FINAL REPORT PEDAGOCIAL PRACTICUM II INSTITUTO EMPRESARIAL GABRIELA MISTRAL

PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS

JIMENA ALVIAR RUEDA CLAUDIA LILIANA BAUTISTA DIANA PATRICIA DAZ SYLVIA JULIANA LEN JENNIFER TATIANA MATEUS GERSON ALBERTO NIETO DIANA CRISTINA ORSTEGUI JONATHAN JULIAN SILVA

PRESENTED TO NOHORA PORRAS

INDUSTRIAL UNIVERSITY OF SANTANDER SCHOOL OF LANGUAGES BUCARAMANGA 2013

INDEX 1. INTRODUCTION 2. JUSTIFICATION 3. NEEDS ANALYSIS 4. OBJECTIVES 5. LITERATURE REVIEW 6. DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT 7. PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION 8. FINDINGS 9. CONCLUSIONS 10. RECOMMENDATIONS 11. APPENDICES 1 3 5 61 62 69 72 82 93 96 98

1.

INTRODUCTION

Being able to understand the different events that happen around the world, having access to different sources of information and being able to communicate different ideas in a diverse set of situations are some reasons why it is more important today than ever to learn a second language. When students have the chance to get in touch with another language their minds broaden and it is possible for them to appreciate and value their own language and culture as well. Thus, learning and speaking another language boosts development and brings more ideas to the different professional and personal environments from societies; languages open doors towards new practices and behaviors.

Even though all these statements should be facts around the world, reality is different in Colombia, and learning a second language is not as easy as it should be due to different causes, such as the lack of resources, social environments, nonexistent motivation, and conditions inside the classrooms of public school, which are not very accurate to develop these learning processes.

This paper aims at presenting in a comprehensive way the information, results and conclusions drawn throughout all the process of designing and implementing the project of the Practicum. This stage in the English Language Teaching Program can be defined as a pedagogical exchange that benefits the community during its implementation. It allows pre-service teachers to put into practice all contents and techniques learnt during the program and have a glance at what it is to be an English teacher in a school. Moreover, it does not only benefit pre-service teachers but official schools and their students as well. By having practitioners at schools,

students can have syllabi and content designed according to their likes; not to mention that this is also designed following curricula proposed by the school. All of this permits to reflect on education and the real context of the schools nowadays that teachers face during their career. Therefore, the analysis of all this information will help stakeholders improve educational curricula, methodologies and all processes in general regarding this crucial aspect of our society.

2.

JUSTIFICATION

This project is proposed taking into account the different needs related to language learning and motivation that students at Instituto Empresarial Gabriela Mistral have, as well as the gotten results in the diagnostic test that was carried out with them inside the classrooms.

Improving students language learning process is the first reason why t his project is going to be implemented with sixth-graders at this school. The plan is based on the development of the four language skills listening, reading, writing and speaking- through different activities that enhance students development in the second language area simultaneously with their attitude towards the subject.

Thus, taking into account that being proficient in a second language assures different advantages, such as getting global knowledge, having access to different material and information, and developing critical thinking skills, this project aims at providing students with meaningful real-life situations that help them to be able to cope with different events in which they will be challenged to talk about themselves and what they do.

Consequently, based on the principles of the Communicative Language Teaching theory and the students interests and needs, a macro-project called A Job fair, and three micro-projects called School Face-book, Never-ending Poster, and A Puppet Show will be proposed in order to provide students with the necessary tools that expand their horizons in their second language learning process. These micro-projects seek for the improvement of the students level of proficiency in the language by means of carrying out diverse language-content-

related and arts-related tasks that will be led by the pre-service teachers inside the classroom.

Finally, since lessons will be taught in English, students will have the chance to get used to the target language, and in this way, to keep in touch with it. Furthermore, the classes will include different materials such as recordings, flashcards, and worksheets, and posters, etc.- that are going to be the core of the process in the way that all learning stylesvisual, auditory, and kinesthetic- will be targeted motivating students to learn more about the subject.

3.

NEEDS ANALYSIS

Education is a process in which several factors must be taken into account in order to have a successful outcome for all the parts involved in the learningteaching process. Several features related to the sixth grade English Classes at Instituto Empresarial Gabriela Mistral de Floridablanca are described to know students needs, routines inside the classroom, and their likes and dislikes; this was made in order to apply a project based on the collected data.

The purpose of this diagnostic was to know the students environment taking into account their behavior, the teachers instructions, the given input, e ach students strengths, weaknesses, knowledge and skills to help students develop better learning strategies according to their learning styles and, in this way, to improve their learning process in the second language, as well as to make students interested in the English language and its importance for their future.

Thus, this needs analysis is organized as follows: first, the analysis of the observations taking into account the classroom categories such as: classroom procedures, classroom management, time management, use of L1 and L2, discipline, teaching strategies and relationships among the teacher and the students. Second, the students needs analysis is shown and the analysis of the answers is presented as well. After that, the scores of a diagnostic test are submitted and shown in order to know students level of proficiency in the English language. Finally, the analysis of an interview to the English teacher is displayed in order to know his educational background and methodology.

3.1 ANALYSIS OF THE OBSERVATIONS AND TEACHERS INTERVIEW

(See Appendix 1) 3.1.1. Time Management

Students at Instituto Empresarial Gabriela Mistral have three hours of English scheduled weekly. These are divided into two sessions, one of two hours and one of one hour which is meant to work on Plan Lector. During the time of the class several things were observed. First of all, students tend to come to class late because they come from their Information Technology class, which takes place in a different classroom. This movement from one place to another makes both students and teacher miss more or less 5 minutes of the class. Another constrain related to time management is that the teacher spends a lot of time giving the instructions orally and repeating them several times; the repetition of instructions takes a lot of time since students are distracted and not paying attention. It would be time saving to write down the instructions on the board, in this way students can read them anytime they want and not having the teacher repeat them all the time. On the other hand, during the class time, the teacher spends a lot of time checking the students materials for class one by one. While the teacher goes to each one of the students chairs they are not taking advantage of the time. Apart from this, when students are working on the class book there is not a time limit set for the exercises, this means they can spend a lot of time developing an exercise that didnt require it. It would be a good idea to establish a time l imit for each task that is developed in the class, this would make students focus on the activities and do them in a shorter period of time.

3.1.2. Classroom Management

Since classroom management has to do with the actions taken and created to maintain the learning environment, it can be said that inside this classroom there arent enough procedures that enhance an effective setting for learning. In certain cases students dont pay attention to the given instructions, but this happens because there is not an environment that allows the instructions to take place. It would be good to design lessons for students mastery (Harry Wong) and to have a set of procedures that help students have a routine that promotes good behavior. The teacher constantly calls students attention for silence and for keeping on their seats during the class. Apart from this, since the two-hour session is divided by the break, even though the teacher asks for a line at the moment of leaving the classroom, the students go out of it and return to it with no order at all. These behaviors could be improved by reinforcing the established rules and by creating procedures for acceptable behaviors.

3.1.3. Discipline

Most of the students are quiet during class but some of them talk to the classmates sitting next to them and this annoys the teacher. In these situations the teacher always calls their attention for silence. Even though students have a specific spot in the classroom, they should be rearranged in order to avoid their conversations during class. Another constrain regarding discipline takes place at the moment of arriving to the class. Students dont sit at the moment of arriving; instead they start talking and walking around. New strategies such as bell work should be implemented in order to avoid the interference with the class.

Another issue regarding discipline takes place when students are very rude and use bad words or attitudes to their classmates or teacher. The students who misbehave sometimes are required to sing el observador, or the teacher just warns them about it. More emphasis should be made on rules such as treating well the classmates as well as implementing more leadership among the students so that they are able to solve their problems talking to each other rather than signing the observador.

3.1.4. Use of L1

The teacher says hi, gives instructions and talks to students in L1 all the time, therefore students are not exposed to L2 inside the English class. The class consists on translating every single thing on the students books and materials, but the translation is made exclusively by the teacher. Even though the teacher uses a Grammar translation method, he does not follow the procedure presented on this method, Presentation, Practice and Production. Instead, the teacher only produces the translations without having the students engaged on the process, and without any practice of the developed topics. It would be more engaging for students to implement a Communicative Language Method inside the classroom; in this way they would be more in touch with the L2.

Apart from this, the interaction among students and between the teacher and the students is always carried in the L1. It is suggested to avoid L1 in order to give enough input to the students and exposes them to the target language so that they can acquire it.

3.1.5. Use of L2

Sometimes the teacher says Good Morning to students and commands like Please, sit down and students reply in English. During class the teacher attempts to read the dialogues or explanations from the book in English but he stops and switches to L1 right away. In some exercises students tried to give answers using the L2 but the teacher continues speaking in L1, so there was no interaction in L2 at the end. The students should receive more explanations in L2 and they also should interact among them using the target language, in this way they would use it in a real context, with real life situations inside the classroom. In this way both the students and the teacher would be more aware of the importance of using the L2 during the class as a tool for their learning process.

3.1.6. Students Students Relations

The classroom is subdivided into small groups, students who talk to everybody and students who seem shy and quiet. It seems that the boys get along with the boys and the girls with the girls. The relationship among the students is good but they dont seem to know each other very well, they constantly asks the classmates for silence, they call each other by their last names and, when they are allowed to work in pairs, they always work with the same partner. Meaningful group activities or games using TPR should be implemented in order to engage students in the class and to reinforce the relationships among them.

3.1.7. Teacher Students Relations

Most of the students are respectful to the teacher and follow his indications. However the communication among them is not very effective since he always asks for silence and students are not allowed to participate during the class. In fact, there are no meaningful spaces to communicate inside the classroom. More spaces for communication should be embraced during the classes so that the teacher gets to know the students, their needs, likes and skills.

On the other hand, when students are disrespectful or misbehaving the teacher raises his tone of voice and talks to them in a sharp way. Teacher reminds the students they must behave correctly and reminds them they arent primary students any more constantly. The teacher should talk to the boys or girls who misbehaved instead of telling the whole group the warnings or consequences of their actions.

3.1.8. Procedures

There arent many procedures for the English class. Students know they have to sit down when the teacher comes and they have to remain in silence and copy while he translates the things from the book. The teacher tells students to work in pairs in most of the classes because not all of the students have the book, but there is not a specific procedure for students to arrange the pairs or moving the chairs inside the classroom.

The teacher collects the books and gives them back in some classes in order to grade the activities, but in other occasions he calls students one by one to check

their class work. Procedures to start the class, to give away material, to organize the classroom and class work should be implemented. These procedures will keep students organized so that effective learning takes place.

3.1.9. Language Abilities

The teacher translates all the content from the book for students to copy, because of this; students do not practice listening, speaking or writing. Sometimes, during plan lector they are supposed to read some passages and analyze them in order to provide answers, but this is carried out in L1 as well. All the language skills should be implemented and developed inside the classroom in order to improve and promote the students receptive and productive skills.

3.1.10. Teaching Strategies

The teacher always gives the instructions orally and using L1, and only a few times he uses the board to write examples or write instructions. He uses a high tone of voice in order to call for students attention all the time. As it was mentioned before, the class is focused on translating from L2 to L1 the instructions and contents from the book. A variety of teaching strategies like active learning, critical thinking, discussions, and games which involve all language skills and learning styles could be used in order to improve students learning and in order to call their attention on the importance of learning a L2.

3.1.11. Teachers Interview Analysis

The teacher was administered a survey (See appendix 3) about his personal information, methodology and interpersonal relationships. The answers were taken thorugh a written way. He studies a Spanish Language Teaching Program and has worked for 4 years at Instituto Empresarial Gabriela Mistral. He is graduated from two post-graduate programs, but did not clarify them. In spite of the fact he teaches Spanish, this year he was assigned to teach English in 4 courses in the sixth grade. The reason relies on the lack of resources this public school receives from the government. So, theres a significant problem for the students progress in the English Language Learning since the teacher in charge has not studied some methodological aspects of the English language, mainly in the integration of all skills. In terms of methodology, the teacher thinks that learning a foreign language has a great importance in the sense of learning the whole thing of a language instead of the superficial knowledge just because it is being spread around the world. But, he did not mention the importance of learning English for increasing peoples professional development. Its true that all countries are facing the great task of this trend, that now its completely necessary. Its absolutely important to motivate young people to be competent in foreign languages. Additionally, the teacher says that he focused his methodology through the P.E.I. (Proyecto Educativo Institucional). On this document, all principles, objectives, resources, strategies, rules, and administrative system are found. This document has been elaborated by all teachers to put into practice in collaboration with the Gabrielista community to reach the goals expressed in the National Standards. He specifies the necessity of some adjustments according to the

students needs. Nevertheless, this fact has not been seen in the classroom. If the students needs were taken into account, activities that involve movement will be reflected in the lessons. The teacher understands the word language as the wheel for studying the origin of words (etymology) and develops communicative skills (speaking). He does not see the language in other aspects such as knowing the culture, pragmatism, phonetics, linguistic, syntax, and semantics. It is important to know that more than speaking there are other competencies to be developed. If the teacher does not realize about the fact of this relevant components, it would be more difficult to activate certain communication strategies. Also, the teacher states knowledge about Piaget, philosopher known for his epistemological work with children; and Skiner, a behaviorist. Apart from these psychologists, he mentions the constructivism as one of the theories he knows about highlighting its implementation in his classes. Evidently, the teacher might know the theories, but according to the observed class theres no evidence in where the teacher construct knowledge with the students since its notable an authority and students do not participate at all in the teaching-learning process. The topics are imposed through the book students had to buy, adding the lack of collaborative work between students and teachers. Moreover, the teacher is conscious of the abilities he focuses the class on. He answered in the questionnaire that reading and writing are the most predominant skills in the classroom. The learning strategies he apply the most are individual and pair work in order to socialize and participate in the class. It has been observed that in every class students work alone and in pairs. But, they are not participative as expected. The teacher mentions that one of the learning

strategies is Self- assessment which is being developed through the tests at the end of each unit from the book. The teacher is willing to help students with low performances through a plan to improve their difficulties. This fact shows us the teachers interests in students advance. The evaluation strategies are developed through 2 kinds of tests: formative and ICFES type. In this way, the teacher is collaborating in a preparation process for the ICFES exam since 6th grade which gives students an advantage about the kind of questions they will face in 11th grade at the moment of taking that test of great importance in our nation. He adds that apart from the textbook he uses posters and audio recordings in the classroom. These resources have not been implemented in the observed classes. Furthermore, no technology classroom is used because the school does not have it. On his opinion, the teacher thinks he has a good relationship with his students based on the respecting each other and total confidence.

3.2 STUDENTS NEEDS ANALYSIS The needs analysis (See Appendix 2) was done through a survey that was administered individually in the six grade classrooms (6-1, 6-2, 6-3 and 6-4) at Instituto Empresarial Gabriela Mistral. The questions were divided into six categories. Based on the data obtained in the need analysis some generalizations were made taking into account the majority of options chosen by the students.

3.2.1. Sociodemographics Information 3.2.1.1. Gender Talking about gender, it can be seen that the majority of students are female.

GENDER
120 Number of students 100 80

97 60
Male Female

60
40 20 0 Male Gender Female

Graphic 1 Gender

3.2.1.2. Age Regarding the age, the majority of the students are aged between 11 and 12 years old. The youngest students are mainly female students and there are sixteen students above the expected aged for a sixth grader.

AGE
80 Number of students 70 60 50 40 30 20

76

10 years old

38 27 15

11 years old 12 years old

13 years old

10
0

1
10 years old 11 years old 12 years old 13 years old 14 years old

14 years old

Age
Graphic 2 Age

As the majority of students from Instituto Empresarial Gabriela Mistral from sixth grade are in the earlier adolescent age, they need more attention specially in how is addressed the class for them. At this stage, they need more structure and clear limits. According to the appropriate activities to them, many authors have talked about this issue and it has been found out that especially physical activities call their attention. On the other hand, this result shows that these students are capable to understand symbols related to abstract concepts and are able of hypothetical and deductive reasoning. Students age is important for having an exact average to check in what developmental stage is the majority of the students. In this case, they are supposed to be in a full formal operational stage.

3.2.1.3. Social Stratum It can be noticed that the socio-economic stratum is homogenous between low and middle one. In relation this diagram (graphic 3), it shows that the commonest class is stratum 2 and 3, 109 students live in locations distinguished by this strata and it represents high percentage of the students. Therefore, teachers

should think carefully about the resources they might ask them to contribute according to their low economic reach.

SOCIAL STRATUM
60 50 Number of students 54

49
40 30 20 10 14 8 34 1 2 3 4 Another- N/S

0
1 2 3 Social Stratum 4 Another- N/S

Graphic 1 Socio- Economic Stratum

3.2.1.4. People at Home Almost all students live with their family core, parents and siblings. Only 12 of them live only with their mothers and few of them live with their extended family, like grandparents, uncles and aunts. There is a huge tendency in the four sixth grade classrooms, 88 out of 162 students live with their mother. These graphic reflects that students only have one supportive person in their academic development.

PEOPLE AT HOME
100 90 Number of Students 80 70 60 50 40

88 53

30 20 10 0
Mother

45 22
9 5
Another

Father

Brothers and/or Grandparents Uncles and/or sisters Aunts

Members of the family students live with

Graphic 4 Family Core

3.2.1.5. Access to Technology Finally, according to the devices students have at home, the vast majority has a TV set and radio; more than the half of students have a computer and few of them have access to video game console. With these results, it is difficult to apply activities that involve the use of computer. However, teachers could ask for some hours of internet access in the school.

ACCESS TO TECHNOLOGY
160 140 Number of students 120 100 80 60 40 99 27 141 152

20
0

Computer

Stereo System

Television

Videogames

Electronic Devices

Graphic 2 Electronic Devices

3.2.2. Likes and Interests What students like is a very important kind of information. Teachers, course designers, and stakeholders can base lesson or create materials that can be found appealing by learners. Thus, they will get engaged in the classes and will adopt a better attitude towards learning a second language. Here, students were asked to mark the item that represented what they like the most among the categories. These are the results:

3.2.2.1. Sports Football is the sport boys like the most while girls prefer volleyball, swimming and basketball. Having this information, we can design games that involve some of the rules of those favorite sports by the students. We can see that the use of a ball applies for both sides, which is an answer of kinesthetic movements with an object.

SPORTS
80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0

Number of students

76 55 33 Swimming Soccer 27 13 16 Volleyball 20 Basketball Track and Field

Cycling
Another Sports
Graphic 6 Sports

According to the graphic, there is evident that most of the learners prefer soccer than other sports. They were able to select more than one answer, so this sport was the most popular for them. Other smaller percentages from the students like track and field, cycling and others.

3.2.2.2. Music Regarding music, it can be said that they like different kinds of music; reggaeton is the one that is more popular between them. It means that they do not have an accurate input to improve their English level. They listen to music written in Spanish. So, we can extract some of the rhythms found on this genre to design an activity in order to engage students through music.

MUSIC
Number of students 150 Vallenato

100

101
50

Pop Rock

38
0 Vallenato

27
Pop

18
Rock

50
Reggaeton Cumbia Music Genres

7
Metal

8
Another

Reggaeton Cumbia

Metal

Graphic 7 Favorite Music Results

3.2.2.3. TV Programs Most of the students watch TV programs such as soap operas and movies. Only twenty-three students watch English programs which mean that they do not keep in touch at all with the foreign language while they are at home, and few of them are interested in educational programs like news and documentaries.

PROGRAMS
Number of students 120

100 80 60
40 20 0

86 37

96 74 23 35 5
Soap Operas English Spoken Programs News Cartoons Documentaries

Movies
Another

Kinds of TV Programs

Graphic 8 Favorite Kind of TV Program Results

3.2.2.4. Leisure Activities About their leisure activities, the predominant ones were listening to music and watching T.V. It can be said that it is related to activities they do at home. Having listening to music as the main one, we could implement activities involving music, songs contests, writing a song, say phrases with rhythm, etc. to motivate them and minimize the affective filter. This is evidently a starting point for the project proposal. Clearly, these sixth graders do not like reading for fun.

FREE TIME ACTIVITIES

100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 93 83 Listening to music 56 56 56 Watching TV Surfing the internet Reading 17 Sleeping 5 Hanging out with friends Another Number of students

Listening Watching Surfing Reading Sleeping Hanging Another to music TV the out with internet friends Free Time Activities

Graphic 3 Hobbies and Leisure Activities Results

3.2.2.5. School Subjects The subjects students like the most are social studies and Physical Education. Taking into account these subjects they are interested in, we could design activities that include geography, for instance. And games that require being in movement. The subject of our interest, English, is liked by only 29 out of 162 students, which is a negative fact since students are not passionate for learning a different language, they do not find it interesting. So, there is a necessity to work on increasing that motivation that is low about the English language.

SCHOOL SUBJECTS
120 100 Number of students 97 80 60 40 Maths Social Studies Biology

53
45 23 12 Maths Social Studies Biology English Spanish 29 6 Physical Another Education

English Spanish Physical Education Another

20
0

School Subjects

Graphic 4 Favorite School Subjects Results

3.2.2.6. Kinds of Books The book genre the majority of the students prefer is mystery and Science-Fiction. Collecting this data has a great significance since it gives us a clue of the kind of reading material they prefer. Detectives activities that cover solving mysteries and fantasy topics should be the themes at the moment of designing authentic texts. Mystery activities for the classroom enable students to appreciate the power of mysteries to create suspense, spark interest in storytelling and engage logical thinking to navigate a puzzle-like structure. Activities can revolve around mystery vocabulary, the basic components of a mystery, and methods of investigation and

how to plot a mystery story. Mystery activities can draw on forensic science, history and language arts skills.

