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UNIVERSIDAD DE GUAYAQUIL
FACULTAD DE FILOSOFÍA, LETRAS Y
CIENCIAS DE LA EDUCACIÓN
ESCUELA DE LENGUAS Y LINGÜÍSTICA
EDUCATIONAL PROJECT
IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE
DEGREE OF LICENSING IN SCIENCES OF EDUCATION, MAJOR IN
LANGUAGE AND ENGLISH LINGUISTICS
TOPIC:
INFLUENCE OF CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES TO STRENGTHEN
LINGUISTIC COMPETENCES
PROPOSAL:
DESIGN OF A BOOKLET WITH PLAYFUL CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
TO STRENGTHEN LINGUISTIC COMPETENCES
RESEARCHER:
LUCÍA ALEXANDRA MÉNDEZ SIBRI
TUTOR: MSC HEIDI MARRIOTT TOLEDO
GUAYAQUIL, 2017
ii
UNIVERSIDAD DE GUAYAQUIL
FACULTAD DE FILOSOFÍA, LETRAS Y CIENCIAS DE LA EDUCACIÓN
SISTEMA DE EDUCACION SUPERIOR PRESENCIAL
CENTRO UNIVERSITARIO: MATRIZ GUAYAQUIL
MSc. Silvia Moy-Sang Castro MSc. Wilson Romero
DECANA SUBDECANO
MSc. Alfonso Sánchez Ab. Sebastián Cadena Alvarado
DIRECTOR DE CARRERA SECRETARIO
iii
MSc
SILVYA MOY-SANG CASTRO, Arq.
DECANA DE LA FACULTAD DE FILOSOFIA, LETRAS
Y CIENCIAS DE LA EDUCACIÓN
De mis consideraciones:
En virtud que las autoridades de la Facultad de Filosofía, Letras y Ciencias de
la Educación me designaron Consultor Académico de Proyectos Educativos
de Licenciatura en Ciencias de la Educación, Mención Lenguas y Lingüistica,
el día siete de marzo de 2017.
Tengo a bien informar lo siguiente:
Que la estudiante Lucía Alexandra Méndez Sibri, con C.C. 0917707960,
diseñó el proyecto educativo con el tema: lnfluence of classroom activities
to strengthen linguistic competences. Propuesta: Design of a booklet with
playful classroom activities to strengthen linguistic competences.
El mismo que ha cumplido con las directrices y recomendaciones dadas por el
suscrito.
La participante satisfactoriamente ha ejecutado las diferentes etapas
constitutivas del proyecto, por lo que procedo a la APROBACIÓN del proyecto,
y pongo a vuestra consideración el informe de rigor para los efectos legales
correspondientes.
Atentamente
1111 e Heidi Marriott e o
Consultor Académico
iv
v
UNIVERSIDAD DE GUAYAQUIL
FACULTAD DE FILOSOFÍA, LETRAS Y CIENCIAS DE LA EDUCACIÓN
SISTEMA DE EDUCACION SUPERIOR PRESENCIAL
CENTRO UNIVERSITARIO: MATRIZ GUAYAQUIL
PROYECTO
TEMA: Influence of classroom activities to strengthen linguistic competences. Propuesta: Design of a booklet with playful classroom activities to strengthen linguistic competences.
APROBADO
………………………………
Tribunal No 1
……………………… ………………………
Tribunal No 2 Tribunal No 3
Lucia Alexandra Méndez Sibri
C.I 0917707960
vi
EL TRIBUNAL EXAMINADOR OTORGA
AL PRESENTE TRABAJO
LA CALIFICACIÓN DE:
EQUIVALENTE A:
TRIBUNAL
vii
DEDICATION
To my children who are blessings from heaven, my parents, whose
continuous support has inspired me despite not being their responsibility
anymore, by last, this research work is specially dedicated to all people
who want to start all over again. It is difficult but not impossible.
Lucía Méndez Sibri
viii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I am very grateful to the people who came up with ideas to the elaboration
of this research work. Actually, they are many people that have
participated during this long process, but the following people put the final
touches to this research:
Heidi Marriot Toledo, my thesis tutor
Lorna Cruz, University of Guayaquil professor
María José Barragán, University of Guayaquil professor
Vicente Viteri Gómez, Vicente Rocafuerte High School principal
Jorge Ortega, VR High School vice-principal
Andrés Cedeño Olivares, VR High School English teacher, and
The Students of First Year International Baccalaureate at VR High School
I would also like to thank to my parents, my husband, my children from
whom I took so much time away and attention during all this time, my
classmates from the A1 English – French class, but mainly to God who
prepared the path for me to achieve this dream. Without him, none of this
would have been possible.
Lucía Méndez Sibri
ix
GENERAL INDEX
Front Page ..................................................................................................i
Directives .................................................................................................... ii
Documents................................................................................................. iii
Dedication ................................................................................................ vii
Acknowledgements ................................................................................. viii
Table of content ......................................................................................... ix
List of figures and charts .......................................................................... xiii
List of tables ............................................................................................ xiv
List of graphics ......................................................................................... xv
Abstract ................................................................................................... xvi
Introduction ............................................................................................... 1
Chapter I
The problem
Research context ...................................................................................... 2
Research problem ..................................................................................... 3
Conflict situation ........................................................................................ 3
Scientific fact.............................................................................................. 4
Causes ...................................................................................................... 4
Problem statement .................................................................................... 5
Research objectives .................................................................................. 5
General objective ...................................................................................... 5
Specific objectives .................................................................................... 5
Research questions .................................................................................. 6
Justification ................................................................................................ 6
Chapter II
Theoretical Framework
Background ............................................................................................... 8
Methods, Approaches of Teaching English as a Foreign Language ......... 9
Communicative competences: Historical evolution ................................. 14
Linguistic foundation ............................................................................... 15
x
Linguistic competence ............................................................................ 15
Lexical competence ................................................................................ 16
Grammatical competence ....................................................................... 16
Morphology ............................................................................................. 18
Syntax ..................................................................................................... 18
Semantic competence ............................................................................ 18
Phonological competence ....................................................................... 19
Orthographic competence ....................................................................... 19
Orthoepic competence ............................................................................ 19
Pronunciation .......................................................................................... 20
Stress....................................................................................................... 21
Rhythm .................................................................................................... 22
Intonation ................................................................................................ 23
Psychological foundation ........................................................................ 23
A Vigotskian concept: Zone of Proximal Development ........................... 24
Meaningful learning ................................................................................. 24
Multiple intelligences ............................................................................... 26
Learning styles ........................................................................................ 28
Teaching styles ....................................................................................... 28
Pedagogical foundation .......................................................................... 29
The constructivism .................................................................................. 29
Critical pedagogy ..................................................................................... 30
Didactic foundation ................................................................................. 30
Defining approaches, methods and techniques ....................................... 30
Principles of speaking ............................................................................. 31
Student-centered instruction ................................................................... 32
Classroom management ......................................................................... 33
Classroom activities ................................................................................. 35
Types of classroom activities .................................................................. 36
Games ............................................................................................. 36
Role plays ....................................................................................... 37
Jokes .............................................................................................. 38
xi
Tongue-twisters ............................................................................... 38
Surveys .......................................................................................... 38
Songs ............................................................................................. 38
Discussions .................................................................................... 39
Sociological foundation ........................................................................... 39
Cooperative learning ............................................................................... 39
Individual-group relation .......................................................................... 40
Legal foundation ..................................................................................... 40
Chapter III
Methodology, process, analysis and discussion of the results
Methodological design ............................................................................ 42
Research types ........................................................................................ 42
Population and sample ........................................................................... 43
Operationalization of variables matrix ..................................................... 44
Research methods .................................................................................. 45
Techniques and research instruments .................................................... 46
Research techniques .............................................................................. 46
Research instruments ............................................................................. 47
Observation guide .......................................................................... 47
Diagnostic test ................................................................................. 47
Interview questionnaire.................................................................... 47
Survey questionnaire ....................................................................... 48
Analysis and interpretation of data .......................................................... 48
Interview analysis ........................................................................... 48
Survey analysis .............................................................................. 50
Diagnostic test analysis .................................................................. 65
Observation class analysis ............................................................. 65
Chi-square analysis ........................................................................ 66
Conclusion and Recommendations ........................................................ 67
Chapter IV
The proposal
Title ......................................................................................................... 70
xii
Justification ............................................................................................. 70
Objectives
General objective ............................................................................ 70
Specific objectives .......................................................................... 71
Theoretical foundation ............................................................................ 71
Feasibility of its application ..................................................................... 72
Description .............................................................................................. 73
Booklet
Conclusion .............................................................................................. 76
References .............................................................................................. 77
Annexes ................................................................................................... 80
Annex 1: Documents ............................................................................... 81
Annex 2: Instruments .............................................................................. 87
Annex 3: Photos....................................................................................... 93
xiii
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1 Model for Second Language Performance ............................. 12
Figure 2 First Language Influence in Second Language Performance . 13
Figure 3 Grammatical Organization ..................................................... 17
Figure 4 Final Intonation Patterns and Pitch ........................................ 23
LIST OF CHARTS
Chart 1 Specific Features of Word Stress ........................................... 21
Chart 2 Meaningful Learning Occurs on a Continuum ........................ 25
Chart 3 Gardner‟s Multiple Intelligences ............................................. 27
Chart 4 Operationalization of Variable Matrix ..................................... 44
xiv
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1 Population of Students and Authorities at First Year IB .......... 43
Table 2 Sample of Students and Authorities at First Year IB ............... 43
Table 3 Difficulty in Oral Production .................................................... 52
Table 4 Fear to Speak ........................................................................ 53
Table 5 Types of Task Preference ...................................................... 54
Table 6 Grammar Use ........................................................................ 55
Table 7 Difficulties in Vocabulary ........................................................ 56
Table 8 Pronunciation, Accent and Rhythm ......................................... 57
Table 9 Group Work ............................................................................ 58
Table 10 Learning with Examples ......................................................... 59
Table 11 Talking about Interesting Topics ............................................ 60
Table 12 Learning with Playful Activities ............................................... 61
Table 13 Confidence to Speak in English ............................................. 62
Table 14 Variety in Classroom Activities ............................................... 63
Table 15 Improving oral Production ...................................................... 64
Table 16 Ludic Techniques ................................................................... 65
Table 17 Improving with Strategies ....................................................... 66
Table 18 Results from the Diagnostic Test ........................................... 67
Table 19 Statistical Analysis through Chi-square Test ........................... 69
xv
LIST OF GRAPHICS
Graphic 1 Difficulty in Oral Production ................................................ 52
Graphic 2 Fear to Speak .................................................................... 53
Graphic 3 Types of Task Preference .................................................. 54
Graphic 4 Grammar Use .................................................................... 55
Graphic 5 Difficulties in Vocabulary .................................................... 56
Graphic 6 Pronunciation, Accent and Rhythm..................................... 57
Graphic 7 Group Work ....................................................................... 58
Graphic 8 Learning with Examples ..................................................... 59
Graphic 9 Talking about Interesting Topics ........................................ 60
Graphic 10 Learning with Playful Activities ........................................... 61
Graphic 11 Confidence to Speak in English ......................................... 62
Graphic 12 Variety in Classroom Activities ........................................... 63
Graphic 13 Improving oral Production .................................................. 64
Graphic 14 Ludic Techniques ............................................................... 65
Graphic 15 Improving with Strategies ................................................... 66
xvi
xii
REPOSITORIO NACIONAL EN CIENCIA Y TECNOLOGÍA
FICHA DE REGISTRO DE TESIS
TÍTULO Y SUBTÍTULO: Influence Of Classroom Activities To Strengthen Linguistic Competences Design Of A Booklet With Playful Classroom Activities To Strengthen Linguistic competences AUTOR/ES: LUCÍA ALEXANDRA MÉNDEZ SIBRI
TUTOR: MSc. Heidi Marriott Toledo
REVISORES: INSTITUCION: UNIVERSIDAD DE GUAYAQUIL FACULTAD: FACULTAD DE FILOSOFÍA, LETRAS Y
CIENCIAS DE LA EDUCACIÓN
CARRERA: Lenguas y Lingüística FECHA DE PUBLICACIÓN: No. of PÁGS: 175
TÍTULO OBTENIDO: Licenciatura en Ciencias de la Educación, mención en Lengua Inglesa y Lingüística ÁREAS TEMÁTICAS Lengua Inglesa PALABRAS CLAVE: classroom activities, linguistic competences, meaningful learning, communication. RESUMEN The weaknesses in oral production in EFL students is a general concern in public institutions. Most of the students cannot engage in a conversation in English which proves that linguistic competences are not being developed in a proper way. This research sought to find ways to provide effective classroom activities in order to improve linguistic competences and promote students’ participation in speaking skill lessons in the First Year of International Baccalaureate at Vicente Rocafuerte High School. The study was based on current methods specifically designed to enhance communicative competence which emphasizes real communication using meaningful learning. All relevant information for this research work was obtained using different research instruments such as questionnaires applied to teachers and students, direct observation during class, a diagnostic test which confirmed the lack of oral skill development. This allowed to obtain the required data for the measurement of both qualitative and quantitative aspects of the problem. The research found that teachers did not integrate classroom activities in daily classes and thus, students move away increasingly from language in context, during oral production students used Spanish due to the low level of oral skills, students were not motivated or felt actively involved in the learning process, and the cooperative learning was not given a proper use. This research work recommends the use of a variety of classroom activities in lessons to accomplish catering to students’ needs and give the students the opportunity to use and develop an authentic English language.
Key words: classroom activities, linguistic competences, meaningful learning, communication.
No. DE REGISTRO (en base de datos):
No. DE CLASIFICACIÓN:
DIRECCIÓN URL (tesis en la web): ADJUNTO PDF: X SI NO
CONTACTO CON AUTOR/ES Teléfono:
E-mail:
CONTACTO EN LA INSTITUCIÓN: Nombre: Secretaría de la Escuela de Lenguas y Lingüística
Teléfono: (04)2294888 Ext. 123
E-mail: [email protected]
xii
REPOSITORIO NACIONAL EN CIENCIA Y TECNOLOGÍA
FICHA DE REGISTRO DE TESIS
TÍTULO Y SUBTÍTULO: Influencia de las actividades del aula para fortalecer las competencias lingüísticas. Guía con técnicas de trabajo autónomo.
AUTOR/ES: LUCÍA ALEXANDRA MÉNDEZ SIBRI
TUTOR: MSc. Heidi Marriott Toledo
REVISORES: INSTITUCION: UNIVERSIDAD DE GUAYAQUIL FACULTAD: FACULTAD DE FILOSOFÍA, LETRAS Y
CIENCIAS DE LA EDUCACIÓN
CARRERA: Lenguas y Lingüística FECHA DE PUBLICACIÓN: No. of PÁGS:175
TÍTULO OBTENIDO: Licenciatura en Ciencias de la Educación, mención en Lengua Inglesa y Lingüística ÁREAS TEMÁTICAS Lengua Inglesa PALABRAS CLAVE: actividades en el aula, competencias lingüísticas, aprendizaje significativo, comunicación
RESUMEN Las debilidades en la producción oral en los estudiantes de EFL es una preocupación general en las instituciones públicas. La mayoría de los estudiantes no pueden entablar una conversación en inglés que demuestre que las competencias lingüísticas no se están desarrollando de manera adecuada. Esta investigación buscó encontrar formas de proporcionar actividades efectivas en el aula con el fin de mejorar las competencias lingüísticas y promover la participación de los estudiantes en clases de destrezas orales en el Primer Año de Bachillerato Internacional en la Escuela Secundaria Vicente Rocafuerte. El estudio se basó en métodos actuales diseñados específicamente para mejorar la competencia comunicativa que enfatiza la comunicación real utilizando el aprendizaje significativo. Toda la información relevante para este trabajo de investigación se obtuvo utilizando diferentes instrumentos de investigación, como cuestionarios aplicados a docentes y estudiantes, observación directa durante la clase, una prueba de diagnóstico que confirmó la falta de desarrollo de habilidades orales. Esto permitió obtener los datos requeridos para la medición de los aspectos cualitativos y cuantitativos del problema. La investigación encontró que los maestros no integran las actividades de clase en las clases diarias y por lo tanto, los estudiantes se alejan cada vez más del idioma en contexto, durante la producción oral los estudiantes usaron español debido al bajo nivel de habilidades orales, los estudiantes no estaban motivados o se sintieron activamente involucrados en el proceso de aprendizaje, y el aprendizaje cooperativo no recibió un uso adecuado. Este trabajo de investigación recomienda el uso de una variedad de actividades en el aula en las lecciones para cumplir con las necesidades de los estudiantes y dar a los estudiantes la oportunidad de usar y desarrollar un auténtico idioma inglés. Palabras clave: actividades en el aula, competencias lingüísticas, aprendizaje significativo, comunicación No. DE REGISTRO (en base de datos):
No. DE CLASIFICACIÓN:
DIRECCIÓN URL (tesis en la web): ADJUNTO PDF: X SI NO
CONTACTO CON AUTOR/ES Teléfono:
E-mail:
CONTACTO EN LA INSTITUCIÓN: Nombre: Secretaría de la Escuela de Lenguas y Lingüística
Teléfono: (
E-mail: [email protected]
UNIVERSITY OF GUAYAQUIL FACULTY OF
PHILOSOPHY, LETTERS AND SCIENCES
OF THE EDUCATION
Abstract
The weaknesses in oral production in EFL students is a general
concern in public institutions. Most of the students cannot engage in a
conversation in English which proves that linguistic competences are not
being developed in a proper way. This research sought to find ways to
provide effective classroom activities in order to improve linguistic
competences and promote students‟ participation in speaking skill lessons
in the First Year of International Baccalaureate at Vicente Rocafuerte High
School. The study was based on current methods specifically designed to
enhance communicative competence which emphasizes real
communication using meaningful learning. All relevant information for this
research work was obtained using different research instruments such as
questionnaires applied to teachers and students, direct observation during
class, a diagnostic test which confirmed the lack of oral skill development.
This allowed to obtain the required data for the measurement of both
qualitative and quantitative aspects of the problem. The research found that
teachers did not integrate classroom activities in daily classes and thus,
students move away increasingly from language in context, during oral
production students used Spanish due to the low level of oral skills, students
were not motivated or felt actively involved in the learning process, and the
cooperative learning was not given a proper use. This research work
recommends the use of a variety of classroom activities in lessons to
accomplish catering to students‟ needs and give the students the
opportunity to use and develop an authentic English language.
Key words: classroom activities, linguistic competences, meaningful
learning, communication, oral skills.
UNIVERSIDAD DE GUAYAQUIL FACULTAD
DE FILOSOFIA, LETRAS Y CIENCIAS DE LA
EDUCACION
Resumen
Las debilidades en la producción oral en los estudiantes de EFL es
una preocupación general en las instituciones públicas. La mayoría de
los estudiantes no pueden entablar una conversación en inglés que
demuestre que las competencias lingüísticas no se están desarrollando
de manera adecuada. Esta investigación buscó encontrar formas de
proporcionar actividades efectivas en el aula con el fin de mejorar las
competencias lingüísticas y promover la participación de los estudiantes
en clases de destrezas orales en el Primer Año de Bachillerato
Internacional en la Escuela Secundaria Vicente Rocafuerte. El estudio se
basó en métodos actuales diseñados específicamente para mejorar la
competencia comunicativa que enfatiza la comunicación real utilizando el
aprendizaje significativo. Toda la información relevante para este trabajo
de investigación se obtuvo utilizando diferentes instrumentos de
investigación, como cuestionarios aplicados a docentes y estudiantes,
observación directa durante la clase, una prueba de diagnóstico que
confirmó la falta de desarrollo de habilidades orales. Esto permitió
obtener los datos requeridos para la medición de los aspectos
cualitativos y cuantitativos del problema. La investigación encontró que
los maestros no integran las actividades de clase en las clases diarias y
por lo tanto, los estudiantes se alejan cada vez más del idioma en
contexto, durante la producción oral los estudiantes usaron español
debido al bajo nivel de habilidades orales, los estudiantes no estaban
motivados o se sintieron activamente involucrados en el proceso de
aprendizaje, y el aprendizaje cooperativo no recibió un uso adecuado.
Este trabajo de investigación recomienda el uso de una variedad de
actividades en el aula en las lecciones para cumplir con las necesidades
de los estudiantes y dar a los estudiantes la oportunidad de usar y
desarrollar un auténtico idioma inglés..
Palabras clave: actividades en el aula, competencias lingüísticas, aprendizaje
significativo, comunicación, habilidades orales.
1 1
INTRODUCTION
In Ecuador, English is taught as a Foreign Language and the
Ecuadorian national Curriculum Guidelines established by the Ministry of
Education points out the use of Communicative Language Approach, which
promotes the students‟ development of communicative competence and the
use of English Language for meaningful communication.
Since English became a compulsory subject in educational system,
a lack in oral skills was immediately revealed. This is probably the absence
of authentic language learning that encourages students to participate
actively in class by sharing ideas and using the English language in context.
Thus, this research work sought to establish classroom activities in order to
strengthen those weaknesses in linguistic competences and motivate
students to speak.
The first chapter explains the problem found in the context of Vicente
Rocafuerte High School, the factors that directly influence the low oral skills,
and the objectives that will be considered throughout this research work.
The second chapter gathers up the theoretical backgrounds in which
this study is framed and it is classified into Linguistic, Psychological,
Pedagogical, Didactic, Sociological and Legal Foundations.
