The Native Speaker Assistant as a resource

for enhancing students’ proficiency with the

Spanish language: a case study

Jorge Granados Trujillo

Education Studies

May 2012

Presented as part of the requirement for an award within the Undergraduate

Modular Scheme at the University of Gloucestershire

Abstract

It is generally believed that the Teaching Assistants (TAs) play an important

role in supporting both teachers and students, helping schools to raise their

academic standards. However, beyond this general belief, there is little

evidence of how TAs actually contribute to students’ achievement. This is

due to the fact that the role remains little understood and poorly researched,

with some important gaps in knowledge still existing in this field. Given the

increasing pedagogical role of TAs, it is very important to address this

situation. As an example of TAs developing a pedagogical role, this research

focused on the work of the Native Teaching Assistant (NTA) in secondary

schools supporting students’ learning of a foreign language. Its purpose was

to offer an insight into the NTA role, in order to determine the effectiveness of

the NTA’s support in improving students’ proficiency in the target language,

and how this varies depending on the way that the NTA is deployed by the

teacher. For this purpose, a case study was conducted in a secondary

school, looking at a Spanish NTA. A mixed approach was employed for the

collection of data, involving the analysis of students’ GCSE and A-level

Spanish speaking test results; questionnaires given to Spanish teachers,

NTA and students and non-participant classroom observations. The findings

indicated that the NTA’s support had an impact on the improvement of

students’ Spanish language skills, in particular on the development of their

oral, pronunciation and vocabulary skills. Spanish teachers were also found

to make better use of the NTA’s pedagogical abilities when she was

deployed outside the classroom to support small groups of students. The

study concluded that further research was needed in order to gain a better

understanding of the effectiveness of the NTA role. A wider range of contexts

and larger samples would have to be analysed than those which were

available for use in this study.

Contents

i

Declaration....................................................................................................... i

Declaration...................................................................................................... ii

Abstract........................................................................................................... iii

Contents......................................................................................................... iv

Table of figures................................................................................................v

Introduction.....................................................................................................1

Literature Review............................................................................................5

Methodology..................................................................................................13

Analysis and findings....................................................................................20

Students’ GCSE and A-level Spanish speaking test results from 2004 to

2010...........................................................................................................20

Questionnaires..........................................................................................23

Classroom observations............................................................................28

Discussion.....................................................................................................31

Conclusions...................................................................................................36

References....................................................................................................39

Appendix 1 – Pie charts of Students’ GCSE and A-level Spanish speaking

test results from 2004 to 2010 44

Appendix 2 – Questionnaires 52

Appendix 3 – Classroom observation sheet 57

Table of figures

ii

Graph 1: NTA’s contribution to the development of students' Spanish language skills:

teachers’, students’ and NTA’s perception of the role. Results based on a five point

Liker scale where 1 means totally disagree and 5 strongly agree.............................25

Graph 2: Spanish teachers’, NTA’s and students’ perception of their understanding of

the purpose of the activities. Results based on a five point Liker scale where 1 means

totally disagree and 5 strongly agree........................................................................27

Graph 3: Focus of NTA's support during lessons by year group. Results based on a

five point Liker scale where 1 means totally disagree and 5 strongly agree.............29

Graph 4: Student response during the NTA's lessons. Results based on a five point

Liker scale where 1 means very poor and 5 excellent................................................31

iii

Introduction

The figure of the Teaching Assistant (TA) has become much more common

in Primary and Secondary school classrooms over recent years. A crucial

factor in the proliferation of the TA in both primary and secondary schools is

the document Raising Standards and Tackling Workload: a National

Agreement, better known as the National Agreement. It was signed in

January 2003 between the Department for Education and Skills (DfES), the

Welsh Assembly Government, local authority employers and the majority of

school workforce unions and represented “a consensus on principles relating

to tackling teacher workload, developing support staff roles, and raising

standards in schools (Blatchford et al., 2006, p. 6). Information from the DfES

shows that, from 2005 to November 2011, there was a 90%increase in

support staff in English primary schools schools and a 65% in secondary.

(DfES & ONS, 2011)

1

The TA role is subject to constant analysis and development in an effort to

define its main duties and responsibilities. Its impact on students’ learning

and value for raising academic standards is widely recognised. The

government has played an important part in supporting and consolidating the

presence of TAs in UK schools, trying to establish common practice inside

and outside the classroom. For this reason, the government published the

Good practice guide (DfES 2000a); a consultation document (DfES 2002)

and two sets of induction training material for newly appointed TAs in primary

and secondary schools (DfES 2000b, 2001). In addition, they supported the

work of the Local Government National Training Organisation (LGNTO)

which has devised a set of occupational standards for TAs (LGNTO 2001).

Such documents recognise the increasingly valuable support role that TAs

can have in mainstream schools (Farrell et al., 2010, p. 436).

These initiatives were in response to demands from the education research

community for more training and preparation and better definition of the TA

role. As (Webster et al., 2011, p. 9) observe, “given the growth of TAs and

their high visibility in classrooms, it might be expected that training to help

teachers to work with TAs would form part of pre-service and/or Inset

training”. This idea is supported by (Tulane and Beckert, 2011, p. 44) citing

Golish (1999), who claim that “TAs are given little or no preparation for their

varied responsibilities”.

2

All the institutions and personnel involved in improving TAs preparation and

participation in the classroom (schools, teaching staff, families, policy

makers, the research community and Government) intend for the presence of

the TA to have an impact on pupils’ academic achievement; however, very

little research has been conducted to determine how TAs could or actually do

achieve this goal. According to (Devecchi and Rouse, 2010, p. 92), “TAs

play a fundamental, although still misunderstood and poorly researched, role

in supporting the school, the children, the teachers and the curriculum”.

Indeed, without the necessary research, it is difficult to evaluate the

effectiveness of the work undertaken by TAs inside and outside the

classroom and how this could be improved, if needed. As (Rubie-Davies et

al., 2010, p. 429) state, “little is known about the practice and effectiveness of

TAs working in classrooms and the extent to which TAs interact similarly to

teachers”. They argue that “given the growing presence of TAs in classrooms

and their increasingly instructional, pedagogical role, it seems vital to address

the nature and possible educational effectiveness of TAs with pupils and to

describe their interactions in terms of what we might expect from effective

teachers” (Rubie-Davies et al., 2010, p. 432).

3

It seems that, over the years, the TA role has evolved from a support figure,

focused on pupils with special education needs and on reducing teachers’

workload, to an instructor figure (Cremin, Thomas, and Vincett, 2003;

Clayton, 1993), complementing and/or expanding the learning process of

every student. The TA’s role in relation to pupils can be seen from two

different perspectives: one direct, in the sense of interacting directly with

pupils and the other indirect, in the sense of aiding the teacher. As Blatchford

et al. (2004) found in their study of the effect and role of Teaching Assistants

in English Primary schools (Years 4 to 6), “the TA’s role was predominantly a

direct one and in this sense their role was predominantly pedagogical”. This

shift towards the teachers’ recognition of the instructional and pedagogical

value of the TA both inside and outside the classroom is not exclusive to

primary schools but it is also being adopted by secondary schools.

As example of this, we could mention the High-level Teaching Assistant,

Cover Supervisor and Learning Mentor. However, this paper focuses on

analysing the important contribution to the development of pupils’ foreign

language skills made by Native Teaching Assistants (NTAs) in secondary

schools. NTAs’ participation inside and outside the classroom demonstrates

the duality discussed above. They not only support teachers and students in

everyday tasks, but they are responsible for improving students’ proficiency

in the target language through the delivery of planed individual or group

lessons.

4

If the effectiveness of the TA role is not entirely understood, that of the NTA

is even less so. As is the case with the benefits brought about by the

presence of a TA in primary and secondary schools, it is widely accepted that

interaction with a native speaker of the target language is beneficial for

improving students’ foreign language skills. However, little is known about

how effective the NTA can be in producing this improvement or whether they

produce any at all, due to a lack of research about the topic. This study aims

to offer an insight into NTA practice to determine whether it has an impact on

students’ proficiency and attainment and whether this impact is significant. It

presents an overview of what the existing literature on the topic considers to

be the main skills that NTA instruction and interaction helps to develop:

conversation, grammar, listening, reading, writing and cultural understanding

of the countries in which the target language is spoken. It discusses general

issues related with their deployment and function, student and teacher

attitudes towards NTAs, NTA-teacher collaboration, how effective NTAs are

in enhancing students’ language proficiency and how their services could be

better utilised.

