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1
ESP COURSE DESIGN
LANGUAGE INSTITUTE
“UNIVERSIDAD DEL ATLANTICO”
TEACHER RESEACHER
ADRIANA PATRICIA ALVAREZ RODRIGUEZ
UNIVERSIDAD DEL NORTE
ESPECIALIZACION EN LA ENSEÑANZA DEL INGLÈS
BARRANQUILLA
JULY-2006
2
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION------------------------------------------------------------------- -4
CHAPTER 1: RATIONALE
1.1 THE CONCEPT AND EVOLUTION OF ESP IN LANGUAGE TEACHING --- -------7
1. 2 DESCRIPTION OF THE CONTEXT OF THE RESEARCH----------------------------9
CHAPTER 2: NEEDS ANALYSIS………… ……………………………….……………….. 12
CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY--------------------------------------------------14
2.1. DESCRIPTION OF THE INSTRUMENTS HAVE BEEN CHOSEN-----------------------15
CHAPTER 4: RESULTS TAKEN FROM NEEDS ANALYSIS STUDY------------18
4.1 ANALYSIS OF THE INSTRUMENTS--------------------------------------------------------18
4.1.1 TEST BASED ON MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES---------------------------------18
4.1.2 DEVELOPMENT OF LANGUAGE SKILLS ------------------------------------------------ -20
4.1.3 ACTITUDES OF THE STUDENTS TOWARD LEARNING--------- -------------- ---------24
4.1.4 LEARNING NEEDS QUESTIONNAIRE…………………… ………… … … …… …..27
4.1.5 INTERVIEW TO TEACHERS--------------------------------------------------------------------- 30
4.2 LIST OF FINDINGS --------------------------------------------------------------------------------35
4. 3 TARGET AND LEARNING NEEDS-------------------------------------------------------------36
CHAPTER 5: PEDAGOGICAL IMPLICATIONS----------------------------------------------38
5.1 OBJECTIVES------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------38
5.1.1 TREATMENT OF THE FOUR LANGUAGE SKILLS ----------------------------38
5.1.2 ABOUT THEIR LEARNING STYLES ----------------------------------------------38
5.2 METHODOLOGY------------------------------ -----------------------------------------39
5.2.1 STRATEGIES AND ACTIVITIES --------------------------------------------------39
5.3 SOME OTHER IMPORTANT FEATURES………………….……………….…….39
CHAPTER 6: MATERIAL EVALUATION------------------------------------------------------------------40
6.1. INTRODUCTION THE ROLE OF MATERIALS---------------------------------- 40
6.2. DESCRIPTION OF THE CONTEXT………………………… ..…………………40
6.3 GOAL AND OBJETIVES OF THE COURSE------------------------------------- --43
6.4. EVALUATING THE CURRENT MATERIALS………………………………….44
6.4.1. EXTERNAL FEATURES OF CURRECT COURSE BOOK--- ----------------- 46
3
6.4.2. INTERNAL FEATURES OF CURRECT COURSE BOOK-----------------------49
6.4.2.1. ANALYSIS OF ONE UNIT…….……………………………… ……….49
6.4.2.2. INTERNAL FEATURES OF THE IDEAL MATERIAL AND THE MATERIAL IN USE……...59
6.5. DECISIONS ABOUT THE CURRENT TEXTBOOK……… …… … ………...…………62
6.6. FINAL CONSIDERATIONS……… …………………………………...…...………63
CHAPTER 7: COURSE DESIGN……………………………………………………………………...64
7.1 APPROACHES TO COURSE DESIGN…………………………………………………… 64
7.1.1 APPROACH TO EDUCATION…………………… ………… ………… ……………. 66
7.1.2 APPROACH TO LANGUAGE…………………………………………………………….67
7.1.3 APPROACH TO LANGUAGE LEARNING………………………………………………68
7.2 GOALS AND OBJECTIVES………………………………………………………………. 72
7.3 CONSTITUENT ANALYSIS…………………………………… ……………………........73
7.4 TEACHING POINTS……………………………………………………………………… .75
7.5 SYLLABUS FOCUS…………………………………………………………………………..78
7.6 SYLLABUS SHAPE…………………………………………………………………………..79
7.7. METHODOLOGY……………………………………………………………………………81
7.7.1 TEACHERS ROLE--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------.82
7.7.2 LEARNERS ROLE…………… ……………………………… …………………………82
7.7.3 CLASS ORGANIZATION……………………………… …………………………………82
CHAPTER 8: EVALUATION AND ASSESSMENT…………………………………………………..84
8.1 LEARNER’S EVALUATION---------------------------------------------------------------------------84
8.2 COURSE EVALUATION…………………………………………………….… ……………90
CHAPTER 9: CONCLUSIONS…………………………………………………………………………..91
REFLECTIONS ABOUT THE RESEARCH PROCESS------------------------------------------- -------91
BIBLIOGRAPHY………………………………………………………………………………….93
CHAPTER 10: APPENDIX (SAMPLES OF DATA COLLECTION INSTRUMENTS FOR
NEED ANALYSIS)---------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------- ---96
4
INTRODUCTION
This research consists on designing an ESP course for first level students of English in the
language institute of Universidad Del Atlántico. This investigation represents a personal