The third chapter refers to the qualitative and quantitative approach,
since it uses theoretical and empirical methods, techniques and instruments
in order to obtain data. Then, the results will be compared to find an
association between the two variables.
The fourth chapter presents the proposal, its objectives, the
theoretical bases in which this study is supported, the feasibility of its
applications, the description of the booklet and the conclusions where the
author of this research work confirms the accomplishment of the specific
objectives.
2 2
CHAPTER I
THE PROBLEM
RESEARCH CONTEXT
The Vicente Rocafuerte High School, the oldest educational
institution in Guayaquil, is an institution of great experience. With 175 years
(founded on December 26, 1847) the institution has seen thrived 13 former
presidents, writers, artists amongst other celebrities.
Located in Lizardo Garcia and Velez streets, it currently houses
about 5,000 students spread over 2 working shifts, morning (from 06h45 to
12h00) and afternoon (from 13h15 - 18h30), most of whom are
predominantly male, since for many years, it was an all-boy institution and
recently, 5 years ago, and through the implementation of inclusive policies
dictated by the Constitution of the Republic of Ecuador, the institution
became co-ed.
The institution offers different specializations like Science,
Accounting, Computer Science, Marketing, the General Unified
Baccalaureate and the International Baccalaureate. The IB program was
recently implemented in the institution and this educational project will be
implemented in there.
Currently, this high school has the necessary infrastructure for
training high school graduates, as it was completely remodeled by the
government in 2015, awarding it with the denomination of Millennium
Educational Unit, a name used to refer to the best institutions in the country
in terms of infrastructure and staff.
With the implementation of the IB program, the institution must find
adequately trained staff in order to achieve the requirements and the IB
3 3
students‟ complete profile. The English Language is an important part from
these requirements, since the IB program cohorts have to increase or
reduce depending on the students‟ English level.
In view of the demands of a globalized world where English is the
language of communication, this project will seek to improve linguistic
competences in students of International Baccalaureate which has a
different curriculum than the General Unified Baccalaureate one. This
characteristic makes the IB requirements for language learning more
ambitious and competitive and due to the fact that students must achieve a
level of English that complies these requirements.
RESEARCH PROBLEM
CONFLICT SITUATION
During the observation phase in this research, a diagnostic test and
a previous experience in Teaching Practice phase a noticeable weakness
in oral production was observed in students. These weaknesses are due to
different reasons such as the lack of classroom activities that connect
students with the target language. Students are taught under poorly-
oriented activities that did not reinforce the communication language
objectives of the National Ecuadorian Curriculum.
Another fact that makes this situation exacerbate is that teachers do
not know how to develop activities in class that get students attention, the
number of students in each class is higher than it should be, which causes
trouble with activities that require a better group configuration for best
results.
The improper use of learning strategies causes problems in the
teaching learning process. High school teachers struggle with how to teach
effectively, how to work effectively with bigger classes or how to achieve
students‟ improvement of linguistic competences. Thus, they end up
applying the same method day after day.
4 4
SCIENTIFIC FACT
The inefficiency in linguistic competences in the students of First
Year of International Baccalaureate from Vicente Rocafuerte High School,
school year 2016 – 2017, worries the authorities in this institution, because
the IB program has a linguistic policy that is periodically evaluated by the IB
Organization. The use of an inefficient method of English teaching should
be the main reason of a weakness oral production, a method that not include
playful activities oriented to students.
This is demonstrated by the evidence obtained during the field study
through production and linguistic interaction tests in which a large
percentage of this group of students did not meet the B1 level language
objective requirements.
Through different interactions with teachers at Vicente Rocafuerte
High School the researcher was able to confirm the low level in linguistic
competences in daily classes. Teachers expressed that the time allowance
is sometimes not enough for developing a lot of ludic activities in class and
accomplish the syllabus at the same time.
CAUSES
The lack of classroom activities is, perhaps, not the big issue, but,
the problem is how to connect the activity with the topic in each class in
order to get a real connection with the other elements of language. Teachers
often employ grammar exercises as classroom activities, like verbs
conjugation on the board, reading aloud, and repetition. These type of
activities rarely help with linguistic competences development, but are the
main staple in class every day.
A common cause that is observed in most educational institutions is
the overreliance on grammar practice on class. The Grammar Translation
Approach was used for many years as the only tool for learning English, but
5 5
this only showed that students lost their ability to speak English because
they could not apply the grammar in oral production.
Given that all these causes lead to more than one proposal, the focus
chosen for this research will center in the lack of playful classroom activities
to strengthen linguistic competences, which is considered within
communicative language competences in the Common European
Framework of Reference for Languages, related to its lexical, grammatical,
semantical and phonological elements.
PROBLEM STATEMENT
How do classroom activities influence the strengthening of linguistic
competences in students of 1st Year International Baccalaureate from
Vicente Rocafuerte High School of Guayaquil, Zone 8, district 3, school year
2016 – 2017?
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
GENERAL OBJECTIVE
To analyze the influence of playful classroom activities to strengthen
linguistic competences by means of a field study, a literature review and
statistical analysis in order to design a booklet with strategies which improve
the communicative competences.
SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES
To diagnose classroom activities by means of a field study, a
literature review and statistical analysis.
To characterize linguistic competences by means of a field study, a
literature review and statistical analysis.
6 6
To assess techniques and strategies that must be considered for
appropriate development of linguistic competences in a didactic booklet by
means of the most important results obtained.
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
Why is there a poor development in linguistic competences in public
institutions?
How does an inappropriate method to develop speaking skills affect
in the English learning process?
How will linguistic competences improve if teaching methodology is
changed for students in public institutions?
What kind of classroom activities may be a better fit for linguistic
competence development?
What is the scientific contribution that pedagogical guide with playful
classroom activities will give teachers to improve linguistic competences?
JUSTIFICATION
According to the main legal bodies such as The Organic Law of
Intercultural Education (LOEI), The National Curriculum Guidelines and The
National Plan for Good Living, education must transform society, which
implies a constant academic training as much in students as teachers.
These laws recognize training in the official languages and other in
relationship with the international community which, in practice, and as an
object of study, a great lack of training in the English language is observed
in public institutions. A reality that seeks to improve, but the established
policies do not respond to the needs in this area of communication.
The implementation of this proposal will improve the level of oral
production, therefore when students finish high school they would have
reached the B1 level according to the Common European Framework of
7 7
Reference for Languages. Furthermore, according to the Ministry of
Education, students must be taught under communicative approach, which
has as its principle the use of meaningful language.
This research work is also documented within the objectives of The
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization UNESCO
which encourages a quality education. It mentions education as a human
right, for this reason, it must be accompanied by a quality index. Its main
priority are teachers, thus, training is crucial to achieve a developed society.
This project will benefit students of First Year International
Baccalaureate in view of the need of improving linguistic competences
required by the legal and normative bodies in which this research project is
supported. For this reason, the activities collected in the proposal focus in
the development of speaking skills to increase the academic quality in public
institutions.
8 8
CHAPTER II
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
BACKGROUND
An exhaustive research about classroom activities in order to
improve linguistic competences helped recognizing that this topic has not
been previously explored in this institution, at least not in similar way. Thus,
this research work will analyze both variables, classroom activities and
linguistic competences separately, taking into consideration not only thesis
works but also other current research based on this topic.
Much has been said about linguistic competences in current scientific
articles and journals, especially regarding English as a Foreign Language.
Gudu (2015), on his article about how to teach Speaking Skills in Kenya
using classroom activities for promoting active participation in speaking
lessons, stated that students cannot sustain a conversation in English
without having to resort to their mother tongue. This is particularly
interesting because it sets the backgrounds of this research work since it
seems to be an issue not only in Ecuador but also abroad.
During years, classroom activities were limited to grammar exercises,
repetition, reading aloud in front of the class and so on. As a result, students
did not participate effectively in class because they were no confident. The
activities were not encouraging for language development but stressful. For
this reason, Gudu‟ study is based on Krashen‟s model specially in the Input
and Affective Filter hypotheses, which emphasize “that learners acquire
target language when they are motivated and involved actively in the
learning process” (p.55)
Gudu‟s research relies on the fact the implementation of a
communicative language teaching methodology (CLT) depends on cultural
9 9
factors (p.59). According to the country, this methodology should meet
cultural barriers. Most of the students show reticence to learn and that
behavior could be an obstacle to implement new methodologies or integrate
classroom activities in daily lessons. In order to overcome these barriers,
teachers need to adapt classroom activities to the students‟ cultural
backgrounds in order to find the most effective methodology.
Other renowned authors who emphasized classroom activities, like
Zainuddin, Yahya, Morales-Jones and Ariza (2011) who affirmed that
classroom activities must contain a variety of actions that allow students
answer in spontaneous way. For these researchers “classroom activities
must be varied and must include interactive language games, information-
sharing activities, social interactions, need for impromptu responses, and
the use of authentic materials, such as the newspaper for oral discussions
on current events” (p. 72).
Gudu also refers to motivation as “an important factor which
determines the rate at which learners undertake the activities” (p. 60). He
promotes learner–centered classroom activities where teacher has the role
of facilitator in the process by providing learners “with authentic language in
context” (p. 60)
For the author of this work, the aforementioned sources can greatly
contribute to develop this research and they will be considered in the
proposal in order to help providing a solution for this problem.
METHODS, APPROACHES OF TEACHING ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN
LANGUAGE
In order to have a wider vision of the different methods and
approaches that have set education over the years, a brief summarizing is
done to understand this evolution. For decades, the education has been
evolving itself in order to find approaches and methods to learn a foreign
language. The very first method, The Grammar–Translation Method, was
10 10
considered a mental exercise, because the main objective was to conjugate
verbs, translate texts and memorize lots of rules. In reaction to this method
The Direct Method appeared which focused on associations with objects,
visuals and realia to make the language comprehensible without using
translations. “The use of the native language is avoided; the use of the target
language is emphasized at all times” (Zainuddin et al, 2011, p. 64).
Trying to find an effective method that was capable to make people
speak the foreign language the Audio-lingual Method was developed. This
method consisted in the memorization of dialogues to be used in a specific
situation, but people could not develop true communication, because the
dialogues were focused in one specific situation and did not allow the
interaction or transition from that dialogue to enter in another one easily.
Due to this fact, the method was not enough to develop the language and
slowly winded down.
In order to accomplish an effective way to learn, Suggestopedia
proposed a different way to learn English. This method used music, art,
drama and physical exercise. For teaching under this method the classroom
atmosphere is crucial (Zainuddin et al, 2011). In this method the main goal
is to make students feel comfortable, relaxed and ready to learn. Despite
the new trends that this method offered, it was not fully accepted because
of the difficulties to apply it in every day classes.
Next, Caleb Gattegno developed the Silent Way. As its name implies,
this method used the silence as a teaching technique and students had to
learn by themselves. “At all stages of the method, the teacher models as
little as possible, and students try to repeat after careful listening with help
from each other. The teacher leads them toward correct responses by nods
or negative head shakes” (Zainuddin et al, 2011, p. 66). Unfortunately, the
method made many teachers uncomfortable, because it is rather impossible
for teachers remain silent most of the time, and according to a Zainuddin‟s
research, “teachers speak from 65 percent to 95 percent in traditional
classrooms” (p. 66)
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In reaction of Silent Way method, Total Physical Response (TPR)
appeared. This is still used in public and private institutions, especially in
lower grades, “this method is based on the principle that people learn better
when they are involved physically as well as mentally” (Zainuddin et al,
2011, p. 66). This method attempted to teach the language through
activities, in which students were required to carry out instructions given by
the teacher (commands), but, it is worth mentioning that the method was
limited to a single grammatical structure: imperatives. TPR leans on the use
of visuals in order to make a better comprehension of the task.
In 1977, The Natural Approach was developed by Terrell, and it was
based on Krashen‟s model. This model develops five hypotheses in order
to acquire the target language: Acquisition–Learning, Monitor, Natural
Order, comprehensible input and Affective Filter hypotheses. Its objective is
to use the language in communicative situations without teaching grammar
and resorting to L1, although in the silent period students would be allowed
to answer in their L1.
Within Monitor Model there are two terms that teachers need to
consider: acquisition and learning. It is important to distinguish between
these two terms in order to understand how the theory works. Krashen
claimed:
Language acquisition is very similar to the process children use in
acquiring first and second language. It requires meaningful
interaction in the target language in which speakers are concerned
not with the form of their utterances but with the messages they are
conveying and understanding” (Krashen, 1981, p. 1)
On the other hand, language learning refers to the implementation of
the „monitor‟ and “a great deal by error correction and the presentation of
explicit rules” (Krashen, 1981, p.2). For Krashen, there is acquisition for both
mother tongue and second language but the conscious learning “is available
to the performer only as a Monitor” (p.2).
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As a result, it can be considered that conscious learning is a formal
process. It serves to correct the utterances developed in language
acquisition, in other words, it is like an auto-correction phase in the learning
process. The following figure shows an illustration of this distinction.
Fig. 1. Model for second language performance. Source: Second Language Acquisition
and Second Language Learning by Stephen Krashen
This figure shows that the learned system joins in the acquired
system in order to produce correct utterances. In the final result, the
performer needs to take into consideration some conditions for example,
the time taken to correct errors, the knowledge about which rule to apply.
According to Bertocchini and Constanzo (2008), by referring to
Monitor Model affirms that the acquired system is the origin of oral
production, “notre aisance (fluency) depend de ce que nous avons
engrangé par l‟activité même de communication”. (p. 35) [our essence
(fluency) depends on what we have gathered by the communication activity
itself]. The authors say that the conscious learning can help modify the
elements of an acquired system.
Other important factor to consider is the influence of the first
language. This interference “is the result of the use of the first language as
an utterance initiator: first language competence may replace acquired
second language competence in the performance model” (Krashen, 1981,
p.7). Figure 2 illustrates this interference.
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Fig. 2. First language influence in second language performance. Source Second
Language Acquisition and Second Language Learning by Stephen Krashen
As for the affective – filter hypotheses, Terrell quoted by Zainuddin
et al, affirmed:
Error correction is negative in terms of motivation and attitude; thus,
he does not advocate the correction of speech errors in the process
of oral language development. This position reflects Krasen‟s
affective filter hypothesis, which purports that when students
experience an embarrassing situation, the affective filter goes up,
interrupting the language acquisition process. (p.72)
Finally, the Communicative Approach was developed. As its name
implies, the main goal in this approach is to communicate, to ensure
students become communicatively competent users. According to
Zainuddin et al (2011) “the communicative approach embraces the principle
of learning by doing, encouraging the use of English from the beginning of
instruction”. (p. 72). In this approach teachers can work with cooperative
groups. Zainuddin et al explain that in these groups students acquire
information from their classmates by creating redundancy in the target
language and thus achieving a better comprehension (p.73)
All the aforementioned approaches and methods follow the same
goal to learn a foreign language by using what they learned in formal
education. Most of the teachers use some of them at some point in their
daily classes, therefore, this work will consider the Natural Approach and
the Communicative Approach in the proposal because these approaches
focus in a proper use of second language learning.
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COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCES: HISTORICAL EVOLUTION
The word communicative competence belongs to the Communicative
Approach to Language Teaching. Its main principle is help students to
become communicatively competent. Zainuddin et al (2011) affirm that “the
learner develops competency in using the language appropriately in given
social contexts. Much emphasis is given to activities that allow the second
language learner to negotiate meaning in activities that require oral
communication in the second language” (p.72).
Nevertheless, the term Communicative Competence is not
something new. In fact, Campbell and Wales (1970) were the first who
referred to this term but as competence 2, leaving this term not clear enough
to understand for some linguists (Bagaric & Mihaljevic, 2007)
Then Chomsky defined and divided this term into competence and
performance. For him, competence refers knowing the language and
performance refers doing something with the language, the use itself. But,
some linguists expressed their disagreement to this concept, and they
preferred the definition adopted by Hymes (1972) as cited by Bagaric and
Mihaljevic (2007) Hymes added to this definition “the ability to use
grammatical competence in variety of communicative situations” (p. 94).
Savignon (1972), had a view not entirely different. Bagaric and
Mihaljevic (2007) cited her saying “she put much greater emphasis on the
aspect of ability in her concept of communicative competence” (p.96). For
Savignon, communicative competence is not something static but dynamic.
She defined communicative competence “as the ability to function in a truly
communicative setting – that is, in a dynamic exchange in which linguistic
competence must be adapt itself to the total informational input, both
linguistic and paralinguistic, of one or more interlocutors” (p.96)
In 1980, Canale and Swain adopted the position that communicative
competence includes grammatical competence and sociolinguistic
15 15
competence and they defined it “as a synthesis of an underlying system of
knowledge and skill needed for communication” (Bagaric & Mihaljevic,
2007, p.96). Canale and Swain (1980) also claimed “we have used the
position of competence –be it communicative, grammatical, or whatever –
to refer to underlying knowledge in a given sphere” (p. 7)
Then the evolution continued with Widdowson‟s concept (1983) who
defined separately competence and capacity. For him ability was not part of
competence (Bagaric & Mihaljevic, 2007). Taylor (1988) proposed to use
communicative proficiency instead of communicative competence. On the
other hand, Bachman (1990) fused all these concepts and formed a new
one Communicative Language Ability (Bagaric & Mihaljevic, 2007)
Interpreting this evolution, the author of this research work considers
each definition as a valuable contribution in order to find the concept that
contributes to the development in teaching learning process. Summarizing,
the author leans towards the CEFR‟s definition which says that
“competence are the sum of knowledge, skills and characteristics that allow
a person to perform actions” (p. 9), since students learn English by
performing rather than studying rules.
LINGUISTIC FOUNDATION
LINGUISTIC COMPETENCE
Linguistic competence is a part of Communicative Competences and
refers to how to combine sounds, words and sentences, taking into account
the proper pronunciation and grammatical elements, in other words, this
competence allows to produce formally correct statements and depends on
the capacity to use phonetic, lexical and grammatical models.
According to the Common European Framework of Reference for
Languages CEFR (2011):
16 16
This component, considered here from the point of view of a given
individual‟s communicative language competence, relates not only
to the range and quality of knowledge (e.g. in terms of phonetic
distinctions made or the extent and precision of vocabulary) but also
to cognitive organization and the way this knowledge is stored and
to its accessibility. (p.13)
The same CEFR has classified this competence in some parameters
and categories such as: lexical competence, grammatical competence,
semantical competence, phonological competence, orthographic
competence and orthoepic competence. Although, all of them are an
integral part of the L2 learning acquisition process, this research work will
focus on the first four.
LEXICAL COMPETENCE
This parameter has to do with the use of vocabulary and consists of
lexical elements and grammatical elements. Lexical elements are
prefabricated chunks of language, for example phrasal idioms, collocations,
phrasal verbs, etc. and it also includes words that have more than one
meaning or words that function as a verbs, adjectives, nouns, etc. at the
same time. Grammatical elements refers to articles, quantifiers,
demonstratives, personal pronouns, question words, relatives, possessives,
prepositions, auxiliary verbs and conjunctions. The proposal of this research
work collects some activities taking into account this competence by using
specially collocations which is important in the proper development of the
language.
GRAMMATICAL COMPETENCE
Over the years, this competence continue to be the most important
competence in the teaching – learning process. “Grammatical Competence
is the ability to understand and express meaning by producing and
recognizing well-formed phrases and sentences in accordance with these
17 17
principles (as opposed to memorizing and reproducing them as fixed
formulae)” (CEFR, 2011, p. 113). It includes morphology and syntax.
This competence refers to the correct application of grammatical
rules, word formation, and pronunciation. Teachers need to realize that
grammatical competences must be carefully taught for students reach a
language proficiency. The activities have to be taught in context for students
acquire competence.
Although there are some theories in order to organize words into
sentences and the CEFR proposes its own, a description of grammatical
organization should go as follows:
Fig. 3: Grammatical organization. Source: CEFR, 2011
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MORPHOLOGY
It has to do with the organization of words. It is the study of the forms
of words. It studies the minimal units of meaning which are morphemes and
word-formation process. Some word can be divided into smallest units.
These units are called morphemes and the CEFR has classified them in
“roots, or stems, affixes (prefixes, suffixes, infixes), including: word-forming
affixes (e.g. re-, un-, -ly, -ness); inflexional affixes (e.g. s, -ed, -ing)” (CEFR,
2011, p. 114)
As for Word-formation, “words may be classified into: simple words
(root only, e.g. six, tree, break); complex words (root + affixes, e.g.
unbrokenly, sixes); and compound words (containing more than one root,
e.g. sixpence, breakdown, oak-tree, evening dress) (CEFR, 2011, p. 114).
SYNTAX
It refers to the study of the rules for the formation of correct English
sentences. It governs the structure of a sentence. These rules concern
sentence organization, word order, and other sentence elements. “The
ability to organize sentences to convey meaning is a central aspect of
communicative competence”. (CEFR, 2011, p.115). This is one of the most
important aspects in linguistics.
SEMANTIC COMPETENCE
It is the study of meanings. This deals with how meaning is encoded
in any language. It is the meaning that the vocabulary and grammar convey.
There is a little confusion between semantics and pragmatics. Semantics
refers to the meaning of sentences and pragmatics to the use and function
of language, the relation between the structure of a message and how the
users receive the message. As for the meanings, for example, competent
users should be able to understand that according to the context in the
phrase It is cold! could convey either of the following two meanings: the
speaker needs of a coat or that the air conditioning is on.