5

Once the theoretical considerations about NTAs’ effectiveness in the

classroom environment have been discussed, this study goes on to compare

these considerations with what is actually happening in the context of an

English secondary school that has a Spanish NTA, through a case study. It

collects, presents and analyses various data through different methods, in an

effort to guarantee a wide range of opinions that add validity to the study. A

discussion of the findings follows, where some recommendations for

improvement are given accordingly. Finally, the conclusion of the study

reflects on the whole process, it repercussions, relevancy and value, with

special attention to its limitations and future recommendations.

Literature Review

6

The TA role has been traditionally associated with supporting students with

special needs in schools especially designed for this purpose. Even today,

when their presence is well established in mainstream schools and

increasing year after year, the TA is still thought to be the person responsible

for meeting students’ Special Education Needs (Alborz, Pearson, Farrell, and

Howes, 2009). This association of TAs with Special Education Needs (SEN)

was reinforced by the publication of the Green Paper, Excellence for All

Children: Meeting Special Educational Needs (DfES, 1997), which

anticipated an increased number of TAs in mainstream schools due to the

necessity of supporting the children with special needs statements that are

receiving their education in mainstream settings. However, the subsequent

publication, Green Paper, Teachers Meeting the Challenge of Change (DfES,

1998), contemplated the expansion of the TA’s functions towards providing

general support, not only to students with SEN.

As a result, a new range of supporting staff roles has been developed to help

teachers tackle workload and raise academic standards. In Blatchford et al.’s

(2006) report titled The deployment and impact of support staff in schools,

they differentiated seven different groups within these new roles.

The seven groups were:

1. TA Equivalent (TA, LSA (SEN pupils), nursery nurse, therapist).

2. Pupil Welfare (Connexions personal advisor, education welfare officer, home-school

liaison officer, learning mentor, nurse and welfare assistant).

3. Technical and Specialist Staff (ICT network manager, ICT technician, librarian, science

technician and technology technician).

7

4. Other Pupil Support Staff (bilingual support officer, cover supervisor, escort, exam

invigilator, language assistant, midday assistant and midday supervisor).

5. Facilities Staff (cleaner, cook, and other catering staff).

6. Administrative Staff (administrator/clerk, bursar, finance officer, office manager, secretary,

attendance officer, data manager, examination officer, and PA to the headteacher).

7. Site Staff (caretaker and premises manager).

Blatchford et al. (2008) also agree that “TA rapid growth in numbers in

primary and secondary schools is an effort to raise standards for all pupils”.

In their study they indicate that the number of TAs then exceeded 100,000

(DfES, 2002) an increase of over 50% since 1997. In addition, over the next

six years there was a continued expansion in the numbers of TAs, with

figures indicating that there were 176,900 support staff in schools by 2008,

the vast majority of whom were TAs. In November 2010, this figure reached

201,800 in secondary schools only, 64,600 of them TAs (DfES & ONS,

2011). These measures were intended to help schools improve teaching and

learning conditions. However, as Farrell et al. (2010, p. 437) state, “despite

the rapid increase in the number of TAs now working in schools, which has

broadly been welcomed, there remains continuing uncertainty about their

impact in relation to raising academic standards”.

8

The literature available offers different points of view about the reasons

behind this uncertainty. Some academics claim that there is very little or

poorly conducted research about the effectiveness of TA work inside and

outside the classroom (Devecchi and Rouse, 2010). The insufficient amount

of research means that, as Blatchford et al. (2006, p. 6) observe, "there are

currently significant gaps in knowledge about many aspects of support staff –

their levels of training and qualifications, their recruitment and retention, and

on their deployment”. Therefore, while some studies have highlighted the

benefits of the work done by TAs for both teachers and students (Tucker,

2009; Lee, 2003; Ofsted 2002; Neil, 2002, Wilson et al. 2002; Schlapp et al.,

2001), there is still some controversy among the research community and

questioning of these positive opinions (Farrell et al., 2010; Alborz, Pearson,

Farrell and Howes 2009; Giangreco 2007; Woolfson and Truswell, 2005;

Goddard and Ryall, 2002; French, 2001). This controversy was particularly

pronounced following the publication of Blatchford’s et al. (2009) report, in

which they discover that there seems to be a negative relationship between

the amount of support a student receives and the progress this student is

able to make in core national curriculum subjects. In essence “the more

support pupils received, the less progress they made” (Blatchford’s et al.

2009, as cited by Farrell et al, 2010, p. 435). This discouraging statement

confirmed Butt and Lance’s (2005, pp. 141-142) views about the need to

introduce some changes in the deployment of TAs in primary and secondary

schools if an improvement in students’ attainment is to be achieved. They

suggest as the main areas for improvement:

9

“The need for more involvement of teaching assistants in lesson planning; greater

collaboration between teaching assistants and teachers to review pupil progress and make

future plans; more training for teaching assistants in their expanding roles; clear role

definition and role specification and more training for teachers in managing other adults with

whom they work”.

This underlines the fact that there does not seem to be a homogeneous use

of TAs by teachers (Woolfson and Truswell, 2005), with no clear directions of

where to deploy them or how to do so. Tulane and Beckert (2011, p. 45)

express the same concern about the lack of understanding of how to deploy

TAs effectively in their study conducted in American universities, stating that

“in order for teaching assistants to provide the most help to students...[they]

must clearly know what the cooperating professor intends the students to

know”.

This uncertainty also extends to the benefits TAs can bring to the teaching

process. Ofsted’s (2002, pp. 8-9) report also pointed out that a better

communication, prior intervention and increased collaboration between

teacher and TA is needed. It stated:

“Teaching assistants support teachers best when they work closely with them and have the

knowledge and skills to carry out the tasks assigned to them. Where teaching assistants are

insufficiently or superficially briefed, or have inadequate subject knowledge, they sometimes

become more concerned with the completion of the task rather than the improvement in

pupils’ knowledge, skills and understanding”.

10

Other researchers argue that, although previous studies claim that the work

of TAs has a positive impact on teaching, in particular in relation to

decreasing teacher’s stress levels and workload and increasing their job

satisfaction (Blatchford et al., 2006), they fail to show any evidence of how

this is achieved. In Alborz, Pearson, Farrell and Howes’ (2009, p. 17) review

of some of the literature available about the impact of adult support staff on

pupils and mainstream schools, they report that “although a number of

studies were identified in relation to impacts on teaching, none provided

detailed analysis of the mechanisms involved”. Therefore, in order to

determine good practice, it is important that researchers include in their

studies details of how outcomes were achieved to be able to evaluate and

measure any benefits.

11

Another point of view expressed in the existing literature about TAs’ ability to

make an impact on pupils’ attainment is that TA interactions with students

strongly influence the effectiveness of their work (Rubie-Davies et al., 2010;

Blatchford, Bassett, Brown, Koutsoubou, et al., 2009). In this respect, the

factors considered by these studies are the number of interactions and their

quality. These researchers maintain that students “had very different types of

contact with teachers and TAs”. Students’ interaction with teachers, in

particular when they do not have any learning support needs, occurs in an

environment where the teacher has to concentrate his/her efforts on

providing the greatest amount of support to the whole classroom, with very

little time for individual attention. On the other hand, in students’ interaction

with TAs, they tend to be the focus of attention and have more active and

sustained exchanges. Thus, as students have more contact with TAs, they

have less interaction with teachers. “In practice, therefore, TAs do not

provide additional support but alternative support (Blatchford, Bassett,

Brown, Koutsoubou, et al., 2009, as cited by Rubie-Davies et al., 2010, p.

430).This individual and alternative support offered by TAs can form the

basis for improving student achievement, as long as it is well organised and

orientated according to both the teacher’s direction and the students’

academic needs.

12

This difference in the nature of the interaction and support received from

teacher and TA is especially significant in secondary schools settings, where

“TAs are less likely to deal with whole classes and more likely to deal with

small groups” (UNISON, 2002, p. 12). An example of this is the role played

by the NTA in supporting students’ learning of a foreign language. In contrast

to the work of TAs, supporting primary school students through a wide range

of tasks and activities related to numerous aspects of the National

Curriculum, the NTA function in secondary schools is much narrower,

focused on developing students’ proficiency in the target language. The

NTA’s contribution to the improvement of students’ foreign language skills is

regarded as crucial (In-Jae, 2010;Zyzik, 2008; Morin, 2007; Rolling, 2006).

However, when looking for previously conducted research to establish the

factors that are behind the NTA’s ability to produce this improvement, there is

little to be found, if any. The few papers that discuss the topic do not seem to

agree on either the terminology to use when referring to the role or the

benefits that this role brings to the teaching and learning of a foreign

language.