LITERATURE GENRE
70 60 Number of Students 50 40 30 20

57

60
49

Romance Fiction

History

28 21 1 3
Another

Mistery Horror Essays Another

10
0 Romance Fiction History Mistery Books Genres Horror Essays

Graphic 5 Favorite Books Genres

3.2.3. Learning Styles

Research has shown that there are some variables for each student that may affect their response to certain activities or materials: learning styles. . In this section, students were asked to cross the option that fitted the best with the statement proposed. The options were: Never, Seldom, Usually, and Always. The questions were organized in a way that when analyzing the data, it were easy to recognize the learning style of each student just by counting the times they crossed Always. From question III.1 to III. 10: Auditory; from question III.11 to III.20: Visual; from question III.21 to III.30: Kinesthetic.

According to the questionnaire, especially in the part of the learning styles, it was found that a great number of students are kinesthetic and visual learners. So, our job would be to teach and help those kinesthetic and visual learners through appropriate activities related to their learning styles. Kinesthetic learners learn best by moving their bodies, activating their large or small muscles as they learn. These are the "hands-on learners" or the "doers" who actually concentrate better and learn more easily when movement is involved. The following characteristics are often associated with kinesthetic learners. So, activities where students have to do movements are the ideal ones for this kind of learners. On the other hand, we have the visual learners. Visual learners are those who learn things best through seeing them. Visual learning students like to keep an eye on the teacher by sitting in the front of the class and watching the lecture closely. Often, visual learners will find that information "clicks" when it is explained with the aid of a chart or picture. This kind of students need to watch videos, take notes, color code words, diagrams, make outlines, use flashcards, use highlighters, circle words, underline them, reading maps, etc. So that, we should implement similar activities in order to help students to achieve their goals.

LEARNING STYLES
155 150

Number of Students

35% 145 140 135 130 125 Auditory Visual Kinesthetic 31% 34% Auditory

Visual
Kinesthetic

Graphic 6 Learning Styles Results

3.2.4. Learning Strategies

The idea that there are some identifiable attitudes or strategies used by good learners has been appealing to stakeholders. In this section of the survey, students were given six (6) statements and asked to tell if they enjoyed the situations mentioned. The scale used was the same as III: Never, Seldom, Usually, and Always. For this part of the survey, we focused on situations that arise commonly during classes so we can know about the behaviors students adopt when dealing with activities proposed in the classroom.

3.2.4.1. Working on their own Students prefer working on their own. According to the statistics showed below, they marked on the questionnaire the options usually and always as the ones they prefer. Having these results, we should think on activities that require

concentration and allow them to work alone but, efficiently, too. They feel more independent when doing their tasks.

Working on my own
70 60 Number of Students 50 40

66

45 28 33

Never Seldom Usually

30
20 10 0 Never

Always

Seldom Options

Usually

Always

Graphic 7 Working on their own results

3.2.4.2 Working in Pairs

Students also like working in pairs as it is demonstrated in the graphic below. We could use pair work to have the students practice certain concepts they were discussing in class.

Working in pairs
90 80 Number of Students 70 60 50 40 30 48 Never 79

Seldom
Usually

20
10 0 12 Never

23

Always

Seldom

Usually

Always

Options

Graphic 14 Working in Pairs Results

3.2.4.3 Working in small groups Now, we analyzed the data related to working in small groups. They really like the idea of being in a group doing activities from school. The majority of students marked always and usually as their favorite options. As it is being seen, we should arrange the class in different ways. What we need to take into account is the kind of activity at the moment of grouping. Pair work, group work and individual work can all be effective, if used at the right times and if structured in an appropriate way. For us, pair work and group work can be excellent tools to promote student interaction; individual work, on the other hand is easier to assess and often appeals to students with intrapersonal intelligences.

Working in Small Groups

60

50
Number of students 40

54 49 40
Never Seldom Usually

30 20

19
10 0 Never Seldom Options Usually Always

Always

Graphic 15 Working in Small Groups Results

3.2.4.4. Problem Solving Tasks As we found before students like mystery and fantasy stories, these results are interrelated with it. If they like problem solving activities, we should design that kind of exercises. Evidently, we will have a greater output. Simply because of the number of people involved, each with differing background, knowledge, points of view and values, a larger number and variety of ideas for solving a problem can be produced. Communication skills can be improved through this sort of exercises.

Problem Solving Tasks

90 80 70 Number of Students 60 50 Never Seldom

84

40
30 20 10 0 Never Seldom Options Usually Always

39

Usually Always

23
16

Graphic 16 Problem- Solving Tasks preference Results

3.2.4.5. Acting out in Class 73 students out of 162 like acting in class. In this way, role-plays would be effective for achieving this learning strategy appropriately. Role playing is a learning structure that allows students to immediately apply content as they are put in the role of a decision maker who must make a decision regarding a policy, resource allocation, or some other outcome. This technique is an excellent tool for engaging students and allowing them to interact with their peers as they try to complete the task assigned to them in their specific role. This work can be done in cooperative groups. Students are more engaged as they try to respond to the material from the perspective of their character.

Acting out in class

50 45 Number of students 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 Never Seldom Options Usually Always 25 Never Seldom 43

17

20

Usually Always

Graphic 8 Acting out in class Results

3.2.4.6. Creativity and Imagination Students love activities that involve creativity and imagination. We could think of some that require materials, the design of something, integrating all skills.

Creativity and Imagination

100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Number of students

88
Never

54 26 0
Never Seldom Options Usually Always

Seldom Usually

Always

Graphic 9 Creativity and Imagination in activities Results

To sum up this section of the learners needs questionnaire, we could say that the majority of students feel comfortable when working on their own, and they also show positive answer about working in pairs. However, there is more reluctance to work in small groups. Also, more than 50% of students showed that they enjoy tasks where they are encouraged to solve problems. Besides, related to the kind of activities they like to develop in the classroom, it can be said that those ones that require imaginative and creative efforts are preferred.

3.2.5. Experience with the English Language

Previous learning experiences create prejudices and therefore, they may cause bad attitudes towards learning in general. That is why this short part of the survey is intended to find out if the students have only been studying English in their school or if they have attended a language course outside the institution.

3.2.5.1. Question: How long have you been studying English?

From this graphic, it can be concluded that the students have received English classes since elementary school.

TIME STUDYING ENGLISH

120 100 Number of Students 80 60 40 39 20 0 0-2 years 3-5 years 6 years 7 years 27 17 108 0-2 years 3-5 years 6 years

7 years

Graphic 10 Time studying English Results

3.2.5.2. Question: Have you ever taken an English course outside the institution?

OUTSIDE ENGLISH COURSES

160 140 Number of students 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 Yes Options
Graphic 11 Outside English Courses Results

142

Yes No

20
No

This part was composed of two more questions asking for the name of the institute and how long learners had been there. It was found that the average of time was 3 months.

3.2.6. Students Needs

Students expectations of the course may help course designers and teachers set goals in a more comprehensive way. In this section, learners were asked to tell about their opinion of the class, what they think they need in terms of second language mastery, and what kind of activities and techniques for lesson delivery they would like to have during classes. In some questions, students were given the choice of choosing more than one option.

3.2.6.1. Contact with English Mostly, they do not have contact with English it is just two or more times a week. It means that they do not have enough opportunities to practice. It can be concluded that the answer with more percentage: two or three times a week refers to the English class time, and it was analyzed through the observations in class, students are not provided with enough input.

CONTACT WITH ENGLISH

140 120 Number of students 100 80 Once a week 60 40 20 Two or threetimes a week More than three times a week 126

22
Once a week Two or threetimes a week

12 More than three times a week

Graphic 12 Contact with English Results

3.2.6.2. English Classes

The majority of the students answer always and seldom, it can be said that the fifty per cent of the students have a positive attitude towards English class most of the times despite the fact they are not really involved in a meaningful process.

ENGLISH CLASSES
80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0
Number of students

66

68 Never Seldom Usually 21

10 Never Seldom Options

Always Always

Usually

Graphic 13 English Classes Results

3.2.6.3. Students Favorite English Skills

Regarding the abilities, students think as important and enjoyable for them are conversation and writing. However, they also pointed out they need reinforcement in those abilities as well.

FAVORITE ENGLISH SKILLS

50 45 40 Number of students 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 Reading Writing Speaking Grammar Listening All of them

43

27

32 24 16 21

English Language Skills

Graphic 14 Students Favorite English Skills Results

3.2.6.4. Focus on English Skills

Students were asked Which skills would you like to concentrate the most on? According to the obtained results in the four classrooms, we found that speaking and Reading skills are the most demanded by the students, but there is a considerable amount of students who are also interested in all of them.

FOCUS ON ENGLISH SKILLS

50 45 40 Numer of Students 35 30 25

20
15 10 5 0

45

35
25 10 Reading Writing Speaking Grammar 16

33

Listening

All of them

English Skills
Graphic 24 Focus on English Skills Results

3.2.6.5. Other conclusions from the Students needs questionnaire The skills they would like to work are almost all but there is predominance on the speaking one. a) The activity they prefer to do is to listen to music. Besides, they like watching movies and documentaries. The activities they see as the best one to learn the language is watching videos and movies, the forty percent of the students are more interested on listening and reading. b) The reason why they like English is because they think they have learned a lot and some students said that it is because they enjoy while learning.

c) They would like to do things in the English class such as: knowing different cultures, surfing on the internet. Watching videos, listening to music, speak in English, etc. Only some students are interested on reading books, acting or writing something in English. d) A big amount of students still use books and dictionary to study English, 80 out of 162 students have access to Internet as a tool to work on their homework it is a relevant fact since it helps in the learning process and practice. The resources they have to study English are computers, some books and internet. Only four students have a private teacher.

3.3. DIAGNOSTIC TEST 3.3.1. Reading Test The main objective of applying a reading test (See Appendix 4 ) is to check comprehension, determine if students are able to find meaning in what is read. In order to assess this skill, appropriate texts were selected. The reading exam was designed according to the language use and competences a 6th grader should have acquired in their primary school. This test was divided in two parts and students could reach 20 points from it in the whole exam.

3.3.1.1.

Part One

The strand that was taken in this part was interpretive comprehension. Students had to identify some advertisements and go beyond, read for deeper meanings. Students needed to be able to see relationships among ideas.

For example, the ad Piano lessons in classroom 14 from 10 a.m. to 12 a.m. had to be associated with a place. The possibilities were in a school, in a playground, in a bathroom. Students could relate just few words such as lessons or classroom to determine the correct answer was: in a school.

This part had 10 points, 2 points for each answer.

Image 1 First part of the Reading Test example.

The students development in this first part of the reading test is showed below:

READING- Part 1
No Answer 0 Number of right points 1

7% 2% 15% 20%

2
3 4

29%
10% 17%
0 2 8 4 16 6 8 24 32 # of students 10 40 12 48 14

Graphic 25 Reading test- PART 1 Results

In the previous graphic, it was analyzed the number of students who answered correctly the first part of the reading test. The results were not encouraging. The bar chart illustrates that the 29% of the four classrooms answered 3 points correctly; in other words, it means that 48 out of 41 students were able to deal with the associations of the first part of the reading text. On the other hand, seventeen percent students could achieve successfully all the five points. It is demonstrated students need more training in this skill.

According to the observations made at Instituto Empresarial Gabriela Mistral and the diagnostic test results, students are not given reading strategies to improve this important ability and appropriate procedures are not developed. We should take into account the crucial skills to be learnt (Dudley- Evans & St. John, 1998): using features of the text such as headings, layouts, skimming for content and meaning. Also, to improve this skill in the classroom, we need to follow the appropriate classroom reading procedures: pre-reading (predicting, word association, discussions, text surveys), while-reading (list of questions, scanning & skimming, workout meaning of unfamiliar words, pattern study guides, summarizing, clarifying, questioning) and post-reading (review of the content, vocabulary in context, writing assignment, discussions, debates, etc.). We need to work hard on this to achieve what the Ministry of National Education has planned.

3.3.1.2. Part Two This is one of the most common Reading comprehension tests which involve asking a student to read a passage of a text that was leveled appropriately for the child, and then asking some information about the content.

In this part, it was designed a three- paragraph text about the routine of a boy called Tom. Below, students found 10 statements to be marked as TRUE or FALSE according to the texts information.

Image 2 Second part of the reading test- Example.

The results were:

No Answer 0 1 2 # Right points 3 4

10% 5% 2% 2% 2% 7%

READING- Part 2

5
6 7 8 9 10 0

17%
17% 24% 7% 5% 0
2 8 4 16 6 8 24 32 Number of students 10 40 12

Graphic 156 Reading Test PART2 Results

The results were pretty similar to the ones encountered in the first part of the reading test. As it can be seen, 24% is the highest percentage equivalent to the number of students, in this case, 40 out of 162, who answered 7 points appropriately. But, there is a phenomenon that is presented in all the tests, there are students who do not answer the questions, they prefer not to try instead of choosing one option. Although, this part was assessed according to the first level, which is, literal comprehension, the majority of students were not able to find information and ideas explicitly stated in the text. According to Karlin (1971), "being able to read for literal meanings, for example: stated ideas, is influenced by one's mastery of word meanings in context'. Evidently, theres a lack of vocabulary, knowledge about the structures and reading strategies that do not permit the improvement of the comprehension of texts. Gathering both sections, part one and part two, the findings were:

READING TEST- GENERAL

NA

7% 2%

Obtained points out of 20

19-20 points

15-18 points
11-14 points 7-10 points 0-6 points

18%
34% 27% 12%

0 5

2 12

4 19

6 26

8 33

10 40

12 47

14 54

16

Number of Students
Graphic 26 Reading Test Results

In general terms, this exam was approved by the 60% of the four sixth grade classrooms. It can be said that more than a half of the students answered correctly the majority of questions. But, their performance was not the expected one. There are 54 students who passed the test with the minimum required (12 questions). And, theres still a considerable percentage (39%) of students who failed it because they did not know the answers or did not answer. So, some parts of the learning process must be modified in order to be satisfied with the learning outcomes. Students need to improve their reading strategies and have a better understanding of the different kind of activities to achieve that goal. For doing so, we could implement reading techniques to enrich what is missing showing in a different way how to read.

3.3.2. Grammar Test Grammar is central to the teaching and learning of languages. It is also one of the most difficult aspects of language to teach well.

The other section of the diagnostic test is the grammar test. The grammar test (See Appendix ) was not divided into two parts, but the 10 points that were

included will give us a better understanding of the structures they are able to deal with. Students had 10 positive, negative and interrogative statements. And they had to fill in the blanks choosing from one of the four options the appropriate word or phrase to complete each sentence. (See Image 3).

Image 3 Sample of Grammar Test

As it can be seen, each point had a different issue to be analyzed. Through each statement already completed, we could know if the students are able to identify prepositions, adverbs of quantity, present simple, past simple, wh-

question words and possessives. These topics are the basic themes students should know on 6th grade.

These are our findings regarding the grammar test we applied at Instituto Empresarial Gabriela Mistral, grade 6-3:

GRAMMAR TEST
18-20 points 0% Number of correct points

12-16 points 2%

6-10 points

22%

0-4 points

76%
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35

Graphic 27 Grammar Test Results

According to the evaluation of students understanding and/or grammar use, the results were no satisfactory. The vast majority of students failed this part of the diagnostic test. As it can be seen in graphic 4, 76% got between 0-4 points out of 20. The following percentage (22%) shows that only 36 students got between 6-10 points, they did not achieve even the half of the whole test. And, only the 2% of the four classrooms tells us that one student did it well.

It can be said students have not learned or do not know basic topics of their level. Discriminating the findings, students are not able to identifying the use of prepositions in, at, on, from. They have no clear the differences between much, many, a lot and some. The majority demonstrated confusion between much and many. Moreover, the negative structure of a sentence in present simple form was no correct in a vast majority of students. They are not able to contrast between not play, no play, doesnt play and dont play taking into account that the subject is in the third person of singular. As well as present simple, the auxiliary did was rejected from a lot of sentences, without giving the sentence a past simple form. Short answers in present simple were not identified. However, the results of the exam show us that they have a limited understanding on WHQuestion words and possessives. The few right answers were found in points 8, 9 and 10.

Regarding the class observations, we have noticed the lessons are based on the translation method and purely, grammar. So that, we expected better results on this skill since it is the focus of all classes. And topics such as possessives and present simple have been studied this year. Theres nothing wrong with mechanical exercises like gap-filling, sentence transformation, but considering there are 40 students in each classroom, it must be reconsider the way of teaching grammar. Grammar should be taught in a meaningful way, move onto activities where the structure is used in more interesting and realistic ways. This test let us know that the only skill students are used to, its the one that hasnt be achieved properly. For that, students will need to connect grammar points with larger communication contexts, use a lot of examples as teaching tools, provide appropriate language input, apply thinking and predicting skills and limit mechanical drills.

3.3.3. Vocabulary Test Vocabulary plays an essential role during literacy instruction. The

knowledge students have on vocabulary is considerably linked to reading comprehension and conceptual knowledge (Anderson & Freebody, 1985). On this test, it was defined the words students must know to communicate effectively according to their competence at this level. For this reason, the Vocabulary test (See appendix 4 ) was designed giving clues or definitions to determine the corresponding word. The test was divided in two parts. The first part corresponds to a matching activity where students were given five definitions in the first column to be matched to the second column that contained the corresponding five words.

It is not necessary to add two bar charts per each part of the test showing the statistics on this skill. The obtained results in both parts were the same.

VOCABULARY TEST
Answer

27% 73%
0 5 18 10 38 15 20 58 78 Number of Students 25 98 30 118 35

No answer

Graphic 28 Vocabulary Test Results

It can be noticed in the graphic, which is above, that 73% of the whole classroom did not give an answer to each point of the exam. This section (Vocabulary) and the whole exam required students to produce information and results. But these statistics demonstrate students felt inadequate and afraid of the proposed Vocabulary exercises. The feeling was so intense that it affected their performance. Students experienced frustration and did not do well in the exam. In spite of the fact the 27% answered the corresponding points for this section, nobody had a right answer.

Apart from this reason, it was showed students had not faced this kind of exercises and words. According to the National Standards, a 5th grader can spell renowned words. The exam was designed with words such as January, bedroom, English, desk, and family to be completed (part 2, appendix 4 ) And the

definitions were expressed in understandable words. For instance, the first month of the year.

Imag 4 Vocabulary Test- PART 2

The test was not complex, was appropriately designed in terms of the level students should be, 6th graders- A2 level (MCER). However, it is reflected students have not learned in the proper manner vocabulary strategies. What it has been seen in the classes, there is no an effective way of teaching vocabulary. As we know, vocabulary knowledge is critical to reading comprehension, so we should help foster their development through effective learning strategies explicitly and implicitly. We should pre-teach vocabulary words, there must be a repeated exposure to words, applying the keyword method, word maps, root analysis, and through the context. Doing this, we could improve the percentage found on this test.

3.3.4. Listening Test Listening is the ability to identify and understand what others are saying. This involves understanding a speaker's accent or pronunciation, their grammar and vocabulary, and grasping the meaning (Howatt and Dakin). The majority of teachers think that including listening material in the classes is playing a video or a recording in a CD player. These activities are for practice. But, they are not teaching how to improve the listening skills of a student. Thats wh y an activation of prior knowledge for improving listening comprehension is fundamental in all ages, levels, etc.

Unfortunately, we have not seen in our observations at Instituto Empresarial Gabriela Mistral that the teacher applies a listening activity, not even for only practice. However, we administered an exam to determine students level of listening comprehension. The test (See appendix 1) was divided in two parts. The first part was an activity where students had to listen to 5 short conversations

having a question and 3 pictures. According to the specific details they could get, they had to tick the box under one of the three pictures. It was a complex activity for students who have a short span of attention. The second part covered the understanding of clothes and colors through a matching exercise involving only on conversation. The results were the following:

LISTENING TEST
18-20 points 0%

Correct Points

12-16 points

17%

6-10 points

46%

0-4 points

37%
0 0 5 19 10 39
Number of Students

15 59

20 79

Graphic 29 Listening Test Results

Graphic 6 illustrates the poor performance on the listening test. It was not a surprise since students do not practice listening in the class. In fact, they are not listening to their teacher speaking in English. Theres no a technique regarding listening activities to criticize about the class because this skills is not being implemented. It was found that only 28 (17%) students from the four classrooms passed the exam. However, 83% of the sixth graders, the majority of the students, failed the listening test.

We are aware of the responsibility of teaching this relevant receptive skill in our teaching practice. We should use the procedure pre- while- and postlistening and work on micro and macro skills. These students should predict what people are talking about; guess unknown words or phrases through contexts, identifying relevant points, etc. in order to reach the suggested goals by the Ministry of Education and regarding our final project.

3.3.5. Writing Test The base for developing the writing skill is grammar and vocabulary. We can notice all skills are integrated in the process of learning a language. It is a demanding skill in terms of time and improvement. Teachers usually tend to forget this skill in their classes.

However, at Instituto Empresarial Gabriela Mistral, the teacher in charge of the English classes in sixth grade (6-1, 6-2, 6-3, 6-4) has implemented a writing activity. In this lesson, students did not know how to write a paragraph about his friend. There was a lack of input, grammar teaching strategies, and vocabulary. Teaching writing is not only saying write a paragraph. In here, we have to teach steps, be a help to bring certain ideas to a paper in an organized way.