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PHONOLOGICAL COMPETENCE
All languages have a small number of sounds. They are called
phonemes. For Roach (2009) phonology refers to “how phonemes function
in language” (p.35). According to the CEFR (2011) phonological
competence involves:
“A skill in the perception and production of: the sound-units
(phonemes) of the language and their realization in particular
contexts (allophones); the phonetic features which distinguish
phonemes (distinctive features, e.g. voicing, rounding, nasality,
plosion); the phonetic composition of words (syllable structure, the
sequence of phonemes, word stress, word tones); sentence
phonetics (prosody); sentence stress and rhythm; intonation;
phonetic reduction (vowel reduction, strong and weak forms,
assimilation, elision)” (pp.116-117)
As a matter of simplifying for this research work and avoiding
monotonous classes, they will be only considered word stress, rhythm and
intonation that will be later explained.
ORTHOGRAPHIC COMPETENCE
It has to do with how written texts are composed. For CEFR (2011),
learners should be able to recognize and produce:
“The form of letters in printed and cursive forms in both upper and
lower case; the proper spelling of words, (including recognized
contracted forms); punctuation marks and their conventions of use;
typographical conventions and varieties of font; and logographic
signs in common use” (p. 117).
ORTHOEPIC COMPETENCE
Orthoepic refers to the correct pronunciation of the written texts. The
CEFR explains:
20 20
Conversely, users required to read aloud a prepared text, or to use
in speech words first encountered in their written form, need to be
able to produce a correct pronunciation from the written form. This
may involve: knowledge of spelling conventions; ability to consult a
dictionary and a knowledge of the conventions used there for the
representation of pronunciation; knowledge of the implications of
written forms, particularly punctuation marks, for phrasing and
intonation; ability to resolve ambiguity in the light of the context.
(p.118)
Definitely, the elaboration of a booklet with activities that embraces
all these aspects might have being a difficult task, thus the author of this
research work will focus on the most important aspects such as phrasal
idioms, collocations, phrasal verbs, syntax, semantic, the phonetic
composition of words (syllable structure, the sequence of phonemes, word
stress, word tones); sentence phonetics (prosody); sentence stress and
rhythm and intonation in order to promote the achievement of the English
learning language objective for this level.
PRONUNCIATION
This aspect is the most important in speech and it involves different
patterns such as stress, rhythm and intonation. According to Tamura, (2006)
the language is sound and to form these sounds the speaker needs his
throat, “the throat is the center of creating the sound. Unless we are able to
make sounds and to hear them properly we cannot communicate in a
language, even if that is the mother tongue or a foreign tongue” (p.184).
For Tamura, the difficulties to speak a foreign language lie in the
speaker, “when the learner of a second language unconsciously passes the
sound, the rhythm and intonation of his native language to the new language
he/she is learning” (p. 184). But the majority of teachers notice that and
agree with this is a normal process and will improve with practice.
21 21
Teaching pronunciation could be a big problem for teachers, and
Tamura (2006) recommends to take into consideration that “pronunciation
cannot be learned by mere imitation by everyone. Students must be taught
how sounds are produced” (p. 184). For doing this, teachers need explain a
wide list of organs in which sounds are produced and this could stray
students and make the class longer. “Laborious theoretical explanation
should not be extensively used. Instead, short practical advice for the
position of lips, tongue, the opening between the jaws, etc., should be given”
Tamura suggests (p. 185).
In response to this suggestion, the author of this research work has
chosen activities that accomplish these advice to help achieve proper
development of linguistic competences in students in order to avoid
theoretical explanations.
STRESS
Another important factor to develop linguistic competences is to
identify which syllable is stressed in a word. This could be observed in
dictionaries that show the stressed syllable using symbols such as an
apostrophe ( „ ) before the stressed syllable or a written accent ( ´ ), ( ` ) on
the syllable to distinguish these syllables.
According to Roach (2009), stress can be studied “from the points of
view of production and perception”. The productions depends on the
speaker and the perception on a listener. When the speaker use more
muscular energy to pronounce a syllable into a word that is called stressed
syllable. “Stress is produce by four main factors: 1) loudness; 2) length; 3)
pitch and 4) quality. Generally, these four factors work together in
combination, although syllables may sometimes be made prominent by
means of only one or two of them” (Roach, 2009, p.74).
Lane (2010) presented specific characteristics as a classification of
word stress and they are comprises in the following chart.
22 22
Specific features Examples
1. Primary stress Jánuary, Fébruary, Ápril, Áugust.
2. Unstressed syllables and vowel reduction
évidence, fórtune
3. Secondary stress
sìxtéen
4. Stress with two-syllable Two syllable nouns mother Two syllable verbs admit
5. Stress with compounds
áirpòrt – cellphone
6. Stress with verbs and nouns with prepositional prefixes.
òverlóok – úpset – óutlòok
7. Stress with abbreviation ATM
8. Stress with suffixes
phóto photógrapher photográphic
9. Stress switching
Nèw YORK NEW Yòrk CIty
Chart 1: Specific features of word stress. Source: Tips for Teaching Pronunciation, A Practical Approach by Lane
Most of these features are taught to intermediate and advanced
students since it involves a new vocabulary as in cases 2, 6, 7, 8 and 9. But
teachers could choose some of the most meaningful examples for these
cases such as photo in stress with suffixes and popular words for vowel
reduction in order to facilitate the proper pronunciation.
RHYTHM
Rhythm refers to how a speaker alternates between stressed and
unstressed words into a sentence and how to link adjacent words.
According to Lane (2010), the lack of vocabulary can cause difficulties, “the
ability to group words into appropriate phrases also requires quick access
to lexical items and grammar” (p.46). In order to enhance this issue, there
are some patters that Lane presented and teachers should know and apply
to facilitate the rhythm in students. For example, dividing the words into
content (nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, demonstratives, question words
and negatives) and functional (articles, auxiliary verbs, short prepositions,
conjunctions relative pronouns, personal pronouns and possessive
23 23
adjectives); linking adjacent words (as in fix it, both things, black car);
phrasal verbs (as in get ín, come on, pick it up); reduction of function words
(and an; can’t, don’t; be I’m, he’s, she’s; have I’ve, he’s, you’ve;
would I’d, you’d; will I’ll, they’ll, and won’t). All these features were
considered in the proposal of this research work.
INTONATION
This pattern facilitates the discourse and contributes to the
comprehension. Intonation is “the meaningful use of pitch on a word or
phrase” and “contributes to the interpretation of discourse meaning,
grammatical meaning, and effective meaning” (Lane, 2010, p.85). This
pattern helps to distinguish statements from questions. In this case, as in
stress and rhythm cases, teachers should present easy examples, since
intonation has features for advanced learners and they are difficult to hear
the moment when the voice is falling or rising.
Figure 4: Final Intonation Patterns and Pitch. Source: Tips for Teaching Pronunciation, A Practical Approach
Examples like the showed above could widely contribute to the
development of linguistic competences since they correspond to a typical
intonation and are used in current discourses and could be easily changed
to interest topic for students.
PSYCHOLOGICAL FOUNDATION
Each learner is unique. Starting from this principle teachers will
probably find some problems when the knowledge is transmitted to
students, despite this students can show some characteristics in common
with others. These features will allow them to find the correct method to
teach effectively.
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A VYGOTSKIAN CONCEPT: ZONE OF PROXIMAL DEVELOPMENT
Over the years some theories that refer to how to learn actively have
been developed. As cited by Pinter (2011) “Lev Vygotsky was interested to
explore what individual students are capable of achieving with the help and
support of a more knowledgeable partner” (p.11). Therefore, when
Vygotsky‟s Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) concept appeared, Pinter
highlighted:
The difference or the “zone” between the current knowledge of the
child and the potential knowledge achievable with some help from a
more knowledge peer or adult. Vygotsky argues that working within
the Zone of Proximal Development is a fertile ground for learning
because it starts with what the child already knows and carefully
builds on it according to the child‟s immediate needs to go forward
(p.11)
Certainly, this zone allows students to advance in their learning
process as when they think to have reached the knowledge in a specific
content, the teacher comes to break up this idea and proposes some others
totally different that show students have not learned enough. In addition,
Herrera, Kavimandan, and Holmes (2011) explained the importance of
interaction in class, the collaborative work among students known as the
Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD). The authors elaborate:
He (Vygotsky, 1978) conceptualizes the zone of proximal
development as the most effective instructional level, which is
attained when the learner is stretched beyond his or her current
independent level of skill through the help and interaction of
someone who is more capable. (p. 5)
MEANINGFUL LEARNING
Meaningful learning is important because it allows to ask for any
information which is relevant in most cases, and help creating social
25 25
interactions inside or outside classrooms. According to Pinter (2011),
students learn new language forms in meaningful contexts, thus teachers
have to provide opportunities in order to students understand new inputs.
Novak (2002), who focused on the constructions of meanings,
claimed “the construction and reconstruction of meanings by learners
requires that they actively seek to integrate new knowledge with knowledge
they already possess in their cognitive structure” (p.548). The following
chart shows how meaningful learning and rote learning play two different
roles. The first one implies a high commitment to look for relationships
between the relevant knowledge and new inputs to incorporate further
concepts. Conversely, a rote learning implies a little commitment to
incorporate the new inputs with the existing knowledge. Novak (2002),
explained this chart by saying “individual vary in the extent of their existing
relevant cognitive structure, and also the effort they make to incorporate
new concept meanings, there is a continuum in learning from extreme rote
learning to highly meaningful learning” (p. 551)
Chart 2: Meaningful learning occurs on a continuum. Source:
Meaningful learning: The Essential Factor for Conceptual Change
in Limited or Inappropriate Propositional Hierarchies Leading to
Empowerment of Learners, Novak, 2002
26 26
Novak (2002) also claimed: “Ausubel has made the clear distinction
between rote learning where new knowledge is arbitrarily and non-
substantively incorporated into cognitive structure, and meaningful learning
where the learner chooses conscientiously to integrate new knowledge to
knowledge that the learner already possess” (p. 549)
Thus, teachers have an important role in the construction of
meanings, because students are going to integrate what they learn,
assimilate it, and then apply it meaningfully in class.
MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES
When teachers spend hours and hours in front of a diverse class they
confirm that each student do not learn in the same way. For example, in an
open house some students will prefer introducing the contest by talking
spontaneously in front of the public, others will prefer singing or playing an
instrument and others will simply work in the contest organization. Each
student is an expert in one domain. Teachers have to accept that each
student has a learning style. A style that will help them make the most of
them in school and life.
The Multiple Intelligences theory developed by Howard Gardner
(1983) opposes to the idea that intelligence is a unique faculty by defining it
as a potentiality of performing intellectual faculties, and when the capacity
of elaborate information for solving problems is different, then, it is an
intelligence, explained Bertocchini and Costanzo, (2008). Pinter (2011)
quoted Gardner‟s theory by saying that “he suggested that intelligence had
no unitary character, rather, it manifested itself in many different ways in
different children” (p.13). This important theory shows learners as
individuals with different abilities, potentialities and capacities, and teachers
could identify which of these styles fixes the most in their students in order
to work effectively. These different ways of learning have allowed the
development of theories and strategies, previously mentioned in learning
process.
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The following chart shows the different intelligences, a brief definition
of each of them and what activities could be develop in the classroom.
Although not included yet in the official list, there is a ninth intelligence which
is called „existential‟ but it will not be considered in this research work.
Intelligence Definition Activities
- Discussion and mini- The ability to decode debates.
Linguistic meaning and use words - Reading and writing orally and in writing. stories, reports, etc.
- Inferring grammar rules.
The ability to use numbers, analyze data, - Classifying.
Logical and understand abstract - Sequencing mathematical symbols, graphs, - Problem–solving
sequences and cause- activities. effect relations.
The ability to use movements and gestures,
- Role plays. Bodily / Kinesthetic when interacting, to
- Games and contests. express feelings and ideas using the body.
The ability to understand - Projects.
Interpersonal and interact with other
- Group work people, establishing
- Games and contests. rapport and empathy.
The ability to reflect upon - Reflections.
who we are and how to - Self-evaluations
Intrapersonal cope with personal
- Talking about
feelings. community and personal issues.
- Tapping the rhythm.
Musical The ability to feel music
- Listening to stress, and rhythm.
rhythm and music.
The ability to cope with the - Campaigns to become Naturalist world outside of the environmentally
classroom. sensitive.
The ability to understand
- Drawing and interpreting and perceive special
maps and graphs.
Visual and Spatial relationships and aspects - Doing crossword
such as shape, color and puzzles.
size.
Chart 3: Gardner‟s Multiple Intelligences. Adapted from Ministry of Education, 2015
28 28
Even though, some actual studies do not validate those theories at
all. In the Scientific American Mind Magazine (2016), an article published
by Gary Stix shows common myths about the brain and he explains that
those theories are just public perceptions.
LEARNING STYLES
There is another common term that some psychologists use to refer
the different possibilities to assimilate of information in learning process.
One of them, Pinter (2011) described categories such as analytic learners
and global learners. Analytic learners are those who pay special attention
to the details rather than to the general idea, and the global learners
emphasize the importance of the whole, they are holistic.
On the other hand, Bertocchini and Costanzo, (2008) identify these
styles in a broader form. The authors mention different criteria: impulsive or
reflexive, divergent or convergent, intuitive or systematic, global or analytic,
visual or auditory, solver or assimilator, dependent field or independent field.
The researcher emphasizes that each learner does not fit completely into a
single category, each learner is a mosaic composed by contradictory
elements.
It is possible to find a student with high abilities or students with
difficulties to learn or perhaps slower students. Thus, teacher face a lot of
problems due to the amount of activities they have to develop within the
same classroom. For this reason, this research considers the importance of
working with other colleagues and professionals in this field and any other
individual who can contribute to the process.
TEACHING STYLES
If each student has a learning style, each teacher has a teaching style
which Bertocchini and Costanzo (2008) define as “un philtre à travers lequel
l‟enseignant sélectionne et gère en classe les tâches, les matériaux, les
activités” (p. 43) [a filter through which the teacher selects and manages in
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class the tasks, materials and activities]. It depends on teacher‟s learning
style which makes that a systematic teacher will privilege a linear
progression in class, while an intuitive teacher will prefer activities such
global reading for instance.
Summarizing, the teacher‟s learning style will influence his teaching
style, therefore, it could also favor the class‟ success that their learning style
and the teacher‟s coincide, which could also coincidently create difficulties
in students who do not share it.
PEDAGOGICAL FOUNDATION
THE CONSTRUCTIVISM
Jean Piaget gave a great importance to active learning. He called
“constructivism” because he said that human intelligence is built by each
one through the interchanges with the environment. The constructivism
considered that the learning is organized according to a double process
called assimilation and accommodation. In this way, children are the
builders of their own knowledge.
Bertocchini and Costanzo (2008) claim: “A partir de structures déjà
construites le sujet assimile des nouvelles forms et, en cas de dissonance
entre le schema présent et le nouvel objet, le sujet accommode ses
representations de manière à atteindre un état d‟équilibre provisoire” (p.30)
[From structures already built, the subject assimilates new forms and, in
case of dissonance between the present scheme and the new object, the
subject accommodates his representations in such a way they reach a
provisional state of balance].
As all learning, English language learning behaves a set of trial and
errors before reaching a correct form. For this, it have to pass by different
steps in order to achieve the goals. It is not about skipping from the
ignorance to a total control of a language, but doing step by step.
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CRITICAL PEDAGOGY
Critical Pedagogy is an approach developed by Freire (1968), this
theory has to do with the transformation of people from objects of education
to subjects of their own autonomy by means of developing a critical
consciousness that help them to build an equitable society. “Freire (1970)
distinguishes between banking education and problem posing education”.
(Aliakbari and Faraji, 2011, p.78). Freire called banking education because
is similar to a deposit in a bank. The money would be the knowledge and
students were limited to save content and memorize them.
This approach pretends to change the way of learning and proposes
to the students to be protagonists in the learning process, since some
theories described in the background can not to help enough each
individual, therefore, a critical pedagogy could serve to improve the skills
from his own perspective. Autonomous work and curiosity have a pivotal
role in the development of this approach.
DIDACTIC FOUNDATION
DEFINING APPROACHES, METHODS AND TECHNIQUES
In order to discriminate differences among these terms and establish
a hierarchy of the concepts, Herrera and Murry (2016) define approach as
a philosophy of teaching that teachers use to guide students. An approach
is a set of methods that teachers select that are based on theory.
Summarizing, an approach is a model of how learners learn and how
teachers teach.
A method is a syllabus. It is how transmit an approach into every day
classes. Herrera and Murry (2016) conceptualize method as a “framework
that has specific strategies and techniques associated with it; a method
constitutes one translation of an approach into professional practice” (p.
184).
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A technique is a task, a classroom activity, the way of doing
something and this carries out a method. Thus, a set of techniques give rise
to a method.
PRINCIPLES OF SPEAKING
Speaking is a productive skill and the most hardest of the four skills.
It refers to the oral production of utterances to form a message. This skill
have some principles that teachers have to take into consideration when
they are involved in the teaching learning process. There are renowned
authors that have stated different principles of speaking, but according to
Bailey (2005) the principles of speaking are:
1) Differences between second language and foreign language learning
contexts.
These two terms have not the same definition. “A foreign language
context is one where the target language is not the language of
communication in the society. A second language context is one where
the target language is the language of communication in the society”.
(p.54). For Ecuadorian people English is a foreign language.
2) Fluency and accuracy.
Accuracy is the quality of being correct or precise, meanwhile fluency is
“to use the language quickly and confidently, with few hesitations or
unnatural pauses…” (p.55)
3) The use of group work or pair work in students and limiting teacher talk.
It refers to form collaborative groups in order to students take different
roles in class, and allows them to participate, interact and increase the
talk time.
4) Speaking tasks that involve negotiation for meaning
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It consists of checking if students have understood the message during
conversations by asking questions or requesting repetitions or
explanations.
5) The design of classroom activities that involve guidance and practice in
speaking
It is important to find activities in which students can interact, for
example, introduce themselves, greeting, complaining, inviting, etc. and
avoid prefabricated dialogues since they are relatively unpredictable.
“Transactional speech involves communicating to get something done,
including the exchange of goods and / or services” (Bailey, 2005, p.56)
STUDENT – CENTERED INSTRUCTION
This instruction emphasizes on learners and their learning process.
Johnson (2014) mentions six characteristics in this instruction, as follows:
Learning experiences are open ended: “Students are not always
expected to come to a predetermined conclusion or to create a
standardized product”. (p. 1). This characteristic pretends that learners
search for another answers and get their own conclusions starting from
their own experiences.
Students have choices: “Choice includes things such as topics to
study, ways to learn and demonstrate learning, books to read, things to
write about…” (p. 1). It is important leave students choose the activities
from time to time, but not all the time. The teacher have to find a balance
on that.
Knowledge is presented in meaningful contexts: “Instruction,
assignments, and activities are designed around what students know or
have experienced” (p.1). Basically, the knowledge is more assimilated
when there is a previous one, for this reason, the activities have to be
chosen taking into account their personal experiences.
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Social interaction is valued: “Cooperative learning and student
conversation are seen as valuable tools to enhance learning”. (p.1).
Without any doubt, interaction helps students to improve their skills,
specially speaking skill, because in groups, students risks talking and
sharing their ideas with others.
Students are actively engaged in the learning process: “This active
engagement could take place cognitively or physically” (p.1). Contrary
to the teacher – centered instruction, students are physically and
mentally involve in the tasks, which help them to advance in the learning
process.
Learning experiences are based on learner’s natural desire to
learn: “Learning experiences are designed to complement this natural
desire to learn…” (p.1). This characteristic is based on the active
exploration. Students learn from their mistakes, therefore, solving
problems is the best way to learn.
CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT
In classrooms is important to take into account how to develop a
class. This is called classroom management. According to Richards and
Renandya (2002) “Classroom management refers to the ways in which
teachers manage a class in order to make it maximally productive for
language learning”. (p. 28).
The same authors have considered some aspects in order to manage
classroom learning, those are motivation, constraints and the teacher‟s role.
As for motivation, teachers complain that students study English because is
a compulsory subject, so they do not show interest in it. For this reason,
English teachers need doing an extra effort to get the students attention.
“Language is a skill, and a skill needs to be applied, not just stored in the
head or admired at a distance” (Richards & Renandya, 2002, p.41)
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Another factor that disturbs the student‟s motivation is that students
prefer not to speak in English because “they can say the same thing faster
in their own mother tongue” (Richards & Renandya, 2002, p.40). As for the
classroom climate, Williams and Burden (1997) quoted by Richards and
Renandya (2002) claimed that there is “three levels of influence: national
and cultural influences on the language being learned, the education system
where the language is being learned, and de immediate classroom
environment” (p.41)
Richards and Renandya (2002) also point out in teachers that
encourage students through intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. “Some
students have strong intrinsic motivation; they know the benefits of learning
a particular language. Others need to be reminded of where success could
lead” (p.42).
Bertocchini and Costanzo (2008), also refers to these two types of
motivation, an intrinsic student is someone who values learning and find the
proposed tasks so interesting and useful to his learning, on the other hand,
an extrinsic student expects an acknowledgment for this work. But,
whatever the motivation, feelings such as curiosity, challenge, pleasure of
discovery, success, pride, etc., become determinants in learning process.
This was observed during the data collection phase of this research work,
some students knew the importance of learning English but the other ones
needed an incentive, sometimes a reward, to produce in the target
language.
The second aspect considered within classroom management is
called constraints. Constraints are things that hinder the teaching learning
process. For example, the amount of students in the classroom, students
with different levels in the same class, lack of furniture or resources.
