle most children know
what expression they should use according to the
communicative situation.
Then, by means to these abilities, they are able to participate in
oral exchanges to express their basic communicative needs in
the context of the classroom or in real or simulated contexts
related to their daily life (dealing with topics such as: home,
food, animals, sports, holidays...) correctly enough to be
understood.
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Writing in this cycle will focus on the production of
short simple texts in response to oral or written stimulus,
aimed at different readers and adapted to the different
communicative situations. These written texts will
include: short personal letters, descriptions and stories.
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Now, we are going to deal with the last decisions we must take
in the curricular project: the sequence of assessment criteria
and the methodological options.
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experiences...)
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BIBLIOGRAPHY.
- Ley Orgánica 1/1990, de 3 de octubre de Ordenación General del Sistema Educativo.
- RD 1344/1991 de 6 de septiembre, por el que se establece el currículo de la Educación
Primaria.
- RD 82/1996, de 26 de enero que establece el Reglamento Orgánico de las Escuelas de
Educación infantil y colegios de Educación primaria.
- Resolución de 5 de marzo de 1992, de la Secretaria de Estado para la Educación, que regula la
elaboración de proyectos curriculares y establece orientaciones para la distribución de
objetivos, contenidos y criterios de evaluación.
- Orden del 30 de agosto de 2000, por la que se establece y regula la impartición de la lengua
extranjera en el primer ciclo de Educación primaria, en el ámbito de la Comunidad Autónoma
de Extremadura.
- MEC: Materiales para la Reforma, area de lengua extranjera. Madrid. Servicio de
publicaciones del MEC. 1991.
- MEC. Proyecto Curricular. Materiales para la reforma. Madrid. Servicio de publicaciones del
MEC, 1991.
- Brewster, Ellis and Girard. The primary English Teacher’s Guide. London. Penguin. 1992.
TEMA 20
0. INTRODUCTION
520
1.3. EVALUATION CRITERIA
3. BIBLIOGRAPHY
0. INTRODUCTION
521
+In this topic, we will analize the general objectives of the foreign language
area, the contents and the evaluation criteria. Finally, we will analyze the School
Educational Project and the School Curricular Project.
+However, the aims and functions of this area in compulsory education are not
exclusvely determined by these social expectancies. There are also deeply educative
reasons, derived from the importance of this area in the general educative objectives.
+The ability to communicate in a foreign language and the knowledge of the
same provide a great help to understand and control our own language and
behaviour. To contact other cultures through the channel of the language favours
comprehension and respect towards other ways of thinking and acting. In a
multilingual country as Spain is, learning a foreign language is highly interesting since
languages are not competitive amongst them , but they fulfil the same functions and
contribute to the same cognitive development.
Communicating and representing through language are simoultaneous and
interrelated functions within the linguistic activity. In the social exchange , language
helps us to transmit and receive information of very diverse nature , and therefore, to
influence other people, controlling and directing their activity, at the same time they
are influencing ours.
522
Together with these functional considerations , we must take into account the structural
features of language. From this point of view , language is defined as a system of
interrelated signs. When we describe the units of language we say that all of them
have a meaning, because they are in relation to the whole system. For that reason ,
we must forget that the discourse is the concretion of language , since the use of the
rules in the three levels (phonetic-phonological, morphosyntactic and semantic)
depends on the communicative function we want to fulfill, and on the concrete
situation of production and reception of the message. Therefore, a study of the
language must comprise not only the sentence but the whole text and the context as
well.
+It is important to say tnat the aim of this curricular area is not to teach a
language, but to teach how to communicate through the use of it. This requires an
approach based upon communication and aimed to acquire communicative
competence. At the same time, communicative competence comprises:
-Grammatical competence or ability to put into practice the units and rules of
the system of the language.
-Discursive competence, or ability to use different types of discourse and to
organize them according to the communicative functions.
-Sociolinguistic competence or ability to make language suitable in a concrete
context.
-Strategic competence or ability to define, correct, or make adjustments
according to the communicative situation.
-Socio-cultural competence or the ability to attain a certain degree of familiarity
with the social and cultural context in which language is used.
523
which constitute the new system. This process Iet him organize language
comprehensively, with the aim of producing messages in the different communicative
situations.
Although this process is common to all languages , we must underline some special
features in the case of a foreign language.
+The learning of a foreign language is not linear, but global. The chiId
progressively enriches the global idea of the new system. Therefore, the mistakes he
does, cannot be treated as mistakes, but as the evidence of the progressive control
over this new communicative system that he is acquiring.
We must say that the ways to process information also work when the student is not
buiIding messages. The usual periods of silence that exist , when the student is
beginning to Iearn a foreign Ianguage, must not be understood as "siIence", but as
periods in which an intense activity that cannot be observed is being carried out.
Through the receptive activities we may contribute to develop the concrete
competences of comprehension, but also the general communicative competence.
524
In this way, the educative function of the foreign language becomes meaningful,
because it allows students to understand reality, to enrich their cultural world and to
favour the development of tolerant attitudes.
+AIthough the idea that children learn languages faster than adults cannot be
proved, there is enough evidence to show that Iearning must be done as soon as
possible, because, in no way this Iearning interferes the Iearning of the own mother
tongue, but it consolidates it.
Learning a foreign language in primary school contributes to overcome the typical
egocentrism and localism of the children.
+We must take into account that this stage is a period in which we make the
student "feel" this foreign language. The first contact must be carefully done , because
it is the warranty for a positive Iearning. It is important to use the most interesting
fields for these children, as well as the games as the maximum expression of what
they already control in their own mother tongue.
In the second cycle of primary education the students already have a fundamental
basis: the knowledge of their own language and of many expressions and words of
the foreign one, especiaIly learnt from the mass media. Besides, they have a vague
idea of the country where this language is spoken.
525
+The teaching of the English language in Primary Education wiII have as main
objectives the following ones:
1. To understand oral and written texts. To understand simple oral and
written texts related to known objects, situations and events close to the
students, using the general and specific information transmitted by these
texts with specific purposes.
2. To use the foreign language oralIy. To use the foreign language orally
to communicate with the teacher and the other students in the usual
classroom activities and in the communication situations created to lead to
that aim, paying attention to the basic rules of interpersonal communication
and adopting a respectful attitude towards the others' views.
526
7. To use the previous knowledge and experiences with other
languages. To use, in the foreign language learning process , the previous
knowledge and experiences with other languages and to develop
progressively learning strategies.
1.2. CONTENTS
CONCEPTS
- Most habitual needs and situations to use the spoken language. Communicative
functions and characteristics of these situations:
527
- Vocabulary and linguistic structures required to express, orally, the basic needs of
communication
PROCEDURES
- To recognize and make familiar the sounds of the foreign language and its rythm
and intonation.
- To understand oral messages of different nature and from different sources (teacher ,
other students, video, tapes):
-To react either linguistically and non-linguistically to different oral messages and
communicative situations:
528
*Non-linguistic answers to oral messages (follow instructions , etc.).
-To recognize the grammatical formulas that help them to make questions , to assert, to
reject, to express possession, to quantify , to describe, to narrate, etc... and to use
them in order to achieve efficient communication.
-To recognize and use the basic strategies of communication, both linguistic (use one
word instead of another, etc.) or extralinguistic (gestures, drawings, etc.) which help to
overcome communicative problems.
ATTITUDES
-Receptive and respectful attitude towards the persons who speak a foreign language
- Positive and optimist attitude towards their own ability to speak in a foreign
language.
529
CONCEPTS
- Most habitual needs and communicative situations to use the written language.
Communicative intentions and characteristics of these situations.
530
Names of the letters in a foreign language and their
correspondence within the writing system.
Relations between the meaning of the words, their
pronunciation and graphical representation.
PROCEDURES
Production of written texts adjusted to the features
of the reader and of the communicative
situation.
- Understanding of the written messages of different
nature.
*Global comprehension of written messages
related the activities done in class.
*Global comprehension of brief written
messages related to the most immediate needs of
communication and to the interests of the
speakers.
*Global comprehension of easy authentic
materials, with visual backing about daily-life
topics.
531
*Awareness of the specific elements, previously
learnt, in texts which have unkown words and
expressions, such as invitations for a birthday
party, cards, magazines, etc.
- Use of the grapho-phonic correspondences to spell,
for instance, the name and the surname, etc.
- Production of written texts directed to different
readers, answering oral and written stimuli.
- Solution of games which require the knowledge of
the vocabulary and the ortography used in class.
- Awareness of grammatical structures in written
texts.
- Awareness of some sociocultural aspects which
differentiate the foreign language from the
mother tongue.
ATTITUDES
- lnterest and curiosity towards the written texts and
appraisal of the role they play in order to satisfy
communicatlve needs.
532
-Awareness and appraisal of the importance of
reading and writing in a foreign language.
- Appraisal for the correct interpretation of easy
written texts.
- Interest to know the vocabulary and the basic
linguistic structures required to express the
essential communicative needs in different
situations.
Disposition to overcome the difficulties that the use
of a foreign language creates, by paying
attention to the communicative strategies of the
mother tongue.
SOCIOCULTURAL ASPECTS
CONCEPTS
- Social and cultural aspects of the countries where
the foreign language studied is spoken.
*Expressions and gestures which go together
with the oral expressions: tone, gestures, etc.
*Daily-life aspects: Timetables, habits, images of
that culture, etc.
533
*Spare time: games, songs, sports, places, etc.
Presence in Spain of the foreign language learnt:
labels, songs, films, etc.
PROCEDURES
-Awareness of some aspects of the countries where
the foreign language is spoken.
- Contextualized use in habitual situations of some
rules and habits of the countries where this
language is spoken.
- Comparison of the most relevant aspects of daily
life in the countries where the foreign language is
spoken, and our own country.
- Use of authentic materials with the aim of getting
the desired information.
A TTITUDES
- Curiosity and respect for the most relevant aspects
of daily life and for other sociocultural aspects of
the countries where this language is spoken.
- Appraisal of the sociolinguistic behaviours which
help cohabitation.
534
- Interest to know people from other countries.
535
1.3. EVALUATION CRITERIA
1. To recognize and reproduce the characteristic
phonemes of the foreign language. To recognize
and reproduce the characteristic phonemes of
the foreign language as well as the basic models
of rhythm and intonation, in words and
sentences which appear in the context of real use
of the language.
2. To grasp the general meaning of oral texts . To grasp
the general meaning of oral texts uttered in face
to face communication situations, with the help
of gestures and mime and the necessary
repetitions, in which there will appear
combinations of elements previously learnt and
which deal with familiar topics, known by the
student.
536
3. To extract specific information. To extract specific
information, previous required, from oral texts
with a simple structure and vocabulary which
deal with familiar topics that interest the student
(daily life, likes, preferences, opinions and
personal experiences).
4. To participate in short oral exchanges . To participate
in short oral exchanges related to usual
classroom activities producing an
understandable discourse adapted to the
characteristics of the situation and the
communicative purpose.
5.To participate in simulated communication situations .
To participate in simulated communication
situations which have been previously practised
in the classroom, using properly the most usual
social interaction formulae in the foreign
language.
537
6.To extract the general meaning and some specific
information. To extract the general meaning and
some specific information from short written
texts with a lineal development, simple structures
and vocabulary, which deal with familiar topics
that interest the student.
7.To read simple children's books. To read with the
help of the teacher or, the dictionary simple
children's books written in the foreign language
with visual backup and show comprehension by
means of a specific task.
8.To produce short written texts. To produce short
written texts, comprehensible and adapted to the
characteristics of the situation and the
communicative purpose, in which those contents
that have been worked in the class can be seen.
538
9.To recognize, some sociocultural aspects. To
recognize, some sociocultural aspects typical of
the foreign language speaking community which
are implicit in the linguistic samples worked on
in the classroom.
+One of the aspects that the Educative Reform has put more emphasis on, is
the need to give more independence to the centres, since they are the key of the
educative system. This autonomy is extremely necessary, because the educative
process cannot be the same in all the centres, since it has to answer the cultural and
socioeconomic context in which centres are placed, as well as students and their
families.
The reflection about all these specific needs must give the lines to establish the
specific features that make the centre have its own educative style. It is good that all
the centres have their own choices.
+The LODE ("Ley Orgánica del Derecho a Ia Educación ”) provides that the
centres will have autonomy to establish the optional subjects, to adapt the
programmes and to adopt the teaching methods they wish, whenever they do not
discriminate any member of the educative community, and always under the law.
539
- The signs of identity.
- The objectives or aims of the centre in which these signs are
concreted.
- The revision of the general objectives of the Curriculum.
- The relations of cooperation amongst all the persons in charge of
putting the objectives into practice.
- The organization that will make these objectives possible, which
is specified in the "Reglamento de Régimen Interior".
+The most important idea of the Curricular project is that is a process and
therefore, it is never ended and it has to be revised very often, because the quality of
the teaching can always be improved.
+There are some steps that must be followed to elaborate the Curricular
Project:
- Elaboration: Body of teachers of the Staqe
- Coordination: Committee of Pedagogic Coordination
- Approval: Teaching Staff of the centre
- Report: Educative Council
- Supervision: Technical inspection
540
2. To increase the competence of the teachers through the evaluation of
their work.
3. To adjust the ideas of the M.E.C. to the context.
+In order to achieve these aims, the Reform has created a more opened
curricular model. This model is characterized by the fact that the educative
administrators, that is, the M.E.C., establish a lower level of prescription, and
therefore they favour the autonomy of the teaching bodies.
+In the curricular project the prescriptions of the M.E.C. are specified
according to the peculiarities of the Comunidades Autónomas and , then, of every
centre. The objectives that the educative process tries to achieve in every stage, are
explained in the "Reales Decretos de Currículo". The internal decisions taken for
every stage are specified in the Curricular Project. Therefore, a centre in which there
are students from 3 to 12 years old, will have a single educative project, but two
curricular projects: one for the first stage (Infantil) and another for the second
(Primaria).
+Once the curricular project has been established, the Programmes of Class
will be made. This third level of concretion will comprise the decisions taken for every
specific group of students.
2.1.1. BASES OF THE CURRICULAR PROJECT
541
+The Educative Project will be a guide as long as the identity signs of the centre and
its aims are specified in it.
+The analysis of the context is fundamental, since the aim of the curricular
project is to concrete and adapt the decisions that the M.E.C. has taken
regarding education in all schools, to the specific needs of every centre.
+In the curricular project, the context is analyzed according to the students of every
stage, which usually have very difterent features. It also comprises the
methodological options, the evaluation or the best way to organize the sequence of
the abilities and contents in the cycle.
+Another source from which the curricular project is specified, and one of the
most important, is the previous experience of the centre that will be more or
Iess explicitly explained in its programmes.
+ As we have seen in the first section, the general objectives of stage have
the following characteristics:
- They are defined in terms of abilities and not of behaviours.
- These abilities must regard all the fields of development (motility,
intellectuality, personal balance, interpersonal relations, social attitude
and relations).
- They must try to comprise the abilities within the different fields, with the
aim of underlining the relations that they have amongst them.
+ But apart from these objectives, The Real Decreto de Curriculo provides
that:
"The cycle is the temporal curricular unit of programme and evaluation in the Primary
Education(...)."According to what has been previously established, the same
teachers wiII work with the same group of students throughout the whole cycle, if
they are working in the same centre"(...)."The projects wilI comprise at least, the
contents provided for an educative cycle, and they wilI have to be related to the
general plan of the corresponding stage".
542
+It is necessary to establish some previsions about the internal sequences of
the cycle, according to the following criteria:
2.2.3.EVALUATION
- To be varied.
- To give concrete information.
- To use different codes.
- To be applicable to more or Iess structured situations of the
learning activity.
- To evaluale the transference of the Iearning to different contexts.
543
+The evaluation is determined in the Curricular Project and, therefore, it must
also be decided how to communicate its contents to parents, students, and the rest of
the teachers.
+In conclusion ,in the Curricular Project we must also concrete when, how
and what we have to evaluate.These aspects must follow three basic lines:
-Initial evaluation: Through this, the teacher knows the actual and previous
knowledge his students have in order to develop the didactic unit with the best
results. Previous knowledge is what the students already know both regarding
the conceptual aspects, and the procedures and the attitudes that are going to
be involved in the development of the unit. However, through the activities, the
knowledge of the students in these three aspects must be checked. This helps
the teacher to readjust his teaching to the reality of his students in order to
make them capable to relate the new information with that they already have
and therefore, to achieve a significant learning.
-Formative evaluation: The different activities the unit has, constitute by
themselves a procedure of formative evaluation. Throughout the whole
didactic unit the students have the chance of analyzing their own progress ,
since every activity includes a moment to reflect, comment or contrast,
their achievements and learning problems. The teacher also readjusts the
following settings depending on the results they get.
-Summative evaluation: It is the evaluation of the learning that the students
have achieved throughout the unit. The activities designed to evaluate, follow
the same patterns of the activities done throughout the whole unit. This make
possible that the teacher judges their work according to the same criteria
established to achieve the objectives proposed in the development of the unit.
+In the Curricular Project, we must as weIl include the criteria to promote the
students to the next cycle:
544
"In the context of the process of continuous evaluation when the progress of a
student does not globally respond to the programmed objectives, the teachers
wiIl adopt the suitable measures of educative reinforcement and of curricular
adjustment".
1. Groups:
- Level of learning.
- Groups which favour a better interaction.
-Groups with different or special needs
2. Time and spaces:
- Use of the common spaces.
- Distribution of the space within the class.
- General timetable of the centre.
- Excursions and common activities of the whole centre or of the groups.
+That is to say, the distribution of time within the class must be organized
according to the Project. There must be enough time to develop global units, to make
some activities that require a specific sequence of time to be done, time to make
activities with other groups outside the class, etc.
+The materials and didactic recourses are another fundamental factor of the
educative practice. For that reason, it is important to select those that are going to be
used and to establish the criteria for their use in the curricular project since they are
decisions that the whole teaching body must share.
545
+Regarding the latter, that is, the materials directed to the students, we must
identify the kind of materials we need: texts, workbooks, exercises, tapes , plastic
materials, etc. We must also differentiate which materials will be used in every cycle.
+The selection of materials the centres do , must take into account the following
criteria:
- They must not be discriminatory.
- They must be used by all the students.
- They must not spoil the environment.
- They must not be excesively sophisticated.
- They must be suitable for the age of the students , whom they are
directed to.
- They must include the norms for the security that their use requires, as
well as their components and other features (size, weight, etc.).
+In the case of printed curricular materials, we must take into account the
following criteria for their selection:
546
5) To analyze the activities proposed in order to see if they fulfil
the conditions for a significant learning. In this point, it is specially
important to pay attention to the activities that must be done in
the different moments of the process of learning and teaching.
4. Methodological principles:
+In the case of our area, as explained in the first part of this theme we will have
to take into account the guidelines given in the introduction of our Primary Curriculum,
Royal Decree 14/9/ 91, which establishes the minimum teaching requirements in
Primary Education.
2.We should favour functional learning. This means that the students should be
able to use the language in communicative situations.
3.We should promote meaningful learning. This entails that the learners will build
up their own linguistic competence by using learning strategies and by making
hypotheses about me way in which language works starting from the linguistic
input.
4.English teaching should provide students with both a new linguistic experience
and a human/social experience. In this light, we will develop attitudes such as
547
cooperation and respect to the others and contribute to develop the learners’
socialization skills by promoting social relations through pair work and group
work.
5.The four linguistic skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing) must be
developed in an interrelated way ,, since in real life we cope with communicative
situations which require different skills.
However, at this stage receptive skills (especially listening) are more important
than productive skills.
7.The language items should be presented in context. Give that any language
is a system of interrelated signs, the linguistic elements should appear in
discourse where their meaning depends on the communicative function and
communicative situation.
Besides, the new language must be sensitive to being used in a wide range of
communicative situations.
9.It is important to teach contents and plan activities which meet the students'
interests and needs in order to develop a positive attitude towards English
learning. In this way the pupils will be more likely to succeed.
548
10.We should take into account the students' previous knowledge about the
foreign language (foreign sounds and words) and the foreign culture (famous
people, films, songs,...).This will reinforce the meaningful character of learning
contents, since the pupils will be able to link what they already know with what
they are learning, thus increasing their motivation to learn English.
3. BIBLIOGRAPHY
EVALUATION
549
- We will also evaluate the curricular project itself, the teaching programme and
the actual development of the curriculum.
+In order to evaluate the Iearning process we have to take some decisions
regarding the situations, strategies and instruments of evaluation. The requisites that
the procedures of evaluation must fulfill are:
- To be varied.
- To give concrete information.
- To use different codes.
- To be applicable to more or Iess structured situations of the
learning activity.
- To evaluale the transference of the Iearning to different contexts.
Finally, it is convenient to use the Curricular Project to establish the function of the
tutor, as the last responsible of the evaluation. The role of the psychopedagogic
counsellor of the centre must also be determined here. From the resulís of Ihe
evaluation, Ihe teachers wiil adopí Ihe necessary measures, as indicated in Ihe Real
Decreto de Currículo:
1
'AI Ihe end of every cycle and as a consecuence of Ihe process of evaluation, Ihe
tutor of Ihe studenís wiII dec¡de if lhey can promote lo Ihe next cycle laking mío
account Ihe other teachers' reporís".
'When Ihe evaluation ¡5 continuous, and Ihe progress of a studení does nol globaIly
respond lo Ihe programmed objectives, Ihe teachers wiIl ado pl Ihe necessary
measures of educative reinforcemení or of curricular adjustment".
550
In conclusion ,in the Curricular Project we must also concrete when, how and what
we have to evaluate:
-Initial evaluation: Trough this, the teacher knows the actual and previous
knowledge his students have in order to develop the didactic unit with the
best results. Previous knowledge is what the students already know both
regarding the conceptual aspects, and the procedures and the attitudes
that are going to be involved in the development of the unit. However,
through the activities, the knowledge of the students in these three aspects
must be checked. This helps the teacher to readjust his teaching to the
reality of his students in order to make them capable to relate the new
information with that they already have and therefore, to achieve a
significant learning.
+In the Curricular Project, we must as weIl include the criteria to promote the
students to the next cycle:
551
"In the context of the process of continuous evaluation when the progress of a
student does not globally respond to the programmed objectives, the teachers wiIl
adopt the suitable measures of educative reinforcement and of curricular adjustment ".
+In the Curricular Project, we must as weIl include the criteria to promote the
students to the next cycle:
"In the context of the process of continuous evaluation when the progress of a
student does not globally respond to the programmed objectives, the teachers wiIl
adopt the suitable measures of educative reinforcement and of curricular adjustment ".
552
CURRICULAR PROJECT
2.1. THE EDUCATIVE PROJECT OF THE CENTRE
@ One of-the aspects that the Educative Reform has put more emphasis on, is the
need
-
- . ......
-- .--
to give more independent S, Since they are the key Of the educative system. This
autonomy is ëktremely necessary, because the educ-liL--lve process cannot be the
same in all the
centres, since it has to answer the cultural and socioeconomic context in which
centres are
placed, as well as students and their families.
The reflection about all these specific Meeds must give the lines to establish the
species
features that make the centre have its own educative style. It is good that all the
centres have
their own choices.
* The LODE (''Le-v Oroénica del Derecho a Ia Educaciön'') provides that the centres
will
have autono ' e o tional sub'ects, to adapt the programmes and to adopt the
teaching methods th ye wish. whenever they do not discriminate any member of the
educative
community, and always under the law.
* The Educative Pro'ect of a Centre is the documentthat comprises the decisions or
ideas
taken b the whole educative commune with respect to the basic educative options
and to the
general organi/qtion of the centre.
In-the Ed-ucative Project of a Centre and according to the sociocultural and economic
context of the same, Fe must es-tablish the decisions taken regarding questions such
as w-ho
we are, what we want, etc., for instance:
+
553
- The signs of identity.
- The objectives or aims of the centre in which these signs are concreted.
- The revision of the general objectives of the Curriculum.
- The relations of-cooperation amen st all the arsons in charge of putting the
objectives into practice.
- The organization that will make these objectives possible, which is specified in the
''Reglamento de Regimen Interior''.
* The decisions establishe ' - 've Pro'ect must be s edified in the Curricular
Project inci les are explained in order to answer questions like what, how, when 4
and how to evalua and-leach.
-7L- .
554
e,1A tone
7.3.1. Aims of the curricular project (e-,i
1. To increase the coherence of the educative tactile throw h the decisions taken by
the whole body of te-achers o-f a stage.
2. To increase the competence of the teachers through the evaluation of their work.
3. To adjust the ideas of the M.E.C. to the context.
k-
41 In order to achieve these aims, th-a -Reform has-created-a more ope-nod
curricular model.
This model is characterized by the fact that the educative administrators, that is, the
M.E.C.,
establish a lower Iqvel of prescription, and therefore they favour the autonomy of the
teaching
bodies.
1 In the curricular project the prescriptions of the M.E.C. are specified according to
the
e
peculiarities of eve centre. The ob'ectives that the educative recess tries to achieve in
every
sta e are ex gained in the ''Reales Decretos de Currfculo''. The internal decisions
taken for eve
stage are specified in the Curricular Project. Therefore, a centre in which there are
students from
3 to 12 years old, will have a sing e educative project, but two curricular projects: one
for t e
555
first stage (lnfantil) and another for the second (Primaria).
a/ Once the curricular reject has been established, the Pro ramies of Class will be
made. This third level of concretion will comprise the decisions taken for every
specific group Uf
Qf students.
-'v....
2.3.t7.Bases of the curricular Project: -.- .
- w ... j s jyyyy.... . Wxm
xxx.
We have four great sources to elaborate the Curricular p Jro'ect: -'
,'
- The educative proles.
- The analysis of the background.
- The basic curriculum that the M.E.C. has established.
- The experience derived from the teaching practice of the centre.
The Educative Pro-ect will be a uide as long as the identity signs of the centre and
its aims are specified in it.
T-he analysis of the context is fundamental, s-ince the aim of the curricular project is
to
concrete and adapt the decisions that the M.E.C. has taken regarding education in all
schools,
to the specific needs of every centre. '
In the curricular project, the context is analyzed according to the students of every
stage, which usually have very different features. It also comprises the
methodological options,
the evaluation or the best way to organize the sequence of the abilities and contents
in the
cycle.
A-nother-source-from which the curricular project is specified, and one of the most
556
important, is the precious experience o-f the centre that will be more or less explicitly
explained
.-
. -.- -- .. .. . . ... . -
irl its ;rOQ rzrlll'l'l OS .
- * '- .>
,2 3..7:: objectives of stage:
*
- They are defined in terms of abilities and not of behaviours.
- These' abilities must regard all the fiends of development (motility, intellectuality,
ersonal balance, interpersonal relations, social attitude and relations).
P
i the abilities within the different fiends, with the aim of
- They must try to comer se
underlining the relations that they have amongst them.
a. Sequences of objectives according to the cycles:
The Real Decreto de Curricula provides that:
''The cycle is the temporal curricular unit of programme and evaluation in the
Primary Educat--.qpi ''(...).''According to what has been previously established, the
same teachers will work with me same group of students throughout the whole
cycle, if they are working in the same centre''(...).''The projects will comprise at
least, the contents provided for an educative cycle, and they will have to be related
to the general plan of the corresponding stage''. '
It is necessa to establish some revisions about the internal sequences of the cycle,
according to the follow-i-ng oriterig-.-
- Co-herence of-the evolutîve development and the previous learning of the student.
557
---
- Coherence Of the learning. --
- Contents as the basis of the sequence.
- Limited basic ideas.
- Contin'uity and progrqAnînm.
- Balance. (the abilities developed in the objectives must be balanced).
- Ir-trf-.l--?t el ti n (the different types of contents, concepts, procedures and attitudes
must
be conveniently related amongst them).
- Transversal themes (very important in Primary education).
b. Didactic strategies that will be used throughout the stage, must be determined
..... '''' '' ..... -M
when we elaborate the Curricular Project.
T.3. .q. M-eth-o-dologjca-l de-cisions:---
.G
1 . Methodological principles.