The Writing test (See appendix 4 ) was divided into three parts. The objective in the first part of the test is to understand a written conversation in order to identify connectors to follow while speaking. The second part involves the comprehension of a picture, wh- questions, and prepositions. Finally, part 3 is a multiple-choice exercise to know is students are able to identify nouns,

verbs, and adjectives in the sentences give to be filled. The findings of this implemented test were:

WRITING TEST
19-20 points 0% 15- 18 points 0% Correct Points 10-14 points 5-9 points

7% 27%

0-4 points
No Answer 0 0 2 7 4 15

37%
29%
6 23 8 31 10 39 12 47 14 55 16

Number of Students

Graphic 30 Writing Test Results

According to the graphic 7, students have a low proficiency regarding the writing skill. It can be noticed that the low performance in some skills affect the others, these abilities are not being implemented in an integrated way. Having these discouraging percentages that show to us that the 29% students did not want to answer this section of the exam, the 37% of students got only from 0 to 4 points out of 20 are number we have to take into account at the moment of planning writing activities. These results and the observed classes demonstrate students have no idea about the writing process: pre-writing, drafting, revising, rewriting and publishing. However, this process can be done if the input is adequate; they know enough vocabulary and grammar skills to start to produce in the written form.

For these starters, we should implement resources such as graphic organizers for decoding information in short stories. In addition, teaching writing conventions will be necessary in our teaching practice.

3.4.

MAIN FINDINGS

The observations that were carried out in the four groups of six graders by the pre-service teachers team at Instituto Empresarial Gabrie la Mistral at Floridablanca illustrated a set of needs which are a target to be addressed by the designing and implementation of a project that each pre-service couple fostered in their classrooms. This project intends dealt with the evident weaknesses that students showed according to the data analyzed in the exam results and needs analysis, and which were focused on the learning of the second language itself. In order to do this, two categories were identified in the statement of needs, the first one deals with the needs that will be addressed by the project itself, and the second deals with the needs that will be addressed by the pre-service teachers.

3.4.1. Needs Addressed by the Project This category displays the needs that were supplied by means of the implementation of the project.

3.4.1.1. Classroom atmosphere According to the observations made, it can be said that the classroom atmosphere among sixth grades allows the implementation of individual as well as group activities. Students seem to have a good relationship between them and dont appear to be reluctant to work with other classmates they dont know. Discipline in the classroom is usually good in presence of the teacher, but, since no

rules, besides pacto de aula, have been established, students dont follow specific procedures in the English class. The project includes a set of rules and procedures that are going to be established for students to know what the consequences would be if they misbehave or break one of the rules, thus, the class can be carried out without any problem.

3.4.1.2 Students attitude Taking into account the collected data regarding students interests, the project is designed based on their preferences and likes. By means of carrying out this project, it is expected that students will have a better attitude towards learning the second language since the activities that are to be developed are designed to awake students interest in the target language, thus, they will see it as a tool which is meaningful to their lives and which can be also used for their development as individuals in a society. These activities will involve students in a different atmosphere of learning, one in which not only they learn about the second language, but also one in which they use it for real purposes, establishing

significant relationships with their classmates since team work is one of the targets of the project.

3.4.1.3 Assessment Formative as well as summative assessment was considered to be a need in the project for the reason that it is necessary to measure students progress and development in it. They were taken into account since reliable tools for assessment need to be addressed in order to create habits of evaluation that are interrelated with the contents to be taught, and with the students performance and progress in the language learning process.

Assessment by means of each micro-project will be a formative one; students will be given support and reinforcement throughout the entire development of them. Rubrics with specific criteria will be used in order to e valuate students performance.

Regarding the macro-project, summative assessment will be implemented. In here, it is expected that students will gather and recycle what they have learnt and put it on stage in the presentation of their final outcome. A rubric will be also used to evaluate the macro-project, it will embrace aspects addressed in the microprojects, such as the recycled structures and vocabulary that students need to use, besides the preparation and process for building up the macro-project. Assessment of students participation and attendance in the macro-project will be also implemented by means of a chart that students have to complete; a writing activity that each sixth-grade student must present to the pre-service teachers, and which makes part of the criteria stated in the rubric to assess the macro-project. A more complete description of this will be provided in the macro-project description.

3.4.1.4 Classroom materials and activities Since a communicative and task-based approach are going to be the framework for the designing and carrying out of this project, students will develop activities that require them to use the language in meaningful situations. The text book students work with and the plan de area for sixth grade were taken into account for the selection of some of the topics, functions and structures that are going to be presented in the syllabus of each micro-project. Thus, contents, in which students have already worked on during the first semester of the present year, will be reinforced with the development of the first micro-project, and new

contents will be presented in the next two micro-projects in which structures and vocabulary will be recycled gradually.

Interactive activities will be also implemented so that students start to use spoken language and basic expressions. These activities aim at firstly, preparing students for the presentation of their macro-project through the development of three micro-projects, in which students will use different art materials to create a tangible scrapbook similar to Facebook, a never ending poster, and puppets for a play; and secondly, to prepare them for real life situations in which they can use the language as a significant tool. The English class is planned to be presented in an attractive way so that students feel a positive effect towards the language, and realize that the class can be a fruitful and enjoyable experience.

3.4.2. Needs Addressed by the Pre-Service Teachers This category includes all those necessary aspects for teachers to achieve the proposed objectives for the project. Some of this needs were identified during the classroom diagnosis and therefore, they must be taken into account by preservice teachers while the implementation of the practicum.

3.4.2.1. Time management In order to reach the planned achievements and carry out all the activities proposed, time management is a parameter that must be carefully implemented. During the observations it was pointed out that the time for each activity was a matter never taken into account by the teacher. This used to lead many students into disengagement with the class. That is why planning and establishing the duration of every task and activity during class is a crucial aspect for the pre-service teachers.

3.4.2.2. Classroom Management Misbehaved students were certainly not a problem for the teacher during classes; except for the times he used to leave the classroom. However, avoiding misbehavior during the pre-service teachers performance is quite important for the success of this project. Classroom rules, procedures and specific techniques will be set from the beginning in order not to give place to any situation that may cause disruptive behavior in the L2 classroom.

3.4.2.3. Use of L2 in the classroom There is not an English speaking environment inside the classroom; except for some words and expressions that most of the times were mispronounced. Here, we can clearly see students do not have a good linguistic model for the development of their L2. Students may feel a radical change of environment when pre-service teachers start speaking to them in English; however, it is something necessary for students to start developing their second language communicative skills.

3.4.2.4. Teachers role The communicative approach demands teachers to become facilitators of students learning process rather than sources of knowledge. Pre -service teachers will guide and assess students through the implementation of the project so they can achieve all the language and attitudinal objectives proposed here. Education is a process in which several factors must be taken into account in order to have a successful outcome for all the parts involved in the teaching-learning process. Several features related to the sixth grade English Classes at Instituto Empresarial Gabriela Mistral de Floridablanca were researched to know students

needs, routines inside the classroom, and their likes and dislikes; this was made in order to apply a project based on the collected data.

The purpose of this diagnostic was to know the students environment taking into account their behavior, the teachers instructions, the given input, each students strengths, weaknesses, knowledge and skills to help students develop better learning strategies according to their learning styles and, in this way, to improve their learning process in the second language, as well as to make students interested in the language and its importance for their future. Thus, the needs analysis is organized as follows: first, the analysis of the observations, which contains descriptions of classroom categories such as: classroom procedures, classroom management, time management, use of L1 and L2, discipline, teaching strategies and relationships among the teacher and the students. Second, the students needs analysis is shown and the analysis of the answers is presented as well. After that, the scores of a diagnostic test are submitted and shown in order to know students level of proficiency in the English language. Finally, an interview to the English teacher is displayed in order to know his educational background and methodology.

4 OBJECTIVES 4.1. GENERAL OBJECTIVE To actively involve sixth- grade students at Instituto Empresarial Gabriela Mistral in reallife situations with the purpose of emphasizing language as a medium of communication which allows them to be able to talk about themselves and what they do in a presentation for the final classroom project called Jobland. 4.2. SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES

To engage and motivate students to participate actively in each one of the meaningful tasks using the target language since real communication is essential for language learning.

To promote the development of positive, professional attitudes and behaviors.

To awake interest in students to document their likes and possible professional fields in a scrapbook that will provide them with an extracurricular opportunity to cultivate qualities of creativity and teamwork.

To foster students awareness on the use of structures and vocabulary to describe occupations through visual materials such as a never-ending poster, which will help them to recall their classmates attention in a creative way.

To enhance basic conversational patterns through a puppet show where students will be encouraged to communicate orally in the target language within meaningful situations in which they will feel more confident and self-conscious about themselves.

5 LITERATURE REVIEW

According to Doughty and Long (2003) one of the principles of communicative language teaching is the use of tasks; since they provide an approximation to real life situations and provide the students the opportunity to use the language in meaningful contexts. Regarding students learning needs, this project is aimed at guiding students to learn some aspects of the language through the use of different classroom tasks (mini-projects) in a connected sequence that will lead to the realization of a final project A Job Fair that not only will interrelate the language skills and contents but also the different tasks carried out in classroom in order to achieve a holistic learning process.

Such an approach to syllabus design has become known as task-based instruction (TBI). This approach is based upon the assumption that the best way to learn and teach a language is through social interaction and the clear purpose of increasing learner activity. Each task will provide the learner with new personal experience with the foreign language by the use of tasks as the core unit of planning and instruction in language teaching. (Richards & Rodgers, 2001:223).

By using tasks, students will to work toward a clear goal, share information and opinions, negotiate meaning, get the interlocutors help in comprehending input, and receive feedback on their language production. (Long 1989; Prabhu 1987).

Definitions of task vary according to the extent to which they insist on communicative purpose as an essential criterion. Nunan (1989) considers a task as any classroom work which involves learners in comprehending, manipulating, producing, or interacting in the target language while their attention is principally

focused on meaning rather than form. On the other hand; Skehan (1998) summarizes the parameters for a task activity in the following way: (a) meaning is primary, (b) learners are not given other peoples meanings to regurgitate, (c) there is some sort of relationship to comparable real-world activities, (d) task completion has a priority, and (e), the assessment of tasks are done in terms of outcome. It can be inferred, according to those previous definitions that a task must possess some features to be considered as a task such as being authentic and implying a real-life situation; a focus on meaning and any kind of social interaction.

This approach is based on a theory of language that permits the use of proper tasks and implementation. Going into detail about TBLT, Nunan (1993) distinguishes between two kinds of tasks: Real-world tasks and pedagogical tasks. Real-world tasks are designed to emphasize those skills that learners need to have so they can function in the real world. Such tasks normally simulate authentic task behavior, and their primary focus is often the achievement of an end product, lesson or a unit. In contrast to real-life tasks, pedagogical tasks are intended to act as a bridge between the classroom and the real world in that they serve to prepare students for real-life language usage (Long, 1998). In this project, we intend to combine both types of tasks; the pedagogical tasks will be used in the micro projects as a tool for helping students to learn and acquire the contents and knowledge for the final project which is a real-life task such as presenting in a fair.

Focusing on the use of authentic language through meaningful tasks, some characteristics will be presented on this project such as the encouragement of using language creatively and spontaneously through series of tasks, establishing a relationship that is comparable to real world activities, and the assessment primarily based on a task outcome .

After having displayed the multiple definitions around the term task and some of the characteristics of Task Based Language Teaching, it is important to mention the stages to run a project founded on the principles of TBT and the corresponding facts that involve the design of the syllabi. For doing so, Task -based learning offers an alternative for designing lessons based around the completion of a central task, in this case, a presentation in a FAIR and the language studied is determined by what happens as the students complete it. The lesson follows certain stages: pre-task, task and a post- task The topics will be introduced in order to give students clear instructions on what they will have to do at the task stage and might help the students to recall some language that may be useful for the task. After that, the students are working with and using the target language while having teacher as monitors who offer encouragement. As task is presented, it is intended to have a practice of language and phrases in classroom.

In terms of assessment, it can be highlighted prominent aspects having TBLT as the center of our project. Assessment attempts to evaluate as directly as possible the students performance in a particular task. Taking into account critical features, teachers will have to determine the specific learning objectives, provide learners the opportunity to demonstrate what they know and what they can do with the language, and articulate clearly the criteria for assessing their performances. On our project, the achievement of students learning targets is going to be assessed. To accomplish good results, the criteria for assessing learners performance of the task will include observations, think-aloud protocols, selfassessment, peer assessment, portfolio assessment and the use of tests. (Brown, 2002; Long &Norris, 2000; Norris 2002) It can be said, the types of assessment formative and summative will be applied. Formative assessment is ongoing, carried

out during a course and is intended to provide feedback to learners on their strengths and weaknesses as they progress through a course of study. Summative assessment, on the other hand, typically occurs at the end of a course or module of work and is intended to provide information to learners and some outside sources (parents, the school, etc.) on how well the learners have performed on the course as a whole. (Brown et al., 2002).

Furthermore, the understanding of roles is crucial for the development of Task-Based approach in the classroom. Teachers role is to monitor the processes of the students working with the main task. On the other side, students will be part of the central learning activity on task completion. The main task must facilitate students can activate their own strategies and realize of the diverse features of a language for communication.

In accordance to the definition, characteristics, types, stages, assessment and roles that involve the Task-Based language teaching has as the core of the lesson, the task. This task will be encouraged through the development of all skills in the classroom with the main objective of allowing students to communicate with others and using the target language to achieve a meaningful performance.

The communicative approach can be summarized as to develop communicative competence and develop procedures for the teaching of the four language skills that acknowledge the interdependence of language and communication. This approach will be crucial to help students at Instituto

Empresarial Gabriela Mistral Floridablanca improve their abilities in the communicative competence. CLT is based on a theory of language as a system of expression of meaning, the primary function of language being interaction and

communication (Nunan, 1995). Mhundwa (1998) also stresses the importance of meaning in CLT, which is what motivates learners to master the target language. There is a subservience and subordination of form to function. The focus is on communicative competence rather than on linguistic or grammatical competence. Wilikins (1972) claimed that a functional and communicative definition of language could actually help develop communicative syllabi for language teaching, while Firth (1950) suggested that a broader sociocultural context, which included participants, their behavior and beliefs, objects of linguistic discussion and a word choice, should also be taken into consideration while teaching any language. Other theorists (Canale and Swain 1980; Widdowson 1989; Halliday 1970) also stressed the importance of communicative approach to language teaching, particularly the communicative acts underlying the ability to use language for different purposes and the relationship between linguistic systems and their communicative values in texts and discourses. For this reason, it is of great importance to involve sixthgraders in different class activities based on diverse situations that require the development of their communicative competence.

Another characteristic of CLT is that classroom communication is planned and presented in ways that stimulate real life situations (Mhundwa, 1998). Richards and Rodgers (1995) give examples of functional communicative activities as: giving and following directions, solving problems, using clues, conversations, dialogues, role plays and debates, all of which should not be memorized since, speech by its very nature is spontaneous. Such communicative activities facilitate co-operation and group work is one of the techniques that stimulate natural language activity in discussion and conversation (Brumfit, 1984). There is need for students to interact more with each other than with the teacher because CLT is both learner-centred and experience- based.

Richards and Rodgers (1995) observe that in CLT, there should be no prespecification of what language the students will use. Mhundwa (1998) sees the topic and communicative goals of students as the major determi-nants of CLT content. The content should therefore be determined by the speaker or writer (language learner Mareva and Nyota 105in relation to demands of a specific task (Brumfit, 1984). Another feature of CLT is that it discourages over-correction of language errors by the teacher as it distracts from the message (Brumfit, 1984). This is a view shared by Brown (1987), who believes in the absence or infrequency of error correction so that language learners are not discouraged in their endeavour to communicate. Corder in Richards (1974) goes to the extent of viewing errors as being useful to both the teacher and the learner. To the teacher, errors determine how far the learner has progressed towards the language learning. To the learner, errors are evidence of learning.

Since in CLT the teacher assumes the role of a facilitator, in this project the pre-service teachers will act as guides and resources organizers for students. During the performance of an activity, students should not normally be aware of intervention by the teacher as teacher but as a communicator (Brumfit, 1984). This emphasizes the role of the teacher as a participant. Yet, another important aspect of CLT is its advocacy for the judicious use of the learners native language in the learning of the target language. The use of translation and code- switching where learners need or benefit from it is permissible (Richards and Rodgers, 1995).

CLT treats language in context rather than as isolated units of meaning. Classroom activities are aimed at the situational and contextualized use of particular language (Piepho in Candlin, 1981). In light of this, Allen and Spada in

Jordan (1983) call for the provision of rich highly contextualized linguistic input to language learners. CLT, therefore, discourages drills and rote learning, which by their nature are not normally contextualized.

For teaching resources in CLT, Richards and Rodgers (1995) promote the use of realia, that is, authentic materials drawn from real life. These could include magazines, advertisements, newspapers, maps, pictures, graphs, charts and objects. It is around that realized that communicative activities can be built. Nunan (1995) refers to these as task- based materials that play the primary role of promoting communicative language use.

During the implementation of this project students will learn some correct forms of communication by means of role-plays and real-life tasks that will let them notice that there is a purpose of using the second language. The opportunity to communicate and express ideas in L2 will be given in order for students to achieve the purpose of using a foreign language in the classroom. It is intended to have students use the target language in a variety of places and contexts, so that they learn the function of the language by means of pair work, group works and listening activities in the classroom. Not only listening to the teacher, but also having personal contact among themselves with the second language will help them improve their language skills.

6 DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT

This classroom Project is based on the results obtained from the sixth grade data analysis at Instituto Empresarial Gabriel Mistral. It addresses the language and cognitive needs found in the classrooms. Firstly, through the development of this project, it is expected that students are engaged in individual as well as cooperative tasks that will conduct to the foreign language learning inside the classroom. Secondly, by means of carrying out the three micro-projects, the macro-project, which will be developed and presented during the tenth and eleventh week of the second pedagogical practicum, aims at having students use the language in real life situations, taking into account their likes and interests; it also considers the integration of the four language skills taking students to the development of learning strategies that will improve their cognitive abilities.

The project consists on a fair that its named Jobland. The pre-service teachers consider a fair to be appropriate as the macro-project since students at Instituto Empresarial Gabriela Mistral are surrounded by a business environment from the moment they start high school, thus, a relationship between the high schools approach and the subject of English can be established. The Project involves sixteen professions which are given to students for them to role play situations from the daily life, work places and lifestyles from these professions.

The Job Fair will be carried out after developing three micro-projects and it will contain the final products that came out of the hard work from nine weeks. Students will be asked to gather the material they created and to build, through different resources, eight different stands related to the work places their professions require, such as a hospital, a school, a restaurant, a stadium, a police

station, an airport, a theater, and an office. With these stands students will have the chance to build a fair outside their classrooms in which they will dress up as teachers, principals, doctors, nurses, lawyers, engineers, police officers, soldiers , soccer players, chefs, cheerleaders, waiters, singers, actors, athletes, and models. According to this, they will talk about what their occupation is, and what they do in their work places.

In the eight stands there will appear five or six students with the occupations related to their place. Students from another group will visit the Job Fair. In small groups they will rotate through each stand listening to their partners information and filling in a chart which will be graded as part of the project; it means that all sixth-graders will have the chance to act out their occupations as well as the chance to be observers and to listen to others. Visitors can recycle vocabulary from the micro-projects and ask their partners What do you do? in order to interact using the target language. Each small group will have an assigned time limit to listen and fill in the chart. When they listen to a signal they will be asked to move to a different stand. Visitors will receive a seal as they leave each stand in order to collect them and to prove that they attended all the places. Finally, the four pre-service teachers will be supervising behavioral features as well as the students performance and will be managing the time for the rotations.

Apart from this, students will present the different micro-projects they carried out throughout the semester, which means that the recycled vocabulary will be present, and their personal information, and different social expressions will be displayed orally to pre-service teachers and other students from the same grade. These classmates will have a chart to fill in with the names of the presenters, their occupation, and duty.

As a final component of this macro-project, it is important to take into account that it will be assessed according to the criteria stated on a rubric that will consist on three parts: one part is for the writing presentation assessment, which will be done in the chart they are given, the second one for the oral presentation assessment, and the third one will be focused on the preparation of the project itself. Similarly, every writing and oral activity developed during the micro-projects will be assessed through the design of different rubrics for each one of them.

7 PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION 7.1. STAGES

7.1.1. Micro-project 1: School Face-Book

Before starting to implement this micro project, it was important to teach students procedures and classroom rules since this was an identified need from the classroom observations. Then students were given a contract that explains the rules and procedures, students will sign it as a matter of agreement. The first micro-project: School Face-Book was intended to teach student how to express their personal information such as name, age, gender and nationality, in order to start producing a collective scrapbook in which every student will contribute creating this.

This micro-project was implemented during the first four weeks of classes. Taking into consideration that week zero was selected to implement the rules and students took a pre-test. In this test, students were exposed to the topics that are already designed in order to measure their knowledge before the implementation of the lessons. As a final outcome, students were asked to create the pages of the scrapbook with their personal information and with pictures.

In week 1, students were taught how to introduce themselves by asking and answering the following questions; what is your name? , whats your last name? , where are you from? , where are you from? , how old are you'? In week 2, students were exposed to different tasks in which they will learn how to express their likes and interests. On this week, students were given a set of examples in which they can learn them and put them into practice. Then, they

were shown some pictures containing important vocabulary in order to complete the statements such as I like to (verb). These words were related to action verbs in which students show their interests and tastes. All these intended to show them that everyone is different, so they had to respect each other. They also reinforced this vocabulary through different activities. Another task consisted of a short reading about two people who talk about their likes and interests. Students answered some reading and comprehension questions like true or false, matching words to pictures and fill in the gap activities. Finally, students had to think of their own expressions in order to add them to their personal profile. That is to say the second part of the scrapbook was carried out.

In week 3, students were given some pictures with the most common jobs of successful people like teacher, principal, doctor, lawyer, engineer, police officer, soldier, soccer player, chef, waiter, singer, actor, nurse, athlete, model as well some worksheets with exercises in which student were to match the picture with the profession and the indefinite article a/an; this vocabulary will be useful for the whole project. Students used the expression I am a/an. In this topic, they were shown some pictures which contain peoples personal information in order for them to practice with the topics they have already studied. For the oral product, in groups of four, students read their profile, which contained all their personal information collected during the classes. They were asked to decorate their School Face-Book as well.