“Resources frequently head the list of constraints. Some teacher have no
photocopiers or no funds to make copies for the whole class, no tape
recorders o video recorders and their students have no source of interesting
reading material” (Richards & Renandya, 2002, p. 43)
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The final aspect is the teacher‟s role. In class “teacher has to manage
a number of situations, predictable as well as unpredictable. Let‟s consider
two aspects of classroom management: one being the way time is
managed, and the other the managing of students‟ questions” (Richards &
Renandya, 2002, p.46). Teacher‟s role also include the relationship with
other colleagues:
A typical situation is that one teacher is encouraging everyone to
talk in pairs, and the talk is so successful that the teacher next role
complains. Often it is not a question of actual noise level. Anyone
who has taught next to a room where fifty students are chorusing
drills loudly will know what noise is. (Richards & Renandya, 2002,
p.46)
Summarizing, all the aforementioned aspects are relevant, but for the
author of this thesis, teacher‟s role is the most important in this process,
because he can promote the motivation in students and find a solution for
constraints that might develop in his classroom. His role will only be
replaced by another good teacher.
CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
Classroom activities are described by students as a playful technique
to learn English. When students develop classroom activities learn more
and do not matter to make mistakes because students do not feel evaluated.
According to Gudu, (2015) “classroom activities improve student‟s active
participation, motivate and expose students to authentic use of English
language in context” (p.57). Despite this, there are some factors that cause
difficulties on students such as the lack of motivation, the use of mother
tongue and so on.
Young learners study English language in public institutions because
is mandatory, for this reason, students show a negative attitude towards
target language and that is what this research work wants to change.
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Classroom activities are widely used in high schools, but some
teachers prefer not to use them because they take too much time, therefore
teachers are forced to use traditional teaching approaches in order to cover
the syllabus in good time, but these traditional methods can fall in the
development of linguistic competences.
The nature of classroom activities is to create a good atmosphere.
Each activity has to provide students with opportunities of learning,
practicing, and improving the target language. It is the time to apply
concepts and rules learned previously throughout methods chosen for this
effect. For this, the activity to be developed must be focused on the contents
and the development of linguistic competences.
TYPES OF CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
In order to have a clear idea of the different actions that teachers use
into the class, a brief explanation among exercises, activities and tasks is
done. An exercise is a particular task that is repetitive, given by the teacher
to the students and evaluated by himself. On the other hand, an activity is a
task that belongs to reading or listening and, in other cases it works for
speaking and writing. Finally, a task is an action focused to solve a problem.
Once defined these terms, this project is going to focus on activities,
because it proposes a set of questions or rules derive from a previous task
or explanation.
Some of the tasks that can be used to promote linguistic
competences that have proven being highly effective are:
GAMES
It is an activity that is performed to get students attention and
teachers use this task to involve students in learning process because
games becomes the target language useful and fun, and in this way
students are actively involved. “Playing games is a vital and natural part of
growing up and learning. Through games children experiment, discover and
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interact with their environment” (Lewis & Bedson, 1999, p.5). In addition,
games are a great stimulus since increase motivation and provide
vocabulary to use English language.
Certainly, games are useful at the time of teaching English, for this
reason, the language to be applied must be well-oriented. Games have a
set of rules in order to achieve a goal. Lewis and Bedson (1999) stated:
“The key to a successful language game is that these rules are clear and
the ultimate goal is well defined” (p.6)
It is important to integrate games into the syllabus, therefore teachers
have to choose them carefully in order to attempt the language focus or
practice any topic. Lewis and Bedson (1999) also recommend to distinguish
between „rousing‟ and „settling‟:
„Rousers‟ wake a class up. They get the adrenalin going. Typical
“rousers” are movement games and games where there is an
element of competition… „Settlers‟, on the other hand, calm a class
down. Typical „settlers‟ are craft activities and games which focus on
listening” (p.7)
It is worth mentioning that a game must be more than just fun, they
must to be focused on developing linguistic competences, with a useful
language to improve speaking skills. On that regard, the games chosen by
the author of this research work are varied. Board games, drawing games
and guessing games to name but a few.
ROLE PLAYS
It is a playful activity that do not need stage, canvas, nor preparation
only the improvisation. The activity is given by the teacher or chosen by the
students. This activity allows practicing English and involves a real
environmental. “Role plays stimulate a child‟s imagination and are tests of
true communication” (Lewis & Bedson, 1999, p. 17)
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JOKES
It is a guessing game. Jokes are short stories in order to make people
laugh. “The aim is to guess the answer to a question of some kind” (Lewis
& Bedson, 1999, p. 17). Telling jokes can get the students attention in
English class, so this type of activities must be included in daily classes with
different topics. Most of them are presented as riddles.
The jokes collected for the proposal of this research work play a
double meaning, that is, when the joke is pronounced students will not
notice any unfamiliar, but when teacher writes down the answer on the
board, students notice immediately that they are homophones, words with
the same pronunciation but different writing.
TONGUE – TWISTERS
According to Cambridge Free English Dictionary and Thesaurus a
tongue– twister is “a sentence or phrase that is intended to be difficult to
say, especially when repeated quickly and often”. This is a good exercise to
practice pronunciation, intonation and fluency.
Students learn through their explorations and play. When they are
motivated they are going to experiment new things. For this reason, the
author of this research work consider the need of applying an active learning
in English language teaching.
SURVEYS
It is a useful activity to develop speaking skills, because they adapt
to a wide list of topics and, in this way, students can talk about things they
really care about them.
SONGS
It is a great tool to practice pronunciation and also to memorize.
Songs “seem to speak directly to the brain. Using rhythm to introduce new
39 39
vocabulary offers our students a very fast track for learning” (Graham, 2006,
p. 6). With songs students try to imitate the correct pronunciation together
with stress and intonation. Songs reinforce grammar and vocabulary, and
students can take some „chunks‟ from the songs in order to use them later
in a conversation.
DISCUSSIONS
Discussions or debates are formal ways of argumentation between
two or more groups or individuals. This type of activity allows students to
speak about a specific topic in order to accept or refuse a statement. Most
of the teachers use this activity because it is focused on fluency and the
teacher works as a facilitator. It also allows the group work and encourages
students to speak actively.
During the diagnostic phase, the author of this research work noticed
that although the students participated actively, resorted to their mother
tongue. This practice is observed in the majority of public institutions, but
despite this, teachers did not discourage this practice.
SOCIOLOGICAL FOUNDATION
Language fulfils a social function. In this process students benefit
from sharing their ideas and increasing their knowledge from interaction with
more knowledgeable partner.
COOPERATIVE LEARNING
On this regard, cooperative learning plays an important role as
students work in teams and share their ideas with others. Richards and
Renandya (2002) explained:
“Cooperative learning is more than just putting students in groups
and giving them something to do. Cooperative learning principles and
techniques are tools which teachers use to encourage mutual
40 40
helpfulness in the groups and the active participation of all members.
(p.52)
In foreign language learning settings it is important to work in
cooperative groups because students feel more confident when they speak
with someone who thinks like them. There is no fear in speaking or making
mistakes because students are in the same level.
INDIVIDUAL – GROUP RELATION
The group work allows students to take responsibilities by accepting
the rules and the limitations that are need to develop an activity, but it is
necessary to use this technique in a proper way in order to get a progressive
learning.
It is worth mentioning that teacher has to define clearly the tasks in
terms of objectives, teacher have to describe the task in such a way that
students have a clear idea what they are going to do. The groups can be
formed by 3 or 4 students, in order to get an effective result.
In educational institutions is common to observe the use of group
work in tasks that students could do better individually. This is due to a lack
of awareness of techniques of group work.
This research work promotes the student sociological level through
language learning in cooperative groups in order to encourage students in
the English learning process.
LEGAL FOUNDATION
This research is based in the Constitution of the Republic of Ecuador
in its articles 26, 27, 28 and 29 that refer to education. Article 27 explains
“Education is indispensable for knowledge, exercise of rights and building
asovereign country and it is a key strategy for national development” (p.33)
41 41
The Organic Law of Intercultural Education (LOEI) in article 2
paragraph b, states that education must transform society, which implies a
constant training. The literal bb recognizes training in the official languages
and other in relationship with the international community.
The National Plan for Good Living, in its objective 4 expresses that
education is holistic, this means an education immersed in all areas and
centered in human beings. Knowledge is reinforced throughout life in a non-
formal education. “To improve educational quality at all levels and
modalities, for the generation of knowledge and holistic training of creative,
solidary, responsible, critical, participatory and productive people, under
principles of equality, social and territorial equity”. (SENPLADES, 2013, P.
62).
Moreover, the National Curriculum Guidelines given by the Ministry
of Education has played a pivotal role in teachers to engage in the learning
process. This document guides the teachers in order to know the principles
to help students develop their communicative language skills because it is
shaped by the CEFR.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
UNESCO encourages a quality education. It mentions the education as a
human right, for this reason, it must be accompanied by a quality index. Its
main priority are teachers, thus, training is crucial to achieve a developed
society.
All the aforementioned legal bodies support this research work and
help building a better society to develop the potentialities that high school
graduates have. This research project will widely contribute to the
improvement of linguistic competences in students of First Year
International Baccalaureate and accomplish with the IB organization‟s
requirements.
42 42
CHAPTER III
METHODOLOGY, PROCESS, ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION OF THE
RESULTS
METHODOLOGICAL DESIGN
This research is framed within a qualitative and quantitative
approach, because it uses empirical instruments such as surveys,
interviews, and diagnostic tests to measure the information and then, the
data collected will be analyzed and interpreted by the researcher in order to
clarify the results.
RESEARCH TYPES
For this work, an exploratory research will be performed considering
that it is the researcher the one who moves around the facts and not the
other way around. Therefore, this research will be based in field study, a
literature review and statistical analysis.
A descriptive research also has a pivotal role because it will correlate
the problem (DV) with the causes (IV) in order to explain what is happening
at Vicente Rocafuerte High School. In order to do this, the researcher will
apply a diagnostic test directed towards the students to determine the
factors that create weaknesses in linguistic competence. Also a survey will
be performed in order to know the students‟ opinion; an interview directed
towards English teacher and IB coordinator in order to know what methods
and techniques are being applied in the classroom. It is also purposeful
because a proposal is designed to contribute to the solution of the problem.
This research work also aims to be explanatory because it will try to
explain the relationship among the theories that hold this research,
previously described in chapter 2, to demonstrate the influence of the playful
classroom activities in linguistic competences.
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POPULATION AND SAMPLE
Due to the fact that Vicente Rocafuerte High School has a huge
population, about 5000 members, the authorities suggested to work with
First Year of International Baccalaureate. This is a group of students that
have higher foreign language requirements in order to fulfil with the
parameters of the IB organization and reach their diploma certification.
Achieving this, allows them to have access to the best universities around
the world, for that IB students must have the needed profile in English
language. Therefore, it was not necessary to apply the formula, as the
sample of 30 students, is the same as the population. The small population
number is due to the rigorous student profile required to access the IB
diploma program.
POPULATION
No. Details People
1 IB coordinator 1
2 Area coordinator 1
3 Teachers 1
4 Students 30
TOTAL 33
Table 1: Population of students and authorities at First Year
International Baccalaureate. Source: Vicente Rocafuerte High
School. Author: Lucía Méndez Sibri
The population-based sample in this research work is distributed as
follows:
SAMPLE
No. Details People
1 IB coordinator 1 2 Area coordinator 1
3 Teachers 1
4 Students 30 TOTAL 33 Table 2: Sample of students and authorities in First Year IB. Source: Vicente Rocafuerte High School. Author: Lucía
Méndez
44 44
OPERATIONALIZATION OF VARIABLES MATRIX
Variables Dimensions Indicators
Independent Variable: Classroom activities
Classroom management
Motivation Constraints Teacher‟s role
Types of playful activities
Role – plays Jokes Tongue – twisters Riddles Mini – debates Surveys
Interaction and Learning Theories
Constructivism Critical Pedagogic Zone of Proximal Development Meaningful learning Multiple Intelligences Cooperative learning
Dependent Variable: Linguistic competences
Lexical competence
Vocabulary Phrasal idioms Collocations Phrasal verbs Articles, Quantifiers Demonstratives.
Grammatical competence
Morphology Syntax
Semantic competence Meaning
Phonological competence
Pronunciation Word stress Rhythm Intonation
Foreign Languages Theories
Grammar–Translation Method Audio – Lingual Method Suggestopedia The Silent Way Total Physical Response The Natural Approach Communicative Approach
Principles of Speaking
Second Language vs Foreign Language Fluency and accuracy. Group work or pair work. Meaning Transactional and interactional speaking
Chart # : Operationalization of Variables Matrix. Author: Lucía Méndez Sibri
45 45
RESEARCH METHODS
The methods applied in this research work are both theoretical and
empirical. The theoretical methods are based in:
The analysis – synthesis method has an important role because the
researcher will analyze all the parts of the problem and then explain them
and finally give a general idea or conclusion of each part.
The inductive – deductive method. The deductive method is used in
the theoretical framework, because the researcher starts from the concepts
in order to form a general idea of the underlying problem and, is also
inductive, because the research approaches to the problems through the
observation and analysis of data obtained in order to find a possible
solution.
It is also historical – logical because there is an historical evolution
of methods and approaches of teaching English, about communicative
competences and classroom activities.
Finally, a functional – structured – systematic method is used in this
research in order to find the techniques and activities for the improvement
of linguistic competences as mentioned by the author in the
operationalization of variables matrix.
As for the empirical methodology, this research work is based on
different instruments of empirical research such as the interview, survey and
a diagnostic test, which will allow the researcher to obtain the data required
for the measurement of both qualitative and quantitative analysis. As an
extra instrument, the author of this research will apply a class observation
in order to get a better idea in what methodology the teachers use.
All this information will also be triangulated in order to verify and
identify the different points of similarity on incongruences among the
opinions of the subjects affected by the problem.
46 46
TECHNIQUES AND RESEARCH INSTRUMENTS
RESEARCH TECHNIQUES
In order to obtain the data about the conflict situation, the researcher
will use instruments that will be directly applied to each educational
community member, in their own institution and in the stablished schedule
of study:
An interview to the English teacher, English coordinator and IB
coordinator, with open questions. The questions are focused in both
variables. The questions will focus on the methodology used in class for the
purpose of improving linguistic competences through playful classroom
activities.
The survey oriented to know what the student‟s opinion about the
problem is and how they feel with the different activities applied by the
teachers in daily classrooms. The survey will carry out with statements using
different types of evaluation such as frequency and criterion.
The diagnostic test will allow to the researcher to know the
weaknesses and strengths of students, especially in linguistic
competences. The main goal of the test is to identify what type of activities
can work in order to supplement their language needs. This technique will
prove where students are lacking and how to reinforce this lack.
An observation guide that will allow to have an approach to the
development of the activities in class and know whether the methodologies
applied for this end work or it is necessary to change them to obtain better
results.
All these techniques mentioned before will serve to have a clear idea
of the real situation in the English teaching learning process in students and
teachers of First Year International Baccalaureate at Vicente Rocafuerte
High School.
47 47
RESEARCH INSTRUMENTS
OBSERVATION GUIDE
This instrument will be carried out in order to confirm the teachers‟
methodology and to identify if the activities proposed by the teacher are
effective in the purpose of promoting linguistic competences since the
booklet is oriented to the teachers. Regarding this, the activities are framed
within the class duration, the material used by the teacher and so on. The
observation guide is divided into three phases: „Before‟ as an activation
phase, „During‟ as a connection phase, and „After‟ as an affirmation phase
in English learning process. (See Annex 2.1)
DIAGNOSTIC TEST
In order to evaluate students‟ linguistic competences, a rubric was
been designed where the main characteristics in oral production were
assessed in order to identify students‟ weaknesses. The scale used for this
instrument is a Likert scale question, in which, the observer can mark in the
scale using different values according to the students‟ development in
lexical, morph syntax, and phonological competences. As for the fluency, it
will be analyzed separately. The main objective will be to identify the level
in students‟ linguistic competences through a round-table discussion about
an interesting topic What makes a good friend? (See Annex 2.2)
INTERVIEW QUESTIONNAIRE
This instrument will help to make a wider vision of the methodologies
used in class and how the teachers applied them. It will also allow teachers‟
opinion about classroom activities, what the most effective are for students
and how teachers simplify the use of linguistic competences to make them
easier to teach for students. After the teacher‟s data, the researcher will ask
to the English teacher open questions that revolve around linguistic
competences and classroom activities such as:
48 48
1. What do you consider is the best method to teach English in public
institutions in our country?
2. How do you reinforce student‟s linguistic competences in your class?
3. Which of those competences do you think are reinforced the most in
every day classes?
4. Do you consider that the use of playful classroom activities strengthens
linguistic competences? Why?
5. What do you think of adding playful activities in lesson plans in order to
obtain the best results?
6. What kind of examples do you use in context for students to use them
in real life situation?
SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE
This instrument was designed using the Likert scale in which
qualitative answers will be transformed into quantitative measures and then
they will be tabulated in order to obtain statistical data. The survey is divided
into two categories, frequency and agreement, in order to know the
students‟ criteria about English learning. The aim will be to identify the
opinion and preferences in English learning process in students of First Year
International Baccalaureate at Vicente Rocafuerte High School. A
corresponding note will be attached in order for students to understand the
task. (See Annex 2.4)
ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA
INTERVIEW ANALYSIS
The data collected from the interview for this research work show that
English teacher is convinced of his teaching work and tries to find the
method that best suits the kind of students he has. In the first question, he
49 49
proposes as the best method to teach English the Biography-Driven
Instruction which consists of getting deep on the sociocultural, linguistic,
cognitive and academic dimensions of the students and he also says that
the activities have to be in accordance with this model or instruction.
In question 2 the teacher mentions that he makes his students
practice by choosing activities such as debates, round tables, and forums
but adapted to real contexts, in order for students to develop their speech.
For this reason, in question 3 the teacher considers that linguistic
competences help students develop the four different skills (listening,
speaking, reading and writing). For example, some students could be very
good at productive skills but bad in receptive skills.
The teacher‟s answer for question 4 confirms the importance of the
implementation of playful classroom activities in daily class, he consider that
there are many advantages in using them. He also agree that group work
gives students the opportunity to observe the more knowledgeable
classmates contributing skills to a particular part of the task. As a result,
they benefit and have the opportunity to become leaders as well.
In question 5 the teacher thinks that is important to include playful
classroom activities in daily lessons (curriculum) because they keep
student‟s attention high and help them to take risks, develop new skills and
promote group work.
Finally in question 6, the teacher manifests that he teaches through
games, songs, acting and dancing, because these activities can absorb
expressions and engage them in real situations. As an IB program teacher,
he considers as a main goal in his classes to develop the student‟s linguistic
competences through these activities. The interview revealed that the use
of playful classroom activities is an important tool in teaching learning
process. As such, their implementation could strengthen oral production and
improve linguistic competences in students and then, achieve the IB
program requirements.
50 50
SURVEY ANALYSIS
Question 1: I have difficulty when I have to work in oral production.
Sample: 30 students
Table 3:
Difficulty in oral production
# Category Frequency Percentage
1 Strongly disagree 0 0%
2 Disagree 2 7%
3 Neutral 17 56% 4 Agree 9 30%
5 Strongly agree 2 7%
Total
30
100%
Source: Survey taken to students from First Year International Baccalaureate from Vicente Rocafuerte High
School. Author: Lucía Méndez Sibri
Graphic 1: Difficulty in oral production
30%
0%
7% 7%
56%
Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree
Source: Survey taken to students from First Year International Baccalaureate from Vicente Rocafuerte High
School. Author: Lucía Méndez Sibri
Comment: This question refers to the level of difficulty students have in oral
production, although the answers were diverse, the data obtained show that
students have difficulties in speaking. No students confirmed having a good
level of oral production. In conclusion, the results confirm that there are
difficulties in oral production which means weaknesses in communicative
competences.
51 51
Question 2: When the teacher makes a question, I prefer not to answer for
fear of being wrong.
Sample: 30 students
Table 4:
Fear to speak
# Category Frequency Percentage
1 Never 3 10%
2 Almost never 8 27%
3 Sometimes 10 33% 4 Frequently 6 20%
5 Always 3 10%
Total
30
100%
Source: Survey taken to students from First Year International Baccalaureate from Vicente Rocafuerte High
School. Author: Lucía Méndez Sibri
Graphic 2: Fear to speak
20%
10% 10%
27%
33%
Never Almost never Sometimes Frequently Always
Source: Survey taken to students from First Year International Baccalaureate from Vicente Rocafuerte High
School. Author: Lucía Méndez Sibri
Comment: The data obtained from this question show the students‟ desire
to improve their linguistic competences since they are not afraid of speaking
in English even when some mistakes occurs. For the teacher, this would be
beneficial in the process of enhancing linguistic competences.
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Question 3: I prefer a writing activity rather than an oral presentation.
Sample: 30 students
Table 5:
Types of task preference
# Category Frequency Percentage
1 Never 2 7%
2 Almost never 3 10% 3 Sometimes 10 33%
4 Frequently 9 30%
5 Always 6 20%
Total
30
100%
Source: Survey taken to students from First Year International Baccalaureate from Vicente Rocafuerte High
School. Author: Lucía Méndez Sibri.
Graphic 3: Types of task preference
20% 7% 10%
30% 33%
Never Almost never Sometimes Frequently Always
Source: Survey taken to students from First Year International Baccalaureate from Vicente Rocafuerte High
School. Author: Lucía Méndez Sibri
Comment: The data obtained from this question show a high level of
discourse these students have. They are used to writing long essays in
Spanish, thus they prefer writing activities rather than speaking activities in
most of the cases. Even though, there are some students who still prefer
speaking in spite of their perceived difficulties.
