Sociocultural Approach: The Inclusion of Alternative Oral Assessment in Second-Year Language Courses of The ELT Training Program at Universidad Austral de Chile

Universidad Austral de Chile
Facultad de Filosofa y Humanidades

Pedagoga en Comunicacin en Lengua Inglesa
Lead Advisor:
MA. Katherina Walper Gormz
Sociocultural Approach: the Inclusion of Alternative Oral Assessment in

Second-year Language Courses of the ELT Training Program at
Universidad Austral de Chile
Seminario de Tesis para optar al Ttulo de Profesor en Comunicacin en Lengua Inglesa y

al Grado de Licenciado en Educacin
This research project is part of the innovation project DEP-2013-02

Improving EFL Competence through Critical Thinking and Collaboration
Solange Eunice Lovera Agero

Evelyn Margarita Vera Flndez
Valdivia, Chile
2013
SOCIOCULTURAL APPROACH IN LANGUAGE LESSONS
Acknowledgements
When we thought of the thesis project, the first word that came to our minds was
uncertainty as we did not know the obstacles that we had to face. However, we decided to take
this process as a challenge and after many months of hard work we can say: we did it! From
this, we are truly indebted and thankful to our lead advisor Miss Katherina Walper Gormz since
without her support, encouragement and wisdom, it would have been more difficult to reach
each step until the final stage. To Miss Gisela Niklitschek Toro and Miss Andrea Lizasoain
Conejeros that allowed us to develop this thesis under their Innovation Project. Moreover, it is
a pleasure for us to extend our appreciation to our teachers Miss Juanita Barrientos Villanueva
and Miss Marta Silva Fernndez who provided us with pleasant environments to develop
ourselves as people and professionals. Our sincere gratitude is extended to the support staff of
CIDFIL building: Don Juan Carlos Guzmn, Don Alfredo Mella, Bernab Lpez and Yonatan
Casas who gave us moments of joy and happiness during our time at Universidad Austral de
Chile. We would also like to extend our deepest thankfulness to our families that have always
guided and motivated us to follow our dreams and to keep going in spite of the adversities of
life. Finally, we are grateful to all our friends and beloved people that have been present
throughout this process and who have helped us make this possible.
Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself
John Dewey
I never teach my pupils, I only provided the conditions in which they can learn
Albert Einstein
Solange Lovera & Evelyn Vera

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
Acknowledgments
Abstract
Introduction
Antecedents
CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
1.1. State of the Art
1.1.1 Development of the Sociocultural Approach
1.1.2 Development of Alternative Assessment Methods
1.1.3 Sociocultural Approach in the World and in Chile
1.1.4 Assessment in the World and in Chile
1.2. Sociocultural Approach
10
1.2.1 The Sociocultural Approach in the EFL Classroom
11
1.2.2 Aspects of the Sociocultural Theory and Foreign Language Acquisition
12
1.2.3 Teachers and Students Roles
19
1.3 Assessment
23
1.3.1 Functions of Assessment
24
1.3.2 Alternative Assessment
25
1.3.3 Alternative vs. Traditional Assessment
27
1.3.4 Advantages and Disadvantages of Alternative Assessment Methods
30
1.3.5 Performance-based Assessment
33
1.4. Communicative Competence
36
1.4.1 Components of Communicative Competence
37
1.4.2 Communicative Competence and Assessment
39
1.5 Affective Domain
42
1.5.1 Attitudes
42
1.5.2 Motivation
44
1.5.3 Anxiety
46
CHAPTER 2: CORPUS
2.1 SCA & Oral Production
49
49
2.1.1 Development of Oral Production Skills
50
2.1.2 Interaction and Collaborative Work
52
2.1.3 Communication between Students and Teachers
56

2.2 SCA & Alternative Assessment
2.2.1 Performance-Based Assessment Methods to Evaluate Students Oral
Production Skills
2.2.2 Possible Problems and Solutions when Using Alternative Assessment
CHAPTER 3: TEACHING PROPOSAL
58
59
61
66
3.1 Summary Guide
67
3.2 Activities to Evaluate Students Oral Production
68
3.3 Tips
Conclusions
References
Appendices
Appendix A1: Interview to Experts
A1
Appendix A2: Interview to Experts
A2
ABSTRACT
One of the most difficult tasks for a teacher in EFL classrooms is to help students
improve their oral production skills and to establish parameters that measure them in a proper
manner. In this regard, the sociocultural approach and alternative assessment, particularly
performance-based methods, are conceived as suitable ways to offer students instances to
practice the language orally in authentic settings reducing their affective issues and fostering
communication. From that perspective, a theoretical framework and a discussion will be
undertaken around the concepts sociocultural approach, alternative assessment,
communicative competence and affective domain. A teaching proposal will be developed in
order to facilitate the evaluation process of second-year students of the English Language
Teaching Training Program (ELT) who are being taught under the implementation of the
sociocultural approach at Universidad Austral de Chile is proposed.
Key Concepts: oral production skills, sociocultural approach, alternative assessment,
communicative competence, affective domain.
INTRODUCTION
Oral production is one of the most complex skills to develop, especially when dealing
with EFL students since there are diverse factors which may interfere in the acquisition
process. These elements are mainly connected with the affective domain which can have a
positive or negative influence on students cognitive and language development. At this level,
teachers play an indispensable role as they are in charge of guiding and monitoring students
learning progression; in this regard, they should provide students with opportunities and tools
to lead and construct their own knowledge in order to reach meaningful learning.
With respect to the Chilean educational context, it is possible to state that traditional
methods of teaching and evaluation have hindered the development of Chilean students
productive skills. This occurs due to the fact that traditional methods oblige teachers to design
lessons that are mainly based on specific contents which do not allow students to practice the
language and demonstrate their capacities and abilities. Therefore, lessons are mostly centered
on teachers rather than students, which means that learners are not accustomed to using their
oral skills; quite the opposite, they are seen as receptive individuals who do not have an active
role in the classroom.
From what has been exposed, this research suggests the implementation of the
sociocultural approach as an option to help students improve their oral production skills
because it is learner-centered. This means that it promotes interaction, communication,
collaborative work and critical thinking among students, allowing them to establish
relationships between previous knowledge and new contents. Furthermore, alternative
assessment is presented as an adequate vehicle to evaluate the oral production skills of the
students who are being taught under the sociocultural approach as both follow the same
principles and expect to reach similar goals.
In this context, this research is part of the innovation project: Improving EFL
Competence through Critical Thinking and Collaboration (DEP-2013-02)1 developed by the
researchers Prof. Andrea Lizasoain and Prof. Gisela Niklitschek and the co-researchers Prof.
Amalia Ortiz de Zrate and Prof. Katherina Walper at Universidad Austral de Chile. The
general objective of this project is to validate a methodological proposal which, according to
the founders of the project, seeks to strengthen the development of English through the
implementation of methodologies which foster critical thinking skills (such as the
Sociocultural Approach), collaboration within the classroom and more hours of production
than more traditional methods (Lizasoain & Niklitschek, 2012).
Taking into consideration the information above, a teaching proposal will be developed
to suggest activities which facilitate the evaluation process. These activities will be focused on
assessing students oral production skills on the basis of their critical thinking and cognitive
processes. To achieve this aim, performance-based assessment methods will be utilized to
make students use the language in a natural way, diminishing their affective issues. Moreover,
it is important to mention that each activity will reinforce a specific component of
communicative competence and that, at the same time, these activities will be divided into
diagnostic, formative or summative evaluations.
This Undergraduate Research Paper will include three chapters: Theoretical
Framework, Discussion and Teaching Proposal. In the first chapter the concepts, aspects and
characteristics of the sociocultural approach, assessment, communicative competence and
1
This project was developed in 2013 and was funded by the Department of Undergraduate Studies (Direccin de
Estudios de Pregrado)
affective domain will be covered in-depth through a literature review. It will be seen that these
four concepts are correlated since they are associated with the development of students oral
production skills in a direct manner. The second chapter, the discussion, will analyze and draw
parallels between the concepts previously exposed with the purpose of setting the theoretical
foundations for the design of the teaching proposal. The third chapter will involve a summary
guide that will ease the understanding of the proposal, the evaluation activities, and a set of
tips that will facilitate the evaluation procedure in classrooms.
Finally, the implications of this paper rely on the fact that the four key concepts
previously mentioned are combined in order to foster students oral production skills in their
language lessons at Universidad Austral de Chile.

ANTECEDENTS
Research Questions:
-
How does the sociocultural approach improve and promote oral production skills of
second-year students of the English Language Teaching Training Program (ELT) at
Universidad Austral de Chile during their language lessons?
How can the inclusion of alternative assessment methods facilitate the evaluation of
students oral production skills?
Hypothesis:
-
The inclusion of alternative oral assessment methods in language lessons of

second-year students of the ELT Training Program at Universidad Austral de Chile
will facilitate the evaluation process by taking into account students sociocultural
backgrounds and cognitive processes.
General Objective:
-
To propose a set of activities to evaluate oral production under the sociocultural

approach for second-year students of the ELT Training Program at Universidad
Austral.
Specific Objectives:
1. To describe the sociocultural approach in terms of the sociocultural theory, its
application in the foreign language and the roles of the participants.
2. To identify the most appropriate alternative assessment methods to evaluate
students oral production skills under the sociocultural approach.

3.
To design activities which are part of the alternative assessment methods chosen in
order to evaluate students oral production under the sociocultural approach.
Justification:
Once students have reached an intermediate level of language acquisition, the oral
skill is given a prominent role in every language course at Universidad austral de Chile. In
most of the cases, it is very common that students do not want to participate and to produce
the foreign language since they may not feel comfortable. However, it is thought that if
they are immersed in an environment which takes into consideration their sociocultural
backgrounds, making them feel relaxed and secure, students will be capable of improving
their oral skills and communicating with their classmates and teachers without major
problems. For that reason, the significance of this research lies in the implementation of the
sociocultural approach since it is conceived as a suitable vehicle to help students improve
their oral production skills. Furthermore, alternative assessment is considered an
appropriate tool to evaluate students who are being taught under the sociocultural approach
because they support the same principles: they respect students learning processes,
diminishing the affective issues and enhancing interaction, collaborative work and
communication among students.
Course and Class Description
This proposal has been designed for the teachers who work with second- year
students of the ELT Training Program at Universidad Austral de Chile that are
implementing the sociocultural approach and that are part of the project DEP-2013-02.
CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

The theoretical framework of this research will cover four concepts which are
strongly connected with the improvement of students oral production skills: sociocultural
approach, alternative assessment, communicative competence and the affective domain.
Afterwards, these will be analyzed and discussed in detail in order to determine the basis of
the teaching proposal.
1.1 State of the Art
In the following section, two leading threads of this investigation, the sociocultural
approach and alternative assessment, will be exposed and described in order to make
connections and to draw implications which permit the reader to have a more profound
understanding about the origins and development of these key concepts.
1.1.1 Development of the Sociocultural Approach
Throughout the years many perspectives, methods and approaches have arisen in
order to address and respond to the question of how human beings acquire languages. In
this section, the development of the sociocultural approach will be covered. To achieve
that, certain theories that belong to socio-cultural approaches and that are related to sociocultural perspectives will be identified. Furthermore, in order to have a deeper
understanding of what the sociocultural approach is, its origins, and how it works, it will be
essential to describe Vygotskys sociocultural theory2 (SCT) and its framework.
To start, it is important to mention that within the theories that have attempted to
comprehend the language acquisition process, there are five that have set certain patterns
regarding the sociocultural approach: the behaviorist perspective, the interactionist or
2
Theory: a supposition or a system of ideas intended to explain something, especially one based on general
principles independent of the thing to be explained (Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary, Hornby
McIntosh & Wehmeier, (Eds). 2005, p. 1590)
developmental perspective, Jean Piagets and Lev Vygotskys theory, and cross-cultural
research (Lightbown & Spada, 2006). These have given way to new approaches and
theories regarding peoples second or foreign language acquisition process. In relation to
that fact, there are two views on acquisition: the psycholinguistic and the socio-cultural
perspective (Cardenas, 2008). The latter gives place to the emergence of sociocultural
theories from which Lev Vygotskys theory develops.
Thus, it is from the sociocultural theory that the sociocultural approach emerges.
The sociocultural approach may be described as one that, similarly to the SCT, places
greater importance to the connection between students own processes and those shared in
the classroom when forging interrelationships during the learning process (John-Steiner &
Mahn, 2011). These bonds will, then, be helpful for their future as part of the social and
professional world (Warschauer, 1997). In other words, the sociocultural approach
postulates that independently of peoples age, society and social environments as well as
individuals social contexts and backgrounds learners are capable of modeling their
internal processes through which individuals are able to associate their previous
experiences with the new ones, reaching a higher mental development.
1.1.2 Development of Alternative Assessment Methods
Over the years, standardized tests have led students evaluation process because of
their practicality in terms of time, cost, design and structure (Brown, 2010). Additionally,
they are based on the notion that there are only wrong or right answers, which leaves no
room for demonstration of knowledge and thought process (Federal Grant from the
Foreign Language Assistance Program, 1999, p. 11). At the same time, traditional methods
measure students outcomes and not the process behind the evaluation, which means that
they do not assess progression neither the particular difficulties that may arise during the
test (Law & Eckes in Dikli, 2003, p. 15). This has increased the misconception about the
real meaning of assessment, and has consequently accentuated educational problems
regarding the way in which evaluations are developed.
With the purpose of improving the shortcomings of traditional assessment methods,
in 1989, Grant Wiggins, president of Authentic Education, expressed that assessment in
education has clearly become . . . a problem (Wiggins, 1989, p. 81). That is, the issue of
assessment in education has been completely vitiated by traditional assessment, which has
created the necessity of facing the problem from another point of view. In the words of
Wiggins (1989) when an educational problem persists despite the well-intentioned efforts
of many people to solve it, [it is] a safe bet that the problem has not been properly framed
(ibid). From this need, the first approach to alternative assessment emerged, suggesting:
. . . a system that integrated teaching and testing. Just as a sports team trains for a
game, Wiggins believes students should train for their future performance perhaps
a presentation, recital, or debate. Though the performance can be evaluated, the
primary goal is the performance itself (Johnston, n.d., p. 41)
This demonstrates that contrary to traditional assessment, alternative assessment integrates
teaching and evaluation. Thus, it is centered on students performance rather than marks,
i.e., students learning and cognitive process without displaying students knowledge in a
predetermined manner.
To conclude, one may say that both the sociocultural approach and alternative
assessment are strongly connected because they are addressed to learner-centered teaching.
To exemplify that, alternative assessment methods attempt to evaluate students under reallife contexts advocating authenticity; whereas the sociocultural approach proposes that
students should learn from their experiences and sociocultural backgrounds on the basis of
real and natural settings.
1.1.3 Sociocultural Approach in the World and in Chile
In general terms, until the 60s, grammar-based methods for teaching were
prominently used in the world since it was believed that the only component which was
needed to learn a foreign language was the linguistic knowledge. After that, other
methodologies arose whose main focus was on reaching communicative goals and
promoting communicative instances among students. However, due to the importance of
the context in the development of a foreign language, the sociocultural approach started
being implemented (Canale & Swain, 1980). Nowadays, in the words of Gisela Niklitschek
(2013) the sociocultural approach is widely known in the United States not only for
foreign language teaching, but also for other subjects (Niklitschek, personal
communication, November 27th). Nevertheless, despite the significance that the
sociocultural approach has in other countries, Chilean students are still unfamiliar with this
approach since most professors make use of traditional methods for teaching and
evaluation (Lizasoain, personal communication, October 21st, 2013).
1.1.4 Assessment in the World and in Chile
In general, assessment has been contemplated as an independent portion of the
teaching/learning process and it has often been underestimated and taken into account after
the curricula have been designed (James, 2002). In this sense, the use of alternative
assessment propelled an educational reform and, thus, testing processes in the form of
alternative assessment became more common than traditional tools (Wiggins in Dietel et
al. in Dikli, 2003). In other words, assessment in the world has been reoriented, and
nowadays it is understood as a central element in the overall quality of teaching and
10
learning (James, 2002, p. 4). This way, the two elements, curriculum and assessing, are
interrelated in the teaching learning process (Wiggins and McTighe in Hargreaves et al.,
2002); therefore, it can be inferred that the evaluation process has become more
comfortable as teachers role is now centered on students learning.
In spite of the fact that Chile is considered a developing country, it has made many
and diverse changes in the student assessment system. In the words of Mara-Jos Ramirez
(2012), there are three traditional and standardized types of assessment activities that can
be identified within the educational system: the national large-scale assessment program,
the university entrance examinations, and classroom assessment activities by teachers and
students (p. 13). It is also important to highlight that every type of assessment has been
developed in a distinct path and they have required the adaptation of the contexts in which
the assessment system works (Ramirez, 2012). Some of the changes that have been
implemented to improve assessment activities are the policy framework that supports the
assessment, the right institutions and organizational structures, together with the
appropriate human and fiscal resources (Ramirez, 2012, p. 2). Nevertheless, despite the
improvements already mentioned, in Chilean educational system, traditional assessment is
still being used. In this sense, this research will propose alternative assessment as a fitting
option to enhance students oral skills.
1.2 Sociocultural Approach
In this section, the sociocultural approach will be covered from three different
perspectives in order to allow the reader to understand the significance this approach has in
learners cognitive and language development. The three subtopics are: the sociocultural
approach in EFL classrooms; aspects of the sociocultural theory in foreign language
acquisition; and teachers and students roles in the sociocultural approach.
11
1.2.1 Sociocultural Approach in the EFL classroom