13

Indeed, the NTA role has a wide range of definitions and terminology

associated with it, according to the background of the study, its purpose and

the researcher’s point of view. Thus, the literature uses terms like Bilingual

Teaching Assistant (Thompson, 1999; Gao and Shum, 2010), Foreign

Language Teaching Assistant (Hunt et al., 2005; Feng, 2009), Assistant

Language Teacher (Ohtani, 2010), International Teaching Assistant

(Gorsuch, 2011; Meyers et al., 2010; Petro, 2006) and Native Speaker

Teacher (Sun Hee, Boi Hoang and Yang, 2010; Hertel and Sunderman,

2009; Galloway, 2008, Mahboob, 2005; Davies, 2003). In this paper the term

Native Teaching Assistant (NTA) is used in an effort to add consistency and

coherence to the definition of the role. In relation to the benefits that NTAs

bring to students’ learning of a foreign language, there is a wide range of

factors considered by the literature, focusing on the development of skills

such as communication (Gao and Shum, 2010; Galloway, 2008),

pronunciation (Gilakjani and Ahmadi, 2011; Lord, 2010; Morin, 2007),

grammar (Zyzik, 2008) , writing (Davies, 2003), listening (In-Jae, 2010;

Ohtani, 2010) and cultural competence (Petro, 2006; Rollin, 2006; Feng,

2009). As a result, a variety of opinions supporting diverse points of view can

be found. For example, Gilakjani and Ahmadi (2011, p. 79) state that “native

speakers who encourage conversation, and are not themselves awkward in

cross cultural communication, are one of the biggest boons a learner can

have” and Sun Hee, Boi Hoang and Yang (2010, p. 252) claim that “in many

cases, the motivation of students is triggered and elevated by the desire to

learn about the people and culture behind the target language”. Therefore, in

countries where English is not the first language, the authenticity of the

14

Native English Speaker (NES) teacher’s background can have a positive

influence on students’ attitudes towards learning. NES teachers, who already

have repertoire of idioms and expressions, have also the capacity to create a

realistic and more colourful learning environment. Being aware of subtle

nuances in speech as native speakers, they can explain the finer details and

differences more confidently (Sun Hee, Boi Hoang and Yang, 2010).

However, as has been discussed above, these claims are very difficult to

prove and the studies analysed do not offer a clear answer about how the

work of NTAs really has an impact on students’ proficiency in the target

language.

Furthermore, most of the literature available only refers to native speakers of

English working abroad teaching English as a second language (In-Jae,

2010; Sun Hee, Boi Hoang and Yang, 2010; Shin, 2008; Galloway, 2008),

both as the main teacher or as part of a collaborative teaching program with

a Non Native English teacher. For the purpose of this study, focused on the

work carried out by a native speaker of Spanish supporting the learning of

the Spanish language at a secondary school, prior literature is almost

inexistent, apart from some examples of little relevance based in American

schools (Lord, 2010; Morin, 2007; Elliott, 1995). Therefore, it has been

necessary to combine both the knowledge from the literature about the

impact of TAs on improving students’ attainment with what are generally

accepted as being the benefits that NTAs bring for students’ learning of a

foreign language, in particular to the development of their communication,

pronunciation, grammar, writing, listening and cultural competence skills.

15

Finally, another aspect that is taken into account in this study is teacher and

student attitudes towards the role of the NTA and their perception about

his/her ability to have an impact on both the teaching and learning of a

foreign language, especially in comparison with having only a non-native

teacher of Spanish. This is supported by the findings of Shin's (2008, p. 58)

study, which refers to teacher and student attitudes towards native English

speakers teachers and non-native speakers. Shin states that:

Native speakers are assumed to be superior in linguistic competence as compared to non-

native speakers and are considered owners of proper, authentic English. On the other hand,

non-native English speaking teachers are credited with more conscious knowledge of

grammar, language learning experience that they can share with learners, serving as good

models and, the ability to empathize with language learners.

This is therefore a factor that needs to be considered in this study, due to the

fact that native and non-native teachers are credited with very different skills

and knowledge about the target language. Therefore, they have the ability to

contribute to students’ proficiency with the language in different ways.

16

From this review of the existing literature on the role of the TA, it can be

concluded that the advantages of having the support of an NTA for the

teaching and learning of a foreign language are manifested in two different

ways. On the one hand, the NTA role shares some of the benefits attributed

to a general TA, i.e. reduction of teachers’ workload and positive impact on

their job satisfaction, and alternative support to students due to their personal

expertise. On the other hand, the role is unique in that this personal expertise

can be directly focused on the development of students’ skills, such as oral

communication, pronunciation, grammar, listening, writing, vocabulary and

cultural understanding of the target language country (Spain) to enhance

their proficiency in the foreign language.

Methodology

17

Most science is believed to usually take place within a paradigm: a set of

beliefs and expectations that guide the research. The paradigm helps

researchers to define what questions are important and make decisions

about the proper ways to go about answering them (Kuhn, T.S., 1962). Two

of the better known and most used paradigms in education research are the

quantitative and the qualitative paradigms. Quantitative researchers are

normally interested in the collection of facts. They try to establish

relationships between one set of facts and another in order to draw

conclusions from these relationships. To be able to do this, they can make

use of numerical data obtained by experimenting on individuals and/or

structured questioning. The findings and conclusions derived from this type of

research are open to be generalised and applied to similar contexts (Bell,

2010). On the other hand, qualitative researchers try to understand and

interpret individuals’ opinions, attitudes and perceptions. These researchers

do not necessary rely on numbers to present their findings, but on people’s

beliefs and experiences, creating a clear picture from within (Sharp, 2009).

They maintain that people make decisions and act in accordance with their

subjective understanding of the situations in which they find themselves

(Littlejohn, S. (2000). They show scepticism about the existence of social

fact, arguing that the quantitative approach is not the most suitable when

dealing with social events and human beings (Bell, 2010), providing the

researcher with the ability to interact with the research subjects in their own

language and on their own terms (Kirk & Miller, 1986) .

18

Both paradigms offer the researcher a series of advantages and

disadvantages. This has caused the research community to be divided over

the years into those who believe that quantitative studies are the only way to

produce relevant and reliable knowledge and those who believe that

qualitative approaches are crucial for obtaining valuable information about

the issues surrounding the process of education and the people that are

active participants in it. However, there are occasions when, due to the

nature of certain studies, “researchers that have taken a quantitative

approach drawn on qualitative techniques and vice versa” (Bell, 2010, p.8).

This paper, in its methodological approach, acknowledges the fact that the

rigour and relevance of any research is determined equally by both the

subject of research and the methodology used to conduct it. Therefore, it is

necessary to take into account the fact that different hypotheses and subjects

of study require different approaches. For the purpose of this study, an

interpretative paradigm approach has been taken, based on the assessment

that this approach is the most suitable for both the subject of study (the NTA)

and the context in which study has been conducted (a secondary school),

with the aim of answering the following questions:

Does the work carried out by the NTA contribute to the improvement

of secondary school students’ proficiency in the target language

(Spanish)

Which foreign language skills benefit the most from the intervention of

the NTA?

Could the NTA’s pedagogical and instructional skills be used more

effectively inside and outside the classroom?

19

20

To be able to answer these questions, a case study research method was

adopted. The case study is defined, for the purposes of this research, as the

comprehensive examination of a phenomenon that utilizes naturalistic

methods of gathering evidence, in this case documents, non participant

observations and questionnaires, employing triangulation (Gerring, 2007). It

is necessary to note that the subjects under investigation in a case study are

not perfectly representative of the population, or at least this representation is

questionable. Therefore, homogeneity and generalisation across the

population is not assured (Gerring, 2007). However, a case study was

considered to be the most suitable method for this piece of research due to

its small sample (1 NTA, 3 Spanish teachers and over 40 students) and its

aim to present an insight into a topic barely researched in the past. Case

studies are especially useful when “a subject is being encountered for the

first time or is being considered in a fundamentally new way (Gerring, 2007,

p. 40). It is also important to observe that this research only intents to be

representative of the context in which it took place, giving priority to its

internal validity over its external (Burton and Bartlett, 2009, Anderson, 1990).

21

The data for this research have been collected using a mixed method

approach, combining both interpretative data, through non-participant

observations, and positivist data, with the help of questionnaires and school

documents. The study intends to offer a wide range of variables and contrast

between the different research methods, increasing the credibility and validity

of the results through triangulation. According to Guthrie, (2010, p. 46),

“triangulation is a process of bringing multiple types of data to bear on the

one problem, using the different techniques to study the issue from different

angles”.