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Question 4: I cannot connect grammar rules when engaging in oral
production.
Sample: 30 students
Table 6:
Grammar use
# Category Frequency Percentage
1 Never 1 3%
2 Almost never 7 23%
3 Sometimes 12 40% 4 Frequently 8 27%
5 Always 2 7%
Total
30
100%
Source: Survey taken to students from First Year International Baccalaureate from Vicente Rocafuerte High
School. Author: Lucía Méndez Sibri.
Graphic 4: Grammar use
27%
3%
7% 23%
40%
Never Almost never Sometimes Frequently Always
Source: Survey taken to students from First Year International Baccalaureate from Vicente Rocafuerte High
School. Author: Lucía Méndez Sibri.
Comment: It was to be expected that in oral production grammar plays a
pivotal role; however, although some students admit not having problems in
this skill, the diagnostic test evidenced some weaknesses in linguistic
competences. For instance, when practicing speaking activities, they forget
the third person in simple present, they do not use the auxiliaries in
questions, the order of words in a sentence is also a problem, they do not
know how to use collocations and so on.
54 54
Question 5: I have difficulty in recognizing the meaning of some words
or phrases.
Sample: 30 students
Table 7:
Difficulties in vocabulary
# Category Frequency Percentage
1 Never 1 3%
2 Almost never 6 20%
3 Sometimes 15 50% 4 Frequently 7 23%
5 Always 1 4%
Total
30
100%
Source: Survey taken to students from First Year International Baccalaureate from Vicente Rocafuerte High
School. Author: Lucía Méndez Sibri.
Graphic 5: Difficulties in vocabulary
3% 4%
23% 20%
50%
Never Almost never Sometimes Frequently Always
Source: Survey taken to students from First Year International Baccalaureate from Vicente Rocafuerte High
School. Author: Lucía Méndez Sibri.
Comment: Question 5 confirms the lack of a wide arrange of vocabulary in
students of Fisrt Year International Baccalaureate, an important aspect in
the development of linguistic competences and a huge obstacle at this time
for all students. This question was clearly evidenced in the diagnostic test,
where students could not hold a conversation in English without having to
resort to Spanish, or in most of the cases, interrupting their ideas to ask for
a word in English.
55 55
Question 6: I need to improve my pronunciation, rhythm and
intonation to speak English properly.
Sample: 30 students
Table 8:
Pronunciation, accent and rhythm
# Category Frequency Percentage
1 Strongly disagree 2 7%
2 Disagree 0 0%
3 Neutral 4 13% 4 Agree 8 27%
5 Strongly agree 16 53%
Total
30
100%
Source: Survey taken to students from First Year International Baccalaureate from Vicente Rocafuerte High
School. Author: Lucía Méndez Sibri.
Graphic 6: Pronunciation, rhythm and intonation.
0%
7% 13%
53%
27%
Strongly disagree Disagree Uncertain (Neutral) Agree Strongly agree
Source: Survey taken to students from First Year International Baccalaureate from Vicente Rocafuerte High
School. Author: Lucía Méndez Sibri.
Comment: This question confirms that students must improve some
essential aspects to speak accurately. According to the results, most of the
students recognize that the pronunciation is an important aspect when
speaking English. Hence the need of using songs, tongue twisters and so
on, in which students will practice intonation and rhythm.
56 56
3%
20%
Question 7: I prefer working in groups or in pairs.
Sample: 30 students
Table 9:
Group work
# Category Frequency Percentage
1 Strongly disagree 2 7%
2 Disagree 1 3%
3 Neutral 6 20% 4 Agree 14 47%
5 Strongly agree 7 23%
Total
30
100%
Source: Survey taken to students from First Year International Baccalaureate from Vicente Rocafuerte High
School. Author: Lucía Méndez Sibri.
Graphic 7: Group work
23% 7%
47%
Strongly disagree Disagree Uncertain (Neutral) Agree Strongly agree
Source: Survey taken to students from First Year International Baccalaureate from Vicente Rocafuerte High
School. Author: Lucía Méndez Sibri.
Comment: According the theories described in chapter 2, students feel
more comfortable when they work in groups or pairs. This is due to the
confidence that students have each other and this question confirms those
theories. The majority prefers working in groups with the strongest partners
of the class in order to get a high score, especially in board games and role
plays. An important minority still considers the individual work preferable.
57 57
Question 8: I learn better when the teacher uses examples.
Sample: 30 students
Table 10:
Learning with examples
# Category Frequency Percentage
1 Strongly disagree 1 4%
2 Disagree 1 3%
3 Neutral 6 20% 4 Agree 7 23%
5 Strongly agree 15 50%
Total 30 100%
Source: Survey taken to students from First Year International Baccalaureate from Vicente Rocafuerte High
School. Author: Lucía Méndez Sibri.
Graphic 8: Learning with examples
4% 3%
50%
20%
23%
Strongly disagree Disagree Uncertain (Neutral) Agree Strongly agree
Source: Survey taken to students from First Year International Baccalaureate from Vicente Rocafuerte High
School. Author: Lucía Méndez Sibri.
Comment: The meaningful learning is helpful to understand and talk
properly and this questions confirms it. For this, the use of examples allows
students to have a better idea what they are learning and this was proved
in the diagnostic test. Therefore, in this question, most of the students prefer
the teacher using examples because they learn more when they connect
those examples to their lives.
58 58
Question 9: The oral production is easier when I speak about things
that like me
Sample: 30 students
Table 11:
Talking about interesting topics
# Category Frequency Percentage
1 Strongly disagree 1 3%
2 Disagree 1 3%
3 Neutral 4 13% 4 Agree 10 34%
5 Strongly agree 14 47%
Total
30
100%
Source: Survey taken to students from First Year International Baccalaureate from Vicente Rocafuerte High
School. Author: Lucía Méndez Sibri.
Graphic 9: Talking about interesting topics
47%
3% 3%
13%
34%
Strongly disagree Disagree Uncertain (Neutral) Agree Strongly agree
Source: Survey taken to students from First Year International Baccalaureate from Vicente Rocafuerte High
School. Author: Lucía Méndez Sibri.
Comment: When students talk about things they love, they try to find how
to express those ideas. Students make the effort of knowing the meaning of
that word, how to pronounce it and in which situations they can use it.
Teachers can use for these topics, phrases or „chunks‟ in order to use them
when they need introducing, inviting, refusing, accepting and so on. This
question confirms that students need to work with activities that are framed
in their environment.
59 59
Question 10: Playful activities are helpful in learning English
Sample: 30 students
Table 12:
Learning with playful activities
# Category Frequency Percentage
1 Strongly disagree 1 3%
2 Disagree 0 0%
3 Uncertain (Neutral) 2 7% 4 Agree 7 23%
5 Strongly agree 20 67%
Total 30 100%
Source: Survey taken to students from First Year International Baccalaureate from Vicente Rocafuerte High
School. Author: Lucía Méndez Sibri.
Graphic 10: Learning with playful activities
3% 0%
7%
23%
67%
Strongly disagree Disagree Uncertain (Neutral) Agree Strongly agree
Source: Survey taken to students from First Year International Baccalaureate from Vicente Rocafuerte High
School. Author: Lucía Méndez Sibri.
Comment: Playful activities are helpful to learn any language, for this
reason, students totally agree with the implementation of ludic activities in
daily classes. However, recommended activities should not be too long
because of the time restrictions, as each class hour only lasts 40 minutes.
60 60
Question 11: Playful activities such as games, songs, jokes, etc., give
me greater confidence to speak in English
Sample: 30 students
Table 13:
Confidence to speak in English
# Category Frequency Percentage
1 Strongly disagree 1 4%
2 Disagree 1 3%
3 Neutral 3 10% 4 Agree 7 23%
5 Strongly agree 18 60%
Total
30
100%
Source: Survey taken to students from First Year International Baccalaureate from Vicente Rocafuerte High
School. Author: Lucía Méndez Sibri.
Graphic 11: Confidence to speak in English
4% 3%
10%
60% 23%
Strongly disagree Disagree Uncertain (Neutral) Agree Strongly agree
Source: Survey taken to students from First Year International Baccalaureate from Vicente Rocafuerte High
School. Author: Lucía Méndez Sibri.
Comment: In this question, students confirm that they prefer singing in
English rather than doing an oral presentation or telling a joke rather than
memorizing grammar rules. Taking into consideration these results, the
need of a booklet with playful classroom activities to reinforce linguistic
competences is confirmed.
61 61
20%
23%
Question 12: I like to have a variety in classroom activities
Sample: 30 students
Table 14:
Variety in classroom activities
# Category Frequency Percentage
1 Strongly disagree 1 3%
2 Disagree 0 0%
3 Neutral 6 20% 4 Agree 7 23%
5 Strongly agree 16 54%
Total
30
100%
Source: Survey taken to students from First Year International Baccalaureate from Vicente Rocafuerte High
School. Author: Lucía Méndez Sibri.
Graphic 12: Variety in classroom activities
3% 0%
54%
Strongly disagree Disagree Uncertain (Neutral) Agree Strongly agree
Source: Survey taken to students from First Year International Baccalaureate from Vicente Rocafuerte High
School. Author: Lucía Méndez Sibri.
Comment: As every young learner, the students of First Year IB manifested
that doing the same activities can become boring or stressful. This question
confirms that there must be a variety in activities. For this reason, the
activities proposed in this research work are games, songs, jokes, debates,
to name a few.
62 62
Question 13: My oral production improves by using games, songs,
mini-debates, tongue – twisters, etc.
Sample: 30 students
Table 15:
Improving oral production
# Category Frequency Percentage
1 Strongly disagree 0 0%
2 Disagree 1 3%
3 Neutral 5 17% 4 Agree 11 37%
5 Strongly agree 13 43%
Total
30
100%
Source: Survey taken to students from First Year International Baccalaureate from Vicente Rocafuerte High
School. Author: Lucía Méndez Sibri.
Graphic 13: Improving oral production
0% 3%
43% 17%
37%
Strongly disagree Disagree Uncertain (Neutral) Agree Strongly agree
Source: Survey taken to students from First Year International Baccalaureate from Vicente Rocafuerte High
School. Author: Lucía Méndez Sibri.
Comment: The data obtained from this question shows the student‟s desire
of improving their oral production by using games, songs, debates, etc.
Students are confident that those kinds of activities will help them improve
their speaking skills because their affective filter will not be up as a result of
stressful learning situation, therefore not interrupting the language
acquisition process.
63 63
Question 14: I would like to learn some ludic techniques for using them
every time I must do oral productions.
Sample: 30 students
Table 16:
Ludic techniques
# Category Frequency Percentage
1 Strongly disagree 0 0%
2 Disagree 1 3%
3 Neutral 4 13% 4 Agree 11 37%
5 Strongly agree 14 47% Total 30 100%
Source: Survey taken to students from First Year International Baccalaureate from Vicente Rocafuerte High
School. Author: Lucía Méndez Sibri.
Graphic 14: Ludic techniques
0% 3%
47%
13%
37%
Strongly disagree Disagree Uncertain (Neutral) Agree Strongly agree
Source: Survey taken to students from First Year International Baccalaureate from Vicente Rocafuerte High
School. Author: Lucía Méndez Sibri.
Comment: In this question, students manifest that if they knew simple and
practical techniques for speaking English, they would have no problem
performing oral production activities, because they would be apply the
hidden rules in songs or games in their expositions or oral activities. That
technique would give them more confidence to speak.
64 64
Question 15: My English level should improve if the teacher gives me
some strategies to speak correctly
Sample: 30 students
Table 17:
Improving with strategies
# Category Frequency Percentage
1 Strongly disagree 1 %
2 Disagree 0 %
3 Neutral 4 % 4 Agree 10 %
5 Strongly agree 15 % Total 30 100%
Source: Survey taken to students from First Year International Baccalaureate from Vicente Rocafuerte High
School. Author: Lucía Méndez Sibri.
Graphic 15: Improving with strategies
3% 0%
13%
50%
34%
Strongly disagree Disagree Uncertain (Neutral) Agree Strongly agree
Source: Survey taken to students from First Year International Baccalaureate from Vicente Rocafuerte High
School. Author: Lucía Méndez Sibri.
Comment: It is evident that students have not improved their linguistic
competences because they do not know how to do it. In this question
students confirm that the correct implementation of activities will enhance
their English level and will help speaking properly.
65 65
DIAGNOSTIC TEST ANALYSIS
Somewhat more realistically in obtaining data, it could be a diagnostic
test in which the parameters applied in a rubric, designed for this effect, will
measure quantitatively and qualitatively the linguistic competences in
students to have a real vision of what is happening in the acquisition and
learning process.
The results are categorized in different patterns described in a
qualitative rubric which shows what competences are developed in a better
level than others. The class was evaluated as a whole. The following chart
shows the data obtained from the diagnostic test.
Table 18
Results from the diagnostic test
Patterns Pts
Lexical competence 2/3
Morph syntax competence 1/2.5
Phonological competence 1/2.5 Fluency 1/2
TOTAL SCORE: 5/10
Source: Diagnostic test taken to students from First Year International Baccalaureate from
Vicente Rocafuerte High School. Author: Lucía Méndez Sibri.
The final score of 5 places the students in an Average level (5-6),
which means a limited use of the linguistic competences and a lack of effort
or attention to the task. This information confirms the use of playful
classroom activities since students seemed stressful, tense, nervous and in
certain way, under pressure because of the task. It was evident that this
type of activities do not have been used previously.
OBSERVATION CLASS ANALYSIS
During the observation phase, an observation guide was designed in
order to have a clear idea of how the class was developed. For this, the
observation guide was divided into 3 important sections that most of the
teachers usually do. In the activation phase (Before) it could be observed
66 66
that the teacher does not stimulate the students‟ curiosity by making brief
activities before starting the class. This is due, according to the teacher, to
the lack of time. If the teacher prepares an activity for this phase, he should
need more time, one hour at least.
In the second section of the observation phase, it was observed that
the teacher uses worksheets, texts (besides the mandatory book), a laptop
and a projector to present a comprehensible class to the students. These
materials help make a less stressful class and, by means of examples,
explain the topics. Teacher speaks clearly and fluently, this promotes
understanding. During the whole class, the teacher speaks for about 30
minutes, almost the whole hour, which is 40 minutes per day. This method
does not favor the strengthening of linguistic competences, because the
remaining time, 10 minutes only, does not guarantee a proper learning. It is
worth mentioning that the teacher talks most of the time because the
students do not want to do it, due to the fear of being mistaken and other
factor previously studied in this research work.
Moreover, error correction is performed almost immediately after the
mistake, since at the end of the class is too difficult to call each student and
make him see the mistakes made during the class. In chapter 2, this criterion
was considered as a negative factor in the learning process, but this is done
every time an error happens.
In the final phase (After) and as an affirmation phase, the teacher
asks questions in order to check for comprehension of its input. The
questions are related to the topic. In here, more students participation was
noticed, because during the previous phase, some topics were not fully
understood, and most of the questions were in Spanish.
CHI-SQUARE ANALYSIS
In order to obtain results that denote an effective relationship
between the independent variable (classroom activities) and dependent
67 67
variable (linguistic competences), a Chi-square test has been applied,
taking the data obtained from question 1 (I have difficulty when I have to
work in oral production) and question 11 (Playful activities such as games,
songs, jokes, etc., give me greater confidence to speak in English). The
software used for this test was the IMB SPSS and the obtained value is
lower than the probability level (0,05). Thus, it is stated that there is an
association between the statements set forth.
Table 19:
Statistical analysis through Chi-square test
Source: IBM SPSS Version 22. Author: Lucía Méndez Sibri
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
According to the techniques applied in this research work, the author
conclude:
68 68
Classroom activities can be a great tool in the development of linguistic
competences.
The need of adding playful classroom activities to the curriculum is
crucial in order to engage students into the English language acquisition
process.
The instruments applied in this research work prove a weakness in the
way the learning process is set up during the acquisition phase.
Through the analysis-synthesis of the diagnostic test, it was found that
the students‟ level is not the required by the CEFR and that sets a
problem for the authorities at Vicente Rocafuerte High School and the
goals of the IB program.
There is a willingness on the part of the teacher and the authorities to
implement techniques and strategies that can help students to improve
their linguistic competences.
After obtaining these conclusions, the author of this research work
recommends:
The implementation of the booklet is necessary since the research
techniques and instruments carried out in this chapter demonstrated
clearly its need.
Teachers require professional development to help students in their
linguistic competences in order to reinforce them and apply them in all
situations.
The continuation of future research to allow the improvement of
linguistic competences in students of International Baccalaureate is
necessary as in their need to fulfil the IB program requirements.
69 69
Linguistic competences should be practiced starting in lower years as
they help a better development not only in speaking skills but in the
other skills as well.
It is advisable for students, to continue using the activities learned as a
part of this proposal as they will help them in their future learning
situation.
70 70
CHAPER IV
THE PROPOSAL
TITLE
Design of a booklet with playful classroom activities to strengthen
linguistic competences.
JUSTIFICATION
After observing the current class development and applying the
instruments of investigation, described in chapter 3, it immediately revealed
the weaknesses in linguistic competences in students from Vicente
Rocafuerte High School. Therefore, the need to better implement classroom
activities in daily classes was evidenced. These outcomes also revealed the
authorities‟ agreement on the implementation of playful techniques to help
students reinforce linguistic competences and achieve the required level by
the Ecuadorian Ministry of Education.
Summarizing, this proposal is based on the practical point of view
since the result of the instruments confirmed its need and the teacher and
authorities believe this proposal will be useful in the English language
learning process. In order to achieve this goal, each activity this booklet
possesses is framed in the lexical, semantic, grammatical and phonological
competences which are crucial to strengthen oral production, and give
students more confidence to speak, as the activities are engaging to them.
OBJECTIVES
GENERAL OBJECTIVE
To enhance students English learning through the use of playful
activities to engage students in English language learning process.
71 71
SPECIFIC OBJECTIVE
To provide teaching ideas for English teachers by using playful
activities to reinforce a learning point.
To boost students‟ confidence to enhance oral production by adding
playful activities to the planning.
To provide motivating playful activities to students development
through to facilitate linguistic competences.
THEORETICAL FOUNDATION
The design of this booklet is based on the following fields:
From the linguistic foundation, this proposal is focused on the
linguistic competences through their components such as: lexical,
grammatical, semantic, phonological and orthographic according to CEFR.
From the psychological foundation, this proposal is based on
Vygotsky‟s Zone of Proximal Development because students will be
capable of achieving a marked improvement on their learning process with
the help and support of a more knowledgeable partner. They will also use
meaningful learning because students are going to be more actively
involved and interested in what the teacher says to assimilate and apply it
meaningfully with others. Furthermore, they will take ownership of their
learning by identifying what type of intelligence they possess due to the
inclusion of activities based on the current Multiple Intelligences identified
by Howard Gardner.
From the pedagogical foundation, this proposal is based on the
Piaget‟s Constructivism Theory, since through the implementation of this
proposal students will build their own learning by using their experiences
and making them more meaningful for their learning process.
72 72
From the didactic foundation, this proposal is based on Bailey‟s
principles of speaking in order for teachers to find activities in which
students can interact, using differed language functions, for example,
introducing themselves, greeting, complaining, inviting, etc.
From the sociological foundation, this proposal is based on
Cooperative learning, as when students work in teams they share their
ideas with others and the teacher will hope to accomplish the participation
of all members.
FEASIBILITY OF ITS APPLICATION
FINANCIAL
The economic resources of this project will be paid by the author of
this research, because it does not involve greater spending, only
photocopying and printing.
LEGAL
This research is based on the articles 26, 27, 28 and 29 of the
Constitution of the Republic of Ecuador described on chapter 2 (legal
foundation), that summarizes the importance of education for the
Ecuadorian people development, and The National Plan for Good Living
which in its objective 4, which asserts that education is holistic.
TECHNICAL
This project does not need any technical or technological resources
since it is a printed booklet.
HUMAN
The development of this proposal possesses enough human talent
to make its implementation feasible. Students, teachers, tutors,
73 73
coordinators, directors, and the researcher herself, all of them have
contributed and manifested an interest in the elaboration of this project.
POLICIES
This proposal is designed under the main legal body governing
education in the country, the Organic Law of Intercultural Education, which
in its article 2, literals b and bb define that education must transform the
society and that also implies to train them in other languages. The proposal
is also feasible since it is focused on the National Curriculum Guidelines
created by the Ministry of Education and it is encourage by two new
Ministerial Agreements (0041-14 and 0052-14) in which English becomes a
compulsory subject for primary school starting in the next school year.
DESCRIPTION
This booklet is organized in 5 chapters named after a variety of
themes. They will be About me, Communicating and Technology, Emotions
and feelings, Descriptions and The world around us. After a main
introduction with some advice for teachers related to how to manage a
class, each chapter will include a variety of activities such as jokes, games,
songs, tongue-twisters, surveys, role-plays and so on.
Each activity included in the booklet will provide the teacher the
following items like recommended class configuration, procedural
suggestions among others. In these activities, students might also be
allowed to be physically active.
The choices made in this booklet reflect the author‟s classroom
experience, as well as the theories reviewed for the development of this
project which frame to English learning in a variety of contexts. Students will
be able to avoid monotonous activities and turn the class in a playful place
to learn.
