Tema 25.

El proceso de enseanza-aprendizaje centrado en el alumno: fundamentos

tericos y aplicaciones.
La identificacin de las motivaciones y actitudes ante la lengua inglesa.
Aplicaciones didcticas.
Traditionally, teaching has been the central issue in FLT. It was thought that, if
teaching was efficient, learning would automatically occur. Consequently learning was
seen as a passive process. Since the 1970s, the belief that language is a means of
communication has inspired a new approach in English teaching: the Communicative
Approach. Due to its influence, nowadays language is taught and learnt in a very
practical way in the classroom. In this sense, our students have become the
protagonists of the teaching and learning process and their individual differences
have started to be considered. Moreover, this answer to individual differences is
one of the main principles established by LOMCE 8/2013, December 9th
Based on this view, the present essay aims to study the learner-centred approach.
For this purpose, this topic will be divided into three main sections. In the first part,
we will analyse its theoretical foundations and the way to apply it to the FL
classroom. In the second part, we will examine the main factors that influence FLL as
well as the identification of motivation and attitude of our students towards English..
Finally in the third part, we will establish some practical applications.
We deal with an essential topic since the teaching of a FL must be personalised to
the characteristics of our students. In addition, LOMCE 8/2013, December 9th
emphasizes the significance of this topic by providing schools and teachers with
autonomy to adapt the prescriptive curriculum and the methodology that they use
to their particular group of students.

FIRST
Traditional models focused on teaching items of language in isolation. In these
methods, among which we may point out the Grammar-Translation Method, the
teacher was the authority in the classroom and learners were seen as passive
recipients of knowledge.
Later on, these traditional methods were questioned by Chomsky who claimed that
language acquisition should not be a passive process since learners are able to use
their own thinking processes to discover the rules of the language they are acquiring .
Afterwards Piaget who worked on the principles of The Cognitive Approach stated
that learners should adopt an active role and be more responsible in their own learning
process. These ideas derived from cognitive theories and, along with some others,
constitute the basis of the learner-centred approach whose main principle is that
teachers must take learners into account when planning the objectives, contents,

activities and materials, in order to suit the learners needs and interests . This
means that the whole learning process must be built up around the characteristics
of our students and that they need to develop learning strategies to become
autonomous learners, which is reflected in 1 of the 8 Key Competences established
by the Royal Decree 126/2014, the learning to learn key competence, involving the
development of some strategies in order to be an efficient learner. We can classify
these learning strategies into four main types which are metacognitive, cognitive,
socio-affective and communication strategies:
- Firstly, metacognitive strategies are mainly used to regulate learning. We may
point out planning learning, hypothesising, comparing, self-questioning, selfassessment, self-correction and reviewing.
-Secondly, cognitive strategies are more specific and involve manipulating the
subject. They include memorizing, matching, predicting, using a class library, a
dictionary, risk-taking and organizing work.
- Thirdly, socio-affective strategies involve children in social activities to expose
them to language. They take on responsibility for their own learning by working
independently from the teacher.
- Lastly, communication strategies refer to the use of aspects like gestures, mime,
synonyms or paraphrases in order to maintain communication e.g. Can you repeat
please?
After having considered its origins and main principles, we will concentrate now on
the most important aspects of a learner-centred curriculum. To do so, we will
examine the methodology, the materials, the assessment and the role of the teacher
in this approach.
Regarding methodology, all the elements must be in interaction and influence each
other. Also, a learner-centred curriculum develops the 4 skills of language in an
integrated way since this promotes the learning of real content and is highly
motivating for students. Moreover activities are varied and linked to real life
situations.
As far as the materials are concerned, most of them are produced by the learners in
the classroom and these should reflect the outside world. For this purpose, the
materials should be authentic whenever it is possible. They should also meet the
students interests and previous knowledge and foster independent learning.
We must not forget that assessment is a very important part of the learning
process because it establishes a relation between the teaching practice and the
learning process. In a learner-centred approach curriculum we can assess our students
by daily observation and objective tests among others. However, what is really
important in this approach is that students learn how to assess their own progress
in order to become aware of both their achievements and the areas that need