7.1.2. Micro-project 2: A never ending poster

The never ending poster was implemented during the 4th, 5th, and 6th weeks of the Practicum. It aimed at teaching sixth graders how to describe jobs from a first person perspective by using simple sentences. By the end of this micro-project, groups of 3 students created a poster that folds in order to show a new section of it. Each student had to make one face of the poster. They selected a job and wrote the corresponding description with their personal information; they added some drawings and cutouts of the jobs, too.

During the first week of this micro-project (4th of the Practicum), students were taught vocabulary related to the jobs they learned in the previous weeks (0, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd of the Practicum). This new vocabulary was composed of simple expressions in present simple with the first person singular as subject. During the second week, the procedure was similar: giving students vocabulary about what people do in their jobs. This had the objective of raising awareness of vocabulary in students so they can transform into intake as much input as possible. Another objective proposed for this micro-project was teaching students to describe some occupations from a first person singular perspective.

The third week, students were taught how to create a never ending poster. Then, they were asked to select the jobs they like the most, looked for pictures of them and put them on the poster, and wrote their respective description. Finally, they had to make a brief presentation of the poster they created.

7.1.3. Micro-project 3: Puppet Show

A Puppets show was the third micro-project that was implemented during the 7th and 8th week. It aimed at helping students to put into practice the vocabulary and grammar patterns seen through the development of the previous lessons; in this project students produced sentences orally by creating a puppet of a profession or occupation assigned, as well as making a short conversation that was recycled in the final project.

During the seventh week, students were taught some workplaces according to the corresponding professions they had previously seen. These workplaces were displayed as the settings for carrying out the puppet shows, so pre-service teachers were the ones in charge of providing the workplaces puppet-theaters.

After that, students were in charge of making the puppets and writing the first draft of the script. Students shared their monologue with their classmates in a Puppet Show called The Jobland Show. Their performance was assessed through a rubric whose purpose is to evaluate their pronunciation, use of language and interaction.

Students were assessed with a specific rubric that will be divided into the preparation of the puppets, the monologues and finally the conversation they had at the moment of presenting the show.

7.1.3. Final Presentation

One of the seven places in the city

Project Presentation.

8 FINDINGS

The findings section will be divided into three parts. First, an individual analysis of students results in the test in each of the grades will be exposed, and finally, the data will be interpreted and several conclusions will be stated. Second, the overall results in the pre-test and post-test (See Appendix 5) of students in grades 6-1, 6-2, 6-3, and 6-4 at Instituto Empresarial Gabriela Mistral will be presented.

The data collected allowed the pre-service teachers to firstly, analyze students improvement in their second language learning, and secondly, compare students results at the beginning of the teaching practice and at the end of it. The diagrams below represent the results students obtained in the exam that was applied before starting the English lessons and after them. The first diagram shows the sixth grade students overall results in each of the abilities assessed, namely: listening, reading, writing, language use, and vocabulary. As it can be illustrated, an improvement in each of the skills is made evident. The second and third diagrams show the results the sixth grade students got in the pre-test and post-test respectively. The test was graded using a scale from 0 to 5, being 0 the lowest grade and 5 the highest. The students results were sorted into the ranges: 0-1; 1.12; 2.1-3; 3.1-4; 4.1-5. As it can be observed, differences in the results among the assessed abilities at the beginning of the teaching process and at the end of it are noticeable.

8.1.

6-1 SKILLS ANALYSIS

6-1 Skills Analysis

120 100 PERCENTAGES

80 60
40 20 0 Listening Reading Writing Skills Language use Vocabulary

Pre-test post-test

Graphic 31 6-1 Skills Analysis Results

As it is observed in the comparison of the language skills between the pre-test and post-test represented in the chart, all students in grade 6-1 showed improvement in all of them, being vocabulary and language use the ones in which students performed better with a 22% of increase, followed by writing with a 16% of increase, listening with a 11% of increase, and reading with a 6% of increase. It can be said that vocabulary and language use are the skills with a better growth due to the activities that were carried out inside the classroom as well as the focus applied for the pre-service teachers. The activities, worksheets, and games in the lesson plans- and specifically the three micro projects fosteredtargeted mainly to develop students abilities in the use of the foreign language in real life contexts, and consequently the usage of vocabulary which was suitable and accurate for the final outcome that students were expected to

make in the presentation of the final project. The recycling and constant practices of the vocabulary taught are evident in the exam results.

8.2.

6-2 SKILLS ANALYSIS

6-2: Skills Analysis

100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20

10
0

Listening

Reading

Writing
Pre-test Post-test

Language use

Vocabulary

Graphic 32 6-2 Skills Analysis Results

Even though the communicative approach helped students improve all of their skills related to a second language, we can see that the skill learners improved the most was language use with an increase of 17 points. Followed by the skills of vocabulary and writing with improvements of 16 and 13.5 points respectively. During the implementation of the project many activities had the objective of putting students in a context where they had to be ready to answer any kind of question that might arise. That is probably why students developed great affinity with the skill of language use and showed these results.

Regarding the receptive skills of listening and reading, students had considerable advances. However, it has to be pointed out the fact that students had shown a good level of proficiency in the pre-test. In addition, aspects of the class such as use of the target language and the design of clear worksheets help students understand the language in a better way.

8.3. 6-3 SKILLS ANALYSIS

6-3: SKILLS ANALYSIS

100
90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Listening Reading Writing Language use Vocabulary Pre-test Post-test

Graphic 33 6-3 Skills Analysis Results

The diagram above shows the comparison of results that students in grade 6-3 obtained in the pre-test and post-test. According to it, it can be said that the skill in which students showed more improvement was listening, that increased 40%, followed by language use which increased 35%, vocabulary and writing, both increased 20%, and finally reading with a 10% of increase. Due to the kind of tasks carried out in the classroom, it can be stated that listening was the ability in which students performed better since they were surrounded in a

second language environment all the time. The constant drilling of the vocabulary taught and getting used to listen to the pre-service teachers speak in the foreign language, might have helped them to develop their oral comprehension. Language use was also enhanced by means of the worksheets and activities that students needed to foster. Reading, on the other hand, was the skill in which students demonstrated an acceptable performance since the beginning. This skill should have probably been more enriched by means of different reading comprehension activities that challenged students to understand written language, though.

8.4. 6-4 SKILLS ANALYSIS

6-4 SKILLS ANALYSIS

100 80 60 40 20 0 Pre-test Post-test Listening 50 90 Reading 50 60 Pre-test writing 60 70 Post-test language use Vocabulary 50 60 60 70

Graphic 34 6-4 Skills Analysis Results

Over an eight week period sixth grade students all belonging to the same classroom were both pre and post tested. The intervention was to measure the academic success in the English subject by teaching some topics accoding the Ministry of National Education in this field. The following shows data collected from both pre and post test score averages and its analyses on the data.

The data represented in this bar graph is that of a pre and posttest given to the same group of sixth grader from 11 to 12 year old (mixed gender) students in Gabriela Amistral School, a public school located in Floridablanca, Santander, Colombia. It shows the test score averages of the five language skills.

On the pre-tests students obtain an average of 50% on their listening comprehension, and in the post- test students improve this skill to an average of 90%. From the chart , it can be said that in ability students got higher success rates due to the fact that most of lessons where taught by means of the audio lingual method in which students listen and the repeat what they hear .

In Reading comprehension students got an average of 50 % and a 60 % in the pretest, with a small but positive 10% increment. Regarding the writing skill, students score a 60% average due to the fact that their former teacher used to teach his classes by means of dictations and translations techniques, in the post test there was a slight increase of a 10%. Respecting language use 50% was the average

score in the pre-test and a 60% average in the post test, showing a 10% positive increment. Concerning vocabulary it can be seen that students achieved a 60% average in the pre-test and 70% average in the post- test.

Although four of the five groups showed a slight increase of 10% in their posttest score averages, students obtain a 40% average in their listening skills. When comparing all skill test score averages after the intervention, no skill group showed a decrease, which means that students gain a lot of knowledge regarding the subject and took advantage of this teaching mediation. Given the data

presented one can concluded that the intervention was more beneficial to the students when listening activities where set in different context

8.5. OVERALL RESULTS

Overall results
100 90 80 70 Ttulo del eje 60 50 40 30 20

10 0
Pre-test Post-test Listening 70,6 Reading 68,8 Writing 51,9 Language use 53,8 Vocabulary 51,5

94,1

82

63,9

77,3

68,5

Graphic 35 Overall Results

The chart represents the overall results sixth grade students got in the final test that was administered. As it is observed, the skill that stands the most is listening with a result of 94%. On the other hand, other skills in which students improved better were language use and vocabulary. It can be inferred that students usage of the second language inside the classroom was fostered by the activities that were carried out and that allowed students to interrelate the contents, vocabulary and grammatical structures.

Pre-test
2% 14%

10%
0-1 1,1-2 2,1-3 35% 3,1-4 4,1-5

39%

Graphic 36 Pre-Test Results

This diagram represents the overall results students in sixth grade obtained in the test that was administered before the pre-service teachers started to implement their project. The exam was graded in a scale from 0-5, being 0 the lowest grade and 5 the highest. A 2% of students got a grade between the scale 0-1; 10% of students got a grade between the scale 1,1-2; 35% of students got a grade between the scale 2,1-3; 39% of students got a grade between the scale 3,1-4 (a the lowest level at which students are expected to be); and only a 14% of students got a grade between the scale 4,1-5. It can be stated from these results that half of the students that composed the grades 6-1, 6-2, 6-3, and 6-4 were not at an expected level in the use and understanding of the second language.

Post-test
0% 2% 10% 0-1 1,1-2 29% 2,1-3 3,1-4 4,1-5

59%

Graphic 37 Post- test Results

This diagram represents the results that students in sixth grade obtained in the test that was administered at the end of the practicum of the pre-service teachers. By comparing these results to the previous ones some noticeable differences appear. At this stage it was expected that most of students were on the scale from 4,1-5, and indeed, they were. 59% of students were in this scale. 29% of them were between the scale 3,1-4; 10% of them were between the scale 2,1-3; only a 2% of students were between the scale 1,1-2; and none was in the scale 0-1. The results proved that during the implementation of the different micro projects, final project, and other activities, most of the initial settled goals and objectives were achieved. Students demonstrated their knowledge on the contents taught, thus, a success in students output was accomplished.

Throughout the whole process with the students at Instituto Empresarial Gabriela Mistral several findings regarding aspects such as students performance, students attitude towards the language and motivation were found.

First of all, one of the most important findings was the students new point of view regarding the target language. Students were able to create a whole new image of what it is to learn a second language thanks to the different activities and the methodologies used inside the classrooms by the pre-service teachers. Students were challenged to use their knowledge inside the classes and to be the center of them. They could see learning English was not about never-ending translations and dictations; instead, they could prove by themselves how fun classes and activities could be.

On the second place, students improvement on their language learning process was evident as well. Thanks to the test students were asked to take at the beginning and at the end of the practicum, pre-service teachers were able to compare the first results to the last ones and, in this way, prove how students got better during the process. Thus, formative assessment helped increase students improvement, quizzes and class activities were essential in order to create a learning atmosphere in which students created habits that lead them towards language proficiency.

Consequently, pre-service teachers could motivate students in such way they didnt want to finish the projects. Students were taken into a new level in which they could enjoy classes, develop games and activities while learning. This, apart from being something new, was an excellent tool to obtain the set objectives. Furthermore, pre-service teachers were able to move from theories learnt at

university to reality with 40-student classrooms and check that the best reward teaching gives is happy and motivated students who are eager to learn.

Apart from that, pre-service teachers were able to create student-centered classes that boosted students communicative skills. In this way, students could erase the previous ideas they had about the language and see how useful it is to communicate with other people.

Finally, students affective filter was also involved through this project. Little by little, pre-service teachers, through meaningful class activities, such as, songs, role plays, posters, role cards and puppet shows, were able to enhance students personal thoughts and experiences and redirect them towards a positive point of view, the one in which students say what they think and interact with the language according to the level they are.

In conclusion, it can be stated that findings represent how positive this experience was for both pre-service teachers and students in this project. The effects of using specific methodologies and approaches were evident, which shows that the mission of teaching these students was accomplished.

9 CONCLUSIONS

Since teaching and learning are always reciprocal practices, several conclusions could be drawn from the development of this project at Instituto Empresarial Gabriela Mistral regarding both sides of the endeavor.

Making reference to the students learning process of a second language, it can be said that their skills were challenged from a new perspective a communicative one- in which they could interact in an English-speaking environment and develop several tasks using what they learnt in the classes.

Apart from this, it was proved that, even though forty students is a big number, this doesnt take from them the opportunity to learn from each other and take advantages from their different intelligences.

Another conclusion that can be taken from the results is that students learnt from the given input by the teachers, and their results were arisen during the process. As students got used to the different formative assessment strategies from the classes, they could improve their results and acquire different habits that helped them in their classes.

Thus, it can also be concluded that students showed an obvious improvement in their listening skills and language use. Comparing the gotten results from the test at the beginning of the process and the last ones, it can be affirmed that the skills in which they improved the most were listening and language use. This shows how students got used to new activities that made them develop new meta-cognitive strategies to understand and learn more easily.

In addition, the implementation of micro projects in the syllabus is a useful and enjoyable tool to summarize, integrate and put into practice all content learnt since it demands the use of different skills in real life situations where students can give a meaningful use to the language as they express themselves, interact and communicate with others.

Finally, regarding students attitude, a change in their behavior and performance in the classes was also easy to observe. Students moved from a shy and almost careless attitude in which they didnt take the time to read instructions, or class activities- to a new attentive and positive way of acting, which boosted a better learning and teaching environment.

On the other hand, analyzing the teaching side, other conclusions can be proposed. Regarding classroom management, it can be said that, although the number of students seemed enormous, it wasnt a real problem during the practicum. Thanks to the different classroom procedures and rules proposed from the beginning and to the previous discipline agreements held by the main teacher, both sides could assume a nice learning and teaching atmosphere.

Another category that can be taken into account was the pre-service teachers involvement with the school activities and procedures. Not only was the practicum an opportunity to develop cognitive processes with the students, but also a chance to learn about what it is to be part of a school, its technical documents and what it means to get involved with different curricular and extra-curricular activities.

Furthermore, making reference to another category related to the teachers, it can also be mentioned the one regarding time management. From the collected experience at the practicum, it can be concluded that time is a precious thing and planning can vary according to the schools schedule. It is necessary to always have a plan B that ensures that the class objectives will be obtained. This will help both teachers and students to move forward on the learning process.

In addition, it was also proved that, even though there is a lack of resources in this institution, this does not inhibit the learning process. Pre-service teachers were able to create different kinds of materials that heightened students proficiency and performance during the classes. This also developed a better sense of what it is to produce creative and meaningful materials for students.

Finally, both teachers and students got involved in the task-based approach, and, based on this, they could create a new learning environment that provoked motivated students with broaden minds ready to learn more and more every day.

10 RECOMMENDATIONS

From the different experiences and findings collected during the practicum several recommendations can be exposed to the pre-service teachers who will continue the process with these students.

In first place, it is necessary and almost mandatory to continue motivating students throughout their learning process. This improvement in their motivation has given them a new perspective towards the language, and the seed that was planted this year must be harvest until obtaining the best possible results from them.

It is also important to continue giving them input +1. This kind of input increases students abilities and skills towards better learning habits, and it also gives them enough tools to trust in themselves and build more knowledge day by day. This is also an important way of showing students what they are capable of; when students are challenged and put into situations in which they solve problems using the language, they feel proud and happy to show their solutions and performances in front of the class.

To work with big group of students, it is necessary to have a well-elaborated discipline plan which must be carried out every time in the class as well as activities which require that most of students work at the same time in order to avoid that off-task students misbehave.

Thus and as it was previously mentioned- managing the time and foresee diverse situations that might be out of the pre-service teachers hands will

definitely be helpful at the moment of obtaining the set goals. It is of major significance to prepare all the activities minutely, to put time into organizing the tasks and giving students the necessary periods to develop them. This organization will end up giving nothing more than the expected results for both teachers and students.

Consequently, each single class must be planned in advance and address students needs and their English level; it is also recommendable to have extra activities for those students who finish faster or in case one activity is finished in less time than expected.

Apart from what has been brought up, it is advised to integrate different subjects to the class projects; having topics from other classes help students create bridges among the different areas, and this puts the L2 in an even more meaningful level. Besides, the school also encourages teachers towards the integration of their subjects in order to create an eclectic knowledge on the students.

Ultimately, pre-service teachers are called to continue creating an inclusive learning environment. It is highly important to include all types of learning styles and personalities on the project planning and implementation. As human beings it is necessary to consider the multiple differences that exist; and as teachers it is mandatory to take into account and apprehend every single student during the classes, this will show students how important they are in the classes, and how significant are their ideas and feelings to the teacher, and to the class per se.

11 APPENDICES 9.1. APPENDICES # 1: Class Observations

UNIVERSIDAD INDUSTRIAL DE SANTANDER ESCUELA DE IDIOMAS LICENCIATURA EN INGLS PRCTICA PEDAGGICA I - 2013-1 INSTITUTO EMPRESARIAL GABRIELA MISTRAL

OBSERVATION PROTOCOL #1
OPEN-ENDED OBSERVATION PROTOCOL Location: Instituto Empresarial Gabriela Mistral Date: February 26th Time of Day: 8:00-9:00 / 9:30-10:30 am OBSERVERS: Jimena Alviar and Tatiana Mateus OBSERVEE : Francisco Daz Page 1 of 9 STRUCTURAL QUESTION: Whats going on here? Time management Classroom management Use of L1
Time 8:05 Descriptive Notes Students havent arrived to the classroom. The teacher walks around the hall talking on his cellphone. Hes waiting for the students. Reflection Since SS are in a different classroom the previous hour, they are late for the English class on Tuesdays. They waste nearly 10 minutes before starting the English lesson

Use of L2 Discipline SS and SS relations

T and SS relations Procedures

Teaching strategies L1: Native Language

Language abilities L2: Second Language

Students enter the classroom. Teacher asks the class leader to tell the technology teacher to let them go out of her class earlier. 8:10 Theres a lot of noise because of the construction outside; teacher calls students attention on the necessity of silence since the workmen and the tools are right next to the classroom.

The teacher spends too much time talking about the discipline that might be discussed in another moment. Since the class already started late because the students came late, both the teacher and students should use properly the time.

Since students already made some commitments about behavior in their notebooks, teacher asks students to take them out to talk about El Pacto de Aula, this in order to remind students of working individually and quietly.

8:11

Teacher reminds students of some other commitments related to their uniform, and is still talking about being early. Teacher spends more time telling students about their behavior.

8:13

Teacher welcomes the observers. Teacher talks about the class in general, how it works and the necessary materials. Teacher explains classes are completely bookbased and students must take a dictionary with them. He expresses that there will be times in which he will ask the pre-service teachers for some help.

8:15

Teacher explains the dynamics of the course, there are two hours devoted to work on the book and one hour that is used for the Plan lector. Teacher emphasizes on individual work for students.

Teacher spends some time talking about the class book. He asks students who dont have the book to raise their hands; there are 13 students who dont have the book yet. The teacher starts giving back the books (he had them because he was grading an evaluation). Students are sitting and waiting while they receive their books. The teacher asks the class leader to bring the Control de clase to take attendance.

8:17

8:20

The students who dont have the book do nothing in the class but to copy whats on the book in their notebooks. According to Vygotsky and Piaget, learning takes place when learners participate actively, and students are not actually taking part of their learning process since they are not asked to participate or reflect on what they do in class, they just write everything the teacher dictates or copy from their classmates books.

Feedback of the evaluation should have been done to ensure students understand the topic. And if they had problems on something, the teacher should have clarified that before continuing. Since students dont have any task to develop during the time the teacher gives the books back there is noise. The teacher should have given them some kind of bellwork in order to have them work on something while he spends the call the roll.

Some students are talking in their places, the teacher find this situation annoying and asks the classroom leader to bring the Observador de estudiantes. Students are silent now.

Teacher shouldnt translate immediately what he reads. He should ask students if they can understand whats going on in the conversations. From the pictures students can infer several things. According to Smith (1989) language is comprehensible when learners can use it in real situations. If students are not challenged in class, they are not asked to think or to actively participate, how can they understand what theyre doing? Teacher is very emphatic when

asking students to bring the dictionary, but students dont use it. Instead of translating the sentences right away, students can use their dictionaries to look up words they dont know

8:26

In the grammar translation method reading and writing are the major focus to learn a language. Students are not asked to read or write by their own, they just write what their teacher dictates. Thus, students are not developing intellectual abilities to translate since they dont analyze the grammatical patterns of the sentences. Theres no usefulness in translating without analyzing.

The class starts. Teacher gives the instruction in Spanish but he tries to read in English, and interrupts the class to talk once again about the Pacto de aula. He retakes the book and asks students to translate the tittle of the book even though he had already translated it-. He asks for silence once again. Teacher continues trying to read in English and immediately translating into Spanish. Students are required to write down the translation on the book. The students who dont have the book are doing nothing.

The teacher asks for silence once again. A student from a different class walks through the hall and almost falls down. One of the students says something to her and the girl responds in a very rude way. The teacher stops the class again and calls their attention, again. He talks to them about the plan and project in this class. He connects this topic with the incident of the girl who tripped over to tell the class they should be ashamed about their behavior. Teacher tells students he does not allow misbehavior. The students are still listening. He talks again about the expected behavior during the class and uniform. Then the teacher asks which grade the girl who

8:30

tripped over belongs and tells students that both that girl and the one inside the classroom are going to the coordination office.