22

To establish a general overview of the impact of the NTA on students’

proficiency with the target language, school documents related to students’

Spanish GCSE and A-level results from 2004 to 2010 are analysed, in

particular those referring to the speaking test. It is widely believed that native

speaker teachers are superior in linguistic competence and that they could

help to improve students’ communication skills (Shin, 2008). Therefore, it

would be interesting to see if there is any indication of this in the speaking

test results. These results are all taken from a period after the school first

took on a Spanish NTA in 2001. The main reason for examining both GCSE

and A-level exams is that the NTA spends most of her time supporting

students who are preparing for these exams. The resulting data has been

deconstructed and presented using pie charts for easier interpretation, the

representation of patterns and their possible connection with the work of the

NTA over the years under consideration (Please see appendix 1). In order to

identify patterns, the pie charts are divided by the grade boundaries for the

speaking test paper set by the exam board. In this way, we can easily see

the distribution of the grades achieved every year and are able to

differentiate between good and not so good grades. As Newby (2010, p. 560)

states, “it is often easier to draw conclusions from our research if we can

represent our data in a quantitative way”. However, this paper acknowledges

that the conclusions that might be drawn from this data depend on many

different factors, not exclusively the NTA’s support. Therefore, here this

quantitative approach is used only as a reference and starting point for

discussion of the topic. Despite the complexity of searching through the

school’s archives, it has been possible to collect all the necessary

23

information, with the exception of the 2008 Spanish GCSE results, which

remain absent from this study.

24

In order to accurately illustrate the work carried out by the NTA during

lessons, a number of non-participant observations were conducted using an

observation sheet template designed for this purpose (Please see appendix

3). This template was designed to record the different areas on which the

NTA’s support was really focused: oral communication, pronunciation,

grammar, listening and writing skills, development of vocabulary and

understanding of the culture of the country (Spain). To try to minimize as

much as possible the impact that the researcher’s presence in the classroom

could have on both the NTA and the students, a non-participant approach

was taken. According to O’Hara et al. (2011, p. 184), “a non-participant

observer has to try not to influence the behaviour and actions of [the]

participants but instead must remain neutral and unobtrusive,...allowing the

participants to act as naturally as possible”. Over four weeks, a total of 16

lessons were observed from years 10, 11 and 12, with the aim of determining

whether the students were making any progress in the areas described

above from one session to the next and relating this to the support that they

had received. Using an interpretative approach, these observations aimed to

represent the classroom reality objectively. Keiding (2011, p.113) argued that

“there is no such thing as an objective or neutral observation. That something

is designated as an objective fact simply refers to the circumstance that

various observers agree on what is observed”. This view is supported by

O’Hara et al. (2011, p. 180), who state that “observations also carry [the] risk

that their trustworthiness might be undermined by observer subjectivity or

bias”. Therefore, this paper recognises a certain degree of partiality during

the observation process; not because the observer only saw what he wanted

25

to see, but because the observer always had to interpret what he was seeing.

Another of the difficulties of doing this is the short period of time available in

which to evaluate the students’ progress, taking into account that this

progress does not solely depend on NTA support but also on the Spanish

teachers and the students’ independent work.

26

To contrast the observed classroom reality with perceptions of and attitudes

towards the NTA and her ability to enhance students’ proficiency in the

Spanish language, structured questionnaires were designed and distributed

among Spanish teachers, students and to the NTA (Please see appendix 2).

The purpose of these questionnaires was to obtain the opinions of the people

involved in the teaching and learning processes about the benefits of having

the support of a NTA. Once again, an important factor was to determine in

which way they believe the NTA’s support is having an impact on improving

the skills mentioned above. The questionnaires contain a series a statements

to which the respondents had to show their agreement or disagreement using

a Likert scale. This method was adopted as it is easy to understand and

simple to complete, which was important considering the short amount of

time that the respondents had fill it in. As Brace (2004, p. 9) claims,

“respondents want a questionnaire that poses them questions that they can

answer without too much effort, and that maintains their interest, without

taking up too much of their time”. These points were taken into account when

designing these questionnaires. In addition, the responses had to be

analysed carefully to detect any patterns or biases that could affect the

accuracy of the data obtained. As Brace (2004, p. 181) observes, on

occasion “respondents give inaccurate answers both

consciously...and...without any conscious realization...The researcher must

be aware of these inaccuracies [and] try to minimize them”.

27

Finally, during the data collection process, ethical considerations were taken

into account in order to maintain the anonymity of the participants involved in

this study. For this reason, a deontological approach had been taken, i.e.

complying with the ethical guidelines because it is the right thing to do, as

opposed to complying with the ethical guidelines because of the potential

consequences of not doing so (a consequential approach). Another ethical

consideration was that this study required the participants’ informed consent

in order to make them aware of its purpose and assure them that this data

would not be use for any other reason beyond the completion of this study.

Analysis and findings

The findings of this study are divided into three different categories: students’

GCSE and A-level Spanish speaking test results, questionnaires and

classroom observations. Pie charts are included to summarise and illustrate

the data collected. In order to analyse the findings, the results are compared

with the assertions of the literature considered earlier in this paper about

NTAs’ role in improving students’ foreign language proficiency, in particular

their role in improving students’ oral communication, pronunciation, grammar,

listening and writing skills, development of vocabulary and understanding of

the culture of the country.

Students’ GCSE and A-level Spanish speaking test results from 2004 to

2010

28

The data from the school’s Spanish GCSE and A-levels exams from 2004 to

2010 indicates consistently high attainment in the speaking test. Over the

years, we can see that the majority of grades achieved on this part of the

exam is between A* and A at GCSE level and A and B at A-level, with the

only exception being the 2010 GCSE results, when the majority of grades

obtained were B. The reason for this could be that in 2010, the school

changed the GCSE exam board from AQA to Edexcel, suggesting that these

results could correspond to a period of adaptation for both Spanish teachers

and students to the new scheme. However, further results would have been

needed to prove this point.

In 2006 the school achieved a second specialism in languages following

consistently high exam results and its success as a Technology College. This

explains why, from 2006 to 2009, the students only took the higher GCSE

Spanish speaking test, instead of a mixture of foundation and higher. Given

the fact that the study of Spanish is non-compulsory at this school, the

awarding of the specialist status could also have had a negative impact on

the number of students choosing Spanish as a second language for their

GCSE and A-level exams. Following this award, the school increased its

language provision and now provides Chinese as a second language to the

most able Year 7 students, Spanish to KS4 and Russian and Chinese to KS5

students. In addition, at KS4, the most able students are currently being fast-

tracked to sit GCSE French in Y10, so that they can do a second GCSE in

Spanish in Y11.

29

A combination of these factors could explain the fluctuation in the number of

students taking the GCSE and A-level exams over the years. Particularly

significant is the decrease in students taking the A-level Spanish exam since

it reached its highest point in 2007, when 18 students took it. By 2010, this

number fell to only 7 students. As far as the results achieved on the A-levels

exams are concerned, the data shows that over the years the most frequently

achieved grade in the speaking test is A, most striking in 2010, when over

57% of the students who took the exam obtained that grade. As indicated

above, this was the year with the lowest number of students taking the exam,

only 7, suggesting that there could be a relationship between the number of

students that the NTA is supporting during a particular year and the results

that they are able to achieve in their exams. This hypothesis becomes

stronger when referring to the results achieved in 2008, when the number of

students taking the exam was 8. That year, 50% of the students obtained

grade A. However, the next year, 2009, does not follow the same trend, even

though the same number of students took the exam. In 2009, there was an

equal distribution of grades A, B, C and D, two students (25%) achieving

each of these grades. Also, in 2007, the year with the highest number of

students taking the exam, 18, the results were not significantly lower in

comparison with the following years. That year, over 22% of students

achieved a grade A, with a similar proportion of them achieving grade B.

However, it is interesting to note that in 2007 the modal grade was D, at

almost 28%. Therefore, in order to gain a better understanding of this

possible relationship, a deeper and more extensive analysis of both GCSE

and A-level results would be needed.

30

The data generated by the school’s GCSE and A-level results could suggest

that the support of the NTA has a positive impact on the development of

students’ oral skills. However it would have been preferable for the purpose

of this study to have had some of the students’ exams results prior the school

first taking on a Spanish NTA in 2001, which, unfortunately, were not

available. If this had been the case, results from before and after the

installation of the NTA could have been compared and the conclusions

generated would have been, perhaps, less ambiguous.

Nevertheless, the patterns presented in the pie charts do show an increase in

students’ performance over the years.