At this stage, it is a well-known fact that the sociocultural approach postulates the
interdependence between individuals sociocultural backgrounds and their cognitive and
language development. Nonetheless, not only does the sociocultural approach contribute to
literacy in general terms, but also to cognitive development in language learning and
teaching in EFL classrooms. As reported by Mark Warschauer (1997), the sociocultural
approach places individuals in certain contexts that allow them to use the foreign language
through dialogic communication3 and interaction, not through the decontextualized
acquisition of vocabulary or skills (ibid.). In other words, the sociocultural approach
encourages individuals to develop their sociolinguistic competence, through which they are
able to interact in specific contexts and use the language to be understood and to
understand what other people are saying, as well as to develop their discourse
competence4, which helps them to compensate possible gaps in the foreign language.
As it was mentioned before, the basic goal of sociocultural approach to mind is to
create an account of human mental processes that recognize the essential relationship
between these processes and their cultural, historical, and institutional settings (Wertsch,
1991, p. 6). In EFL classrooms, the sociocultural approach establishes contextualized
settings and situations that permit students to create instances of dialogues and interactions
in which they are able to socialize, share personal experiences and knowledge to reach a
new level of mental development and thereby enhance their language proficiency. In order
to achieve this aim, the sociocultural approach promotes students critical thinking, which
entails effective communication and problem-solving abilities (The Critical Thinking
3
According to Warschauer (1997) by setting the principles of dialogism, the meaning is found neither in the
text nor in the individual learner, but rather is developed in interaction between individual and social
audience.
4
For a thorough description of the different components of the communicative competence see section 1.2
Communicative Competence.
12
Community, 2013, n. p), teamwork and interaction among the students by setting dialogic
instances.
1.2.2 Aspects of the Sociocultural Theory and Foreign Language Acquisition
With regard to the pedagogical implications of the sociocultural approach in EFL
classrooms, and according to what is exposed by Lev Vygotskys SCT, the present section
will describe six fundamental components of the sociocultural theory. These elements are
mainly focused on the conception that human mental functioning is fundamentally a
mediated process that is organized by cultural artifacts, activities, and concepts (Ratner in
Lantolf & Thorne, 2006, p. 197). They can be classified as mediation, regulation,
internalization, the zone of proximal development, verbal thought and activity theory
(Aimin, 2013). In order to understand the connections between the sociocultural theory
and the pedagogical implications regarding EFL learning and teaching, the SCT elements
are going to be presented below.
Mediation and Foreign Language Acquisition
As it can be inferred by its name, this component is directly connected with the act of
mediation, that is to say, the use of specific elements or tools in order to reach major goals.
As indicated by Liang Aimin (2013):
mediation is the principle construct that unites varieties of SCT and is rooted in the
observation that humans do not act directly on the world- rather their cognitive and
material activities are mediated by symbolic tools as well as by physical tools. (p.
162)
This means that external factors such as culture, social contexts and communities
encourage individuals to use thought in order to modify specific social activities, in other
13
words, the external world modifies the mind and determines cognitive development
(Vygotsky in Stoica, 2008).
In mediation, language is one the most fundamental tools since it is used by
individuals to mediate social activities to internalize social environments and to reach
private speech (Lantolf &Thorne, 2006). In regard to pedagogical implications, mediation
is a process that can be divided into three stages (Aimin, 2013). The first stage, known as
other-mediation, is connected with collaborative work. At this point, teachers or advanced
individuals support is essential in order to supply students needs; as a matter of fact, this
stage is also associated with the ZPD element which will be further developed below. The
second stage is called self-mediation and is linked to private speech and gestures. It refers
to the stage in which students have already reached a higher language development; they
are able to monitor themselves and their behaviors to improve their language proficiency
and communicative competence. Finally, one can recognize the mediation of the sociocultural environment in which the context acts as a mediator over students first language
to acquire the foreign language (ibid.).
Regulation and Foreign Language Acquisition
In the section regarding socio-cultural theories, the behaviorist perspective was
described which proposes that people acquire languages by imitating the behaviors of
others. However, Patsy Lightbown & Nina Spada (2006) indicate that this imitation is
selective and that children do not only imitate words but they choose what to imitate and
eventually they are able to produce their own sentences and speeches. During regulation, a
similar phenomenon happens, since children by subordinating their behavior to adult
speech acquire the particular language used by other members of a community (usually
adults and older children) and eventually utilize this language to regulate their own
14
behavior (Lantolf & Thorne, 2006, p. 199). It is important to mention that despite the fact
that during regulation children subordinate their behavior in order to use the language and
to model their external world, they select what they want to acquire as well as what they
want to imitate in order to structure their own language.
On the contrary to what happens with mediation, regulation does not refer to a set
of rules that people use to control facts or specific elements (Aimin, 2013). In accordance
with James Lantolf & Steven Thorne (2006), regulation is one form of mediation (p.
199) through which children are able to adjust their own behavior and language.
Furthermore, Aimin (2013) states that [this stage] refers to childrens capacity to regulate
their own activity through linguistic means by participating in [actions] (mental and
physical) in which their activity is initially subordinated or regulated by others (p. 162). In
regard to what is exposed, regulation in EFL teaching and learning plays an important role
during the students foreign language acquisition process since once the mediation process
occurs, it needs to be improved to reach higher cognitive development. For that, students
need to continue interacting and socializing; as this happens, they will be able to
communicate socially [and] appropriate the patterns and meanings of speech (Lantolf &
Thorne, 2006, p. 201).
Internalization and Foreign Language Acquisition
Internalization is the next step after regulation and is defined as a negotiated
process that reorganizes the relationship of the individual to her or his social environment
and generally carries it into future performance (Aimin, 2013, p. 163). This means that
through internalization, individuals are able to choose or discern what applies to their
cognitive processes and language development, as it allows people to control their brains
(Aimin, 2013). Above, it was exposed that under the sociocultural theory, cognitive
processes and language development occur first socially and then internally; this shows
15
itself clearly at this point, because everything that was once external is now a resource
that is internally available to the individual (Donato in Aimin, 2013, p. 163). With
reference to that, Vygotsky states that every psychological function appears twice, first
between people on the psychological plane and then within the individual on the intrapsychological plane (Vygotsky in Aimin, 2013, p. 163). Another important component
associated with internalization is imitation and, as it was described before, it involves goal
directed cognitive activities that can result in the creative and active transformations from
inter-psychological plane to intra-psychological plane (Lantolf & Thorne, 2006, p. 203)
since it is based on social interactions and teamwork.
Internalization in EFL teaching embodies a representational activity, a process that
occurs simultaneously in social practice and in the human mind (John-Steiner & Mahn,
2011), which indicates that the process is based on practice and continuity. Vygotsky
postulates that language emerges from the interaction between the child and the
individuals who surround him/her. After that, the child is able to manage their thought
process and internalize speech (Vygotsky in Gauvain & Cole, 1997). This implies that after
students regulate their behavior through social activities to reach a new level of language
development, they are able to internalize the language and negotiate meaning. In relation to
the negotiation of meaning, Artin Gnc & Mary Gauvain (n.d.) declare that
internalization is not an all or none process of transferring knowledge from the external to
the internal plane of existence. Rather, internalization is an ongoing process of
appropriation (p. 27). In other words, children, based on their own experiences and
sociocultural backgrounds negotiate meaning in order to create their own ways of thinking
and to internalize what they have imitated from external environments and contexts.
16
Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)
The fourth element that can be distinguished as part of the sociocultural theory and
that is interconnected with foreign language acquisition is the ZPD or scaffolding as it
was denominated by Bruner (Aimin, 2013). This is a zone in which teachers and learners
participate to reach a specific objective, thus, it is important to note that ZPD is
conceptualized as something that emerges through participation in collaborative activities,
not as an attribute of learners (Ellis & Barkhuizen in Allahyar & Nazari, 2012). In
Vygotskys words, ZPD is defined as the difference between the actual development
level as determined by individual problem solving and the level of potential development
as determined through problem solving under adult guidance or collaboration with more
knowledgeable peers(Vygotsky in Gauvain & Cole, 1997, p. 33). That is, ZPD is the stage
in which students have to work collaboratively with their peers and to communicate to
each other in an effective way because the result of this process is [that] children become
more socialized in the dominant culture and it induces cognitive development (Moll in
Gallagher, 1999).
Additionally, it is important to establish that the ZPD element is incorporated by

Vygotskys theory to facilitate the achievement of a task or learning purpose with help of
another person who is more knowledgeable in the area. At this point, it is when the
communication and teamwork are needed in the EFL classrooms. As consequence of that
communication in the learning process, Vygotsky believes that in social interactions with
their parents, teachers and more capable peers, children achieve more sophisticated goals
than they do on their own (Ellis, Barkhuizen in Allahyar & Nazari, 2012). Finally, another
relevant fact that is related to ZPD and pedagogical implication for EFL learning and
teaching is the significance of the context in the learning process since it has an important
17
role in the interaction between the novice and capable person (Allahyar & Nazari, 2012,
p. 82). This is supported by Richard Donato (2007), who states that learning can be
developed in different ways and circumstances, and not necessarily in the regular
classroom environments (Donato in Allahyar & Nazari, 2012). As a result, teachers and
learners have multiple options to create new spaces for the learning process.
Verbal Thought
As it has been exposed throughout the chapter, Vygotskys sociocultural theory
states a correlation between language development and thought. As a complement to that,
Aimin (2013) declares that language belongs to society, and consequently, speech belongs
to individuals. This shows that every person has the possibility to communicate verbally if
s/he does not have any impairment. Besides, Vygotsky recognizes that language and
speech [have] close connections so that they cannot be separated, which means that in
Socio-Cultural Theory, language and speech have almost the same connotation (Aimin,
2013). This expresses that language and speech are two essential elements to develop
during the implementation of a sociocultural approach with the purpose of generating the
verbal thought of students.
At the same time, to reach language development, it is necessary to accomplish

some stages that are described by Vygotskys theory in Aimin (2013). The first stage,
called Social speech, is one in which the students or learners are able to use a simple
speech to express simple thoughts and emotions in order to control other peoples
behaviors. The second stage, named Egocentric speech or Private speech, is typically the
type of speech found in three to seven old children. It serves as a bridge between the
primitive and highly public social speech of the first stage and the more sophisticated and
inner speech (Aimin, 2013, p. 164). One of the most relevant characteristics of this stage
18
is that children often talk to themselves, regardless of someone listening to them. They
think out loud in an attempt to guide their own behavior. They may speak about what they
are doing as they do it (ibid.). This demonstrates that young learners do not necessary
need a person to listen to them when speaking, since they only speak loud to conduct their
behaviors. The third and last stage is Inner speech or Verbal thought, which allows
[individuals] to direct our thinking and behavior (ibid.). At this level, learners are able to
connect their speeches and thinking properly without any problems.
Activity Theory
Another relevant contribution of Vygotskys theory subsequently developed by his
student Leontev as an independent system is the Activity theory that deals with the
unified nature of human behavior, which is considered to be the result of the integration of
social and cultural mediations (Aimin, 2013, p. 164). In regard to the main postulate of
this theory, it is possible to mention that social activity is the consequence of peoples
interactions (Aimin, 2013). For instance, Coghlan & Duff propose that learners are active
agents who, according to their own goals, give specific directions to the activities and even
different times and conditions have different impacts on their performance on the same
task (in Aimin, 2013). This evidences that every student or learner responds differently to
the same task; thus, they give distinct connotation to the activities in second language
acquisition. As Aimin (2013) affirms:
The activity becomes unique for each learner because it emerges from the
interaction between the speakers and the interviewer, the setting, the subjects
motivations and histories. Therefore, it cannot be separated from its socialcultural context, from which it is co-constructed. (p. 165)
19
From the perspective that every student has different sociocultural background,
teachers cannot pretend that all learners give the same significance to the learning process;
teachers cannot separate the previous knowledge of students and the way in which they
construct the new knowledge. In other words, and as B. Gillette (2002) mentions, the
success of the students in the learning process depends on the motive that the learners
have, their goals and values that are built due to social and historical backgrounds (Gillette
in Aimin, 2013).
As it was previously mentioned, the components of the sociocultural approach are

part of a mediated process, that is, they are developed on the basis of communication and
social interactions between environment and individuals, in pedagogical terms, among
educational contexts, learners and educators. These components are essential to achieve the
objectives of this research; for that reason, they will be taken into account to design the
proposal in which alternative assessment methods will be developed to evaluate students
oral production under the implementation of the sociocultural approach.
1.2.3 Teachers and Students Roles
One of the most relevant aspects of the sociocultural approach that can be
highlighted is the role of teachers and learners in EFL classrooms. In the majority of the
approaches that are used to teach a second or foreign language, the role of the teacher [in
the classroom] is of paramount significance because it is central to the way in which the
classroom environment evolves (Syam, 2011, p. 34). On the contrary, in atmospheres in
which a sociocultural approach is being implemented, the teachers role is not more
important than students role; this indicates that the learning process is also centered on
students behaviors, development and cognitive processes. In order to understand teachers
20
and learners roles, it is crucial to explain them in detail with the purpose of noting their
differences.
As every lesson should have objectives to be achieved, teachers who are working
under the sociocultural approach are considered as personal assistances in the learning
process because they help each learner work in a personal way toward his/her own goals
(Grabinger, Aplin & Gitanjali, 2007, n.p). This means that educators guide students
learning process in an individualized and independent form; additionally, teachers do not
impose the aims of the lessons because it is the learner who is in charge of setting the goals
for his/her own learning process. This is explained by Paul Shoebottom (2013), who
postulates that:
Clearly, some language learners are successful by virtue of their sheer
determination, hard work and persistence. However there are other crucial factors
influencing success that are largely beyond the control of the learner. These
factors can be broadly categorized as internal and external. It is their complex
interplay that determines the speed and facility with which the new language is
learned. (n.p)
Thus, it can be comprehended that every student has different rhythms, different
strategies and consequently different objectives to acquire a foreign or second language.
Moreover, other relevant concepts to be exposed concerning the sociocultural
approach are co-participation and cooperative learning, processes in which teachers and
learners have an active role since teachers bring existing knowledge to students by coconstructing it with them (John-Steiner & Mahn, 2011, p.199). What has been exposed
demonstrates that students have previous knowledge and teachers are only in charge of
helping them use it to co-construct their learning process. Nonetheless, to achieve the co-
21
construction of that process, it is essential to have a guided participation that is moderated

by the teacher where children internalize or appropriate their affective, social, and
intellectual significance (ibid.).
In addition, teachers and learners have to work collaboratively during the
acquisition of a second or foreign language in order to provide functional and purposeful
uses for language, literacy, and learning processes (John-Steiner & Mahn, 2011, p. 200).
For instance, while teachers are guiding the learning process, students select groups,
reading materials, writing topics, theme topics, and language to use for each (John-Steiner
& Mahn, 2011, p. 201). If there is no proper organization between teachers and learners,
it will be almost impossible to accomplish the personal goals determined by the students.
For that reason, not only does the teacher have to be a guide, but also a facilitator and
planner who organizes the environment, curriculum, and materials (John-Steiner &
Mahn, 2011, p. 200). At this level, it is when the organization of the lessons plays a
crucial function since it cannot be improvised; it needs to be perfectly planned with
anticipation and dedication.
As it was mentioned before, the sociocultural approach traces its origins in the
sociocultural theory which has a completely different view of the second or foreign
language acquisition process in relation to the psycholinguistic perspective. In the
sociocultural approach, learners are encouraged or required to think as well as speak in
the target language, that is to say, language and thought should be closely connected with
each other. The root for this connection lies in social communication activities (ibid.).
Hence, under this approach, the teacher has to be a good planner in order to make the
connection between language and thought in communicative activities without the
necessity of forcing students to produce the target language. The only way to reach that
purpose is to incorporate students sociocultural backgrounds, which allow teachers to
22
create environments where students feel more comfortable reducing their levels of anxiety
(Richard-Amato, 2003). It is also important to state that the teacher does not only have to
worry about the set of activities s/he will do during the lesson, but s/he must also be
careful with the distribution of the students inside the classroom because s/he always has
to think about promoting communication.
The interaction among students is also part of the job that a teacher has to develop
inside the classroom. For example, the teacher must create the instances that allow
students to interact and communicate. This aspect is completely associated with the
principle of internalization, which, as it was defined before, is based on the enhancement
of interactions among the learners (Aimin, 2013, p. 164). With respect to students role
during the interaction, one can say that they have to communicate to each other by using
their sociocultural backgrounds to connect their learning process with their previous
knowledge. During this process, the teacher has to allow individuals to apply the sociocultural environment and first language to acquire the target language (Aimin, 2013, p.
165). In that sense, students will produce the language in an environment that is wellknown for them.
The characteristics that a teacher working under the sociocultural approach should
have or develop are compared with the ones that are present in scaffolds. These are: to
provide support, function as a tool, extend the range of the learner, permit attainment of
task otherwise possible, use selectively only as needed (Oxbridge Writers, 2013, n.p). By
contrast, the role of the learners is related to their own realities, cognitive processes,
sociocultural backgrounds and previous knowledge. Lastly, an important fact that must be
highlighted is that both teachers and learners are extremely significant to develop or
implement the sociocultural approach since they have to work together with the purpose
of constructing significant knowledge.
23
1.3 Assessment
Assessment may be defined as the process of gathering and interpreting evidence
to make judgments about students learning. It is the crucial link between learning
outcomes, content and teaching and learning activities (Association of Independent
Schools of the ACT Incorporated, 2011, p. 6). In other words, assessment is an essential
part of students learning process, and, as such, it cannot be understood as an independent
portion since it is the connection that allows educators to be aware of students progresses
and cognitive development. In order to assess students achievement, Douglas Brown
(2010) explains that assessment must be based on five principles: Practicality, Reliability,
Validity, Authenticity and Washback.
Moreover, it is possible to distinguish formal and informal assessment. On the one
hand, Brown (2010) expresses that informal assessment can take a number of forms,
starting with incidental, unplanned comments and responses, along with coaching and
other impromptu feedback to the student (p. 5). In short, informal assessment refers to the
different types of rewards and stimulus that a student may receive as recognition of his/her
achievement either a phrase as good job! or a happy face on students tasks. On the
other hand, he states that formal assessment consists of exercises of procedures
specifically designed to tap into a storehouse of skills and knowledge [which] are
systematic, planned sampling techniques constructed to give teacher and student an
appraisal of students achievement (Brown, 2010, p. 6). This indicates that formal
assessment allows teachers and students to maintain constant feedback without being
testing, for example through students journals or diaries.
24
1.3.1 Functions of Assessment