Theres no relevance on asking students to drill sentences in Spanish The teacher should have been the one in charge of organizing the couples so that the class continues quietly and in an organized way. Students might have been told to work with the classmate sitting right next to them so that the noise from the chairs doesnt disturb the class.

Students work on the book again, and teacher starts translating again. They all try to read the dialogue in the book, but it seems difficult. Students are asked again to copy the translation. He translates the instruction again. He continues reading in Spanish; then students are asked to drill some questions and teacher continues translating while students write down the translation.

8:34

Teacher asks again which students dont have the book. Since theyre a lot, they are invited to work in couples. Students start moving their chairs, there is a lot of noise and movement. He asks the kids who dont have the material to copy everything in their notebooks because he will collect them and that will be their grade. Students start copying from their partners books.

Students are reminded of their tests (Evaluaciones acumulativas) for next week. Students talk and write while the teacher explains this. Teacher repeats again that the students who dont have the book HAVE TO copy everything, which is their classwork grade. Teacher tells students he is giving them the chance to have a grade and not a zero.

Teacher attempts to read the same conversation he already read some minutes ago, but there is a complete lack of proper pronunciation. He tells the instructions in Spanish again and tells student what is happening on the picture.

Before reading the conversation, the teacher should present the

8:35

grammatical patterns in the conversation and explain them. Then, have students practice by making the grammar exercises on the book. After this is done, students can read by their own the conversation and understand it by themselves, looking for unknown words in their dictionaries, so they actually use it. This is what appears on the translation method as PPP (Presentation, practice, and production

8:36

Students apparently follow teachers explanation and answer the questions he formulates. They only say yes or no in Spanish. While students are writing the translation, the teacher reads the sentences: in English once and in Spanish 3 times.

Students should be given the chance to produce something, to be part of the class. It is a teacher-centered class.

Teacher asks a question about the book in Spanish and all of the students reply in Spanish too. He is checking reading comprehension but in Spanish. Students who are writing on their notebooks are not paying attention to the teacher; they are focused on copying what is on the book.

Teacher should bring copies or ask students who dont have the book to bring them, so they are not only focused on writing.

8:38

Teacher continues reading in Spanish, no English at all. He asks questions in Spanish, students answer in Spanish. All- Spanish environment. Teacher interrupts the activity to tell ss again about the test next week and to tell the observers that they might have problems with the schedules.

If communication in English is to be achieved, students must be surrounded by an L2 learning enviroment

Students are asked to report the dialogues in Spanish.

The teacher should give students instructions when theyre asked to participate. There should be an

There is no organization for talking; all students talk at the same time and no one is listening to the other, not even the teacher. The teacher calls a student and tells her to remind the class what was conversation one about. She reads the translation she copied. The teacher makes emphasis on the need of having the translation first on the book in order to understand the language.

organized procedure. Students are getting used to translating literally the language without knowing about grammar.

8:40

Teacher asks another student to read dialogue number two from the book, this time in English. The student stands up and seems ashamed; there is a lot of noise and the classmates dont seem to pay attention. There is a number in the dialogue and the girl doesnt know who to read it in English. Teacher asks her to count to 15 at least but neither the student nor the teacher can do this properly. They all mispronounce the numbers. She attempts to read it once again but she cannot do it for good so they both the student and the teacher- read the dialogue in Spanish.

The student probably felt ashamed because any student have been taught pronunciation, thus she didnt know how to read. Teacher should provide some kind of context to explain this topic. It seems confusing without a situation. The teacher could use the pictures from the book to show the relation. Or he could take the students from the class and their names as an example to make the topic clearer. Lack of contexts and explanation seems to difficult the understanding of the topic. The teacher should create more context to explain this topic. Teacher could have asked some students to act or role play the dialogue but with their names, this would create a more real context in which the class might have found it easier to work on the topic.

8:43 The teacher could teach grammar inductively, through the situations in the conversations, so students notice the function and structure of the sentences. (Communicative Language Teaching).

The teacher asks students to focus their attention on the grammar part. He explains in Spanish using technical

8:45

terms what possessive adjectives correspond to each personal pronoun. He asks students to write the translation on the notebook of the possessive adjectives.

Teacher should try to ask the questions in English so that students get used to the language. They would follow his example and theyd try to speak English during the class too.

8:47

Teacher writes down on the board the list of personal pronouns students know, in front of them he copies the possessive adjective without explaining what they are used for. Students drill the possessive adjectives and personal pronouns. He tries to explain the possessive adjectives by reading the dialogues in Spanish. Students who dont have the book copy, the ones who have it copy the translation.

The teacher should ask students to develop the exercises by themselves. He cannot measure students progress if theyre not challenged.

8:48

The students are asked to explain why they have to use his instead of he, but there is no clear reason to do this, students dont know what the reason to use the possessive adjectives is. He continues translating into Spanish the texts from the book and students pay attention.

Teacher tells students to look at the board to explain possessive adjectives. He asks if students have any questions and he continues telling them that he cannot spend too much time explaining because they arent working on the unit theyre supposed to be working in.

Students start developing exercises from the book. It is a true/false listening exercise, but there is no tape recorder or cd, so they read, translate and put the letter. The teacher continues reading the statements in Spanish and students justify their answers in Spanish too. Students are told once again what happened in the

8:50

dialogue in Spanish. Students are not allowed to develop any exercise by their own or in couples, all the activities are held by the teacher and kids copy either the translation or the correct answers.

Break

Students start to come back to the classroom, as they enter, they sit, but theres a lot of noise. The teacher is standing on the door waiting for students to come. As soon as students are sitting inside the classroom, someone needs the teacher. He stands up and stands on the door talking to the woman. Students start misbehaving, jumping around the classroom. The teacher tells students to put their heads inside their arms so that they cannot see anything (cubrir), but some students dont follow the instruction. The teacher continues talking to the woman.

The teacher should have given the students a small task to develop on the book while he is busy, this would have kept students focused instead of having them doing nothing.

The person leaves, and the teacher tells the class theyve got 1.0 in their classwork grade. Hes ashamed and angry. He tells students hes mad because of their behavior. He asks them to sit properly and tells them theyre not kids anymore, that theyre no longer in fifth grade. He reminds students again what the dynamics of the class is: Each student is supposed to work individually on the book and should be quiet and paying attention all the time. 8:52

It seems that the teacher justifies the class completely on the book. Apparently he feels it is completely necessary for the class and he demands this book because its the only tool he has to teach the language and manage the class. Regarding the punishment the students received, we considered its not appropriate to expose the student who misbehaved in the class. The students affective filter could be

8:55

Teacher continues working on the book. He tells students, in Spanish, to look again at personal pronouns and possessive adjectives. In that moment, an older student interrupts the class to ask for a dictionary. Everybodys staring at her. She gets the dictionary and goes away. Teacher translates the explanation for yes/no questions and short answers. Teacher starts repeating the numbers again with the students. Theres mispronunciation. When teacher translates some sentences and questions, some students answer in English. He doesnt pay attention to these. The teacher continues explaining by reading the examples in English but immediately translating everything.

threaten, and her positive attitude towards the class could decrease.

Teacher starts dictating the translation again, so that students copy. He reads one time in English, translates, and repeats the translation at least three times in Spanish. 8:58 He copies some sentences on the board, and students write them down.

The dynamic of the class changes. Now the teacher tells the sentences in Spanish, students have to look for them in the book and tell them in English. Theyre asked to complete some sentences with possessive adjectives from the book. Teachers focus seems to be translating sentences instead of introducing and practicing grammar structures before reading the conversations in the book. Input is not given. The teacher asks questions in Spanish from the book, and answers in Spanish, as he answers, he copies the sentences in English on the board without any numbers. Theyre all around the board. The teacher tells the students that during the test, they can take out their books, and thats the reason why they have to translate everything

The teacher could elicit some information from the pictures; the students are interested and have the books with colors, people and names. Taking into account these features more questions in English could be asked.

Students are working on a different activity from the book, theyre asked to look at some pictures and choose

whether to use a personal pronoun or a possessive adjective. The teacher reads each sentence in Spanish, they answer in Spanish, and then they look for the word in English.

The teacher allows students to take out their books because the evaluation they have to present is on the same book.

Students read the Spanish translation of the sentences they were working on.

The teacher translates the next instruction to students, and theyre asked to choose a possessive adjective according to some pictures. They do the exercise at the same time. Again students are not asked to work by themselves.

9:00-9:30 The teacher has students go to the next page, reads the instruction in English following it with the corresponding translation. The exercise is about a letter. Teacher tries to read it in English once and translates it twice for students to copy. He emphasizes on the need of copying in Spanish for the exam. The teacher reads in Spanish again and tells them to complete the sentences from the letter. He tells again the possessive adjectives in Spanish but students have to do the task in English. They work all at the same time.

9:35

Students who have the book are reading it and the ones who dont are copying the exercises. The task consists on filling in some blanks with the correct adjective. The teacher interrupts the classwork to explain the meaning of THEIR in Spanish and drills the pronunciation but it was mispronounced. He continues reading in Spanish and students guess the possessive adjective but they confuse their with your during the task. Teacher constantly asks if everything is correct and ends the exercise by translating the last statement.

Students might have worked in couples so that there is some kind of autonomy and they practice with their partners. They would have tried to guess, then they would have checked by participating.

The teacher might have asked different students to read. Listening to him speaking Spanish all the time might become boring for students. They could try to read and practice their pronunciation.

Students are asked to answer some questions about the

9:41

letter the read using personal pronouns and possessive adjectives. The teacher gives them 5 minutes and tells them to work in couples. Teacher tells them hell go around the classroom checking. Students star working while the teacher remains sitting on his desk. Students read the translations they have and work in Spanish.

Some students are still copying the translation from the letter because they couldnt copy at the right moment. The teacher interrupts the students classwork and tells them he is going to help them. He starts the translation and he asks students to look at the board and check the grammar explanation. The teacher continues translating and starts writing the answers on the board so that students copy. Students try to read the sentences in English while the teacher translates.

Teacher goes around the places checking that students wrote the translation, he repeats each sentence in English and in Spanish. 9:45 Teacher reads the next sentence in English and translates it. They copy from the board but there is a mistake, they use a possessive adjective instead of the personal pronoun as the subject of one sentence: Our are 10 years old. Nobody notices the mistake and the class continues.

The teacher should monitor students work and walk around the classroom checking that students are actually working and solving doubts or questions

Teacher asks a student to clean the board while he translates the next sentence. He translates HER as ELLA, students seem confused with HER/SHE because the teacher gives the same translation for both words. There is noise of the construction again.

The teacher concludes the activity from the book and tells it is time for evaluation. He asks students to take a piece of paper, as he speaks, students start talking and a

9:47

woman enters the classroom; students are talking, asking for paper and ripping pages from their notebooks. The teacher continues talking to the woman while they get ready for the quiz. He clarifies students can use the book, the dictionary and their notebook. The teacher says that the grade of this evaluation will replace the 1.0 they got for their behavior on the previous hour.

9:50 Teacher starts dictating the quiz in Spanish. It consists on elaborating a dialogue using the greetings, verb to be, personal pronouns and possessive adjectives. One of the students asks if the dialogue must be written in English but the teacher doesnt hear, nobody answers. Students start looking and going through their books to write the dialogue.

Teacher shouldnt attempt to teach something hes not sure about.

9:53

The teacher remains in his desk. Teacher tells students which pages they should look as a guide for the quiz. Teacher calls students attention about the need for the book. He says it is necessary and that they should be thankful because he translates everything so that they understand.

The teacher also says that next class EVERY ONE must bring the dictionary. If they dont bring it they have to sign the observador. In the meanwhile, students are working individually on the evaluation; some of them are using the dictionary to look up some words, some others are copying the exact dialogue from the book, and some others seem to be thinking, they are not writing. 9:55

Pop quizzes shouldnt be a strategy to assess students since the topic has just been introduced and students havent had enough time to practice the grammatical structure. Theres a complete lack of context for this test. Students havent written a similar dialogue before; they have just

Students keep on working individually and no one asks questions to the teacher. The teacher remains sitting in his desk.

translated it into Spanish. The teacher should create more spaces for students to develop diverse kinds of tasks that involve different skills so that at the moment of evaluating students are prepared and ready to develop the required exercises.

9:58 Teacher asks a student to pick all of the evaluations up and clarifies that this time he wont collect the books. 9:59 He asks the class leader to take to his office only the new books which havent been graded.

The teacher emphasizes students must bring the dictionary but nor he neither the students have used it during the class. Since students have this tool they could only look up for the words they havent seen before and dont spend that much time in translating.

Students start moving around the classroom but the teacher insists on staying on their seats. He tells them to sit down in English for the first time. He is still sitting on the desk and he starts calling some students boy or girl because he doesnt know their names. The only student who can be standing is the one in charge of collecting the quizzes.

10:01

The teacher takes his things and goes out of the classroom. He does not say good bye and there is no homework for students.

10:30. The teacher should do around the classroom checking if the

10:03

students are working in the right way, or if they understood the instruction. This would help students to develop the test by their own means, not just copying from the book.

10:06

The teacher should close the lesson by summing up what they did in class and the activities that were developed. 10:08

UNIVERSIDAD INDUSTRIAL DE SANTANDER ESCUELA DE IDIOMAS LICENCIATURA EN INGLS PRCTICA PEDAGGICA I - 2012-1 INSTITUTO EMPRESARIAL GABRIELA MISTRAL

OBSERVATION PROTOCOL # 2
OPEN-ENDED OBSERVATION PROTOCOL Location: Instituto Empresarial Gabriela Mistral Date: February 28th Time of Day: 7:00- 8:00 a.m OBSERVERS: Jimena Alviar and Tatiana Mateus OBSERVEE : Francisco Daz Page 1 of 8 STRUCTURAL QUESTION: Whats going on here? Time management Classroom management Use of L1
Time Descriptive Notes Reflection

Use of L2 Discipline SS and SS relations

T and SS relations Procedures

Teaching strategies L1: Native Language

Language abilities L2: Second Language

7:00

Bell ring didnt sound.

7:05

The teacher is not inside the classroom. Many students are stoop up, there are some others standing on the door, others are talking on the teachers desk, or yelling from one side to the other asking for notebooks. There is one student writing on the board the names of students who are misbehaving.

The teacher should try to be on time in the classroom so that students dont misbehave when theres class change.

7:06

The bell rings and students start talking louder, like arguing. The girl who was writing on the board erases the names. Students quickly go to their seats, although there are some that are still standing on the door. When they see the teachers coming, they run to their seats. The classroom is in complete silence. The teacher arrives but stays outside, in the doorway talking to other teachers.

Teacher enters the classroom and greets students saying good morning. Kids reply in English too. Teacher congratulates students for their behavior in the previous hour. Teacher asks students to remind him of the date of their evaluation. It is on Wednesday. Teacher tells students there are going to be two evaluations, one from the book and the other from plan lector.

7:09

Teacher should make sure students write this on their notebooks. Students are still kids and may forget it. The teacher has a positive attitude towards students when he congratulates them.

A Student must go to the teachers room to bring their notebooks. Students are talking. The teacher asks them for the copy he gave them last week, about chapter 3 and 4 for plan lector. He asks students who bring the copy to raise their hands. The class monitor arrives late. Her mom greets the teacher and leaves.

7:10

Students start to say hi to Paula. The teacher asks the class monitor, Paula, to give students who dont have the copy, another one. Some students stand up to ask Paula for the copy. Other students are taking out their dictionaries and talking.

Teacher should give students bellwork to do while he arranges the class activities. If not, he should have ready the materials for the class.

7:12

Teacher says theyll start the translation of chapters 3 and 4 in Spanish. Some students are asking for a dictionary, others are still standing up and the teacher is in the desk looking at the notebooks to give away. The worksheet of chapters 3 and 4 has reading comprehension exercises like multiple choice answers, filling in the gaps, order the words and make sentences, and open-ended questions. The teacher only focuses on the text and says that all must have the translation of the previous chapters. He justifies but the students keep talking. He remains silent for students to notice his attitude.

The teacher could have started to hand in the copies, instead of waiting for the class monitor to arrive. He should have implemented procedures for each stage of the lesson, to begin the class, to hand in materials, to collect homework, etc, so that theres organization and students dont misbehave.

In the grammar translation method, the students native language is the language of instruction, but the exercises students have on the book are not about translation. If the class is book-based, the practices or tasks implemented in the classroom should be done according to what students are asked to do in the book. The plan lector appears to be of great importance in the institution. Students work on it one hour a week. Teacher could take advantage of this and develop reading comprehension activities to foster students reading skills.

7:15 Teacher says that students homework was to translate chapters 3 and 4 at home for them to work on the reading comprehension exercises in the class. He tells them that for next class theyll have to translate chapter 5 and 6 since they are included in their evaluacin acumulativa. Teacher asks students to focus on chapter 3 and starts translating the text in Spanish. Students follow the translation and teacher asks students, who did the translation at home, to correct their mistakes. Teacher interrupts the translation to talk again about what students need to do for next week. He also says that hell pick up the worksheets and the dictionaries.

Instead of reading the text translation, the teacher could have asked a student who did the translation to read it in English and then in Spanish and compare it with other student who also did it. Thus he would involve students in the learning process. The teacher is not actually implemented the grammar translation method, since no presentation or practice of grammar rules is presented. The teacher should also write on the board what the planning for next week is, and ask the kids to copy on

their notebooks, so they have it present.

7:18

Teacher continues translating by reading the sentences first in English and then in Spanish. He stops reading in English and goes back to Spanish. He continues reading only in Spanish. Many students are writing down the translation, which means they didnt do it at home. Teacher explains the use of this and that in Spanish. All students are quiet.

The teacher translates literally from the paper. Teacher continues dictating the class in Spanish, and students follow the reading but in Spanish. The teacher tells students when there are questions, he doesnt use intonation to make them sound like questions.

If the teachers method is that of grammar translation, he should attempt to help students develop their intellectual abilities in order to read in the second language. He should also make a list of useful vocabulary based on the texts and teach it through bilingual lists.

Teacher is redundant when translating: She walks into the kitchen Camina entrando dentro de la cocina. Teacher asks students whats the translation of the next sentence. A student tries to say it but the teacher doesnt allow her. He asks students whats next but doesnt give them the opportunity of answering. Teacher keeps on dictating. Hes on the desk, he doesnt stand up, or moves around the classroom. Students continue writing what the teacher says. A student corrects a mistake the teacher made.

The teacher should ask students to work in couples with their dictionaries and try to read the conversation.

The teacher should stand up and monitor/check students work. Teacher asks who did the translation at home and asks the class monitor to give points to people who did. Teacher congratulates students who did the translation at home. He stands up and asks for the names of students who did it and checks the translation. A student asks the teacher if it is time to use their dictionary. Teacher

7:20

answers no.

Another teacher enters the classroom to take attendance and students answer. The teacher checks the translation and goes back to his desk. Students are paying attention to the attendance.

7:22

Teacher starts translating chapter 4 and students continue writing down. Teacher translates Notre Dame Cathedral as al norte de la catedral. Nobody notices the mistake and they all continue writing. The teacher explains the meaning of the compound noun pen friend in Spanish. Students are not following the sentences in English that are being translated; they appear to be focused only on writing.

7:25

The teacher should have had informed before the lesson, so that he doesnt make mistakes with wrong information. As the teacher reads the translation, he should reference his translation on the English part. In this way, students could, at least, see which words mean what. The reading and writing activities should be done with the purpose of learning how to acquire new knowledge outside the school, that is, how students could apply that knowledge in real life, and how to learn to analyze (Vygotsky, Bruner & Piaget, 1991).

The teacher asks questions in Spanish, and students answer in Spanish. Students who did the homework are not writing down, theyre supposed to be checking if they have the same translation the teacher is saying.

7:29

The teacher confuses a possessive adjective with an object pronoun. He says to students that them is a possessive adjective. Students are still quiet and copying.

The teacher should be checking students work and dictionaries by himself, so that theres silence and the class monitor can also work on

The teacher asks students to go to the questions from chapter 3 and 4. He tells the instruction in Spanish and tells students to work individually while he checks if they bought the dictionary. Some students start working and asking questions to their classmates. The teacher tells the class monitor to give a positive mark for those who bring the dictionary and another for those who wrote down the translation. The class monitor is not doing the task.

the subject.

The teacher should have some knowledge of the language hes teaching, so that he doesnt teach students mistakes.

7:30

Some students seem to be waiting for the teacher to check their materials, but theyre not developing the worksheet. Some others are working with the dictionary. Most students have Chicago dictionary. The teacher warns the students by saying that hell take away positive marks if they continue talking.

7:35 The teacher should have established a set rules as well as a set of punishments at the beginning of the school year. Thus, students would know that if they break a rule, theyll b punished. This will improve students behavior in the classroom. Class time should be used for helping students understand their task instead of using it on checking materials.

Another teacher enters to ask about the schedule and ringing the bell. While the teacher is checking, he repeats what students should have on their notebooks. Students who already got their points are working.

A student is talking. The teacher asks the class monitor to give him a negative point and not to remove until hes quite. He says to him that next time hell call his parents. He asks for silence but hes the one whos making noise. Teacher tells the class monitor in secret: If they talk again, Write down their names, and I give me that list. Its an ultimatum.