2. Groups.
3. Time.
4. Spaces.
5. Materials.
1. Metho-dological prin-ciplestto achie-ve a significant Iearning:lg-yAdwt//xoy Cc
.t
- To start from the level of development of the students and, therefore, according
to their previous learning.
- To make sure that they achieve a significant learning, using their previous
knowledge and a comprehensive memorization.
- To make possible that the students significantly learn by themselves.
- To create situations in which they must put their knowledge up-to-date.
- To motivate l-p>tr l-e-a-r-rl.-i..-nq.. - .. ... . . .... . ...- .. . .
- To create learning situations that require an intense mental activity from the
student.
- To encourage interaction within the class as the basis of the learning.
2. Criteria to group the students-:
- Level of learn-ing.
558
- G- roues which -favour a better.interac-tio-n-. e?
- Groups with different needs must be separated. .
..-.--- mw.
N..x
3. & 4. Organization of span.-es and .times: '--w...
Nu.
. X'X'
- Use of the common spaces.
- Distribution of the space within the class.
- Ge-ne-ral timetable --of the centre.
- Excursions and common activities of the whole centre or of the groups.
The distribution of time within the class must be organized according to the Project.
There must be enough time to develop global units, to make some activities that
require
a specific sequence of time to be done, time to make activities with other groups
outside the class, etc.
5. Materials and didactic recourses:
. The materials and identic recourses are another fundamental factor of edu ' e
practice. For that reason, it is important to select-those that are going to be used and
' to establish the criteria for their use in the curricular pro'ect since the are decisio s
that the whole teacher bod must share. ' '
We must distinguish between the curricular materials and those materials directed to
the students. The former must serve to guide the teaching process. Théy may be
used
in two main situations: in the elaboration and realization of the curricular project of
559
stage, and' in the elaboration of the programmes, because they will concrete the
didactic objectives, the activities, etc.
. Regarding the latter, that is, the materials directed to--sludents- we must identify thy
kind
of materials we need'. te-'- s, wor-kb-ooks, exercises, tapes, plastic materials, etc. We
must
also differentiate which materials will be used in every cycle.
''< .
z ' 'NNN. ..
. The selection of materials the centres do, must take into account the following
criteria:
- They must no-! be discriminatory.
- They must be used by all the students. . '
- They must not s oil the environment.
- The.y must not be excesively sophisticated.
- T e must be suitable for the age of the students, whom they are directed to.
- They must include the norms for the security that their use re wires, as Well as
their components and other features (sipe, weight, etc.).
xx-a
. ''W
560
. .=
* In the case of printed curricular material we must take into account the following
i - ctibn-
criteria or .
To know the educative objectives that these texts have and to check to what extent
they are corresponding to those established in the centre for a certain group.
z To analyze the contents worked in order to check if there is a correspondenc-e
between the objectives and the contents. We must develop the different types of
contents (concepts, procedures and attitudes), as well as the transversal themes.
p To revise the sequences of learning that are proposed for the different contents. It is
important to analyze the progression that the objectives and the contents follow, b0th
in their distribution throughout the different cycles and in their internal organization.
L1 To anal ze the suitabili of the criteria of evaluation ro used b the curricular ro'ect
of stage.
S T-o analyze the activities proposed. in -order to see if they fulfill the conditions for a
significant learning.. In this point, it is specially important to pay attention to the
activities
that must be done in the different moments of the process of learning and teaching.
The
same activity may help the student to learn and the teacher to have information about
the previous knowledge. The following activities must appear in every didactic unit:
. Activities-of introdu-ction-motivatio--n: They must motivate the students to learn the
reality they are going to be taught.
. Activities of previous knowledge: They are done in order to know the ideas and
opinions of the students about the contents they are studying.
wActivities of development: They help to know the concepts, the procedures or the
new attitudes.
1 -w- ..-..
eActivities of synthesis-summary: They are those which make the relation between
the different contents already learnt easier.
. Activities of consolidation: They are programmed for the students who have not
561
achieved a significant knowledge.
. Activities of extension: They let the students go on learning! after doing the
activities of development and those which are not essential for the learning
process.
. Activities of evaluation: They will include the activities directed to the initial,
formative and summating evaluation, which were not covered by the previous
.
.
activities.
6 To adapt these materials and didactic recourses to the educative context in which
they
..
.. . .. . . -----. . ...
562
. Evaluation within the curricular project
az
@ Teachers will evaluate be-th the s-tud-ents' learning, th-a process of teaching and
their own
teaching practice, with relation to the achievement-of the educative objectives of the
cu. rriculum.
*---*--- .. . ----.----.. . --' .. .- ---. ---.
563
The will also evaluate the curricular ro'ect itself, the teaching programme and the
actual
development of the curriculum. 3
There are two main aspects, to be considered to establish the criteria of evaluation:
- The peculia-rities of the pwn context of the centre. - The criteria of evaluation of
every centre.
* In order to evaluate the learning process we have to take some decisions regarding:
the situations, strategies and instruments of evaluation. The req-uisites that the
procedures of
evaluation must fulfill are:
- To be varied..
- To give concrete information.
- To apse diff. event codes.
- To be a likable to more or I caused situated s of the learning activity.
- To evaluate the transference of the learning to different contexts.
564
''xx.
The evaluation is determined in the Curricular Project and, therefore, it must also be
decided how to communicate its conte agents students, and the rest of the teachers.
Finally, it is convenient to use the Curricular Project to establish the function of the
tutor, as the last responsible of the evaluation. The role of the psychopedagogic
counsellor of the centre must also be determined here. From the results of the
evaluation, the teachers will adopt the necessary measures, as indicated in the Real
Decreto de Currfculo:
''At the end of eve? cycle and as a consequence of the process of evaluation, the
tutor
of the students will decide if they can promote io the next cycle, taking into account
the
other teachers' reports''
'When the evaluation is continuous, and the progress of a student does not globally
respond to the programmed objedives, the teachers will adopt the necessary
measures
of educative reinforcement or of curricular adjustment''.
565
. - -.
of every cycle in order to determine the level of the students. However, it is also very
profitable
to do this evaluation at the beginning of every unit, in order to specify the previous
knowledge
of the students about the contents.
C>
@ We must also evaluate the teaching grocer. s thro-u-ghout the a-cademic year.
The best
moment to do s-ot is at the end of a cycle, and s eciall , the moment in which a roup
knishes
a stage! because the teachers may evaluate the Curricular Pro'ed. Ioball , as it is
provided in
the ''Real Decreto be Regimen Organics de Ios Centros de Infantry y Primaria''.
In the Curricular Project,.we must as well include the criteria to promo-te-the students
to the next cycle. As it is provided in Section 1 1.4 of the ''Real Decreto de Currfculol',
a student
can only re eét the same stage once during the Primary Education'.
''lo the context of the process of continuous evaluation. When the progress of a
student
does not globally respond to the programmed objectives, the teachers will adopt the
suitable measures of educative reinforcement and of curricular adjustment''.
566
''Within the framework of these measures, at the end of the cycle, they will decide if
the student is promoted or not''. (...) ''These decisions require the previous audience
of the parents or legal tutors of the student, in case he does not promote to the next c
ole''.
There are some steps that must be followed to elaborate the Curricular Project:
- Elaboration . . . . .
- Coordination
- Approval
- Report . . . . . . . . .
- Supervision . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The most im octant idea of the Curricular pro'ect is that it is a recess and therefore,
it is never ended d it has to vised ve often, because the quality of the teaching can
always be improved.
It is also very important to analyze the different Curricular Projects that have been
done
567
before, in order to see the changes produced in them. Therefore, the Curricular
Project must
be written, in order to be able to analyse the necessary changes and the ones that
have been
already done. In this sense the project is the ''report of the centre''.
eve It can be elaborated ''upside-down'' (from the pedagogic committee to the cycles)
or ''downside-up'' (the pedagogic committee will revise it), but whichever the strategy,
it will have ' to be done in both senses.
ç25
- What to teach?
. Suitability with the context of the general objectives of stage of the official
curriculum, taking into account the educative reality and the choices established
in the educative Project of the centre.
. Suitability of the general objectives and the contents of every area of the optical
curriculum, taking into account the educative reality of the centre.
568
- When to teach?
. Sequence per cycles of the objectives and contents of every area (intercycle
sequence), according to the adjustment of the general objectives and the
contents.
. General precisions about the organization and the temporalization of the greatest
focus of contents of every area selected for every cycle (intercycle sequence).
- How to teach?
. Criteria and basic options of didactic methodology that may affect either all the
areas of the cycle or some of them.
. Decisions about the groups of students.
. Decisions about the organization of .times and spaces.
. Curricular criteria and basic didactic recourses that are going to be used to
teach the contents of every area in the different cycles.
569
a stage to another).
. Pedagogic actions taken in the case of students that do not achieve the level
established in the criteria of evaluation per cycles, either if they promote or not.
(zb
570
To elaborate all these elements is a work which re i e s to be done and it must
be understood Ilke that the whole teaching body. For-that reason it is a work which
must be
divided ' ' . eve centre are res onsible of or anilin this
work. However, the M.E.C. must also determine when the basic decisions must be
taken. From
this point of view, the following stages of elaboration are established, for instance:
- n Se temper 199 e teaching bodies elaborate, at least, the basic aspects of the
following elements of the Curricular Project:
1 . The objectives of the cycle within the general objectives of stage, adjusting them
to the context.
2. The distribution of the contents per cycle, with special attention to those
referring to the first cycle. .
3. Curricular materials and didactic recourses that are going to be used in the
areas of the first cycle.
4. Procedures to evaluate the progress of the learning of the students during the
first cycle.
5. Criteria of evaluation and promotion of the students.
6. Organization and functioning of the tutorages with special attention to the
treatment of the ''multiculture'' (whenever it is a distinctive feature of the centre).
571
completing the following aspects:
1. Pedagogic actions for the students who do not achieve the level established in the
criteria of evaluation.
- September 19+
1. To incorporate the elements worked and developed during the year as well as the
modifications derived from the evaluation done.
k1C
z 2. To establish for the rest of the cycles the elements that were elaborated for the
/
/' first cycle in September 1992.
.,/
572
- e end of the Introduction of Primary Education:
After the evaluation of the different cycles, and at the end of the introduction of the
Primary Education, the Curricular Project will be completed including all the aspects
explained before, paying special attention to those referring to the whole stage, with
the
aim of securing the general coherence of the established agreements, with
themselves
and with the educative project of the centre. -
N'xx.
www-.- . vp..x
. -- U a-xx
.- y gjgkjgggàgyy
X
R.D. 134411991 'dei 6 de Septiembre por el que se establece el curricula de Ia
Education
Primaria.
573
CIONES PARA LA DISTRIBUCIUN DE OBJETIVOS, CONTENIDOS Y
CRITERIOS DE EVALUACIUN PAM CADA UNO DE LOS CICLOS (B.O.E., '
24 de Marzo de 1992).
LT9
574
2.1.3.1.2. procedures:
- To recognize and make familiar the sounds of the foreign language and its rythm
and intonation.
- To understand oral messages of different nature and from different sources
(teacher, other students, video, tapes):
-To react either linguistically and non-linguistically to different oral messages ana
communicative situations:
-To recognize and use the basic strategies of communication, both linguistic (use one
word instead of another, etc.) or extralinguistic (gestures, drawings, etc.) which help
to overcome communicative problems.
- To use the native language's strategies of communication, which let us take
advantage of the limited knowledge of the foreign language.
Attitudes:
575
-Awareness of the importance of oral communication in a foreign language.
-Awareness of the reality of a different culture , reflected in the language.
-Receptive and respectful attitude towards the persons who speak a foreign
language
- Wish to express themselves in a foreign language , participating in the activities
(games, songs, etc.).
-Awareness of the corrections done when they interprete or produce a text.
- Positive and optimist attitude towards their own ability to speak in a foreign
language.
-Tendency to use imaginatively and creatively, oral messages previously learnt , in
different communicative situations.
2.1.3.2.1. Concepts:
- Most habitual needs and communicative situations to use the written language.
Communicative intentions and characteristics of these situations.
576
Names of the letters in a foreign language and their
correspondence within the writing system.
Relations between the meaning of the words , their
pronunciation and graphical representation.
2.1.3.2.2. Procedures:
- Production of written texts adjusted to the
features of the reader and of the communicative
sltuation.
- Understanding of the written messages of
different nature.
*Global comprehension of written messages related
the activities done in class.
*Global comprehension of brief written messages
related to the most immediate needs of
communication and to the interests of the
speakers.
*Global comprehension of easy authentic materials ,
with visual backing about daily-life topics.
577
-Awareness of the specific elements, previously
learnt, in texts which have unkown words and
expressions, such as invtations for a birthday
party, cards, magazines, etc.
- Use of the grapho-phonic correspondences to spell,
for instance, the name and the surname, etc.
- Production of written texts directed to different
readers, answering oral and written stimuli.
- Solution of games which require the knowledge of
the vocabulary and the ortography used in class.
- Awareness of grammatical structures in written
texts.
- Awareness of some sociocultural aspects which
differentiate the foreign language from the
mother tongue.
2.1.3.2.3. Attltudes:
- lnterest and curiosity towards the written texts and
appraisal of the role they play in order to satisfy
communicatlve needs.
578
-Awareness and appraisal of the importance of
reading and writing in a foreign language.
- Appraisal for the correct interpretation of easy
written texts.
Interest to know the vocabulary and the basic
linguistic structures required to express the
essential communicatlve needs in different
situations.
Disposition to overcome the difficulties that the use
of a foreign language creates, by paying
attention to the communicative strategies fo the
mother tongue.
579
*Daily-life aspects: Timetables, habits, images of that
culture, etc.
*Spare time: games, songs, sports, places, etc.
Presence in Spain of the foreign language learnt:
labels, songs, films, etc.
2.1.3.3.2. Procedures:
-Awareness of some aspects of the countries where
the foreign language is spoken.
- Contextualized use in habitual situations of
some rules and habits of the countrles where this
language is spoken.
- Comparison of the most relevant aspects of daily
life in the countries where the foreign language
is spoken, and our own country.
- Use of authentic materials with the aim of
getting the desired information.
2.1.3.3.3. Attltudes:
580
- Curiosity and respect for the most relevant
aspects of daily life and for other sociocultural
aspects of the countries where this language is
spoken.
581
- Appraisal of the sociolinguistic behaviours which
help cohabitation.
- lnterest to know people from other countries.
2.3 Evaluation criteria.
1.To recognize and reproduce the characteristic
phonemes of the foreign language. To recognize
and reproduce the characteristic phonemes of
the foreign language as well as the basic models
of rhythm and intonation, in words and
sentences which appear in the context of real use
of the language.
2. To grasp the general meaning of oral texts. To
grasp the general meaning of oral texts uttered
in face to face communication situations, with
the help of gestures and mime and the necessary
repetitions, in which there will appear
combinations of elements previously learnt and
which deal with familiar topics, known by the
student.
582
3.To extract specific information. To extract specific
information, previous required, from oral texts
with a simple structure and vocabulary which
deal with familiar topics that interest the student
(daily life, likes, preferences, opinions and
personal experiences).
583
6.To extract the general meaning and some speciflc
information. To extract the general meaning and
some specific information from short written
texts with a lineal development, simple structures
and vocabulary, which deal with familiar topics
that interest the student.
7.To read simple children's books. To read with the
help of the teacher or, the dictionary simple
children's books written in the foreign language
with visual backup and show comprehension by
means of a specific task.
8.To produce short written texts. To produce short
written texts, comprehensible and adapted to the
characteristics of the situation and the
communicative purpose, in which those contents
that have been worked in the class can be seen.
584
9.To recognize, sorne sociocultural aspects. To
recognize, some sociocultural aspects typical of
the foreign language speaking community which
are implicit. in the linguistic samples worked on
in the classroom.
585
2.3 Evaluation criteria.
1.To recognize and reproduce the characteristic
phonemes of the foreign language. To recognize
and reproduce the characteristic phonemes of
the foreign language as well as the basic models
of rhythm and intonation, in words and
sentences which appear in the context of real use
of the language.
2. To grasp the general meaning of oral texts. To
grasp the general meaning of oral texts uttered
in face to face communication situations, with
the help of gestures and mime and the necessary
repetitions, in which there will appear
combinations of elements previously learnt and
which deal with familiar topics, known by the
student.
586
3.To extract specific information. To extract specific
information, previous required, from oral texts
with a simple structure and vocabulary which
deal with familiar topics that interest the student
(daily life, likes, preferences, opinions and
personal experiences).
587
6.To extract the general meaning and some speciflc
information. To extract the general meaning and
some specific information from short written
texts with a lineal development, simple structures
and vocabulary, which deal with familiar topics
that interest the student.
7.To read simple children's books. To read with the
help of the teacher or, the dictionary simple
children's books written in the foreign language
with visual backup and show comprehension by
means of a specific task.
8.To produce short written texts. To produce short
written texts, comprehensible and adapted to the
characteristics of the situation and the
communicative purpose, in which those contents
that have been worked in the class can be seen.
588
9.To recognize, sorne sociocultural aspects. To
recognize, some sociocultural aspects typical of
the foreign language speaking community which
are implicit. in the linguistic samples worked on
in the classroom.
589
2.1.3.1.2. procedures:
- To recognize and make familiar the sounds of the foreign language and its rythm
and intonation.
- To understand oral messages of different nature and from different sources
(teacher, other students, video, tapes):
-To react either linguistically and non-linguistically to different oral messages ana
communicative situations:
-To recognize and use the basic strategies of communication, both linguistic (use one
word instead of another, etc.) or extralinguistic (gestures, drawings, etc.) which help
to overcome communicative problems.
- To use the native language's strategies of communication, which let us take
advantage of the limited knowledge of the foreign language.
Attitudes:
590
-Awareness of the importance of oral communication in a foreign language.
-Awareness of the reality of a different culture , reflected in the language.
-Receptive and respectful attitude towards the persons who speak a foreign
language
- Wish to express themselves in a foreign language , participating in the activities
(games, songs, etc.).
-Awareness of the corrections done when they interprete or produce a text.
- Positive and optimist attitude towards their own ability to speak in a foreign
language.
-Tendency to use imaginatively and creatively, oral messages previously learnt , in
different communicative situations.
2.1.3.2.1. Concepts:
- Most habitual needs and communicative situations to use the written language.
Communicative intentions and characteristics of these situations.
591
Names of the letters in a foreign language and their
correspondence within the writing system.
Relations between the meaning of the words , their
pronunciation and graphical representation.
2.1.3.2.2. Procedures:
- Production of written texts adjusted to the
features of the reader and of the communicative
sltuation.
- Understanding of the written messages of
different nature.
*Global comprehension of written messages related
the activities done in class.
*Global comprehension of brief written messages
related to the most immediate needs of
communication and to the interests of the
speakers.
*Global comprehension of easy authentic materials ,
with visual backing about daily-life topics.
592
-Awareness of the specific elements, previously
learnt, in texts which have unkown words and
expressions, such as invtations for a birthday
party, cards, magazines, etc.
- Use of the grapho-phonic correspondences to spell,
for instance, the name and the surname, etc.
- Production of written texts directed to different
readers, answering oral and written stimuli.
- Solution of games which require the knowledge of
the vocabulary and the ortography used in class.
- Awareness of grammatical structures in written
texts.
- Awareness of some sociocultural aspects which
differentiate the foreign language from the
mother tongue.
2.1.3.2.3. Attltudes:
- lnterest and curiosity towards the written texts and
appraisal of the role they play in order to satisfy
communicatlve needs.
593
-Awareness and appraisal of the importance of
reading and writing in a foreign language.
- Appraisal for the correct interpretation of easy
written texts.
Interest to know the vocabulary and the basic
linguistic structures required to express the
essential communicatlve needs in different
situations.
Disposition to overcome the difficulties that the use
of a foreign language creates, by paying
attention to the communicative strategies fo the
mother tongue.
594
*Daily-life aspects: Timetables, habits, images of that
culture, etc.
*Spare time: games, songs, sports, places, etc.
Presence in Spain of the foreign language learnt:
labels, songs, films, etc.
2.1.3.3.2. Procedures:
-Awareness of some aspects of the countries where
the foreign language is spoken.
- Contextualized use in habitual situations of
some rules and habits of the countrles where this
language is spoken.
- Comparison of the most relevant aspects of daily
life in the countries where the foreign language
is spoken, and our own country.
- Use of authentic materials with the aim of
getting the desired information.
2.1.3.3.3. Attltudes:
595
- Curiosity and respect for the most relevant
aspects of daily life and for other sociocultural
aspects of the countries where this language is
spoken.
596
- Appraisal of the sociolinguistic behaviours
which help cohabitation.
- lnterest to know people from other countries.
597
2.3 Evaluation criteria.
1.To recognize and reproduce the characteristic
phonemes of the foreign language. To recognize
and reproduce the characteristic phonemes of
the foreign language as well as the basic models
of rhythm and intonation, in words and
sentences which appear in the context of real use
of the language.
2. To grasp the general meaning of oral texts. To
grasp the general meaning of oral texts uttered
in face to face communication situations, with
the help of gestures and mime and the necessary
repetitions, in which there will appear
combinations of elements previously learnt and
which deal with familiar topics, known by the
student.
598
3.To extract specific information. To extract specific
information, previous required, from oral texts
with a simple structure and vocabulary which
deal with familiar topics that interest the student
(daily life, likes, preferences, opinions and
personal experiences).
599
6.To extract the general meaning and some speciflc
information. To extract the general meaning and
some specific information from short written
texts with a lineal development, simple structures
and vocabulary, which deal with familiar topics
that interest the student.
7.To read simple children's books. To read with the
help of the teacher or, the dictionary simple
children's books written in the foreign language
with visual backup and show comprehension by
means of a specific task.
8.To produce short written texts. To produce short
written texts, comprehensible and adapted to the
characteristics of the situation and the
communicative purpose, in which those contents
that have been worked in the class can be seen.
600
9.To recognize, sorne sociocultural aspects. To
recognize, some sociocultural aspects typical of
the foreign language speaking community which
are implicit. in the linguistic samples worked on
in the classroom.
601
602
2.3 Evaluation criteria.
1.To recognize and reproduce the characteristic
phonemes of the foreign language. To recognize
and reproduce the characteristic phonemes of
the foreign language as well as the basic models
of rhythm and intonation, in words and
sentences which appear in the context of real use
of the language.
2. To grasp the general meaning of oral texts. To
grasp the general meaning of oral texts uttered
in face to face communication situations, with
the help of gestures and mime and the necessary
repetitions, in which there will appear
combinations of elements previously learnt and
which deal with familiar topics, known by the
student.
603
3.To extract specific information. To extract specific
information, previous required, from oral texts
with a simple structure and vocabulary which
deal with familiar topics that interest the student
(daily life, likes, preferences, opinions and
personal experiences).
604
6.To extract the general meaning and some speciflc
information. To extract the general meaning and
some specific information from short written
texts with a lineal development, simple structures
and vocabulary, which deal with familiar topics
that interest the student.
7.To read simple children's books. To read with the
help of the teacher or, the dictionary simple
children's books written in the foreign language
with visual backup and show comprehension by
means of a specific task.
8.To produce short written texts. To produce short
written texts, comprehensible and adapted to the
characteristics of the situation and the
communicative purpose, in which those contents
that have been worked in the class can be seen.
605
9.To recognize, sorne sociocultural aspects. To
recognize, some sociocultural aspects typical of
the foreign language speaking community which
are implicit. in the linguistic samples worked on
in the classroom.
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2.1.3.1.2. procedures:
- To recognize and make familiar the sounds of the foreign language and its rythm
and intonation.
- To understand oral messages of different nature and from different sources
(teacher, other students, video, tapes):
-To react either linguistically and non-linguistically to different oral messages ana
communicative situations:
-To recognize and use the basic strategies of communication, both linguistic (use one
word instead of another, etc.) or extralinguistic (gestures, drawings, etc.) which help
to overcome communicative problems.
- To use the native language's strategies of communication, which let us take
advantage of the limited knowledge of the foreign language.
Attitudes:
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-Awareness of the importance of oral communication in a foreign language.
-Awareness of the reality of a different culture , reflected in the language.
-Receptive and respectful attitude towards the persons who speak a foreign
language
- Wish to express themselves in a foreign language , participating in the activities
(games, songs, etc.).
-Awareness of the corrections done when they interprete or produce a text.
- Positive and optimist attitude towards their own ability to speak in a foreign
language.
-Tendency to use imaginatively and creatively, oral messages previously learnt , in
different communicative situations.
2.1.3.2.1. Concepts:
- Most habitual needs and communicative situations to use the written language.
Communicative intentions and characteristics of these situations.
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Names of the letters in a foreign language and their
correspondence within the writing system.
Relations between the meaning of the words , their
pronunciation and graphical representation.
2.1.3.2.2. Procedures:
- Production of written texts adjusted to the
features of the reader and of the communicative
sltuation.
- Understanding of the written messages of
different nature.
*Global comprehension of written messages related
the activities done in class.
*Global comprehension of brief written messages
related to the most immediate needs of
communication and to the interests of the
speakers.
*Global comprehension of easy authentic materials ,
with visual backing about daily-life topics.
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-Awareness of the specific elements, previously
learnt, in texts which have unkown words and
expressions, such as invtations for a birthday
party, cards, magazines, etc.
- Use of the grapho-phonic correspondences to spell,
for instance, the name and the surname, etc.
- Production of written texts directed to different
readers, answering oral and written stimuli.
- Solution of games which require the knowledge of
the vocabulary and the ortography used in class.
- Awareness of grammatical structures in written
texts.
- Awareness of some sociocultural aspects which
differentiate the foreign language from the
mother tongue.
2.1.3.2.3. Attltudes:
- lnterest and curiosity towards the written texts and
appraisal of the role they play in order to satisfy
communicatlve needs.
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-Awareness and appraisal of the importance of
reading and writing in a foreign language.
- Appraisal for the correct interpretation of easy
written texts.
Interest to know the vocabulary and the basic
linguistic structures required to express the
essential communicatlve needs in different
situations.
Disposition to overcome the difficulties that the use
of a foreign language creates, by paying
attention to the communicative strategies fo the
mother tongue.
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*Daily-life aspects: Timetables, habits, images of that
culture, etc.
*Spare time: games, songs, sports, places, etc.
Presence in Spain of the foreign language learnt:
labels, songs, films, etc.
2.1.3.3.2. Procedures:
-Awareness of some aspects of the countries where
the foreign language is spoken.
- Contextualized use in habitual situations of
some rules and habits of the countrles where this
language is spoken.
- Comparison of the most relevant aspects of daily
life in the countries where the foreign language
is spoken, and our own country.
- Use of authentic materials with the aim of
getting the desired information.
2.1.3.3.3. Attltudes:
612
- Curiosity and respect for the most relevant
aspects of daily life and for other sociocultural
aspects of the countries where this language is
spoken.
613
- Appraisal of the sociolinguistic behaviours
which help cohabitation.
- lnterest to know people from other countries.
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2.3 Evaluation criteria.
1.To recognize and reproduce the characteristic
phonemes of the foreign language. To
recognize and reproduce the characteristic
phonemes of the foreign language as well as the
basic models of rhythm and intonation, in
words and sentences which appear in the
context of real use of the language.
2. To grasp the general meaning of oral texts. To
grasp the general meaning of oral texts uttered
in face to face communication situations, with
the help of gestures and mime and the
necessary repetitions, in which there will
appear combinations of elements previously
learnt and which deal with familiar topics,
known by the student.
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3.To extract specific information. To extract specific
information, previous required, from oral texts
with a simple structure and vocabulary which
deal with familiar topics that interest the
student (daily life, likes, preferences , opinions
and personal experiences).
616
6.To extract the general meaning and some speciflc
information. To extract the general meaning
and some specific information from short
written texts with a lineal development, simple
structures and vocabulary, which deal with
familiar topics that interest the student.
7.To read simple children's books. To read with the
help of the teacher or, the dictionary simple
children's books written in the foreign
language with visual backup and show
comprehension by means of a specific task.
8.To produce short written texts. To produce short
written texts, comprehensible and adapted to
the characteristics of the situation and the
communicative purpose, in which those
contents that have been worked in the class can
be seen.