The question remains as to what part, if any, the NTA played in this

improvement. As this study was designed to focus on the role of the NTA, its

limitations did not allow for thorough consideration of all of the factors that

might improve student attainment, such as alternative ways in which the

teacher might choose to deploy the NTA and a better understanding of the

teaching and learning strategies that could lead to higher results. In an

attempt to clarify to some extent the other factors which might be behind

variations in student attainment, the data gathered from questionnaires and

classroom observations have been analysed in the sections below.

Questionnaires

31

The questionnaires were designed to find out, among other relevant

questions, how Spanish teachers, students and the NTA perceive the role of

the NTA. Spanish teachers were asked to identify which language skills they

believed the NTA’s support should focus on improving. Students, on the

other hand, were asked about which foreign language skills they believed the

NTA’s support was helping them to develop. Finally, these opinions were

compared with the views expressed by the NTA, who was asked what she

understood the focus of her lessons should be. To determine the range of

foreign language skills that were going to be included in the questionnaires, it

was necessary to draw from the points made in the studies quoted in the

literature review, for example Sun Hee, Boi Hoang and Yang (2010); Gao

and Shum (2010); In-Jae (2010); Ohtani (2010); Feng (2009); Galloway

(2008); Shin (2008); Morin (2007); Elliot (2005); Mahboob, (2005) and Davies

(2003). In these studies, the dichotomy of the native speaker teacher and the

non-native speaker teacher is observed from various perspectives, in an

effort to determine which of them is the most suitable to teach any particular

aspect of a language. Through classroom observations, questionnaires and

interviews with native speaker teachers, non-native speaker teachers and

students, these researchers collected data that allowed them to outline the

advantages and disadvantages of the native speaker teacher against the

non-native speaker for teaching a foreign language, in this case, English.

These advantages and disadvantages were related to a native speaker

teacher’s ability to improve students’ proficiency in the areas of oral

communication, pronunciation, grammar, listening, writing, vocabulary and

understanding of the culture of the country. They show that native speaker

32

teachers are credited with better linguistic competence for improving

students’ oral, pronunciation and listening skills, vocabulary and

understanding of the culture of the country (Galloway, 2008). On the other

hand, non-native speaker teachers are generally perceived to have a better

knowledge of the foreign language grammar, therefore they are seen to be

more suitable for enhancing students’ grammar and writing skills. In addition,

they are able to empathise with them through the sharing of their language

learning experience (Shin, 2008). All of these factors were considered in the

design of the questionnaires in an attempt to establish the real impact of the

NTA’s support on improving students’ development in each of the areas

discussed above.

The data presented in graph 1 show that Spanish teachers, students and the

NTA seem to agree on the importance of supporting the development of

students’ foreign language oral skills. It is the only area to which all the

participants in the questionnaire gave a score of 4 or higher, the development

of vocabulary and pronunciation skills scoring just a little less.

33

Oral Sk

ills

Pronuntiati

on

Grammar

skills

Listen

ing skil

ls

Writing s

kills

Vocabular

y

Cultural

aspect

s of th

e country

0

1

2

3

4

5

Spanish teachersNTAStudents

Graph 1: NTA’s contribution to the development of students' Spanish language skills: teachers’, students’ and NTA’s perception of the role. Results based on a five point Liker scale where 1 means totally disagree and 5 strongly agree.

34

These results confirm Gilakjani and Ahmadi’s (20011); Sun Hee, Boi Hoang,

and Yang’s (2010); In-Jae’s (2010); Ohtani’s (2010); Galloway’s (2008) and

Shin’s (2008) views about the advantages of having a native speaker

teachers for teaching a foreign language over a non-native speaker teacher.

The data could also suggest that Spanish teachers’ general approach to

making use of the NTA to enhance students’ Spanish language skills is to

support their oral skills in particular. In addition, during conversations with the

students, it became clear that the NTA might help them to develop their

confidence and self-esteem while using the language in semi-real life

situations. The NTA also serves as a model for the students in terms of the

correct rhythm, intonation and pronunciation of the foreign language,

meanwhile the students are able to consolidate and expand their vocabulary.

A combination of all these factors could explain why overall, oral skills,

pronunciation and vocabulary received the highest score.

35

However, graph 1 also shows that there is a major difference between the

Spanish language skills that the NTA believes she should be focusing on

improving and the skills that students claim they have been able to develop

thanks to the NTA’s support. For instance, the NTA did not rate the

importance of supporting the development of students’ pronunciation skills

highly, scoring it only 3 out of 5. Students, on the other hand, thought that her

support had allowed them to greatly improve their pronunciation skills, giving

this area a score of almost 5. This disagreement is especially significant in

the area of grammar skills, which the NTA gave a score of only 2, while the

students gave it a score of 4. This fact contradicts the findings of Shin (2008),

who questions native speaker teachers’ ability to improve students’ grammar

skills, suggesting that non-native speaker teachers are better prepared to do

so thanks to their superior knowledge of the topic.

36

In other areas the situation is the inverse of the trend described above, where

students perceive benefits that the NTA does not. For example, the NTA

gave a score of 5 to listening skills and vocabulary, whereas the students’

score for both of these was lower than 4. The difference in how NTA and

students perceive the role and its function corroborate Tulane and Beckert's

(2011) and Woolfson and Truswell’s (2005) concerns about the lack of

understanding of how to deploy TAs effectively, when they claim that

teachers should give clearer directions to TAs about what they intend the

students to know. Graph 2 illustrates, therefore, that if teachers’ deployment

of the NTA is not properly adjusted to students’ academic needs, the NTA’s

and students’ efforts will be going in different directions. In this respect, graph

2 illustrates the Spanish teachers’ and NTA’s perception of how well the NTA

understands the purpose of the activities undertaken with the students, and

the students’ perception of how well they understand the purpose of these

activities.

Spanish Teachers NTA Students0

1

2

3

4

5

Graph 2: Spanish teachers’, NTA’s and students’ perception of their understanding of the purpose of the activities. Results based on a five point Liker scale where 1 means totally disagree and 5 strongly agree.

37

Spanish teachers rated the NTA’s understanding of the purpose of the

activities they carry out with just over 3 points out of five. They might be

suggesting that, on occasion, the NTA either does not fully understand what

the Spanish teachers want her to do or she does not know how to do it. On

the other hand, the NTA believed that she understood the purpose of the

lessons most of the time, rating this part of the questionnaire with a 4. In

addition, students thought that they generally understood the purpose of the

activities, giving this a score of over 4 points. This does not explain why, if

both NTA and students seem to fully understand the purpose of the lessons,

there is not a stronger relationship between what the NTA thinks she should

be doing and what the students believe the NTA’s work is helping them to

develop.

Classroom observations

The classroom observations conducted offer a better understanding of the

way in which the NTA’s support is focused to improve the skills that have

been discussed above, i.e. oral communication, pronunciation, grammar,

listening and writing skills, development of vocabulary and understanding of

the culture of the country (Spain). The results of these observations are

illustrated on graph 3.

38

Oral Sk

ills

Pronuntiati

on

Grammar

skills

Listen

ing skil

ls

Writing s

kills

Vocabular

y

Culture

aspect

s of th

e country

0

1

2

3

4

5

Year 10 studentsYear 11 studentsYear 12 studentsYear 13 students

Graph 3: Focus of NTA's support during lessons by year group. Results based on a five point Liker scale where 1 means totally disagree and 5 strongly agree.

39

We can see how, during the lessons observed from the different year groups,

the area that received most of the NTA’s support was the development of

students’ oral skills, followed by grammar and vocabulary, although this

distribution of attention was not homogeneous across the four different year

groups. This could sustain the argument that Spanish teachers make use of

the NTA principally to enhance students’ Spanish communication skills. In

addition, it could also be one of the reasons behind the increase in students’

attainment in the Spanish GCSE and A-level speaking test. The data

collected also show that the NTA’s support was focused differently with year

10 and 11 students to with years 12 and 13. The explanation for this could be

that, during the lessons with year 10 and 11 students, the NTA’s support is

orientated towards helping them gain the necessary skills for the GCSE

exam, giving more attention to areas like pronunciation and listening. It could

be argued that for A-level exams, more attention is required in the areas of

grammar and vocabulary and for this reason the NTA’s support for 12 and 13

students might have a different focus. .

However, the most significant aspect is the little attention that the NTA gave

to the development of students’ understanding of the cultural aspects of the

country. This contradicts the Spanish teachers’, NTA’s and students’ views

expressed in the questionnaires, where this area received an average mark

of over 3 points. It seems that this expectation does not match the classroom

reality.