The teacher continues speaking and notices that some students havent written down their names neither on the worksheet nor in their notebooks. He asks them to do it. Teacher tells students theyre supposed to be working on the worksheet. He reminds them that hell take the it,

some students react and say they havent done anything. Teacher continues checking dictionaries. All students are sitting and some have their notebooks closed. Some others seem confused and dont know what they have to do. 7:40

The teacher asks the class monitor to hand out the worksheet about chapter 5 and 6. He tells students that if they develop the translation of these chapters, hell give an award for half of the grade of Plan Lector. Students write down that they should hand in chapters 1-2-3-4-5-6 and that 5-6 must be developed as a homework 7:43 Teacher asks for silence until the bell rings. Now the class monitor hands in the papers. Two students just arrived to the classroom. Because they were with the pshycologist The teacher asks them if they have the translations done, they dont. So the teacher asks them to take out their notebooks and dictionaries and do it outside the classroom as fast as they could. The teacher remains on his desk.

The teacher should have spent some time explaining students each exercise in the worksheet. Instructions are in English and students dont know what to do since theyre used to translate even the instructions in the book. The teacher should make sure that all students understand the instructions, so they all know what they have to do and work on the task.

The teacher should give the positive points not only for bringing the dictionary but for using it.

Students are on their seats arranging the sheets to hand them in to the teacher. Theyre pasting them. The teacher doesnt say a word. Some students are talking about the sheet. Several students are stood up. The bell rings and they start to talk louder. A students is cutting his hair with scissors. Students start misbehaving when the teacher goes away. 7:44 The teacher should establish clear procedures for the closing of the lesson, so that students dont misbehave while the bell rings. He should also summarize the activities or tasks that were carried out.

7:47

7:50

7:54

7:55

7:58

8:00

UNIVERSIDAD INDUSTRIAL DE SANTANDER ESCUELA DE IDIOMAS LICENCIATURA EN INGLS PRCTICA PEDAGGICA I - 2013-1 INSTITUTO EMPRESARIAL GABRIELA MISTRAL

OBSERVATION PROTOCOL # 3
OPEN-ENDED OBSERVATION PROTOCOL Location: Instituto Empresarial Gabriela Mistral Date: March 12th Time of Day: 8:00-10:00 OBSERVERS: Jimena Alviar and Tatiana Mateus OBSERVEE : Francisco Daz Page 1 of 3 STRUCTURAL QUESTION: Whats going on here? Time management Classroom management Use of L1
Time Descriptive Notes Reflection

Use of L2 Discipline SS and SS relations

T and SS relations Procedures

Teaching strategies L1: Native Language

Language abilities L2: Second Language

8:00

Students are waiting for the teacher. Theres a lot of noise. The teacher came but he went away talking on his cellphone. Some students are standing up and others are copying the homework.

8:03

The teacher enters the classroom and closes the door. He stays quiet and looking at students for a moment for them to make silence. He says good morning. Teacher says hes going to give back the tests. He also says hes going to check their notebooks and books. Some students continue talking and the teacher says that either he or them talk, but not both.

The time of the class could be used more wisely working in the subject. While the teacher sits down and checks their work, students could be doing a bellwork that helps them focus on the language.

8:05

Teacher asks students to take out their book and go to page 6. Theyre going to finish the term. There isnt a new topic. The reminds students who dont have the book to have everything copied on their notebooks. He also tells students that, so far, they should have completely developed pages 6-19 and emphasizes that hes done all the work. Ss are writing, catching up on their work. A student comes late, the teacher has him sit in front, calls him sinvergenza and says hes happy to have students there in a sarcastic way. Some students are writing in their notebooks, some others are talking.

Teacher asks students to look at pages 30-31 and develop the evaluation they have in there. He tells ss that its the same they presented as previo acumulativo Teacher reminds students about having the translations done. Pages 10-11-16-17-18-19 are taken as a test. Many students are still copying what they didnt do in the other classes. Teacher congratulates some ss who did the test from the book.

The fact that the teacher tells ss he has done all the work by himself shows that this is a teacher-centered class. In this way the teacher is not promoting self-confidence among students in the foreign language. The opportunity of discovering their learning strategies is not being provided so students are not taking advantage of this inside the classroom.

8:10

Evaluation should be a meaningful practice for both students and teacher. Filling in pages from the book that havent been explained does not provide enough tools for students to go further in the language. They are left by themselves without any explanation to do whatever they can with the book. The teacher should provide enough input in order to expect output.

Teacher lets ss work in couples. Ss stand up and start moving. Most of the ss decide to work with the person that is next to them. Ss continue writing from other notebooks. Teacher reminds ss who dont have the book to copy the evaluation on their notebooks and develop it.

Working in couples should promote communicative purposes in which students share their thoughts or doubts about the evaluation or the topics that they studied in the first term.

Teacher says again what pages hell check again. Teacher says hes going to grade logro comportamental. Ss are working in couples but theyre only copying the translations and the answers to the exercises on the book. Teacher calls the class monitor to start cheking the points she has as well as the grades so that he has more grades of his students. Hes also checking and grading the book. Some students are talking. Theres a student outside the classroom, walking in the corridor. Ss who dont have the book nor a partner are doing nothing. 8:13

The teacher, instead of translating everything in the texts to students, should involve them in the learning process by providing meaningful activities that actually foster students learning of English. Task based methodology, for instance, could be implemented since this focuses on the students, and not on the teacher, as well as it gives meaning to the activities or tasks that are developed and makes students responsible of their own learning process. Autonomy is developed.

8:16

Teacher calls the first students and ask her to show him the book. He continues calling students alphabetically. Teacher remains in his desk grading ss work and calls come students attention for being standing up. Most students keep on catching up on his work. Students are not challenged. Activities in the class arent suitable for fostering the students learning of English. Students should be developing activities that actually aim at something that makes them think, discover, solve, or analyze. Copying from others is meaningless. Scaffolding should be provided to foster the learning process of English as a foreign language (Bruner, 1975)

Teacher repeats which pages hell check. He says that ss who dont have the book have to take some advantage because hell only check pages 10-11, 16-17, 22-23.The student who was outside enters the classroom.

The teacher continues checking and students copying. Teacher reminds them to do the test on page 30-31. The

science teacher interrupts the class to say she wont give the test the test to students who havent paid. She reads the names and the amount of money they owe her.

The teacher should provide more activities for students to work on the topics and to get in touch with the language, everything within a contextualized environment.

Students are sitting but talking. The teacher stands up and gives students instructions of whats going to happen next. He checks some students work and then sits down and continues grading the book. Teacher calls students attention for talking too much. Students start talking louder. Many students are still catching up 8:23 Teacher asks the students representative to bring the observador because one of the kids replied to something he said in a rude way. The teacher calls the students alone (after telling him in front of the class), and in his desk, he tells him a lot of things, such as: you dont talk like that to your dad, Im not the dinner lady.

8:30

Teacher continues checking the book and the notebook. Students whose books were already graded are doing nothing. The others are still writing from their partners book. Ss in general keep on talking. A couple of students were arguing. One of them hits the other on the head. He asks students who are standing up to sit down and to be quiet.

8:47 He calls two students to his desk and spends some time with them talking about discipline. Ss start to stand up again and a student is applying makeup.

Students are again talking too much. Most of the students have closed their book and seem to be waiting for the break.

The bell rings.

UNIVERSIDAD INDUSTRIAL DE SANTANDER ESCUELA DE IDIOMAS LICENCIATURA EN INGLS PRCTICA PEDAGGICA I - 2013-1 INSTITUTO EMPRESARIAL GABRIELA MISTRAL

OBSERVATION PROTOCOL # 4
OPEN-ENDED OBSERVATION PROTOCOL Location: Instituto Empresarial Gabriela Mistral Date: March 14th Time of Day: 7:00-8:00 OBSERVERS: Jimena Alviar and Tatiana Mateus OBSERVEE : Francisco Daz Page 1 of 2 STRUCTURAL QUESTION: Whats going on here? Time management Classroom management Use of L1 Use of L2 Discipline SS and SS relations T and SS relations Procedures Teaching strategies L1: Native Language

Language abilities L2: Second Language

Time

Descriptive Notes

Reflection

7:05

The teacher enters the classroom. The students are talking and some are standing up. The teacher greets students in English and reminds them to wait for the teacher to enter the classroom for them to ask permission to go out the classroom. He tells students that it is part of the pacto de Aula.

Students should be provided with some bellwork in order to focus their minds on the class and in order to start working on the subject.

Teacher starts the class by making a little prayer to thank God for everything and ask him to help all students.

7:08

7:10

Teacher explains that today theyll check the last grade of the term, students are asked to take out their notebooks to check plan lector. He reminds students again that nobody is allowed to go out the classroom to present exams of a different subject. If somebody does it, he wont have a grade.

The teacher should have provided a rubric or a guideline at the beginning of the course in order to have all these grades organized and in order to let students know in advantage what they should have had ready for that day. The time inside the classroom should be spent on meaningful activities.

The teacher starts reviewing the chapters they should have developed. Teacher asks a student to show him her the chapters, he congratulates her for her job at translating chapter 5 and 6 by her own. He asks her to copy only the answers for chapters 3-6 on the board and the rest of students must copy them on their notebooks.

The teacher could use a reward penance system, like happy faces, for those students who work and for those who are misbehaving or wasting their time.

7:13

A students comes to the teacher and asks him something. He tells him to copy on his notebook and then he can translate. Students are sitting but when a student stands up, the teacher tells him hell take away 5 points from their grade, then another student talks and the teacher says hell take 10 points.

Students were not provided any kind of guidance to develop the exercises about the chapter. Learning should be a process in which students play the main role (student- centered paradigm) They should, together, build up their knowledge with the guidance of their teacher.

Teacher asks which students have to give in a social

7:18

studies worksheet. He asks the monitor class to go and hand them in now. Teacher remains sitting and students are copying from the board. Many students still have to presents their books, so the teacher starts calling students and tells the class what they are supposed to do. He tells the class to copy or correct their answers according to what the students writing on the board.

A student asks something and the teacher congratulates him because he notices interest on the kid. Some students call the girl whos writing on the board but she doesnt respond to the calls. There is no context for students to understand what they are copying from the board. They should be involved in activities that enhance critical thinking skills.

7:22

Students are very quiet writing down whats on the board. They dont ask questions, just copy.

The teacher continues grading the books while students are still copying. Some students are doing things from the book and some others are doing what theyre supposed to do, the plan lector. As soon as the teacher listens to the kids talking, he shhs them and reminds them not to talk at all.

The teacher should promote Englishspeaking environments in which students get in touch with the language and start using it.

7:25

The teacher asks students to move on to the next exercise, he translates the instruction into Spanish, and asks the same girl to continue copying on the board. Students copy too.

The vast majority of students seem to be very focused either on the things theyre writing from the board or on the pages from the book they have to do or copy from their partners. 7:30

Time should be used wisely inside the classroom.

7:35

More engaging and meaningful activities should be proposed. Maybe if the tasks were more interesting for the kids, and more skills were required they wouldnt start doing

As students finish copying, they start talking loudly, and the teacher shhs them again. Teacher says theyll move towards chapter 5. The student, whos been writing on the board, erases what she wrote even though some students havent finished. She starts writing the answers to chapter 5.

other activities.

7:40

A student was doing something that wasnt for the class, so the teacher asks for the observador, and says hes going to make a citacin de padres.

The teacher should have a procedure for closing up the class. Remind ss about the topics they studied, solve doubts and talk about homework.

Some girls are talking about make-up and the teacher remains sitting. Theyre still lots of students who havent got their books checked.

7:42

Teacher tells students again to copy exercise 6 from the board but the marker is no working anymore. Students say they cant see anything.

The bell rings.

UNIVERSIDAD INDUSTRIAL DE SANTANDER ESCUELA DE IDIOMAS LICENCIATURA EN INGLS PRCTICA PEDAGGICA I - 2013-1 INSTITUTO EMPRESARIAL GABRIELA MISTRAL

1.1 OBSERVATION PROTOCOL # 1

OPEN-ENDED OBSERVATION PROTOCOL Location: Campus Classroom (6-01) Date: Monday, February 25th 2013 Time of Day: 10:30am- 12:30m OBSERVERS: Gerson Nieto, Diana Diaz OBSERVEE : class 6-4 Page 1 of 3 STRUCTURAL QUESTION: Whats going on here?
Time 10:30am Descriptive Notes The schools bell rings and some students start arriving to the classroom. They look at us very surprised and start asking us questions. The teacher arrives to the classroom and the students start organizing it in six rows. While students are doing this, the teacher starts asking them about books, dictionaries and folders. After that, he introduces us and says to us that we can help him with the class. T hands in the English books. T gives them to the first students in the rows and the students continue talking and some of them are using bad words. T checks attendance. T talks about the examination. A student was going to ask something related to the book and the teacher shut him up. T leaves the classroom for a while, but the president of the class (a girl) was in charge of watching them. T starts reading a conversation in the book. T has students write down new vocabulary. Ss have to look the words up in their dictionaries. All the time he gives instructions in Spanish. Ss participate positively; however, Ss without the material do nothing. One of these students falls asleep. T asks students the reasons why they did not bring their dictionaries. Reflection

10:35am

Time to start the class is 10:30 but the teacher arrived late and he cannot catch the students attention. It is difficult for Ss to enter the class quietly taking into account that they come from the break. This event was unplanned and it affects the English class. Ss did not complain about the exam, this indicates that T had informed Ss about it in advance. This procedure is really important because Ss get ready for the exam. It is not appropriate to leave the classroom because Ss start making noise easily. This exercise is not useful due to the fact that the teacher pronounces incorrectly. Ss need to be exposed to the language, so they have to practice and get used to the English sounds. It is important to avoid translating all the words in the book.

10:37am

10:40am

10:50am 10:55am

11:00am

T cannot control the whole class because there is too much noise outside the classroom.

11:05am

T has to do much effort to talk loudly in order to keep the students attention. T should avoid using his cell phone in class because that is the first thing he bans. T tries to show us Ss have god English level.

T uses his cell phone in class while teaching. Only 34% of students pay attention to the class.

11:10am

T asks a student to read a short paragraph. He seems to be the best student because he does not have mistakes in terms of reading.

11:15am 11:25am T has students write down the translation above the lines in the book. T asks students to turn over to page 13, Ss follow the instructions immediately. 11:35am 11:40am T writes personal pronouns and possessive adjectives on the board. T explains and provides some examples in the book. T gives a brief definition about possessive adjectives. This process is in Spanish. 11:45am 11:50am 11:55am Some Ss seem to be bored and tired. They are not willing to work and some of them are asleep on their desks. T explains grammar on the board. T has students fill in the gaps on the books with possessive adjectives. T asks one of the observers if he is making any mistake in terms of pronunciation. It is important when T writes examples on the board because it can grab students attention. The whole class is based on translating the words. It would be recommendable to explain new vocabulary using pictures or body language.

Grammar must be taught in a different way. Ss can get interested in the topic by using different strategies like flashcards and posters based on students likes. It is difficult for students to understand grammar when it is taught explicitly. According to CLT learners need to be able to use language for communication. T seems insecure in front of the students when pronouncing words. It would be accurate for the teacher to take an English course before. T should provide all the tools in order to carry out the exercises in class. It can be said that the listening skill is the most difficult one so it must be taken into account more seriously. External factor are always distracters for Ss. T should have strategies to keep the students quiet. T has to prepare the class in advance. T tries to involve students in the class because some of them are doing

12:00m

12:05m

T talks about a listening exercise. There is no a CD player so he decides to skip the activity. The head director starts talking in the speakers giving information about the upcoming events. Ss stand up and start talking about it. T asks students to be quiet. T misunderstands a word and Ss automatically help him out. Ss seem to be focused on the reading activity. T asks a student to read a paragraph aloud in front of

12:10m 12:15m

12:20m

her classmates. T asks students to read randomly a set of sentences. At the same time, he corrects them. T leaves the classroom for a couple of minutes in order to bring some papers with exercises for the examination. Before that, T asks his assistant to stand in front of the class to keep the students quiet. T gives students the copies and they want to help delivering them. T tells students to go out the classroom for lines. Some students have to clean the classroom. Class is over.

other activities. It is important when T involves students in the learning process. It is useful for Ss to have activities to practice at home. Ss follow the procedures to leave the classroom. Ss know the procedure for cleaning the classroom because they do not complain when they are ask to do so. T seems to have the control of students in terms of classroom management.

12:25m

UNIVERSIDAD INDUSTRIAL DE SANTANDER ESCUELA DE IDIOMAS LICENCIATURA EN INGLS PRCTICA PEDAGGICA I - 2013-1 INSTITUTO EMPRESARIAL GABRIELA MISTRAL

1.2

OBSERVATION PROTOCOL # 2
OPEN-ENDED OBSERVATION PROTOCOL

Location: Campus Classroom (6-01) Date: Thursday, February 28th, 2013 Time of Day: 8:00-9:00 am OBSERVER: Diana Diaz, Gerson Nieto OBSERVEE : class 6-4 Page 1 of 2 STRUCTURAL QUESTION: Whats going on here?
Time 8:05am 8 :10am Descriptive Notes T arrives to the classroom. The students are talking and getting ready for the class taking out their dictionaries. T tells the students that the complementary evaluation is the workshop they have been studying and it can be taken home in order for them to practice. 8:15am T starts asking the students about the book, dictionary, folder and notebook. T tells the student that he is going to check line by line student by student, book, folder and dictionary. Reflections The atmosphere is calm because the students seem to have a positive attitude. The classroom is very noisy because other students are in their P.E class. Ss use L2 to greet because they have mechanized this procedure. It is important for the teacher to check if the students have the tools to learn.

8:21am

T asks one student to come to the desk and grade the students according to his command. T asks students to translate all the readings given while he is checking line by line. T implements translation method is his classes to keep the students busy. It is important to check what students have done at home and follow their progress. It is necessary to add a rule related to bringing all the materials to class because this can cause disruptions in class.

8:30am

T starts checking the first line and according to what they have in their books, notebooks and dictionaries, he looks at the student in charge of grading and tells her to write down a positive mark or a negative mark according to the way he moves his head to give directions.

8:34am

T starts reading the first text in the photocopies and translates it immediately. Ss have to write down the whole paragraph in Spanish. It is a Spanish dictation. T asks some questions about the paragraph. Everything is in L1. T picks up his cell phone while he is reading the text.

All the class is held in L1 because the teacher is reading the text in his native language.

8:40am

8 :50am

Ss are writing the whole story on their notebooks. The teachers translation has no sense with the story.

T should at least read the text in English. Ss need to be exposed to L2. Readings must be constantly reinforced using L2. Proponents of L2 use argue that target language use results in more language exposure which leads to enhancement of oral interaction. Mohebbi, H (2012)

8:55am

T asks a student to tell the others the date of the examination. T explains the methodology of the exam and talks about the material students have to bring. T spends the rest of the class checking dictionaries.

It is imperative that the teacher gives all the instructions related to the upcoming exam.

9:00am

UNIVERSIDAD INDUSTRIAL DE SANTANDER ESCUELA DE IDIOMAS LICENCIATURA EN INGLS PRCTICA PEDAGGICA I - 2013-1 INSTITUTO EMPRESARIAL GABRIELA MISTRAL

1.3 OBSERVATION PROTOCOL # 3

OPEN-ENDED OBSERVATION PROTOCOL Location: Campus Classroom (6-01) Date: Monday, March 11th 2013 Time of Day: 10:30am- 12:30m OBSERVERS: Gerson Nieto, Diana Dz OBSERVEE : class 6-4 Page 1 of 2 STRUCTURAL QUESTION: Whats going on here?
Time 10:30am Descriptive Notes The schools bell rings and some students start arriving to the classroom. The teacher arrives to the classroom and the students start organizing it in six rows. T asks students to translate everything page 24 from the book. T has Ss use their dictionaries. 10:37am T explains the task again. T asks students who did not bring their dictionaries to raise their hands in order to identify them. T asks students to fill in the listening exercise by using the scripts in the books. 10:50am 10:55am Some students do not pay attention while T giving instructions. T calls students one by one in order to check their dictionaries, books and notebooks with the task done previously. One student says to one of the observer that he does not understand the assignment. Ss stand up to talk to the ones who did the homework. One student is cleaning the classroom. Ss are off task because T cannot keep an eye on each S while they are working. T takes the necessary time to give instructions. T tells Ss the importance of having the tools in class. It is necessary that Ss develop their English skills and sub-skills. In order to do so, they have to be exposed to real listening exercises in order to get used to the English sounds. Ss are not willing to work because they have to translate every word that appears on the page. Reflection Time to start the class is 10:30 but the teacher arrived late and he cannot control the students attention.

10:35am

10:40am

It would be beneficial for Ss to get feedback in these kinds of personal meetings. By means of this, students can learn from their mistakes.

11:00am

11:05am T talks about the final grade in terms of their attitude towards the English class. 11:10am Ss start chatting among them while the teacher is checking the task. Ss ask observers some questions related to the book. T makes a student move his chair next to the door. The class is disorganized; Ss are chatting and moving from one place to another. 11:25am A student tells one observer that he does not like translating words. T asks students to sit down. T makes another student move his chair next to the door. The students who are next to the door are doing nothing. 11:30am Class is over because Ss have to take an examination from another subject and the teacher has to be on watch. T must not accept this examination method because they only take English twice a week. It is not enough when it comes to be exposed to L2. T should change the method of translating everything because Ss find it boring and stressful. T tries to keep the students calm by making this comment about their behavior. Ss look at the observers as a solution for their problems in terms of misunderstanding.

11:15am

T might use different strategies to have students work because they get apart from the whole group and feel useless. They have nothing to do so they get stressed out.

