LANGUAGE LEARNER PROFILE

Learner: Paulina Matamala

Teacher: Andres Hunter

Alberto Wentelemn

Concepción, 5th October 2009

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LIST OF CONTENTS

BACKGROUND ……………………………………………………..…………....1

ENGLISH STUDIES ……………………………………………………………....1

REASONS FOR STUDYING ENGLISH …………………………………………1

INTERVIEW………………………………………………………………………..2

PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION …………………………………………………..5

MAIN DIFFICULTIES OR CULTURAL/LANGUAGE INTERFERENCES…….6

Grammar…………………………………………………………………………….6
Phonology…………………………………………………………………………...9
Vowel sounds………………………………………………………………………..9
Consonant sounds …………………………………………………………………...9
Intonation and stress………………………………………………………………....10
Fluency ……………………………………………………………………………...10
Register and vocabulary………………………………………………………….......10
Reading ………………………………………………………………………….......11

SUMMARY ………………………………………………………………………....11

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BACKGROUND

The interviewed is called Paulina Matamala. She lives in Concepción (the city where she

was born) in the South of Chile. She is currently living with her parents and her brother.

Her father is the only person in her family (apart from her) who speaks English and as she

manifested "Normal English like me" which indicates he has a similar level to hers.

ENGLISH STUDIES

She attributes her level of English mainly to her habit of watching movies and listening to

music in this language. She also replies to the question "Dou you remember any teacher?"

with the answer "yes, Jania Bastias. She was my English teacher" and to the question "Do

you learnt good English from her?" with the answer " yes, normal English" a similar

answer she gives when she refers to her level of English.

REASONS FOR STUDYING ENGLISH

Her most extensive answers in the interview are the ones related to the importance she

gives to learning English. She explains she will need English because there’s plenty

material in her field which is only available in English.

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INTERVIEW

Alberto Wentelemn (interviewer) = A

Paulina Matamala (interviewed) = P

A-Hello

P-Hello

A-What is your name?

P-My name is Paulina Matamala

A-What do you do in a typical day?

P-Mmm... I come to the university all the day and I study all the day, because I have

many things to study for the university

A-Who do you live with?

P-I live with my parents and my brother

A-Does anybody in your family speak English?

P-Yes, my dad burr ... but normal English like...like me

A-Do you study here in this university?

P-yes

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A-What do you study here?

P-I study nursery

A-Which year?

P-Second grade

A-Where did you study before the university?

P-Colegio Etchegoyen

A-Do you remember any English teacher?

P-Yes…mmm Jania Bastias, she was my English teacher

A-Do you think you learnt good English from her?

P-Mmm... normal English

A-You know, there are four abilities, speaking, listening, reading and writing. Which

ability you like most?

P-Reading

A-Why do you like reading?

P-Mmm because is good, you can learn many things…reading… because I study

nursery I have to study pretty much

A-What would you like to do in the future?

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P-I have be... I want to be a nursery and work in a hospital here in Concepción or

maybe in Santiago

A-Do you think that English will be helpful for your career?

P-Of course because many of the text I have to read are in English also in a .. ramo?...

called …fisiologia we have the teacher have some classes in English because he said we

have to... acostumbrarnos?... to read in English because all the actually bibliography

is in English for our career.

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PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION

normal English

Reading

because is good, you can learn many things…reading… because I study nursery I have to

study pretty much

I have be... I want to be a nursery and work in a hospital here in Concepción or maybe in

Santiago

Of course because many of the text I have to read are in English also in a .. ramo?... called

fisiologia we have the teacher have some classes in English because he said we have to...

acostumbrarnos?... to read in English because all the actually bibliography is in English for

our career.

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 MAIN DIFFICULTIES OR CULTURAL/LANGUAGE INTERFERENCES

General Analysis

Grammar

1. Incorrect use of prepositions

She uses “for” instead of “in” to express what she has to do in a certain place.