A significant distinction that has to be considered when assessing is the function of
evaluation, that is, the aim of the assessment, what it expects to evaluate, and what
instruments will be needed in order to achieve that purpose. In regard to this distinction,
four types of assessment are identified: Formative, diagnostic, summative and evaluative.
The first two are essential to help the childs development. The latter two are more
concerned with testing what kind of help and support the child is getting (Cullingford in
Alarcn & Neguimn, 2013, p. 31). These will be described extensively below.
Diagnostic Assessment: this type of assessment helps [teachers] identify students current
knowledge of a subject, their skill sets and capabilities, and to clarify misconceptions
before teaching takes place (Just Science Now in Northern Illinois University, n.d., p. 1).
In this regard, diagnostic assessment permits educators to recognize students weaknesses
and strengths, and consequently, to create their teaching plans on the basis of what their
students really know.
Formative Assessment: this type is well known for evaluating students in the process of
forming their competencies and skills with the goal of helping them to contribute to that
growth process (Brown, 2010, p. 6). This means that formative assessment keeps its focus
on the process behind the outcomes and products. At this point, while teachers provide
feedback and information, students monitor and reflect on their learning process drawing
parallels and contributing to their own mental development (Association of Independent,
n.d.).
Summative and Evaluative Assessment5: contrary to formative evaluation, summative and
evaluative assessment are more product-oriented and assess the final product (Northern
5
In this research summative and evaluative assessment will be used as similar concepts.
25
Illinois University, n.d., p. 3). This indicates that this type of evaluation aims to measure,
or summarize, what a student has grasped, and typically occurs at the end of a course or
unit instruction (Brown, 2010, p. 6). In other words, the role of summative and evaluative
assessment is to evaluate learning concerning students final achievements and teachers
instruction methods over a certain period of time.
To sum up, one may say that through the different functions of assessment, teachers
are provided with the tools to recognize learners weaknesses and strengths, which helps
them to make future decisions in relation to students achievements and learning progress.
At the same time, during the teaching process, they are able to gather information of
students improvements, outcomes and results regarding their cognitive and language
development. This demonstrates that not only does assessment play an essential role in the
development of students learning process, but also contributes to educators teaching
methods since it provides them with crucial information about students backgrounds,
learning development, and outcomes.
1.3.2 Alternative Assessment
As previously stated, testing the students learning process is one of the most
complex activities that teachers have in the classroom since there are many and different
options that can be used for the same purpose depending on the skill that needs evaluation.
For instance, there are many standardized tests that are commonly utilized by teachers. In
this regard, alternative assessment tries to find a way to change the traditional methods to
assess students skills, especially the productive ones (speaking and writing) because they
cannot be measured appropriately through traditional assessment (Federal Grant from the
Foreign Language Assistance Program, 1999, p. 25). Moreover, it is relevant to highlight
that alternative assessment methods keep their focus on students strengths rather than
26
weaknesses. Consequently, these kinds of assessment methods are present in learnercentered classrooms because they are based on the idea that students can evaluate their
own learning and learn from the evaluation process (The National Capital Language
Resource Center, 2004, n. p). Besides, in a classroom where alternative assessment is used,
students have more opportunities to reflect on their learning process and linguistic
development.
Other significant aspects to reveal regarding alternative assessment are its main
characteristics, classified by The National Capital Resource Center (2004) according to
four main features: (1) it has to include authentic tasks in order to evidence the ability of
the learners to achieve communication goals; (2) there has to be a relationship between
instructor and learners because both must have, as a main objective, to enhance
communication and must not be concerned with correct or wrong answers during the
process; (3) it must allow students to help their instructors to select the criteria that will be
used to complete communication tasks; (4) it has to attempt to reach more participation of
the students during the evaluation process. In that sense, students have the opportunity to
receive and give feedback, that is, to assess themselves as well as their classmates; beside,
they are able to understand how the evaluation process works and consequently how to use
it for their advantage.
With the purpose of gathering information regarding students learning processes
and providing them with constant feedback, rubrics are commonly utilized when using
alternative assessment. According to the University of Colorado (2006) a rubric is a
scoring guide that helps teachers evaluate students performance, based on a range of
criteria. [It] lists the criteria, or characteristics, that students work should exhibit and
describes specific quality levels for those criteria (n.p). In this regard, rubrics can
facilitate the evaluation process and help teachers avoid external factors which may
27
negatively influence students outcomes. To exemplify, rubrics can reduce the grading
time as they offer professors descriptions and explanations linked to specific scores.
Moreover, they are useful when having a course with multiple teachers since they permit
educators to keep consistency across students. At the same time, when providing students
with the assignment report, they are given instances to monitor and guide their own
progress, recognizing their strengths and weaknesses (Carnegie Mellon University, n.d.).
1.3.3 Alternative vs. Traditional Assessment
As mentioned before, alternative assessment is a blanket that covers any number
of alternatives to standardized tests (Federal Grant, 1999, p. 11), that is to say, under the
term alternative assessment there is a wide range of methods and techniques which permit
educators to evaluate students based on their own learning rhythm. Nevertheless, in spite
of the benefits that come with alternative assessment, traditional ways of evaluating, such
as quizzes and multiple-choice tests, still play a leading role in evaluation process. For that
reason, in order to establish differences and to highlight the importance and significance
that alternative assessment methods currently have in the EFL classrooms, alternative and
traditional assessments will be compared in terms of what and how they assess.
First, alternative assessment methods are mainly focused on the productive skills,
speaking and writing, which make students produce the language (British Council BBC,
n.d.). Likewise, they look for sophisticated vs. naive responses (Federal Grant, 1999, p.
13) which are based on students competence and performance and focused on broader
areas, such as critical thinking and problem solving (Miller & Legg in Stecher et al, 1997,
p. 32). This indicates that these methods are strongly related to the way people
communicate and the form communicative competence or proficiency works. At the same
time, alternative assessment methods provide multiple measures and various opportunities
28
for students to create and demonstrate what they can do with the second language
(Federal Grant, 1999, p. 11). This shows that alternative assessment keeps its focus on
learners instead of contents since it gives students the tools to construct their knowledge,
that is, its emphasis is on guiding students learning process and monitoring the way they
improve their cognitive and language development.
In relation to traditional assessment methods, it is stated that students who are
assessed under these are tested on the basis of what they are taught instead of their
performance, because traditional assessment methods rely on the students achievement in
a given day (Federal Grant, 1999, p. 11). Besides, the emphasis of the evaluation is on
grammatical accuracy rather than students learning progress. This demonstrates that
traditional assessment attempts to test students and to measure how much they know and
how well they manage the contents developed in the classroom. To support that, Beng
Aksu (2012) states that traditional evaluations have been based on standard tests called
pen and paper tests (p. 8), focusing only on contents and proposing the view that
knowledge exists separately from learner (Worley, n.d., p. 1). In other words, traditional
assessment sees students as containers who accumulate contents without processing and
constructing real knowledge related to real-world contexts and experiences6.
Second, in terms of how alternative assessment evaluates, one may say that it
assesses through students performance since it gives [the teacher] the picture album of
the students ability (Federal Grant, 1999, p. 11). This means that by using alternative
assessment methods, teachers are able to draw implications about learners thought process
and to make them use language creatively and to express their own meanings with learned
materials (Federal Grant, 1999, p. 13). Furthermore, as the emphasis of alternative
This belief is grounded in a traditional approach to the educational endeavor based on Behaviorist
theories (Worley, n.d., p. 1)
29
assessment methods is on the construction of knowledge rather than the accumulation of

contents, it hypothesizes that the method to evaluate learners outcomes and learning must
be centered on continuity and that it should be known as much as possible in advance.
Not a gotcha experience7 (ibid.).This indicates that learners outcomes should be
evaluated over a long period of time emphasizing their strengths and progresses since they
are seen as independent people who are capable of thinking critically and guiding their
own learning process (Aksu, 2012).
In respect to traditional assessment methods, they differ from alternative ones
because their forms of evaluating are not focused on learners performance but on their
ability to manipulate the language in discrete items taken out of context (Federal Grant,
1999, p. 11). Additionally, despite the fact that alternative assessment methods provide
teachers with all the information they need to make decisions about their students
instructional needs and progress (Worley, n.d., p. 1), traditional assessment methods
support the idea that standardized tests may be easy to administer, easy to score and easy
to interpret (ibid). In other words, traditional assessment methods evaluate learners
outcomes and learning under contrived contexts instead of real-life setting as alternative
assessment methods do, because under simulated circumstances, it is easier to evaluate,
and objectivity and reliability are assured as well (Aksu, 2012). The previously described
indicates that learners who are evaluated with traditional methods are not able to associate
what they are learning with previous knowledge, or more specifically, with their
experiences, backgrounds, strengths and learning rhythms. In consequence, they cannot
construct knowledge since, as traditional assessment methods accustom them to
accumulate and store contents in their minds, they do not have the foundation for
constructing and applying what they have learnt.
7
Gotcha: an unexpected usually disconcerting challenge, revelation, or catch (Merriam-Websters online

dictionary, 2014)
30
After comparing alternative and traditional assessment, one may infer that there are
many differences between them which characterize every evaluation process, that is, both
kinds of assessment have positive and negative aspects which are covered in the following
section. This research stands for alternative assessment because it is considered more
suitable in terms of assessing oral production skills since it respects students learning
styles and rhythms. In other words, it is based on students learning process rather than the
contents that the students may learn in a specific period of time.
1.3.4 Advantages and Disadvantages of Alternative Assessment Methods
With regard to alternative assessment methods, advantages and disadvantages can
be distinguished. In order to clarify what they are and how they may affect students
evaluation process, they will be identified and described below since they will take a
leading role in the design of the teaching proposal.
Advantages of Alternative Assessment Methods

There are many advantages of alternative assessment methods that can be
described. These pertain to the following areas: communication, critical thinking, and
authentic assessment, among others. In accordance with the Federal Grant from the
Foreign Language Assistance Program (1999) some of the most highlighted aspects are
that alternative assessment methods can:
Reach complex or difficult outcomes: this kind of assessment is able to measure not only
the knowledge about the language, but also the entire learning process; to be exact, the
product and the process have the same degree of importance for the evaluator.
31
Be focused on realistic tasks: it is possible for the students to be completely immersed in

the evaluation process due to the fact that it is mainly centered on their own backgrounds
giving them the opportunity to attribute significance to this process.
Incorporate good instructional tools: as assessment and instruction are constantly

interacting, it is possible to adapt instructions with the purpose of monitoring students
during the learning process. Therefore, the alternative assessment is centered on students
strengths and not on the goals they are supposed to accomplish.
Communicate what the evaluator appreciates: through evaluation, it is possible for

students to understand what elements will be measured; because of that fact, alternative
assessment methods have concordance with the instructions the evaluator gives to the
learners.
Take into account students different learning styles: when a teacher uses alternative
assessment to evaluate his/her students, it is possible to adapt that process according to
students learning styles, which means that teachers have the freedom to modify the
assessment to include different skills and reach students needs.
Collaborate and interact with the students: one of the most significant advantages of
alternative assessment is that teachers and students have the opportunity to interact within
the evaluation process. This occurs because alternative assessment methods try to imitate
the real world and context of the students where they can communicate and work
collaboratively.
Disadvantages of Alternative Assessment Methods

It is elemental for teachers to take into account the disadvantages that alternative
assessment methods have during the evaluation process. It is evident that
32
those methods cannot be considered as the perfect via to evaluate learners, since the
challenge to modify existing methods of assessment and to develop new approaches is not
an easy one (Tannenbaum, 1996, n.p). In view of that and in the words of Nola Aitken &
Lydia Pungur (n.d.), it is necessary to reveal the disadvantages these methods have.
Therefore, it is indispensable to describe the ones that are considered as more important by
the two authors previously mentioned:
Problems with quantitative data for schools: in educational systems, it is more common
to measure the progress of students through the creation of comparative tables with the
marks of the tests. In the case that an alternative assessment method is being used in a
classroom, it can be almost impossible for teachers to illustrate the results in quantitative
data because in order to do that, teachers have to apply the same test for every student,
which is not the case of alternative assessment methods.
Differences in equality: over the years, it has been considered that standardized tests are
able to impede differences among students that come from diverse schools. In some cases,
it is thought that students who have been evaluated with alternative assessment methods
could not be prepared to face the standardized tests they have to take in the future to apply
for a job, for a scholarship or for another college.
Time limitation (restrictions for students): due to the fact that alternative assessment
allows teachers to design distinct ways to evaluate every student, in some occasions it can
be complicated for teachers to assess all the students during one lesson because of the time
it would probably take. The previously declared means that the evaluation process under
alternative assessment needs long periods of time that have to be considered by the
evaluators.
Cost (more materials and resources): standardized tests do not need many resources for
their implementation since the preparation of sheets of paper to write the questions and
33
answers is all that is needed. In contrast, alternative assessment methods in general require
a variety of materials and equipment that sometimes may be expensive for the school. That
happens because teachers must have a diversity of resources in order to suit students
learning styles.
Probability to bias students results in tests: the possibility to influence students marks
in the evaluation process is a situation that cannot happen. Unfortunately, when a teacher is
applying an alternative assessment method to measure students progress, there is a high
probability to bias the results, as most of the time the evaluation is performed through
direct observation. Therefore, it is essential for teachers to be as objective as they can, not
to give personal opinions regarding students performance in the evaluation and just refer
to the tasks that students do during the evaluation process.
Despite the disadvantages of alternative assessment methods, one may say that
their extra efforts result in more direct and more accurate testing because students are
assessed as they perform actual or simulated real-world tasks (Brown & Abeywickrama,
2010, p. 16). In other words, alternative assessment methods attempt to go beyond right or
wrong answers and to what is taught since they respect students mental thought and
learning process. In addition, it is fundamental for the teachers to be aware of those
weaknesses in order to adapt the evaluation process as many times as it may be required. In
this regard, the proposal of this research will be focused on suggesting evaluation activities
that try to diminish the negative aspects of alternative assessment methods and that
facilitate the evaluation process of second-year students of the ELT Training Program at
Universidad Austral de Chile.
1.3.5 Performance-based Assessment
Alternative assessment is an umbrella term which includes different types of
methods (Lizasoain, 2013). Therefore, various are the models that are used in order to
34
provide teachers with the necessary information to help their students guide their own
learning process. In the following section, performance-based assessment8 will be covered
in order to have a deeper understanding of the way alternative assessment methods work
along with the sociocultural approach and, consequently, help students improve their oral
production skills.
Performance-based assessment is defined by Project Appleseed (2010) as one
alternative to traditional methods of testing students achievement . . . which requires
students to demonstrate knowledge and skills, including the process by which they solve
their problems (n. p). This implies that learners are the ones who create their own
responses and seek solutions to different kinds of situations and circumstances that are set
in a real-life context. Under performance-based assessment, teachers are able to guide
students learning process and to offer them the necessary tools in order to make this
process a more manageable one. Likewise, as this assessment is student-oriented, it gives
them opportunities to show their mastery of subjects area content and procedures
(Project Appleseed, 2010, n. p), in that way, students are active participants and
responsible for their learning process. It is also important to mention that although Brown
(2004) warns that preparing performance-based assessment is time consuming, . . . [it]
gives more accurate and objective results as it evaluates students abilities in simulated/real
tasks (Alarcn & Neguimn, 2013, p. 34). That is, performance-based assessment allows
students to develop their speaking and writing skills on the basis of their capacities and
progresses.
In connection with performance-based assessment and its advantages over the
improvement of students oral production skills, one can say that as it was previously
The researchers have chosen performance-based methods because they are more suitable for the evaluation
of oral production skills
35
described it integrates teaching, learning and evaluation, which provide[s] a model for
what teachers should be teaching and students should be learning (Barn in Lai, 2011, p.
1). Further, it permits students to develop extended performances over a long period of
time, which gives teachers the opportunity to evaluate process and product, since behind
every product there has been a continuous work, as well as a series of previous tasks that
have assisted learners in achieving the outcome (Lai, 2011). Another advantage of the
performance-based assessment that can be highlighted and which is described by Norman
Frederiksen (1984), specifies that performance-based methods are able to assess students
knowledge and skills at deeper levels than traditional assessment approaches and are better
suited to measuring certain skill types, such as writing and critical thinking (Frederiksen
in Lai et al, 2012, p. 4). This shows that performance-based assessment is a valid and more
meaningful form of assessing students learning since it works over a large time-frame,
which means that it follows students learning process and consequently respects students
learning rhythms.
As it has been stated throughout this section, there is a vast range of performancebased assessment methods; nevertheless, they are divided into two subsections: speaking
and writing. As this research is focused on oral production, the following methods are
highlighted since they are directly linked to speaking skills. In this regard, it is relevant to
indicate that these will be the basis of the evaluation activities that will be part of the
proposal.
Projects and Exhibitions
Oral presentations
Role playing
Interviews
Story of text retelling
36
Experiments and demonstrations

To summarize, one may state that assessment is divided into four categories
depending on the function or purpose of the evaluation: diagnosed, formative, summative

and evaluative assessment. In addition, it is possible to distinguish informal from formal
evaluation; at the same time, one may distinguish traditional assessment from alternative
assessment which are differentiated by the manner they are developed and the objectives
they attempt to reach. In this section, alternative assessment was covered with the purpose
of identifying and choosing methods which will be part of the proposal, allowing the
researchers to propose activities that fit and facilitate the evaluation process of students
who are being taught under the sociocultural approach
1.4 Communicative Competence
The term competence in applied linguistics was first introduced by Noam
Chomskys theory which was based on linguistic competence and the idea of using the
concept of idealized, purely linguistic competence as a theoretical ground of the
methodology for learning, teaching and testing languages (Bagari & Djigunovi, 2007,
p. 95). In 1971, Dell Hymes, following from Chomskys theory, distinguishes competence
from performance. Hymes (1971) declares that linguistic competence is not sufficient to
perform properly since it proposes ideal objects (speaker-listener) who are abstracted from
real sociocultural contexts; additionally, he states that there are many factors that may
affect individuals performances; consequently, linguistic competence does not reflect
linguistic knowledge9 (Pilleux, 2001). Afterwards, Michael Canale (1980) and Merrill
Swain (1983), based on four major components, understood communicative competence
as a synthesis of an underlying system of knowledge and skill needed for communication
Passage translated by the researchers
37
(Bagari & Djigunovi, 2007, p. 95). This indicates that not only is it necessary to
differentiate linguistic competence from performance competence, but also indispensable
to have a set of abilities that makes it possible to develop the communicative competence.
Nowadays, it is centered on the four major components that emerged from Canale (1980)
and Swain (1983) and it is defined as the ability to use the language correctly and
appropriately to accomplish communication goals (The National Capital Language
Resource Center, 2004, n. p).
1.4.1 Components of Communicative Competence
As described above, four components can be recognized in relation to
communicative competence: grammatical/linguistic competence, sociolinguistic
competence, discourse and strategic competence (Lee & VanPatten, 2003, p. 53). They
involve the use of a large range of factors such us linguistic knowledge, capacity to use
language in diverse settings, and the ability to adjust the registers of the spoken language,
among others. Those components will be briefly described below.
Grammatical/Linguistic Competence10: it refers to the the knowledge of the language
code (grammatical rules, vocabulary, pronunciation, spelling, etc) (Celce-Murcia,
Drnyei & Thurrell, 1995, p. 7). In addition, it enables recognition and production of
grammatically correct sentences as well as comprehension of their prepositional content
(Bagari & Djigunovi, 2007, p. 98). This shows that not only does this competence
include grammar, but also other elements that are part of language systems and that allow
individuals to create comprehensible sentences in terms of syntax, phonology, morphology
and graphology.
10
Competence: (in generative grammar) the implicit system of rules that constitutes a persons knowledge
of a language (Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics, Richards & Schmidt,
2002, p. 93).
Competency: (in competency based teaching) descriptions of the essential skills, knowledge and behaviours
required for the effective performance of a real world task of activity (ibid., p. 94).
38
Sociolinguistic Competence: it is understood as the ability to interpret the social meaning

of the choice of linguistic varieties and to use language with the appropriate social meaning
for the communicative situation (SIL International, 1990, n. p). In other words, the
sociolinguistic competence refers to individuals ability to use the language in different
communicative situations in order to understand and to be understood in a proper manner
in various contexts.
Discourse Competence: it is the ability of knowing how to interpret the larger context
and how to construct longer stretches of language so that the parts make up a coherent
whole (The National Capital Resource Center, 2004, n. p). This demonstrates that
discourse competence is the capacity to combine and select ideas and language structures
in order to achieve coherence and cohesion whether in written or oral texts.
Strategic Competence: it concerns the knowledge of verbal and non-verbal
communication strategies which enhance the efficiency of communication and, where
necessary, enable the learner to overcome difficulties when communication breakdowns
occur (Celce-Murcia, Drnyei & Thurrell, 1995, p. 7). More specifically, strategic
competence helps speakers enrich the effectiveness of communication and compensate the
possible gaps that may exist in their language knowledge due to insufficient competence
in one or more components of communicative competence (Bagari & Djigunovi, 2007,
pp. 97-98)
The previous description of the components of communicative competence is of
paramount significance to this research because of the goals it aims at. In order to propose
activities that facilitate the evaluation process of second-year students of the ELT Training
Program in respect to their oral skills, it is mandatory to make connections between
39
assessment instruments and communicative competence principles; otherwise, the