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9.To recognize, sorne sociocultural aspects. To
recognize, some sociocultural aspects typical of
the foreign language speaking community
which are implicit. in the linguistic samples
worked on in the classroom.
1. INTRODUCCIÓN
1.1. EL PROYECTO CURRICULAR DE CENTRO
.............................................................................................................................................
2
1.2 EL PROYECTO CURRICULAR DE ETAPA Y DE CICLO.
.............................................................................................................................................
3
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.............................................................................................................................................
6
6. PROPUESTA DIDÁCTICA.....................................................................................................
25
7. BIBLIOGRAFÍA......................................................................................................................
37
8. ANEXOS...................................................................................................................................
39
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1. INTRODUCCIÓN
El artículo 13 del Decreto de Educación Primaria establece que “los profesores
programarán su actividad docente de acuerdo con el currículum de la Educación Primaria
y en consonancia con los respectivos proyectos curriculares de etapa y ciclo”. Por
“currículum de la Educación Primaria” se entiende el conjunto de objetivos, contenidos,
orientaciones metodológicas y criterios de evaluación que regulan la práctica docente en
dicha etapa. Se encuentra en los Anexos del citado Decreto. “Los proyectos curriculares de
etapa y ciclo” están incluidos en el Proyecto Curricular de Centro y éste, a su vez, en el
Proyecto de Centro.
"El Proyecto de Centro es el instrumento para la planificación que enumera y define
las notas de identidad del centro, establece el marco de referencia global y los
planteamientos educativos de carácter general que definen y distinguen al centro,
formula las finalidades educativas que pretende conseguir, adapta el currículo
establecido en propuestas globales de intervención didáctica, adecuadas a su
contexto específico, y expresa la estructura organizativa del centro. Su finalidad es
dotar de coherencia y personalidad propia a los centros." (BOJA de 25/6/1992, punto
III, 2 de 23 de julio de 1992).
El Proyecto de Centro debe ser una exposición clara, concisa y breve de las
intenciones educativas, estructuras, reglamentos y diseño curricular de una comunidad
escolar. Debe adaptar aquellos principios y estructuras educativas que se consideran
adecuados para una comunidad. Debe ser un documento dinámico y modificable en función
de la práctica educativa, a la cual debe servir como guía. Es necesario que sea una creación
colectiva de la comunidad educativa, que expresa equilibradamente sus intenciones,
sirviendo como marco de las actividades educativas y, por lo tanto, como facilitador del
trabajo docente.
El Proyecto de Centro consta de varios instrumentos para la planificación a medio
plazo, que garantizan la estabilidad de la acción educativa: finalidades educativas, proyecto
curricular y reglamento de organización y funcionamiento. A corto plazo, en el
transcurso de un curso escolar, incluye otros instrumentos que concretan la acción
educativa: plan anual de centro y la memoria final.
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por el profesorado de un centro y favorezca la mejora de la calidad educativa del centro,
mediante la reflexión y la renovación pedagógica de la práctica docente.
El Proyecto Curricular de Centro consta fundamentalmente de los Proyectos
Curriculares de Etapa o Etapas y sus correspondientes ciclos, que contextualizan el Decreto
de Enseñanza a la realidad del centro, sirviendo de guía para realizar la programación de
aula. Sin embargo, el PCC quedaría incompleto si no contara con otros elementos o planes:
* Plan de Organización del PCC, que contextualiza la legislación general a las
características de la comunidad escolar.
* Plan de Orientación para lograr una mayor adaptación de los procesos de
enseñanza a las características del alumnado.
* Plan de Formación del Profesorado o relación organizada de necesidades de
autoperfeccionamiento detectado por el profesorado a partir del análisis crítico sobre
su práctica docente.
* Plan de Evaluación del PCC: análisis de los aspectos prioritarios para introducir
cambios y ajustes en orden a conseguir un Proyecto de Centro más coherente.
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Antes de continuar, es necesario decir que en el área anglosajona se hace una
distinción entre syllabus design, que se refiere a los criterios para decidir la selección y
secuenciación de los contenidos, y course design o language program design, que dice
cómo se llevará a cabo el syllabus teniendo en cuenta los objetivos, la metodología, las
actividades, los recursos y la evaluación.
PROGRAMACIÓN ANUAL
La programación anual de un curso, llamada “larga”, constará de todos los
elementos de la planificación:
1. Cabecera con el nombre del centro, del profesor responsable, el ciclo, área y curso
académico.
2. Selección de los contenidos estructurados unidades didácticas quincenales que
contemplen todos los contenidos: conceptuales (funciones, vocabulario, gramática,
pronunciación, aspectos socioculturales), procedimentales (las habilidades
comunicativas) y actitudinales. Los temas de las unidades didácticas tendrán en cuenta
los intereses y necesidades del alumnado, una vez analizados en el diagnóstico inicial.
3. Actividades generales como diagnóstico inicial, repaso, evaluación final...
4. Objetivos generales del área teniendo en cuenta el Proyecto Curricular del Ciclo.
5. Repertorio de recursos didácticos cuya utilización se prevé a lo largo del curso.
Previamente se habrá estudiado la operatividad del material existente en el centro.
6. Temporalización: fechas de comienzo y fin de las unidades didácticas, teniendo en
cuenta los días hábiles y las festividades.
7. Consideraciones generales sobre el alumnado y metodología más adecuada.
Normalmente, en la práctica docente, las programaciones largas se limitan al punto 6, es
decir, a la temporalización de las unidades didácticas, dando por entendido que los otros
elementos están incluidos en el Proyecto Curricular de Ciclo.
PROGRAMACIÓN DE LAS UNIDADES DIDÁCTICAS
Se pueden hacer otras programaciones intermedias, por ejemplo, trimestrales, aunque lo
normal es pasar de la anual a las unidades didácticas (lesson plan) con una duración
aproximada de una quincena.
Antes de planificar la unidad didáctica hay tener en cuenta algunas consideraciones:
1. La más importante es el libro de texto y el “syllabus” (organización de los contenidos)
que propone. Los libros de texto son útiles, ya que ofrecen materiales vivos e
interesantes, progresión sensata de los contenidos lingüísticos. Los buenos libros
aportan resúmenes, especialmente los gramaticales, que permiten revisar fácilmente;
son sistemáticos en cuanto a la cantidad de vocabulario y permiten al alumno aprender
por sí mismo.
Sin embargo, el profesor no debe ser un esclavo del libro, sino que debe omitir,
recombinar o complementarlo. Para ello debe conocer todo el libro muy bien. Por otra
parte hay que tener presente que los libros pueden producir efectos contrarios
(aburrimiento del alumnado) cuando se utilizan abusivamente. Normalmente los libros
suelen concentrarse en actividades para presentar el nuevo lenguaje y en la práctica
controlada del mismo. En cada unidad nos encontramos con el mismo esquema y
formato, por lo que no se adaptan a las características de cada clase, que son únicas.
Algunos libros incluso no están equilibrados en cuanto a las habilidades que desarrollan
o a las actividades, que suelen carecer de variedad.
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1. En otro orden, los profesores deben conocer su oficio: el idioma que quieren enseñar,
las estrategias didácticas específicas para el nivel, las ayudas de las que puede disponer,
el amplio repertorio de actividades para llevar a cabo, que deben estar interrelacionadas
de modo que unas refuercen a otras. Es importante conocer las fases de una unidad
(presentación, práctica y producción), así como las técnicas adecuadas en cada fase.
Debe dominar las habilidades para dirigir la clase: agrupamientos, disciplina...
2. Para que la programación sea realista, es importante que el profesorado conozca la
institución o el centro en que trabaja: horarios, condiciones físicas de la clase y del
centro, material disponible, el proyecto curricular de etapa y ciclo, restricciones...
3. Por supuesto debe conocer a sus alumnos: edad, sexo, clase social, ocupación de los
padres, así como los factores sociales, políticos y religiosos que puedan influir en las
relaciones personales. Es necesario que conozca sus antecedentes académicos
(motivación, intereses, conocimientos previos...) y especialmente sus necesidades
lingüísticas.
4. El profesor debe realizar una preparación cuidadosa de la unidad didáctica. Por ejemplo,
debe tener en cuenta si el material es autónomo respecto a aspectos previos o posteriores
o si debe corregir los deberes de casa. Es fundamental tener preparado todo antes de
comenzar las clases, haciendo especial hincapié en los materiales: libros de texto,
fotocopias, reproductor de cintas, etc., así como en los ejercicios y actividades, que
deben ser variados y motivadores, especialmente para los diez últimos minutos: juegos,
crucigramas, adivinanzas...
Es aconsejable que el profesor ensaye en casa y anticipe los posibles problemas de
conceptos, formas o pronunciación que puedan surgir.
También hay que tener en cuenta que hay muchos factores que influyen en la
planificación y, por lo tanto, imponen restricciones al profesor al elegir unas determinadas
técnicas o materiales.
Restricciones prácticas: duración de la unidad didáctica, número de clases a
la semana, momento del día (por la mañana, por la tarde, a primera hora, a última
hora...), el número de alumnos, el mobiliario, disponibilidad de materiales.
La personalidad del profesor, entrenamiento previo, actitud...
El alumnado: las diferentes necesidades de cada uno de ellos, su nivel de
inglés (a veces hay enormes diferencias en cuanto al dominio de las destrezas, por lo
se recomienda el aprendizaje autónomo con materiales adecuados), sus intereses, su
edad, antecedentes educativos (¿están acostumbrados a trabajar en grupo?),
actitudes, personalidad.
Motivación y mantenimiento del interés. Aumentará en la medida que el
alumnado conoce los objetivos y su importancia para aprender inglés. Es
fundamentar organizar actividades significativas, relevantes y variadas.
La programación de la unidad didáctica debe contener los siguientes elementos:
1. Datos del diagnóstico inicial o de los resultados de la evaluación en las
anteriores unidades didácticas. Identificación de los intereses y conocimientos
previos del alumnado. Descripción de la clase (nivel o curso, condiciones físicas de
la clase, tiempo disponible...).
2. Determinación del tema y los consiguientes contenidos. Relación con los
temas transversales.
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3. Formulación de los objetivos didácticos o de aprendizaje.
4. Selección y organización de los contenidos, distinguiendo conceptos,
procedimientos y actitudes y relacionándolos con los objetivos. Conexión con otras
áreas de conocimiento.
5. Secuenciación y organización de las actividades del alumnado: de
introducción/motivación, sobre los conocimientos previos, de desarrollo, de
revisión/ampliación y de evaluación. Valoración de la autonomía.
6. Temporalización en sesiones.
7. Metodología: enfoque y teorías de aprendizaje, estrategias de enseñanza y
aprendizaje, agrupamientos, espacios. Papel del profesor.
8. Recursos y apoyos
9. Tipo de evaluación (inicial, formativa o sumativa, autoevaluación y
heteroevaluación), instrumentos y técnicas. Criterios de evaluación.
10. Orientación y tutoría.
11. Medidas de atención a la diversidad. Optatividad. Diversificación curricular.
Organización de los recursos personales y materiales dirigidos a los alumnos con
necesidades educativas especiales. Programas específicos.
12. Recuperación. Proacción.
13. Valoración de la ejecución de la unidad didáctica.
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habitaciones de la casa. Cuando se conozcan las partes de la casa, se presentarán la mitad
de las palabras del vocabulario, haciendo hincapié en las de uso más común.
3ª sesión.
Se comienza con la canción 10 y un repaso oral de lo aprendido. Se hacen dibujos de
las partes de la casa con sus grafías y conforme vayan aprendiendo muebles se van
colocando los carteles en la clase. Se pasa a hacer la Sheet 4. En ella se deben colocar los
nombres correctos en cada casillero. El profesor o la profesora señala un dibujo y pregunta:
“What is this?”, para contestar seguidamente: “This is...”. Repite el ejercicio en grupa e
individualmente hasta cerciorarse de que ha sido comprendido. Se hace la Sheet 5, los
alumnos y alumnas deben completar las palabras contestando a las preguntas. Una vez
terminada la ficha se pregunta individualmente de forma oral.
4ª sesión.
Se comienza la clase con la canción 10. Se repasa el vocabulario dado con preguntas
de “What’s this?” para que la clase responda “This is...”. Se presenta de modo directo y
usando el mural 6 el resto de los muebles y cosas de la casa. Cuando se aprendan, se
presenta la grafía. Se pasa la Sheet 6, que tiene dos partes: la primera los niños y niñas
deben poner el nombre de cada habitación en el dibujo; la segunda, deben mirar el dibujo y
completar las cosas que hay en él. Se reparte el material de explotación de la canción y se
comienza a trabajar por partes, intentando averiguar qué palabras faltan.
5ª sesión.
Se comienza trabajando con la canción 10. No importa que muchas estructuras no se
comprendan, lo importante es que identifiquen palabras. Se hace la Sheet 7, siguiendo las
líneas y escribiendo el nombre de cada cosa. Pasamos a hacer la Sheet 8, donde se debe
seguir a la pista por toda la casa para averiguar dónde se encuentra el chocolate. Se canta la
canción 10.
6ª sesión.
Se comienza cantando la canción 10. Se repasa preguntando: “Where is the TV?”,
para que los alumnos y las alumnas contesten: “It’s in the sitting-room” o “In the sitting-
room”. Pasa a hacer la Sheet 9, donde tienen que elegir entre He, She o It. Se repasa
aquellos aspectos de la programación que hayan quedado “flojos”.
7ª sesión.
Se comienza con la canción 10. Se repasa todo el vocabulario. Se pasan la Sheets 10a
y 10b para hacer un pair work. Un alumno o alumna de cada pareja sólo pueden ver la casa
A o la B. Después, el alumno o alumna A dice: “This room is number 1”; y enumera todos
los muebles de la habitación. El B debe colocar en su ficha y en el lugar correcto el nombre
de la habitación. El proceso se continúa hasta que la alumna o el alumno B tiene los cuatro
nombres puestos, y se repite al revés. Después la pareja comprueba si todo está correcto.
8ª sesión.
Hemos llegado casi al final de la unidad, es la hora de realizar y explotar la lectura
del cómic THIS IS MY NEW HOUSE. Se comienza presentando el juego The House Game
(Puedes fotocopiar la Sheet 11 en transparencia de acetato para el retroproyector). Por
parejas se coge una copia de The House Game (Sheet 11). Se comienza en START HERE y
sale la persona que saque la mayor puntuación en el dado. Siguiendo las flechas debe decir
correctamente el nombre de los muebles que aparecen en cada casilla; si acierta, vuelve a
tirar; si falla le toca a la otra. El decir alguna puntuación del dado en español equivale a
perder el turno. Cuando se dé la vuelta completa a su sección y llegue de nuevo a START
HERE, debe decir al menos 4 muebles de la habitación que elija el compañero o la
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compañera. Si acierta la habitación, pasa a su propiedad. El juego lo gana quien consiga las
cuatro habitaciones. Se puede arrebatar una habitación diciendo más muebles que los que el
compañero o compañera dijo (¡ojo! es conveniente apuntar el número de muebles que cada
uno dice). Si caes en un STOP, pierdes el turno. Si caes en un GOOD LUCK!, avanzas dos
puestos.
9ª sesión.
En esta sesión se realizarán las autoevaluaciones EL ESPEJITO y YO OPINO. Se
presenta la FICHA DE VOCABULARIO, para repasar y colorear.
Este modelo de programación propuesto por la Consejería de Educación y Ciencia de la
Junta de Andalucía tiene el inconveniente de que los objetivos, contenidos y criterios de
evaluación sólo se hacen explícitos una vez para toda la unidad didáctica. Sin embargo,
consideramos necesario tenerlos en cuenta, aunque sea mentalmente para no perderse.
Hammer ofrece un modelo de programación por sesiones (no es necesario reflejar
por escrito), que incluye una descripción de la clase (alumnado, condiciones físicas...) y el
trabajo realizado recientemente: el tema, el contenido, destrezas desarrolladas...Además se
explicitan:
OBJETIVOS: especificaremos los objetivos de la clase, las capacidades que
intentamos desarrollar: identificar, usar, entender, expresar... (to read to confirm
expectations).
CONTENIDOS: es la parte de la programación que más tiempo le
dedicaremos: conceptos (funciones, estructuras, situaciones, vocabulario,
pronunciación y cultura), procedimientos (destrezas) y actitudes. En la medida de
lo posible todos ellos deben aprenderse integradamente, pero en las distintas clases
se puede dar prioridad a uno de ellos: lectura, conversación, aspectos culturales,
pronunciación...
DESARROLLO DE LA CLASE
- PRECALENTAMIENTO – motivación (1WARM-UP): el objetivo es
contextualizar la escena cultural situacional, lingüística y semánticamente.
2Revisión de los contenidos de las lecciones anteriores.
- PRESENTACIÓN de los contenidos y de las actividades siguiendo el libro o
no. Determinaremos el contexto o situación (en casa, en la tienda...).
Indicaremos la posible utilización de apoyos didácticos y con cursos superiores
utilizaremos la explicación gramatical, si fuera necesario. Cada sesión suele
desarrollar más intensamente alguna destreza comunicativa o contenido:
vocabulario, función, reading, listening, pronunciación...
- PRÁCTICA mediante ejercicios y actividades en grupo, por parejas e
individualmente. En los primeros niveles estará muy controlada, dejando
libertad progresivamente. Hay que determinar cómo, cuándo y dónde hacer las
correcciones de los errores. Hay que prever los posibles problemas que puedan
surgir y las actividades alternativas.
- 3PRODUCCIÓN (actividades “follow-up”) en clase y en casa, si fuera
necesario.
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3. CRITERIOS PARA LA SECUENCIACIÓN Y TEMPORALIZACIÓN DE
CONTENIDOS Y OBJETIVOS
Los contenidos y los objetivos están tan interrelacionados que es imposible definir o
explicitar uno sin mencionar el otro. La diferencia estriba en que el objetivo enfatiza la
capacidad que hay que desarrollar (captar información, comprender), mientras que el
contenido especifica el objeto sobre el que se ejerce la capacidad (un cuento):
LOS OBJETIVOS
En el Decreto de Educación Primaria, lo importante es lograr los objetivos,
convirtiéndose los contenidos en instrumentos para alcanzarlos. Pero ¿cómo se entienden
estos objetivos?
Hay dos clases de objetivos: los propios de procesos formativos finalizados que se
oponen a los de procesos abiertos, como los experienciales o expresivos, en los que las
metas no están claramente definidas. En el primer grupo se incluyen los denostados
objetivos operativos, pero también los objetivos por capacidades tal como lo plantearon
Gagné-Briggs en 1974, quienes distinguen la acción que hay que realizar, el objeto o
producto final, las circunstancias o condiciones en que se considera alcanzado el objetivo,
así como los instrumentos y limitaciones. Sin embargo, lo más importante es determinar la
capacidad o habilidad mental que se va a desarrollar con la acción.
En este sentido se entienden los objetivos del Decreto de Enseñanzas, que se
diferencian claramente de los objetivos operativos en el sentido clásico y de los expresivos.
Se trata de desarrollar una capacidad, que consideraremos desarrollada si se alcanzan los
criterios de evaluación establecidos previamente.
Así los objetivos operativos utilizan verbos que indican acciones observables
objetivamente como escribir, recitar, hacer, comparar: mientras que los objetivos
expresivos usan verbos de acción como "realizar ejercicios, trabajar, investigar, descubrir,
practicar. Estos últimos verbos indican más la actividad que se va a realizar que los
627
objetivos que se van a conseguir, pues los que realmente se consigan al final diferirán de un
alumno a otro.
Los verbos de los objetivos por capacidades del Decreto aluden, como hemos
mencionados anteriormente, a las habilidades que hay que desarrollar (cognitivas,
actitudinales e incluso psicomotrices): comprender, producir, leer comprensivamente,
establecer relaciones, mostrar actitudes abiertas, transferir conocimientos y experiencias...
En este sentido, los objetivos son considerados como intenciones que sustentan el
diseño y la realización de las actividades necesarias para la consecución de las grandes
finalidades educativas, promover el desarrollo integral del individuo y facilitar la
construcción de una sociedad más justa y solidaria. Son metas que guían los procesos de
enseñanza y aprendizaje ayudando al profesorado en la organización de su labor.
Constituyen un marco para decidir las posibles direcciones a seguir.
En función de los contextos y necesidades particulares de los individuos, los equipos
de profesores podrán establecer criterios de ordenación de los objetivos a desarrollar en
cada etapa educativa. También es importante analizar las relaciones entre distintas
capacidades, matizar algunos objetivos, priorizar unos respecto a otros e incluso incorporar
algunos nuevos teniendo en cuenta la realidad a la que se van a adaptar.
Por su carácter referencial y orientador, los objetivos tienen varios niveles de
concreción en el centro, yendo desde las Finalidades Educativas, los más generales, hasta la
programación en unidades didácticas, la más cercana al alumnado. Los objetivos generales
de etapa del Decreto de Primaria se concretan en los de área en los diferentes ciclos, en un
intento de adecuarse a cada realidad escolar, con las condiciones propias de cada contexto y
de cada persona.
Cada objetivo general de la etapa está muy directamente relacionado con los
objetivos generales de un área. En el caso del área de Lengua Inglesa,
OBJETIVO GENERAL DE LA ETAPA RELACIONADO CON LA LENGUA
INGLESA
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Este objetivo está relacionado con el siguiente objetivo general del área, al menos en
lo que respecta a la comunicación no lingüística.
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A. CONCEPTOS
1. RECONOCIMIENTO (reconocer, conocer, definir términos, dar el significado,
identificar, dominar el vocabulario).
1.1. Datos: terminología y hechos
1.2. Metodología: convencionalismos, tendencias diacrónicas, clasificaciones,
criterios, métodos.
1.3. Conceptos universales.
B. PROCEDIMIENTOS
1. COMPRENSIÓN:
1.1. Traducción o traslación (decir con palabras propias, dar ejemplos,
explicar, representar)
1.2. Interpretación (resumir, explicar, dar ejemplos, elaborar una
interpretación científica, comprender mensajes)
1.3. Extrapolación (deducir, comparar, concluir)
2. APLICACIÓN:
2.1. Selección de principios, métodos, criterios (aplicar reglas de conversión,
aplicar estrategias)
2.2. Utilización de convencionalismos y normas ( aplicar reglas
correctamente, utilizar conceptos básicos o información, hacer un uso
reflexivo, incorporar)
2.3. Producción de textos específicos (escribir, redactar, expresar)
3. ANÁLISIS:
3.1. Selección y clasificación de elementos aislados (clasificar, distinguir
clases, analizar, diferenciar)
3.2. Análisis (analizar, relacionar sus partes, reflexionar, procesar)
4. SÍNTESIS:
4.1. Diseño de un proyecto (diseñar, planificar)
4.2. Producción de textos creativos (escribir, producir, construir, modificar,
expresar, transmitir, comentar)
4.3. Formulación de métodos, principios y teoría (formular)
5. VALORACIÓN objetiva y subjetiva (valorar, comparar, apreciar, juzgar,
descubrir la importancia)
C. ACTITUDES
1. ACEPTACIÓN Y APRECIACIÓN (apreciar, valorar, aceptar la necesidad,
tomar conciencia, desarrollar actitudes críticas)
2. PARTICIPACIÓN: interés, gusto y disfrute (disfrutar, generar el gusto,
profundizar).
LOS CONTENIDOS
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Son objetos de enseñanza útiles y necesarios para desarrollar los objetivos de cada
área. Son instrumentos que permiten analizar la realidad de una manera objetiva, rigurosa y
contrastada para posteriormente interactuar con ella llegando a predecir fenómenos
naturales o sociales e intervenir, si es preciso.
En toda tarea didáctica hay un contenido, aquello sobre lo que se trabaja, y un
aspecto formal, el trabajo u operación que se realiza sobre ese contenido para desarrollar
una capacidad y lograr el objetivo propuesto.
A la hora de programar, se convierten en el centro alrededor de los cuales giran las
actividades y los objetivos. Estudios realizados en Estados Unidos por Peterson, Marx y
Clark (citados por Zabalza) sostienen que los profesores dedican más tiempo a los
contenidos que a la programación de las actividades o a la formulación de los objetivos.
La función que tengan los contenidos da lugar a distintos modelos de "escuela".
Hay que optar entre dos extremos: los contenidos como representación de la realidad
objetiva tal como la ven los científicos deben ser conocidos por el alumno para insertarse
con éxito en la sociedad; o por el contrario, el alumnado debe estudiar aquellos contenidos
que tengan en cuenta sus exigencias, su forma de aprender, sus condicionantes
psicopedagógicos, sus intereses, sus necesidades.
Por otra parte, los contenidos pueden convertirse en un fin en sí mismos o, por el
contrario, deben ser un instrumento para alcanzar unos objetivos, para desarrollar unas
capacidades y para conocer la realidad.
Entre ambos extremos hay posturas intermedias más moderadas. El Decreto de
Primaria y la LOGSE en general han optado por un modelo en que los contenidos son un
instrumento, sin que esto quiera decir que no tengan ningún valor. De hecho se prescriben
unos determinados bloques temáticos. En cuanto a la otra decisión, interesan los contenidos
que sean significativos y que tengan en cuenta las necesidades e intereses del alumnado.
CLASES DE CONTENIDOS
Respecto a las clases de contenidos, los desarrollos legales de la LOGSE han
reducido las varias clases de contenidos a tres tipos: conceptos (incluyen datos,
definiciones, hechos, principios), procedimientos y actitudes.
1) Los conceptos son los contenidos más elementales que los alumnos deben saber.
Designan a un conjunto de objetos, sucesos, situaciones o símbolos que tienen ciertas
características comunes, así como los principios o reglas que relacionan sus cambios.
Para explicitarlos se pueden utilizar verbos como: conocer, definir términos, dar el
significado, identificar, dominar el vocabulario... Estas palabras están relacionadas con
los objetivos y las operaciones formales más elementales de las taxonomías.
Normalmente se suelen omitir los verbos (conocer) o sustantivos verbales
(conocimiento) dejando sólo el objeto directo, por ejemplo: "El conocimiento del
vocabulario y las estructuras básicas de la lengua extranjera”. Son contenidos
conceptuales:
a) Las situaciones de comunicación en lengua inglesa.
b) Funciones habituales de comunicación (entablar relaciones, dar y pedir
información...)
c) Vocabulario relativo al tema de la unidad didáctica: la casa, los alimentos, el
cuerpo...
d) Estructuras gramaticales
e) Rutinas (expresiones idiomáticas) y fórmulas básicas (mostrar acuerdo).
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f) Reglas que rigen la comprensión y la producción de un discurso coherente.
2) Los procedimientos son aquellos contenidos que nuestros alumnos sabrán hacer. Son
un conjunto de acciones ordenadas y finalizadas dirigidas a la consecución de un
objetivo. Cada disciplina y área de conocimientos incluye un cuerpo propio de
procedimientos. Son muy rentables, porque ahorran tiempo y evitan almacenamiento
excesivo de datos. Por otra parte, pueden dar significatividad a los conceptos. Se
aprenden por repetición, imitación (las técnicas son fáciles de adquirir y memorizables)
o por descubrimiento (las estrategias son más complejas, permitiendo resolver diversos
problemas). Deben ser funcionales y transferibles a otras situaciones.
Son procedimientos la comprensión global de historias sencillas, la producción de
mensajes, el uso de estrategias no lingüísticas, realización de murales, la participación
en intercambios verbales, la resolución de pasatiempos, la localización en un plano, las
simulaciones...Los verbos más frecuentes son: manejar, manipular, utilizar, construir,
aplicar, observar, experimentar, elaborar, simular, demostrar, confeccionar, ordenar,
coleccionar, formular...; aunque es más frecuente el uso de los sustantivos verbales
correspondientes: manipulación, utilización, construcción...
3) Las actitudes provocan que el alumno sepa para qué hacer las cosas. No olvidemos
que la actitud está constituida por tres componentes: el cognitivo (lo que el sujeto sabe
sobre el objeto de la actitud), el emotivo (sentimientos agradables o desagradables que
despierta el objeto) y el reactivo o conductual (inclinación a actuar de una manera
determinada). Por lo tanto, no podemos limitarnos a informar sobre el respeto a las
diferencias culturales; sino que hay que prever actividades, basadas en la dinámica de
grupos, que incidan sobre los componentes emotivos y conductuales.