“I have many things to Study for the university” P2 L10

2. Incorrect use of nouns.

She uses “nursery” instead of “nurse” to explain what she wants to be in the future.

“I want to be a nursery” P4 L1

And “nursery” referring to her major instead of “nursing”

“I study nursery” P3 L2

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3. Incorrect use of adjectives

Beyond the fact she uses the word “actual” meaning “current” she uses it the -ly

“All the actually bibliography is in English” P4 L6

4. Incorrect use of adverbs of time

She uses the incorrect expression “all the day” either meaning “everyday” or “the

whole day”

“I come to the university all the day” P2 L 9

“I study all the day” P2 L9

5. Incorrect omission of the subject

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She omits the subject “it” in the following sentence:

“Because is good” P3 L15

6. Incorrect conjugation of verb have.

She uses the verb have in third person singular without using its correct form “has”

“the teacher have some classes in English” P4 L6

Phonology

Paulina has very few problems with pronunciation in the interview. She shows good control

over vowel and consonant sounds. Here are a few exceptions:

Vowel sounds

She pronounces the “a” in English as it would be pronounced in Spanish in the following

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examples:

RP Learner
was

RP Learner
also

Consonant sounds

There is the clear replacement of the fricative for the affricate . This is common

with Chilean speakers because they tend to associate the first sound with the way people of

lower social classes speak.

RP Learner

English

Intonation and stress

She stresses mainly nouns and verbs. This helps her to get her message across, because the

listener can distinguish the important elements of what she is trying to say.

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Vocabulary

When she has difficulties with vocabulary she switches to her L1 as seen in

“ramo?” P 4 L3

“fisiologia” P 4 L4

“... acostumbrarnos?...”P 4 L5

SUMMARY

In summary her main deficiencies are the ones related with prepositions. She has also

problems with the use of some vocabulary but nothing too serious. She recurs to switching

to mother tongue, whenever she thinks it may be better than not saying anything. She may

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use this strategy because she knows I speak Spanish.

CALLA INSTRUCTIONAL SEQUENCE GUIDELINES

Theme/Topic: Grade/Language Level: 4° grade of MECESUP

1. Content Objectives:

Concepts from the field of nursing (vocabulary related to that profession)

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How assessed? Because this is a speaking class, it will be assessed through questions of the
concepts

2. Language Objectives:

Ask for unknown concepts in English using questions that allows the student to switch into
her mother tongue

3. Learning Strategies Objectives:

Explain the compensation strategy “asking for help”

Materials: Pictures of nurses doing different activities and also pictures where nurses
are wearing accessories.

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Preparation:
Teacher introduces the class telling the student that a friend of him wants to study
Nursing and you want to know a little bit about this profession like costumes,
accessories and what nurses do.

The student responds as much as she can, the teacher encourages her asking as much
information as possible avoiding stressing her with the questions.

Presentation:
The teacher starts the lesson showing different pictures where nurses are photographed, for
each one the teacher asks to the student about elements such as what is the name of this
(indicate the costume), how do you say estetoscopio in English (introduction of the skill:
learning strategies – direct strategies – compensation strategies - Overcoming limitations
in speaking and writing – asking for help). After that, the teacher shows other set of
pictures that depicts nurses doing different activities like analyzing the blood pressure,
performing an injection etc.). Immediately after, the teacher models the questions that are
required to perform when it is necessary to obtain unknown information (Teacher Models
the questions) in terms of vocabulary and or expressions.

Practice
The teacher practices along the students some situations using a drill where the student
will ask for clarification for the different words by using the same structure “how do you
you say_____in English?” for different words.

Self-Evaluation:
The student is asked to give her opinion on how what was learnt will help her in the future.
This have one relevant purpose which is to value qualitatively the strategy and improve
the awareness on the learning process.

Expansion:
The teacher asks the student to prepare a list of words she does not know in English. These
words should be not looked In the dictionary, and then she will be asked to introduce them
in a conversation, using the structure which was presented.

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