40

Another important aspect considered while observing the NTA’s lessons was

the level of student participation and their approach and response to the

tasks set by the NTA. As expressed by Rubie-Davies et al. (2010) and

Blatchford, Bassett, Brown, Koutsoubou, et al. (2009), the number and

quality of interactions between TAs and Students could have an influence on

the effectiveness of their work. Therefore, the observation of how the

students participate and interact with the NTA during lessons was considered

useful to establish a relationship between interaction and the improvement of

students’ Spanish skills. Graph 4 illustrates the findings in this respect.

Quality

of work

Engag

emen

t with

the t

ask/ta

sks

Motivation an

d determ

ination

Confidence

using t

he targ

et lan

guag

e012345

Year 10 studentsYear 11 studentsYear 12 studentYear 13 student

Graph 4: Student response during the NTA's lessons. Results based on a five point Liker scale where 1 means very poor and 5 excellent.

41

We can see from the information in Graph 4 that year 11 students do not

seem to reach the same levels of quality of work, engagement and

confidence using the language as year 10, 12 and 13. The reason for this

could be that a large number of the year 11 lessons observed were taught to

large groups, i.e. three or more students, in contrast to small groups in year

10 and one-to-one lessons in year 12 and 13. This could suggest that the

quality of the NTA-Students’ interaction is determined by the size of the

group, due to the fact that the NTA has more time for individual attention

(Rubie-Davies et al., 2010; Blatchford, Bassett, Brown, Koutsoubou, et al.,

2009).

Discussion

After analysing the data from this case study it is still unclear whether student

attainment is related to or even dependent on the NTA’s support. However,

there are some signs that could indicate that when this support is orientated

according to students’ academic needs and when the teacher takes full

advantage of the NTA’s expertise and pedagogical value, it could benefit the

development of some foreign languages skills.

42

From this perspective, according to the students’ exams results, the data

collected suggests that the progressive increase in students’ attainment

could have some relation to the NTA’s support. Questionnaires and

classroom observations corroborate the idea that students spend most of

their time with the NTA during lessons engaged in conversations in semi-real

life situations. Therefore, this prolonged interaction with a native speaker

could be an excellent preparatory stage for students’ to meet the GCSE and

A-level speaking exam requirements more effectively. This would support the

findings of Burns and Joyce’s (1997) research, who indicate that what will

help learners of a foreign language most “is plenty of authentic conversation

practice”.

43

In addition, students’ conversations with a native speaker contribute to the

development of other foreign language skills, in particular pronunciation and

vocabulary. As expressed by, among others, Gilakjani and Ahmadi (20011);

In-Jae (2010); Ohtani (2010); Shin (2008); Galloway (2008), when referring to

the figure of the native speaker, his/her superior linguistic competence makes

him/her “the perfect model for students to imitate”. Native speakers are

arguably “in a better position to judge how close to the native-like

pronunciation a student comes and may be more successful [in comparison

with a non-native speaker] in that branch of language teaching (Sun Hee, Boi

Hoang and Yang, 2010). Therefore, the NTA is able to impart the right

pronunciation with less effort than the non-native Spanish teachers. She is in

a position to correct students’ mistakes using words or sentences more

naturally and to have a quicker and more effective impact on students’

development in this area. Furthermore, students’ vocabulary skills are

enhanced thanks to the NTA’s ability to converse in a colloquial manner,

expanding the range of their vocabulary.

44

These views are sustained by the data gathered through the questionnaires,

which shows that pronunciation and vocabulary are two of the highest rated

areas by both the NTA and the students. The classroom observations data,

on the other hand, does not agree completely with these opinions. Even

though it seems that the NTA dedicated a large part of the lessons to

supporting students’ development of vocabulary, pronunciation is not one of

the areas that received much of the NTA’s attention, especially when

teaching year 12 and 13 students. This fact was previously highlighted on

Morin’s (2007) and Elliot’s (1995; 1997) studies, who observe that the

teaching of the correct pronunciation of a foreign language generally receives

“more attention in the first years of study as it introduces the foreign

language’s alphabet and sound system, but rarely continues this focus past

the introductory level”. Elliot (1995) also maintains that teachers tend to view

pronunciation as “the least useful of the basic language skills”. Therefore,

the NTA might relegate the teaching of pronunciation to a second plane “in

order to spend valuable class time [supporting] other areas of language”.

45

However, the biggest disagreement between the data collected through the

questionnaires and that collected through classroom observations refers to

the teaching of cultural competence. On the one hand, Spanish teachers and

the NTA considered this to be one of the areas in which the NTA plays an

important role. Furthermore, students claimed that, thanks to the NTA’s

support, they have widened their knowledge in this area. On the other hand,

the classroom observations conducted did not show any indication of this

kind of support taking place. This contradicts the opinions of researchers like

Feng (2009), Allen and Davies (2009) and Rollin (2006) about the importance

of teaching cultural competence. Students’ initial motivation when learning a

foreign language is merely communicational, whereas later their motivation

reflects their desire to continue learning about the second language culture

(Gilakjani and Ahmadi, 2011). Therefore, in order to maintain students’ high

levels of engagement and motivation for learning a second language, the

teaching of cultural aspects of the country should be prioritised. In addition, it

is necessary to combine the teaching of the foreign language skills needed to

gain a certain level of proficiency with “personal growth, cultural awareness

and social skills” (Allan and Davies, 2009).

46

At this point, it should be noted once again that students’ attainment could be

related to other factors beyond the NTA’s support. For instance, in 2006 the

school was awarded specialist language status. As a result, its language

provision increased, teaching and learning standards were raised and

students were encouraged to become more involved in the learning of a

foreign language, for instance, year 11 students were offered the opportunity

to do a second GCSE in Spanish. The exam results analysed indicate that

these developments could have changed the school’s approach to language

teaching, showing that since 2006 students went from taking both foundation

and higher speaking tests to only higher, signifying that Spanish teachers

might have greater expectations about students’ capabilities.

47

Another of the key points that has arisen from the analysis of the findings of

this research is the disagreement between the NTA’s and the students’

perception of the NTA role and its function. This could suggest that the NTA

is not used by the different Spanish teachers for the same purpose and that

the level of communication between them and the NTA could also differ. In

this respect, the questionnaires help to clarify these assumptions, showing

that while 2 of the 3 teachers asked believed that the NTA normally

understands the purpose of her lesson in relation to what the teachers want

her to do, the answer of the third teacher disagrees with this opinion. This

confirms that there does seem to be a lack of understanding of how to deploy

the NTA effectively, (Tulane and Beckert, 2011). Therefore, to maximise

teachers’ chances of deploying the NTA more effectively and taking full

advantage of the pedagogical values of the role (Rubie-Davies et al., 2010),

the setting of homogenous standards for practice is needed (Woolfson and

Truswell’s, 2005). The way towards setting these standards could be to

implement training for both Spanish teachers and NTAs (Tulane and Beckert,

2011; Webster et al, 2011; Rubie-Davies et al, 2010; Tucker, 2009; Butt and

Lance, 2005). Hunt et al. (2005) suggest that both parties can benefit from

this training, which should develop “classroom teachers’ subject knowledge

and expertise”; and be orientated to “native speakers and FLAs [Foreign

Language Assistants (NTA)] who do not have the requisite methodological

knowledge”. However, this case study found through the responses to the

questionnaires that neither Spanish teachers nor NTA received much specific

training prior or during their professional relationship. Additionally, not all

Spanish teachers seemed to agree that they would make better use of the

48

NTA for supporting their lessons if they received the right training. This

contradicts the NTA’s opinion, who considered that she would support

students’ learning more effectively if she received the right training.

Finally, the interaction between NTA and students must be considered. It

appears that students who normally interact with the NTA individually or in

small groups (2 students) show higher levels of engagement motivation and

quality of work, in comparison with students whose interaction with the NTA

takes place in larger groups (3 students or more). Therefore, it could be

concluded that the NTA’s support was more effective when she was able to

provide individual attention to the students (Blatchford, Bassett, Brown,

Koutsoubou, et al., 2009, as cited by Rubie-Davies et al., 2010, p. 430). It

also indicates that the Spanish teachers’ deployment of the NTA to support

groups of students outside the classroom in this school might be the right

approach, producing better outcomes that her deployment inside the

classroom to support the whole group. However, this study did not have the

opportunity to verify this hypothesis, as further research would be needed to

do so.

Conclusions

The purpose of this case study research was to offer an insight into the role

of the NTA, and in which way the NTA’s support could have an impact on

students’ proficiency in the target language (Spanish), according to the way

that it is deployed by the Spanish teachers.