74 74
The activities were chosen to appeal to young students and they are
focused in a central point: linguistic competences. On that regard, the
activities are related to grammar development, pronunciation (rhythm and
stress), vocabulary and semantics. It is worth mentioning that an activity to
enhance speaking skills cannot be developed in isolation from other macro
skills, listening, reading and writing, for this reason, some activities in this
booklet include a connection to them.
The chapters in this booklet consist of a chart with the following
headings:
Activity type: It is important to know what types of activities can be
assimilated by students in order to get their attention. There are many types
of activities but the research performed has led to select the most
outstanding and those require minimal materials and are more time-
efficient. Some examples to this are jokes, games, songs, to name a few.
Level: It has been divided into three levels of difficulty: easy,
intermediate and challenging, which are illustrated by a smiley face icon in
each one:
easy intermediate challenging
Language Focus: The nature of this section will help the teacher
identify what grammatical point is going to be developed in each activity in
order to teachers can adapt and apply it to the content.
Interaction: This section recommends teachers how to divide the
class for a good developing in each activity. Working in groups or in pair
helps students to interact with more confidence.
Time: The timing of the activities can vary. Some activities can last
10 minutes and others 40 minutes.
75 75
Materials: It contains a list of items needed to perform the activity.
Most of them are worksheets including in the booklet as a photocopiable
material.
Preparation: It is an introduction to the topic, all that teachers need
to do before setting up an activity.
Procedure: It contains a step-by-step description of how to perform
the activity.
76 76
CONCLUSION
The search of new strategies and techniques in order to achieve the
improvement of linguistic goals will always be an important factor in the
English language teaching-learning process. For this reason, the activities
used in this booklet will help enhance results in students.
The inclusion of this material will provide the teacher with a flexible
and manageable teaching aid that can be adapted in order to adjust
activities to the students‟ pace and needs. Summarizing all these aspects,
the author of this research work concludes:
The booklet seeks to improve the development of linguistic
competences through activities that actually engage students and avoid
the monotonous concept of studying English by only memorizing
grammar rules.
Teachers will be also benefit from this booklet since the activities are
easy to develop, and each of them has a linguistic objective. Therefore,
the author of this research work recommends its use as a text support,
besides the mandatory one.
Some activities applied in daily classes are developed regardless of the
linguistic goals. For this reason, a booklet that collects different
techniques that connect playful activities with the content is necessary
in public institutions.
All the aforementioned aspects aim that the design and effective
application of this booklet will help strengthen linguistic competences in
students of First Year International Baccalaureate as demonstrated the
evidences gathered throughout this research work.
77 77
REFERENCES
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Bagaric, V., & Mihaljević, D. J. (2007). Defining Communicative
Competences. Metodika, 8, 94-103.
Bailey, K. (2005). Practical English Language Teaching . McGraw-Hill
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Bertocchini, P., & Costanzo, E. (2008). Manuel de Formation Pratique
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Approaches to Second Language Teaching and Testing. Oxford
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content/uploads/2012/08/CLT-Canale-Swain.pdf
Council of Europe. (n.d.). Common European Framework of Reference for
Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment. (L. P. Unit, Ed.)
Strasbourg, France: Cambridge University Press. Retrieved from
www.coe.int/lang-CEFR
Graham, C. (2006). Creating chants and songs. New York : Oxford
University Press .
Gudu, B. O. (2015). Teaching Speaking Skills in English Language using
Classroom Activities in Secondary School Level in Eldoret
Municipality, Kenya. Journal os Education and Practice, 6(35), pp.
55-62. Retrieved from http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1086371.pdf
Herrera, S., & Murry, Kevin. (2016). Mastering ESL/EFL Methods:
Differentiated Instruction for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse
(CLD) Students. Boston: Pearson Education.
Herrera, S., Kavimandan, Shabina, & Holmes, Melissa. (2011). Crossing
the Vocabulary Bridge: Differentiated Strategies for Diverse
Secondary Classrooms. New York: Teachers College Press.
78 78
Johnson, A. (2014). Learner-Centered Instruction. In A. Johnson,
Education Psychology: Theories of Learning and Human
Development (págs. 1-8). Minnesota: National Science Press.
Krashen, S. (2002). Second Language Acquisition and Second Language
Learning. California: Pergamon Press Inc. Retrieved from
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/a710/4f74438eaea1997217eae685
1c442569abc5.pdf
Lane, L. (2010). Tips for Teaching Pronunciation: A Practical Approach.
New York, United States : Pearson Education, Inc.
Lewis, G., & Bedson, G. (1999). Games for children. New York: Oxford
University Press.
Ministry of Education of Ecuador. (2012). National Curriculum Guidelines.
Quito, Ecuador: Ministry of Education. Retrieved from
http://www.educacion.gob.ec
Novak, J. (January de 2002). Wiley Online Library. (G. J. Kelly, & Richard
E. Mayer, Editores) doi:10.1002/sce.10013
Pinter, A. (2011). Teaching Young Language Learners. New York, United
States : Oxford University Press.
Republic of Ecuador . (2008, octubre). Constitution of th Republic of
Ecuador. Retrieved from
http://www.asambleanacional.gob.ec/sites/default/files/documents/o
ld/constitucion_de_bolsillo.pdf
Richards, J., & Renandya, W. (2002). Methodology in Language Teaching:
An Anthology of Current Practice. New York: Cambridge University
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Roach, P. (2009). English Phonetics and Phonology (4 ed.). Cambridge,
United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press.
SENPLADES. (2013). National Plan for Good Living. Quito: National
Secretariat of Planning and Development. Retrieved from
www.planificacion.gob.ec/.../Buen-Vivir-ingles-web-
finalcompleto.pdf
Stix, G. (July de 2016). How to build a better learner. Scientific American
Mind, 25(2), 26-33.
79 79
Tamura, E. T. (2006). Concepts on the Methodology of Teaching English.
The Economic Journal of Takasaki City University of Economics,
48(3), pp. 169-188. Retrieved from http://www1.tcue.ac.jp/home1/k-
gakkai/ronsyuu/ronsyuukeisai/48_3/tamura.pdf
Tongue-twister. (n/d). In Cambridge Free English Dictionary and
Thesaurus. Retrieved from
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/tongue-
twister?q=tongue-twister+
UNESCO. (2005). Understanding education quality. (UNESCO, Ed.)
Retrieved from EFA Global Monitoring Report:
http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0013/001373/137333e.pdf
Zainuddin, H., Yahya, N., Morales-Jones, C., & Ariza, E. (2011).
Fundamentals of Teaching English to Speakers of Other
Languages in K-12 Mainstream Classrooms (3 ed.). Kendall Hunt
Publishing Co.
Annexes
80
81 81
Annex 1
82 82
Ciencias de ln E icacíón ~ ~ comunica C(lh ha 1-1d·1 de 1;orul or- •1<01
d Pm ·ectn Ednc- Ct ,i!- !cw ('.'1:fmli 1!' de it [~e { ·n1:0n1~
I.in_p.il í-1ica .l\U:."iDE.Z. SIBR LtTlA ALE. A~DRA. con t I JI! e t .:s.1 ••
""""' UNl'/ERSIDAD DE
Facultad de Fiíoso
Ciencias de la E!.cuel;; de Le,19vas
DIRECCI
E.SC'U~
Heidi W.;snfou7ol.:t
PR < • ..SOR.A m. I A U,t.1;ELA lJ , U:,NG .A.S V J mnc. ,C:A
F /\( 1 l l D J)I, FJI ,)S( ÍA, l ~..\:')Y, IE :'TA. D LA I OQt A('JÓ
<,1udad
< •
·I • • l ,
a . l ·I
TOP!<": Influence f d~ao
PROPtJli:STA: Des n of a bookleí vuh .>hi}tiJI ia.~-oom :foitie... vinch ünprovc lio;uii;ti: corupet .... 1.:....
El mumo .. e d..:tk.'J ~·· re, isado. orrce ido ~ .. rob o wguh.·ndo lt!S norm U\ •• de IR I'rn ad d· T ola. 16n d. la facultad rutihcado en el porra!
t· ~ctron e-o. y 1?1 a ve: temu Rrln debe • er tn"!sdo de cnn1mmid:ul C"O.n el <:alt'.'lluario publicado op "1una.mente.
GUAYAQUIL
fia, Letras y
Educación y L1ngüistic;i
ÓN
DIR.f,('TOR DE L.\
83
84 84
•·Ir.'!~·-
&11
Cdli1 un,v<
ww flo~oh.1 Cdt, oc
,~,, r\l ul Í r1 • .,,...,..,,
....... de Long.... y Llngül:j Guayaquil - Ecuador Teléfono: 2294-888
Oficio No. 176
Guayaquil, 04 de Julio del 2016
MSc.
Vicente Viteri Gómez
RECTOR DEL COLEGIONAClONAL"VICENTE ROCAFUERTE"
Ciudad-
De mis consideraciones:
Me dirijo a Ud. con el fin de solicitarle, se sirva otorgar la autorización
pertinente, para que al estudiante: MÉNDEZ SIBRI LUCÍA ALEXANDRA,
de la Escuela de Lenguas y Lingüística pueda aplicar el proyecto de
investigación, para la elaboración de) trabajo de titulación, previo a la obtención
del título de Licenciado(a) en Ciencias de la Educación, mención Lengua Inglesa
y Lingüística.
TEMA : Influence of classroom activities to strengthen linguistic competences.
PROPUESTA: Design of a booklet with playful classroom activities, which
improve linguistic competences.
Por considerar, que el proyecto a realizarse, tendrá la repercusión en beneficio de
la Institución que usted acertadamente dirige; aspiro que nuestra petición tenga la
acogida favorable de su parte.
Le anticipo mis reconocimientos.
CARGO FIRMA SECIU'.'TAJUA I
DIRECTOR
>rs,r,1f'k1 Av Kenn<'l1y s¡n y lw Delta· w
85 85
r.,
86 86
v -
UNIDAD fflUCATIVA FISCAL "VICENJEROCAFUERTE"
J\ ". Rector o
¡A a.c.h •rato ~ fnt• n.c.~I
~¡,,Ji.o/{,
Arq.
Silvia Moy-Sang Castro MSc.
Decana de la Facultad de Filosofía,
Letras y Ciencias de la Educación.
Ciudad.
De mis consideraciones:
Guayaquil, 11 de Noviembre del 20-6
Oficio Nº279-Rectorado-VR-16
Por medio de la presente AUTORIZO que la estudiante Méndez Sibri Lucía Alexandra
con número de cédula 0917707960 de la carrera de Lenguas y lingüística de la
Universidad de Guayaquil, modalidad presencial, realice su Proyecto Educativo en este
establecimiento, con el tema: INFLUENCE OF PLAYFUL CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES TO
STRENGTHENLINGUISTICCOMPETENCESIN STUDENTSOF FIRSTYEAR INTERNATIONAL
BACCALAUREATEFROM VICENTEROCAFUERTEHIGH SCHOOLOF GUAYAQUIL, ZONE 8,
DISTRICT3, SCHOOLYEAR2016 - 2017.
Propuesta a desarrollar: DESIGNOF A BOOKLETWITH PLAYFULCLASSROOMACTIVITIES
WHICH IMPROVESLINGUISTICCOMPETENCES.
Particular que comunico a usted para los fines legales pertinentes.
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Vi.recaen,: Vé.le.~ 2203 y Lv¡,ardc- Garcu;1,
f.>--fAIL: tUti.dadedt«:[email protected] cora-
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91 91
Annex 2
92 92
UNIVERSITY OF GUAYAQUIL
FACULTY OF PHILOSOPHY, LETTERS AND SCIENCES OF
EDUCATION
SCHOOL OF LANGUAGES AND LINGUISTICS
OBSERVATION GUIDE
Activities
Before:
Yes No
- Teacher uses activities in order to activate students‟
knowledge and stimulate the curiosity.
- The activities are related to the topic.
- The time used for the activation is:
0-5 min 6-10 min more
During
Yes No
- Teacher uses some other material (besides the
mandatory book) for teaching English.
- Teacher explains the topic clearly using easy words and
giving examples.
- Teacher proposes group activities (small or in pairs) in
order to interchange ideas among the students and then
they talk about the topic.
- During the whole class, teacher speaks for
about
5-15 min 15-30
min
30 or
more
- The error correction is done:
Immediately after the mistake
At the end of the task
At the end of the class
No corrections
After
Yes No
- Teacher asks questions in order to check students
understood the topic.
- Teacher proposes some final tasks to reinforce the
content.
Author: Lucía Méndez Sibri
Author:Lucía Méndez Sibri 90
Activities
Before:
Yes No
- Teacher uses activities in order to actívate students'
knowledge and stimulate the curiosity.
V
- The activities are related to the topic. /
- The time used for the activation is:
0-5 min
6-10 min
more
During
Yes No
- Teacher uses sorne other material (besides the
mandatory book) for teaching English. .>
- Teacher explains the topic clearly using easy words and
giving examples. v
- Teacher proposes group activities (small or in pairs) in
order to interchange ideas among the students and then
they talk about the topic.
/ -
- During the whole class, teacher speaks for
about
5-15 min
mi!)/
30 or
more
- The error correction is done:
Vlmmediately after the mistake
e At the end of the task
o At the end of the class
e No corrections
After
Yes No
- Teacher asks questions in order to check students
understood the topic. -:
-
:
w-f- t- - - UNIVERSITY OF GUAYAQUIL
FACULTY OF PHILOSOPHY, LETIERS AND SCIENCES OF EDUCATION
SCHOOL OF LANGUAGES AND LINGUISTICS
OBSERVATION GUIDE
es-®)
- Teacher propases sorne final tasks to reinforce the
content.
RUBRIC TABLE FOR DIAGNOSTIC TEST
Lexical competence
1 1.5 2 2.5 3
Lack of words or expressions
Inadequate use of words or
expressions
The use of words and expressions
was limited
Adequate use of words and
expressions
Excellent use of words and
expressions.
Morph syntax competence
0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
Multiple mistakes
that take away meaning
Frequent mistakes that
make it somewhat difficult to
understand
Some mistakes that do not
interfere with meaning
Very few mistakes
No mistakes
Phonological competence
0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
No comprehensible
Somewhat difficult to
understand
Easy to understand
Sounds very comprehensible
Sound almost like a native speaker.
Fluency
0 0.5 1 1.5 2
Does not flow
Lots of pauses
Frequent pauses Occasional
pauses Natural pattern of
speech
Total Score
Scoring
0-2 Poor
3-4 Need improvement
5-6 Average
7-8 Good
9-10 Excellent
91
expressions exp ·essions was limited expressions expressions.
0.!5 {1) 1.5 2 2.5
Morph syntax
Multiple nistakes
Fréquent
rnistakes that
So 11e mistakes
competence that take away make i: somewhat
interfere with Very few mistakes No mistakes meaning difficult to
meanmg
o
RUBRIC TABLE FOR DIAGNOSTIC TEST
,,,.---..
1 1.5 /(2 ) 2.5 3 ·-
Lexical competence Lack of words or lnadequate use of Theukcitwords Adequate use of Excellent use of
words or anc expressions words and words and
·-
o.s
uncerstand
(1)
that do not
·- 1.5 2 2.5
-
Phonological No Sorñéwhat
Easy to Sounds very Sound almost likecompetence
comprehensible ditficult to
understand comprehensible a native speaker. uncerstand ~
Fluency -
0.5 r t..J 1.5 2
Occasional Natural pattern ofDoes not flow Lots of pauses Frequent pauses
pauses speech
Total Score <t:f
0-2
Poor
3-4
Need improvement
Scoring
7-8
Good
9-10
Excellent
92
93 93
UNIVERSITY OF GUAYAQUIL
FACULTY OF PHILOSOPHY, LETTERS AND SCIENCES OF
EDUCATION
SCHOOL OF LANGUAGES AND LINGUISTICS
THE INTERVIEW
1. What do you consider is the best method to teach English in public
institutions in our country?
2. How do you reinforce student‟s linguistics competence in your class?
3. Which of those competences do you think are reinforced the most in
every day classes?
4. Do you consider that the use of playful classroom activities strengthens
linguistic competences? Why?
5. What do you think of adding playful activities in lesson plans in order to
obtain the best results?
6. What kind of examples do you use in context for students to use them
in real life situation?
94 94
s~
~~~n ... - UNIVERSITY OF GUAYAQUIL
FACULTY OF PHILOSOPHY, LETTERS ANO SCIENCES OF EOUCATION
SCHOOL OF LANGUAGES ANO LINGUISTICS
THE INTERVIEW
6. What kind of examples do you use in context for students to use them in
real life situation?
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95 95
ag
ree
dis
ag
re
UNIVERSITY OF GUAYAQUIL
FACULTY OF PHILOSOPHY, LETTERS AND SCIENCES OF EDUCATION
SCHOOL OF LANGUAGES AND LINGUISTICS
SURVEY TO STUDENTS
Aim: To identify the opinion and preferences in English learning process in students of First Year International Baccalaureate at VR High School.
Note: Please, put a check mark () in each statement below to indicate the
frequency or in what extent you agree or disagree with the statement.
Statements
Str
ongly
agre
e
Agre
e
Neutr
al
Dis
ag
ree
Str
ongly
dis
agre
e
1) I have difficulties when I must work in oral production.
Alw
ays
Fre
quen
tly
Som
etim
es
Alm
ost
ne
ve
r
Ne
ve
r
2) When the teacher makes a question, I prefer not to answer for fear of being wrong.
3) I prefer a writing activity rather than an oral presentation.
4) I cannot connect grammar rules when engaging in oral production.
5) I have difficulty in recognizing the meaning of some words or phrases.
Str
on
gly
Ag
ree
Neu
tra
l
Dis
ag
ree
Str
on
gly
6) I need to improve my pronunciation, accent and rhythm to speak English properly.
7) I prefer working in groups or in pairs.
8) I learn better when the teacher uses examples.
9) The oral production is easier when I speak about things that like me.
10) Playful activities are helpful in learning English.
11) Playful activities such as games, songs, jokes, etc., give me greater confidence to speak in English.
12) I like to have a variety in classroom activities.
13) My oral production improves by using games, songs, mini- debates, tongue – twisters, etc.
14) I would like to learn some ludic techniques for using them every time I must do oral productions.
15) My English level should improve if the teacher gives me some strategies to speak correctly.
96 96
acu
erd
o
des
acu
erd
o
ENCUESTA EN ESPAÑOL Objetivo: Identificar la opinión y preferencias en el proceso de aprendizaje de Inglés en los estudiantes de 1° Año Bachillerato Internacional del colegio Vicente Rocafuerte. Nota: Ponga un visto () en cada enunciado para indicar la frecuencia o en qué medida está de acuerdo o desacuerdo.
Enunciados
Tota
lmen
te d
e
acu
erd
o
Par
cial
men
te
de
acu
erd
o
Neu
tral
Par
cial
men
te
en d
esac
uer
do
To
talm
ente
en
des
acu
erd
o
1) Tengo dificultades cuando debo trabajar en producción oral
Siem
pre
Cas
i
sie
mp
re
A v
eces
Cas
i
nu
nca
Nu
nca
2) Cuando el (la) profesor (a) hace una pregunta, prefiero no contestar por miedo a equivocarme.
3) Prefiero escribir un ensayo en lugar de una exposición oral
4) No puedo conectar las reglas gramaticales cuando debo hacer una producción oral.
5) Tengo dificultades en reconocer el significado de ciertas palabras.
Enunciados To
talm
ente
de
Par
cial
men
te d
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acu
erd
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Neu
tral
Par
cial
men
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6) Necesito mejorar mi pronunciación, acento y ritmo para hablar inglés apropiadamente.
7) Prefiero las actividades grupales o en parejas.
8) Aprendo mejor cuando el (la) profesor (a) usa ejemplos prácticos.
9) La producción oral es más fácil cuando hablo de cosas que me gustan.
10) Las actividades lúdicas son de gran ayuda en el aprendizaje del inglés.
11) Las actividades lúdicas como juegos canciones, trabalenguas, etc. me dan más confianza para hablar inglés.
12) Me gusta que haya variedad en las actividades de clase.
13) Mi producción oral mejora usando juegos, canciones, mini- debates, trabalenguas, etc.
14) Me gustaría conocer técnicas lúdicas para usarlas cada vez que debo hacer producción oral.
15) Mejoraría mi nivel de producción oral si tuviese una guía con actividades para hablar correctamente.
97 97
Enunciados
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2)Cuando el (la) profesor (a) hace una pregunta, prefiero no
contestar por miedo a equivocarme.
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3) Prefiero escribir un ensayo en lugar de una exposición oral ti"
4) No puedo conectar las reglas gramaticales cuando debo
hacer una producción oral.
I
5) Tengo dificultades en reconocer el significado de ciertas
palabras.
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Enunciados
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6) Necesito mejorar mi pronunciación, acento y ritmo para
hablar Inglés apropiadamente.
¡'
7) Prefiero las actividades grupales o en parejas. /
8) Aprendo mejor cuando el (la) profesor {a) usa ejemplos
prácticos.
t/
9) La producción oral es más fácil cuando hablo de cosas que
me gustan.
/
10) Las actividades lúdicas son de gran ayuda en el aprendizaje
del Inglés.
I
11) Las actividades lúdicas como juegos canciones,
trabalenguas, etc. me dan más confianza para hablar Inglés. /
12) Me gusta que haya variedad en las acttvldades de clase. ¡/
13) Mi producción oral mejora usando juegos, canciones, mini-
debates, trabalenguas, etc.
,1
14) Me gustaría conocer técnicas lúdicas para usarlas cada vez
que debo hacer producción oral.