Los verbos son del siguiente tipo: respetar, tolerar, aceptar, sentir, valorar, apreciar,
interesarse, colaborar, participar, cooperar, inclinarse por... Alternativamente, al igual
que los procedimientos, se utilizan los sustantivos verbales correspondientes: actitud,
respeto, aceptación, valoración, aprecio, interés... Ejemplos: reconocimiento de la
importancia de ser capaz de comunicarse en inglés, atención y respeto a los mensajes en
inglés, reconocimiento del error como normal en el proceso de aprendizaje...
Los tres tipos de contenidos están relacionados con las dimensiones del sujeto
sobre las que se puede intervenir. Por poner un ejemplo, Gagné establece cinco
dimensiones: los contenidos conceptuales están relacionados con la dimensión de la
información; los procedimentales con las dimensiones de las habilidades intelectuales, las
estrategias cognitivas y las habilidades psicomotrices; los actitudinales, con la dimensión de
las actitudes.
Las estrategias cognitivas son la forma en que los sujetos utilizan las habilidades
que poseen y se refieren a las técnicas de trabajo y a los modos de pensamiento (inductivo,
deductivo, científico, fantástico...). Las habilidades psicomotrices tienen especial
incidencia en las destrezas o conductas en su aspecto motor del alumnado de primer ciclo.
En cuanto a las habilidades intelectuales, están muy relacionadas con los objetivos
o capacidades, a las que hicimos referencia al hablar de los objetivos.
La enorme cantidad de ellos dificulta su selección, por lo que se hace necesario
realizar un esfuerzo importante de síntesis y contar con criterios racionales y objetivos para
elegir los más relevantes y con mayor incidencia en la vida diaria, teniendo en cuenta que
un contenido interesante para el alumnado no garantiza su relevancia desde el punto de
vista educativo (Del Carmen, 1997).
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LA SELECCIÓN
La selección de los contenidos que realice el profesor debe tener en cuenta el
Decreto de Educación Primaria así como la literatura especializada del área e incluso de las
programaciones que han sido implementadas en el centro. Posteriormente se identificarán
sus contenidos axiales o nudos. En esta fase puede ser necesaria la ayuda del experto en el
área que dé una visión amplia y clarificadora de la misma.
En cada ciclo el profesorado tendrá que seleccionar, adaptar, priorizar aquellos que
permitan alcanzar los objetivos más fácilmente e incluso incluir aquellos contenidos que
consideren necesarios teniendo en cuenta el contexto de su centro y las Finalidades
Educativas. Será importante delimitar qué contenidos se incluyen en cada uno de los ciclos
con el fin de evitar lagunas importantes o por el contrario repeticiones innecesarias.
En cualquier caso, es necesario contar con unos criterios que nos ayuden a
seleccionar los contenidos:
* Representatividad: los contenidos deben ser seleccionados por procedimientos de
muestreo, que reflejen bien el conjunto o población de donde han sido extraídos.
* Ejemplaridad: aquellos considerados fundamentales, básicos o elementales y las
ideas estratégicas con gran alcance lógico dentro de una disciplina. Es lo que
denominados ideas-eje o conceptos básicos que adquieren gran relevancia por su
sentido instrumental o por su sentido lógico.
* Significación desde el punto de vista de la epistemología, es decir, los contenidos
deben respetar la estructura de cada disciplina. Son los conceptos clave o "nudos"
estructurales que actúan de conexión de la estructura temática.
* Transferibilidad: son aplicables a otras situaciones distintas a aquella en la que se
aprendieron.
* Durabilidad.
* Consenso: contenidos sobre cuya importancia y validez hay acuerdo en la
comunidad escolar.
* Adecuación al desarrollo cognitivo y a otras características de los alumnos como la
afectividad o el estilo cognitivo.
SECUENCIACIÓN
Respecto a la secuenciación de los contenidos, está claro que no hay una única
secuenciación con validez general, sino que variará atendiendo a las distintas realidades.
Por otra parte, hay que tener en cuenta dos criterios que hemos mencionado anteriormente:
la lógica de cada disciplina y las características psicosociológicas del alumnado. El primer
criterio será preferente al elaborar el Proyecto Curricular, aunque no debe ser absoluto, ya
que si sometemos la secuenciación de los contenidos de muchos manuales a un mínimo
análisis, podremos comprobar que en algunos casos el orden establecido tradicionalmente
no tiene una fundamentación suficientemente justificada.
El criterio psicológico será prioritario al elaborar la programación de la unidad
didáctica. Es importante porque permite una más fácil asimilación por parte del alumno.
Las teorías de Piaget plantearon la necesidad de secuenciar de acuerdo con el nivel de
desarrollo operatorio de los educandos. Según el aprendizaje significativo de Ausubel los
contenidos deben ordenarse teniendo en cuenta simultáneamente su significatividad lógica
(la presentación de los contenidos debe facilitar la comprensión de sus relaciones y
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relevancia) y psicológica (relacionar los nuevos contenidos con los que el educando tiene
previamente).
Las Orientaciones para la Secuenciación de los Contenidos en lenguas extranjeras de
la Colección de Materiales Curriculares para la Educación Primaria, plantea los siguientes
presupuestos pedagógicos y lingüísticos en los que se fundamentarán los criterios de
selección y secuenciación de contenidos:
Desde una perspectiva constructivista, se destaca la noción de aprendizaje
significativo, creando situaciones de comunicación que impliquen conexiones con los
conocimientos previos de los alumnos y con el entorno en el que se desenvuelven. En el
campo concreto de la enseñanza de lenguas extranjeras, el concepto de aprendizaje
significativo se traduce en las sugerencias sobre actividades previas a la introducción
de nuevos contenidos, que funcionen como puente entre los conocimientos previos y los
nuevos, en las alusiones a la necesidad de transferir estrategias de comunicación
entre lengua materna y lengua extranjera, y finalmente en la necesidad de conectar las
actividades con el entorno próximo de los alumnos o con sus centros de interés.
En esta etapa, los procesos de adquisición tendrán gran importancia y, por lo tanto, la
interacción con otras personas resultará indispensable. La cooperación, como
requisito necesario para aprender hace que el profesor/a y los compañeros/as sean
imprescindibles como mediadores entre las informaciones puestas en juego y los
objetos, personas o acciones cuyos significados los alumnos/ as han de percibir.
Desde la perspectiva lingüística, para esta selección y secuenciación de contenidos se
han extraído criterios basados en el enfoque funcional y en las investigaciones
realizadas sobre adquisición de segundas lenguas. Una consecuencia de este
planteamiento es el respeto y aceptación de los errores que cometen los alumnos/as y
su consideración como elementos necesarios e inevitables en los procesos de
adquisición-aprendizaje de una lengua extranjera.
Todas las investigaciones en adquisición de segundas lenguas inciden en la
importancia de los factores afectivos en el proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje de la
lengua extranjera. Esto supone que factores tan diversos como la motivación, la
ansiedad o la autoestima han de tenerse en cuenta y ser tratados en consecuencia.
Esta propuesta se basa en la necesidad de combinar procesos de aprendizaje
organizados y procesos donde se fomente el uso de la lengua extranjera de manera
natural y significativa, aprovechando la naturalidad y realismo de las situaciones que
se creen dentro del aula.
Los factores psico-cognoscitivos y socioafectivos que caracterizan a los alumnos de
este ciclo. En general, los alumnos en la etapa de Primaria se caracterizan por un gran
desarrollo de la memoria a corto plazo y de la capacidad de percibir. Esto hace
necesario volver de forma sistemática y cíclica a contenidos tratados previamente con
el fin de incorporarlos a la memoria a largo plazo. Los alumnos/as en esta etapa no
son aún capaces de abstraer, sin embargo han de propiciarse procesos que faciliten la
reflexión posterior en la etapa siguiente. El hecho de que el alumno en esta etapa tenga
deseos de integrarse socialmente en un grupo y de imitar modelos adultos tendrá
repercusión en la selección de temas y actividades. El aprendizaje se considera como
una habilidad cognoscitiva compleja caracterizada por la automatización de las
habilidades y su incorporación en la memoria a largo plazo. El enfoque didáctico más
asociado con la teoría cognoscitiva en esta etapa es el basado en la actividad, según el
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cual, el aprendizaje de la lengua es un proceso activo, producto de su utilización para
dotar de significado a los objetos, personas, acciones, etc. En una planificación basada
en las actividades, éstas constituyen el eje central y generan el lenguaje necesario para
su realización. El punto de partida para la propuesta de contenidos será la
determinación de temas o centros de interés para los alumnos, que conecten
globalmente con los campos de trabajo en otras áreas.
Los criterios utilizados para la organización y secuenciación de contenidos se pueden
concretar en los siguientes puntos:
1.- Partir siempre de lo que el alumno/a ya conoce en el ámbito conceptual,
procedimental y actitudinal con el fin de que pueda comprender las informaciones
nuevas y enlazar los nuevos contenidos con los conocimientos adquiridos previamente.
Es importante en esta Etapa trabajar conceptos nuevos, aunque los contenidos
prioritarios serán los procedimientos.
2.- Los procedimientos son el núcleo alrededor del cual se articulan todos los demás
contenidos.
3.- Los contenidos propuestos exigen la presencia de objetos, personas o acciones con
el fin de facilitar que el alumno establezca relaciones entre significantes y significados
para apropiarse así de los valores simbólicos transmitidos por la lengua extranjera.
4.- La exposición del alumno a datos es previa a cualquier adquisición de nuevos
conocimientos. Por ello, los procesos receptivos tendrán gran importancia, aunque
también será necesaria la producción con el fin de poder comprobar la validez de los
aprendizajes realizados.
5.- Los elementos contextuales puestos en juego en las situaciones de aprendizaje
serán claves para la interpretación y expresión de mensajes y significados. En esta
Etapa tendrán prioridad los de tipo no lingüístico, tales como mímica, imágenes,
gestos, etc.
6.- El lenguaje que se utiliza dentro del aula proporciona permanentemente
informaciones cargadas de contenidos.
7.- Cualquiera de los contenidos presentados debe ser tratado de forma sistemática en
contextos diferentes con el fin de garantizar que los nuevos conocimientos se
incorporen en la memoria a largo plazo.
Si tenemos en cuenta la distinción de los tres tipos de contenidos, la secuenciación
variará ligeramente:
*Los conceptos: se presentarán primero los más representativos progresando hacia un
mayor detalle. Los principios deben ser inicialmente muy simples y explicativos,
haciéndose más complejos progresivamente. Los conceptos, en el ámbito léxico,
funcional y fonológico, vendrán determinados, pues, por los temas y los tipos de
actividades. Las situaciones de comunicación favorecerán usos del lenguaje
organizados en torno a funciones y sus correspondientes exponentes lingüísticos. Los
contenidos léxicos se agruparán en tres grandes secciones: fórmulas y expresiones
rutinarias, centros de interés y lenguaje de aula. Los conceptos fonológicos atenderán
a los aspectos de entonación, ritmo, acentuación y sonidos.
*Los procedimientos son en este modelo el núcleo organizativo predominante. Estarán
estrechamente vinculados a las actividades y los tipos de textos. Deben empezar por
los más simples según el número de pasos a seguir, número de decisiones que hay
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que tomar, grado de novedad... Hay que iniciarse con las técnicas ya conocidas y con
las estrategias-eje de carácter general.
*Las actitudes no presentan grandes problemas en cuanto a su secuenciación. Sin
embargo, partimos de aquellas actitudes, valores y normas más generales y
elementales para ir progresando hacia las que ofrecen particularidades o se conectan
con procesos afectivos y de socialización más específicos. Evolucionar desde la
aceptación y cumplimiento de normas hasta la comprensión de su necesidad y la
participación en su elaboración.
Actualmente, nos encontramos con tres formas de secuenciar los contenidos (syllabus):
El gramatical: esta secuenciación se preocupa de cómo se expresan los
hablantes. La lengua es un sistema que hay que aprender gradualmente desde los
elementos lingüísticos más fáciles a los más difíciles, excluyendo otros elementos
de la lengua.
El situacional se preocupa de cuándo y dónde el estudiante usará el inglés.
Por lo tanto se ordenan los elementos lingüísticos independientemente del lugar
que ocupan en la gramática, atendiendo a la probabilidad de que se necesiten usar
en unas determinadas situaciones sociales. En realidad, no existe ninguna
secuenciación situacional, sino gramatical, que usa las situaciones sociales para
presentar y practicar las formas lingüísticas.
El nocional intenta averiguar qué significados (funciones) necesita
comunicar el alumnado. Entiende la lengua como un sistema semántico.
En realidad los tres trabajan con formas, significados y usos. La diferencia es el
orden y la prioridad: el gramatical se mueve desde la forma hacia el significado y el uso, el
situacional se movería desde el uso hasta el significado y la forma, el nocional desde el
significado hacia la forma y el uso. Lo ideal sería combinar lo mejor de los tres, pero aún
está por hacer. Actualmente en Primaria, las unidades didácticas se organizan alrededor de
tópicos o situaciones cercanas a los intereses y necesidades de los alumnos, pero los
contenidos gramaticales se gradúan según su dificultad, relacionándolos con las funciones.
En cuanto a la organización de los contenidos, los equipos de profesores tendrán en
cuenta dos aspectos importantes: la necesidad de mantener una continuidad coherente en el
proceso de aprendizaje a lo largo de los ciclos y cursos y, por otra parte, la atención a los
planteamientos globalizados.
Hay que considerar las posibilidades globalizadoras de los contenidos transversales:
Educación para la Paz y la Convivencia, Educación Moral y Cívica, Educación para la
Salud, Educación del Consumidor y Usuario, Educación Medioambiental, Educación Vial y
Educación para la igualdad de sexos.
Respecto a la temporalización, ya se ha hablado en el apartado anterior al hablar de
las distintas unidades de programación.
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Las actividades o tareas a realizar constituyen el centro de la planificación didáctica,
integrándose en ellas los objetivos, contenidos y evaluación.
Las actividades y tareas se generarán a partir de temas o centros de interés
pertenecientes al mundo experiencial de los alumnos y alumnas y se adaptarán a los
intereses y edades de los mismos. Se trata de usar la lengua para hacer cosas con ella
y, por lo tanto serán las actividades y situaciones de comunicación diseñadas las que
generen la lengua a usar y no al contrario.
Hay un enfoque basado en las tareas, que surgió en India con el proyecto Bangalore,
que se basa en el supuesto de que se aprende mejor el idioma extranjero cuando el alumno
se centra en el significado o en la tarea, lo que conlleva su deseo de comunicarse. Las
formas no se aprenden, sino que se adquieren a partir del input lingüístico. El syllabus,
llamado procedimental, consiste en unas secuencias de tareas.
En toda actividad didáctica (según Yinger, citado por Zabalza) podemos distinguir los
siguientes componentes:
a) Localización o lugar físico donde se realizarán.
b) Estructura o fases secuenciales de la actividad.
c) Duración.
d) Participantes: número y agrupamientos
e) Condiciones o conductas aceptables de los sujetos
f) Acciones instructivas o pasos dados por el profesor para llevar a cabo la
actividad.
g) Contenidos y materiales.
a) Las actividades se realizarán normalmente en el aula. Excepcionalmente, se
podrán realizar en el laboratorio de idiomas, en el aula de informática, en el salón de
medios audiovisuales o en el patio.
Se considera que el aula es el contexto general, común y auténtico en el que se
establecen las relaciones de comunicación en lengua extranjera.
En el aula se deben simular situaciones reales con la ayuda de materiales
audiovisuales, pósters, realia... Las diferentes actividades elegidas (juegos variados,
representaciones, cuentos, canciones, etc.) determinarán los contextos, que contribuyen a
dar significado a los datos lingüísticos.
La construcción de los nuevos significados en lengua extranjera requiere que los
alumnos tengan experiencias lingüísticas y no lingüísticas en las que estén presentes
simultáneamente las acciones, personas u objetos, junto con las unidades
lingüísticas y los significados.
La elaboración de significados simbólicos, es decir, que no dependa su comprensión
del contexto en el que aparecen, se producirá posteriormente a partir de la
ampliación y diversificación de los contextos.
b) Las actividades “deben tener una estructura de funcionamiento accesible a los
alumnos y alumnas, o con la que ya estén familiarizados”.
c) La duración de las actividades será variable y dependerá de muchos factores,
siendo el más destacable el tipo de actividad. No se debe mantener demasiado tiempo en
una actividad, incluso cuando parece que los alumnos están a gusto para prevenir el
cansancio y el aburrimiento. Tampoco es conveniente estar variando continuamente.
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Relacionado con la duración de las actividades está la de las clases: podemos optar en
el segundo ciclo de Primaria entre dos clases de una hora, cuatro de media hora o cualquier
otro periodo de tiempo. Todas las opciones tienen sus ventajas e inconvenientes.
d) A la hora de realizar una actividad hay que determinar el número de participantes
y la forma de agrupamiento. Los espacios donde tengan lugar se organizarán de forma
flexible para facilitar diversos agrupamientos y “para que el trabajo cooperativo sea
práctica habitual en el aula”. “El aprendizaje cooperativo y el lenguaje interactivo entre
los compañeros favorecerán la ampliación de situaciones de comunicación y de relaciones
sociales dentro del aula”.
e) El profesor determinará las conductas permisibles o apropiadas para realizar las
actividades (libertad de movimientos, nivel de voz...)
f) Respecto al profesor/a, debe planificar las acciones instructivas o pasos para llevar
a cabo la actividad. Una actividad muy frecuente es la práctica de los nuevos contenidos
repitiendo un diálogo en coro. De esta forma los errores no son apreciables y el alumno
tiene la oportunidad de practicar la pronunciación, el vocabulario o la estructura gramatical
sin miedo a equivocarse o a hacer el ridículo, al mismo tiempo que se va autocorrigiendo y
ganando confianza en sí mismo. Más tarde, trabajará en grupo o por parejas para la práctica
oral y asumiendo diferentes papeles en el role play. Finalmente trabajará individualmente
en actividades escritas.
El papel del profesor es esencial en el aspecto afectivo y para dar” autenticidad a las
situaciones de comunicación, usando la lengua extranjera como vehículo de comunicación
en las interacciones que ocurran en el aula”.
Su lenguaje debe resultar comprensible a los alumnos; para ello hará uso de
recursos variados que faciliten el procesamiento de información y planteará la
realización de tareas con suficiente apoyo contextual para facilitar que sean los
propios alumnos quienes las interpreten y resuelvan de forma autónoma.
En el proceso didáctico e interactivo con los alumnos, el profesor/a incorporará de
forma intencionada ciertas estrategias comunicativas semejantes a las que se
utilizan en los procesos naturales de adquisición de lenguas y que los alumnos y
alumnas ya han experimentado en su lengua materna parafrasear, usar elementos
redundantes, repetir de forma natural, etc. Sin embargo, no debe ser objetivo
primordial el que los alumnos y alumnas asimilen todos los datos que se les ofrecen.
g) En cuanto a los contenidos, debemos distinguir por una parte a los datos
comunicativos que integran el mensaje y las unidades lingüísticas (vocabulario, funciones,
estructuras gramaticales, pronunciación...) y por otra parte a las destrezas comunicativas. El
Decreto de Primaria se decanta por las teorías de Krashen y del enfoque natural en cuanto a
la recepción de datos.
En esta etapa educativa el objetivo fundamental será potenciar los mecanismos de
adquisición, como proceso inconsciente y espontáneo que lleva a la construcción
interna de conocimientos, junto con los mecanismos de aprendizaje, que tiene una
finalidad educativa adicional y que requiere un esfuerzo consciente.
Será necesario poner en contacto al alumnado con datos comunicativos que les
resulten significativos y comprensibles, con las siguientes características: a los
intereses del alumno, aplicables a un amplio número de situaciones, con un nivel de
complejidad sólo un poco más avanzado del conocimiento que poseen los alumnos, y
con apoyo contextual suficiente para facilitar su comprensión.
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En el aula se deben de proporcionar datos comunicativos variados, con el fin de
estimular el proceso de aprendizaje natural en los alumnos y alumnas; datos tales
como: el lenguaje del profesor u otras personas, el lenguaje de los compañeros,
grabaciones contextualizadas tipo audio o vídeo, información escrita, etc.
Las destrezas de comprensión y expresión, tanto oral como escrita, se trabajarán de
forma integrada desde el principio; sin embargo, la comprensión de informaciones
no debe implicar la producción inmediata de las mismas, ya que es necesario
propiciar períodos que permitan la interiorización de la nueva lengua. Así pues, se
debe respetar lo que se conoce como períodos silenciosos, sin forzar la producción
oral o escrita más allá de lo que la competencia comunicativa de los alumnos
permite.
Las destrezas receptivas y orales son muy importantes en los primeros momentos, en
que la competencia lingüística y comunicativa de los alumnos es baja, y se pueden
acompañar de tareas que demanden respuestas no verbales, tales como dibujar,
construir, asociar, señalar, secuenciar, responder físicamente, etc. El exceso de
producción verbal puede suponer una limitación del tiempo dedicado a que los
alumnos y alumnos reciban informaciones y datos enriquecedores para desarrollar
su competencia comunicativa.
No obstante, en esta etapa también es necesario utilizar la lengua extranjera de
forma productiva, como condición indispensable para su adquisición y aprendizaje.
La producción es posible gracias al contexto cooperativo de las actividades que se
desarrollen (entre compañeros, entre profesor y alumnos, etc.) , y permite contrastar
la validez de los mensajes elaborados dentro del contexto de la actividad.
Especialmente en esta etapa, es importante desarrollar estrategias de comunicación
que compensen los niveles de competencia de los alumnos y alumnas en lengua
extranjera, que serán aún bajos. Algunas de estas estrategias pueden aparecer de
forma natural: decir sólo lo que es necesario o relevante, ser breve y claro, utilizar
gestos o mímica, etc. Sin embargo, hay otras estrategias que formarán parte de la
actuación didáctica: hacer predicciones, inferir significados, anticipar contenidos,
etc.
Los contenidos del área de Lengua Inglesa se pueden relacionar con los de otras áreas y
con los temas transversales con una perspectiva globalizadora.
Desde la perspectiva del conocimiento global que el alumno tiene en esta etapa, es
importante la iniciación de tareas o proyectos de trabajo centrados
fundamentalmente en el aula y el entorno próximo. Esto posibilitará la relación
entre la lengua extranjera y otras áreas de conocimiento e implicando a los
alumnos y alumnas en tareas de búsqueda y participación personal, en parejas,
pequeño grupo o de toda la clase.
El carácter globalizador que tiene el proceso de enseñanza aprendizaje en esta etapa
implica que necesariamente el profesor/a especialista en lengua extranjera organice
el trabajo junto con los profesores tutores con el fin de garantizar un enfoque
globalizado.
La integración de la enseñanza del inglés con otras áreas está empezando a tener sus
adeptos, pero sigue siendo una experiencia muy minoritaria. Sin embargo, es muy positiva
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porque el alumnado percibe el inglés como algo natural, que adquiere, más que aprende;
por lo que es un aprendizaje más significativo y duradero.
La integración se puede realizar casi con todas las áreas y de muy variadas formas. La
más conocida en España es la integración total con el área de Ciencias de la Naturaleza, que
se imparte totalmente en inglés. Esto implica un buen dominio del inglés oral por parte del
profesor.
Sin embargo, hay otras alternativas menos ambiciosas: podemos repasar operaciones
matemáticas en inglés, utilizar tablas de doble entrada para resumir los datos de una
investigación (How many students come to school by bus, by car or on foot?) o tomar las
medidas (my foot is 18 centimeters, I’m 160 centimeters tall); se puede hacer un
experimento de Ciencias de la Naturaleza, diciendo en inglés los pasos que se van dando
(here’s a jar, I’m going to open it, I can’t open it...); se puede responder con acciones en
clase de educación física (throw the ball, stop, pass me the ball, jump, turn around...).
Según Wheeler, citado por Zabalza, hay que establecer unos criterios para que el
profesor pueda decidir a la hora de seleccionar las actividades:
Validez: la actividad debe posibilitar mejorar el aprendizaje, el cambio de
conducta, la mejora del alumnado, en definitiva, la consecución del objetivo
propuesto.
Comprensividad: se trata de seleccionar actividades que consigan
desarrollar el máximo de habilidades de todo tipo: intelectuales, sociales, motoras,
actitudinales...
Variedad para satisfacer los distintos estilos cognitivos del alumnado y para
lograr la comprensividad mencionada anteriormente.
Conveniencia a la edad y nivel madurativo del alumnado.
Estructura, es decir, que las actividades tengan un carácter organizado.
Relevancia para la vida: las actividades debe ser significativas y útiles.
Participación activa del alumno en la planificación de las actividades.
Otros criterios pueden ser que las actividades sean interesantes y motivadoras, así
como que el alumnado use el máximo de lenguaje, en una situación que le suponga un reto
dentro de las posibilidades del nivel. Al final de la actividad debe quedar la sensación de
tener algún producto o de haber finalizado.
Cada clase debe ser única, impredecible. No se debe seguir siempre el mismo
esquema o provocará aburrimiento. El profesor debe prever realizar en clase actividades
que no se puedan realizar fuera de la clase: comunicación oral.
Asimismo, debe conocer de antemano qué actividades son estimulantes y cuáles son
tranquilizantes. Son estimulantes los concursos, el trabajo por parejas y el trabajo oral en
general, porque “despiertan” al alumnado, pero en grado extremo pueden excitar, lo cual es
negativo. Del mismo modo, las actividades tranquilizantes como las auditivas, el copiar o el
colorear son buenas en sí, pero pueden llegar a producir aburrimiento.
También podemos dividirlas en actividades que implican al alumnado mental o
físicamente. En el primer apartado, se pueden incluir los juegos, los puzzles o los
concursos. El alumnado tiene que recordar, reflexionar, deducir, inducir... Implican
actividad física los TPR, dibujar, escribir, leer en voz alta...
Las actividades se pueden clasificar según otro criterio: el tipo de capacidad que
desarrollan: orales o escritas, receptivas o productivas. Normalmente se suelen y se deben
integrar varias destrezas, pero tomando como central una de ellas.
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Escuchar y hacer. Se trata de reforzar la comprensión auditiva mediante
una respuesta activa que sirve para mantener atentos y motivados a los alumnos,
al mismo tiempo que se consigue memorización a más largo plazo: TPR, symbol
dictation, escribe lo que oigas, escucha y busca, escucha y ordena, escucha y
adivina el orden, representar el cuento narrado por el profesor.
Adivina. Sirven para practicar el hacer preguntas: qué tengo en mi tarjeta,
cuántas cartas puedes acertar, jugar a los barcos.
Levántate y averigua. Implican una interacción activa y real entre alumnos
que se tienen que desplazar para realizar la actividad: cuadro de entrevistas, pon a
prueba a tus compañeros, descubre quién tiene la misma tarjeta, busca
información en el mural.
¿Recuerdas? Se utiliza la memoria par provocar comunicación oral: tarjetas
que desaparecen, encontrar la carta pareja, dictado silencioso recordando.
Piensa por ti mismo. Se le da oportunidad al alumnado para que genere y
organice sus ideas: confecciona una lista por categorías, imagina y busca las
palabras correspondientes, escribe un minilibro, diseña tu propia pegatina.
Otras clases de actividades son:
Hacer gráficas en clase sobre la altura, el peso, la edad, el cumpleaños, el
tiempo, la comida, etc.
Canciones y rimas.
Historias y cuentos.
Rompecabezas y problemas: matemáticos, económicos, señalar diferencias,
adivinar el más largo, adivinanzas, tests de memoria, crucigramas, etc.
Juegos: se pueden adaptar a nuestros propósitos juegos que habitualmente
juegan como la silla. Son muy adecuados los juegos de tablero y de cartas. Otros
juegos: bingo, dominó de imágenes, juegos de patio, etc.