challenge because this institution gave me the opportunity to become a professional and
now it is time to contribute as a professional to its development.
The principal objectives of this paper are:
To acquire theoretical framework about the type of study (ESP) and its importance
for the improvement of English language teaching.
To know the students and its context, in order to make effective the research, and
finally design the appropriate English course for this group of learners.
To establish the type of methodology which is going to be used, to collect
information about the students learning process.
To design and apply the collect-data instruments to identify the students learning
styles, their preferences and needs.
To process the information to get to needs analysis and its pedagogical implications
To design a course taking into consideration all its parameters: views of education,
language and learning; goals and objectives of the course; the syllabus, content,
methodology and the evaluation; which are very important for every course design.
To design materials with activities that may achieve the goals and objectives of this
course design
5
This paper is organized by chapters, and here is a brief description of them:
Rationale: this chapter has a theoretical background, concepts about ESP and its
importance for the improvement of English language teaching. It also contains the
context of the research, which will describe important features of the institution, and
the specific group of learners.
Needs analysis: this chapter will explain what needs analysis is and why it is an
essential part of this investigation.
Methodology: in this chapter I will show the type of methodology to be used to
collect information about the students learning processes and the description of the
instruments or techniques to be applied.
Results from needs analysis study: this chapter will describe the results found
after the application and analysis of collect-data instruments to identify the students
learning styles, their preferences and needs.
Pedagogical implications: in this chapter I will analyze the Results taken from the
needs analysis of the instruments and define what needs to be changed, modified or
reinforced in the classroom; in other words, I will determine the pedagogical
implications of the course design.
Material evaluation: this chapter will analyze if the material the class is using, fill
expectations of the course in terms of student needs in their learning process. This
evaluation helps to take decisions about the material this group of learners need to
use.
Course design: this chapter contains all the decisions taken from the previous
chapters because it defines the approaches to education, language and learning this
6
course has. It also establishes goals and objectives of the course. And it determines
the syllabus, content, methodology and the evaluation; which are important for
every course design.
Conclusions: this is the final dissertation of the paper in which there is reflection
about the importance of doing this kind of research for our professional
development.
Bibliography and Appendices: These are the last two chapters of the papers. The
first contains the references of all the books I used to support my ideas. And the
appendices contain the instruments were designed to collect students information
for the needs analysis.
All these chapters drive the investigation to finally design the ideal course including a
set of materials (this is a separated bound booklet) in which the students will learn the
target language according to their necessities, lacks, and wants. In addition, this course
design pretends to look ahead, because it wants to transcend creating materials to be
used for every teacher who wants to teach the language considering learners needs; this
is going to be a little contribution to improve the quality of English teaching.
7
1. RATIONALE
1.1 THE CONCEPT AND EVOLUTION OF ESP IN LANGUAGE TEACHING
ESP (English for specific purposes) emerged at the end of the World War II, as a response
to the different demands of society in that time. When the United States became a powerful
country, the necessity to study English increased notably. Many countries wanted to
establish relationships with this nation in order to balance their technological and
commercial development. Because of this need, the idea of acquiring a language changed.
