Social Practice: Today’s ELT Dimension Under the Spotlight!

By Mario Herrera
(Text in “Word” format, of the original PowerPoint Presentation. For more Information
about sources and ways of using the handouts that go with this text, contact the author at
mario.herrera@pearsoned.com)

• When we teach English following up-to-date methodology, young learners

should manage to communicate and develop other non-linguistic skills that
could serve the purpose of communicating.
• Constructivism presents the English language not just as a group of words that
can be put together, following certain conventions to convey meaning…
but as a way of communicating.

The Role of Social Practice

• Social Practice is formed by activities that students carry out on a regular basis
in their interaction with others.
• In the context of social practice, we use discourse and other means to
communicate meaning.

Social Practice and Language Learning

• In a broad view of education, teaching English to children is seen as the

initiation of the learners into social practices or activities that will help them
learn English more purposefully.
• In theory, this is why we should learn a foreign language when we are very
young, so students don’t have to transfer social practices, but live them
simultaneously in both languages.
• The younger we start, the more natural our experience of social practice will be.
Therefore it will be easier for us to use the language naturally and purposefully.
• Students should incorporate the new language to their everyday lives in and out
of school, through social practices, not just as a code they understand.
• In school, they need to use the language to organize their thoughts and discourse,
to analyze and solve problems, and to have access to cultural expressions.
• Students should acknowledge the role language has in constructing knowledge

Integral Social Practice

• Social Practices of a language require individual and group experiences that

involve different ways of reading and interpreting texts, of approaching writing
and becoming involved in oral exchanges and analyzing them.
• Our students are learning English not only for communication, but also for
cognitive and reflection purposes.
• We use a language not just to communicate. We also use it..
• to learn
• to think
• to understand
• to integrate ourselves into our society
 Functions in Social Practice

• Learning a Foreign Language should focus on what we do to communicate in

the language, preserving its social functions.
• The object of study of language learning should be the Social Practice of the
language.
• We are not teaching English by parts to put it together as a piece.
• More than focusing on skills, we should focus on the practices needed to
produce oral and written texts.

Social Practice and Content Instruction

• When teaching English as a foreign or second language educators have come to

realize that delaying academic instruction until English is 'mastered' is
inefficient and detrimental to the success of language learning and does not
maximize the use of the students abilities.
• But what content can be taught in the ELT World?
• An activity, needless to say, implies first of all an agent who is active rather than
passive.
• We should start with a general analysis of a social practice and then look at the
role of language and discourse within that social practice or activity.
• Social practice or activity is a combination of knowledge (theory) and action
(practice). The theory aspect of an activity typically includes such knowledge
structures as classification, principles, and evaluation.
• The practice aspect of an activity typically includes such knowledge structures
as description, sequence, and choice.
• Thus, our teaching should include problem posing, problem solving, authentic
dialogue, learning by doing, and collective reflection.
• We must promote a theory of learning which is compatible with the activity-
based approach to the integration of language and content.
• Thus, our teaching should include problem posing, problem solving, authentic
dialogue, learning by doing, and collective reflection.
• We must promote a theory of learning which is compatible with the activity-
based approach to the integration of language and content.

Social Practices Needed to Produce Oral and Written Texts

• Categories that were practiced at the workshop:

– Warm up
– Presentation / Practice
– Strategies
– Language Practice
– Application
– Assessment
• Warm up

– When students sing and chant for understanding meaning

Dinosaurs

Dinosaurs, dinosaurs,
what do we know?
What were they like,
and where did they go?

Some were huge,

some were smaller.
Some were short,
and some were taller.

Some were fast,

and some were slow.
They lived many millions
of years ago!

Some walked on two legs;

some walked on four.
They had long names
like plesiosaur.

Some ate plants,

some ate meat.
I think dinosaurs
are really neat!

• Presentation / Practice

– When students transfer model practice into personal production (see

handout received at seminar)
– When students get involved in a home-school connection activity (see
handout received at seminar)
– When using non-verbal skills that can serve to communicate. (see
handout received at seminar)
– When students stand up and ask for/collect/report data (see handout
received at seminar)
– When they organize their thoughts and discourse, to analyze and solve
problems. (see handout received at seminar)

• Language Practice

– When students use a language to access information that will allow them
to construct knowledge. (see handout received at seminar)

• Application
 – When students work as a team to prepare a bulletin board
– When students get involved in a home-school connection activity

Invite students to make a list with their families of their favorite foods.
Have them classify the foods into categories such as meat dishes, fish dishes,
vegetable dishes, desserts, and so on. Encourage students to draw small faces of
their family member next to foods that are that person’s favorites.

– When students develop a project and present it to their class

Oral Presentation.
Gives students awareness about being able to function in English

– When students use English to have access to cultural expressions that are
new to them

• Assessment

– When students socialize discussing a topic using English as a whole

Social Practice Criteria

• Enhance your Social Practice Experience by:

• Using English at all times

• Having Student work with other students in pairs or groups
• Developing group activities to consolidate the sense of belonging
• Using dictionaries in the classroom
• Developing projects
• Forming Clubs (bulletin boards, newspapers, reading books)