UNIVERSIDAD INDUSTRIAL DE SANTANDER ESCUELA DE IDIOMAS LICENCIATURA EN INGLS PRCTICA PEDAGGICA I - 2013-1 INSTITUTO EMPRESARIAL GABRIELA MISTRAL

1.4 OBSERVATION PROTOCOL # 4

OPEN-ENDED OBSERVATION PROTOCOL Location: Campus Classroom (6-01) Date: Monday, March 14th 2013 Time of Day: 8:00am- 9:00am OBSERVERS: Gerson Nieto, Diana Dz OBSERVEE : class 6-4 Page 1 of 2 STRUCTURAL QUESTION: Whats going on here?
Time 8:00am Descriptive Notes The schools bell rings and some students start arriving to the classroom. The teacher arrives to the classroom and the students start organizing it in six rows. T checks attendance, meanwhile he is making phone calls. 8:10am T asks a student to write the answer of the photocopies given previously on the board. Ss have to write the info from the board. Some students are distracted and doing other things. 8:15am 8:25am Some students are making fun of the one who is writing on the board. T starts checking students books and dictionaries. A student is asleep on her chair. 8:30am 8:35am T has a seat on his desk and calls Ss in order to check their tasks. While the teacher is doing so, some students are cheating with their classmates. Some students did not do their homework so the teacher gives them a second chance for next class. 8:40am Two students start fighting in class. It is important for the teacher to change the way he assesses the students. It is not related to check what they have on their books. It is not accurate when the teacher uses electronic devices that can affect students attention. It is a good idea to get students involved in the class. By means of this exercise, students are not forced to think and do their own tasks. T does not have the control of the situation. It would be recommendable that T has to be paying attention to the class. Reflection Time to start the class is 8:00 but the teacher arrived late and he cannot grasp the students attention.

8:05am

It seems that T wants students to do the homework no matter the deadline. Good management of the situation. T

T threatens these students with detentions. 8:45am A student in the back part of the classroom is playing with his smart phone. Some students do not know what to do because they ask one of the observers for help. 8:50am 8:55am The student on the board has some spelling mistakes and the teacher does not notice them. T leaves the classroom for a couple of minutes. Ss start chatting among them. When T arrives he says the class is over.

does not get angry.

It is necessary for the teacher to take his time explaining the instructions because Ss continue asking. It is important to confirm understanding of instructions before starting to work. T might avoid leaving the classroom without giving any reason to do so.

UNIVERSIDAD INDUSTRIAL DE SANTANDER ESCUELA DE IDIOMAS LICENCIATURA EN INGLS PRCTICA PEDAGGICA I - 2013-1 INSTITUTO EMPRESARIAL GABRIELA MISTRAL

1.1

OBSERVATION PROTOCOLS

OPEN-ENDED OBSERVATION PROTOCOL Location: INSTITUTO EMPRESARIAL GABRIELA MISTRAL Date: FEBRUARY 22nd , 2013 Time of Day: 2 HOURS OBSERVERS: SILVIA JULIANA LEN/ DIANA CRISTINA OROSTEGUI OBSERVEE : GRADE 6-3 STRUCTURAL QUESTION: What is going on here?

Time 6:00

Descriptive Notes The class was supposed to start at this time but teacher went out of the room and came back 12 minutes later.

6:12

The class starts with a good morning and the students responded to it with a good morning, then teacher does the roll call and makes sure everyone has the material for the class by asking each student to raise the dictionary. He highlights the importance of bringing materials to class in order to have a good grade in the English class. The teacher is most of time sitting at his desk.

Reflection Teacher does not respect time of the class, if students are left alone they with nothing to do, they will most probably misbehave. Punctuality is very important since students will increase their level of responsibility and respect towards the teacher. It is recommended that if the teacher needs to leave the room for some reason, he/she should leave some activity in advance or before leaving the room to avoid misbehavior. Materials are ready. The objectives are not set clearly at the start of the lesson. There is no any warm up, he does not write anything on the board, neither date nor objectives. Teacher does not use time wisely; he wastes lot of time talking about irrelevant topics over and over. The lack of warm up activity impedes student from making switch to English mode and leads to a stress-free

environment. A simple warm up gets students brains in the correct place, making class easier for the ESL students and for the teacher. As it's the first activity of the lesson, the warm up sets the tone for the next minutes. The distribution of the time is a relevant factor since there is only three hours for English lessons during the week. So that, it is advisable to write the objectives on the board or let the students know them in advance, this not only gives a hint to students about what they are supposed to learn but also guide teacher through the class and improve time management. 6:20 The teacher asks the students to take out the book and hands out some books he took the previous class, he says how important is to have the book and how well-organized it is, he announces that there will be an evaluation based on page 10 and 11 on the book, he also says the topic is verb to be and gives some quick remainder of it in Spanish. The board is still clean, and he spends a lot of time talking over and over about the book and how good it is. He remains students that the following week they will be taking the final test of the academic period. It is positive that the teacher announces the exams. In that way, students are prepared for what is coming. However much time is wasted in this issue.

6:24

He continues speaking in Spanish and decides to start the class, he asks students to open the book on page 14. As not all students have the book, he asks the students without the book to join a partner. He starts reading the headline and he pronouns soser instead of soccer, one student corrects the pronunciation about the teacher gets upset and keeps talking. Once again, he talks about the importance of having the book and he says that if students behave well in class then they will have the opportunity to use the book during the tests.

The teacher does not show good knowledge of the subject content covered in the lesson. Thats why knowledge was not made relevant and interesting for students.

It is noticed the importance of the book for the class. It affects the students who dont have it; although they are asked to join a partner, they have to rewrite everything from the book to their notebook; therefore, they have little chance to pay attention to what is being taught. The textbook is a good tool for both teacher and students, however, the big focus that is given to it by the teacher causes problems for the students without this tool, since they find boring and tedious to copy all exercises from the book to the notebook and also it makes difficult for student to pay attention to explanation.

6:30

The teachers has not done much in the class, now he remains that he was sick and that is the reason they have not advanced as supposed. He begins to read a short paragraph from the book, he reads a sentence and immediately translates it to Spanish, sometimes he does not even finish reading the sentence in English, he makes a lot of mistakes regarding pronunciation. He makes the students to write the translation of each sentence next to the text in the

The teaching methods used by the teacher do not permit students learn effectively. The lesson or parts of the lesson are not linked to previous teaching or learning. No varieties of activities and questioning activities are used. The teacher does not involve students. Students are not praised regularly for their effort and achievement, taking into account there are few who participate. The lack of exposure to L2 difficult the student learning process and does not

book. The teacher reads positive sentences with to be and immediately goes to negative questions and interrogative questions using verb to be.

provide opportunity to them to the sounds and differences in pronunciation in English language. The L2 should be used as much as possible. Maximizing L2 use should be the goal in every classroom.

6:45

The teacher has already translated every single sentence and also the exercises the students are supposed to solve. Most of the students, especially those without book, are bored and uninterested in the class; they answer the exercises easily because of the translation or start asking the others. Ss do not know what to do.

Students are not provided with any exposure to English language, even when they develop the activities, they are given the corresponding translation. It is evidenced how students are not learning any new vocabulary since they stop paying attention to the English text as they are not only given the translation but also encourage to write it in their books or notebooks. There is no problem-solving technique used in the lesson by the teacher. Through grammar translation, students lacked an active role in the classroom, often correcting their own work and strictly following the textbook. Peeny Ur (2000) says that it is vital for students to know what they have to do before starting any activity. When the instruction is not clear enough, the teacher has to stop in the middle of the activity to reissue instructions, or there is a delay and a distracting buzz of talk as students consult each other. The teacher tried to link personal pronouns and possessive adjectives writing on the board the corresponding equivalent. The teacher did not show any method of differentiation through involving students in the process.

He explains that they are using the possessive adjectives and remember personal pronouns, he explains their use by comparing and exemplifying with Spanish language, he uses complicated language to explain it.

6:55

He writes some sentence in the board to exemplify the possessive pronounce but he gets confused and writes: I am name Diana and below My name is Diana. After explaining he asks students to solve some exercises in the book by themselves.

The fact that the teacher does not know certain things about the language is causing troubles since he is not teaching grammar but when he tries to do, he makes mistakes and children are reproducing those mistakes.

7:01

Although he assigned a task, he decides to do it all along with students, he reads the question and then translates it and encourages students to answer but just few do. Teacher gets upset and highlights that translation were given for them to solve the exercises.

7:16

He assigns the last two exercises in pairs but this leads to disrupted behavior so teacher calls their attention and makes them to go back to their individual seats.

725

7:35

He corrects the exercise with the few students who are working, after they finish that book page and assigns a task. Task is to write a dialogue using pronouns and possessive adjectives And to write a letter with information about students friends, what grade they are in and how are they now. He gives 7 minutes for this activity.

Students written work is not assigned accurately. The expected outcome is not consistent with the students learned knowledge in the lesson.

The dictionary as an appropriate learning resource is being used. But, students do not know how to face the expected outcome of the lesson. There is no content validity Many students are not working and some of between the explanation and class them are writing the dialogue in Spanish development and the task assigned by the and looking up words by word in the teacher. dictionary and others are copying the dialogue from the book.

The teacher asks for the dialogues but not many students have it ready.

7: 50

There is an interruption. The academic coordinator announces through the loudspeaker that each Group Director is going to hand out the schedule for the final exams of the period. Teacher decides to pick up the activity students were doing during the last thirty minutes. In doing so, he orders two students to collect all notebooks. In spite of the fact students did not achieve productive outcomes as it was expected by the teacher; he demonstrates classroom management in this aspect by collecting homework quickly with the help of two of his students.

UNIVERSIDAD INDUSTRIAL DE SANTANDER ESCUELA DE IDIOMAS LICENCIATURA EN INGLS PRCTICA PEDAGGICA I - 2013-1 INSTITUTO EMPRESARIAL GABRIELA MISTRAL

1.2

OBSERVATION PROTOCOL 2

OPEN-ENDED OBSERVATION PROTOCOL Location: INSTITUTO EMPRESARIAL GABRIELA MISTRAL Date: FEBRUARY 27TH , 2013 Time of Day: 2 HOURS OBSERVERS: SILVIA JULIANA LEN/ DIANA CRISTINA OROSTEGUI OBSERVEE : GRADE 6-3 STRUCTURAL QUESTION: what is going on in here?

Time 6:00

6:51

Descriptive Notes Due to a meeting in order to let students know about some events for the election day, students are asked to join in the courtyard. The meeting lasts almost an hour. Then, the students go back to their classrooms to begin the first hour of class, therefore, the class hours are reduced to 35 minutes each. The teacher starts the class asking how many students have the book since that day there will be the term exam and they will practice in the book. The teacher states the exam is based on the book. They ask students to open the book on page 6 and he says if they behave well he will give them the answers for the exam.

Reflection

It is noticed that the teacher tries through all means to help students to pass the exam. The teacher provides a lot of opportunities to approve the subject since he knows his classes have not been enough to reach the proposed goals by the Languages Area.

The students without book must copy all the Ss have clear what they have to exercises and the corresponding answers. do if they do not have the book. He also says that the exam is about everything they have studied on the book from page 6 to 11 and he

points out that students should know that because he has translated everything to them. He asks the students who dont have the book to join a partner. He also stipulates that the students who get all answers right will be given 20 extra points in the exam, but in the end it never happens, at least during the class. This strategy of offering a reward is good since it serves as a motivation tool; however, although it works and increases students attention and motivation there are some considerations about this strategy in order to make it work. First of all, as a reward offered for good behavior or hard work, it must be given at the end of the lesson or class, if it is used only as a clich or discipline strategy then students will end up by losing interest in the class and confidence in the teacher.

6:55

The teacher says the exam in the book on page 30 is This strategy should not be used like a simulation of the real exam. So, he encourages that often so it doesnt take the students to translate and solve each single question. risk of make the students lose autonomy and responsibility in the class, or else they end up by working only if a reward is offered.

7:12

The teacher is constantly leaving the room due to some last minute exam preparations. He encourages the students to solve any doubt with us as we are English teachers.

During this time, although behavior is not totally disrupted, it is noticed that students dont know much about the exam topics, as translation is the only teaching strategy used, most of them try to translate word by word what they want to write or express.
According to Colin Smith (2002) in his book effective classroom management: a teachers guide says that interruptions lead to distraction and loss of interest for students and teachers. Every time the teacher is

out, the students are disorganized when he come back. He should minimize the impact of being outside on the learning activities, and assure that students resume their activities.

7:36

In this part of the class, it is Therefore, some students start asking us questions evidenced the results of the mainly about vocabulary, none of them ask about grammar translation method, grammar or sentence formation but translation of there is not any communicative some words such as: you, are, old, yours, her. approach and students are not even familiar with grammatical Some of the students are working properly, but the rules but they only store and majority of them are wasting their time talking, memorize isolated words instead sleeping or playing around. and put them together using their However, there is never an uncontrollable L1 as guideline. In most of the misbehavior since students are aware of it would cases it is seen negative transfers affect their grades. from L1 to L2. Teacher comes and monitors students work from Monitoring is mandatory in the time to time, some students make him questions class. However, all students related to the book, he spends some time answering should be equally monitor in and monitoring and then he leaves the room again. order to encourage them to work and provide some reliability to the task. Teacher says he will start checking answers but there is not enough time so he can hardly check the first ones. Then, he separates the students and assigns 5 minutes to study and review for the exam individually. Once again he encourages them to read the translations of the reading of the books. Assessment and evaluations are also important parts of the class, activities should be given an appropriate time to be checked and given a feedback.

8:07

8:15

The class has finished and the students get ready to take the English exam.

UNIVERSIDAD INDUSTRIAL DE SANTANDER ESCUELA DE IDIOMAS LICENCIATURA EN INGLS PRCTICA PEDAGGICA I - 2013-1 INSTITUTO EMPRESARIAL GABRIELA MISTRAL

1.3

OBSERVATION PROTOCOLS

OPEN-ENDED OBSERVATION PROTOCOL Location: INSTITUTO EMPRESARIAL GABRIELA MISTRAL Date: MARCH 13TH , 2013 Time of Day: 2 HOURS OBSERVERS: SILVIA JULIANA LEN/ DIANA CRISTINA OROSTEGUI OBSERVEE : GRADE 6-3 STRUCTURAL QUESTION: what is going on in here?

Time 6:00

Descriptive Notes The teachers starts the class by asking about the book, he wants students to finish some pages missing, he talks about the book and the importance of having it for the class. He checks the dictionary while doing the roll call He spends some time talking about some issues related to the English class and finally he encourages students to start finishing the pages already seen in the book ( 6,10,11, 16, 17, 30,31)

Reflection Every class is started with the same speech about the book and dictionary, again many time is being wasted on this topic. Teacher should use this time wisely instead of repeating the same every class since students dont get engage to the class with that repetitive opening by the teacher. When SS arrive to the classroom, they dont have a specific task to do. For this reason, they do not pay attention to the majority of the teachers speech and talk to others. It would be useful to have a bell work that they can do as soon as they arrive to class.

6:20

Students start going over the pages and see what they have completed. Teacher notices some students dont know personal pronouns so he says he will make a quiz soon about this topic. He points out the importance of learning them by heart.

In this part it is evidenced how teacher uses assessing as a way of threating to push students to learn the topic.

Ss need to be provided with Students point out they havent solved pages 10 and modeling of the topic they are 11 so teacher assigns those ones for class and ask studying, without being rude with students to work with a partner. them. This helps Ss to understand better. It has been noticed in every class that every time Ss ask constantly about a topic, the teacher decides to group Ss. Its important to check if the method to explain is really effective. In this case, its necessary to implement different strategies. It is observed the students negative reaction about the quiz. Students start working on those pages for 60 minutes, some of them dont do the activity but take that time to do other homework, the ones without book, spend a lot of time copying all exercises from the book. In general, many students do not use time wisely and teacher does not pay enough attention to it, he uses those minutes to check students books. Too much time is given to this activity and also no much monitoring is done while students work, it causes that many students lose the aim of the activity and focus other matters. In this type of peer work, it is advisable that the teacher becomes a resource or tutor for helping students to develop the task. The lack of timing for activities allows students to waste time and activities programmed for the lesson cannot be achieved. Time management should be integral parts of those classroom procedures which helps keep your classroom running like clockwork so that students know in advance what to expect.

6:30

7:33

Students ask teacher how to solve the listening part, he says that as there is no cd player they will have to use the transcript on pg 124, after everyone goes to that page he starts translating every single sentences and makes the students write translation in order to answer the questions.

What was supposed to be a listening activity and one of the only chances students can be exposed to L2 is turned into another grammar translation activity with no opportunity to develop any listening skill. Students work on the listening exercises for some It would be good idea that time using the translation given. teacher try to read this in English so student are encourage to listen and try to understand as much as they can. The teacher doesnt check students work. Checking for students' understanding of important ideas and concepts helps instructors measure what students are getting and what they need to work on more. However, Ss should work on the activities without talking to others.

7:45

The class finishes and the students go back to their seats, teacher finish the class by remaining the books will be checked soon. It was noticed teacher never No homework was assigned. assigns homework. Homework is important because it is at the intersection between home and school. It serves as a window through which you can observe your childrens education and express positive attitudes towards your children and their education. As children grow older, homework and the amount of time engaged in homework, increases in importance. For teachers and administrators, homework is a cost effective way to provide additional instruction in practice.

UNIVERSIDAD INDUSTRIAL DE SANTANDER ESCUELA DE IDIOMAS LICENCIATURA EN INGLS PRCTICA PEDAGGICA I - 2013-1 INSTITUTO EMPRESARIAL GABRIELA MISTRAL

OPEN-ENDED OBSERVATION PROTOCOL Location: INSTITUTO EMPRESARIAL GABRIELA MISTRAL Date: MARCH 15TH , 2013 Time of Day: 1 HOURS OBSERVERS: SILVIA JULIANA LEN/ DIANA CRISTINA OROSTEGUI OBSERVEE : GRADE 6-3 STRUCTURAL QUESTION: what is going on in here?

Time 11:40

Descriptive Notes Teacher is late for class and the students were misbehaving so the teacher asks the student in charge of discipline in the class for the list of students who were misbehaving, then he goes out again to bring the students discipline controller sheet to make annotations

11:50

It is Friday and these students have the reading hour, they are in chapter 3 of the book. Teacher remains the students are supposed to have chapter 1 and 2 read and the exercises solved Teacher points out that the translation of chapter 3 has already been given so they will start solving the exercise on this chapter. He assigns a girl to write the exercises and their Feedback on content and form is solution on the board so students can check theirs. important since it helps students to be aware of their mistakes and the why of them and they have the chance of learning from mistakes.

Reflection It is a small room with many students and if they are left alone with nothing to do this kind of behavior is highly expected; therefore, as a teacher, it is important to be on time for class or assign some work I advance for those cases. The class is not fruitful for students since any real input is given during the whole class; they checked their answers in Spanish and teacher didnt give any kind of feedback.

12:05

12:20

Teacher starts giving the results of the first term The class time was not properly English exam while the students keep copying from used, it has to be taken into the board the answers. The rest of the class account that there are only 3 continues in that way. hours per week dedicated to English lessons and if time is not use wisely many of the objectives set in the curricula will be hardly achieved. Teacher finishes to hand out the exams and then he During all time teacher does this asks students who havent given him the book to be activity, the behavior is never checked to do it right away. disrupted. Students finish the activity from the chapter and The teacher has a good control remain at their seats waiting for the bell to ring. over the rooms discipline.

The class finishes. 12:30

The class finishes and no homework is assigned, not any remainder of studying at home is made. Its necessary to have a procedure for Ss when the class finishes. Theres no a procedure for cleaning the classroom. This one must be created and be repeated all the classes. Ss dont leave the class quietly. Ss should be assigned in turn to clean up and leave the room by rows.

UNIVERSIDAD INDUSTRIAL DE SANTANDER ESCUELA DE IDIOMAS LICENCIATURA EN INGLS PRCTICA PEDAGGICA I - 2012-2 INSTITUTO EMPRESARIAL GABRIELA MISTRAL

1.4 OBSERVATION PROTOCOLS

OPEN-ENDED OBSERVATION PROTOCOL Location: Instituto empresarial Gabriela Mistral Date: Feb. 26th, 2013 Time of Day: 10:30 am 11:30 am OBSERVERS: Claudia Bautista Jonathan Silva

Time 10:30

Descriptive Notes Teacher starts the lesson by checking which students already solved the copies for chapters 1 and 2

Reflection Lesson should be introduced in a better way so teacher and students take more advantage of the little time the have

10:37 10:43 10:46 10:47 10:50 10:52 10:55 11:00 11:03

Teacher spent 6 minutes checking which students brought the copies of chapters 1 and 2 Teacher checks students comprehension of the text and exercises by translating every single word to L1 Students are very disciplined Teacher asks a student who seems sick to go out and have some air Teacher gives students copies for chapters 3 and 4 Teacher asks students to translate the text and exercises from the copies Teacher notices there are some off-task students since they dont have a dictionary. He asks students to work in couples. Teacher checks attendance Teacher continuously asks for silence

Too much time spent on this Will students respond well if this is done through L2? Even though this is a big group, they listen every time the teacher speaks. Are there any other ways of dealing with this? Grammar translation exercises are not part of communicative teaching, are they? Lack of resources What kind of tasks or exercises will keep off-task students at minimum? Do students feel they cant work in class without a dictionary? Students seemed annoyed when this happens. There must be some cool way to ask for silence More grammar translation exercises

11:05

Students keep on translating

11:10 11: 11

Teacher stands up for the first time in class and checks students work Students collaborate in order to translate the copies Students get along with each other. They communicate effectively during tasks

11:12 11:13

Teacher sends two students to coordination for discipline issues Teacher leaves in charge of the group a student, and goes out to see if the other two students are with the coordinator. Students misbehave. Teacher comes back in the room, asks for silence, and assigns the translation of the copies as homework. He goes out again. Teacher is still out. Some students keep on translating; some others misbehave. Teacher comes in, picks up his stuff, and tells students to wait for the next teacher. It is not recommendable to leave the classroom. The group never listened to the student in charge. 11:13 11:26 It is not recommendable to spend too much time outside the classroom since disruptive behavior may arise

11:15

11:20 11:26

Closing a lesson with a final task or a review is crucial. This closing shows some time management issues.