evaluation methods proposed would not be authentic, valid and reliable.
1.4.2 Communicative Competence and Assessment
In the past decades, language pedagogy has moved toward communicative goals,
which indicates that instructional methods that are focused on linguistic elements, have
been sidelined by communicative theories and approaches which claim that the whole of
the communicative event [is] considerably greater than the sum of its linguistic elements
(Clark in Brown & Abeywickrama, 2010, p. 13). In short, these new approaches emphasize
communication, authenticity, and context (ibid., 2010, p. 13), that is, they argue that
language competence [is] a unified set of interacting abilities that [cannot] be tested
separately (Oller in Brown & Abeywickrama, 2010, p. 13). From that, Douglas Brown
and Priyanvada Abeywickrama (2010) declare that communicative competence is so
global and requires such integration that it cannot be captured in additive tests of grammar,
reading, vocabulary, and other discrete points of language (p. 13). This means that the
four major components of communicative competence cannot be assessed in isolation but
as a whole in order to help learners develop their language skills, learning processes, and
the ability to negotiate meaning (Brown & Abeywickrama, 2010, p. 18).
With regard to what has been exposed, current research advocates for
communicative language ability, which is defined as the ability to express ones self and
to understand others it develops as learners engage in communication and not as a result
of habit formation with grammatical items (Lee & VanPattern, 2003, p. 51). Besides,
communicative language ability postulates that mastery of the mechanics of a language
does not ensure the ability to use the language for communication (Savignon, 1972, p.
10). This supports the idea that communicative competence cannot be divided into small
40
measurable units neither be evaluated by discrete-point tests. This way, when assessing
communicative competence, it is elemental to be aware of the fact that one is evaluating
proficiency based on four underlying competences and that linguistic competence and
performance are not similar elements. Thus, the use of language in diverse communicative
situations implies the development of communicative competence rather than the
memorization of isolated words and grammatical structures which are taught in unreal
contexts such us laboratories and classrooms.
To measure communicative competence is a complicated task, even more difficult
if one is focused on testing oral proficiency, since a large number of factors play against
learners performance. First, one may contemplate the authenticity in language teaching,
that is to say, possible real-life contexts [which] include [speaking activities] such us
reading aloud (as in giving a prepared speech) . . . talking on the phone, and conversing
face-to-face with one or more interlocutors (Clark in Randall & Spolsky, 1975, p. 10).
Authenticity in oral proficiency tests is an essential constituent as it allows learners to
establish relationships between the characteristics of a given language test task to the
features of a target language task (Bachman, Palmer in Brown & Abeywickrama, 2010, p.
36). Currently, many oral proficiency tests lack authenticity because they do not occur in
natural language acquisition settings. Moreover, they are limited by topics which are based
on specific contents since it is understood by all concerned that the purpose of the
question is not to satisfy the teachers need to obtain the requested information but rather
to provide and instructional opportunity for rehearsing certain language usage patterns
(Savignon, 1972, p. 3). In this manner, classrooms and schools lack authenticity since, in
general, they are seen as non-ordinary and non-real settings which remain artificial and
decontextualized exercises (Savignon, 1972).
41
Second, Psychological implications should be taken into account when assessing

oral abilities as, for example, the act of communication in most settings involves the
expression, interpretation, and negotiation of meaning (Savignon in Lee & VanPattern,
2003, p. 51) in other words an individuals intention to communicate or to express an
idea or thought. According to James Lee and Bill VanPattern (2003), in the nonclassroom world, people engage in oral communication for a variety of reasons (p. 53);
nevertheless, in artificial contexts, students are limited by specific topics and isolated
vocabulary which impede the normal language development. Further, the positive
consequences of success in the language course are not commensurate with the joy, the
satisfaction, the ecstasy that comes from real interpersonal encounters (Savignon, 1972, p.
3). This shows that despite successful results in language courses, the development of
interpersonal communicative skills in real-life contexts is more significant and is directly
connected with individuals intrinsic motivation11 which hinges upon achieving the major
victories of ordinary conversational transactions in real life settings (ibid.).
In this section, communicative competence has been developed in order to
comprehend the current notion of communicative language ability. It was exposed that the
four major components of communicative competence must be integrated and developed
as a whole, that is, they cannot be evaluated individually or in isolation. Besides, it was
described that, nowadays, assessment methods are oriented to enhance communication,
which means that they stand for the interrelation between the components of
communicative competence in order to provide students with authentic tests which help
them achieve language proficiency. Finally, it is mandatory to state that communicative
competence and assessment have been discussed as parallel concepts in order to establish
the foundations of the evaluation activities that will be further proposed, and which will
11
This concept will be described in depth in the section 1.5 Affective Domain.

seek to facilitate the evaluation process of second-year students of the ELT Training
Program who are being taught under the sociocultural approach.
42
43
1.5 The Affective Domain

Oral production is one of the most difficult skills to develop for EFL learners since
there are many elements that influence it. A factor that has been highlighted by many
authors is the affective domain which has to be considerated by teachers in EFL
classrooms not only during the learning development of the students, but also in the
evaluation process, especially if alternative assessment methods are being used. At the
same time, the affective domain includes several variables that can either enhance second
language acquisition or hinder it, depending on whether they are positive or negative
(Richard-Amato, 2003, p. 111). It is possible to state that a similar situation happens in the
evaluation process because the affective domain can produce severe changes in students
performance during a test or assessment. The aspects that are included into the affective
domain are: attitudes, motivation and anxiety. With the purpose of understanding these
aspects better, this section will describe them in-depth.
1.5.1 Attitudes
Throughout the learning and evaluation process attitude is considered as an
essential factor influencing language performance (Visser in Pour-Mohammadi, 2012, p.
121). As each student has different characteristics and the learning and evaluation
instances are distinct, it is fundamental for teachers to know that there are many attitudes
that can be adopted by learners. Some of those attitudes are the following:
Attitude toward the Self
This kind of attitude is associated with the levels of self-esteem and self-confidence
that a learner can develop. Evidently, the degree of self-esteem and/or self-confidence
may vary from situation to situation or from task to task Richard-Amato, 2003, p. 111).
This expresses the reason why teachers cannot guide the learning and evaluation process
44
only in one way since they have to adapt these processes according to specific contexts and
learning rhythms. For instance, the use of alternative assessment methods is a possible via
to evaluate students oral production skills because it permits that they can feel more
confident. Consequently, students trust the knowledge they have about the language and
they are able to perform better.
Attitude toward the Target Language and the People who Speak It
Stereotyping plays a tremendous role in this kind of attitude because it is the main
reason to demonstrate a negative vision toward a foreign language. Additionally, in the
words of Patricia Richard-Amato (2003), the negative stereotypes can affect the learners
self- esteem and engender negative perceptions toward the target language and its culture
(p. 112). As a consequence, EFL learners can have similar attitudes and feelings toward the
peers who speak the target language; situation that affects directly the language learning
process and subsequently, the performance of the students in evaluations. Thus, it is
elemental that teachers promote the establishment of relationships between the target
language culture and students identity because the value learners attach to a language
will come across in the learners identity, in the way he/she views himself/herself in
relation to the target language and culture (Ricento in Larsson & Olsson, 2011, p. 13).
Attitude toward the Teacher and Classroom Environment
Inside classrooms, it is common to find diverse behaviors since as it was previously
stated, all the students are different in terms of values, cultural backgrounds and ways of
thinking. Besides, it is possible to declare that an analogous situation happens with
teachers as they also are completely different from students. In some occasions, those
differences can produce the loss of communication among students and their teachers
because sometimes both do not accept their personal behaviors. In accordance to Richard-
45
Amato (2003), an effective way to diminish the communicational and behavioral problems
inside the classroom is to make use of affective activities that can help to build a
comfortable atmosphere for the learning process and to promote positive feelings toward
the teacher, each other and the learning environment (p. 113). Moreover, the inclusion of
affective activities to test students can be a good option in order to make them feel more
confident and less anxious during the evaluation process.
1.5.2 Motivation
Motivation is considered an important aspect of the affective domain which has
incidence on the learning process of the students. Furthermore, it can be defined as the
reason or enthusiasm to accomplish a certain task. In plain words, this eagerness leads
people to achieve their goals and to make decisions that orientate and determine the human
personal development (Romn & Sanhueza, 2013, p. 14). Undoubtedly, motivation is one
of the aspects that must be taken into account by teachers inside the classroom since it can
produce big alterations on students enthusiasm or desires to learn or even on their
evaluations results. Many authors state that there are four types of motivation, which are
distinguished as intrinsic, extrinsic, instrumental and integrative motivation.
Intrinsic Motivation
This kind of motivation is related to the persons desires to do different activities.
For instance, when intrinsically motivated a person is moved to act for the fun or
challenge entailed rather than because of external prods, pressures, or rewards (Ryan &
Deci, 2000, p.56). The previously proclaimed expresses the importance that peoples
internal desires have in the development of any task, which can be also applicable in
educational terms because students need to be intrinsically motivated in order to be
interested in learning. Likewise, intrinsic motivation can have incidence on students
46
performance during evaluated tasks; if they do not feel this internal motivation, it is almost
impossible to obtain good results in evaluations.
Extrinsic Motivation:
Extrinsic motivation is the opposite side of intrinsic motivation. That is, if intrinsic
motivation is related to internal factors; extrinsic motivation is mainly associated with
external factors. This indicates that the goal a person wants to reach is the main reason why
s/he develops an activity. Hence, extrinsic motivation refers to the performance of an
activity in order to attain external outcomes, which provide satisfaction and pleasure that
the task itself might not provide (Ryan & Deci in Romn & Sanhueza, 2013, p. 17). At this
level, teachers have a remarkable role since if their students are not intrinsically motivated,
they are in charge of creating and promoting activities that can be engaging for learners in
order to enhance participation. In addition, it is possible to state that extrinsic motivation
can also be utilized during the evaluation process; instance in which the students are not
necessary motivated; therefore, external factors are indispensable.
Integrative Motivation
Integrative motivation is described as a desire to integrate and identify with the
target language group (Hedge in Richard- Amato, 2003, p. 114), which means that the
interests of the learner are not based on the language itself but in all the elements and
factors that are related to it. In that sense, one may say that an integrative orientation
toward language study reflects a sincere and personal interest in the people and culture
represented by the other group (Lambert in Jameson, 2008, p. 24). This kind of
motivation can be easily related to the extrinsic motivation as the external factors are
engaging for learners, which permits students to feel attractive toward the target language
and the elements that surround it.
47
Instrumental Motivation
This kind of motivation helps the learners be centered on the benefits that the target
language can offer to them because an instrumental orientation emphasizes the practical
value and advantages of learning a new language (Lambert in Jameson, 2008, p. 24). For
example, in some countries to know another language can be the possibility to change
peoples lifestyles (in terms of finding new opportunities in other countries). To connect
this kind of motivation with the learning and evaluation process, it is possible to mention
that teachers can use instrumental motivation in order to give their students strong reasons
for valuing the second or foreign language they are learning.
1.5.3 Anxiety
Anxiety is the last component of the affective domain that will be described in this
section. Moreover, this aspect is considered as the one which has more relation to students
oral skills because among the affective factors which influence EFL learners, anxiety
appears as one of the most outstanding factor due to its pervasive effects on foreign
language learning (Idri in Melouah 2013, p. 67). The previously stated can be explained
through students behaviors; for example, they tend to feel anxious when they have to
speak in public, especially if the language they are producing is a foreign or second
language. For that, teachers are the responsible for diminishing students anxiety with the
purpose of helping them feel more comfortable and secure when speaking a language that
is not their mother tongue.
In the words of Shu- Feng Tseng (2012), there are several ways for instructors to
reduce students anxiety during speaking instances; for example, to express the students
that the teacher is completely worried about their learning process, to provide the students
a warm classroom atmosphere, to give the students a maximum of speaking time, to
48
provide activities that unconsciously can help them to think about their levels of anxiety
and to create tasks that students can enjoy (p. 86). In view of the previously declared, the
teaching proposal of this research paper will try to incorporate new alternative assessment
tools that contain ways of evaluating that can deal with students anxiety problems during
oral evaluations using English as a foreign language.
To comprehend in a detail manner the causes and the types of anxiety one can find
in a classroom, two types of anxiety will be described below: trait anxiety and state
anxiety.
Trait Anxiety
According to Richard-Amato (2003), this type of anxiety is connected with a
predisposition to feel anxious (p. 116). This demonstrates that the person feels anxious
before starting an activity or a task since most of the times s/he does not feel secure about
her/his knowledge. To exemplify that, in oral evaluations, it is very frequent to experience
trait anxiety because as the student does not know the way in which the test or evaluation
will be developed, s/he believes it will be difficult to obtain good results. Another relevant
fact to mention about trait anxiety is that this varies depending on the person as trait
anxiety varies according to how individuals have conditioned themselves to respond to
and manage the stress. What may cause anxiety and stress in one person may not generate
any emotion in another (Charles Sturt University, n.d , n.p ).
State Anxiety
State anxiety is produced in reaction to a specific situation (Richard-Amato,
2003, p. 116), that is to say, this kind of anxiety can vary in a similar manner as trait
anxiety does because not all the learners respond in the same way. Besides, Charles Sturt
University (n.d) affirms that state anxiety can contribute to a degree of physical and
49
mental paralysis, preventing performance of a task or where performance is severely

affected (n.p). It is evident that state anxiety can also affect students oral assessment,
impeding the normal development of an evaluation.
To conclude the section in regard to the affective domain, it is relevant to reveal
that attitude, motivation and anxiety are aspects that cannot be ignored by teachers, tutors
or instructors because they have to be treated seriously in order to help students develop
their learning process with no problems. Additionally, those aspects must be taken into
account during the evaluation process to facilitate it and permit students to perform without
internal or external factors that may interfere in the results of the evaluation.
49
CHAPTER 2: DISCUSSION
Following from the theoretical descriptions carried out in the previous chapter, it is
now pertinent to analyze the connections and implications of those four main concepts. This
chapter will be classified into two sections: SCA & Oral production, and SCA & Alternative
Assessment; furthermore, communicative competence and the affective domain will be
present throughout the whole chapter because of their relevance in this research. As a
consequence, bridges between the four elements mentioned will be built in order to establish
the basis for the teaching proposal.
2.1 SCA & Oral Production
The inclusion of the SCA in EFL classrooms is an essential factor when teachers desire
to help their students develop their oral production skills. The previously stated is possible
since the SCA is able to provide and to create appropriate environments and instances that
allow students to socialize and communicate with each other (supra. p. 6). In that sense,
students can develop their social skills as well as enrich their oral production skills through the
continuous practice they have when working under this approach. Besides, throughout the
communication process students and teachers need to use the verbal language with the purpose
of exchanging messages and maintaining the communicative situation or context. Precisely,
the SCA promotes the development of lessons that can enhance communication and
interaction. In other words, it gives students different and many opportunities to practice the
language orally. Hence, if the learners or students have more occasions to perform oral
activities, they will have the capacity to improve their mistakes and develop their oral
production skills in an easier manner.
50
Additionally, it is well known that one of the factors that can directly affect students
oral production skills is the presence of the affective domain during the performance of oral
tasks (Richard-Amato, 2003). With the intention of impeding that the affective issues interfere
in the oral usage of the language, the SCA allows teachers to incorporate activities in which
the students can practice speaking but not in an isolated manner, that is to say, they are invited
to work in groups or pairs and to develop their oral skills while they are communicating in real
contexts (Project Appleseed, 2010).
To continue exposing the relationship between SCA and students oral production
skills, three main aspects that are correlated with the inclusion of this approach in EFL
classrooms will be explained in this section: development of oral production skills, interaction
and collaborative work and communication between students and teachers.
2.1.1 Development of Oral Production Skills
It is possible to affirm that students and teachers have to make use of their
communicative competence if they want to develop their oral production skills in a proper
way. To reach that aim, they should fortify the four components that are proposed by Lee &
Van Patten (2003) which were previously described in the first chapter of this research12. At
this stage, it is when the tasks and activities that are proposed by the SCA play a tremendous
role since these compose the basis to promote the use of oral language during students
language lessons. In addition, one may say that incorporating activities that enhance the use of
spoken language is not easy because, in most of the cases, the students do not respond
properly to the activities and they do not want to participate (Richard-Amato, 2003).
12
Revise chapter 1, section 1.4.1 Components of Communicative Competence
51
In order to avoid this problem, teachers can include the SCA in language lessons as an
option to integrate tasks and activities that support students when producing the language
orally (Warschauer, 1997). Consequently, teachers need to create instances that can be related
to students sociocultural backgrounds allowing them to speak the language in a more
comfortable manner (Wertsch, 1991). Therefore, students can be divided into groups to work
during lessons in order to reduce the affective issues and help them feel more secure when
speaking in public. For instance, teachers could change the common individual oral
presentations for oral presentations in teams which can be prepared in a less formal
environment than the common ones13. To aim that goal, the topics of the presentations should
be thought and adapted according to the reality that students live every day. Accordingly, as
the students will manage the topic they have to present about, they will be more capable of
sharing their personal opinions and experiences with the rest of the class, a situation that will
evidently help them develop their oral production skills through regular practice. Further, the
performance of role playing can be a suitable method to give the students freedom to interpret
the topics of the textbook since they are asked to represent a specific situation or context;
however, they can improve and correct the presentation by making the necessary changes they
think that are needed. Thus, the final product will achieve higher quality standards.
Another relevant fact to mention about the development of oral production in EFL
classrooms is that teachers must have the role of a helper during the process (Grabinger, Aplin
& Gitanjali, 2007), which means that they need to guide and monitor the activities to supply as
many communicative instances as possible, allowing students to perform the language in a
13
As a suggestion, students performances do not have to be developed in the classroom; students can record
their presentations beforehand and deliver a video.
52
natural way (ibid.). To exemplify that, one can say that the incorporation of activities such as
story of text retelling are appropriate to permit the students to communicate their personal
thoughts and ways to express the language. Moreover, in these activities not only can the
students produce the language as they want to, but also interact with the rest of the class.
Furthermore, it is elemental that teachers correct students mistakes using natural strategies;
otherwise, they can build a negative attitude toward the language and the people who speak it
(Richard-Amato, 2003). For that reason, it is necessary to include the usage of feedback
activities during oral performances with pieces of advice from the teacher and from the
students perspective.
After the facts recently exposed, one can reveal that when enhancing students oral
production skills in language lessons, it is fundamental to incorporate the SCA and address the
activities and tasks to the realities of the students because, in that way, they will feel more
comfortable using the language and communicating with their classmates. Besides, teachers
have the faculty to adapt the lessons in order to give students more autonomy when
interpreting the tasks and exercising the oral skill.
2.1.2 Interaction and Collaborative Work
As it was previously described, the SCA provides students with instances and real-life
contexts in which they can socialize and interact with their peers and teachers. In this sense,
and in the words of Warschauer (1997), the SCA allows students to communicate and to
interact in a foreign language through contextualized settings rather than isolated situations
which do not represent authentic ways to acquire vocabulary and the productive skills of
speaking and writing. Additionally, the creation of dialogic instances and occasions of
53
interactions helps individuals share their personal experiences and learn from their own
sociocultural backgrounds which means that not only are learners able to socialize, but also to
achieve a higher cognitive development as they are learning on the basis of their history.
Another important element that must be taken into consideration when implementing the SCA
in EFL classrooms is Vygotskys postulates 14(1978). which indicate that learning occurs first
externally and then internally This means that once students are being taught under this
approach, the contexts and settings that give them the opportunities to learn a foreign language
as well as their own culture and society (Niklitschek, personal communication, November
27th, 2013) must be significant in order to promote meaningful learning15 and help students in
the acquisition of the language.
In order to enhance communicative situations in the classroom and achieve appropriate
contexts that make possible the implementation of the SCA, teachers should prepare or choose
activities that require interaction among students. Nevertheless, as stated in the section
described above, the development of oral activities may result in a class with high levels of
anxiety and affective filter, as it has been proved that most of learners do not feel comfortable
when speaking (Richard-Amato, 2003). Furthermore, oral production is seen as the most
complex skill to develop because it is influenced by a vast range of external and social factors
(ibid.). In that sense, the interactive and communicative instances must be based on students
14
See chapter 1, section 1.2.2 Aspects of the Sociocultural Theory and Foreign Language Acquisition
The term meaningful learning was introduced in 1961 by Daniel Ausubel and Donald Fitzgerald in their work:
Meaningful Learning and Retention: Intrapersonal Cognitive Variable. This theory refers to the fact that prior
experience . . . is conceptualized as a cumulatively acquired, hierarchically organized, and established body of
knowledge which is organically relatable to the new learning task, rather than as a recently experienced
constellation of stimulus-response connections influencing the learning of another discrete set of such
connections (Ausubel & Fitzgerald, 1961, p. 501). In general terms, it postulates that to achieve a meaningful
learning students must relate the previous knowledge to what they already know, that is to say, there must be a
connection between previous concepts and new ones.
15
54
sociocultural backgrounds and have to occur among students since, at this point, the teaching
and learning process is learner-oriented and is considered the best way to help students feel
comfortable and construct their own knowledge (Grabinger, Aplin & Gitanjali, 2007; JohnSteiner & Mahn, 2011).
It has been exposed that interaction and communication between learners is essential to
allow them to improve their oral productions skills; however, there is another element that has
not been mentioned and which makes interaction more significant and valuable for students:
collaborative work. This component of the SCA is believed to be fundamental when
proposing and developing activities such as projects, interviews, experiments and
demonstrations since through these kinds of tasks, students are supposed to co-construct
knowledge in conjunction with their peers on the basis of their experiences (John-Steiner &
Mahn, 2011). In relation to that, one of the experts interviewed, Gisela Niklitschek (2013),
expresses that under the implementation of the SCA, students must interact and work together
in a collaborative manner; otherwise, the outcomes may not be fruitful (Niklitschek, personal
communication, November 27th). Moreover, as it was exposed in the first chapter of this
research, collaborative work contributes to reach the fourth element of the sociocultural theory
which is the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD). In other words, collaborative work as its
name suggests is about collaboration; thus, it is not an internal characteristic of learners but
one that emerges from group activities (Ellis, Barkhuizen in Allahyar & Nazari, 2012).
Additionally, it provides students with the necessary tools to create stronger ties with their
peers as it permits students to be familiar with their classmates sociocultural backgrounds and
to compare their realities.
55
To develop activities that promote interaction and collaborative work is not an easy
task since teachers must take into account many elements which may influence students
learning process (Project Appleseed, 2010). Nonetheless, as already mentioned, activities such
as demonstrations and projects work along with those principles because they enhance
teamwork; consequently, they encourage students to take roles in their groups, developing, in
this way, collaborative learning with the purpose of reaching a common goal. In addition, as it
is the students who are in charge of the construction of their knowledge, they are able to
recognize and be aware of their abilities or skills which would not be discovered under other
circumstances (Aitken & Pungur, n.d.; Tannenbaum, 1996). Other effective activities which
permit teachers to combine interaction and collaborative work as a whole are interviews, role
playing and story of text-retelling since these give students the opportunities to perform in
real-world contexts through simulation. This demonstrates that learners are given engaging
situations which place them in meaningful and real-world settings; hence, the risk of making
students feel exposed is replaced by the application of knowledge supported by students
interaction and collaboration.
To sum up, interaction and collaborative work are two elemental components of the
SCA that go hand in hand promoting collaborative learning among students. In addition, they
create an optimal environment which helps students establish closer relationships with their
classmates reducing their affective filter and levels of anxiety. For those reasons, this research
proposes evaluation activities which have as a main objective to enhance interaction and
collaboration in EFL classrooms as a manner to facilitate students evaluation process and
strengthen the bonds between teaching and assessing.
56
2.1.3 Communication between Students and Teachers