/
15) Mejoraría mi nivel de producción oral si tuviese una guía
con actividades para hablar correctamente. ¡/
~- UNIVERSIDAD DE GUAYAQUld ~-l FACULTAD DE FILOSOF(A LETRAS Y CIENCIAS DE LA EDUCACIÓN
ESCUELA DE LENGUAS Y LINGÜ(STICA ENCUESTA DIRIGIDA A ESTUDIANTES
Objetivo: Identificar la opinión y preferencias en el proceso de aprendizaje de 1ng1es en los estudiantes de 1 º Ano Bachillerato lntemaclonal del colegio Vicente Rocafuerte. Nota: Ponga un visto {.; ) en cada enunciado para Indicar la frecuencia o en que medida esta de acuerdo o desacuerdo.
·3 ~
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98 98
Annex 3
99 99
PHOTOGRAPHIC EVIDENCES Vicente
Rocafuerte High School outside
Source: Vicente Rocafuerte High School, district 3, zone 8, term
2016–2017. Author: Lucía Méndez Sibri
100 100
Interview to the English teacher Lcdo. Andrés Cedeño O.
Source: Vicente Rocafuerte High School. Author: Lucía Méndez Sibri
101 101
Diagnostic test to students of First Year International Baccalaureate
Source: Vicente Rocafuerte High School. Author: Lucía Méndez Sibri
102 102
Interview to the vice–principal Msc Jorge Ortega
Source: Vicente Rocafuerte High School. Author: Lucía Méndez Sibri
UNIVERSITY OF GUAYAQUIL
103 103
FACULTY OF PHILOSOPHY, LETTERS AND SCIENCE OF EDUCATION SCHOOL OF LANGUAGES AND LINGUISTICS
GENERAL COORDINATION OF ACADEMIC RESEARCH AND PROJECTS
Playful classroom activities
for young learners Fun with a purpose
Multi-level activities for EFL students
Lucía Méndez Sibri
104 104
Contents
Index ..................................................................................................... 2
Introduction ......................................................................................... 3
Chapter 1 About me
1.1 The routines game .................................................... 6
1.2 Best of friends ........................................................... 8
1.3 Going shopping ......................................................10
1.4 Future snap...............................................................12
1.5 The queue ................................................................14
1.6 Two facts and a fib ..................................................17
Chapter 2 Communicating and technology
2.1 It’s good to talk .......................................................19
2.2 Instant message .......................................................21
2.3 Chinese whispers .....................................................23
Chapter 3 Emotions and feelings
3.1 How do you feel? .....................................................26
3.2 Dominoes ................................................................28
3.3 Yuck!.........................................................................30
3.4 Good news, bad news..............................................32
3.5 Love is in the air ......................................................35
Chapter 4 Descriptions
4.1 Guess the animal in 10 questions .........................38
4.2 Who am I?................................................................40
4.3 Relatively speaking .................................................42
4.4 Too tired ..................................................................44
Chapter 5 The world around us
5.1 Flies, whales and seashells .....................................47
5.2 What a wonderful world ........................................48
Bibliography .......................................................................................50
105 105
2
106 106
Introduction
Introduction
This is a booklet dedicated to EFL teachers working with teenagers. The
activities presented can stand alone or be used to complement an existing
syllabus or textbook. These activities are mainly focused in the development of
linguistic competences which include vocabulary, pronunciation, and grammar.
How to use this booklet
This booklet is organized in 5 chapters named after a variety of themes.
They will be Communicating and technology, Emotions and feelings, Descriptions,
About me and The world around us. After a main introduction with some advice for
teachers related to how to manage a class, each chapter will include a variety of
activities such as jokes, games, songs, tongue-twisters, surveys, role-plays and so
on. Each activity included in the booklet will provide the teacher the following items
like recommended class configuration, procedural suggestions among others. In
these activities, students might also be allowed to be physically active.
The choices made in this booklet reflect the author‟s classroom experience,
as well as the current theories which frame to English learning in a variety of
contexts. Students will be able to avoid monotonous activities and turn the class in
a playful place to learn.
The activities were chosen to appeal to young students and they are
focused in a central point: linguistic competences. On that regard, the activities are
related to grammar development, pronunciation (rhythm and stress), vocabulary,
and semantics. It is worth mentioning that an activity to enhance speaking skills
cannot be developed in isolation from other macro skills like listening, reading, and
writing; for this reason, some activities in this booklet include a connection to them.
The chapters in this booklet consist of a chart with the following sections:
107 107
Introduction
Activity type: It is important to know what types of activities can be
assimilated by students in order to get their attention. There
are many types of activities but the research performed has
led to select the most outstanding and those require minimal
materials and are more time-efficient. Some examples to this
are jokes, games, songs, to name a few.
Level: It has been divided into three levels of difficulty: easy,
intermediate and challenging, illustrated by a smiley face
icon in each one:
easy intermediate challenging
Language Focus: The nature of this section will help the teacher identify what
grammatical point is going to be developed in each activity in
order to teachers can adapt and apply it to the content.
Interaction: This section recommends teachers how to divide the class for
a good developing in each activity. Working in groups or in
pair helps students to interact with more confidence.
Time: The timing of the activities can vary. Some activities can last
10 minutes and others 40 minutes.
Materials: It contains a list of items needed to perform the activity. Most
of them are worksheets included in the booklet as
photocopiable material.
Preparation: It is an introduction to the topic, all that teachers need to do
before setting up an activity.
Procedure: It contains a step-by-step description of how to perform the
activity.
5
Chapter 1
About me
Curricular connection Within the various contexts to produce and interact we may
distinguish topics such as personal identification, house and home,
daily life, free time, shopping, relations with other people and places,
which according to the CEFR belong to a Threshold Level (B1). Curriculum guideline – Mineduc 2014
6
About me
1.1 The routines game
Procedure:
Students take turns to toss a coin and
move their counters around the board
(heads = one square, tails = two
squares).
When students land on a square, they
must make a question using one of the
sentence heads in the middle of the
board, the word on their square and a
word from around de edge of the board.
They then ask this question to the
person on their left. Explain that
students can add an extra word or
phrase to their question to make it work
(e.g. Who gets dressed first in the
morning in your house?).
Before that player answers, the other
players in the game have to check that
the question is meaningful, if not, the
player must go back one square and
then it's the turn of the player on the left.
If it is meaningful, the player on the left
should answer the question, and then
take their turn to toss the coin.
Play continues until one player reaches
the Finish.
When the students have finished
playing the game, conduct feedback by
asking the teams for any interesting
information they found out.
Activity type:
Game
Level: Intermediate
Language focus:
Collocations, questions in
simple present, adverbs of
frequency, phrasal verbs,
pronunciation and intonation.
Interaction:
groups of 4-5
Time:
40 minutes
Materials:
one copy of the worksheet, a
coin and a counter.
Preparation:
Explain what the word routine
means (all the things we
usually do during the day).
Give each group a copy of the
worksheet.
Ask students to match the
words that are around the
board with the words on the
board to form collocations.
The routines game – worksheet
teeth
TV
homework
dressed
How many times… ?
What do you… ?
Who… in your house?
Do you like… ?
How often do you…?
What time do you…?
housework
breakfast
morning
shower
leisure time
undressed
bed
dinner
friends
7
me
8
1.2 Best of friends
Activity type:
Survey (discussion)
Procedure:
Ask students to identify the one pair of
collocations that have the same
meaning (part A). Then have them
discuss the difference between the
other pairs of collocations.
Check answers.
Answer key
1. Close friends – close family: These are
similar in that you have a good
relationship with both of these, but of
course you are related to family, but not to
friends.
2. Circle of friends – old friends: your circle
of friends is all the people who are your
friends. Old friends are people who have
been your friends for a long time.
3. Keep in touch – stay in touch: These
mean the same – to continue to have
contact with someone.
4. Enjoy someone‟s company – form a close
friendship: if you enjoy someone‟s
company, you like being with them, but
you only form a close friendship if you
both mutually like and trust each other
very much.
5. Lose touch – get in touch: if you lose
touch with someone, you stop having
contact with them, but if you get in touch,
you make contact with them.
6. Warm welcome – frosty reception: if you
give someone a warm welcome, you
show that you are very pleased to see
them, but if you give them a frosty
reception, you show that you are not
pleased to see them.
Give each pair a copy of the questions
(part B of the worksheet). Have them
discuss the questions.
Level: Challenging
Language focus: Collocations,
questions with auxiliary and
without it, syntax, sentence
stress and rhythm and
semantics (meanings)
Interaction: pairs
Time: 40 minutes
Materials: one copy of the
worksheet. Preparation:
Write the phrase blood is thicker
than water on the board. Elicit or
explain what it means (it means
that family relationships are
stronger and more important
than any other relationships),
and ask students if they agree.
Explain that in this lesson you
are going to talk about friends.
Put students in pairs. Give each
pair a copy of the worksheet.
me
9
Best of friends – worksheet
A. Look at the pairs of collocations. In which pair do both the phrases have
the same meaning? What are the differences between the phrases in the
other pairs of collocations?
1. close friends / close family
2. circle of friends / old friends
3. keep in touch / stay in touch
4. enjoy someone‟s company / form a close friendship
5. lose touch / get in touch
6. warm welcome / frosty reception
B. Discuss the questions in this survey with your partner.
Survey
1. Is it more important to have close family or close friends?
2. What‟s the best way of keeping in touch with your friends?
3. What is the best way to increase your circle of friends?
4. Do you always give a warm welcome to visitors to your house? Does
anyone ever get a frosty reception?
5. What really makes you enjoy someone‟s company?
6. If you lose contact with someone, what‟s the best way to get in touch
again?
me
10
1. 3 Going shopping
Activity type:
Board game
Procedure:
Students take turns to toss or spin the coin. If
the coin lands on “heads”, they move forward
one square, and if it lands on “tails”, they go
forward two squares.
When a player lands on a square, they have
to ask for the item in the picture using the
appropriate collocation, e.g., Could I have a
jar of coffee, please?, the other students in
the group judge whether the collocation has
been used correctly. If it has, the student to
the left responds (for example, Of course,
here you are) and gives the player the word
card that corresponds to the collocation. If
the player has not used the collocation
correctly, the player replies, Sorry we haven’t
got any coffee.
Play continues until all the cards have been
used up. The winner is the player with the
most cards.
Useful Vocabulary
Target collocations:
bar of chocolate
bottle of water
bottle of wine
bunch of bananas
bunch of grapes
carton of milk
carton of yoghurt
jar of coffee
jar of jam
loaf of bread
packet of biscuits
packet of sweets
tin of tomatoes
Level: easy
Language focus:
Could I …?
Collocations
Interaction:
groups of 3
Time:
40 minutes
Materials:
One copy of the worksheets
part A and B.
A coin for each group
A counter for each group
Preparation:
Put the students in group of
three.
Ask students to identify the
items of food or drink in the
pictures (worksheet part A)
Give a set of word cards
(worksheet part B) to each
group.
Ask each group to match the
cards to the pictures to make
phrases such as a carton of
yogurt. Some words apply to
more than one food or drink.
Give each group a coin and a
colored counter.
me
11
Going shopping – worksheet Part A: Board game
me
12
1.4 Future snap
Activity type:
Card game
Procedure:
Player 1 chooses the first half of a sentence,
read it out to the others and put it on the
table.
The other players must try to find a good
second half to complete the sentence.
The first player to find and appropriate
second half may collect the two cards and
keep them as a “trick”.
Several combinations of half sentences are
possible, though some are more “likely” than
others. To score a “trick” the combination
must a) make sense (for example, As soon
as I arrive, I’ll tell him what I think of him is
possible, but As soon as I arrive, I’ll have left
the country is not) and b) be grammatically
correct. In cases of dispute, the teacher
should arbitrate.
The object of the game is to collect as many
“tricks” as possible. The player with the most
at the end is the winner.
Useful vocabulary
Go ahead with
Be ready to
Future time clauses:
By this time…
Tomorrow…
Next year, week, month, etc.….
This time next week, month, etc.
In the year …..
As soon as……
On Friday, Monday, etc.
At 6 o‟clock, five thirty, etc.
In 6 (5, 2, etc.) months‟ time….
When I next see you….
When he (she) comes back…
Level: Intermediate
Language focus:
Future time clauses, going to,
present continuous, will, will
be –ing will have –ed
Interaction:
groups of 3 or 4
Time:
40 minutes
Materials:
A set of cards for each group
Preparation:
Put the students in group of
three or four.
Copy and cut up one set of
cards for each group.
The cards should be shuffled
and dealt out equally to all
the players.
me
13
Future snap – Worksheet
By this time tomorrow…
… I’ll have finished the book.
Tomorrow evening…
… I’m going to the cinema.
On Friday…
…I’m going to a party.
Next year…
…I’m going to visit my sister in America
This time next week…
…I’ll be in Bangkok.
In the year 2025
…I’ll be 25.
By the time I’m 40…
…I’ll have made a lot of money.
When I see him again…
…I’ll tell him what I think of him.
After lunch…
…I think I’ll go for a walk.
By the time I’m 50…
…I’ll be ready to retire.
As soon as I arrive…
…I’ll telephone you.
By the time you get this letter…
…I’ll have left the country.
At 6 o’clock…
…I’m meeting Jack.
By this time next year…
…I’ll have finished my studies.
In 6 months’ time…
…I’ll be in Australia.
By the end of June…
…I’ll have saved $5,000
When I next see you…
…I’ll have started the new job.
This time tomorrow…
…I’ll be flying over the Atlantic.
Next week…
…I’m going to get my hair cut.
When he comes back…
…I’ll be very happy.
me
14
1.5 The queue
Activity type:
Movement game
Procedure:
Shuffle the cards and deal them out at
random to the students.
Tell the students that yesterday they were all
queuing for tickets for a musical. They can
remember who was in front of them and who
was behind them in the queue.
The object of the game is to reconstruct the
queue as it was.
To do this, students will have to move around
the class, asking each other questions about
what they did in the queue yesterday, in
order to find out who was in front and behind
them, and eventually reconstruct the queue
by lining up in order.
You will need enough space for your
students to form a long line and you should
designate a point to act as the box office,
where the queue begins.
If you have more than 30 students and
decide to do the activity in two groups, you
can make it into a competition between
queues.
Useful vocabulary
Past and infinitive forms of following
verbs:
Talk, share, catch, eat, have, listen,
save, ask, make, have to, smoke,
buy, quarrel, drink, read, drop, break,
sing, play, be, tell, write, discuss,
offer, whistle.
Level: Intermediate
Language focus:
Past simple, past continuous,
yes/no questions, every day
activities (lexical)
Interaction:
The whole class
Time:
25 minutes
Materials:
A set of time cards.
Preparation:
This game may be played
with 8-30 students. If you
have more than 30 students,
invent a few more cards, or
play in two groups.
Copy one card for each
student in the class. It is
essential to use the cards in
the order in which they are
printed: if you have 20
students, use the first 20
cards. If you have fewer than
30 students, you will need to
amend the last card in your
queue: delete or cut off the
line beginning The person
behind you… and write in
instead You were the last
person in the queue. When
you got to the ticket office, all
the tickets were sold out.
me
15
Time cards – Worksheet
You were the first person in the queue.
You talked about the weather with the
person behind you.
You talked about the weather with the
person in front of you. The person
behind you let you share their umbrella.
You shared your umbrella with the
person in front of you. The person
behind you caught a train at 6:30 to get
in the queue early.
You were very tired as you caught the
train at 6:30 to be in the queue early.
The person in front of you shared an
umbrella with someone else in the
queue. The person behind you bought
and ate an ice-cream.
You ate an ice-cream while you were
waiting. The person in front of you
caught a train to be in the queue early.
The person behind you had a dog.
You had your dog with you. The person
in front of you ate an ice-cream. The
person behind you had a lot of shopping
bags.
You had a lot of shopping bags with
you. The person in front of you had a
dog. The person behind you listened to
their Walkman the whole time.
You listened to music on you Walkman
while you waited. The person in front of
you had a lot of heavy shopping. The
persona behind you asked you to save
their place while they made a telephone
call.
You had to make a telephone call and
asked people to save your place. The
person in front of you listened to a
Walkman while they were waiting. The
person behind you bought a can of coke.
You bought a can of coke to drink while
you were waiting. The person in front of
you asked you to save his place while he
made a telephone call. The person
behind you smoked a whole packet of
cigarettes.
You smoked 20 cigarettes while you
were waiting. The person in front of you
drank a can of coke. The people behind
you had an argument.
You quarreled with your friend in the
queue. The person in front of you
smoked a lot of cigarettes. The person
behind you bought twelve tickets.
You quarreled with you friend in the
queue. The person in front of you
smoked a lot of cigarettes. The person
behind you bought twelve tickets.
You bought twelve tickets for a school
trip. The people in front of you had an
argument. The people behind you drank
coffee from a thermos.
You and your friend bought a thermos
of coffee to drink while you were
waiting. The person in front of you
bought twelve tickets for the show. The
person behind you read a newspaper.
You and your friend bought a thermos
of coffee to drink while you were
waiting. The person in front of you
bought twelve tickets for the show. The
person behind you read a newspaper.
me
You read a newspaper while you waited.
The people in front of you drank coffee
from a thermos. The person behind you
dropped a shopping bag and a broke
some eggs.
You dropped your shopping bag and
broke all the eggs. The person in front of
you read a newspaper. The person
behind you helped you pick the
shopping up.
The person in front of you dropped his
shopping bag and the vegetables went
all over the pavement. You helped to
pick them up. The people behind you
sang songs.
The person in front of you helped pick
up vegetables from a shopping bag that
broke. You and your friend sang songs
to stop yourselves getting bored. The
person behind you had a heavy suitcase.
The person in front of you helped pick
up vegetables from a shopping bag that
broke. You and your friend sang songs
to stop yourselves getting bored. The
person behind you had a heavy suitcase.
You had just come from the airport and
had a very heavy suitcase. The people in
front of you got on your nerves; they
sang songs all the time. The person
behind you wrote postcards.
You wrote postcards to pass the time.
The person in front of you had a very
heavy suitcase. The person behind you
played the guitar.
You played the guitar to pass the time
while you waited. The person in front of
you wrote several postcards. The people
behind you offered everyone a sweet.
You and your friend had a bag of sweets
and offered them round. The person in
front of you played the guitar. The
person behind you ate a hamburger.
You and your friend had a bag of sweets
and offered them round. The person in
front of you played the guitar. The
person behind you ate a hamburger.
You were hungry so you bought a
hamburger and ate it standing in the
queue. The people in front of you
offered everyone some sweets. The
person behind you was very impatient
and kept looking at their watch.
You had a train to catch and kept
looking at your watch. The queue
moved very slowly. The person in front
of you ate a hamburger. The person
behind you whistled an annoying tune.
You whistled to yourself while you
waited. The person in front of you was
very impatient and kept looking at his
watch. The person behind you tried to
discuss politics with you.
You tried to discuss politics with the
person in front of you, with no success.
You were the last person in the queue
and when you got to the box office, the
tickets were sold out.
16
1.6 Two facts and a fib
Activity type:
Guessing game
Procedure:
Call on a student as a volunteer to be the
first to say the three sentences about him
or her in front of the class.
The rest of the class must try to guess
which of the three sentences is false and
explain why. They must argue about the
answer they have chosen.
The student who gives a good argument
wins the point and the opportunity to be
the next to present his or her statements.
USEFUL VOCABULARY
I guess that ...
I think / consider / find / feel / believe /
suppose / presume / assume that ...
It seems to me that ...
I dare say that ...
I have no doubt that...
I am sure that …
I am certain that ...
Level: easy
Language focus:
Simple present, pronunciation.
Interaction:
the whole class
Time:
30 minutes or more
Materials:
no needed
Preparation:
Explain to students they are
going to think in three things
about themselves, two of them
are true and the other one is a
lie.
17
18
Chapter 2
Communicating and
technology
Curricular connection As a subject of discourse, a B1 level focus special attention on
communicative acts. Curriculum guideline – Mineduc 2014
19
and Technology
2.1 It’s good to talk
Activity type:
Class survey
Procedure:
Give each student a copy of the
survey (Part B of the worksheet)
Model the first question How often do
you send an email? and elicit
answers (every day; once / twice /
three times a week / a day / a month
/ an hour; never, etc.)
Ask students to write the names of
the other people in their class at the
top of the columns on the
questionnaire. Have the students
mingle and interview everyone in the
class, writing down their answers
(never, once a week, etc.) in the
appropriate box.
Conduct feedback by asking students
to compare their answers with a
partner and choose three interesting
facts from the survey to report back
to the class.
Answer key
Target collocations
get a letter
get a phone call
get a text
get an email
have a chat
have an argument
make a phone call
send a letter
send a text
send an email
Level: Intermediate
Language focus:
Collocations, questions in
simple present, adverbs of
frequency, frequency words,
pronunciation and intonation.
Interaction:
pairs
Time:
40 minutes
Materials:
one copy of the worksheet
Preparation:
Put students in pairs.
Give each pair a copy of the
flashcard (Part A).
Explain that there are six
nouns related to
communication in the spiral.
Students should find the
nouns.
Check the answers and write
them on the board.
20
and Technology
Part A: Word spiral
It’s good to talk – worksheet
have
a …………………………..
an …………………………
make a …………………………..
a ………………………….
send a ………………………….
an ……………………….
a …………………………
get a ………………………..
an ……………………….
a …………………………
Part B: Class Survey
Names:
Activities:
send an email
send a letter
send a text
get an email
get a letter
get a text
get a phone call
make a phone call
have a chat with a
friend
have an argument
with a friend
21
and Technology
2.2 Instant messaging Acronyms
Activity type:
Puzzles
Procedure:
Put students in pairs.