UNIVERSIDAD INDUSTRIAL DE SANTANDER ESCUELA DE IDIOMAS LICENCIATURA EN INGLS PRCTICA PEDAGGICA I - 2012-2 INSTITUTO EMPRESARIAL GABRIELA MISTRAL

1.5

OBSERVATION PROTOCOLS

OPEN-ENDED OBSERVATION PROTOCOL Location: Instituto empresarial Gabriela Mistral Date: March 1st, 2013 Time of Day: 6:00 am 8:00 am OBSERVERS: Claudia Bautista Jonathan Silva

Time

Descriptive Notes There was no class since students had an activity related to the accountants day from 6 am to 8 am.

Reflection

UNIVERSIDAD INDUSTRIAL DE SANTANDER ESCUELA DE IDIOMAS LICENCIATURA EN INGLS PRCTICA PEDAGGICA I - 2012-2 INSTITUTO EMPRESARIAL GABRIELA MISTRAL

1.6

OBSERVATION PROTOCOLS

OPEN-ENDED OBSERVATION PROTOCOL Location: Instituto empresarial Gabriela Mistral Date: March 5th and 8th, 2013 Time of Day: OBSERVERS: Claudia Bautista Jonathan Silva

Time

Descriptive Notes In these two dates, observation was not possible since students had mid-term exams

Reflection

UNIVERSIDAD INDUSTRIAL DE SANTANDER ESCUELA DE IDIOMAS LICENCIATURA EN INGLS PRCTICA PEDAGGICA I - 2012-2 INSTITUTO EMPRESARIAL GABRIELA MISTRAL

1.4

OBSERVATION PROTOCOLS

OPEN-ENDED OBSERVATION PROTOCOL Location: Instituto Empresarial Gabriela Mistral Date: March 12th, 2013 Time of Day: 10:30 am 11:30 am OBSERVERS: Claudia Bautista Jonathan Silva

Time 10:31 10:32

Descriptive Notes Teacher checks attendance Teacher starts checking the exercises in the book, dictionary, and the translation of the copies Teacher asks a student to move his desk to the front part of the room

Reflection

The teacher always sticks to the book. Here, he has students working on every single page of the book. According to the teacher, this students belongs to a gang, so he must be careful with this kid. Young learners are in the middle of the process to build their self-esteem. Telling off a student in front of the group can affect his attitude towards learning. It is very difficult for students to build up a communicative competence if the teacher doesnt provide any spoken input during class.

10:35

10:36

Teacher begins checking the book. A student says he doesnt have the book and the teacher tells him off. The teachers method to check this is calling students one by one to his desk Teacher hasnt spoken English so far

10:40

10:43 10:45

Teacher allows students with no book to form couples with those who have it Teacher has students work on their books. He doesnt explain or give any instructions Some students are working, some others are chatting. Teacher promises to give away some extra points for the exam if they work. Teacher starts giving some information about a girl in the school whose father died. So far, he hasnt spoken any English. Students sometimes struggle to figure out what they have to do in some book exercises. Since the teacher doesnt stand up very often, off-task students is a common situation in this class Once again, the teacher hasnt provided any spoken input. In addition, he doesnt use the tape recorder very often. This

10:50

10:53

means that students dont have a linguistic model for pronunciation. 10:56 10:58 Teacher continues on calling students to his desk. Some students start working frantically Teacher intercedes in a loan issue between two students Students see the teacher as a mediator for them to overcome differences with other students

11:04 11:07 11:16 11:17 11:20 11:28

Teacher tells off a students who is eating a lollipop As the teacher checks the book, some students in the back of the classroom are having their way (eating, playing with cellphones, chatting). Teacher stands for the very first time Teacher goes out with two students Teacher comes back with the students, checks if students are working and sits so he can continue checking students book Teacher asks students to organize the room since they are having a marketing exam Again we have no lesson closing. This is probably an indicator that classes not always have clear objectives stated different from moving forward in the contents of the book Classroom management in here is a serious issue since the teacher doesnt walk around the room and therefore provides little help when students have questions.

UNIVERSIDAD INDUSTRIAL DE SANTANDER ESCUELA DE IDIOMAS LICENCIATURA EN INGLS PRCTICA PEDAGGICA I - 2012-2 INSTITUTO EMPRESARIAL GABRIELA MISTRAL

1.5

OBSERVATION PROTOCOLS

OPEN-ENDED OBSERVATION PROTOCOL Location: Instituto Empresarial Gabriela Mistral Date: March 15th, 2013 Time of Day: 6:00 am 8:00 am OBSERVERS: Claudia Bautista Jonathan Silva

Time 6:05

Descriptive Notes

Reflection

The class started on time and all the students were in their desks.

It is important to be punctual because teacher can develop all the activities planned for the class.

6:07

Teacher brought students the results of the first accumulative exam and he explained how the test was graded.

Receiving feedback is necessary because students know what are the weaknesses and the strengths. It is given individually because the grade is personal.

6:09

Teacher gave feedback individually.

6:15 6:18

Students commented their grades between them. Teacher explained that the students who failed the exam had a second chance for improving the final grade. Not only summative assessment can be done in the class, but also formative assessment in order to collect reliable and valid information of the students performance. Again, the teacher based the class on the book. Some students did not have the book, so they work with their classmate. Students share their supplies without any problem.

6:36 6:39

Teacher asked the students to open their books.

Students organized in pairs quietly and quickly.

6:45

Teacher said that the students have to do the listening activities at home.

During the class, teacher should develop the four skills: reading, writing, listening and speaking. Take the attendance is part of the daily classes since teacher have to register the students absences. Teacher should walk around the classroom and not only remains on the desk. After finish each activity, the classroom has to be organized into lines. Revision is essential because students know which answers are wrong or right. It is noticed that some answers have grammatical mistakes such as Silvie is Hungary, instead of Silvie is Hungarian.

6:57

Teacher took the attendance and checked if the students brought their dictionary and their book.

7:20

Some students did not do anything during the class and the teacher did not notice it.

7:24

Teacher asked the students to organize the classroom and they follow the instruction immediately. One student wrote on the board the answers of the comprehension part of the chapter 4 of the Plan Lector. Students copied down the answers on the worksheet without any comprehension.

7:29 7:36

7:50 7:57

Teacher talked on the cellphone.

Teacher should not answer his cellphone while he is in class.

The class finished.

9.2. APPENDIX 2: STUDENTS NEEDS QUESTIONNAIRE

UNIVERSIDAD INDUSTRIAL DE SANTANDER ESCUELA DE IDIOMAS LICENCIATURA EN INGLS PRCTICA PEDAGGICA I - 2013-1 INSTITUTO EMPRESARIAL GABRIELA MISTRAL

NAME: _________________________________________ _____________

DATE: _______________

GRADE:

ENCUESTA
El propsito de esta encuesta es conocerlo mejor, conocer sus perspectivas y expectativas acerca de la clase de ingls.

1. INFORMACIN SOCIO-DEMOGRFICA
Por favor, complete los enunciados y marque con una (X) la respuesta que lo describe. Informacin personal 1.5 Vivo con: 1.1 Mi nombre es: _____________________________________ 1.2 Tengo: ___________________ aos 1.3 Mi gnero es: Femenino_____ Masculino______ Mam Pap Hermanos 1.6 En mi casa tengo: Computador /Porttil Radio/Equipo de sonido 1.4 Mi estrato socioeconmico es: Televisor 1____ 2____ 3____ 4____ otro_____ Consola de videojuegos Abuelos Tos Otros _______ Familia y hogar

2. GUSTOS E INTERESES
Marque con una X la opcin de su preferencia. Baloncesto Atletismo Ciclismo

Natacin 2.1 Deporte Ftbol Voleibol

V V V V V V

V V V

Otro ________________

Vallenato 2.2 Msica Pop Rock Novelas

Reggaetn Cumbia Metal

V V V

Otro___________________

2.3 Programas de Televisin

Programas en Ingls Noticieros

V V

Animados Documentales Pelculas

V V V V V

Otro__________________

Escuchar Msica 2.4 Pasatiempos Ver TV Navegar por Internet Matemticas 2.5 Materias Sociales Biloga

Leer

Otro ___________________

V V V V V V
Dormir Salir con mis amigos Ingls Espaol Ed. fsica

V V V V
Otro _________________ Otra ___________________

Romnticos 2.6 Libros Ficcin Historia

V V V

Misterio Horror Ensayos

V V V

3. ESTILOS DE APRENDIZAJE
Marca con una X la opcin ms adecuada segn su criterio. Casi Nunca

3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 3.9 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13

Sigo instrucciones orales mejor que los visuales. Entiendo mejor cuando leo en voz alta. Prefiero escuchar una clase del profesor que cuando leo el libro de texto. Prefiero escuchar la radio en lugar de leer el peridico. A menudo canto, tarareo, o silbo para m mismo. Cuando me presentan dos sonidos similares, me doy cuenta si son iguales o diferentes. Me gusta contar historias, chistes, y hacer analogas verbales para demostrar algo. Disfruto hablar con otros (as). Hablo conmigo mismo (a). Uso sonidos musicales para aprender cosas. Me fijo en las expresiones faciales y lenguaje corporal de la persona con quien habla. Prefiero tomar notas para revisarlas ms tarde. Recuerdo mejor escribiendo las ideas varias veces, dibujando, o haciendo diagramas.

Siempre

Casi siempre

Nunca

3.14 3.15 3.16 3.17 3.18 3.19 3.20 3.21 3.22 3.23 3.24 3.25 3.26 3.27 3.28 3.29 3.30

Deletreo rpido. Prefiero que se me presenten las instrucciones visualmente. Siento que la mejor manera de recordar algo es visualizarlo en mi mente. Sigo las instrucciones escritas mejor que las verbales. Soy bueno armando rompecabezas. Puedo entender y seguir instrucciones con mapas. Soy bueno en las artes plsticas. Hablo rpidamente utilizando las manos para comunicar lo que quiero expresar. Soy bueno(a) en los deportes. Estoy constantemente inquieto(a) (por ejemplo, golpeo el escritorio con el lapicero o juego con las llaves en el bolsillo). Disfruto trabajar y hacer cosas con las manos. Aprendo por medio del movimiento y exploro el entorno. Me siento cmodo(a) con el contacto fsico con otros (as) en seal de amistad (por ejemplo, abrazando). Prefiero hacer cosas en lugar de ver una demostracin o leer sobre ella en un libro. Puedo ser considerado hiperactivo(a). Me gusta armar y desarmar cosas. Soy bueno(a) para encontrar la forma de llevar a cabo algo.

Cuntas X marc en SIEMPRE en los siguientes rangos? 3.1-3.10 ________ 3.11-3.20 ________ 3.21-3.30 ________

4. ESTRATEGIAS DE APRENDIZAJE
Marca con una X la opcin ms adecuada segn su criterio. Siempre

Disfruto Cuando trabajo solo (a). Cuando trabajo con otro compaero (a). Cuando trabajo en grupos pequeos. Cuando termino una tarea que requiere resolver un problema. Cuando me tengo que actuar en clase. (Por ejemplo, en dilogos, obras de teatro). Cuando realizo actividades que requieren de imaginacin y creatividad.

4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6

5. MI EXPERIENCIA CON EL INGLS

5.1 Cunto tiempo llevas estudiando ingls? ___________________ Has tomado algn curso de ingls por fuera del colegio? a. S b. No Si tu respuesta es s responde las siguientes preguntas: En dnde has tomado el curso? ___________________ Por cunto tiempo? ___________________

5.2

Casi siempre

Nunca

Casi nunca

6. NECESIDADES Y DESEOS DEL ESTUDIANTE

Por favor seleccione con una (X) la respuesta que corresponda a su caso. (Seleccione todas las que apliquen) 3.1 Con qu frecuencia tiene usted contacto con el idioma ingls? Una vez a la semana Dos o tres veces a la semana Ms de tres veces a la semana Otros _________ 3.2 Disfruta las clases de ingls? Siempre Frecuentemente

A veces

Nunca

3.3 Cules habilidades en ingls son sus favoritas? Lectura Conversacin Comprensin auditiva Escritura Gramtica Todas

3.4 En cules habilidades en ingls quisiera concentrarse ms? Lectura Conversacin Comprensin auditiva Escritura Gramtica Todas

3.5 Qu clase de actividades prefiere hacer en la clase de ingls? Ver pelculas y videos Cantar Leer y escribir Hacer presentaciones y exposiciones Participar en debates y discusiones 3.6 Me gusta la clase de ingls porque: Me divierto mientras aprendo Puedo participar mucho en clase Porque siento que aprendo muchas cosas. 3.7 En la clase de ingles me gustara: Conocer acerca de otras culturas Escuchar canciones Ver videos Leer libros en ingls Hacer obras de teatro y dramatizaciones Usar internet Escribir sobre cosas que me gustan Hablar en ingls Participar en juegos donde use el ingls OTRAS: __________________________________ 3.8 Escoja los recursos con los que cuenta en su casa para estudiar ingls: Computador Profesor particular Acceso en Internet Libros y diccionarios Otros _____________________ Escuchar msica Otros _______________

Muchas gracias por su cooperacin!

9.3. APPENDIX 3: TEACHERS INTERVIEW

UNIVERSIDAD INDUSTRIAL DE SANTANDER ESCUELA DE IDIOMAS LICENCIATURA EN INGLS PRCTICA PEDAGGICA I - 2013-1 ENTREVISTA FOCALIZADA A LA DOCENTE REA: INGLS INSTITUTO EMPRESARIAL GABRIELA MISTRAL

I INFORMACIN PERSONAL 1 Cunto tiempo lleva trabajando en la institucin? 4 aos. 2. Dnde realiz sus estudios de pregrado? Francisco de Paula Santander, Santo Toms. 3. Ha realizado estudios de posgrado? 2 especializaciones. 4. En qu otra institucin ha trabajado? Durante cunto tiempo? Colegio Matanza- Ro Negro Balbino Garca, Cooperativo de Bucaramanga. 5. Existe algn programa de formacin continua para los docentes del rea de ingls? En qu consiste? Por medio de la Alcalda.

II METODOLOGA Y DIDCTICA 6. Considera importante el aprendizaje de una lengua extranjera? Por qu?

S, por la secularizacin. 7. Qu enfoque metodolgico se implementa en el rea de ingls en la institucin? El PEI. 8. Usted sigue el mismo enfoque o lo ajusta? Por qu? Segn la necesidad del saln. 9. Para usted qu es lengua? Etimologa- Hablar.

10. Qu enfoques metodolgicos conoce para la enseanza de una lengua extranjera? Piaget- Skiner- Constructivismo. 11. Dentro de estos enfoques, cul implementa usted? Constructivismo. 12. Qu entiende por competencia comunicativa? Capacidad para comunicarse acertadamente. 13. Dentro del enfoque comunicativo se pretende desarrollar las cuatro habilidades (escucha, lectura, escritura y habla), de estas cules desarrolla ms en la clase? Por qu? Lectura y escritura. 14. Qu elementos tiene en cuenta al realizar la planeacin de clase? Pre-saber, contexto socio-econmico, inters.

15. Qu estrategias de enseanza utiliza para alcanzar los objetivos planteados? . Trabajo individual y en grupo. Socializacin, participacin, auto-evaluacin. 16. Cuando un estudiante obtiene un desempeo bajo o bsico, qu estrategias utiliza para ayudar al estudiante a alcanzar los objetivos planteados? Se le propone un plan de mejoramiento. 17. Qu estrategias de evaluacin implementa en el aula? Evaluaciones individuales formativas y evaluaciones tipo ICFES. 18. Qu otros materiales de apoyo diferentes al texto gua usa? Carteleras, posters y grabaciones. 19. Con cunta frecuencia usa los recursos tecnolgicos disponibles en la sala de bilingismo? No existe.

III RELACIONES INTERPERSONALES

20. En su opinin, cmo se da el trato interpersonal entre los estudiantes dentro del aula? Se da un ambiente de respeto y confianza. 21. Cmo es su relacin con los estudiantes? Excelente.

9.4. APPENDIX 4: DIAGNOSTIC TEST

12 BIBLIOGRAPHY

9.5. APPENDIX 5: PRE-TEST AND POST-TEST

UNIVERSIDAD INDUSTRIAL DE SANTANDER ESCUELA DE IDIOMAS LICENCIATURA EN INGLS PRCTICA PEDAGGICA II - 2013-2 INSTITUTO EMPRESARIAL GABRIELA MISTRAL

NAME: _________________________________ DATE: __________________ GRADE: 6 -__ LISTENING COMPREHENSION (20 MARKS) PART A. Listen to the audio recording and number the professions according to the order you hear them. (10 marks, 1 each) k

A doctor
A doctor

A teacher
A doctor

A waiter
A doctor

A soccer player
A doctor

A chef
A doctor

A police officer

A doctor

A singer
A doctor

A nurse

A doctor

A lawyer

An actor
A doctor A doctor

PART B. Listen to the audio recording and tick the sentences you hear. (10 marks, 2 each)

Singers sing in concerts

A doctor
A doctor

Waiters take food to customers Teachers teach students

A doctor

A doctor

Lawyers speak for people in the court Actors star in movies

A doctor

A doctor

Chefs cook delicious food

A doctor

Police officers capture criminals

A doctor

Doctors cure people Engineers design and build machines

Soldiers protect people

A doctor A doctor

READING (20 MARKS) PART A. Write the number of the sentence under the corresponding picture according to the persons profession. Theres one example. (10 marks, 1 e ach)

1. Capture criminals 5. I am very famous run

2. I act in movies 6. I score goals

3. I protect people

4. I play soccer 8. I

7. I have a gun

9. I maintain order in the city 10. I am rich

I am a police officer

I am a soccer player

I am an actor

___________1______________ _________________________ _________________________ _________________________ PART B. R William is in an interview for his new job. Read the interview and circle the correct answer. (10 Marks, 2 each)

A: Good morning, sir. Whats your full name? B: My name is William Anthony Barker A: Where are you from? B: Im from New York A: How old are you? B: I am nineteen years old A: Whats your job? B: I am an athlete. A: What do you do? B: I practice two different sports: soccer and baseball. A: What is your telephone number? B: My telephone number is 357-8921 A: Thank you very much Mister Barker. B: Youre welcome Miss. 1. What is the mans full name? a. William 2. Where is he from? a. Los Angeles 3. How old is William? a. Hes 16 b. Hes 19 b. Hes an athlete c. Hes 17 c. Hes a doctor b. New York c. Miami b. Mister Barker c. William Anthony Barker

4. What is his occupation? a. He is an actor

5. What is his telephone number? a. Three five seven eight nine two one b. three five two eight nine two one

WRITING (20 MARKS) PART A. Complete the following conversation with the appropriate words in the box. (10 marks, 1 each) student Saturday Canada Anette Brow school restaurant read twelve years old pasta seven

My

name

is

(1)

_________________________.

am

(2)

_____________. I am from (3) _______________. My favourite day of the week is (4) _______________, my favourite number is (5)

______________.My favourite food is (6) _____________ , I like to go to Ginos (7)______________________, because pasta there is really delicious. I am a (8) ________________, and I really like to (9) ____________. I study in a big and beautiful (10)________________ . PART B. Circle the correct alternative and complete the letter. Choose a, b, c, or d.(10 marks, 1 each).

Hi, My (1) is Roman. I (2) 14 years old. I (3) in Buenos Aires in Argentina. I've got brown hair. My mother's name is margarita, she is a (4), and she works in a hospital. My father's name is Roberto, he is a chef, he works in a (5) . I have many hobbies. I like to (6), I've got about 40 books. I also like to (7), especially Italian food. I love music too. I (8) to pop music and I play the piano and the flute. And (9) ? what (10) your favorite hobby ? Write to me soon. 1. a. e-mail 2. a. have 3. a. live 4. a. office 5. a. hospital 6. a. dogs 7. a. cook 8. a. sing 9. a. me 10. a. am b. eyes b. am b. play b. teacher b. office b. read b. buy b. is b. you b. are c. name c. have c. write c. lawyer c. restaurant c. go c. give c. listen c. your c. he d. roman d. go d. everyday d. nurse d. factory d.be d. food d. like d. am d. is

LANGUAGE USE (20 MARKS) PART A. Choose the best answer to the questions. (10 marks, 2 each) 1. Whats your name? a. Fine and you? b. Its Peter c. Im 13 years old 2. Where are you from? a. Im from Bucaramanga b. Im 12 years old c. Im good and you? 3. What is your occupation? a. I am Tom b. I am a nurse c. I work at the hospital 4. What do you do? a. I live in Bucaramanga b. I am 12 c. I cook delicious food, I am a chef. 5. Where do you work? a. I work in a restaurant b. I am a chef c. Im 20

PART B. Complete the questions with a suitable word. (10 marks, 2 each) 1. My name ________ John. 2. I _________ 13 years old.

3. I _________ from Bucaramanga. 4. I _________ a lawyer. 5. I _________ in an office.

VOCABULARY (20 MARKS) PART A. Look at the pictures and write the names of the occupations. (5 marks, 1 each) Look at the pictures and write the names of the occupations. (5 marks, 1 each) 1. I am a ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

2. I am an ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

3. I am a ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

4. I am an ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

4. I am an ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

5. I am a ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

PART B. Where do they work? Write the names of the work places and match them to the occupations. (10 marks, 2 each)

__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __

__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __

__ __ __ __ __ __ __

__ __ __ __ __ __ __

__ __ __ __ __ __

PART C. Write the numbers. (5 marks, 1 each)