It has been stated that the SCA enhances interaction among students and that it is
learner-oriented; it is also important to mention that this approach fosters communication
between teachers and students. In the previous section, it was exposed that under the SCA
teachers are helpers rather than instructors, that is to say, they have the mission to monitor
students learning process by giving them the opportunities to communicate in the foreign
language through authentic activities (Warschauer, 1997). Besides, as Lev Vygotsky (1978)
indicates, language is the product of communication which means that it arises from the
interaction between learners and their environments. This way, it is only through
communication and the interaction with the environment that learners will develop the means
of language. It is also relevant to declare that communication, which emerges from the
interaction between teachers and students, is strongly related to the collaborative work which,
as happens with the role of teachers, is seen as a mediator tool through which teachers can
intermediate students learning process and help them develop their language skills and their
cognitive abilities as well.
In order to nurture communication between teachers and learners, activities such as
demonstrations, exhibitions and oral presentations should be developed as they provide
teachers with valuable information about students progress (Association of Independent
Schools of the ACT Incorporated, n.d.). At this level, teachers are able to guide students and
show them the options and ways they have to improve their tasks, that is to say, these kinds of
activities permit educators to offer students feedback regarding their learning. Moreover, as
these activities are based on students backgrounds and follow students rhythms and learning
57
styles, they may take larger blocks of time than the traditional ones (Aitken & Pungur, n.d.;
Tannenbaum, 1996). Thus, teachers are given instances to develop formative assessment
focusing on the process behind the outcomes and on the development of competences and
skills before the performance takes place (Brown, 2010). Another central element to highlight
concerning the interaction among teachers and students is the fact that the achievement of
good communication between these actors may result in an ideal relationship which may
contribute to the development of an optimal classroom environment (Richard-Amato, 2003).
In other words, the existence of communication between learners and teachers creates spaces
to promote an ideal classroom atmosphere which may help students raise their motivation and
lower their affective filter in regard to their language acquisition process.
To conclude this section, one may say that it is extensively recognized that
communication between learners and teachers enriches the students learning process either
because it allows teachers to monitor and to guide students progress or because it contributes
to the creation of appropriate environments which facilitate students language acquisition
process. This indicates that teachers must develop activities in which communication plays an
essential role since it emboldens interaction and collaborative work which may result in more
cooperative learning, and consequently in upper and greater cognitive and language
development.
58
2.2 SCA & Alternative Assessment

The implementation of the SCA and the inclusion of alternative assessment methods to
evaluate students in EFL classrooms are strongly connected since both of them let the students
develop their learning process in a meaningful way. In spite of the fact that nowadays there is
a broad range of assessment tools that can be utilized to measure students progress, traditional
assessment methods are the priority for many teachers and evaluators (Federal Grant from the
Foreign Language Assistance program, 1999). Thus, the task of evaluating students has been
considered a problem that in many opportunities is difficult to solve for the people who are in
charge of testing learners (Wiggins, 1989). Additionally, Niklitschek (2013) considers and
recognizes that SCA can be a difficult approach to assess by teachers since it is social in
nature (Niklitschek, personal communication, November 27th). In that sense, as SCA
postulates that the students performance is the most important aspect to be considered by
teachers (Johnston, n.d.) and that lessons and evaluations should be learner-centered (The
National Capital Language Resource Center, 2004). It is complicated to evaluate students with
traditional methods since they are more focused on right or wrong answers rather than the
process itself (Federal Grant, 1999).
As a consequence of the previously exposed, it is necessary for teachers or evaluators
to make use of alternative assessment methods if they want to implement the SCA in their
language lessons. In that sense, there will be coherence between the approach that is being
implemented and the evaluation method that is being developed to assess students learning
process. Another relevant aspect that is prominent of the SCA is the incorporation of
assessment tools that allow students to develop their critical thinking using their oral
59
production skills through communication in the classroom (The Critical Thinking Community,
2013), goal that can be reached when using an evaluation method that enhances interaction
among students and allow them to use the productive skills such as speaking and writing
(British Council BBC, n.d.). In order to accomplish that, alternative assessment methods can
be considered an effective via to accomplish the postulates of the SCT that are proposed by
Lev Vygotsky (1987) and that promote: development of critical thinking, interaction between
students and teachers, construction of knowledge from students sociocultural backgrounds
and collaborative work in the classroom. Due to the fact that alternative assessment has a
variety of methods that can be applied to measure students progress, this research proposes
the use of performance-based assessment16 to evaluate students under the implementation of
the SCA in language lessons since it is the most suitable way to incorporate both SCA and
alternative assessment in the evaluation process.
2.2.1 Performance-based Assessment Methods to Evaluate Students Oral Production
Skills
As it was mentioned before, alternative assessment is an umbrella term which has
diverse methods that can be utilized by teachers when assessing students (Lizasoain, personal
communication, October 21st, 2013). Nevertheless, this teaching proposal suggests the
development of performance-based assessment tools as appropriate methods to work along
with the SCA. Besides, as performance-based assessment incorporates the demonstration of
students knowledge about the language and the process through which they are able to correct
their mistakes and improve their skills (Project Appleseed, 2010), one may declare that this
16
The alternative oral assessment methods chosen to evaluate oral production are exposed in chapter 1: section
1.3 Assessment.
60
type of alternative assessment is one of the most useful options that teachers can include in the
evaluation process to measure students oral production skills, especially if the SCA is being
implemented.
Another relevant characteristic that is present in performance-based assessment
methods and that is related to the SCA is the integration of real-life contexts in evaluation
tools. Hence, it is possible to offer learners different opportunities to demonstrate their
mastery of the contents and the language they are learning (Project Appleseed, 2010). At the
same time, it allows teachers to assess their students abilities using simulated/real tasks
(Alarcn & Neguimn, 2013) where students communicate using their oral production skills.
For instance, projects and exhibitions are some of the activities that are proposed to
incorporate the SCA and alternative assessment methods which are part of the performancebased assessment. In this kind of evaluation method, alternative assessment allows teachers to
present a topic that is familiar for the students, giving them the opportunity to perform the
language in a real context17 and express it in a natural way.
In addition, it is essential to state that the type of evaluation technique or method to
assess students oral production may depend on the purpose of the evaluation or the goal that
the teacher wants to aim at (Lizasoain, personal communication, October 21st, 2013). For
example, one can mention that if the teacher wants to measure the performance of students
that will become teachers of English, it is necessary to observe them using the language in real
contexts (ibid.); otherwise, the teacher will not be able to see their students in action. It is
fundamental to provide students with many and diverse formative tasks to practice their oral
17
To exemplify, students can represent different Chilean places and simulate that they are in a fair (see activity
one in chapter 3: Teaching Proposal.
61
production skills before giving them the mark of the evaluation process. A plausible option is
to ask the students to develop one formative task and give them the pertinent constructive
comments and feedback to improve their mistakes not only to avoid them during the
summative evaluation18 but also to reduce the gap in students zone of proximal
development19 (Niklitschek, personal communication, November 27th, 2013). As a result,
teachers will evaluate their students skills and knowledge at deeper levels than traditional
assessment methods (Frederiksen in Lai et al, 2012).
To summarize, it is relevant to affirm that the SCA and alternative assessment methods
are inevitably connected and that they have to be developed concurrently if teachers want to
help their students during the learning process. Furthermore, one can declare that
performance-based assessment methods are considered as appropriate means to evaluate
students oral production skills under the implementation of the SCA.
2.2.2 Possible Problems and Solutions when Using Alternative Assessment
As stated above, the use of alternative assessment under the implementation of the
SCA may bring many advantages and benefits for students learning process. Nonetheless, as
it supports the conception that every student has different learning styles and rhythms, it may
present some problems when being applied. In the first chapter of this research, a large
number of negative aspects which may arise when using alternative assessment were
described20. In connection with these negative aspects, Nola Aitken and Lydia Pungur (n.d.)
expose that the main problems regarding the use of alternative assessment are related to the
18
For more information on summative evaluation, revise chapter 1, section 1.3.1 Functions of Assessment
In order to have a deeper understanding about Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD), see section 1.2.2 Aspects
of the Sociocultural Theory in Foreign Language Acquisition.
20
Check chapter 1: section 1.3.4 Advantages and Disadvantages of Alternative Assessment Methods.
19
62
lack of quantitative data, which in most of the cases is required by schools to keep a register or
a comparative table of students development and achievements. Additionally, they mention
that alternative assessment presents problems of differences of equality, time limitation, cost,
and the possibility to introduce bias in students results in tests. In order to solve these
problems and to propose activities in which the negative aspects of alternative assessment are
reduced, an overview and a thorough analysis of the drawbacks will be exposed.
Concerning the possible problems that arise when using alternative assessment, the
difficulties with quantitative data and the differences in equality were mentioned. With respect
to the information that permits schools to measure students progress, the researchers consider
that in spite of the fact that alternative assessment does not provide teachers with results that
allow schools to compare students as a class or as a whole, it does give teachers the faculty to
create comparative tables in relation to each individuals progress. Moreover, in regard to the
possible differences in equality, although alternative assessment does not use standardized
tests to assure equality among students from different realities, it proposes a set of activities
which promote the development of individuals skills in students real contexts (Federal Grant,
1999). In short, alternative assessment does not contemplate standardized tests as an
appropriate tool to guarantee equality of learning, but as a way to increase the gap between
students since they are not seen as independent individuals who have different skills, abilities
and learning styles but as one group of people who must follow specific patterns to succeed.
In relation to the activities that this research proposes, one may say that as they will be
designed to facilitate the evaluation process of second-year students under the SCA at
university level, these kinds of problems should not interfere in the normal development of
63
students language lessons. On the contrary, alternative assessment will help teachers enrich
the approach that is being implemented since, as it was previously described, it helps
educators construct deeper patterns to study each student on the basis of his or her own
abilities and learning process. This way, activities such as oral presentations, interviews and
projects permit students to develop or to improve their strengths at the same time they are not
forcing them to learn contents that are not part of their contexts, and that consequently do not
enhance authentic tasks and meaningful learning (Federal Grant, 1999). Besides, Andrea
Lizasoain (2013) indicates that by using alternative assessment:
teachers are able to see their students communicating in different contexts, reducing
affective issues as it is focused on the process rather than the product providing
students with different instances and opportunities which permit them to show what
they can really do. (Lizasoain, personal communication, October 21st, 2013)
This demonstrates that at this level, the equality issue is not an impediment to develop
alternative activities because they give students different opportunities to be prepared to
perform several contents, in diverse settings and with different types of people.
Other negative elements that arise when using alternative assessment are associated
with time limitation, cost, and the possible introduction of bias in students results in tests.
With reference to the problem of time limitation, one may state that when assessing students
under the SCA, it is not an issue since this approach expects to set connections between
knowledge and the learners sociocultural background (John-Steiner & Mahn, 2011). In
general terms, time limitation does not imply a problem for teachers in the context of the SCA
since it works over large time-frames to monitor students learning process (Frederiksen in Lai
64
et al, 2012). Furthermore, Lizasoain (2013) explains that teaching and assessment should not
be seen as two independent components as teachers should be assessing in every lesson;
[therefore], that would not consume more time [and] would not be something apart
(Lizasoain, personal communication, October 21st). This explanation correlates with Wiggins
assumption21 (1989) of the integration of teaching and assessment as a whole.
In regard to the factor of cost, Aitken & Pungur (n.d.) mention that the implementation
of performance-based methods imply the use of many resources and equipment that most of
the times schools cannot afford. However, Lizasoain (2013) indicates that although students
need to develop activities such as exhibitions, role-playing, and story of text retelling, in
which they need to use didactic materials and costumes in order to perform in different
contexts and situations, teachers should think of ways not to spend money (Lizasoain,
personal communication, October 21st). To exemplify, she declares that a good manner to
reduce cost is recycling and using things more than one time or making students bring
elements they already have available (ibid.). In addition, she expresses that as learners have
to utilize the language, they can use their bodies and voices which may not have cost involved.
With respect to possibility of introducing bias in students results in test, it is essential to
highlight the fact that under the SCA, students should not be assessed through traditional
methods because they use simulated circumstances to evaluate students (Aksu, 2012). This
shows that traditional methods do not allow students to associate their previous knowledge
with new concepts. In this sense, special ways of assessing should be developed in order to
avoid bias due to the observation process that characterizes alternative assessment methods.
21
See chapter 1: section 1.1.2 Development of Alternative Assessment
65
To achieve this aim, this research proposes the use of rubrics which help teachers maintain
objectivity and assess students based on a vast range of parameters.
Throughout this chapter, possible problems that may be present when using alternative
assessment and, more specifically, performance-based methods have been exposed and
described. At the same time, solutions have been proposed in order to reduce or avoid the
interference that those problems may have in the development of alternative activities. To
conclude, one may affirm that every single problem described above is not a real problem if
one considers that they occur because alternative assessment evaluates students at deeper
levels which, in one way or another, allows teachers to identify students weaknesses and
strengths. Thus, teachers are able to monitor and guide students learning process in a better
manner providing them with several opportunities to perform in realistic settings reducing, in
this way, the affective issues which may influence their performances.
66
CHAPTER 3: TEACHING PROPOSAL