Actuar diálogos cortos con escenas o situaciones de la vida diaria.
Hacer cosas siguiendo instrucciones orales o escritas.
Dar o seguir las instrucciones dadas a partir de un mapa para llegar a algún
lugar.
Usar horarios y otras gráficas.
Actividades artísticas: dibujar, pintar...
Teniendo estas clasificaciones, es más fácil planificar según los condicionantes que
surjan. A veces el alumnado está inquieto después de una clase de educación física o del
recreo. Otras están aparentemente muy tranquilos, pero realmente inquietos después de
trabajar con un profesor, normalmente el tutor, que los ha mantenido en sumo silencio casi
todo el tiempo. No es igual dar la clase al principio de la jornada lectiva que al final o por la
tarde. No se puede seguir el mismo esquema en todos los casos.
Respecto a las guías y ayudas que debe prestar el profesor, el alumnado debe saber
exactamente qué y cómo hacer la actividad. La cantidad de ayuda prestada tiene un
componente técnico-objetivo y otro actitudinal-afectivo. En procesos por descubrimiento es
bueno que el alumno tenga poca ayuda para que “se busque la vida”. Se intenta promover la
creatividad y la tenacidad hasta encontrar la solución. El problema del profesor es saber
hasta qué punto el alumno concreto es capaz de soportar la presión y la no-ayuda. En caso
de decaimiento o frustración, es necesario ayudar. Siempre será válido el principio de dar la
mínima ayuda, aunque nunca menos de la necesaria.
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Por otra parte el profesor dispone de tres tipos de estrategias para ayudar al
alumnado:
Por descubrimiento (discovery) procediendo inductivamente a partir de
ejemplos o de un problema, a partir del cual se genera una hipótesis de trabajo
que se intenta comprobar mediante unas actividades investigativas.
Por organización superior (advanced-organized), se realiza deductivamente
analizando un modelo o regla.
Por conceptos fundamentales (basic concept) mezclando lo inductivo y lo
inductivo.
Respecto a la evaluación, a parte del Decreto de Primaria, disponemos de las normas
que lo desarrollan
· Orden de 1 de febrero de 1993, sobre Evaluación en Educación Primaria en la
Comunidad Autónoma de Andalucía.
· Orden de 18 de noviembre de 1996, por la que se complementan y modifican las
Órdenes de la Consejería de Educación y Ciencia sobre Evaluación en las Enseñanzas
de Régimen General establecidas por la Ley Orgánica 1/1990, de 3 de octubre, de
Ordenación General del Sistema Educativo en la Comunidad Autónoma de
Andalucía.
En la primera Orden, se establece en su artículo dos que la evaluación debe ser:
- Continua, es decir, de manera permanente acerca del proceso de enseñanza y
aprendizaje.
- Global por cuanto deberá referirse al conjunto de capacidades expresadas en
los objetivos generales de la etapa y a los criterios de evaluación de las diferentes
áreas.
- Formativa
- Cualitativa
- Contextualizada (referida a su entorno y a un proceso concreto de enseñanza
y aprendizaje).
Establecer unos controles de comprobación para que el alumno sepa si está en el buen
camino es imprescindible. Esto tiene un componente cognitivo y otro afectivo. Por una
parte, el alumnado necesita conocer el resultado que se pretende lograr; por otra, si el
alumno sabe que está aprendiendo y haciendo realmente lo que se le pide, consigue
aumentar la seguridad en sí mismo. El profesor puede realizar estos controles mediante
preguntas al alumno e incluso con gestos o con la mirada. Otra forma es la autoevaluación
de una forma sencilla e intuitiva, que permita al alumnado reflexionar sobre la adecuación
del proceso seguido para alcanzar los objetivos.
Los controles se enmarcan en la evaluación formativa, que permite tomar conciencia
del error, pudiendo el profesor proporcionar la ayuda necesaria para realizar bien la tarea.
De esa forma la retroalimentación que recibe el profesor le permite rectificar a tiempo y
reconducir el proceso. La evaluación formativa no sólo controla el proceso del aprendizaje,
sino también los resultados esperados. También está relacionado con la autoevaluación,
que permite al alumnado tomar parte activa en el proceso de aprendizaje, reflexionando y
rectificando, si es necesario.
La reconducción variará según las dimensiones afectadas. Si los aspectos deficitarios
son las capacidades (análisis, síntesis, aplicación, valoración...), no es necesario volver atrás
en el proceso, sino prestar más atención a tales habilidades en las siguientes unidades, ya
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que estas habilidades se volverán a ejercitar con otros contenidos diferentes. Más
problemático resulta solucionar la carencia de algunos contenidos. Normalmente hay que
volver atrás y volver a trabajarlos, ya que las lagunas, especialmente en contenidos básicos,
que actúan como prerrequisitos, pueden dificultar el proceso de aprendizaje.
El tema está totalmente relacionado con el Decreto de Educación Primaria y con las
guías de la colección de Materiales Curriculares para esta etapa. La programación es la
concreción del Anexo del Decreto para el área de Lengua Inglesa a un determinado
momento y a un determinado grupo de alumnos: objetivos, contenidos, metodología de las
actividades...Al haberse mencionado y citado expresamente en muchas ocasiones, no
consideramos necesario volver a incidir en ello.
7. PROPUESTA DIDÁCTICA
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Las clases se han realizado en las mismas aulas en las que los alumnos/as se
encuentran en el resto de la jornada escolar. En cada una de estas aulas se ha destinado un
espacio para ir creando un ambiente relacionado con la lengua extranjera y en el que los
alumnos puedan contemplar sus propios trabajos.
El tiempo dedicado a su desarrollo ha sido de períodos de treinta minutos diarios. Se
considera que estos períodos de tiempo han sido adecuados y, en cualquier caso, no se
recomienda que sean superiores a cuarenta y cinco minutos. En cada una de las sesiones ha
habido tiempo suficiente para terminar actividades con sentido en sí mismas sin provocar
falta de motivación o cansancio trabajando en lengua extranjera.
OBJETIVOS
• Captar información general y específica en un cuento.
• Comprender instrucciones para realizar una casa y diferenciar sus partes.
• Leer de forma comprensiva palabras e instrucciones cortas sobre la casa y elementos que
en ella puedes encontrar.
• Establecer relaciones entre los significados, la pronunciación y representación gráfica de
las palabras relacionadas con las partes de la casa y los mueblas que puedes encontrar en
ella.
• Mostrar actitudes abiertas de comprensión hacia las diferencias culturales que se
manifiestan en la concepción de las viviendas.
• Transferir a la lengua extranjera los conocimientos que los alumnos/as tengan sobre la
organización de su propio hogar.
CONOCIMIENTOS PREVIOS
En el tercer nivel de la etapa de Educación Primaria, los alumnos/as tienen por
primera vez contacto institucional con la lengua extranjera. Por ello, los conocimientos
previos en los que se basan las primeras unidades del curso se relacionan
fundamentalmente con las experiencias y aprendizajes ya realizados en lengua materna.
Esta unidad, que se trabajó en el aula después de que los alumnos/ as hubiesen estado
durante 5 meses en contacto con el inglés, incluye por lo tanto contenidos previos propios
de la lengua extranjera así como de la lengua materna.
Los conocimientos previos se explicitan en la unidad por dos razones:
a) Aclarar cómo se organizan los datos que ayudan a crear situaciones de aprendizaje
significativo.
b) Presentar los elementos que se reciclan y han formado parte de aprendizajes
anteriores.
Los conocimientos previos en los que se basa esta Unidad son los siguientes:
Bloque de Comunicación Oral y Escrita:
• Participación en situaciones de comunicación relativas a: colours, animals, objects.
• Ejecución de instrucciones simples, derivadas del uso del inglés en el aula: close/open the
door/ window. Listen. Look., etc.
• Inferencias de significados de sustantivos a partir de la información no verbal.
• Relaciones entre significados de palabras y su forma oral y escrita.
• Imitación de modelos de entonación y ritmo.
• Participación en intercambios comunicativos muy sencillos.
• Contestación a preguntas de si/no.
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• Uso del inglés como medio de comunicación en el aula, sobre todo en la compresión de
mensajes emitidos por el profesor/a.
Bloque de Aspectos Socioculturales:
• Observación de diferencias entre nuestra forma de vida y las de otros países.
• Reconocimiento de fórmulas básicas de cortesía: please.
• Identificación de personajes de los cuentos en inglés que tienen equivalentes en lengua
materna: The Three Bears, Goldilocks, Cinderella.
• Respeto e interés por las personas que hablan otra lengua.
CONTENIDOS
Los contenidos nuevos que se introducen en esta unidad didáctica se agrupan en torno
a los mismos bloques mencionados anteriormente en el apartado de Conocimientos Previos.
No se especifican por separado los conceptos, procedimientos y actitudes ya que se
producen interrelaciones entre los mismos en las situaciones de enseñanza-aprendizaje.
El punto de partida para la propuesta de contenidos es el tema o centro de interés, del
cual se desprende una serie de situaciones de comunicación que se concretan en las
actividades que, a su vez, generan el lenguaje a utilizar. Por todo ello, los procedimientos
constituyen el eje alrededor del cual se organizan los demás contenidos. Puesto que se parte
de un “Enfoque Basado en la Actividad”, es necesario hacer una lectura paralela del Anexo
I en el que se clasifican todas las actividades para comprender mejor la programación de
esta unidad.
Esta Unidad Didáctica incluye los siguientes contenidos:
1) Centro de interés: House and Home, que incluye lo siguiente:
- Making a house. - Rooms in a house. - Furniture. - Playing in a house.
1.a. Funciones:
Following instructions:
- Draw the door/the windows.
- Cut out the bedroom/bathroom/table...
- Show me the armchair/wardrobe.
- Stick them up.
- Point to the bathroom/kitchen...
Understanding a sequence of instructions:
- First..., now..., then..., finally...
Finding/locating people:
- Where am I?
- Are you in the bathroom/ kitchen? Yes, I am/No, I’m not
- Where’s Spot?
- Is he under the bed? No
- Is he in the wardrobe? No.
Locating rooms:
- It’s up/down on the left/right
1.b. Léxico:
- house, fridge, flat, table, home, chair, door, sofa, window, rug, bathroom,
armchair, bedroom, televisión, kitchen, bed, living room, wardrobe, bath
1.c. Aspectos fonológicos
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- Resaltar el acento de palabra, sobre todo cuando se trata de palabras similares en la lengua
extranjera y en la lengua materna: sofá, televisión. Marcar el acento con palmadas.
- Entonación de frases interrogativas: Is he in the wardrobe? Is he under the bed? Where
am I?
2) Bloque de Comunicación Oral y escrita.
- Reconocimiento en un contexto distinto de elementos de vocabulario ya conocidos a
través del lenguaje del aula.
- Captación del orden en que se da una secuencia de informaciones y mostrarlo a través de
respuestas no verbales.
- Imitación de aspectos entonativos y rítmicos a partir de los modelos emitidos por el
profesor/a otros medios.
- Interpretación de mensajes a partir de gestos y acciones: Where am I? I’m not in the
bathroom, etc.
- Colocación de dibujos a partir de los mensajes orales percibidos.
- Asociación de significados nuevos con sus formas orales y escritas: rooms, furniture.
- Identificación de elementos de un cuento manipulativo, apoyándose en las ilustraciones,
título, formato, etc.
- Comprensión de un cuento, participando en la construcción del mismo con respuestas de
Yes/ No.
- Asociación de dibujos con las palabras inglesas correspondientes.
- Desarrollo de actitudes y habilidades creativas como formas de expresión.
- Participación en juegos y trabajos de grupo, aceptando las reglas y colaborando con los
demás.
3) Bloque de Aspectos Socioculturales.
- Reconocimiento de palabras similares en nuestra lengua y cultura y las transmitidas por la
lengua extranjera: sofá, televisión.
- Observación de las diferencias existentes entre nuestras viviendas comunes y las más
características del Reino Unido, valorando lo que hay en común y lo distintivo.
- Identificación de relaciones entre los tipos de vivienda y la forma de vida: clima, horarios,
etc.
- Diferenciación de los significados de palabras que se relacionan: house, flat, home.
- Identificación del personaje del cuento -Spot- en los conocidos por los alumnos/as,
buscando su equivalente.
- Valoración de rasgos lingüísticos y de cortesía propios de la lengua extranjera.
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11. - CUT OUT AND SHOW: Listen and follow the instructions.
12. - PLAY DOMINOES: Match the pictures and the words.
13. - LOOK AND DO: Place the furniture in the right room...
14. - WORK IN GROUPS: Draw a room and make a house with your group.
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Al mismo tiempo que da las instrucciones, el profesor/a debe ir señalando la parte
correspondiente en la casa que ha hecho y terminar de dibujarla. Todo ello ayudará a aclarar
el significado de cada instrucción, aunque los alumnos/as pueden estar ya familiarizados
con el vocabulario básico por el uso previo del inglés en el aula en expresiones tales como:
Open/close the door/the window.
Finalmente, cada alumno/a colorea su casa, después de escuchar la instrucción:
Colour your house. Cuando todos/as han terminado, contestan individualmente a las
preguntas que hace el profesor/a:
- What colour is the door/roof? What colour are the windows?
Classroom language
- Can you take your house, please. Whose is this? Pablo/María, this is your house. Draw
the door/the four windows. Colour the house. What colour is the door/roof? What colour
are the windows? Show me your house, please. Very nice.
3. LOOK AND LISTEN
El profesor/a muestra una ampliación del mismo plano que tienen los alumnos/as y
que presenta un corte de una casa. Señalando cada una de las habitaciones, va diciendo los
nombres: This is the bedroom/ bathroom kitchen/ living room...
A continuación el profesor/a va señalando las diferentes habitaciones, diciendo el
nombre unas veces correctamente y otras no. A la pregunta: Is it right? Los alumnos/as
contestan Yes/No, según sea adecuado. Por ejemplo, el profesor señala el dormitorio y dice:
This is the bathroom. Is it right? Los alumnos/as responden: No.
Finalmente, los alumnos/as señalan sobre su plano las habitaciones que va indicando
el profesor/a, atendiendo al orden en que se nombran.
Classroom language
- Look at the plan. This is the bedroom/bathroom/kitchen/living room... This is the
bathroom/bedroom... Is it right? Point to the bedroom/bathroom...
4. LISTEN AND SING
Esta canción incluye frases que van a ser de utilidad para el juego de la actividad
siguiente.
Primero el profesor/a pone la grabación o canta la canción una vez, al mismo tiempo
que representa con gestos y acciones los significados fundamentales, que se relacionan a
continuación:
Where am I? - gesto indicando la pregunta, señalándose a sí mismo/a.
I’m not in the kitchen - acción negativa que se indica con movimiento de la cabeza o
del dedo. Igual para el resto de las frases negativas.
Si es necesario, se puede utilizar la fotocopia ampliada del plano para indicar la
habitación que corresponde a cada pregunta. Los alumnos/as escuchan de nuevo la canción
y esta vez imitan las acciones y gestos del profesor/a en el momento adecuado.
Finalmente todos intentan cantar la canción acompañándola de nuevo con acciones y
gestos y repitiendo cada frase después del profesor/a de la grabación si es necesario. Se
puede dividir la clase en dos grandes grupos, de forma que un grupo cante la primera parte
y el segundo grupo sólo la parte que dice: Yes. Yes. You’re in the living room. Yes. Yes.
You’re in the living-room. Después se cambian los papeles entre los dos grupos.
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Classroom language
- Listen to the song. Look at me. Mime the actions. Let’s sing the song. Repeat after me.
Let’s sing in groups. New, change over.
5. PLAY A GAME
Se trata de un juego de adivinación con el que los alumnos/as ya están familiarizados
en lengua materna- “el escondite” (Hide and Seek). Hacer esta aclaración a los alumnos/as
les ayudará a entender la mecánica del juego y a entender el significado de las expresiones
básicas.
En primer lugar es el profesor/a quien se esconde imaginariamente en una de las
habitaciones del plano (living room.) y pregunta a los alumnos: Where am I? Los
alumnos/as le hacen preguntas individualmente o en grupo, para ello pueden practicar
preguntas, que incluso pueden cantar previamente siguiendo el orden de la canción que ya
conocen: Are you in the kitchen/ the bathroom/ the bedroom? A estas preguntas, va
contestando: NO, I’m not y finalmente Yes, I am.
A continuación sale un alumno/a delante de la clase y decide en qué habitación se va
a esconder sin decírselo a los demás. La clase le hace preguntas del mismo tipo: Are you in
the bathroom/ kitchen...? hasta que lo adivinan.
Se puede repetir lo mismo con varios/as alumnos/as hasta que se compruebe que han
captado la dinámica del juego y las expresiones a utilizar.
Finalmente, pueden hacer el mismo juego en parejas, cambiando los papeles en cada
partida.
Classroom language
- Let’s play “Hide and Seek”. Pablo, come here please. Ana, hide in a room. Ask questions.
Play in pairs.
6. LISTEN AND DO
El profesor/a comienza presentando el mobiliario fundamental que corresponde a
cada habitación para que los alumnos/as se empiecen a familiarizar con el mismo: This is
the bedroom. There is a bed/ a chair/ a picture... in the bedroom. This is the bathroom.
There is a bath/... etc.
El profesor/a va dando instrucciones para recortar cada una de las habitaciones en
orden:
- Cut the rooms in the right order.
- First, cut out the bathroom. Put it on the table.
- Now, cut out the kitchen. Put it on the table.
- Then, cut out the bedroom. Put it on the table.
- Finally, cut out the living room. Put it on the table.
Para comprobar si los alumnos/as son capaces de reconocer los nombres de las
distintas habitaciones, se pueden dar las siguientes instrucciones: Can you show me the
bathroom/ kitchen....please?
Estos recortes hay que guardarlos para la actividad siguiente. Si se realiza en otra
sesión, es conveniente que se queden todos recogidos en sobres individuales
Classroom language
- Listen to my instructions. Cut out the pictures of the rooms. That’s not the bathroom. It’s
the kitchen. That’s right. Keep them in an envelope.
7. LISTEN AND SET
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Si esta actividad se hace en otra sesión, los alumnos/as deben sacar los dibujos
recortados que estarán guardados: Take the envelope. Take the pictures out.
El objetivo de esta actividad es colocar cada habitación en la parte correspondiente de
la casa. Para ello, se trabaja con los conceptos de Up/Down y Right/Left. En unidades
anteriores ya se ha practicado con left/right en relación con partes del cuerpo.
Es conveniente hacer alguna actividad previa de Respuesta Física Total o algún juego
corno “Simon says... “ con el fin de que los alumnos/as recuerden lo que ya saben, por
ejemplo: Stand up, sit down, show me your left/right hand/leg, etc.
El profesor/a señala el plano y va indicando: Up, down, left, right, up on the left, up
on the right, down on the left, down on the right. A continuación los alumnos/as señalan la
parte que va nombrando el profesor/a.
Finalmente, el profesor/a va dando las indicaciones para colocar cada habitación en
su sitio:
- The bedroom is up on the left. The bathroom is up on the right. The living room is down
on the left. The kitchen is down on the right.
Se pueden ir combinando las instrucciones para practicar más. Cuando se haga la
distribución definitiva, los alumnos/as pueden comprobar el resultado con su compañero/a
y pegan cada habitación en su lugar. A continuación recortan las palabras correspondientes
a los nombres de las habitaciones y las pegan debajo de la habitación adecuada.
Classroom language
- Set the rooms in the right order. Listen to the instructions. Check with your partner. Use
glue to stick up the rooms. Cut out the words. Throw the papers to the bin! Match the words
with the rooms. Good.
8. DRAW
Los alumnos/as deben dibujar un plano sencillo de su casa, en el que figuren las
habitaciones principales: Draw a plan of your house/flat. Es especialmente importante que
dibujen su habitación: Draw your bedroom. También deben dibujar algunos muebles en
cada una de las habitaciones. Finalmente deben escribir en inglés el nombre de las
habitaciones principales, mirando la actividad anterior si necesitan ayuda.
Mientras los alumnos/as realizan la actividad, el profesor/a circula por la clase y va
haciendo algunas preguntas individualmente: What is it? o va diciendo en inglés los
nombres de algunos de los muebles dibujados al mismo tiempo que los va señalando: This
is a sofa/bed/ bath...
Una vez que hayan terminado todos los planos, se fomentará un diálogo que permita
contrastar en términos generales la vivienda típica británica con las nuestras, diferenciando
flat/house, la vida en el interior de la casa más que en la calle (por el clima), los rasgos de
una casa típica británica, el nivel de confort, el jardín, etc.
Classroom language
- Draw a plan of your house/flat. Write the names of the rooms. Draw the furniture. Do you
live in a house/ in a flat? Who lives in a house/a flat? Put your hands up.
9. LISTEN TO THE STORY
El cuento se titula “Where’s Spot?” (Autor: Eric Hill). Se trata de un cuento
interactivo que exige la participación de los alumnos/as mientras se cuenta. Argumento:
Sally no encuentra a su cachorro, Spot, y lo está buscando por toda la casa.
Las ilustraciones son manipulativas de forma que ante todas las preguntas es posible
mirar en un lugar y comprobar si Spot se encuentra allí.
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Texto del cuento
Naughty Spot! It’s dinner time. Where can he be?
Is he behind the door? No.
Is he inside the clock? No.
Is he in the piano? No.
Is he under the stairs? No.
Is he in the wardrobe? No.
Is he under the bed? No.
Is he in the box? No.
There’s Spot! He’s under the rug. Try the basket. Good boy, Spot. Eat up your dinner!
El profesor/a explica brevemente el contexto en el que se desarrolla esta historia. Los
alumnos/as recortan las dos indicaciones con las palabras Yes/No y muestran
individualmente una de ellas cada vez que en el cuento se hace una pregunta.
El cuento se puede contar en otras ocasiones, escondiendo a Spot en sitios diferentes
y haciendo las mismas preguntas, aunque se puede alterar el orden de las mismas.
Actividad Complementaria: Los alumnos/as pueden confeccionar un cuento basándose en
imágenes manipulables, para poder utilizarlo con el vocabulario que ya conocen (por
ejemplo, nombres de habitaciones). Al final de esta unidad, también podrían utilizar
nombres de muebles y objetos de la casa.
Classroom language
- Listen to the story. Sally is trying to find Spot. Cut out the sings. Where’s Spot? Yes or
No?
10. PLAY A GAME
El profesor/a prepara flashcards utilizando fotocopias ampliadas de las ilustraciones
de mobiliario y las coloca al azar en la pizarra. Cada flashcard debe ir acompañada del
nombre del objeto correspondiente para que los alumnos/as se familiaricen con la forma
escrita de las palabras.
Antes de empezar el juego, el profesor/a va presentando el nombre de cada objeto al
tiempo que lo muestra a la clase y lo coloca en la pizarra. Después el profesor/a va
nombrando cada uno y los alumnos/as los señalan en sus dibujos.
Se forman dos equipos en la clase, que se colocan en fila en la parte de atrás. Los
alumnos/as que quedan en cabeza son los encargados de coger la flashcard que nombra el
profesor/a en cada ocasión. De esta forma, en cada ocasión le toca el turno a dos
alumnos/as diferentes. Gana el equipo que consigue más flashcards.
Classroom language
- Split in two teams. Stand at the back of the class. Stand on two lines. Come and take the
pictures. Listen. Are you ready? Come on. It’s your turn.
11. CUT OUT AND SHOW
El profesor/a da instrucciones para que los alumnos/ as recorten cada uno de los
dibujos en el orden adecuado: Cut out the armchair/fridge/table... A continuación los van
mostrando en el orden indicado por el profesor/a: Can you show me the armchair/the
sofa/the chair...?
Repartir a los alumnos/as etiquetas en blanco para que copien en cada una el nombre
de cada objeto o mueble. Para ello, pueden mirar las palabras de la actividad anterior. Por
parejas, deben intentar asociar cada palabra con el dibujo correspondiente. Cuando
terminen, guardan los recortes en un sobre para utilizarlos en la actividad N° 13.
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Classroom language
- Look at the pictures. Cut out the table/sofa... Show me the armchair/bed... Check with
your partner.
12. PLAY DOMINOES
Los niños/as ya están familiarizados con este juego en lengua materna. El objetivo es
asociar dibujos con las palabras correspondientes, formando cadenas.
Organizar la clase en pequeños grupos y repartir un juego de dominó a cada alumno/a
de manera que siempre tengan algunas piezas diferentes a los demás compañeros/as. Según
el número de jugadores, se puede fotocopiar y recortar el número de cartas que sea
necesario.
Los alumnos/as se van turnando para intentar asociar sus cartas. Gana el alumno/a
que antes consigue colocar correctamente todas las que le han correspondido. El profesor/a
circula por la clase y presta ayuda cuando sea necesario.
Classroom language
- Let’s play dominoes. Play in small groups (of four). Match the words and the pictures.
Start. Who is the winner? Let’s try again. It’s your turn.
13. LOOK AND DO
Los alumnos/as trabajan en grupos de cuatro y utilizan los recortes que guardaron en
la actividad N° 11. Cada alumno/a se encarga de colocar el mobiliario y objetos que
corresponden a una habitación, disponiéndolos de la mejor forma posible y coloreándolos.
Para que les resulte más fácil y el resultado final sea mejor, el profesor/ a puede fotocopiar
el recuadro de la habitación y repartírselo a los alumnos/a. Después pegan cada habitación
en una parte de la casa. Con el fin de repasar las instrucciones: up/ down/on the left/on the
right, el profesor/a puede dar las instrucciones a toda la clase.
Cada grupo dedica un tiempo a preparar una breve descripción oral de su casa y a
continuación cada grupo informa al resto de la clase. Por ejemplo: There is a... in the
bedroom/bathroom...
Actividades Complementarias: Los alumnos/as pueden terminar de adornar la casa,
añadiendo detalles tales como plantas, cuadros, lámparas, etc. El profesor/a circula por la
clase y va diciendo en inglés lo que los alumnos/as van dibujando: What’s this? It’s a...
Classroom language
- Play in groups of four. Stick the furniture in the right room. The kitchen is finished. Very
nice. Stick the rug where you want. Listen. Place the rooms in the plan. Draw what you
like. Colour it.
14. WORK IN GROUPS
Los alumnos/as trabajan en grupos de cuatro. Se reparte a cada alumno/a una de las
indicaciones de la actividad. Cada alumno/a, según su indicación, debe dibujar una
habitación con todos los detalles que quiera y después deben de confeccionar la casa ideal
entre todos los componentes del grupo.
Cuando hayan terminado, todas las casas se colocan en un rincón de la clase, con un
cartel en cada una de ellas que diga: Home, sweet home. Dialogar con los alumnos/as sobre
las diferencias correspondientes a los conceptos de House/Home.
Classroom language
- Work in groups. Make your ideal house. Draw a room. Write your names. Put it on the
noticeboard.
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INSTRUMENTOS DE EVALUACIÓN
Se muestran a continuación algunos instrumentos de evaluación para utilizar en esta
Unidad Didáctica:
1) Diario de Clase.
Se recomienda que los alumnos completen el diario de clase durante tres o cuatro
veces al menos a lo largo de toda la Unidad. Las frases a completar en el diario son las
siguientes:
- I’m good at... - I like...
Los datos aportados por los alumnos/as nos darán sugerencias en torno a los tipos de
actividades que les gustan y las que han podido resultar difíciles o fáciles para la mayoría.
2) Perfil del Alumno/a
Es interesante empezar a configurar el perfil del alumno/a en lengua extranjera desde
la iniciación a la misma en el segundo ciclo de la Etapa de Educación Primaria. El perfil se
puede ir elaborando en un cuaderno destinado a tal fin, en el que se vayan recogiendo
muestras representativas del trabajo del alumno/a y de su nivel de progresión. También se
podrían añadir otros materiales de otras áreas o de actividades fuera del aula que el
alumno/a considere que son representativos de su esfuerzo.
Una vez finalizada esta Unidad, se puede pedir a cada alumno/a individualmente que
selecciones dos trabajos representativos de su esfuerzo y que los incorpore a su perfil,
pegándolos en un cuaderno. No incluiremos en el perfil ningún trabajo que el alumno/a
considere que no es muestra de su esfuerzo o progresión.