49

The objectives set at the beginning of this study have been met, although it is

necessary to acknowledge that the conclusions drawn from its findings only

can only be applied to the context in which the study took place. Therefore, in

this particular school, the NTA’s support does seem to contribute to the

improvement of some of students’ foreign language skills, in particular the

areas of communication, pronunciation and development of vocabulary.

In addition, this study has established a relationship between the type of NTA

interaction with the students and the effectiveness of her support. Thus, in

order to take greater advantage of an NTA’s pedagogical and instructional

skills, teachers’ deployment of the NTA should consider both the environment

and the group size. In this respect, the approach taken by the majority of the

school’s Spanish teachers of making use of the NTA to support small groups

of students outside the classroom appears to be most effective.

The main limitations of this study were the short amount of time available in

which to conduct the classroom observations and the small sample of

students observed, due to timetabling constrains. Therefore, even though the

NTA’s support was generally beneficial for the students observed, a bigger

sample might have shown something different. In addition, the artefacts

collected did not offer sufficient information to reach more definite conclusion.

Data from the period when the school did not have the role of the NTA in

place, i.e. prior to 2001, would have been needed to further test this study’s

hypotheses.

50

In order to resolve the doubts which have arisen in this case study research,

further research is recommended, especially considering that, to date, there

seems to be a big gap in the knowledge of this field. To gain a better

understanding of the effectiveness of the NTA role, a larger range of contexts

and bigger samples would need to be analysed than those which were

available for use in this study. By doing this, the findings of this study could

be validated or contradicted and a firmer base would be established for

taking on the recommendations made.

51

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56

Appendix 1

23.40%

27.65%23.40%

17.02%

6.38%

2004 Spanish GCSE results: Speaking test foundation tier (Max. Score 36)*

Percentage of students whose result is between 19 and 36 (Grade C)Percentage of students whose result is between 15 and 18 (Grade D)Percentage of students whose result is between 11 and 14 (Grade E)Percentage of students whose result is between 8 and 10 (Grade F)Percentage of students which result is 7 or lower (Grade G)

Total number of studenst: 47

*The score correspond to the scale set by the AQA exam board for 2004.

6.25

18.75%

18.75%

18.75%

18.75%

18.75%

2004 Spanish GCSE results: Speaking test higher tier (Max. Score 40)*

Percentage of students whose result is between 32 and 40 (Grade A*)Percentage of students whose result is between 27 and 31 (Grade A)Percentage of students whose result is between 23 and 26 (Grade B)Percentage of students whose result is between 20 and 22 (Grade C)Percentage of students whose result is between 16 and 19 (Grade D)Percentage of students whose result is 15 or lower (Grade E)

Total number of studenst: 16

*The score correspond to the scale set by the AQA exam board for 2004.

57

33.33%

25%

41.66%

2004 Spanish A-levels results: Speaking test (Max. Score 90)*

Percentage of students whose result is between 72 and 90 (Grade A)Percentage of students whose result is between 63 and 71 (Grade B)Percentage of students whose result is between 54 and 62 (Grade C)Percentage of students whose result is between 45 and 53 (Grade D)Percentage of students whose results is 44 or lower (Grade E)

*The score correspond to the maximum uniform mark set by the Edexcel exam board for 2004.

33.33%

22.22%

11.11%

22.22%

2005 Spanish GCSE results: Speaking test foundation tier (Max. Score 36)*

Percentage of students whose result is between 18 and 36 (Grade C)Percentage of students whose result is between 14 and 17 (Grade D)Percentage of students whose result is between 10 and 13 (Grade E)Percentage of students whose result is between 7 and 9 (Grade F)Percentage of students which result is 6 or lower (Grade G)

Total number of studenst: 9

*The score correspond to the scale set by the AQA exam board for 2005.

58

Total number of

students: 12

25%

31.81%34.09%

6.81%

11.36%

2.27%

2005 Spanish GCSE results: Speaking test higher tier (Max. Score 40)*

Percentage of students whose result is between 32 and 40 (Grade A*)Percentage of students whose result is between 26 and 31 (Grade A)Percentage of students whose result is between 22 and 25 (Grade B)Percentage of students whose result is between 19 and 21 (Grade C)Percentage of students whose result is between 14 and 18 (Grade D)Percentage of students whose result is 13 or lower (Grade E)

Total number of studenst: 44

*The score correspond to the scale set by the AQA exam board for 2005.

46.15%

23.07%

23.07%

7.69%

2005 Spanish A-levels results: Speaking test (Max. Score 90)*

Percentage of students whose result is between 72 and 90 (Grade A)Percentage of students whose result is between 63 and 71 (Grade B)Percentage of students whose result is between 54 and 62 (Grade C)Percentage of students whose result is between 45 and 53 (Grade D)Percentage of students whose results is 44 or lower (Grade E)

*The score correspond to the maximum uniform mark set by the Edexcel exam board for 2005.

59

Total number of

students: 13

Total number of

students: 13

56.22%30.43%

8.69%

4.34%

2006 Spanish GCSE results: Speaking test higher tier (Max. Score 40)*

Percentage of students whose result is between 32 and 40 (Grade A*)Percentage of students whose result is between 26 and 31 (Grade A)Percentage of students whose result is between 22 and 25 (Grade B)Percentage of students whose result is between 19 and 21 (Grade C)Percentage of students whose result is between 14 and 18 (Grade D)Percentage of students whose result is 13 or lower (Grade E)

Total number of studenst: 46

*The score correspond to the scale set by the AQA exam board for 2006.

33.33%

50%

8.33%

8.33%

2006 Spanish A-levels results: Speaking test (Max. Score 90)*

Percentage of students whose result is between 72 and 90 (Grade A)Percentage of students whose result is between 63 and 71 (Grade B)Percentage of students whose result is between 54 and 62 (Grade C)Percentage of students whose result is between 45 and 53 (Grade D)Percentage of students whose results is 44 or lower (Grade E)

*The score correspond to the maximum uniform mark set by the Edexcel exam board for 2006.

60

Total number of

students: 12

14.28%

37.14%25.71%

11.42%

8.57%

2.85%

2007 Spanish GCSE results: Speaking test higher tier (Max. Score 40)*

Percentage of students whose result is between 32 and 40 (Grade A*)Percentage of students whose result is between 26 and 31 (Grade A)Percentage of students whose result is between 22 and 25 (Grade B)Percentage of students whose result is between 19 and 21 (Grade C)Percentage of students whose result is between 14 and 18 (Grade D)Percentage of students whose result is 13 or lower (Grade E)

Total number of studenst: 35

*The score correspond to the scale set by the AQA exam board for 2007.

22.22%

22.22%

5.55%

27.77%

16.66%

2007 Spanish A-levels results: Speaking test (Max. Score 90)*

Percentage of students whose result is between 72 and 90 (Grade A)Percentage of students whose result is between 63 and 71 (Grade B)Percentage of students whose result is between 54 and 62 (Grade C)Percentage of students whose result is between 45 and 53 (Grade D)Percentage of students whose results is 44 or lower (Grade E)

Total number of students: 18

*The score correspond to the maximum uniform mark set by the Edexcel exam board for 2007.

61

50.00%

25%

25%

2008 Spanish A-levels results: Speaking test (Max. Score 90)*

Percentage of students whose result is between 72 and 90 (Grade A)Percentage of students whose result is between 63 and 71 (Grade B)Percentage of students whose result is between 54 and 62 (Grade C)Percentage of students whose result is between 45 and 53 (Grade D)Percentage of students whose results is 44 or lower (Grade E)

Total number of stu-dents: 8

*The score correspond to the maximum uniform mark set by the Edexcel exam board for 2008.

42.22%

17.77%

20%

8.88%

6.66%

4.44%

2009 Spanish GCSE results: Speaking test higher tier (Max. Score 40)*

Percentage of students whose result is between 32 and 40 (Grade A*)Percentage of students whose result is between 26 and 31 (Grade A)Percentage of students whose result is between 22 and 25 (Grade B)Percentage of students whose result is between 19 and 21 (Grade C)Percentage of students whose result is between 14 and 18 (Grade D)Percentage of students whose result is 13 or lower (Grade E)

Total number of studenst: 45

*The score correspond to the scale set by the AQA exam board for 2009.

62

25.00%

25%25%

25%

2009 Spanish A-levels results: Speaking test (Max. Score 90)*

Percentage of students whose result is between 72 and 90 (Grade A)Percentage of students whose result is between 63 and 71 (Grade B)Percentage of students whose result is between 54 and 62 (Grade C)Percentage of students whose result is between 45 and 53 (Grade D)Percentage of students whose results is 44 or lower (Grade E)

Total number of students: 8

*The score correspond to the maximum uniform mark set by the Edexcel exam board for 2009.