The present chapter consists of the teaching proposal that emerged from the analysis
and bonds set between the four elements that are connected with and that may influence the
development of oral production: sociocultural approach, alternative assessment,
communicative competence and affective domain. This proposal is comprised of eight
evaluation activities which follow the units of the students textbook World English 3 (2010)
that is used in the language courses: III and IV taken by students in their third and fourth
semesters. It is fundamental to remind that these activities expect to promote and enhance
meaningful learning in authentic contexts; this means that teachers will be provided with a set
of evaluation tools which will allow them to assess students in accordance with their
sociocultural backgrounds, helping them connect their previous knowledge with new contents.
Another relevant element that this proposal includes is a summary guide which will
permit teachers to recognize the activities in an easier manner since they will be classified into
different groups regarding the purpose of assessment: diagnostic, formative and summative
evaluation22. At the same time, there will be a section through which educators will be able to
identify the component of communicative competence that will be reinforced and trained
through each activity. Further, it will be possible to distinguish the alternative oral assessment
methods that each activity will utilize; this will let teachers to decide whether the activities
apply or not to their students contexts. To finish, a list of tips will be offered in order to assist
and guide teachers when using the evaluation activities in other and different settings.
22
There will be 2 diagnostic, 5 formative and 2 summative evaluation activities. These will be organized below
according to their function.
PerformanceBased Method
Story Text
Retelling
Type of
Evaluation
Diagnostic
Assessment
Upper
Intermediate
Upper
Intermediate
Sociolinguistic
Competence
Sociolinguistic
Competence
Oral Report
Diagnostic
Assessment
Formative
Summative
Upper
Intermediate
Grammatical
Competence
Demonstration
Formative
Assessment
Upper
Intermediate
Oral report
Formative
Assessment
Upper
Intermediate
Upper
Intermediate
Grammatical and
Strategic
Competence
Strategic
Competence
Discourse
Competence
Pair Interview
Formative
Assessment
Summative
Assessment
Upper
Intermediate
Sociolinguistic
Competence
#1 What a Weird
Story!
#2 Something is
Changing
#3 Knowing my
Country
Exhibition/
Project
#4 Survival
#5 Breaking
News
#6 Guess Who
#7 How
Important We
Are!
#8 What is
Happening to
Education?
Role-playing
Interview
Summative
Assessment
Structure
and Vocabulary
Past tenses.
Adjectives for
physical description.
Adverbs and
prepositions of
place.
Present continuous.
Future tense will.
Simple present.
Present perfect.
Simple past.
Vocabulary related
to emergency
situations. Unreal
conditional/wish.
Simple present.
Future tenses.
Simple present.
Simple present.
WH-questions.
Modal verbs. Simple
past.
Past perfect.
Reported speech.
Indirect questions.
WH questions.
Simple present.
Time
2 classes
(180
minutes)
30-40
minutes
2 classes
(180minutes)
90 minutes
90 minutes
90 minutes
3 classes
(270
minutes)
90 minutes
67
Upper
Intermediate
Communicative
Competence
Strategic
Competence
Level
3.1 Summary Guide
Activity
68
Diagnostic Activities23:
ACTIVITY 1
What a Weird Story!
Age Group: Second-year students of the ELT Training Program
Language Level: Upper Intermediate
Time: 180 minutes (90 min: preparation; 90 min: retell the story)
Performance-based Method: Story Text Retelling
Communicative Competence: Strategic Competence
Content Objective: Students will be able to retell aloud a Chilean legend or myth.
Language Objective: Students will be able to retell a story using past tenses, adjectives for
physical description, adverbs and prepositions of place.
Classroom Management and Arrangement:
Part 1 and 2:
Students will change the position of the chairs in order to work on small groups
Teaching Materials:
In order to develop this activity the teacher will need:
Part 1:
Pieces of papers to write the legends or myths
Chilean legends and myths that will be delivered by the students
A bag
Part 2:
Rubric to evaluate students performance
A recorder
Steps (Teacher):
Preparation:
Part 1:
1. Ask the students to form small groups (4 or 5 people).
2. Ask the students to choose a short Chilean myth or legend and to write it on a piece of
paper.
3. Put the pieces of paper in a bag.
4. Ask one representative of each group to pick a piece of paper from the bag.
5. Solicit the students to prepare the myth or legend in groups in order to retell it.
Part 2:
1. Create a rubric to give feedback to the students.
2. Monitor each group to listen to the students retelling the myths and legends and record their
voices.
3. Give the students general feedback about their performances.
4. Ask the students to share their experiences in relation to the activity.
Class:
Part 1:
1. Join in groups of 4 or 5 people.
2. Choose a Chilean legend or myth and write it on a piece of paper.
3. Pick a piece of paper from a bag.
4. Read the legend or myth.
23
For further information regarding the different types of evaluation see chapter 1: Theoretical Framework; 1.3
Assessment: Functions of Assessment
69
Part 2
1. Retell the myth or legend in groups to be recorded.
2. Listen to the teachers general feedback.
Steps (students):
Part 1:
1. Gather in groups of 4 or 5 people.
2. Choose a short Chilean Myth or legend.
3. Write the myth or legend on a piece of paper given by the teacher.
4. Put the piece of paper in a bag.
5. Choose a representative of your group to pick a piece of paper from the bag.
6. Read the story in groups.
7. Organize yourselves to take turns to read the story aloud.
8. Retell the story aloud in your own words.
Part 2:
1. Retell the story aloud in front of the teacher to be recorded.
2. Pay attention to the feedback that will be provided by the teacher.
3. Share your experiences regarding the activity.
Comments and Suggestions:
This activity can be used to practice pronunciation and voice projection.
The members of the group could be chosen by the students to make them feel more secure when
speaking.
This activity enhances the value of traditional and national literature.
The legends and myths can be chosen in English or they can be translated from Spanish to
English (if there is any English version available).
It is suggested to use websites with Chilean legends to support the activity.
- http://www.caleuche.com/English/caleuche_chilelegends.php
- http://www.thisischile.cl/Article.aspx?SEC=358&ID=1292&eje=Acerca&itz=interfaceacerca arte-musica
- http://www.joeskitchen.com/chile/culture/legends.htm
- http://www.icarito.cl/enciclopedia/articulo/primer-ciclo-basico/lenguaje-ycomunicacion/lectura/2009/12/53-7055-9-mitos-y-leyendas-chilenas.shtml
Reference/Acknowledgement:
Johannsen, K., Milner, M., & Terver, R. (2010). World English 3. National Geographic. Heinle
Cengage Learning: Canada.
Forest, H. (2014). The Story Art Website. Retrived from http://www.storyarts.org/
70
ACTIVITY 2
Something is Changing
Time: 30-40 minutes
Performance-based Method: Oral Report
Communicative Competence: Sociolinguistic Competence
Content Objective: Students will create a poster in which events that are happening in the planet
and their consequences in the future will be described
Language Objective: Students will be able to practice present continuous and future tense will
Students and teacher create a semi-circle
Teaching Materials:
Tack
Markers
Speakers
Rubric
Steps (Teacher):
Preparation:
1. Ask students to bring material to create a poster related to global warming.
2. Find music related to nature.
Class:
1. Make a semi-circle.
2. Tell students to think of the climate events that are happening in the planet and about the
future of the earth in 100 more years. Will we still be alive? Will there be more floods,
droughts, hurricanes? Will climate change cause extreme weather? (Individually in silence,
for 2 or 3 minutes).
3. Ask students to express, share and discuss their thoughts with the rest of the class.
4. Ask students to form groups of 4 people.
5. Ask students to create a poster related to global warming based on their discussions and
reflection. They will use pictures, drawings, quotes, etc. to support their ideas.
6. Play music to create a comfortable and relaxed atmosphere.
7. Each group will have to present their poster in front of the class.
Steps (Students)
1. Make a semi-circle.
2. Think of the climate events that are happening in the planet and about the future of the
earth in 100 more years. Will we still be alive? Will there be more floods, droughts,
hurricanes? Will climate change cause extreme weather? (In silence, for 2 or 3 minutes).
3. Express, share and discuss your thoughts with the rest of the class.
4. Gather in groups of 4.
5. Create a poster related to global warming based on your previous discussions and
reflection. You will have to use pictures, drawings, quotes, etc. to support their ideas.
6. In your groups, you will present your poster in front of the class.
This activity allows students to reflect on environmental problems and global warming using
critical thinking; in addition, it enhances teamwork and collaboration among students.
It respects students learning styles.
Students can practice present continuous and future tense implicitly and in a fun way.

This can be developed from intermediate to advanced level.
In small classes, students can also work in pairs.
Students posters can be tacked on different walls around the classroom or building.
Students can also suggest possible solutions to reduce global warming.
71

Formative Activities:
ACTIVITY 3
Knowing my Country
Time: 2 classes (45 min to introduce the topic, to study the rubric, to share experiences and to
create mind maps, lists, drafts, etc of Chilean customs and traditions; 45 min to prepare and
organize the materials and information regarding the places that will be exhibited; 1 class to
develop the exhibition)
Performance-based Assessment Method: Exhibition/Project
Content Objective: Students will be able to tell their classmates and teacher about Chilean
customs and traditions
Language Objective: Students will be able to produce sentences using present perfect tense
and present simple
Part 1
the desks are moved in order to form groups
Part 2
the desks are moved in order to form groups
Part 3
Students will form stations in order to represent different Chilean places
Teaching Materials:
Part 1
Pieces of paper with different shapes on them (e.g. stars, flowers, squares, etc)
A bag
Rubric
A video related to Chile
Part 2
Information gathered from students experiences, magazines, internet, newspapers, videos,
documentaries, etc
Sheets of paper, laptops
Part 3
Elements that help students represent Chilean places: traditional food, drinks, items of clothing,
etc.
Pictures, magazines
Music
Dances (body language)
Laptops
Speakers
Desks
Steps (Teacher):
Preparation:
Part 1
1. Study and adapt, if needed, the rubric to assess students process.
2. Prepare small pieces of paper with different shapes on them to form groups at random.
3. Put the pieces of paper into the bag.
4. Document about famous Chilean places, traditions and customs.
5. Bring the video that shows Chilean culture.
72

Part 2
1. Bring Chilean music to create an optimal environment which helps students raise their
motivation.
2. Bring Students work in progress: mind maps, lists, drafts, etc.
Part 3
1. Invite other teachers and students to visit the different Chilean stands.
2. Ask the person in charge of the classrooms for a bigger room or for an open space.
3. Bring speakers and a camera to take pictures of the students.
Class:
Part 1
1. Tell the students about the project that they will develop.
2. Share the rubric with the students.
3. Ask for comments and suggestions in relation to the format, components and criteria of
the rubric.
4. Ask the students to pick one piece of paper from the bag.
5. Tell the students to form groups in accordance with the shape they picked. E.g. one
group is formed by students who picked a flower, another group is composed by
students who picked a star and so on.
6. Show the video related to Chilean culture.
7. Ask the groups to discuss about what they have watched and share personal
experiences regarding the places they have visited in the country; a place they have
heard of, or read about; a place they would like to be or live in; a mysterious or
attractive region of Chile, etc.
8. Ask the groups to choose one Chilean region.
9. Ask the groups to make a mind map or a list of traditions and customs they would like
to highlight about the place chosen.
10. Check students work.
11. Pick students work up.
12. Ask students to bring material, pictures, costumes (items of clothing) and elements that
help them support the information and facts they have gathered from their personal
experiences.
Part 2
1. Ask students to form their groups.
2. Create an appropriate environment (play music related to the Chilean culture).
3. Give students back their mind maps, lists, etc. with the corresponding feedback.
4. Ask students to support the information they gathered from their personal experience
with the data collected from videos, magazines, websites, documentaries, etc.
5. Ask students to designate roles. For example the person who is going to be in charge of
the food, the typical items of clothing, the music, etc.
6. Ask students to prepare a leaflet on the traditions and customs of the region/place
chosen.
7. Ask students to create possible souvenirs that could be deliver to their visitors
8. Wrap up the class.
Part 3
1. Ask students to form centres in order to represent the places they have been working
on.
2. Ask students to organize themselves and the elements they will use.
3. Each group, in their centres, will have to exhibit the traditions and customs of the place
chosen. E.g. traditional food, traditional music, characteristic items of clothing, etc.
4. Divide the class into 2 teams: presenters and visitors. First, one team presents and the
other visits. Then, they switch.
73

5. Per turns, the students visit each centre and ask their classmates about the place they
represent.
Steps (students):
Part 1
1. Listen to the teacher explaining the project you will develop.
2. Study the rubric that will be used to assess your process.
3. Comment on the rubric and suggest changes if necessary.
4. Pick one piece of paper from a bag.
5. Look for the people who have the same shape you picked (e.g. a star, a flower, etc.)
and join in groups.
6. Watch a video related to Chilean culture.
7. In your groups, discuss what you have watched and share your personal experience
regarding the places you have visited in the country; a place you would like to be or
live in; a mysterious or attractive Region of you country you have heard of or read
about, etc.
8. In your groups, choose one of the places you talked about.
9. Make a mind map or a list about the traditions and customs you would like to highlight
about the place you have chosen.
10. Hand in you work to the teacher.
Part 2
1. Gather in groups
2. Receive your mind maps, lists, draft with comments, suggestions and general feedback
about you process so far.
3. Support the information gathered from your experiences with the data you have
collected from videos, magazines, websites, documentaries, etc.
4. In your groups, designate roles. For instance, the person who is going to be in charge
of the food, the typical items of clothing, the music, etc.
5. Prepare a leaflet on the traditions and customs of the region/place chosen.
Part 3
1. Form centres in order to represent the places you have been working on
2. Organize yourselves and the elements you will use
3. Each centre, you will have to exhibit the traditions and customs of the place you chose.
E.g. traditional food, typical music, characteristic items of clothing, etc.
4. 4. In turns, you will visit each centre and ask your classmates about the place their
represent
This activity is divided into 3 tasks which will permit students to reach the main goal it
aims at: (1) introduction; (2) preparation; (3) performance.
This activity can only be used with intermediate, upper intermediate and advanced
learners; however, it can be utilized with different topics, structures and vocabulary.
It can integrate other people and work as fair.
This activity promotes interaction and communication.
It encourages students to know more about their traditions and customs.
Teachers can gather information regarding Chilean culture and traditions from these
websites:
- http://www.chile.travel/en/what-to-do/culture-and-heritage/folkloric-traditions.html
- http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/resources/global-etiquette/chile.htm
74

75

ACTIVITY 4
Survival
Time: 90 minutes (35 min to discuss; 55 min to rehearse and to perform the emergency
situations)
Performance-based Assessment Method: Demonstration
Communicative Competence: Grammatical Competence
Content Objective: Students will be able to demonstrate their survival skills
Language Objective: Students will be able to use vocabulary related to emergencies and
unreal conditional/wish
Part 1
Students will move the desks in order to form groups
Part 2
Students leave the classroom al look for a large place like the Botanic Garden or the security
zone next to CIFDIL building.
Teaching Materials:
Part 1
Pieces of paper with emergency situations written on them
A bag
Rubric
Part 2
None
Steps (Teacher):
Preparation:
Part 1
1. Choose emergency situations that may happen in our country.
2. Put each emergency situation in different pieces of paper.
Part 2
1. A video recorder, a camera or a notebook to take notes.
Class:
Part 1
2. Divide the class into groups of 5 people.
3. In their groups, ask students to discuss about their survival strategies and: What would
they do if they were in an emergency? How would they survive? What things would
they take with them? Would they leave their families/ friends/ classmates, etc. to
survive? How long do they think they would survive in emergency situations such us
tsunamis, earthquakes, floods, eruptions, lost in the middle of the mountains, etc.?
4. Ask students to pick a piece of paper from the bag (Only one per group).
5. Ask students to prepare a demonstration of the emergency situation they picked based
on what they have discussed. E.g. if they pick earthquake, they will have to imagine
the situation and perform what they would do in an emergency like that.
Part 2
1. Ask the students to leave the classroom and move to the Botanic garden or the security
zone next to CIDFIL building.
2. Ask students to organize themselves and rehearse their demonstrations.
3. Ask for volunteers or choose one group at random.
4. One by one the groups will act out the emergency situations they picked.
5. Record the demonstrations or take notes of them to give feedback to the groups
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afterwards.
Steps (students):
Part 1
1. Gather in groups of 5 students.
2. In your groups, discuss about your survival skills and what would you do if you were
in an emergency? How would you survive? What things would you take with you?
Would you leave your family/ friends/ classmates, etc to survive? How long do you
think you would survive in emergency situations such us tsunamis, earthquakes,
floods, eruptions, lost in the middle of the mountains, etc.?
3. Pick one piece of paper with an emergency situation from a bag. (Only one per group).
4. Organize yourselves and prepare a demonstration of the emergency situation you
picked based on what you have discussed. E.g. if you pick earthquake, you will have to
imagine the situation and perform what you would do in an emergency like that.
Part 2
1. Leave the classroom and move to the Botanic garden or the security zone next to the
CIDFIL.
2. Organize yourselves and rehearse your demonstrations.
3. One by one, in your groups, you will perform the emergency situations you picked.
This activity is divided into 2 parts which will allow students to reach the main goal it aims
at. (1) Discussion; (2) demonstration.
This activity can be used with different situations and structures, and consequently it
applies to all levels.
It is advisable to make students use the grammatical structures (unreal conditional) only
during the first part of the activity (discussion part) since in the second part of the activity
students will demonstrate the emergency situations, which means they will have to act out
in present tense.
It enhances teamwork, interaction and collaboration among students.
Students demonstrations can be based on their own experiences.
Students can use vocabulary in authentic contexts.
Students will be able to leave the classroom and move to a comfortable place to perform
their emergency situations.
Geographic. Heinle Cengage Learning: Canada.
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ACTIVITY 5
Breaking News
Time: 90 minutes (30 min: preparation; 60 min: oral report; 45 min: feedback session)
Performance-based Assessment Method: oral report
Communicative Competence: Grammatical/Strategic Competence
Content Objective: Students will be able to report the advance of space exploration
Language Objective: Students will be able to create a piece of news using future tenses and
simple present
Part 1
The students are asked to pick a piece of paper which will have a number, after that, they have to
look for the person who has the same number and form a pair.
Part 2
The students prepare a panel of news in front of the class to be used by the presenters; the rest of
the class sit down in order to watch the news.
Part 3
The students are asked to work in the same couples to give feedback to another couple that will
be designated by the teacher.
Teaching Materials:
Part 1
Pieces of paper with different numbers
A bag
Sheets of paper
Part 2
A comfortable room to exhibit the pieces of news
Projector
Speakers
Recorder
Part 3
Rubrics for the feedback session
Steps (Teacher):
Preparation:
Part 1
1. Put some pieces of paper with different numbers in a bag.
2. Divide the class in different couples according to the numbers chosen by the students.
3. Look for a sheet of paper for every couple.
Part 2
1. Ask for a comfortable room to develop the activity.
2. Ask for a projector and speakers to present images and videos when necessary.
3. Bring a recorder to the class in order to record students voices.
Part 3
1. Prepare a rubric to evaluate students presentations.
2. Print a rubric for every couple.
3. Designate the order of the couples during the feedback session.
4. Explain the rubric that will be used to evaluate the activity.
Class:
Part 1
1. Divide the class into couples.
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2. Arrange some desks to work in a comfortable manner.
3. Give each couple a sheet of paper.
4. Tell the students they will discuss about an important event that will probably take place
in the future (related to space exploration).
5. Prepare a piece of new related to space exploration.
Part 2
1. Each couple will report their pieces of new from the panel of news.
2. A couple designated by the teacher will evaluate the performance of the presenters.
Part 3
1. Work in couples to share the opinions and comments about the presentation.
Steps (students):
Part 1
2. Pick a number from a bag.
3. Gather in couples according to the numbers you have picked.
4. Receive sheets of paper.
5. Discuss about an event that will probably take place in the future regarding space
exploration.
6. Prepare your notes that will be used during the presentation.
Part 2
1. Decorate the classroom properly in order to simulate a real panel of news.
2. Use suitable costumes to perform during the activity.
3. Evaluate with a rubric the couple that will be designated by the teacher.
4. Report the pieces of news that you created from the panel of news.
Part 3
1. Gather in your couples and present the rubric and comments regarding the couple you
had to evaluate.
In this activity, students will be able to imagine they are giving a piece of news that will
affect peoples lives. The piece of news must be related to space exploration: nonetheless, it
can be adapted to other topics and contents.
This encourages students to think about future discoveries and their relevance in terms of
science, technology and new living styles.
The content of this activity can also be used in an interview. Students can imagine they are
interviewing a physicist, an astronaut, a scientist, or themselves in the future, etc.
This activity can help students develop their critical thinking.
It is optional for the teacher to teach the students how to prepare a piece of news since s/he
can ask them to look for that information.
It is advisable for the teacher to tell his/her students that they will be recorded during the
activity.
It is necessary to present the rubric that will be used during the evaluation process and
explain the parameters that will measure the performance.
The researchers recommend the following websites to help students develop the activity:
- http://www.explorewriting.co.uk/howtowritenewsarticles.html
- http://www.mediacollege.com/journalism/news/write-stories.html
- http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/school_report/resources_for_teachers/9525297.stm
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ACTIVITY 6
Guess who
Time: 90 minutes (30 min to prepare the interviews; 60 min to perform)
Performance-based Assessment Method: Pair Interview
Communicative Competence: Strategic Competence
Content Objective: Students will be able to conduct an interview and to respond properly to
the situation
Language Objective: Students will be able to produce sentences using reported speech, WH
and indirect questions.
Part 1
Students form a semi-circle
Part 2
Students will rearrange the chairs in order to create a TV show program environment.
Teaching Materials:
Part 1
Bring photos of famous artists plus key information about them
Part 2
Props
Music
Steps (Teacher):
Preparation:
Part 1
2. Choose famous artists: painters, musicians, dancers, writers, sculptors, etc.
3. Look for key information about the artists chosen.
4. Ask students to bring props (previous class).
Part 2
1. Bring speakers and music.
2. Bring rubric to give feedback to the students.
Class:
Part 1
1. Ask the students about important artists they know.
2. Make students discuss about their relevance and contributions to our global cultural
heritage.
3. Ask students to brainstorm ideas.
1. Ask students to form a semi-circle. Once they are ready, ask the first students in both
ends to form a pair. Then, do the same with the next students and so on.
4. Assign the photos plus the key information of each artist at random and ask the
students not to tell their classmates the person they have been given.
5. Ask students to imagine that one of them is the artist and the other one an interviewer.
6. Tell the students they will have to prepare an interview which will have to be
performed in front of the class once they are prepared. Remind students that they
should not reveal their artists identity since it has to be guessed by their classmates at
the end of the interview.
7. Give students freedom to move around the classroom (to prepare their interviews and
protect their artists identities.
Part 2
1. Ask students to organize themselves and to move their desks in order to simulate a TV
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show.
2. Ask for volunteers or for the older artist and make the first students perform their
interview.
3. The rest of the class takes notes in order to guess who is being interviewed.
4. Once the interview is over, the classmates guess who the artist was.
Steps (students):
Part 1
1. Tell your classmates and teacher about important artists you know.
2. Discuss about their relevance and contributions to your global cultural heritage
3. Share your ideas through brainstorming.
4. Form a semi-circle in order to build pairs (the first two students of the semi-circle, the
second ones, and so on).
5. Receive a photo plus key information about an X artist. You should not tell your
classmates who your artist is. They will have to guess at the end of the activity
6. Imagine that one of you is the artist and the other one an interviewer.
7. Prepare an interview about the artist and his/her information. It will have to be
performed in front of the class once you are prepared. Remember not to tell your
classmates about your artists identity. They will have to guess at the end of your
interview.
8. Move around the classroom if needed (to prepare your interview and protect you
artists identity).
Part 2
1. Organize yourselves and move your desks in order to create a TV show program
environment.
2. Present your interview in front of the class.
3. The rest of the class takes notes in order to guess who is being interviewed.
4. The class guesses who the artist interviewed was.
This activity is divided into two parts: (1) preparation; (2) interview.
This activity can only be used with intermediate, upper intermediate and advanced
learners; however, it can be utilized with different topics and grammatical structures.
This activity promotes interaction, communication and collaborative work.
The activity permits the students to practice their oral skills.
It is a fun way to make students reflect on important artists who have contribute to our
global cultural heritage.
Students can learn about different periods of history implicitly.
It is advisable to use the websites below to collect information about the different artists
involved in this activity
- http://totallyhistory.com/art-history/famous-artists/
- http://www.famousartistsgallery.com/
- http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0882839.html
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Summative Activities:
ACTIVITY 7
How Important We Are!
Time: 3 classes (1 class to prepare the general aspects of the presentation and look for
information; 1 class to watch some of the videos and give feedback; 1 class to watch the rest of
the videos and give feedback)
Performance-based Assessment Method: Role Playing
Communicative Competence: Discourse Competence
Content Objective: Students will able to perform an important experiment/discovery which
took place during the last century
Language Objective: Students will be able act out an important experiment/discovery using
modal verbs
Part 1
Students will be asked to form a line according to their birthdays (from January to December)
and they will be divided into groups by the teacher. Afterwards, they will move the desks to
form different groups.
Part 2
The students are asked to go to the computer lab and work on their respective groups. They can
also go outside and record their video about the topic
Part 3
Students form a semi-circle to watch the video of the diverse groups. The turns of the video
presentation are chosen randomly by picking numbers from a bag.
Part 4
The students join in their groups to develop a feedback session.
Teaching Materials:
Part 1
Pieces of paper with important experiments/discovery that took place during the last century
A bag
Pen
Part 2
A rubric to register the work in progress of the students
The computer lab
Costumes or things that help students personify their characters
Part 3
Data projector
A comfortable room
Pieces of paper with numbers
A bag
Part 4
Rubrics for students
Steps (Teacher):
Preparation:
Part 1
1. Choose important experiments/discoveries that took place during the last century (You
can choose events from the list provided).
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2. Write each experiment/discovery in different pieces of paper.
3. Select the grammatical structure that will have to be used by the students during the
presentation (modal verbs).