improvement. In order to assess themselves, students can complete a grid every week
which may include items like This week I have learnt or I have used English to
among others.
Lastly, it is important to consider the role of the teacher. Within this approach, we
have to modify the curriculum content in order to adequate it to our students
characteristics, keep the motivation of our students, attend their individual
differences and organise the learning experience carefully and in advanced. In
addition, we act as participants, monitors and resource in the classroom.
After having considered the most important aspects of a learner-centred
curriculum, we will now examine some concrete possibilities for helping students to
learn more effectively. To do so, we will consider some areas in which we can apply
learner-centred ideas.
As we know, this approach considers that every activity can be based on the
knowledge and experience of the students. One way of doing so is through what is
known as Syllabus negotiation in which the main idea is to involve the students in
decisions on their study programme. Negotiation can affect the whole structure of
the
syllabus
or
just
specific
sub-parts
of it such as the choice of topics for certain activities, the selection of some
materials,
or
the
decision
whether
a
particular
activity
will
be performed in groups, pairs or individually.
Another way to apply learner-centred ideas is grouping students into pairs and
groups. According to Donn Byrne, pair and group work present many advantages since
it increases the amount of speaking time of the students and enables them to
practice the four skills of language in an integrated way. It also improves personal
relationships because children have the opportunity to help each other and they can
learn from one another too.
As we may know, involving students actively in the learning process also involves
encouraging students to understand the learning goals and activities. Although
children in Primary Education cannot cope with abstract concepts we must train them
in language awareness through activities like classifying, matching or sequencing which
will help them to achieve this purpose.
Finally, project work is a very useful activity for integrating skills since it involves
some research and some group discussion about the topic until eventually, the students
write the final product. Because of this, project work has a great learning potential as
it involves different learning strategies such as researching, group discussion,
recycling vocabulary and working autonomously all of which meet both the
Communicative Approach and Learner-Centred Approach requirements.

SECOND
Once having considered the main aspects of the learner-centred approach and the
way to apply it to the FL classroom, we shall concentrate on the second part of this
topic, that is, the identification of motivation and attitude of our students towards
English.
As we know, the learner-centred approach places emphasis on the learner because a
FL is not learnt by groups, but by individuals.
Every class is made up of individuals, and each of them has different ages, aptitudes,
learning styles, personalities, motivation and attitudes. All these factors will
influence FLL as well as our planning decisions and that is why they must be
considered. In what follows, we will explain what these factors consist of and their
consequences in the teaching-learning process:
One of the main factors to consider when teaching a FL is our students age. Most
linguists agree that children are better prepared to learn a language than adults at an
auditory and phonological level, because their brain has a natural capacity that
diminishes as the years go by. Also, their natural spontaneity comes in handy when
learning a FL because, generally, they have less inhibiting factors. At the same time,
our students age will affect the choice of topics and types of activities, which
must be adapted to their age and interests.
Another factor is our students aptitude. It is popularly believed that some people
have more aptitude for learning a FL than others. Considering this will make us plan
different activities for students with different types of aptitude and respect
childrens learning rhythms.
As we know people learn in different ways, since they have different personalities,
preferences and abilities. In this light, Howard Gardner claimed that individuals have
al least seven different intelligences that can be developed over a lifetime which are
logical/mathematical, visual/spatial, kinesthetic, musical, interpersonal, intrapersonal
and verbal/linguistic intelligences. Traditionally, schools have just focused on the
development of linguistic and mathematical intelligences. However, modern teaching
such as the learner-centred approach emphasize the need for teachers to design
activities that focus on the seven intelligences, not only to facilitate language
acquisition, but also to help students realize their full potential
Also personality is considered as an important factor when learning a FL. It has been
suggested that an outgoing and sociable person learns a FL better than a reserved, shy
student. This can affect certain situations in the FL classroom such as the level
of acceptance of activities like role-play or drama performances.