Write a text message on the board: Can U
come 4 T?
Refer the class to the example text
message on the board. Ask them to solve
the puzzle and read out the text message.
Give a copy of the worksheet (Part A) to
each pair and ask them to solve the puzzles
and write the messages out in full.
Call on pairs to share their answers with the
class.
Give a copy of the worksheet (Part B) to
each pair and ask them to match the
acronyms with the expressions.
Check answers orally, explaining as
necessary.
Answer key
Part A
Can U come 4 T?
Can you come for tea?
What R U eating 4 T? Ps
What are you eating for tea? Peas
R U watching TV? Can U C me on TV?
Are you watching TV? Can you see me on TV?
How many letters R there? There R 2 4 U and 1 4 me.
How many letters are there? There are two for you and
one for me
Part B
ASAP As soon as possible
B4N Bye for now
BRB Be right back (return soon)
CUL8R See you latter
G2G Got to go (I must leave now)
PAW Parents are watching
TTYL Talk to you latter
Level: easy
Language focus:
Questions, the alphabet,
acronyms, pronunciation,
intonation.
Interaction:
Pairs
Time:
15 minutes
Materials:
One copy of the worksheet
Preparation:
Most of the students will be
familiar with text messaging
and the short cuts that mobile
phone users often use.
Elicit the possible reason for
which people do that, (for
example, to save space, to
write faster, etc.)
Elicit or explain the meaning
of acronym (the combination
of the first letters of words).
22
and Technology
Instant message – Worksheet
Part A: Read the following text messages and try to guess their meanings.
Text messages: puzzles Text messages: answers What R U eating 4 T?
R U watching TV? Can U C me on TV?
How many letters R there?
There R 2 4 U and 1 4 me.
Part B: Match the acronyms with the expressions
ASAP B4N BRB
CUL8R G2G PAW
TTYL
1) See you later
2) Parents are watching
3) Talk to you later
4) Got to go
5) As soon as possible
6) Bye for now
7) Be right back
23
and Technology
2.3 Chinese whispers
Activity type:
Games
Procedure:
Give the first player in each line the
message note.
Have that student read and explain the
message to the next person by whispering it
in their ear.
They cannot pass on or show the message;
that must go back to the teacher who is
monitoring the game.
Request that the next student say whatever
they heard, also fast in the same manner, to
the next person.
Continue on around down the line. The
game goes on until the last student says
whatever they heard aloud and the first
person reveals the real message.
Compare the messages and have a great
fun!
The line that have more wise choices is the
winner.
Note: The worksheet proposes some quotes
that teachers have to choose the one that best
fits the class, or if time allows, teacher can
repeat the game and use the other messages.
Level: Challenging
Language focus:
Simple present, simple past,
imperatives, future, present
perfect, better… than.
Interaction:
The whole class Time:
15 minutes
Materials:
A copy of the message
Preparation:
This game is recommended
for large groups. The more
students involved, the better,
because the message being
passed around is likely to
become much distorted and
even funnier.
According to the number of
students, put them in groups
and form lines.
24
and Technology
Chinese whispers – Worksheet
Rumors are carried by haters,
spread by fools, and accepted
by idiots.
Better to light a candle than to
curse the darkness. Chinese proverb
Tell me and I’ll forget, show me
and I may remember, involve
me and I’ll understand. Chinese proverb
Give me a fish and I eat for a
day, teach me to fish and I eat
for a lifetime. Chinese proverb
Your teacher can open the door
but you must enter by yourself. Chinese proverb
Don’t insult the alligator until
you’ve crossed the river. Haitian proverb
A journey of a thousand miles
begin with a single step. Chinese proverb
When sleeping women wake,
mountains move. Chinese proverb
In the eyes of the mouse the cat
is a lion. Albanian proverb
Even the devil needs a friend.
Asian-Indian proverb
25
Chapter 3
Emotions and feelings
Curricular connection In the personal domain, a B1 user is capable to exchange information,
emotions, feelings, likes and dislikes. Curriculum guideline – Mineduc 2014
26
and feelings
3.1 How do you feel?
Activity type:
Matching game
Procedure:
Keep the students in their pairs.
Give each pair a copy of the pictures and
captions (Part B of the worksheet)
Ask them to match the pictures to the
correct captions.
Check answers.
Finally, give each pair a set of broken
sentences to match (Part C)
Check answers. Remember some students
may have made other sentences which are
also possible.
Answer key
(Part A)
1. Happy
2. Sad
3. Angry
4. Crying
5. Laughing
6. Bored
(Part B)
1) b, 2) e, 3) g, 4) a, 5) h,
6) I, 7) c, 8) d, 9) f
Possible answers (Part C)
1. I feel happy when I am with my friends.
2. I feel bored when I have nothing to do.
3. Saying goodbye for a long time makes me sad.
4. I feel lonely when I am far away from home.
5. My friend Paolo is very funny – he makes me
laugh.
6. Sunshine makes me happy.
7. I feel excited before I go on holiday
8. Sad films make me cry.
9. When my football team play badly, it makes me
angry.
Level: easy
Language focus:
Collocations, simple present,
simple past of regular and
irregular verbs.
Interaction:
pairs
Time:
20 minutes
Materials:
one copy of the worksheet
Preparation:
This phase may be used as a
warmer.
Put students in pairs.
Give each pair a copy of the
worksheet (Part A).
Give the groups two minutes
to decide what emotions the
emoticon faces are showing.
Conduct feedback,
discussing the different
possible answers below as
appropriate.
27
and feelings
How do you feel – Worksheet
28
and feelings
3.2 Dominoes
Activity type:
Board game
Procedure:
Give out the remaining copies of Part B to
students.
Explain that they should try to replace the
word very or quite in each sentence with a
more interesting adverb. They should do
this from memory, recalling the
combinations they looked in Part A.
Put students in groups.
Give each group a copy of the dominoes
(Part C). Ask the students to divide up the
dominoes equally between them.
Explain that they must take it in turns to put
down a domino that collocates with the word
that it is placed next to.
The students work as a team. If any player
cannot go, the other students must check
that student‟s dominoes and see if they can
make any suggestions. Stress that this is a
team activity.
If a player really cannot go, the next player
takes a turn.
All teams work together until they have put
down as many of the dominoes as possible.
Answer key
Part B
1. Bitterly deeply
2. Highly
3. Blissfully
4. Intensely
5. (bored) stiff/ (bored) out of my mind
6. Mildly
7. Mildly
8. Deeply
9. Deeply/profoundly
10. Deeply
11. Profoundly
12. Deeply/profoundly
13. Insanely
14. Madly
Level: Challenging
Language focus:
Interaction:
Groups of 4
Time:
40 minutes
Materials:
a copy of the flashcard
(animals parts)
Preparation:
Give each student a copy of
the collocations (Part A of the
worksheet) and explain that
this shows which adverbs
collocate with which
adjectives.
Ask students to try to
memorise the collocations.
After one minute lead a
discussion about what
memory techniques they
used to remember the
collocations.
29
and feelings
Dominoes – Worksheet
30
and feelings
3.3 Yuck!
Activity type:
Guessing Game
Procedure:
Player 1 takes the first card from the pile
and look at it. He cannot show it to the
others.
He says something about the picture,
beginning, It makes me…, for example, It
makes me cold and wet or It makes me
feel uncomfortable.
The other players must try to guess what
the picture is. They may ask questions,
for example, Does it make you sad? Or
Does it make you look nice?
The player who guesses correctly can
keep the card and take the next card
from the pile.
The player with most cards at the end is
the winner.
Note:
In order to save time, you should provide
each group a sheet of cards (without
cutting up)
Useful vocabulary
happy, sad, miserable, cold, drunk, excited,
uncomfortable, laugh, cry, warm, hot, calm, nervous,
tired, fat, hungry, bored, lonely, frightened, shiver,
depressed, worried, anxious.
Level: Intermediate
Language focus:
It makes me + adjective
It makes me + verb (+
adjective), lexical area:
feelings
Interaction:
groups of 3 or 4
Time:
30 minutes
Materials:
a copy of the set of cards.
Preparation:
Put students in groups and
ready to play.
Copy and cut up one set of
cards for each group.
The cards should be placed
face down in a pile in the
middle of the group. They
cannot look at them.
31
and feelings
Yuck! – Worksheet
32
and feelings
3.4 Good news, bad news
Activity type:
Board Game
Procedure:
Some cards are labeled “GN” (good
news) and some are labeled “BN” (bad
news)
Player 1 chooses a good news card and
lay it on the table, describing what
happened, beginning The good news
is… (for example, The good news is, I
decided to ask her to marry me).
The other players should try to find the
corresponding “bad news” (BN) picture.
The player who has the picture should
lay it on the table, describing the bad
news for example, The bad news is, she
refused.
The player who produces the matching
bad news can collect the “trick”.
The object of the game is to collect as
many “tricks” as possible. The player with
the most at the end is the winner.
Useful vocabulary
a cold, bunch of flowers, parcel, skiing, concert,
tickets, snow, cancelled, party, marry, stereo, prize,
meal, burnt, rain.
Level: easy
Language focus:
Simple present, simple past,
reporting past events.
Interaction:
groups of 3 or 4 Time:
30 minutes
Materials:
A set of picture cards for
each group. Preparation:
Put students in groups of 3 or
4.
Copy one set of the picture
cards for each group and cut
them up.
The cards should be dealt out
equally to all the players in
the group.
33
and feelings
Good news, bad news – Worksheet (1)
34
and feelings
Good news, bad news – Worksheet (2)
35
and feelings
3.5 Love is in the air
Activity type:
Songs
Procedure:
Give out the worksheet and explain
students it is a gap fill song that they
have to complete with general
vocabulary.
Play the song again and monitor the
activity.
Love is in the air
Love is in the air, everywhere I look around
Love is in the air, every sigh and every sound
And I don't know if I'm being foolish,
don't know if I'm being wise,
but it's something that I must believe in
and it's there when I look in your eyes.
Love is in the air, in the whisper of the trees.
Love is in the air, in the thunder of the sea
And I don't know if I'm just dreaming
Don't know if I feel sane
But it's something that I must believe in
and it's there when you call out my name.
Love is in the air, love is in the air, oh oh oh
Love is in the air, in the rising of the sun
Love is in the air, when the day is nearly done.
And I don't know if you're an illusion,
don't know if I see it true,
but you're something that I must believe in
and you're there when I reach out for you.
Love is in the air, everywhere…
Check answers orally.
Ask students to identify the sentences
that have the if clause. Explain that this is
called zero conditional and it is used to
describe what happens in general.
Level: easy
Language focus:
Determiner every, zero
conditional, general vocabulary.
Interaction:
Individual
Time:
15 minutes
Materials:
A copy of the worksheet (lyrics)
Preparation:
Ask students about what they
think about love.
Explain to the students that they
are going to listen a classical
disco song sung by John Paul
Young and it was a worldwide hit
in 1978, but this time, they are
going to listen a cover version
sung by Harrison Craig.
Put students ready to listen to this
song.
Play the song in order to students
recognize it.
36
and feelings
Love is in the air – Worksheet
Fill in the gaps using the words below
eyes sea sound dreaming wise
illusion trees air name day sun
Love is in the air
(John Paul Young)
Performed by Harrison Craig
Genre: disco
Love is in the , everywhere I look around
Love is in the , every sigh and every
And I don't know if I'm being foolish,
don't know if I'm being ,
but it's something that I must believe in
and it's there when I look in your .
Love is in the , in the whisper of the .
Love is in the , in the thunder of the ,
And I don't know if I'm just
Don't know if I feel sane
But it's something that I must believe in
and it's there when you call out my .
Love is in the , love is in the , oh oh oh
Love is in the , in the rising of the
Love is in the , when the is nearly done.
And I don't know if you're an ,
don't know if I see it true,
but you're something that I must believe in
and you're there when I reach out for you.
Love is in the air, everywhere…
37
Chapter 4
Descriptions
Curricular connection This theme is framed into a B1+ in which learner provides concrete
information by explaining and describing people, places, etc. Curriculum guideline – Mineduc 2014
38
Descriptions
4.1 Guess the animal in 10 questions
Activity type:
Guessing Game
Procedure:
Each groups decides on an animal.
Choose one group to come to the front of
the class.
The rest of the class create Yes/No
questions, using the sentences from the
board (explained previously). Make sure
that the questions can only be answered
with Yes or No.
Whoever guesses the animal has the
next turn and gets a point. If nobody can
guess in 10 questions, then the group at
the front of the class wins the point.
Heading sentences
Do you live……………...?
Do you eat ……………..?
Do you give…………….?
Do you have……………?
Can you………………..?
Are you………………..?
Sample questions
Do you live near water?
Do you eat grass?
Do you give milk to your babies?
Can you fly?
Are you a reptile?
Do you have wings (claws, whiskers, a tail,
etc.)?
Level: easy
Language focus:
Yes / No questions, simple
present tense, Can for
abilities, pronunciation, and
intonation.
Interaction:
groups of 5
Time:
40 minutes
Materials:
a copy of the flashcard
(animals parts)
Preparation:
Write on the board the
heading of possible questions
to develop the activity. Elicit
some characteristics from
animals in order to use them
in the game. Make sure that
the meanings are clear for all
students.
Put students in groups and
ready to play.
Give a set of flashcards to
help students to ask
questions.
39
Descriptions
Animal parts – Flashcard
whiskers a tail claws
paws
wings
a shell
feather a beak horns
spots stripes antennae
40
Descriptions
4.2 Who am I?
Activity type:
Board game
Procedure:
Demonstrate the game by choosing a
character from the board, but do not tell the
class who it is.
Explain that you are now one of the
characters from the board and the students
have to ask you questions to try to identify
who you are, e.g. Do you have short hair?,
Do you wear glasses?, etc. Continue until the
students have identified which character you
are from the board.
Students take turns to ask one question
each. By a process of elimination, they work
out who their opponent‟s character is, and
the first one to guess correctly is the winner.
Explain that they should not guess the
character until they are absolutely certain.
The game can be played several times and
with different partners.
Target collocations:
big nose
curly hair
dark hair
dark skin
fair hair
fair skin
have a beard
have a moustache
long hair
short hair
straight hair
wear a hat
wear glasses
Level: Intermediate
Language focus:
Collocations, questions in
simple present, adverbs of
frequency, frequency words,
pronunciation and intonation.
Interaction:
pairs
Time:
25 - 30 minutes
Materials:
one copy of the worksheet
(picture board)
Preparation:
Tell your students to look at
the person they are sitting
next to and write sentences
describing their appearance,
e.g. Rudi has dark hair. He
has brown eyes.
Put students in pairs and give
a copy of the worksheet to
play the game.
Make sure you have covered
all the target collocations, and
write them on the board.
41
Descriptions
Who am I? – Worksheet
42
Descriptions
4.3 Relatively speaking
Activity type:
Guessing card game
Procedure:
The first player should take the top
card from the pile and look at it without
showing it to the others.
He/she should give a definition of the
person, object or place on the card,
but without mentioning the name, for
example, This is a place where you go
when you’re sick.
The first player who guesses “hospital”
correctly gets the card.
If no one can guess, the player holding
the card may keep it. The player with
the most at the end is the winner.
Useful vocabulary
Doctor, pilot, policeman, teacher, dentist,
postman, fireman, astronaut, queen, church,
hospital, library, school, post office, zoo,
swimming pool, prison, vacuum cleaner,
dishwasher, oven, washing machine, hairdryer,
typewriter, calculator, lawnmower.
Useful Vocabulary
Exponent
…a person who…
…a machine which…
…a place where…
Level: easy
Language focus:
Relative pronouns (who, which,
where)
Lexical areas: occupations,
places, machines and tools.
Interaction:
Groups
Time:
30 minutes
Materials:
A copy of the picture cards
(flashcard)
Preparation:
Students play this game in
groups of three or four.
Copy one set of picture cards for
each group, and cut them up.
Students should place the picture
cards face down in a pile in the
center of the group.
43
Descriptions
Relatively speaking – Flashcard
44
Descriptions
4.4 Too tired!
Activity type: Jokes Procedure:
Write on the board the following joke:
“Why do bicycles fall over?
(Answer: Because they are two- tired)
This joke plays on the words “too-
tired”.
Explain to students that bicycles have
two tires, for this reason is a two-tired
vehicle. On the other hand, if you are
too tired you can fall over.
Ask students to identify which words
are homophones. (too – two)
Point out on the word two-tired. Write
down another compound adjectives
examples (well-known) and ask
students to form a phrase using that
compound.
Form groups of three or four, copy and
cut up a set of cards for each group.
Ask them to form compounds
adjectives with the papers.
Answer key
6-page document
four-foot table
part-time worker
green-eyed monster
cold-blooded man
brightly-lit room
300-page book
well-known writer
eight-hour day
three-week vacation
world-famous singer
smoke-free restaurant
last-minute decision
good-looking girl
open-minded people
old-fashioned ideas
Level: easy
Language focus:
Questions in simple present,
compound adjectives, intensifier
too, homophones.
Interaction: the whole class,
groups
Time: 30 minutes or more
Materials:
a copy of the worksheet
Preparation:
Explain the use of too as an
intensifier and can be used in
negative expressions.
45
Descriptions
page
time
four
green
foot
eyed
cold
blooded
man
brightly
lit
room
300
page
book
well
known
writer
eight
hour
three
week
vacation
world
famous
singer
smoke
free
restaurant
last
minute
decision
good
looking
girl
open
minded
people
ld
fashioned
ideas
page
time
four
green
foot
eyed
cold
blooded
man
brightly
lit
room
300
page
book
well
known
writer
eight
hour
three
week
vacation
world
famous
singer
smoke
free
restaurant
last
minute
decision
good
looking
girl
open
minded
people
ld
fashioned
ideas
Too tired! – Worksheet
46
Chapter 5
The world around us
Curricular connection As a member of a community, a B1 user may be involved with the
events that occur around him/her and keep in touch with the
environment. Curriculum guideline – Mineduc 2014
47
The us
5.1 Flies, whales and seashells
Activity type:
Tongue twisters
Procedure:
Make students read aloud the following
tongue twisters:
“Five flies fry five fries”.
“Wally watched whales wrestle”.
“Parker picked a prickly plant”
“She sells seashells by the seashore”
Encourage students to say these tongue
twisters quickly. Aim for less than 5
seconds.
Level: easy
Language focus:
Pronunciation and intonation.
Interaction:
Individually
Time:
10 minutes
Materials:
No needed
Preparation:
Write on the board the word
tongue twisters and explain
what it means.
48
The us
5.2 What a wonderful world
Activity type:
Songs
Procedure:
Play the song in order to students
recognize it.
Give out the worksheet and explain
students it is a gap fill song that they
have to complete with adjectives.
Play the song again and monitor the
activity.
What a wonderful world
By Louis Armstrong
Genre: Jazz
I see trees of green, red roses too
I see them bloom for me and you
and I think to myself
what a wonderful world.
I see skies of blue and clouds of white
the bright blessed day, the dark sacred night
and I think to myself
what a wonderful world.
The colors of the rainbow so pretty in the sky
Are also on the faces of people going by
I see friends shaking hands
saying how do you do
but they're really saying I love you.
I hear baby's cry, and I watched them grow
They'll learn much more than I'll ever know
And I think to myself what a wonderful world.
Yes, I think to myself what a wonderful world.
Check answers orally.
Conduct a discussion about the
content of the song. What the author
wants to express in the second line
from the last couplet in the song,
They’ll learn much more than I’ll ever
know.
Level: easy
Language focus:
Adjectives, simple present.
Pronunciation will (‘ll)
Interaction:
Individual
Time:
15 minutes
Materials:
A copy of the worksheet (lyrics)
Preparation:
Ask students about what they think
about the world, what things they
like or dislike.
Explain to the students that they
are going to listen a jazz song, a
song that has appeared in some
famous films (for example,
Madagascar).
Put students ready to listen to a
song.
49
The us
What a wonderful world – Worksheet
Fill in the gaps using the adjectives below
green
pretty bright red white wonderful (3) dark blue
What a wonderful world
By Louis Armstrong
(1967)
Genre: Jazz
I see trees of , roses too
I see them bloom for me and you
and I think to myself
what a world.
I see skies of and clouds of
the blessed day, the sacred night
and I think to myself
what a world.
The colors of the rainbow so in the sky
Are also on the faces of people going by
I see friends shaking hands
saying how do you do
but they're really saying I love you.
I hear baby's cry, and I watched them grow
They'll learn much more than I'll ever know
And I think to myself what a wonderful world.
Yes, I think to myself what a world.
50
The us
Bibliography
French, C. C. (2015, January). Tongue twisters. Highlights for children. Vol.70 (1)
2-38
French, C. C. (2015, July). Jokes. Highlights for children. Vol.70 (7) 2-15
Graham, C. (2006) Creating Chants and Songs. New York, USA: Oxford
University Press.
Hadfield, J. (2011). Intermediate Communication Games. England. Addison
Wesley Longman Ltd.
Lewis, G., & Bedson G. (1999). Games for children. New York, USA: Oxford
University Press.
McKay, P., & Guse, J. (2007). Five-Minute Activities for Young Learners. New
York, USA: Cambridge University Press.
Walter, E., & Woodford, K. (2010) Coolocations Extra: Multilevel
activities for natural English. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge
University Press.
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