5. Form groups according to their birthdays.
Part 2
1. Ask for a computer lab where the students can look for some information about their
experiments.
2. Explain to the students the instructions of the activity.
3. Bring costumes or things that will help students personify their characters.
Part 3
1. Ask for a comfortable room to watch the videos that will be presented by the students
(The room needs to have a data projector).
2. Order the students in a semicircle to develop the class.
3. Provide students with rubrics for the feedback session.
4. Prepare pieces of paper with numbers to choose the order of the presentations.
Part 4
1. Observe and monitor the feedback session that will be developed by the students.
2. Select some students that will say constructive comments to the presenters.
3. Give general feedback to the students.
4. Collect the sheets of paper with feedback and analyze them.
5. Collect the videos to evaluate them later.
Class:
Part 1
1. The students form a line according to their birthdays (from January to December).
2. Students join in groups according to their birth dates.
3. The students move the desks to work in groups.
4. They pick a piece of paper with an experiment/discovery from a bag.
Part 2
1. The students listen to the instructions that will be explained by the teacher.
2. The students move to the computer lab to look for some information related to the
experiment/discovery they chose.
3. They organize the information and decide what they will include on the video
4. The students ask for costumes to represent the scene.
5. Every group records a video of the presentation.
Part 3
1. The students form a semi circle to watch the videos they recorded.
2. One member of each group chooses a piece of paper with a number to establish the
order of the presentations.
Part 4
1. The students write some constructive comments on the rubric that will be provided by
the teacher.
2. Some of the students will share their comments.
3. They have to deliver their feedback worksheets and videos at the end of the class.
Steps (students):
Part 1
1. You will be divided into different groups according to your birthdays.
2. Choose a piece of paper from the bag that will be provided by the teacher.
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3. Move the desks to form your groups and to discuss the experiment you got.
Part 2
1. Join in your groups and go to the computer lab.

2. Organize your ideas, the vocabulary and grammatical structures you will use to
perform the experiment/discovery and to record the video.
3. Look for some information and document yourselves about the experiment you got.
4. Ask the teacher for some costumes that will be useful for you to represent the
experiment/discovery.
5. Go outside and practice your performance, then record it.
Part 3
1. Form a semi-circle to watch the videos recorded.
2. One of the members of you group will pick a number from a bag to order the turns of
the video presentations.
Part 4
1. Write constructive comments on the rubric given by the teacher about your classmates
videos.
2. Share your comments with the rest of the class.
3. Hand in to your teacher the rubrics and the videos you recorded in order to be assessed.
This activity can be used from intermediate to advanced level; nevertheless, this can be
adapted and used in an elementary class.
The activity will be developed during three classes.
It is essential that the teacher asks for an appropriate room to develop the video
presentations.
The students can record their videos during the class or they can also use extra time after
the class.
The teacher could ask the students to record the video in a unique format (for example
mp4) to assure that the videos will work the day of the presentations or viewings.
The teacher can have two marks for this activity: the progress mark (provided by the
teacher) and the presentation mark (provided by the students (10% of the final mark) and
teacher (90 % of the final mark).
The teacher has to monitor and guide the entire process in order to avoid misunderstanding.
In order to gather reliable information, it is recommendable to use the websites listed
below:
- http://science.discovery.com/famous-scientists-discoveries/100-greatestdiscoveries.htm
- http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-24282059
- http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0932440.html
- http://science.discovery.com/famous-scientists-discoveries
- http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/scientific_inventions_1900.htm
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ACTIVITY 8
What is Happening to Education?
Time: 90 minutes (30 min: preparation, 45 min: interviews)
Performance-based Assessment Method: Interview
Content Objective: Students will be able to conduct an interview and to respond properly to
the situation.
Language Objective: Students will be able to communicate in a formal context using reported
speech and indirect questions.
Part 1:
Students will gather in pairs to work on the activity
Part 2:
Students will move the desks to leave space for the interview presentation
Teaching Materials:
Part 1:
Pieces of paper with roles and situations to represent during the interview (interviewer,
minister of education, president, mayor, student leader, etc.)
A bag
Part 2:
A rubric
A video recorder
A comfortable room to watch students performances
Steps (Teacher):
Preparation:
Part 1:
1. Choose roles and situations to represent during the interview.
2. Put the different situations chosen in a bag.
3. Look for some information about the interview.
Part 2:
1. Ask for a comfortable room to watch the presentations.
2. Prepare a rubric to evaluate students performance.
3. Look for a video recorder.
4. Share the feedback of the presentations with the class.
Class:
Part 1:
1. Form pairs to work.
2. Choose a piece of paper from a bag.
3. Decide the role every person will interpret in the interview.
4. Listen to the characteristics of interviews.
5. Prepare the interviews in pairs.
Part 2:
1. Decorate the room to simulate the environment of a TV studio.
2. Present the interviews in front of the class.
Steps (students):
Part 1:
1. Form couples to develop the activity.
85

2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Pick one piece of paper from bag to know which situation you will have to represent.
Decide the role of each member of the couple.
Listen to the characteristics of the interview.
Organize and prepare the questions that will be asked during the presentation.
Practice the presentation in pairs.
Part 2:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Decorate the room to simulate the environment of a TV studio.

Interact with your partner and make the interview as natural as possible.
Listen to the feedback provided by the teacher.
Share comments about the activity with the class.
This activity can be used to understand the current scenario of the educational system.
It enhances teamwork, interaction, collaboration and the development of critical thinking.
Students can relate the activity to their personal experiences and sociocultural backgrounds
through reflections regarding the topic of the activity.
This activity promotes the use of critical thinking.
It can be developed as a group interview or a panel involving 3 or more people. In this
sense, the members of each group might represent a specific character: President, student,
Minister, parent, etc.
To be documented about Chilean educational context, the researchers suggest these
websites:
- http://www.ilovechile.cl/2013/10/21/oecd-report-chile-lowest-public-expenditureeducation/94683
- http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/resources/unesco-portal-to-recognizedhigher-education-institutions/dynamic-single-view/news/chile/
- http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20130812143615836
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Tips
In this section, teachers will be provided with a large range of tips and suggestions which will
help them adapt and develop the activities previously proposed, in a more appropriate manner.
Moreover, some of the tips may be utilized to guide teachers when facing contexts and realities
different from the university students at Universidad Austral de Chile.
1. Activity 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
As the activities proposed are designed for intermediate, upper intermediate and advanced learners,
teachers who desire to use them with students with a different level of English, should adapt the
topics, structures and vocabulary. Furthermore, they should provide students with more
opportunities to reinforce the contents in order to assure students understanding.
When using these activities, it is advisable for teachers to offer their students the occasions to
interact and communicate as much as possible in order to keep the foundations of the SCA.
In order to develop the activities in a deeper level and to give students the sufficient opportunity to
improve their performance, it is important to divide the activities into small tasks; for example: (1)
preparation; (2) development; (3) performance. This will allow the teacher to gather more
information regarding students progress, and consequently, s/he will be able to provide students
with more valuable feedback.
As every activity is divided into smaller steps, it is important to assess them using different kinds
of evaluations. In effect, students self-assessment should be included in formative evaluation but
not during diagnosed assessment since, at this level, most of the students are not aware of what
their strengths and weaknesses are; they will probably not know how to improve their
performance.
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The researchers recommend the teachers to monitor and to guide every single activity and the
entire process in general in order to avoid misunderstandings in regard to the objectives of the
activities.
Due to the fact that the activities that are included in this teaching proposal are designed taking into
consideration the characteristics of alternative assessment methods, teachers should prepare a
rubric to evaluate students performance and use of the language throughout the distinct activities.
If the tasks that the teacher has to assess are similar, it is possible to use the same rubric or to adapt
some aspects of it. Additionally, teachers have to show and explain to the students the rubric that
will be used for the evaluation process in advance; thus, it may be modified if necessary.
Extracurricular objectives are absolutely necessary when developing any kind of activity, as a
consequence, teachers should integrate those objectives in a natural manner with the purpose of
teaching their students not only contents and aspects related to the language, but also values that
will help them face the diversities of the world.
2. Activity 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8
As the SCA promotes the acquisition of vocabulary in authentic contexts, teachers should
encourage students to base the activities on their own experiences and backgrounds. In this
manner, they will be able to establish connections between previous concepts and new ones.
3. Activity 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
To relate English to other subjects is a positive aspect that should be included in the classroom. It
is recommended to incorporate different subjects to be studied during English lessons to help
students facilitate their learning when using these activities. Moreover, if the English teacher does
89
not manage a topic that is included in the activities, s/he can ask for help to the teachers that are in
charge of the other subjects that have been incorporated (history, language, etc).
4. Activity 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8
In order to save time during the development of the activities, it is a good option for teachers to ask
the students to bring the materials they will use in advance (props, legends or myths, materials to
decorate the classroom, etc).
5. Activity 3, 4, 6, 8, 7
In some activities it is essential for teachers to use a video or voice recorder to evaluate the
students use of the language afterwards. Every time the teacher needs to record a presentation, it is
recommended to let the students know that they will be recorded because they have to be aware of
the minimum details related to the activities.
6. Activity 2, 3, 7
When using videos as a tool to assess students, teachers need to ask for a room which provides
students with the necessary facilities to record the videos in a high quality. In this sense, teachers
will avoid external factors which may influence students work. Besides, educators should offer the
students the options to record their videos during the class or after class respecting, in this way,
students learning rhythms. Finally, it is recommendable to ask students to record their videos in a
unique format to assure that they will work properly without unnecessary downtime.
7. Activity 4, 7, 8
It is essential for teachers to promote the use of critical thinking during these kinds of activities
with the purpose of allowing students to express their opinions from their sociocultural
backgrounds and different realities. Besides, in order to include critical thinking, the teacher can
90
adapt the topics of the activities according to the current reality that is happening in the national
context.
8. Activity 6, 7, 8
In some opportunities it is a positive option to give the students the freedom to choose the people
that will be part of their groups or pairs to work. For that reason, in these activities it is advisable to
ask the students to choose their partners by themselves to make them feel more secure and
comfortable when speaking.
9. Activity 4, 7
As the main objective of these activities is to prepare an oral report and to develop an interview, it
is necessary for the students to know how to prepare them. It is advisable for the teacher to give the
students some information about the steps they have to follow in order to create a piece of news or
to conduct an interview; however, the teacher can also ask the students to look for some
information by themselves and bring it to class.
10. Activity 5, 8
Teachers should use these types of activities to make the students reflect on different topics where
they can express their personal opinions, that is to say, one of the most important aspects that
teachers have to take into account is to encourage reflection to incorporate students sociocultural
backgrounds.
11. Activity 7, 8
In these activities the teacher could request the students to suggest possible solutions to the
different scenarios they are working on. In addition, the teacher can permit the students to include
their experiences and knowledge about the topics.
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12. Activity 1
In this type of activity, teachers need to make students reflect on the significance of their culture
and national heritage in order to encourage them to know and value their traditions and customs.
13. Activity 3
In this activity, it is sensible to make students use the grammatical structures (unreal
conditional/wish) only during the first part of the activity (discussion part) since in the second part
students will have to demonstrate emergency situations, that is to say, they will have to act out in
present tense.
14. Activity 6
It is important to bear in mind that teachers should allow students to select a Chilean myth or
legend in English or they can also choose one in Spanish and translate it into English. Evidently,
this situation will depend on teachers instructions and the way in which s/he wants to develop the
activity.
15. Activity 8
As this activity involves the creation and elaboration of different posters regarding global
warming, the teacher could ask for permission to stick the posters on the walls of the classroom; in
that sense, the posters can be contemplated not only by the students of the language course, but
also for the rest of the students who use the classroom.
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CONCLUSIONS
This research paper has investigated the way in which the SCA can improve and
promote the oral production skills of second-year students of the English Language Teaching
Training Program at Universidad Austral de Chile during their language lessons. It has
analyzed how the inclusion of alternative assessment methods could facilitate the evaluation of
the oral production skills of the students previously mentioned. At the same time, in order to
have a solid foundation of knowledge to identify the factors that may affect students oral
production skills and, consequently interfere in their learning and evaluation process, the
concepts of communicative competence and affective domain were described in detail. In this
regard, it is conceivable to indicate that the four major components of the communicative
competence must be developed to reach a proficient oral level. Taking this into account,
affective issues such as motivation, levels of anxiety and attitudes have to be reduced in order
to entail and encourage the improvement of the communicative competence. Thus, the
affective domain plays a fundamental part in the foreign language acquisition process as it acts
as a negative or positive agent.
Returning to the research questions posed at the beginning of this study, it is now
possible to state that the SCA is an essential element to help students develop their oral
production skills since it situates students in the center of the learning process. Therefore,
learners are given opportunities to demonstrate knowledge and to perform the language on the
basis of their capacities respecting their sociocultural backgrounds and rhythms to learn.
Regrettably, in general terms, in the Chilean educational context, it is complex to implement
an approach which requires students to be active participants because there is a misconception
in relation to teachers role as they are seen as the source of knowledge and not as guides.
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Likewise, this investigation has explained the central importance of alternative assessment in
the appropriate development of the SCA in language lessons due to the fact that it provides
students with authentic settings and contexts where they can practice the language orally,
associating their own experiences with new contents. Moreover, this kind of assessment
promotes interaction and collaborative work among students generating communicative
situations to assure the participation of each student.
In relation to the objectives of this research, it is relevant to affirm that the general goal
was reached since it was possible to propose a set of activities to assess the oral production
skills of second-year students who were taught under the SCA at Universidad Austral de
Chile. With respect to the first specific objective, the researchers were able to describe not
only the approach which was being implemented, but also its theory, application in the EFL
classroom and the roles of the participants. Regarding the second specific objective, the most
suitable alternative assessment methods to evaluate students oral production skills were
identified with the purpose of establishing relationships between the SCA and an appropriate
way to assess students. Finally, it is elemental to declare that the third specific objective was
accomplished as well. At this point, the researchers were capable of designing eight activities
to evaluate students oral production based on the principles of the SCA, including
performance-based assessment which was the type of alternative assessment selected.
The evidence from this research demonstrates that several instances to use the language
must be given to students with the goal of helping them become active participants in the
classroom. Furthermore, one of the most significant findings to emerge from this investigation
reveals that the manner in which students are assessed must be in accordance with the way
they are being taught. In other words, if teachers are using a teaching methodology that
integrates oral activities which encourage students to reflect on significant events, to interact
94
and to work collaboratively, they should adapt or create similar ways of assessing. From this
documentation it was seen that alternative assessment emerged in a natural way as an
evaluation tool when using the SCA since both follow the same principles.
The previously mentioned allowed researchers to develop a teaching proposal which
followed the main topics of the students textbook. It was designed under the SCA and
suggested the integration of alternative assessment methods to evaluate the oral production
skills of university students. Moreover, each activity that composes the teaching proposal
enhances the strengthening of one of the four components of the communicative competence
to assist the students in the development of their oral skills. Another relevant contribution
refers to the classification of the evaluation activities in regard to their purposes of assessment,
that is to say, every activity was assigned one function: diagnostic, formative or summative
assessment. This will help teachers maintain consistency between teaching and evaluation.
Finally, a number of important limitations need to be considered. First, the fact that
students are not accustomed to participating and having an active role in the classroom may
play against the principles of the approach since learners may not want to develop the
activities that imply actions such as interaction and reflection and that, consequently, make
students responsible for the construction of their knowledge. Second, as the evaluation
activities of the proposal are designed for university students who have an upper intermediate
level of English, it may be difficult to implement them in lower levels or with younger
students. Third, it might be possible that teachers do not desire to make use of alternative
assessment tools because they are not familiar with them. This means that they may not know
how to deal with the possible problems that could arise when using alternative methods.
95
Further Research
The findings of this research have a number of important implications for future
studies. More broadly, investigation is also needed to determine students perspective
regarding the implementation of sociocultural approach and the inclusion of alternative
assessment to measure their oral production skills in language lessons. In this sense, it would
be recommendable to test the activities proposed through a field study that includes elicitation
techniques to gather students perceptions. In addition, considerably more work would need to
be done to adapt or create evaluation mechanisms to assess students in instances such us oral
quizzes, oral midterms and finals exams of the language courses since these are still being
carried out following traditional assessment, and as it was explained in the chapter two,
teaching methodologies should be in concordance with assessment. Lastly, this information
could also be used to develop targeted interventions aimed at students from the lower language
courses, that is to say, at pre-elementary, elementary and intermediate stages.
96
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SOCIOCULTURAL APPROACH IN LAGUAGE LESSONS
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APPENDIX A1: INTERVIEWS TO EXPERTS
Andrea Lizasoain Conejeros: Master in English Language Acquisition as foreign language

and intercultural communication24.
1. Do you know if alternative assessment methods are being implemented in other
universities? If so, have they had the expected results/outcomes?
Well, I dont know if alternative assessment is being implemented in other universities.