Lastly, some other factors that might influence FLL are the students previous
knowledge, a low self-esteem, learning difficulties, family problems and their culture.
The teacher can analyse the cause, show more interest towards the learners and
plan activities that are as interesting as possible.
After having considered these factors, we must not forget that motivation is a
variable that influences FLL too. According to Jeremy Harmer, motivation is some
kind of internal drive that encourages somebody to pursue an action . If people
perceive a goal to be sufficiently attractive, they will be strongly motivated to do
whatever is necessary to reach it. In this sense, we can state that motivated students
usually do better than students who are not as motivated. According to Jeremy
Harmer there are two types of motivation in FLT: extrinsic and intrinsic, depending on
whether they originate outside or inside the classroom: on the one hand, extrinsic
motivation is concerned with factors outside the classroom, such as the grade of
identification with the target culture and, on the other hand, intrinsic motivation is
related to what takes place inside the classroom such as the physical conditions of the
classroom, the methodology used or the teachers attitudes.
The concept of attitude is very close to that of motivation: they are both related in
the sense that if students have a positive attitude towards learning, they are
more motivated. Therefore the identification of the students motivation and
attitudes will enable the teacher to help them in the learning process.

THIRD
After having analysed the identification of motivation and attitude of our students
towards English, we will now develop the last part of the topic, that is, the suggestion
of some practical applications of the learner-centred approach in the FL classroom.
Firstly, we should raise our students awareness of the importance of learning
English. In order to achieve this, our students will be able to:
- List the names of their favourite English-speaking people (footballers, film
stars, singers...).
- Find English-speaking countries on a map.
- Be asked to look for English words in the environment.
- Brainstorm all the words they already know in English.
Secondly, we should try to create an English speaking environment in the
classroom. In order to do so, the following displays can help to create an interesting
and motivating environment:
- Posters of Britain, USA or other English-speaking countries.
- Pictures of famous English-speaking people.
- Photographs of British or American cities, typical houses...
- English signs.
5

- Students works.
- A book corner.
Thirdly, we should try to make lessons enjoyable. In order to do so we can:
- Choose topics close to students interests and lives.
- Design motivating activities, which are success-orientated, familiar and varied.
- Add variety to the learning situations using different techniques.
- Introduce students choice whenever possible.
- Use varied materials.
- Let students personalise the tasks.
Lastly, we should know how to attend to diversity. In order to do so, several
measures can be taken: when it is necessary, tasks must be graded so that students
work on the same basic activity but with different levels of difficulty. Also when
questions are asked, they will be adapted to students level of competence. In this
sense, stronger students may be asked difficult questions, while weaker pupils will be
given several options to choose from. Moreover in order to deal with different
learning speeds, fast finishers can check their own work, read or play language games
while the rest of students finish. Finally, working in pairs and groups will contribute to
encourage cooperation and socialization.
Conclusion
To conclude, we would like to remark that, as proven in this topic, the learnercentred approach puts the emphasis on the active role of the students and their
involvement in the learning process. For this purpose, we must take into account
different factors such as their age, learning styles, motivation and attitudes since in
this way, students will be more motivated and we will ensure their participation in the
activities
Along this topic we have dealt with the learner-centred approach. To do so, we
have first analysed its theoretical foundations and the way to apply it to the FL
classroom. Then, we have examined the main factors that influence FLL as well as the
identification of motivation and attitude of our students towards English. Finally, we
have established some practical applications.
In order to develop this topic, the following bibliography has been used:
BREWSTER, J. et al. (2003): The Primary English Teachers Guide . Penguin
English.
HARMER, J. (2003): The Practice of English Language Teaching. Longman.
LARSEN-FREEMAN, D. (2003): Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching .
Oxford University Press.
VARELA, R. et al. (2003): All About Teaching English. Centro de Estudios Ramn
Areces.