3) Actividades finales
Se sugieren a continuación dos actividades que pueden servir a los alumnos/as para
mantener un fichero de aspectos fundamentales tratados en la Unidad. Sobre todo están
encaminadas a consolidar vocabulario y a servir de instrumento de referencia y recuerdo
fácil para el alumno/a.
A) Dar a los alumnos/as tarjetas con los nombres en inglés del vocabulario básico de la
Unidad. Los alumnos/as hacen los dibujos correspondientes en folios y pegan cada palabra
junto al dibujo adecuado. Se puede incluir el siguiente vocabulario básico:
- bathroom, fridge, armchair, bedroom, table, television, kitchen, chair, bed, living room,
sofa, wardrobe, rug, bath.
B) Relacionar con flechas los nombres de muebles y objetos de la casa con las habitaciones
donde se pueden encontrar.
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8. BIBLIOGRAFÍA
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VARIOS (1992). Orientaciones para la secuenciación de contenidos. 1. Área de Lengua
Extranjera. Colección de Materiales Curriculares para la Educación Primaria.
Sevilla: Junta de Andalucía.
WILKINS,D.A. (1976). Notional Syllabuses. Oxford: O.U.P.
YALDEN,J. (1983). The Communicative Syllabus: Evolution, Design and Implementation.
Oxford: Pergamon Press.
YALDEN,J. (1987). Principles of Course Design for Language Teaching: Cambridge:
C.U.P.
ZABALZA, M.A. (1988). Diseño y desarrollo curricular. Madrid: Narcea.
1) INTRODUCTION
BIBLIOGRAPHY
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1.- INTRODUCTION:
The Organic Act 1/1990 of General Arrangement of the Educational System introduced some
important changes, aimed at improving the quality of education in Spain. Among these
changes we can mention:
- The establishment of new educational stages such as: Infant, Primary and Compulsory
Secondary Education.
- These stages are organised in cycles, which is the period that should be considered for
teaching programs and promotion.
- The establishment of a curriculum which, in spite of having certain aspects which are
compulsory for all the country, is also open and flexible, as the different autonomous
educational services could adapt it to their real context. Then, each school should adapt
the official curriculum to their real environment by means of the design and development
of the Curricular Project.
- Every teacher should design his/her particular teaching planning according to the
decisions taken in the Curricular project.
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Then, taking into account these basic aspects of the Educational Reform, we are going to deal
with:
- The criteria we must take into account for the sequence of objectives and contents
- The methodological principles we should bear in mind to design the learning and
assessment activities.
As we have said before, our educational system establishes and open and flexible
curriculum which must be adapted to the particular needs of students through different
levels:
The First level, refers to the official curriculum which contains the general objectives of
each stage for the different areas, their blocks of contents and assessment criteria.
The Second level, includes the Curricular Project of each stage, where each school adapts
the elements of the official curriculum to its particular context.
According to the R.D. 82/1996, the Curricular Project should include the following elements:
- The general objectives of the stage adapted to the socio-cultural context of the
school.
- The sequence of objectives, contents and evaluation criteria of the different areas
per cycle.
- General methodological decisions that affect the following aspects: Methodological
principles, groupings, space, time and materials.
- General decisions about the attention to pupils with special needs.
And finally in the third level of curricular development, each teacher should design his/her
teaching planning which consist of a set of didactic units, taking into account the decisions
made by the teaching staff in the Curricular Project.
Then the teaching planning is defined in the curricular material known as Red Boxes as:
‘the process whereby, starting from the official curriculum and the decisions taken in the
Curricular Project, teachers plan the work that is going to be developed in the class. As a
result, we have a set of sequenced didactic units for a given cycle’.
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Adapted to the context and pupil’s needs
Flexible, which implies that we must be ready to change any of it elements if we feel
that they are not appropriate for a particular group of students.
Concrete, as it should give clear information about the teaching/ learning process
which is going to be developed in the classroom.
Realistic, as the teacher should have the space, time and materials to carry out the
activities he/she has designed and this activities should be adapted to the student’s
level.
These decisions, which are taken by the teaching staff of the cycle, deal with :
2. In the second place, the teaching planning includes the design of the didactic units. In
relation to the design of didactic units the teaching staff of the cycle should:
Now, we are going to deal with the first aspect we have mention, the general decisions to
ensure the coherence of the teaching process throughout the cycle, which include: THE
SEQUENCE AND TIMING OF OBJECTIVES AND CONTENTS.
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2.1.- CRITERIA TO ESTABLISH THE SEQUENCE AND TIMING OF OBJECTIVES
AND CONTENTS:
As we have seen when talking about the Curricular project, one of the decisions made in
such document is the sequence of objectives, contents, and assessment criteria of each area
along the different cycles.
Then, once the teaching staff has decided the objectives and
contents programme per cycle, in the Curricular Project, the
cycle teacher or teachers have to decide about the sequence
and timing of these objectives and contents within the cycle.
The term sequence refers to the order in which we are going to present the contents while
the term timing refers to the amount of time we will need to achieve the objectives and
teach the contents.
659
Since the establishment of this sequence is a difficult task, the Ministry of Education
published a Resolution of the 5th of March 1992, that offered some criteria to establish such
sequence:
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3. The arrangement of objectives and contents should ensure the coherence of the learning
process
1. We must go from the general and simple to the particular and complex. This applies to
the arrangement of concepts and procedures, since it is difficult to arrange attitudinal
contents into cycles.
2. There must be a balance between the three types of contents (concepts, procedures and
attitudes).
3. As far as the procedures are concerned, the four skills should be developed in an
interrelated way as they are in real communication.
4. However we must remember that in the Foreign Language Area curriculum for Primary
Education, oral skills are stressed over written skills, and receptive skills are given the
priority over productive skills.
Children start to develop rational thinking starting from concrete objects, classes or
relations.
Children make progress in perceptive and motor aspects.
Children begin to develop socialisation skills.
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If children mental operations are based on their concrete
experiences, we, as foreign language teachers, should
select topics and activities connected to the pupils real
experiences.
If children develop their perceptive and motor abilities, we
should contribute to this development by means of contents
and activities which involve body movement or the use of
their perceptive and creative abilities.
We should also foster the development of socialisation
skills. In this sense we should promote the development of
positive attitudes such as co-operation and respect towards
the contribution of others.
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‘To understand simple and oral written texts about known objects, situations and events,
using general and specific information taken from those texts for specific purposes.’
663
set the sequence of contents. These factors, which are
defined in the Resolution of the 5th of March, are:
- The channel
As far as channel is concerned we should consider if the oral or written messages that our students
should understand or produce are going to be transmitted in a face to face communicative situation,
or by means of a cassette recording or a written text. In this sense, we should start from face to face
communication, because mime, gestures and expressions help pupils to understand.
- The interlocutor
Regarding the interlocutor we should take into account if he/she is known or unknown for the student,
if he/she belongs to the school context or not. At the beginning we should work with close
interlocutors such as the teacher and the classmates.
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- The level of correction
The level of correction deals with the demands about
correction in the oral and written production of students.
Obviously such demands increase along the cycles. At the
beginning, they should produce language correctly enough to
be understood.
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-Rhythm and communication in a
intonation foreign language.
patterns.
-Words and - Showing an
Identifying sentences in texts optimistic attitude
related to the towards their own
context of the ability to
classroom and understand the
daily life foreign language
- of messages
with the
following
communica
tive
intentions:
Global *Greeting - Showing a
comprehension (hello!,good receptive attitude
morning...) towards people
who speak a
*Identifying
different language.
oneself (I
am. ,My name
is...)
*Giving and
asking for
basic personal
information
(using
expressions
such as: What
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´s your name,
How old are
you?...)
- These
communicati
ve functions
should be
related to
topics of
general use
and wide
notions,
which are
interesting
for children,
such as:
*The school,
family,
friends,
animals,
body, home,
numbers,
colours...
- Of - Showing a
Specific information receptive attitude
comprehension previously towards people
required in who speak a
contextualis foreign language.
ed
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situations*
ANNIE no yes no
As we can see this task ask them to extract specific information (about favourite sports), previously
required by the teacher, in a contextualised situation,( as they already recognise the characters voices,
and know what they are talking about).
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Then the Order of 30th of August published by the
Department of Education, Science and Technology of our
Autonomous Government says in its article number 3 that:
“The centres must change and adapt their Curricular
Projects to this change as the objectives, contents and
evaluation criteria of the foreign language area, should be
sequenced for three cycles, instead of two”
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have understood by means of non-verbal actions such as
movements, gestures, drawing, cutting, pointing,
colouring...
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2.2.- DIDACTIC UNITS:
Now we are going to talk about the second moment of the teaching planning: the design
and development of didactic units.
Didactic units are defined in the curricular material known as Red Boxes published by the
Spanish Ministry of Education (1991) as:
A unit of educational action formed by a set of activities that are developed in an specific
time, to reach a set of didactic objectives.
- How? By means of the learning activities, space and time organisation, didactic
resources and materials.
- And what, when and how to evaluate, by means of the assessment criteria, and
the different activities to carry out the initial, formative and final evaluation
1.- Description
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2.- Didactic objectives
3.- Learning contents
4.- Activities
5.- Materials
6.- Space and time arrangement.
7.- Evaluation criteria and techniques used to carry out this process.
2.-The didactic objectives are more specific than those designed for the cycle as they
express the abilities that we want pupils acquire as a result of the work developed in a given
didactic unit.
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Once we have explained the main criteria to design the learning activities, we will focus on evaluation
activities :
The general methodological principles for Primary education, included in the R.D. 1344/ 1991 of the
14th of June, evaluation is considered as a global and continuous process, which must be used as a tool
to improve the teaching/learning process.
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According to the document “Keys for the teaching of a foreign language(MEC,1991) the main aim of
evaluation in the foreign language area is “to check if students are able to use the language in
communicative situations”
Then, evaluation activities should not be different from learning ones. Direct observation of the
students’ work is the main evaluation technique, however in order to make this observation in a
systematic way the document “Keys for the teaching of a foreign language” suggests that we should
use an evaluation form containing the aspects to be observed on each kind of activity.
For example for the evaluation of oral activities this document suggest teachers to consider the
following questions:
BIBLIOGRAPHY.
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(Se trata del tema 22 del temario específico de la especialidad de lengua
extranjera)
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Gardner and Lamberer stabled two main kinds of motivation:
-Integrative: The learner has a genuine interest in the
second language community
-Instrumental: His interest is in how the second language
can be useful towards furthering others goals.
It is clear that this is not enough to be highly motivated,
It must be acompained by others factors such as useful
strategies.
1.4.- Aptitude and intelligence
Learning a second language in a classroom involves two sets
of intellectual abilities:
- A general academic or reasoning ability called
intelligence
- Specifics cognitive qualities needed for second language
acquisition called aptitude
There are several problems to stablish the difference of
influence of both in the second language acquisition.
1.5.- Personality
Krashen argues that extroverted learners will find easier to
make contact with other users of the second language and
therefore will obtain more input.
Also Characteristics such as extroversion assertiveness and
adventuresomeness are predictable to be positive for learning
Social Skills. Allow the students to be related to the world and
culture of the country.
Other factors we have to consider are inhibition and axiety.
A teacher who reduces both in the whole learning process will
make students increase confidence when producing a language.
1.6.- Learning Styles
According to Ausubel, learning styles are define as "self-
consistent and enduring individual differences in cognitive
organization and functioning".
It can be inductive or deductive; dependent or independent;
holistic or analytic; ...
These cognitive learning stiles will be developed in the
chapter of learning strategies.
Age, sex, motivation, aptitude, intelligence, personality and
learning style stablish individual differences in the way or
second language acquisition. So we should consider them to
stablish
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the most effective way to teach them
2.-"The good language learner" (Ellis) and the unsuccessful
learner
a)Ellis characteristics of a good language learner
*Be able to respond to the group dynamics of the learning
situations
*Seek out all opportunities to use the target language
*make maximum use of the opportunities to practice the
second language
*Supplement the learning that derive from the direct contact
with speakers of the second language
*Be an adolescent or an adult rather a young child
*Possess sufficient analytic skills to perceive categorize
and store the linguistic features of the second
language and also to monitor errors
*Possess a strong reason for learning the second language
and also develop a strong task motivation
*Be prepared to experiment by taking risk
*Be capable of adapting to different learning conditions
b) Characteristics of an unsuccessful language learner
*tendency toward a history of faliture
*Lack of confidence
*No risk taking
*Low self-steam
*Negative attributions
*Poor study habits and learning strategies
*Full of surprises
3.-Learner involvement: Strategies
For a successful learner-centred-comunicative methodology,
the teacher must be no more the "controller"
or the "conductor". S/he must help the learner to be
self-autonomous and aware with the global learning.
According to Hutchinson these are the characteristics that
should be enhanced with the classroom:
3.1.- Positive attitudes
To develop affectivity in the language, the learner and the
teacher have to work together.
The teacher role is to turn into a productive ingredient in
the learning pot. He is going to decide how
to conduct the process, materials, . . . He also should teach
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attitudes, strategies, abilities, skills and other concepts
now included in the syllabus design. Positive attitudes are those
concerned with culture awareness.
3.2.- Awareness raising
Teacher must apply global contents. S/he must provide the
learner the strategies to become responsible.
The strategies included here are those affective ones.
3.3.-Skill development
The skills are directed toward cognitive and metacognitive
strategies.
Metacognive strategy is a learning strategy that involves
thinking about our knowledge of the learning
process.
Cognitive strategy is a strategy that involves mental
manipulation or transformation of materials or
tasks and is intended to enhance comprehension, acquisition or
retention.
Both are concerned with the "learning to learn".
3.4.- Basic tools for learning: Techniques
*Sound acquisition
-repeating aloud
-Listening carefully and talking aloud
*Grammar
-Following rules
-Inferring grammar rules
-Comparing L1 and L2
-Memorizing structures and using them
*Vocabulary
-Making up charts
-Learning words in context
-Learning words that are associated
-Using new words in phrases
-Using a dictionary
*Listening comprehension
-Listening to the radio
-Exposing oneself to different accents and registers
*Learning to talk
- Not being afraid to make mistakes
- Making contact with native speakers
- Asking for correction
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*Learning to write
-Having penpals
-Writing frequently
-Frecuent reading of what you expect to write
*Learning to read
-Reading something everyday
-Reading things that are familiar
-Reading texts at the beginners level
-looking for meaning from the context
3.5.-Learner syllabus design (loopback)
The contents that a task based syllabus, like the Spanish
reform one, Should be divided into:
a)Contents which develop the oral communicatively abilities
b)Contents which develop the written communicatively
abilities
c)Sociocultural contents
These contents must include the strategies above mentioned.
These strategies will achieve the specific and the general aims.
A progresive evaluation will be considered during the academic
year. And one of the most important things included in the
syllabus is the selection of a methodology.
In summary, we are clamming a task based approach focused in
the process where evaluation and methodology are included in the
learning contents.
4.-Class management. Pupils grouping
LOCK-STEP PAIR WORK GROUP WORK INDIVIDUAL
STUDY
A *Anyone can *Increases the pupils *Increases the amount *Child relax from
D hear what practice of pupils talking time outside pressure
V is *Motivation to learn *Gives them *Child internalize
A being said with others opportunities to use the what s/he is
N *We get a *Important for our language to learning
T good youngest pupils communicate *Permit our pupils
A language *They learn and teach select between
G model exhibiting a degree of diferent activities
E *We can self-reliance which
S is absent from teaching
move controlled
the lass at activities
a *more dynamic
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fast pace *Need a
*Is not communication
very more important
stressing *more relax than
pair work
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at the same different materials at
Time The same time
*CLOSED & OPEN * Biggest size for a
Form new ones during group is half class and
the activity only for competitive
*COOPERATIVE activities.
Our two pupils have *Smallest group
to help each other to (6 more or less)
complete the activities *Flexible groups
As the activity progress
the group split up and
reform
*fixed groups for
all the year you can
have group leaders
who make of group
organizer and
mini-teacher
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-In most cases we do not have total freedom to organize
the classroom. Brewster underlines Six points to consider:
1.- A grid plan made to scale is useful if we have a large
class squeezed into a small area
2.- We must think about sitting our pupils in rows or groups
3.- Pupils who is closed to the teacher Concentrate more and
work harder
4.- A small classroom library colour coded acording to
difficulty
5.- Areas where our pupils can display their work
6.- Corners
5.4.1.- Classroom display
We must encourage them to display their work when setting a
display we must keep several points in mind:
1.-try to keep the work at our pupils eye level
2.-We may include related words pictures or a tape which may
tell a story which is described visually in a display
3.-As they must be eye catching, the titles and lettering
should be large and attractive
4.- We must ensure that the pupils' names are on their work
and above all, that all our pupils have something on display
5.5.-Time management
The differents groups can go at a different speed and what
we have planed could be good for one but not for the others. We
have to plot realistic timings for the complection of certain
activities.
We may be left with time to spare at the end of our lesson;
In these cases we need to have some activities reserved
6.-Selecting a methodology
Our curriculum established that the main aim of teaching a
foreign language in primary education is to enable our pupils to
reach communicative competence and its main subcomponents:
Grammar competence: Domain of grammar and lexical
capabilities
Discourse competence: written or speaking discourses with
coherence and cohesion.
Socio-linguistic competence: Understand the social context in
which the conversation takes place
Socio-cultural competence: Knowledge of cultural aspects of
the target language speaking countries
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6.1.- Communication in the classroom
We can stablish a continuum where communicative and non
communicative activities are the extremes. In the classroom we
divide the work into 3 major activities depending on the point of
the continuum we are placed:
Presentation
Practice
Production
6.2.- Integrated Skills
Our activities will sometimes have to concentrate on one
single skill to reach our aims but we have to use that to
practicing others.
6.4.- Assessment
Continuous assessment is now the more wide spread method of
assessment in our schools. This assessment have to show our pupils
level of attainment, the effectiveness and efficiency of our
methods and it start with an initial diagnosis.
7.-A common working environment: Teachers' role
7.1.- Teaching style
Teaching style is a complex amalgam of beliefs, attitudes,
strategies, techniques, personality and control which lies at the
heart of the interpersonal relationship between teacher and
learner.
7.2.- Motivation
A primary function of the teacher management roe is to
motivate the learners who are demotivated. There are several
ways:
-Adopting a positive attitude towards the learner.
-Giving pupils meaningful relevant and interesting task to
do.
-Maintaining discipline to be extent that a reasonable
working atmosphere is stablish
-Being motivated and interested themselves
-Involving the learner more actively in the classroom
process and activities that demand inter-student communication and
cooperative efforts
-Introducing learners to the concepts of self apprassial and
self-evaluation
-Giving positive feedback or written assignments
-Encouraging pride in achievement by allowing learners to
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display their work on the classroom.
7.3.- Main types of teachers
We are going to analyze the six main roles that Hammer
distinguishes:
CONTROLLER. We are totally in charge of the class. It is use
in presentation stage. It is only adequate during the
reproducction stage, being wholly inappropriate at the production
stage.
ASSESOR. During the presentation stage we also correct our
pupils' error and mistakes but without making our pupils ashamed
of their errors.
Organizing feedback is a major part of assessing our pupils
performance. The teacher waits until an activity or task has been
completed and he tells pupils how they did.
ORGANIZER. is to tell our pupils what is our topic and what
re the tasks. We must also get the activity going, solving
initial problems and finally organize feedback.
Prompter. We sometimes need to help our students where there
is a silence or our pupils are confused. We should help only when
it is necessary
PARTICIPANT. In simulations is interesting to participate
with our pupils.
RESOURCE.In communicative activity it's important to keep our
roles as assessors and to be a kind of resource center.
7.4.- Comunication patterns: "formal" or "informal"?
If we allow greater freedom of participation from the
learner, we will develop a less formal communication pattern. The
learners will be more ready to share meanings and values. This
will enrich the contents of learning.
7.5.-Attitude towards errors in the learning process.
The mistakes are caused by an overgeneralization of the
second language or by the interference of the mother tongue. As
educators, our porpoise is to encourage risk-takers.
The mistakes takes part in the learning process and they
assure the stage of the students' acknoledgement. Only if obstruct
the comunication are to be corrected.
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ESPECIALIDAD – INGLES
TEMA 22
1. INTRODUCTION.
2. PUPIL GROUPINGS.
a. Lockstep.
b. Pair work.
c. Group work.
d. Individual work.
a. Space management.
b. Time management.
5. METHODOLOGY SELECTION.
a. Selection of activities.
b. Planning principles in methodology selection.
6. SUMMARY.
7. SYNOPSIS.
8. BIBLIOGRAPHY.
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1- INTRODUCTION.
In this topic we will analyse various aspects of class management which we must take into
account for achievement of effective teaching. These aspects include the student groupings, the
space and time management, the methodology selection and the role of the teacher.
This topic is of prime relevance since class management involves the efficiency of
the teacher and the learning activities.
2 – PUPIL GROUPINGS.
We will first discuss the pros and cons of various interaction patterns: lockstep, pair work,
group work and individual study.
2.1 – Lockstep.
Lockstep is the traditional teaching situation. All the students work as a group with the
teacher ( they are ‘locked’ into some activity ) and the teacher acts as controller and assessor.
This type of grouping is used when the teacher provides feedback or gives instructions.
a) Advantages.
The whole class are concentrating and the learner’s attention span is
then improved.
Everyone can hear what is being said.
The students get a good language model from the teacher.
Many students find lockstep very comforting.
b) Disadvantages.
There are also reasons why the use of lockstep alone is less than satisfactory:
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2.2 Pair work.
I. Make sure the students know exactly what the have to do. Explain
the activity and practise as necessary.
II. Divide the students into pairs ( taking advantage of the way
the are seated ). Depending on the type of activity, make sure that
students take it in turns to initiate and respond ( e. g. ask and
answer questions ).
III. Carry out selective checking, walking round the class and
listening in Join in with a pair from time to time, especially with
those students who are likely to need your help. If you feel that an
activity is going badly, stop it, re-present it to the class and let the
students start again.
VI. Provide any necessary feedback. Tell the students how well
they have done.
b) Advantages.
It increases the amount of students’ talking time as they are presented with
opportunities for productive practice.
c) Disadvantages
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The students will sometimes use their mother tongue. Apart from selecting activities
which we can be reasonably sure are not beyond the level of the students and in
preparing them if necessary with some essential language (especially in the early
stages), there are a number of things we can do to help overcome this problem:
Incorrectness is another problem as many students think that if they are not
corrected, they do not learn.
a) Forming groups. The size of the groups should be worked out in relation to the total
number of students in the class. As a general rule, we could say that there should be
5-8 students in each group and not more than 5-6 groups in the class. The teacher
should normally form the groups, usually on the basis of mixed ability ( i.e. good
and weak students together) since as a rule learners do help one another.
b) Group leader. Each group should have its own ‘leader’. The function of the group
leader is not to dominate the group but to coordinate their activities and to serve as a
link between the group and the teacher.
c) The role of the teacher. These are some of the things the teacher must do:
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Select activities carefully. The teacher should ensure that the activities can
be done reasonably well with the language the students have at their
disposal.
Work out the instructions for an activity carefully. Keep instructions simple,
and if necessary use the mother tongue.
Present the activity to the class. Give plenty of examples and give the
students a ‘trial run’.
Monitor the students’ performance. While the activities are in progress, the
teacher’s main task is to move around the class and to ‘listen in’ discreetly in
order to find out how the students are getting on. The teacher should not, as
a rule, correct mistakes of language during a group activity but make a note
of them and use them as the basis of feedback.
d) Provide feedback.
b) Advantages
c) Disadvantages
Group work has the same disadvantages as pair work: use of the first language,
incorrectness and noise.
The size of the groups depends on the activity type, whether it is a dialogue, a debate, a
game, etc. When the class is divided into two groups, we speak of team work. Team work is
not often used because it involves less pupil participation.
We must try and let students work on their own and at their own pace at some stage during
the class.
This type of grouping can be used for reading and writing work.
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3- SPACE AND TIME MANAGEMENT
Space bears a direct relationship to the activities to be done, and an indirect relationship to
the methodology.
There is not a close relationship between the teacher and the students. Therefore this
seating arrangement does not foster communication.
This type of class arrangement is suitable for the beginning and the end of the lesson, the
representation stage, and individual work: exams, written exercises, compositions, silent reading.
This distribution does not favour communication, and the position of the teacher is of distance
and difference with respect to the pupils.
b) Circle, teacher out. This kind of arrangement favours communication, since the
pupils can see each other. As the teacher is out, the pupils feel more comfortable.
This type of arrangement is suitable for debates, discussions, games. It is typical of the
methods Community Language Learning, Total Physical Response and The Silent Way.
c) Circle, teacher inside. The role of the teacher is to provide help when necessary. It
is suitable for every kind of communication activity.
d) Horse shoe. The students are seated in a semicircle and the teacher is in the middle.
It is suitable for every kind of activity: drills, games, debates, etc. This grouping
favours communication.
f) Streams. The pupils are seated in two parallel rows facing the blackboard or facing
each other. The most suitable activity to use this type of arrangement is the debate.
g) Mix and mingle. Every student is in a different position, all looking at the teacher.
This type of arrangement is suitable for many oral games.
h) Learning stations. The class is divided into groups of 4, 6 or eight students, each
group like a station in which different activities are done and where the pupils can
change positions.
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3.2. Time management
Time plays a decisive role in the learning process, since we can plan objectives, contents
and activities according to the length of lessons.
We must take into account the psychological characteristics of our pupils and design varied
and short activities as their concentration span is short.
On the other hand, w should plan realistic timings for the completion of certain activities
(games, discussions) and design activities for the end of the lesson, in case we run out of
material.
a) Open timetable. It allows the students to plan the activities of the day, and so
requires careful activity: planning and material organization.
b) Flexible timetable. Lessons can be shorter or longer. The advantage of this type of
timetable is that it is adapted to the needs of the syllabus.
d) Modular timetable. The school day is divided into modules of 20 minutes. The
English lesson may cover two successive modules one day, three the next day, two
the next day. There are certain activities that can be done in one module, like
conversation in small groups.
The role of the teacher, then, will depend to a large extent on the activity type. We will
examine the roles of controller, assessor, prompter, participant and resource.
The teacher acts as a controller at the presentation stage, at the practice stage and in
lockstep activities.
At the presentation stage, the teacher checks that all the students have understood the form
and meaning of the new language item.
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At the practice stage, the teacher elicits responses, provides cues in drills, works out the
instructions for the activities and check that the pupils are doing the activity in the proper
way.
4.1.2. Assessor
The teacher will correct the students’ mistakes at the practice stage. He /She should also
assess how well they are performing.
On the other hand, the teacher will encourage self-assessment. In this way the pupils will
become more responsible, autonomous and independent, and they will get more involved in
the learning process, which is very important, as it is the centre of learning and a point of
reference.
4.1.3. Organiser
The success of many activities depends on good organization and on the students knowing
exactly what they have to do.
The main aim of the teacher when organising an activity is to give clear instructions and get
the activity going.
4.1.4. Prompter
The teacher will encourage the students to participate or make suggestions about how to
carry out an activity when there is a silence or when do not know what to do next.
4.1.5. Participant
The teacher will sometimes act as a participant. This will contribute to create a pleasant
atmosphere in the class, and will also give the students the opportunity of practising
English with someone who speaks it better than they do.
4.1.6. Resource
One of the major changes in foreign language teaching refers to the learner’s role.
Whereas in the traditional foreign language methods the learner assumed a passive role, the
teacher being the focus, in the communicative approach the learner plays an active role and
is responsible for their own learning.
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On the other methods, such as The Silent Way and Suggestopedia, the students are
encouraged to become independent.
5. METHODOLOGY SELECTION
The learning and assessment activities will aim to develop the students’ communicative
competence and to practise the four language skills (listening, speaking, reading and
writing) taking into account that following the Foreign Language Area Curriculum in
Primary Education, aural/oral skills will be stressed over written skills.