I know for example that at Universidad Catlica de Valparaso, teachers tend to be very
traditional when assessing their students. For instance, once I presented in a congress and I
was criticized and questioned; actually, more than criticized I was questioned by a teacher
who said that students have to get accustomed to be assessed in a traditional way. That means
exposed to the pressure and stress because life is like that, like interviews when you want to
get a job and etc.
I also know, because I worked there, that at Universidad San Sebastin teachers also
use traditional methods. In fact, they use the same test for all the branches they have across the
country even if they have different teachers because you know that teachers dont travel across
the country. Im not sure, but maybe at Universidad Alberto Hurtado, since they are using the
sociocultural approach to teach, they should be using alternative assessment tools to assess
their students, but Im not sure. Thus, you should ask Mary Jane Abrahams since shes usually
available for students, questions and etc.
2. From your personal experience, what do you think is the best manner to assess
students oral production? Have you had any experiences with alternative assessment
methods under the sociocultural approach?
24
Magister en adquisicin del ingls como segunda lengua y comunicacin intercultural.
A1
Well, you know that the sociocultural approach is very broad, so you could consider that
drama techniques can be included under this approach. I have had experiences assessing
students through drama techniques by performing plays, conducting interviews or pretending
that they are presenters at a conference. In this way, yes, I could say that I have had experience
assessing students through alternative assessment methods under that approach.
And the first question was? I mean number two because you had two questions
3. From your personal experience, what do you think is the best manner to assess
students oral production?
I think it depends on your goal, if your goal is to classify students in a level that needs
the international standards, I would go for a traditional method like these proficiency tests. But
if you want to assess students in schools, for example to see if they are able to communicate in
different contexts or if you want to assess students who are going to become English teachers,
I think that these proficiency tests are not the best way. I believe that we should see our
students in different contexts and here at the university although you know that we are
constantly trying to improve the system, we usually assess our students only in contexts of
summative oral tests, midterm, final tests and in oral presentations. This means that
evaluations are only developed in academic contexts, so we dont see our students in action.
Maybe Miss Yasna who is usually in charge of the teaching practice observations sees you in a
less academic context, but it is still the school, so you will reproduce the system there, and I
wander what happens to you when you have to talk to a gringo on the street, are you able to do
it?
Researchers: Yes, I think it is like talking to Elizabeth. I believe it is very similar because we
have experiences here with native speakers, so maybe thats a good thing for us.
Expert: Because when I studied, the only contact that I had to practice English was the
university, and I didnt have contact with native speakers unless they were teachers or
professors that were visiting us, but in a more informal context I didnt know what to say or
how to behave in English. Returning to the question, I think that the best way is to offer
students different opportunities to show what they can really do with the language.
A1
4. Do you think it is possible to reduce students affective issues by using alternative

assessment methods?
Yes, because alternative assessment usually covers different instances. It is focused on
the process rather than on the product, that is to say, you give the students different
opportunities to show what they can really do; therefore, you have a more realistic picture of
their competence. When you only assess your students once or twice, you are doomed to see
them fail, if they are very worried about the performance; however, if you give your students
lots of opportunities, you will see what they can really do and you also will give them the
opportunity to lose that fear because they will practice and practice and practice. I used to be
very shy and now I am not because I practiced a lot.
5. In regard to the disadvantages of alternative assessment, how can teachers overcome
the problems related to time limitation, cost and difference in equality among others?
One thing I can think of is to see assessment not as something separated from the
teaching process. Teaching and assessment should be considered the same thing, maybe there
shouldnt be isolated spaces to assess students, you should be assessing them in every lesson.
In this sense, it wouldnt consume more time, it wouldnt be something apart.
Expert: Well you said in relation to the disadvantages and you mention time
Researchers: Time limitation, cost and differences in equality.
Expert: What do you mean by cost? Cost? In terms of money?
Researchers: In terms of resources, because for example if you want to use an alternative
assessment method to assess through a performance, you have to use props and many other
things that you will not use if you are assessing with a traditional method.
Expert: Yes, but you can think of ways not to spend money or maybe if you are going to use
drama as we do here, you only buy things once and then you can recycle them or even you can
recycle things from home; in this regard it shouldnt be expensive, but quite the contrary since
A1
you are using the body or your voice rather than using paper, you are utilizing things that you
already have available which means that we shouldnt have cost involved. And, what do you
mean by issues in equality?
Researchers: In terms of bias, for example to bias the results of the students.
Expert: Well, you know that we have rubrics to try to avoid that, we try to be as objective as
possible, but evaluation is always subjective, no matter what you do, it is always subjective
although being a professional you try not to influence your students results because of your
dislikes, we are people and we like people or we dont like them. Nevertheless, there are some
days that you are more focused on mistakes than others because we are human beings and we
change every day. Rubrics are a good way to avoid bias and another way is to have someone
in order to have more than one rate, if it is two or three, great.
6. From your perspective, under the sociocultural approach how many formative
evaluations should be developed before a summative test takes place?
When I read the question I thought that maybe it should be two, but then I thought one;
for the sake of time I think one is enough because with one task you can tell your students
what they are doing wrong and what they can improve. Then, it is the responsibility of the
student to improve what the teacher has pointed out. Many times, we and I include myself,
receive our feedback and we dont do anything about it and then the summative test comes and
we repeat the same mistake. But I think that with just one task you can tell your students what
they have done well and what they need to improve, so they should be prepared for the next
evaluation.
Researchers: Yes, but for example at school levels do you think that it is enough to use just
one task?
Expert: I was thinking here at the university level. No, it is not enough. Two, three, well you
can see. Maybe you can apply one test or assessment tool and you can decide on the spot
whether you need another one or you dont. Although tests are proficiency, summative or
A1
formative, etc., there are always diagnostic tests anyways. Consequently, with that diagnosis
you can see what you need, what your students needs are and what the teachers needs are.
Researchers: Do you think it should be different the situation with second or fourth-year
students? In terms of amount of formative evaluations before the summative test?
Expert: I wouldnt make a difference between a second grader and a fourth grader. However, I
would make a difference between a fourth grader and a seventh grader for example. In seventh
grade, sometimes, or sixth grade students are about to become adults, adolescents; therefore,
their cognitive skills are more developed and they realize what you are telling them in the
adult vocabulary and language. By contrast, with children maybe you will explain what they
have done wrong but they wont understand which means that they will need more
opportunities to practice. So again, I wouldnt make a difference between the second graders
and 4th graders but I would do it with the second cycle from fifth to eighth grade.
Researchers: Considering both traditional and alternative assessment. What do you think is the
best option to assess students oral production skills? Why?
Expert: It depends on the context, if you have 40 students to assess, you can think it is more
appropriate to assess them through traditional methods because its going to be quicker. I
dont consider myself an expert and I dont know if I would be able to do it; Hence, Im
placing myself in different contexts. In my opinion, you can tend to think that traditional
assessment is more practical, less-time consuming and faster when you have lots of students;
nonetheless, you can also think of ways to assess 40 students through alternative assessment.
Ways as you were saying through drama, plays, interviews, among others; but it depends on
your goal again. Traditional assessment is faster and you can apply the same tool to lots of
students at the same time; yet alternative assessment is both: an assessment tool as well as a
teaching tool. With traditional tests you dont gather much.
Researchers: And what about performance-based assessment. Do you think it is a good option
to evaluate students oral production skills?
A1
Expert: Yes, because you will see students doing things that they will be able to show you
what they can actually do with the language. When you think of performance-based
assessment, what are you thinking about?
Researchers: We are thinking of interviews, role-playing, projects etc.
Expert: I think it is great. You want to use the language and you are both learning and being
evaluated at the same time. In addition, you have project-based assessment or task-based
assessment; I dont know the difference very well but there are different ways to make your
students do things and they dont even realize they are doing things or being assessed.
Researchers: Do you think that projects, for example, can be both formative and summative?
Expert: The different stages are formative the whole thing is summative.
Researchers: And at the end formative steps have more percentage that the product.
Expert: The process weighs more than the product. Do you agree with that?
Researchers: Yes, its more important.
Expert: I dont know. I have to think about it
Researchers: To exemplify, I generally do well in formative tasks; however, when I have to

perform I dont get the expected marks because of my affective issues; for that reason, for me
its more important the process
Expert: Yes, but imagine the following situation: you give your students a project; they have
to do research on the Easter Island and you see them doing their research, going to the
computer lab, taking notes, etc. in every class. Then, the day when they have to hand in the
written project the paper is all scratched and they havent written things in a proper way so the
product is sloppy. What do you do?
A1
Researchers: From our perspective, it depends on teachers since they have to monitor what
they are doing. Its not enough just to see them taking notes; we have to know what kind of
notes they are taking.
Expert: I was just thinking that there are so many things you have to take into consideration.
7. The last question is: do you think that students evaluation process can be facilitated
by using alternative assessment? In what sense?
Expert: I dont think I understand the question. My problem here is that are you thinking of the
student as evaluating himself? Or is the teacher evaluating them?
Researchers: The teacher, we mean the evaluation process behind a midterm or in the oral
exam.
Expert: I think it depends on the type of teacher. I hate taking tests like the traditional ones;
the last two years I havent done it. It takes ages and I dont like them, for me it is a torture to
check those kinds of tests since I enjoy looking at the process. For example, I enjoy your
comments in the forums and seeing your evolution because I like to see the process and I think
that it is not so much work. However, other teachers believe that it is craziness. When I tell
them what we do, they ask me: when do you have time to do that? How can you check so
many posts and many critical comments? In this regard, I think it depends on teachers. Some
teachers love checking tests and giving ticks; thus, I would say that it will be easier depending
on the likes of teachers or what they are accustomed to. There are teachers who dont feel
comfortable with trying new things.
Researchers: But specifically, in the case of oral exams.
Expert: Oh yes,
A1
Researchers: Because we have had the experience in oral evaluations and we have noticed
how tired our teachers are; in this sense, we could say that external factors like teachers
weariness may affect the results of the last students.
Expert: At that point, alternative assessment is greater. I mean is faster, easier, or maybe its
not faster but it is more fun and easier since you are not there listening to boring answers but
you are looking at your students on a video which I have had the experience with. For this
reason, I definitely go for alternative assessment ways to assess your students. Besides, for
example, when you use videos you can rid of the affective filter issue because I can see that
you are comfortable there. I have seen that some students do awfully at the oral examination
and on the video they speak wonderfully. So one of the advantages is that you can rid of the
affective filter and another advantage is that everyone has fun, the teacher also. Moreover, you
dont have to spend hours there in that room but you can check or you can go see a play, etc.
A2
APPENDIX A2: INTERVIEWS TO EXPERTS
Gisela Niklitschek Toro: English teacher who is implementing the sociocultural

approach in language lessons.
1. Why did you decide to implement the sociocultural approach in your language
lessons?
From my point of view, this approach includes the necessary components for
engaging students in meaningful learning. Students not only learn a foreign language
but also learn about their culture and society, resolve conflicts and are involved in social
interaction.
2. Do you know if this approach has been implemented in other contexts and
realities? If so, has it reached the expected outcomes/results?
This approach is widely known in the United States not only for foreign
language teaching, but also for other subjects. Many teachers who work with older
students refer to this approach in order to motivate critical thinking and reflection. I am
not familiar with research results, but I do know that it is discussed that this approach is
difficult to assess since it is social in nature; in addition, it is one of the most active
strands of socio-cultural research on sll involves the study of peer interaction in the
language classroom (Lantolf & Swain). In my opinion, the difference with this approach
is that it looks at language as jointly constructed through collaborative activity, unlike
other approaches (such as krashens) that look at language merely as a linguistic
process.
3. Are there any specific weaknesses that the SCA can help improve if compared
to other approaches?
The SCA is relatively new compared to other theories and approaches. The ideas
that this approach includes are challenging for those used to the chomskian distinction
between language competence and language performance, to universal grammar theory,
etc. Moreover, this approach is more appealing to language educators; nevertheless,
A2
most of the studies I have read are small scale and have mainly used qualitative research
procedures, concentrating on the recording and analysis of classroom activity. In this
sense, it is hard to provide compelling evidence regarding cause and effect since it is so
social in nature; therefore, the potential account of how it affects language learning has
not yet been demonstrated.
4. According to your own experience, what are the

disadvantages/problems/difficulties of the sociocultural approach?
A lot of what happens in a person when learning a language is done internally;

hence, it is difficult to assess the inter-mental aspect of the individual in social context.
5. Has it been difficult for you to implement the sociocultural approach in your
language lessons? Why? Students reactions?
Yes, it has, mainly because our students are not used to working independently
and collaboratively. The students arrive at the university with an archaic sense of
learning; thus, it is difficult to break this pattern. On the one hand, some students have
suggested that they feel they dont learn since I dont tell them explicitly what they are
learning or what the content is. On the other hand, there are also students who have
expressed that they really enjoy this new approach to language teaching, that they feel
they have a say in the classroom and that their opinions are valued.
6. With respect to the SCA, what types of activities do you use to help students
improve their language abilities?
All of my activities involve pair, group or whole class interaction and

discussion. I do respect those students who need more explicit instruction; however, I
try to focus mainly on problem solving and collaboration. I would say that discussion is
the key element in my classroom.
7. In your opinion, what kind of assessment should teachers use to evaluate

students under the SCA? Why? Have you had any experiences with alt ass
methods under the sociocultural approach? For example: role playing, projects
A2
and exhibitions, story of text retelling, oral presentations, interviews,

experiments and demonstrations.
Alternative assessment has been mainly used in formative moments. Activities

including projects, oral presentations and interviews have been used to promote
language use. Besides, usually, immediate feedback is given in order to reduce the gap
in students zone of proximal development (ZPD). Unfortunately, I havent been able to
design a more adequate assessment method for their midterm and final tests; this has yet
to be developed.

Sociocultural Approach: The Inclusion of Alternative Oral Assessment in Second-Year Language Courses of The ELT Training Program at Universidad Austral de Chile

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Sociocultural Approach: The Inclusion of Alternative Oral Assessment in Second-Year Language Courses of The ELT Training Program at Universidad Austral de Chile

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Universidad Austral de Chile

Facultad de Filosofa y Humanidades

Sociocultural Approach: the Inclusion of Alternative Oral Assessment in

Seminario de Tesis para optar al Ttulo de Profesor en Comunicacin en Lengua Inglesa y

This research project is part of the innovation project DEP-2013-02

Solange Eunice Lovera Agero

SOCIOCULTURAL APPROACH IN LANGUAGE LESSONS

Solange Lovera & Evelyn Vera

SOCIOCULTURAL APPROACH IN LANGUAGE LESSONS

CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

1.1. State of the Art

1.1.1 Development of the Sociocultural Approach

1.1.2 Development of Alternative Assessment Methods

1.1.3 Sociocultural Approach in the World and in Chile

1.1.4 Assessment in the World and in Chile

1.2. Sociocultural Approach

1.2.1 The Sociocultural Approach in the EFL Classroom

1.2.2 Aspects of the Sociocultural Theory and Foreign Language Acquisition

1.2.3 Teachers and Students Roles

1.3.1 Functions of Assessment

1.3.2 Alternative Assessment

1.3.3 Alternative vs. Traditional Assessment

1.3.4 Advantages and Disadvantages of Alternative Assessment Methods

1.3.5 Performance-based Assessment

1.4. Communicative Competence

1.4.1 Components of Communicative Competence

1.4.2 Communicative Competence and Assessment

1.5 Affective Domain

2.1.1 Development of Oral Production Skills

2.1.2 Interaction and Collaborative Work

2.1.3 Communication between Students and Teachers

SOCIOCULTURAL APPROACH IN LANGUAGE LESSONS

3.1 Summary Guide

3.2 Activities to Evaluate Students Oral Production

Appendix A2: Interview to Experts

SOCIOCULTURAL APPROACH IN LANGUAGE LESSONS

SOCIOCULTURAL APPROACH IN LANGUAGE LESSONS

SOCIOCULTURAL APPROACH IN LANGUAGE LESSONS

SOCIOCULTURAL APPROACH IN LANGUAGE LESSONS

SOCIOCULTURAL APPROACH IN LANGUAGE LESSONS

The inclusion of alternative oral assessment methods in language lessons of

To propose a set of activities to evaluate oral production under the sociocultural

SOCIOCULTURAL APPROACH IN LANGUAGE LESSONS

SOCIOCULTURAL APPROACH IN LANGUAGE LESSONS

CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

SOCIOCULTURAL APPROACH IN LANGUAGE LESSONS

SOCIOCULTURAL APPROACH IN LANGUAGE LESSONS

SOCIOCULTURAL APPROACH IN LANGUAGE LESSONS

SOCIOCULTURAL APPROACH IN LANGUAGE LESSONS

SOCIOCULTURAL APPROACH IN LANGUAGE LESSONS

1.2.1 Sociocultural Approach in the EFL classroom

SOCIOCULTURAL APPROACH IN LANGUAGE LESSONS

SOCIOCULTURAL APPROACH IN LANGUAGE LESSONS

SOCIOCULTURAL APPROACH IN LANGUAGE LESSONS

SOCIOCULTURAL APPROACH IN LANGUAGE LESSONS

SOCIOCULTURAL APPROACH IN LANGUAGE LESSONS

Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)

Additionally, it is important to establish that the ZPD element is incorporated by

SOCIOCULTURAL APPROACH IN LANGUAGE LESSONS

At the same time, to reach language development, it is necessary to accomplish

SOCIOCULTURAL APPROACH IN LANGUAGE LESSONS

SOCIOCULTURAL APPROACH IN LANGUAGE LESSONS

As it was previously mentioned, the components of the sociocultural approach are