14.28%

28.57%

47.61%

11.90%

4.76% 2.38%

2010 Spanish GCSE results: Speaking Moderated test (Max. Score 90)*

Percentage of students whose result is between 81 and 90 (Grade A*)Percentage of students whose result is between 72 and 80 (Grade A)Percentage of students whose result is between 63 and 71 (Grade B)Percentage of students whose result is between 54 and 62 (Grade C)Percentage of students whose result is between 45 and 53 (Grade D)Percentage of students whose result is 44 or lower (Grade E)

Total number of studenst: 42

*The score correspond to the scale set by the Edexcel exam board for 2010.

63

57.14%28.57%

14.28%

2010 Spanish A-levels results: Speaking test (Max. Score 70)*

Percentage of students whose result is between 54 and 70 (Grade A)Percentage of students whose result is between 48 and 53 (Grade B)Percentage of students whose result is between 42 and 47 (Grade C)Percentage of students whose result is between 36 and 41 (Grade D)Percentage of students whose results is 35 or lower (Grade E)

Total number of students: 7

*The score correspond to the maximum uniform mark set by the Edexcel exam board for 2010.

64

Appendix 2

THE NATIVE TEACHING ASSISTANT (NTA) AS A RESOURCE FOR ENHANCING STUDENTS’ PROFICIENCY IN THE SPANISH LANGUAGE

Teaching staff questionnaire(Please show your agreement to the following statements, 1 being totally disagree and 5 strongly agree)

1. NTA’s role and responsibilities - The school provided an appropriate job description

to the NTA. 1 2 3 4 5

- The NTA is provided with an effective school induction

programme. 1 2 3 4 5

- NTAs are given time for preparation, meetings and

other administrative tasks. 1 2 3 4 5

-The school’s staff development plan considers the

NTA’s development needs. 1 2 3 4 5

- The school provides adequate support for teachers in

relation to the management of the NTA. 1 2 3 4 5

- I meet with the NTA regularly to discuss

and improve the quality of our partnership. 1 2 3 4 5

2. Teachers’ use of the NTA for supporting students’ learning progress- My teaching approach and planning take into account

the NTA’s capabilities. 1 2 3 4 5

- I recognise and make use of the NTA’s previous experience

and skills to support students’ learning. 1 2 3 4 5

- The NTA understands the purpose of lessons’

activities. 1 2 3 4 5

- I believe that NTA’s support should focus on

developing students’ oral communication skills. 1 2 3 4 5

- I believe that NTA’s support should focus on

developing students’ pronunciation skills. 1 2 3 4 5

65

- I believe that the NTA’s support should focus on

developing students’ grammar skills. 1 2 3 4 5

- I believe that the NTA’s support should focus on

developing students’ listening skills. 1 2 3 4 5

- I believe that the NTA’s support should focus on

developing students’ writing skills. 1 2 3 4 5

- I believe that the NTA’s support should focus on

developing students’ vocabulary. 1 2 3 4 5

- I believe that the NTA’s support should focus on

developing students’ knowledge about the cultural

aspects of the country. 1 2 3 4 5

3. NTA’s training and training opportunities- The NTA received school-based training prior to and

during the development of her job. 1 2 3 4 5

- The NTA received external training prior and during

the development of her job. 12 3 4 5

- I received school-based training about how to

make use of the NTA to support my lessons. 1 2 3 4 5

- I received external training about how

to make use of the NTA to support my lessons. 1 2 3 4 5

- I believe that I would make a better use of the

NTA to support my lesson if I received the

right training. 1 2 3 4 5

- I believe that students’ results would be enhanced

if the NTA received the right training. 1 2 3 4 5

66

In the additional comments box, please feel free to write about anything that hasn’t been covered above.

Thank you for taking the time to give your views.

THE NATIVE TEACHING ASSISTANT (NTA) AS A RESOURCE FOR ENHANCING STUDENTS’ PROFICIENCY IN THE SPANISH LANGUAGE

Native Teaching Assistant questionnaire

(Please show your agreement to the following statements, 1 being totally disagree and 5 strongly agree)

1. NTA’s role and responsibilities

- The school provided me with an appropriate job description

for my role. 1 2 3 4 5

- I received a school induction day prior to starting

my job. 1 2 3 4 5

- I am given time for preparation, meetings and

other administrative tasks. 1 2 3 4 5

-The school’s staff development plan regards my

development needs. 1 2 3 4 5

- I meet with teachers regularly to discuss

and improve the quality of our partnership. 1 2 3 4 5

2. Teachers’ use of the NTA for supporting students’ learning progress

- I am given clear instructions from the teachers about

the purpose of the lessons’ activities. 1 2 3 4 5

- I spend most of my time preparing teaching materials

and lesson activities. 1 2 3 4 5

- I spend most of my time working independently with

groups of students. 1 2 3 4 5

- I spend most of my time working independently with

individual students. 1 2 3 4 5

67

- I believe that I should focus on supporting the

development of students’ oral skills. 1 2 3 4 5

- I believe that I should focus on supporting the

development of students’ pronunciation skills. 1 2 3 4 5

- I believe that I should focus on supporting the

development of students’ grammar skills. 1 2 3 4 5

- I believe that I should focus on supporting the

development of students’ listening skills. 1 2 3 4 5

- I believe that I should focus on supporting the

development of students’ writing skills. 1 2 3 4 5

- I believe that I should focus on supporting the

development of students’ vocabulary. 1 2 3 4 5

- I believe that I should focus on supporting students’

knowledge about the cultural aspects of

the country. 1 2 3 4 5

3. NTA’s training and training opportunities

- I have received effective school-based training prior

to and during my work at the school. 1 2 3 4 5

- I have received external training prior to and

during work at the school. 1 2 3 4 5

- I received school-based training about how to

support students effectively during my lessons. 1 2 3 4 5

- I received external training about how to

support students effectively during my lessons. 1 2 3 4 5

- I believe that I would be able to support students

more effectively if I received the right training. 1 2 3 4 5

- I believe that students’ results would be enhanced

if the I received the right training. 1 2 3 4 5

68

In the additional comments box, please feel free to write about anything that hasn’t been covered above.

Thank you for taking the time to give your views.

THE NATIVE TEACHING ASSISTANT (NTA) AS A RESOURCE FOR ENHANCING STUDENTS’ PROFICIENCY IN THE SPANISH LANGUAGE

Students’ questionnaire

(Please show your agreement to the following statements, 1 being totally disagree and 5 strongly agree)

1. Native Teaching Assistant’s impact on my learning process.

- I am regularly given clear instructions from both

the teachers and the NTA about the purpose

of lessons’ activities. 1 2 3 4 5

- I spend most of my time during lessons working

in groups with the NTA. 12 3 4 5

- I spend most of my time during lessons working

individually with the NTA. 1 2 3 4 5

- I believe that thanks to the NTA I have developed my

oral communication skills. 1 2 3 4 5

- I believe that thanks to the NTA I have developed my

pronunciation skills. 1 2 3 4 5

- I believe that thanks to the NTA I have developed my

grammar skills. 1 2 3 4 5

- I believe that thanks to the NTA I have developed my

listening skills. 1 2 3 4 5

- I believe that thanks to the NTA I have developed my

writing skills. 1 2 3 4 5

- I believe that thanks to the NTA I have developed my

vocabulary. 1 2 3 4 5

- I believe that thanks to the NTA I have gained a better

of the culture of Spain. 1 2 3 4 5

69

In the additional comments box, please feel free to write about anything that hasn’t been covered above. Thank you for taking the time to give your views.

Appendix 3

Classroom observation sheet

Year Group: _____ Date: _______________

Topic: ________________________________________

Activity: _______________________________________

Start time: _______________ End time:_______________

1. Lesson structure:

Cooperative: Large group Small group

Individual: One-to-one

How is the lesson introduced? _____________________________________________________________

2. NTA support is focused on:

Oral communication skills 1 2 3 4 5

Pronunciation 1 2 3 4 5

Grammar skills 1 2 3 4 5

Listening skills 1 2 3 4 5

Writing skills 1 2 3 4 5

Development of vocabulary 1 2 3 4 5

Cultural aspects of the language 1 2 3 4 5

3. Student Participation:

Quality of work 1 2 3 4 5

Engagement with the task/tasks 1 2 3 4 5

Motivation and determination 1 2 3 4 5

Confidence using the target language 1 2 3 4 5

70

4. Any other comments or relevant information:

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

71