*At the practice stage, we will design pre-communicative activities, which will prepare the
students for using the new language in real communication. The activities will be oral
guided: drills, short dialogues, exercises…
*At the production stage, the pupils will do free speaking and written activities which
engage them in real communication: simulations, role-plays, discussions, information gap
activities, problem solving activities, compositions, games, etc.
With regard to assessment, there are many ways of assessing the students’ progress from
class observation to objective test. Evaluation should be continuous and global.
On the other hand, we must take into consideration two planning principles in methodology
selection:
a) Variety
Variety mainly means using a wide range of materials and activities in the classroom.
There are many ways of introducing variety within a lesson:
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We should introduce variety for three reasons:
b) Flexibility
Flexibility means the ability to use different techniques, activities and materials depending
on the students’ level.
6 -SUMMARY
We also have described briefly the advantages and disadvantages of the different
types of interaction: lockstep, pair work, group work and individual study.
Time is also a relevant element in the teaching process, since we plan objectives, contents
and activities according to the length of lessons.
The role of the teacher depends to a large extent on the activity type. We have
examined the roles of controller, assessor, prompter, participant and resource.
In the learning process, pupils are responsible for their own learning and should
develop autonomy.
In the last part of the topic we have focused on methodology selection. We have
centred on different types of learning activities according to the stage of the lesson.
Variety means mainly using a wide range of materials and activities in the classroom.
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Flexibility means the ability to use different techniques, activities and materials depending
on the students’ level.
7 - SYNOPSIS
PUPIL GROUPINGS
* Lockstep - Advantages
-Disadvantages
* Individual work
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- Prompter
- Participant
- Resource
* Learner’s roles
METHODOLOGY SELECTION
8-BIBLIOGRAPHY
BURT, K.M. & DUKAY, H.C., New Directions in Second Language Learning: A
Guidebook for ESL/EFL Teachers. MacGraw Hill International Book Company.
DIXON, R.J. Practical Guide to the Teaching of English. Regent Publishing Co.,
New York, 1975.
This book is a complete guide and reference work for all teachers of English as a foreign or
second language.
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WIDOSH, H. J., Teaching English as Communication. Oxford U. P., 1978.
EDUCACIÓN PRIMARIA
TEMA 23
0. INTRODUCTION.
1. PRODUCING ENGLISH LESSONS CURRICULAR MATERIALS.
2 CRITERIA FOR THE CHOOSING AND USE OF COURSEBOOKS.
0. - INTRODUCTION
There is an abundance of English language teaching materials on the
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market. At various times of our professional life we will be involved
in the selection of materials for our pupils, and, if we do not find
any materials which response to our pupils' needs we will have to
design them.
Before attempting to evaluate published materials or to design our own,
we must come to some conclusions about our pupils and what their needs
are.
The following profile of pupils needs has been taken from "Harmer" and
has three major components:
- description of pupils
- description of pupils' needs
- conclusions
DESCRIPTION OF PUPILS
1. Age:
2. Number of boys and girls:
3. Familiar background:
4. Parents' occupation:
5. Motivation/Attitude:
6. Knowledge of the world:
7. Knowledge of English:
8. Interests:
9. Pupils with special needs:
10. Pupils with discipline problems:
11. Based on the above, what conclusions can we draw about the
kind of materials that would be suitable for our pupils?
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Now we have a clearer idea bout our pupils and their needs. It is time
to move to some conclusions about the type of materials we want to
select and design. We will now study the selection and production of
materials separately.
In any of these cases we can see we are dealing with the production of
materials such as
Worksheets, flashcards
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once it is a good idea to cover them in plastic. If we do not, our
pupils can personalize the worksheets with labels, colours and so on.
Flashcards for young learners are often made using pictures and
some words. The pictures must be clearly recognisable and the letters,
large, clear and black. Flashcards must
be large enough for the whole class to see: they must convey the
meaning clearly, especially when they refer to actions our pupils must
follow.
Flashcards must be used to introduce and practise vocabulary
related to our pupils' fields of interest. For example: What's
this? It's a monkey
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2 . CRITERIA FOR THE CHOOSING AND USE OF COURSE BOOKS.
In the introduction we studied our pupils and their needs. Now that we
know them we can start to evaluate materials, above all our course book.
1 - The course book makes clear the link between the classroom
and the wider word.
2 - The course book fosters independent learning.
3 - The course book focuses our pupils on their learning process.
4 - The course book is readily available.
5 - The course book accords with our pupils' needs.
6 - The course book can be used at more than one level of
difficulty (heterogeneity)
7 - The pedagogical objectives of the materials are clear.
- practical considerations
- layout and design
- activities
- skills
- language type
- subject and content
- guidance
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We must also judge whether the course book layout and design is
attractive for our pupils.
We must also study our selected course books to see that there is a
balance of activities. In particular, there should be a substantial
amount of aural language input and a wide variety of communicative
activities. The presentation of new language should take place in
realistic contexts.
In the skills part we must see whether the course book balance
of skills is appropriate for Primary Education. We must see that the
aural component is more important than the written one, and that
receptive skills are more important than the productive ones.
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1 . Practical considerations.
1.1. Is the price of the materials appropriate for our pupils?
YES / NO Comment
1.2. Are the integral parts of the course available now (course
books, tapes, teacher's books, tapes.) ? YES / NO Comment:
3. Activities.
3.1. Do the materials provide a balance of activities that is
appropriate for your pupils?
YES / NO Comment:
3.2. Is there a sufficient amount of communication output in
the course book under consideration? YES / NO Comment:
3.3. Do the course book provide enough roughly-tuned input for our
pupils?
YES / NO Comment
3.4. Is new language introduced in motivating and realistic
contexts? YES / NO Comment:
4. A source of practical teaching ideas.
5. Work that our pupils can do on their own so that we do not need
to be centre stage all the time.
6. A basis for homework if that is required.
2. A sense of security
However, we also find some things that we can do better, such as:
participating in oral interactions, adjusting level and quantity of
work to our pupils' needs; and encourage our pupils when they are not
motivated.
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chosen the book properly, it is usually a good idea to use the book
very much as the author suggests for the first time, as a great deal of
thought has gone into its writing. This way we can see really see its
advantages and drawbacks and act accordingly. Any chosen text must be
adapted to the particular requirements of the class and it is not very
professional to adopt for our cycles the aims and objectives of the
course book, unless they are reasonably complementary.
The main aim of all our teaching is to enable our pupils to reach
communicative competence. As the focus will be on assisting our pupils
to do in class what they will need to do outside, the materials we use
should reflect the world outside. In other words they should have a
degree of authenticity. This authenticity should relate to the text
sources as well as to the pupils' activities and tasks.
3. 1 - Authenticity. (Nunan)
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Nunan thinks that the most important type of authenticity is what he
called "learner authenticity". By this he means "the realisation
and acceptance by the learner of the authenticity of a given text,
task, set of materials or learning activity". If we want our pupils to
think that the materials we use are authentic they must fulfil two
conditions:
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4. INVOLVING THE PUPILS IN MATERIAL DESIGN.
5. BIBLIOGRAPHY.
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Widowson, H.G. Teaching Language as Communication. OUP. Oxford,
1978.
ESQUEMA
0 . INTRODUCCION
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4. To add some activities for the sake of variety.
- Worksheets: - practise one linguistic point
- oral and written
- pair and individual
- Flashcards: - information gap
- time dictation
- true or false
* Criteria.
1. The course book makes clear the link between the classroom and
the wider word.
2. The course book fosters independent learning.
3. The course book focuses our pupils on their learning process.
4. The course book is readily available
5. The course book accords with our pupils' needs.
6. The course book can be used at more than one level of
difficulty (heterogeneity)
7. The pedagogical objectives of the materials are clear.
*Harmer's evaluation form: - practical
considerations - guidance
- layout
and design - conclusions
-
activities
- skills
- language
type
- subject
and content
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4. A source of practical teaching ideas.
5. Work that our pupils can do on their own so that we do not need
to be centre stage all the time.
6. A basis for homework if that is required.
7. A basis for discussion and comparison with other colleagues.
* To our pupils
1. A sense of purpose, progression and progress.
2. A sense of security.
3. Scope for independent and autonomous learning
4. A reference for checking and revising.
3.1 Authenticiy.
* Nunan's definition.
* Enabling out pupils to comprehend and manipulate real texts.
* Cadlin and Edelhoff: - authenticity of goal
- authenticity of environment
- authenticity of text
* Learner's authenticity.
* Authenticity conditions:
1. They must be recognised by learners as having a legitimate
place in the language classroom.
2. They must engage the interests of our pupils by relating to
their interests, background, knowledge and experience, and through
these, stimulate genuine communication.
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3.2 Simulated Authentic and artificial.
* Communicative approach.
* Learner-centred approach
* Material design: Spanish or English class.
* Way to introduce it:
1. Tell the class to pay close attention to the features of one
activity in the course book.
2. Tell them to think of possible ways to make a similar activity
using the materials they normally have at home ( pencils, glue,
scissors, a dictionary, a word processor.)
3. Give them the outline of an activity. They will have to prepare
in pairs a flashcard or a worksheet to go with the activity.
5. BIBLIOGRAPHY.
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UNIT 23: CREATING MATERIALS FOR ENGLISH LESSONS. COURSE-BOOK
SELECTION AND USE CRITERIA. AUTHENTIC MATERIALS AND ADAPTED
MATERIALS. INVOLVING PUPILS IN MATERIAL DESIGN.
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Simulated materials have been designed specially for language learners, but they are
similar to real situations.
There is also artificial material, designed to illustrate particular language points in
presentation stages.
Even if there is a certain language control, simulated authentic materials are useful to
acquire linguistic skills in communicative situations.
Visual materials
Newspapers:
They are quite available and cheap. They include a wide variety of text types and a
great amount of information from and about the target culture. It is an interesting way to
bring the real world into the learning situation.
It is also useful for integrating skills. Reading material leads easily into discussions and
writing activities.
Stories are interesting but date over very quickly. So, it may be better to collect human
interest stories which do not became out of date for a long period of time.
However, even older pupils find newspapers difficult because of the special grammar
conventions, unknown vocabulary, cultural references, etc. we should teach them some
of the conventions of the newspaper style at a basic level.
Some activities can be:
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Writing and replying small advertisements
Writing and replying to letters to agony aunts
Reordering paragraphs
Replying to job ads
Predicting horoscopes
….
Episcope:
we can use this projector to show any material to the whole group. It is not useful for
a long term.
Overhead projector:
It is used with transparencies, which are very easy to elaborate. They can be partially covered
and also superposed, so language can be presented gradually. They are good for presentation and
correction.
Slides:
They can be easily made by the teacher or the pupils. They focus attention, being
motivating and useful for story telling.
Comics and storybooks:
Pictures are very motivating for children and help to understand the story. They
usually have short texts, with similar structures. They can be used to fill the bubbles,
ordering the sequence, describing, retelling.
Magazines:
They have very attractive pictures, good for cut-outs. Children can create their own
material or illustrate descriptions of famous people.
Posters:
There is a wide range of posters and wall charts, in different types and sizes. They can be a
guide for common expressions, reminders and visual aides. Very useful for descriptions.
Flashcards:
They must be small and resistant, easy to manipulate. Good for new vocabulary
presentation, games, hide and seek, pointing, …
Blackboard:
It is the most used in school. It is good for spontaneous examples and presenting new
language. The magnetic ones can be used for presenting or illustrating an issue. The magnetic
cut-outs can get moved and superposed.
Aural Materials
Radio:
Is a wonderful way to develop listening skills. Graded radio lessons offer the
opportunity to listen to programmes adapted to the pupils’ abilities, motivating them to
future authentic listening. However, our pupils do not have the necessary linguistic
abilities to cope with radio programmes.
Cassette recorder:
The development of listening skills in the classroom situation relies on recorder
material. Cassettes provide a good model of spoken English. It is very useful for
introducing new language and songs. Children’s utterances can be recorded to be
conscious of pronunciation. They can contrast their performance with the good model
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and also it can be useful for checking pronunciation achievement. There must be
activities for pre, while and post-listening. It can be listened more than once. There
could be a listening corner in the classroom.
Language “lab”:
Children work individually. It is useful for practising oral drills. It can also be boring
and with no purpose.
Audio-visual materials
They include both, sound and pictures.
Television
A TV language programme offers audio-visual clues to meaning. Students hear the
language and see the context. It is a powerful motivator. It brings the outside world into
the classroom, it is a powerful stimulus to talk about. It introduces the culture of the
target language into the classroom and means a change from the teacher and the
textbook, although it is difficult, for it cannot be repeated or stopped.
Video
Recordings offer the possibilities a live programme cannot. Teachers can plan the
activities from a great range of sources:
Language-teaching broadcast
Films, cartoons, advertisements,…
TV programmes, documentaries
Video recordings of classroom activities
Video recordings show language in a context. The learners can see why things are said in a
different way. They can pick speakers’ feelings and attitudes. Video presentations allow
reviewing and comprehension questions, follow-up ideas and suggestions. They generate
interest and motivation and a good atmosphere for a successful learning.
Teachers must take advantage of the power of video-films to create a successful language
environment. It should be used as another technique for facilitating language acquisition.
Learners must take part and not think they are being entertained or watching TV passively.
It is essential the gradual introduction of video in the classroom.
Video-based lesson planning
For a one-hour class, it is enough to use an extract of between three and five minutes. If its
length is of 15 minutes or more, it is better to play it once through and then go back and
concentrate on short extracts.
Viewing the video about three times gives us the chance to get familiar with it, study the
language and behaviour as well as language use. If the video is difficult we may set the
scene and explain a few words and sentences essential to understanding.
For the first time students watch video, we could set an active viewing task with techniques
as silent viewing, prediction, thinking and feeling, sound only, true or false sentences, etc.
There is a technique which requires answering these questions after viewing: where,
when, who, what, why, how?
Silent viewing: the sound is turned down. Learners can predict or guess what might be
said. When the sound is played we can check whether their expectations were right.
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Freeze frame: pressing the pause button allows to look more closely at individual
images, utterances, … within a sequence. It is useful for detailed language study,
observation and description.
Role play: acting out involves practising the exact words of a dialogue. For that,
learners will need to look at the script and reproduce gestures, expressions, etc. It is
important to be able to transfer language from the situation on the screen to their own
usage. They can carry out creative activities like changing the setting somehow.
Behaviour study: it focuses on non-verbal ways to express (facial expressions, gesture,
dresses, physical contact) The main aim is to make learners conscious of the behaviour
conventions in other cultures. They could be compared to behaviour conventions in
their own culture.
Prediction: the teacher stops the video and asks what is going to happen next (look at
the title and predict the topic, predict the end, guess the title, write the dialogue)
Thinking and feeling: this technique focuses on emotions between characters and its
relation with what it is said (body language, certain words, what the characters are
thinking, how they would feel in case …, etc.)
Sound only: the screen must be covered or turned round. It is good for describing things
or people, identifying things by sounds or following a description of something.
Watchers and listeners: half the class watches the scene and the other half listens. The
watchers explain to the listeners what they have seen. It is a good practice in speaking,
observation and accurate reporting.
Telling the story: the learners watch the end of a video sequence and try to construct the
story. Then, they watch and contrast.
Culture comparison: it focuses on differences and similarities between the own culture
and the target culture. It makes learners aware of their own culture.
Video camera: four steps can be suggested to make use of the video recorder:
Talking head: one person talking to the camera
Dialogues: people talking together
Group discussion: a group is filmed while discussing
A project work: the use of a camera for recording
interesting items, and also the learners’ performances in
the target language.
To evaluate the video, it must be reflected the aims of using it. if there are no specific
learning aims, there is no point in making a film.
Computers
Learning with computers is quite new, as there are only programmes for beginners in
certain areas, such as word building, vocabulary, prepositions, etc. It is very useful at
personal level but not in conventional schools.
It is quite expensive for a group and it needs some knowledge on how to operate it.
Sometimes it makes tasks easier and more enjoyable. It is highly motivating.
The main activities are matching, gap-filling, sentence correction, multiple choice, odd out,
putting the paragraphs in order, relating parts, true or false, etc.
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There is a programme called “Grammar Checker” for spelling mistakes, punctuation, usage,
… but it cannot correct meaning and style.
It is good for teachers if programmes are already made. They can use the spare time to
assist weaker pupils.
It can result boring sometimes. It can only be used for written skills.
INDEX
0. INTRODUCTION
1. AUDIOVISUAL MATERIALS
2. COMPUTERS AS AN AUXILIARY RESOURCE FOR LEARNING AND
IMPROVING FOREIGN LANGUAGES
0. INTRODUCTION
A number of new techniques for teaching English have been developed during the last
ten years thanks to the fast development of new technologies and the decrease in price
of appliances such as TV sets, video machines, camcorders or computers. Besides, the
educational authorities have tried to develop their use, lately the use of computers in
particular with programmes such as Aldea Global, Info XXI, Educared, etc.
These machines have not only made our lives easier but have also greatly contributed to
the diversification of teaching activities when teaching a foreign language.
Consequently, new products have been launched. New video methods, new computer
programs, make the learning more enjoyable and enable the teacher to widen current
classroom teaching techniques. We could say that these audiovisual technologies started
to expand in the late 1970s or early 1980s and are getting more and more widely used.
However there are other techniques based on technological development which are still
used in the classroom and which date back a little farther. These techniques are not
really “audiovisual”, but we will study them: newspapers, radio, cassette recorder, etc.
When talking about the use of technology in the classroom advantages and
disadvantages should be taken into account.
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Advantages:
- language is taught in its context
- high motivation
- it provides creative opportunities
- it broadens horizons and extends contacts
- it means a great potential for a wide variety of activities
- it provides flexible responses to learning problems
Disadvantages:
- ephemerality
- difficulties in comprehension (language and structural)
- it requires a lot of commitment on behalf of the teacher, who has to think
that technology must serve him/her, but will never replace him/her.
The student belongs to the “image and sound generation”. Therefore, the learning
process must include visual and audiovisual materials which are so familiar to them.
These images will encourage the student to communicate, as they are natural and
motivating stimuli for them. They make the language used in the classroom look more
real.
We will talk about the newspaper because it is an essential visual material used in the
English classroom. English-language newspapers are available world-wide on a daily basis. Some
originate from English-speaking countries, others are locally produced. They are cheap and
plentiful so newspapers can be useful in the classroom (the same happens with magazines).
Newspapers contain a very wide variety of text types and an immense range of
information. They are therefore a natural source of many of the varieties of written
English that become increasingly important as learners progress.
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Reading newspapers is a way to transfer latent skills from the mother tongue to the
language learning classroom. Those pupils who normally read newspapers in Spanish
will be receptive to the use of English newspapers in the classroom. Reading
newspapers we exercise skimming and scanning skills. These skills are very useful for
our pupils. Newspapers are about the outside world so using them in the classroom is an
interesting way to bring the real world into the learning situation.
Using newspapers is also useful to integrate skills. The reading material leads easily
into discussions and writing activities. This integration of skills is also authentic as the
response to what we read in newspapers is likely to be authentic and personal.
However, there are also drawbacks. Most learners find newspapers difficult: special
grammar conventions, obscure cultural references, large amounts of unknown
vocabulary… Letting our pupils choose the text they wish to work with can get rid of
many problems. Before the third cycle authentic newspapers shouldn´t be used, as the
students could demotivate. In the third cycle we can teach them some of the conventions
of the newspaper style at a basic level.
All these activities can only be done at a very basic level with our pupils. However, it is
important to familiarise them with newspapers. They will be used by secondary teachers more
extensively and we must not forget that most educated people read one or more newspapers daily.
Other visual materials are photographs, the overhead projector, realia, flashcards or drawings
on the blackboard, rods, wall pictures, slides, etc.
Here we can include the radio, the cassette recorder, the laboratory. The radio is not
very common in the English class. Though it is a very useful way to develop listening
skills, our students do not have the necessary linguistic abilities to cope with radio
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programmes. The foreign language lab is hardly used now and it can be replaced by a
computer lab.
We will speak more about the cassette recorder. Though much can be done by
simply speaking while all the children follow what we say, it is clear that the
development of listening skills in our classroom situation relies heavily on the universal
availability of a cassette of pre-recorded material.
All new Primary English coursebooks have a teacher´s cassette with the
corresponding texts and songs. These cassettes provide a good model of spoken English
and real language.
We can accustom our pupils to listen to recordings of simple stories or fairy tales
with activities to follow if we set up a listening corner in our classroom where we can
have two or three cassettes and the activity books. The children will of course need to
be trained in how to use a cassette player on their own, but they probably know how to
play it already. It is a good reinforcing material for slower students, who can work
autonomously.
If we use the cassette player to introduce new language we can always give our
pupils the possibility of listening to the recording more than once. Listening materials
suitable for our levels are very simple and the range of activities they include are
somehow limited. We must try to widen the range of activities including pre-, while-
and post- listening activities which will improve the listening skills of our pupils.
Recording devices can also be used to improve our pupils´ oral skills. They can
record themselves noticing differences between their own pronunciations and the
pronunciations of the cassette. This is also motivating for our pupils. One activity which
promotes oral skills and motivates our pupils is recording their own songs in a tape.
Audiovisual materials proper include both sound and pictures. We next study how to
use the television, the video and the camcorder in the classroom.
Television
In relation to television, we can say that it is inherently a medium that has a great
potential for motivating learners. It provides a wide variety of situations, accents, topics
and presentation techniques. The real situations provide a context for language
exploitation. The language used offers the necessary authenticity. It offers the
possibility of exploiting students´ current interests. Television provides a wide range of
paralinguistic clues – facial expressions, body movements, etc. – that are very useful for
comprehension. Television can introduce the culture of the country – food, clothes,
buildings, etc. -. A major advantage is that the same programme can adapted to different
levels, depending on the task students are asked to do. The role of the teacher becomes
crucial to take the decision as to how to work the programmes. As one of the major
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problems of using television and video in the classroom is the ephemerality of the
medium, our task as teachers is to confront the pupils with activities that build and
reinforce the viewing experience.
Children may not understand a real TV programme, but that is not a problem.
Watching regularly TV programmes especially made for native children is very
beneficial. But we cannot expect children to answer questions or reproduce what they
hear, even if they spend hours watching programmes in English. TV programmes, such
as cartoons, do not teach the language, but help internalise it. This kind of material must
be authentic and interesting.
The problem of using TV is that we cannot stop it. Although TV is an important aid
for study, it fulfils its real importance in the classroom on videocassette.
Video
Video materials used in language teaching come from a wide range of sources:
- video recordings of language-teaching broadcasts and films
- video recording of domestic television broadcasts, such as comedy and news
programmes
- video recordings of specialists films and television programmes such as
documentaries produced by industry, or educational programmes
- video language-teaching materials made for the classroom rather than for
public transmission or broadcasts
- self-made video films, involving the teachers and learners.
The combination of sound and vision is dynamic, immediate, and accessible. This means that
communication can be shown in a context; it is what we could call language in action. We find
out straight away about the speakers in dialogues since they can be seen and heard. This way, we
find out about their ages, their sex, whether they are related or not to each other, the place where
the situation is taking place, etc. With all this information the learner can clarify whether the
situation is formal or informal, etc.
Register is the way in which we say things depending on the people we are talking to and our
relationship with them. The learner can see why things are said in a different way. Watching the
video, s/he can judge relationships and feelings from the speaker´s gestures, facial expressions,
posture, distance from each other, dress and surroundings. All these factors influence or reflect
what people say and how they say it, and only video can show them fully.
Like any feature film or TV programme, a video will use close-ups of people, places and
things to emphasise or explain what it is going on. The camera technique helps learners to
understand the narrative and the character´s behaviour and motivation.
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One more important aspect to think of is that learning a language is not only a matter of
structures and words. Cultural factors are a very important part of language learning. Video
allows the learner to see the target language at work.
Although the audiovisual features of video films are found in cinema films and television
broadcasts too, they do not offer the same facilities for classroom exploitation. On top of that we
must not forget the electronic tricks to create special effects and images.
All these previous aspects make the video material interesting. At their best, video
presentations will be intrinsically interesting to language learners, and they will want to watch
more, even if comprehension is limited, and should ask questions and follow-up ideas and
suggestions. By generating interest and motivation, the video films can create a climate for
successful learning.
We have to make it clear that the video recorder cannot and does not replace the teacher.
It changes his or her role so that teachers become more facilitators adapting the
materials to the needs of individual classes or pupils. Learners should not be exposed to
long excerpts whose body of texts would be so demanding that could create more
frustration than encouragement. As a general rule, it is much better to choose a short
excerpt and to work thoroughly on it.
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4 Behaviour study: it concentrates on the non-verbal ways in which
people express themselves – facial expressions, gesture, posture,
dress, physical contact, etc. The main aim is to sensitise learners to
conventions of behaviour in another culture.
5 Prediction: the teacher stops the video and elicits from the class
what happens or what is said next. They can predict the topic after
looking at the title, predict the end, guess the title, write the
dialogue, the synopsis, etc.
6 Thinking and feeling: this technique is designed to focus on the
thoughts and emotions of the characters in a sequence, and their
relation to what is said. The learners have to say how the speaker is
feeling, giving reasons for their choice. The teacher can also as
“What are the characters thinking?” or even “How would you feel
in a situation like this?”
7 Sound only: the opposite of silent viewing. Instead of not listening,
the learner can listen but has to imaging the picture. The technique
provides practice in describing things or people, identifying things
or people from their description and following an oral description
of something.
8 Watchers and listeners: half the class watch the screen and the
other half listen. Then the watchers explain to the listeners what
they have seen. This provides practice in speaking, observation and
accurate reporting.
Video improves both listening and speaking skills, but it can also be used to improve writing
ones, with exercises and activities, jumbles, word soups, etc. Even at higher levels learners can be
asked to complete a script, to take short notes about what is being said, or produce short
summaries.
At a certain stage (after rehearsal, but at any level) students can be invited to produce
their own material and record it in video. It is a high motivating task, but it requires time
and technical mastery.
The teacher and/or the learners should operate the video camera and equipment
competently. Then a wide variety of stimulating projects can be undertaken. Speaking
abilities are developed, but also self-confidence, work in groups, organisation and order,
care for the class materials, etc.
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- language-training video: which presents to the learners some aspects of
communication in the target language
- recordings of the learners: which allow them to see and hear themselves
performing in the target language
- video projects controlled by the learners, which offer the learners the
opportunity of working together in the target language
With small children the exploitation of the video camera will be on the part of the teacher, but
it will be as stimulating and instructive as with older students. The viewing will be, in this case,
the most important part of the process. For both small and older students the viewing is enjoyable
and surprising, and means the moment of feedback.
Although they have been used for teaching since the 1960s, computers only became
practical and affordable for language learning in the early 1980s, when relatively
inexpensive personal computers first became available. The first Computer-Assisted
Language Learning (CALL) programs were mainly used for manipulating words and
sentences, playing games with students, testing them, and giving them feedback on their
performance. Used in this way the computer has often been described as the “medium
of the second chance” (because the activities usually let you try more than once to get
the answer right) and of risk-taking (because you can make mistakes in your answers
without other students knowing).
As computers became more powerful, and multimedia software became practical, the
early 1990s saw the emergence of CD-ROMs, storing complete encyclopaedias or
language courses with text, graphics, and audio or video. Commercial products of this
sort, which are professionally produced, reliable, and straightforward to use, have a
place in many classrooms.
Of course, the teacher must know how to work the computer and the program. The
students have the mastery already. Every school has now its computer room and each
learner can sit down and work.
The use of a computer is an excellent way to set remedial work. Not only does the
learner have access to it at any time (with a computer at home), but has a reliable source
if the program has been properly developed, and, what is more, the computer never gets
tired, irritable or impatient. It is particularly good for learners who cannot cope with a
more traditional teaching approach. As in video learning, computer learning makes use
of a series of techniques that eases the task and makes it more enjoyable and
entertaining. And pupils find that using computers is highly motivating.
The number of interactive programs on the market has increased a lot, but not all of
them are useful for the class. Many are for adults and are still focused on the language,
not on the content, as the machine cannot grasp meaning. They work on pronunciation,
723
repetition, grammar and vocabulary exercises. The communication is still something
that has to do with human beings.
Programs that children can use are made specially for them, some are for the learning of
English but do not focus on grammar, but on concentration games, memory games,
tales, cookery recipes, numbers and letters, paintings, etc. Others are not specially sold
for learning English, but has the option of using it in this language. They are very
motivating for our students and they learn the language unconsciously and in a playful
way.
In many ways, however, the challenges presented to both students and teachers by the
Internet can provide a more interesting, rewarding experience. The Net is a huge, rich
resource. Its main distinguishing feature is that it is a medium of exploration, which
releases creativity and imagination.
The students, once they are working on the computer, unless they need help, take the attention
away from the teacher, though the teacher must co-ordinate and assess. This allows more
flexibility in managing the lesson, and in particular there is often more time to work with
individuals and groups than in an ordinary class. Most of the activities with the Internet require
small groups, they are not usually done individually.
Materials from the Internet can be used with a variety of levels by allowing students
themselves to choose the kind of material they work with, and by varying the kind of
task they are asked to perform. For example, if students have to visit newspaper sites in
order to produce their own newspaper, they can be given a choice of Websites, of the
kind of news they select, and of the task they are to carry out with the news they find.
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students should have something physical that they can take away with them from
the computer room, so that they have a record of what they have done for follow-up
work or for end-of-course- revision.
One drawback of the Internet is that it is a huge, rich resource, much of it yet
unplanned. The variety of resources is so great that deciding how to exploit resources
once you find them can be a challenge in itself. You have to plan the lessons very well
in order to ensure your students´ Internet time is productive in terms of language
learning.
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Learning how to learn
Different pupils have different ways of learning and different preferences about materials.
They must become more and more independent and effective learners.
Cognitive learning: planning, hypothesising, reflecting, classifying,
matching, predicting, …
Socialisation: collaboration, peer-corrections, …
Communication: participation, …
It is extremely important the curiosity and a positive attitude towards foreign language
learning.
Heterogeneity
There are mixed-ability groups, so homogenous materials cannot provide effective practice.
It has a positive effect on pupils’ attitude.
Assessment and evaluation
Evaluation involves both, teachers and pupils. Pupils should learn how to assess their own
progress and also materials, activities, etc., to be aware of their own role as active agents
during the learning process. Pupils can fill a diary form about what they have learnt, what
mistakes have been made, what they would like to learn next, …
Teacher’s role
In a learner-centred approach the teacher will be a curriculum developer. He/she must adapt
the syllabus to the pupils, contribute with ideas and opinions, answer pupils’ questions on
vocabulary, grammar or procedures, provide what pupils ask for, etc.
There can be some resistance from learners who have specific preconceptions about the
learning process. Some learners will feel that they are only learning when doing the type of
activities they are used to.
In any syllabus there would always be pupil-centred teaching activities.
To face the responsibility for the sequence of events in the classroom it is necessary to
record all the work done.
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Where do you like learning from?
Do you find these activities useful?
Do you find your English is improving?
TEMA 25
0. INTRODUCTION
1.1. Advantages.
1.2. Theoretical bases.
1.3. Methodology in a learner-centred curriculum
1.4. Materials in a learner-centred curriculum.
1.5. Assessment and evaluation in a learner-centred curriculum.
1.6. The role of the teacher.
1.7. Potential problems.
3. BIBLIOGRAPHY
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0. INTRODUCTION.
Campbell (1992) has stated that the main principle in learner-centred teaching is that all
class activities can be done using information that the learners themselves bring to the
class. It is true that humanistic approaches1 also accept active pupil involvement in
learning methodology, but learner-centred teaching is more radical because it believes
that every single one activity can be based on the knowledge, experience, and expertise of
our pupils.
Learner-centred teaching can be used in different ways in the English classroom. It can
be any of the following:
- advantages
- methodology
- materials
- assessment
- the role of the teacher
- problems
1.1. Advantages.
1
Humanistic approaches consider the following principles important: the development of human values;
growth in self-awareness and in the understanding of others; sensitivity to human feelings and emotions;
active pupil involvement in learning. See unit 13 for further information.
728
- learners as authors
- pace
729
- the element of surprise
- peer teaching and correction
- group solidarity
The potential of the leanier. Our pupils bring a lot with them into the classroom. They have
their own ideas, beliefs, attitudes and interests. These things are very important for them,
so, if they can see them reflected in the way they learn English and the activities within the
classroom they will be more motivated to use language for effective communication.
It is easier for a pupil to talk freely about a topic he himself has chosen, and therefore, he
can draw on his knowledge to talk about, than about a topic which may be totally
irrelevant. The way to fluency is more direct this way.
It is also important not to forget that a great part of the knowledge our pupils bring with
them into the classroom is their mother language and culture. Learner-centred teaching
encourages them to incorporate this into their target language competence.
Topicality. Learner-centred teaching allows us to introduce those issues our pupils are
interested in into the classroom. This may be used to supplement or replace unsuitable
coursebooks topics.
730
Pace. Preparation work is longer in learner-centred activities. However, as the activity
progresses, the pace increases. Also, the involvement of our pupils is total from the very
beginning.
The element of surprise. The fact that pupils in a learner-centre teaching situation do not
have the materials in advance, adds a strong element of surprise to the lesson. Not only
do our pupils not know what is coming before the lesson starts, but they are often unable
to l.:redict how the lesson will d elop, and how the material they have produced will be
used.
Group solidarity. The fact that our pupil's work together in activities which are based in
their interests and needs will tend to create a spirit of group solidarity. Learners are
working with one another, not in competition with one another and therefore the
atmosphere of the classroom is one of really purposeful commitment to learning English.
The basic principle of permanent education in the General Law of Spanish Educational
System (LOGSE) can only be achieved if the instructional programmes are centred
around learners' needs. Only in this way should education develop in our pupils the
capacity to control their own destiny. Therefore, the learner should be seen as being at the
centre of the educational process. Bearing this in mind, the following principles of
learner-centred curricula can be identified:
- pupils who value their own experience as a resource for further learning or whose
experience is valued by others are better learners
- pupils learn best when the learning objectives are congruent with their current
self-concept
- pupils react to experience as they perceive it, not as we present it
731
- pupils do not learn when they are over-stimulated or stressed
- pupils learn best when the content is relevant to past experience or present concerns
and the learning process is relevant to life experiences
- pupils who have learnt how to learn are the most productive learners
- pupils learn best when new information is presented through a variety of sensory
modes
We next study how these principles are reflected in all aspects of pupil-centred teaching.
- concrete learners: they prefer learning by games, pictures, 'Video, talking in pairs,
learning through the use of the cassette ...
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- analytical learners: they prefer studying grammar, studying English books, studying
alone, finding their own mistakes, having problems to work on ...
If our pupils do not believe in the learning value of communicative activities we can begin
by setting traditional learning activities, and gradually try and move our pupils towards
acceptance of more communicative activities. The danger here is that our pupils get used
to these traditional activities and do not want to change into communicative ones later on.
For this reason some teachers prefer to make quite clear their expectations from the
beginning. Whatever choice is made we must provide the maximum amount of
information to learners, and set up mechanisms to facilitate negotiation and consultation.
Pupil-centred teaching materials are by definition limited to those produced by the learners
in class. Therefore paper and pen are usually all that is needed though the use of more
sophisticated equipment such as photocopiers, audio or video recorders and so on may be
motivating.
The focus will be on assisting our pupils to do in class what they will be able to do outside,
the materials should reflect the outside world. To do this, they should have a degree of
authenticity. The materials should also foster independent learning (learning how to
learn) and, as all our classes have mixed ability groups of learners, materials should be
designed so that they are capable of being used in a variety of ways and also at different
proficiency levels.
We now study these characteristics in detail.
1.4.1. Authenticity.
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Nunan (1988) describes authenticity as follows:
"Authentic materials are usually defined as those which have been produced for purposes
other than to teach language. They can be culled from many different sources: video clips,
recordings of authentic interactions, extracts from television, radio and newspapers, signs,
maps and charts, photographs and pictures, timetables and schedules. "
Despite the difficulties associated with the use of authentic materials, they are easily ju,
'ified on the grounds that specially scripted texts are artificial. Comprehending and
manipulating this type of texts does not mean that our pupils will comprehend and
manipulate language in real communicative situations and this is one of the principles of
communicative language teaching that we have adopted.
- authenticity of goal
- authenticity of
environment
- authenticity of text
- authenticity of task
Nunan (1988) thinks that the most important type of authenticity is what he called "learner
authenticity". By this he means "the realisation and acceptance by the learner of the
authenticity of a given text, task, set of materials or learning activity". If we want our pupils to
think that the materials we use are authentic they must fulfil two conditions:
It is important to make our pupils realise that they are learning something. This is
especially easy with traditional activities, such as drills or translations, but new,
communicative activities may seem to them a waste of time. In some activities we can
have, as Gavin Bolton said of drama, a unique pedagogic situation, where a teacher sees
734
himself as teaching, but our pupils do not see themselves as learning. The second
condition is easily fulfilled if we take into account our pupils characteristics and needs.
The problem is that these two conditions can be mutually exclusive. Television can be an
engaging experience for our pupils, at home, but they may not legitimate its presence in
the classroom. In this case we must found a process of negotiation, through which our
pupils are gradually sensitised to the new element.
Those who take a hard line on authenticity insist that these should not be edited in any
way. However, especially with our pupils, who are beginners, it may be necessary to edit
authentic materials in a way. Edited materials can be classified into simulated authentic
and artificial.
Learning to learn approaches take into account that different pupils have different ways of
learning (as we have seen when discussing learners' types). This means that they also
have different preferences regarding learning materials. Therefore, the materials we use
must aim to develop self-awareness and gradually lead pupils to a conscious development
of their own learning strategies, so that they become more effective and independent
learners. This entails using materials that enable our pupils to acquire the following
strategies:
3. Social mediation strategies, such a's collaborating and peer-correction, which may be
developed by means of materials designed for pair or group work.
4. Communication strategies, that is, using phrases to enable them to participate and
maintain communication in English, e.g., Can you say that again, please?
Acquiring learning to learn processes develops our pupils' curiosity and fosters a positive
attitude towards foreign language learning. This is extremely important with our pupils as
one of the main aims of Primary foreign languages education is to familiarize our pupils
with English. This will prepare them for more formal and exam-oriented courses in
secondary school.
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1.4.3. Heterogeneity.
Heterogeneous materials can be used at different levels of proficiency. As all classes are
composed of mixed-ability groups, homogeneous materials cannot provide effective
practice for all our pupils; they may be too difficult for the weak pupils and may lack in
volume or challenge for the stronger. The use of heterogeneous exercises not only ensure
that a higher proportion of our pupils get learning value out of the practice, it also has a
positive effect on our pupils' attitude as responses at different levels may be right.
In any pupil-centred system, localised evaluation processes involving both teachers and
pupils need to be developed. Our pupils should learn how to assess their own progress, and
also evaluate, from their own perspectives, other elements within the curriculum including,
materials, activities, and learning arrangements. Such pupil-centred evaluation will assist in
the development of a critical self-consciousness by learners of their own role as active
agents during the learning process. This is one of the main goals of a pupil-centred
approach.
Self-assessment at basic level should not take a complex form. Our pupils' learner diary
typical sheet may take the following form:
PUPIL'S DIARY
Completa una hoja cada semana.
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2. Esta semana he aprendido ...
3. Esta semana he usado el inoles en ...
4. Esta semana he hablado con ...
5. Esta semana he visto los siguientes programas en in 16s ...
6. Esta semana he cometido estos errores ...
7. Mis dificultades han sido ...
8. Me eustaria saber ..
9. La semana que viene voy a aprender ...
Derived from this main role of curriculum developer, we may find others such as:
- participant
- resource
- monitor or assessor
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We are also a resource, answering our pupils questions on vocabulary, grammar of activity
procedures. By providing what our pupils ask for, rather than what we think they need, we
can facilitate more effective learning.
At other times we will be assessors or monitors, checking what learners have produced.
This assessing could be overt or covert. In communicative activities it is not very
convenient to interrupt our pupils.
- learner resistance
- external restraints
- demands on the teacher
Learner resistance arise with groups of learners who have specific preconceptions about
the learning process. This will not normally happen with our youngest pupils as it is the
first time they are learning English, but it may well happen if they have had a different
teacher during the second and third cycles of primary education. Some learners will feel
that they are only learning when doing the type of activities they are used to. A gradual
introduction of learner-centred activities may convince our pupils of their value.
1.7.2. External~restraints.
Even if you are required to follow a syllabus which, despite having been approved by .iie
School Board and the teaching staff, you do not quite like, you may find that it is still
possible to cover parts of the syllabus using pupil-centred teaching activities.
738
serves as a summary of all that has been achieved over a period of time, and
reassures all concerned that progress is being made.
This description of our pupils is obviously the same one we need in order to
select and design materials for them:
DESCRIPTION OF
PUPILS
1. Age:
2. Number- of boys and girls:
3. Familiar background:
4. Parents' occupation:
5. Motivation/attitude:
6. Knowledge of the world:
7. Knowledge of English:
8. Interests:
9. Pupils with special needs:
10. Pupils with discipline problems:
11. Based on the above, what conclusions can we draw about the kind of materials that
would be suitable for our pupils?
Once we know our pupils we can begin a needs analysis procedure to get to know their
motivations and attitudes towards English.
739
Needs-analysis made its appearance during the 1970s in language planning.
It serves three main purposes:
- obtaining wider input into the content, design and implementation of a language
programme
- developing goals, objectives and content
- providing data for reviewing and evaluating existing programmes
Initially needs assessment was linked to accountability and relevance in political terms
rather than to educational aims. Nowadays, however, taking account of our pupils' needs
when designing the cours of instruction is well established.
- objective
- subjective
Objective needs are those which can be diagnosed by teachers on the basis of the analysis
of personal data about learners along with information about their language proficiency
and patterns of language use.
Subjective needs, which are the motivations, attitudes, expectations towards English we
are more interested in, are more difficult to diagnose, even by our pupils themselves.
Objective needs analysis results in content specifications derived from an analysis of the
communicative situations our pupils are likely to find themselves. As they are derived from
the language situation, they can be carried out in the absence of our pupils. On the other
hand, subjective needs are derived from the learners themselves. While there is a tendency
to equate objective needs with the specification of content, and subjective needs with the
specification of methodology, the two need not be seen as synonymous. In learner-centred
approaches techniques for subjective needs analysis will therefore figure as prominently as
techniques for objective needs analysis.
Techniques for data collection and course planning can be ranged on a continuum from
formal to informal. Formal techniques include standardised interviews and proficiency
assessments, while informal techniques include such things as classroom observation and
self-rating scales for use by learners in evaluating learning activities.
740
At the initial data-collecting stage, we will probably not need all the data listed in the
following survey. It may be interesting, however, to see the wealth of information we can
get from our pupils referring to their subjective needs (motivations, attitudes and
expectations). This survey is a practical application of the learner-centred approach theory
in relation to the identification of our pupils' motivations and attitudes towards English.
2.2. Applications.
The following questionnaires have been adapted from Brindley [Hunan, (1988:187)]:
A. Dime si el siguiente use del inglés es importante para ti. (Mucho, regular,
nada)
1. Tell people about
yourself ...
2. Tell people about your
family ...
2. Tell people about your
interests ...
3. Use buses/trains/ferries ...
4. Find new places in the
city ..
5. Receive telephone calls ...
6. Make telephone calls ...
7. Join hobby or interest
groups ...
8. Watch TV ...
9. Listen to the radio ...
10. Read newspapers/books/magazines ...
11. Give/accept/refuse
invitations ...
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B. ¿Cómo to gusta aprender? Contesta SI/NO
4.Do you mind if other pupils sometimes correct your written work?
Do you mind if the teacher sometimes asks you to correct your own work?
Do you mind if the teacher asks you to correct some other pupils' work?
a. television/video films'?
b. radio?
c. tapes/cassettes? (e. g. language lab, language masters, cassette players)
d. written material?
e. the blackboard?
f. pictures/posters?
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6. Do you find these activities useful?
a. Role play
b. Language games
c. Songs
d. Talking with and listening to other students
e. Memorising conversations/dialogues
f. Getting information from guest speakers
g. Getting information from planned visits
7. How do you like to find out how much your English is improving?
By .....
In this way we can get practical information about our pupils' motivations and attitudes,
enabling us to use the principles of learner-centred teaching in our classroom so that we
could make the most of its advantages. For example we can use the following
learnercentred activity in order to practise the simple present and physical description
vocabulary.
First, we draw a circle on the board. Secondly, we tell our pupils they are going to build
this into a character deciding previously whether it is a man or a woman. Next, we
continue to ask questions to build up the physical representation on the board, e.g. Does he
have a moustache?, Is he fat? ...
We continue to ask questions about where he lives, his job, interests, family and so on. We
point out contradictions e.g. he is 16 and father of three. As our pupils come with suggestions
743
the pace increases and our pupils will point out contradictions and suggests alternatives by
themselves.
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3.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.
Brewster, J.; Ellis, G. and Girard, D. The Primary English Teacher's Guide. Penguin.
London 1992.
Brumfit, C.J., and Johnson K. (eds) The Communicative Approach to Language Learning.
OUP. Oxford, 1979.
Halliwell, S. Teaching English iii the Primary Classroom. Longman. London, 1992.
(There exists Spanish translation: La Enseiianza del Ingles en la Educacion Pri»raria.
Longman. London, 1993. )
Richards, J.C., and Rodgers, T.S. Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching. CUP.
Cambridge, 1986.
Richards, J.C., Platt, J., and Platt, H. Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied
Linguistics. Longman. London, 1992.
745
25:Unidad Didáctica
Tabla de Objetivos
OBJETIVOS DE ETAPA OBJETIVOS DEL PRIMER CICLO OBJETIVOS DE LA UNIDAD
DIDÁCTICA
1.- Comprender textos orales y sencillos 1.- Comprender la información 1 Comprender la información global y
relativos a objetos , situaciones y específica de textos orales sencillos específica de textos orales sencillos
acontecimientos próximos y conocidos. referentes a situaciones conocidas. referentes al entorno de la clase y a
situaciones que impliquen saludar y
despedirse; nombrar, identificar y contar
objetos de la escuela y mascotas.
2.- Utilizar de forma oral la lengua 2.- Utilizar la lengua extranjera de forma 2 Utilizar la lengua extranjera de forma
extranjera para comunicarse con los oral para comunicarse con el profesor y oral para comunicase con el profesor y
demás en el aula mediante las con los compañeros en las actividades los compañeros en situaciones que
situaciones creadas para este fin, habituales de la clase y en las implican saludar y despedirse; nombrar,
atendiendo a las normas básicas de la situaciones creadas para reste fin, identificar y contar objetos de la escuela y
comunicación interpersonal y adoptando respetando las distintas aportaciones. mascotas, respetando las distintas
una actitud respetuosa hacia las aportaciones y normas de convivencia.
aportaciones de los demás.
3.- Producir textos escritos breves y 3.- Producir textos escritos muy sencillos 3 Desarrollar la motricidad mediante
sencillos sobre temas familiares, sobre funciones o situaciones familiares, ejercicios de pre-escritura.
respetando las reglas básicas del código mostrando interés por conocer las reglas
escrito. básicas del código escrito.
4.- Leer de forma comprensiva textos 4.- Leer de forma comprensiva textos 4.-
cortos y sencillos, relacionados con sus cortos y sencillos, previamente
conocimientos, experiencias e intereses. trabajados de forma oral y relacionados
con sus ámbitos de interés y
experiencia.
5.- Reconocer y apreciar el valor 5.- Reconocer y desarrollar las 5 Reconocer y desarrollar las
comunicativo de las lenguas extranjeras capacidades personales para aprender a capacidades personales para
y la propia capacidad para aprender a utilizar la lengua extranjera como comunicarse en inglés en situaciones que
utilizarlas, mostrando una actitud vehículo de comunicación. implican saludar y despedirse; nombrar,
positiva de comprensión y respeto hacia identificar y contar objetos de la escuela y
otras lenguas, sus hablantes y su mascotas, mostrando una actitud
cultura. positiva.
6.- Comprender y utilizar algunas 6.- Comprender algunas convenciones 6 Comprender algunas convenciones
convenciones lingüísticas y no lingüísticas para interpretar el mensaje lingüísticas y no lingüísticas para
lingüísticas empleadas por los hablantes transmitido. interpretar el mensaje transmitido:
de la lengua extranjera - saludos, saludos, despedidas, presentaciones,
despedidas, presentaciones, identificación de objetos de la clase,
felicitaciones, etc. - para facilitar la animales.
comunicación.
7.- Utilizar los conocimientos y las 7.- Reconocer la importancia de los 7 Reconocer los recursos empleados en
experiencias previas con otras lenguas y recursos utilizados en el aprendizaje de el aprendizaje de otras lenguas (repetir
desarrollar progresivamente las otras lenguas para su aplicación en el rimas, imitar sonidos, memorizar
746
estrategias de aprendizaje autónomo. aprendizaje de la lengua extranjera. nombres) para iniciar el aprendizaje de la
lengua extranjera.
8.- Establecer relaciones entre el 8.- Establecer relaciones entre 8 Establecer relaciones entre significado
significado, la pronunciación y la significado, pronunciación y y pronunciación del vocabulario relativo a
representación gráfica de algunas representación gráfica del vocabulario la escuela, mascotas y de situaciones
palabras y frases sencillas, así como estudiado y utilizado en frases sencillas - que impliquen saludos, despedidas,
reconocer aspectos sonoros rítmicos y enunciativas e interrogativas - con el presentaciones, y utilizarlo en frases
de entonación característicos de la ritmo y entonación adecuados. sencillas con el ritmo y entonación
lengua extranjera. adecuados.
9.- Utilizar los recursos expresivos no 9.- Iniciar la reflexión sobre el uso de los 9 Iniciar el uso de recursos no lingüísticos
lingüísticos - gestos, postura corporal, recursos no lingüísticos como vehículo (gestos, posturas, entonación) en la
sonidos diversos, dibujos, etc. - para de comunicación de la lengua comunicación oral.
comprender y hacerse comprender en la extranjera.
lengua extranjera.
CONTENIDOS
1. PROCEDIMENTALES
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1. Desarrollo de la motricidad a través de ejercicios de preescritura 1.
1. Revisión de vocabulario.
2. CONCEPTUALES
Out you go
What’s this?
Preguntar por los objetos de la
clase y mascotas Is this a ...?
Goodbye
748
Despedirse Who are you?
Identificar mascotas
3. Rimas.
3. ACTITUDINALES
749
4. Superar las barreras iniciales en el aprendizaje de la lengua extranjera.
750
CRITERIOS DE EVALUACIÓN
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nombres) para iniciar el aprendizaje de nombres) para iniciar el aprendizaje de la
la lengua extranjera. lengua extranjera.
8. Establecer relaciones entre significado 8. Relacionar el significado y
y pronunciación del vocabulario relativo pronunciación del vocabulario relativo a
a la escuela, mascotas y de situaciones la escuela, mascotas y de situaciones
que impliquen saludos, despedidas, que impliquen saludos, despedidas,
presentaciones, y utilizarlo en frases presentaciones, y utilizarlo en frases
sencillas con el ritmo y entonación sencillas con el ritmo y entonación
adecuados. adecuados.
9. Iniciar el uso de recursos no 9. Utilizar los recursos no lingüísticos
lingüísticos (gestos, posturas, (gestos, posturas, entonación) en la
entonación) en la comunicación oral. comunicación oral.
1. MASCOTAS.
En este caso todos son animales domésticos, tema que se está trabajando en 1º
de primaria.
Al finalizar las actividades propuestas para el día, siempre se irá a la lámina de las
mascotas y se localizará el animal que se ha presentado, para repasar las líneas
de puntos que definen su contorno y cuyo trazado sirve como ejercicio de pre-
escritura.
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2. PRESENTACION DEL VOCABULARIO.
El primer centro de interés que hemos elegido, para iniciar la primera de una serie
de unidades didácticas que van a completar un curso escolar ha sido En el colegio,
centrándonos en La clase; y lo creemos necesario, porque se trata del entorno
más inmediato en el que a partir de ahora se va a desenvolver el alumno.
3. RECUERDA - REPASO.
4. JUEGOS.
5. RIMAS.
Aunque cada día se les enseña una parte de la rima, siempre se recita toda.
6. POSTERS.
En cada uno de las láminas que tiene el alumo, se hace una síntesis de todas las
actividades que se van a realizar a lo largo de la lección. Siempre al finalizar cada
lección el alumno localiza, tanto en el póster de las mascotas como en el de la
clase, todo el vocabulario que se ha aprendido, pasando posteriormente a repasar
las líneas de puntos. Se recomienda que los pósters se coloquen ampliados en la
pizarra y que se vayan completando al mismo tiempo que los alumnos.
753
Estos posters los utilizaremos como diccionario de clase y como soporte para
realizar otras muchas actividades.
1. PRESENTATION
Then, go on by adding the question "Who are you?", so that your students
answer by saying I’m ..., interacting with the teacher.
Language Communicative functions greeting others and introducing
oneself.
2. GAME 1
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Language Communicative functions greeting others and introducing
oneself.
3. GAME 2
4. MASCOT
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him/her by saying: "This is a DOG." Ask students to repeat it
after you and to find it in the picture of the class.
5. RHYME
Aim Students will be able to pronounce and memorize the first line of the
rhyme, paying attention to intonation. (7)
Procedure Recite the whole rhyme aloud and ask students to repeat the
first line after you.
6. POSTER
Aim Students will be able to locate in the picture the words learnt.
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Material Poster
7. CARDS
Procedure Tell students to cut out the cards which will be found at the
end of the unit.
Ask them to write their names on and to keep their cards for
the next day.
Time 5’
Level *
Activity Individual work
Material Cards, rounded tip scissors, safety pins. It could be
recommended to seal the cards in plastic to protect them.
8. SAYING GOODBYE
Lesson 2: My classroom
[Lámina 2]
1. PRESENTATION
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Procedure Start the lesson by saying "Good morning" and revising the
mascot presented in the previous lesson.
Time 2’
2. MASCOT
3. GAME 1(revision)
758
Aim Students will be able to identify classroom objects. (1, 2, 5, 6,
7, 8, 9)
Procedure Show students a book and say the word "BOOK" at the same
time. Ask students to repeat the word after you. Do the same
with PENCIL, CHAIR and TABLE.
Continue the activity as above, but introducing the
expression "This is a ...".
Now, show the students the objects and using the expression
"Is this a ...?" ask them to say YES or NO, depending on
whether the object shown goes with the word pronounced or
not.
Once we have practised enough with the four objects, ask
them "How many objects have we learnt today?". The
objects will be shown again and at the same time the
numbers will be said aloud "ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR".
5. RHYME
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Activity Whole class work.
6. POSTER
Procedure Ask students to find the CAT in the poster and to draw over
the dotted lines.
7. SAYING GOODBYE
Lesson 3: My classroom
[Lámina 3]
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Procedure Start the lesson by saying "Good morning" and revising the
mascots presented in the previous lessons: DOG and CAT.
Ask the children about their identities by means of the
expression "Who are you?"
Then, ask them to name and count the four words learnt in
the previous lesson: TABLE, BOOK, CHAIR and PENCIL.
Time 7’
2. MASCOT
3. GAME
Once we have practised enough with the eight objects, ask them
"How many objects have we learnt today?" The objects will be
shown again and at the same time the numbers will be said
aloud: "ONE, TWO, THREE and FOUR." Ask students to repeat
them after you.
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Now, ask them "How many objects have we learnt so far?"
Do the same as above emphasising the numbers FIVE, SIX
SEVEN and EIGHT.
Language Communicative functions: Identifying classroom objects
and counting.
5. RHYME
Out you go
Time 10’
Level **
6. POSTER
Procedure Ask students to find the HORSE in the poster and to draw
over the dotted lines.
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Ask students to find the four words presented in class
DOOR, BIN, RUBBER and BAG and to draw over the dotted
lines.
Time 10’
Level *
Activity Individual work.
7. SAYING GOODBYE
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