Previously, learning a foreign language was a cultural or an academic issue; at that
moment, learning English became the only tool to have access to the information in the
different fields that were transforming the world (Hutchinson and Waters, 1987).
The necessity to be updated with the changes in science, commerce and technology, created
a new generation of English learners with specific purposes in the acquisition of the
language; and consequently, big changes in language teaching. The traditional way to
teach a language was centred on the acquisition of linguistic features based on grammar
rules, and furthermore, the aim of knowing a language was basically communication
without having in mind any specific situation; with the new demands and the desires of the
people to be competitive in their jobs with good English proficiency, many teachers started
to design English courses with specific objectives (ESP); for example, special English
courses for secretaries, doctors, technicians and so on. Likewise, some researchers
discovered that linguistics was more than a set of rules and began to teach ESP courses,
taking into account different aspects like context, the student’s intention and the purpose of
communication.
So what is ESP? It could be defined as an approach to language learning which is based on
learner needs. It does not mean that it is a product obtained by a commercial demand, it
actually means that its emphasis is based on the analysis of the nature of specific varieties
of language uses; and all decisions as to content and method depend on learner’s reasons
for learning the language.
8
ESP at the beginning had concentrated on language at the sentence level, the second phase
shifted attention to the level above the sentence. Later on, the study of the syllabus became
involved with the emerging field of rhetorical and discourse analysis; which studies how,
when and where a sentence can be used in discourse, considering aspects like context, the
participants and the purpose of communication. Moreover, it is relevant to mention that
ESP focuses its attention on the learner. In other words, the students’ needs, interests and
attitudes toward learning are very important in their process to acquire the language. This
was the contribution of the educational psychology in the rise of the approach.
Finally, there is a fundamental task in the development of ESP: the course design, which
consists on the construction of an appropriate course determining the learners’ needs and
interests. It is necessary to establish the different descriptions of language, the models of
learning, and the analysis of the learner needs; in order to apply the course design with the
selected learners.
There are the two main branches of ESP: EAP (English for academic purposes), EOP
(English for occupational purposes). It means that according to the ELT (English language
target), each course design has a specific objective and belongs to a type of ESP. For
example, ESS is an approach centred on the social sciences; and the different branches of it
are the courses that could be created according to the type of ESP (1987).
In a course design, “Needs Analysis” is an important feature that defines the learning needs
of students in the process of acquiring a language in a target situation, and how they might
best master the target language during the period of training (West, 1994). Each student has
necessities, lacks, wants related to the process of learning a language. According to that, the
needs analysis establishes a set of questions which are important to define the target needs
of the learners in order to design an effective ESP course.
The fundamental questions in needs analysis basically answer: Why is the target language
needed? How will the language be used? What will the content areas be? Who will the
9
learner use the language with? Where will the language be used? And when will the
language be used? (1987 p. 59)
To gather all the answers to the questions above, it is necessary to use data collection
instruments, such as: surveys, questionnaires, interviews, and others. These are useful to
carry out the searching process.
1.2 DESCRIPTION OF THE CONTEXT OF THE RESEARCH
Education in Colombia must be analyzed from two different points of view, public and
private institutions. Definitely the quality of education depends on economical aspects. For
this reason, private institutions, which have appropriated human and technological
resources for teaching, have students with a good level of English. In contrast, public
institutions, especially the elementary and high schools do not have enough resources and
the students do not obtain even the basic level of the language required by ICFES (Instituto
Colombiano de Estudios Superiores).
About public education, there is big gap between educational policies and everyday life in
Colombian classrooms, especially when we talk about English teaching. For example, the
standards established by the government for learning English, based on European models
proposes, to study the language in a communicative way, it means that students must be
prepared to use the language in their future jobs or studies. Further, it proposes special
training for language teachers of public schools. However, the teachers training process has
not covered the millions of teachers who actually need it. Perhaps there is not enough
economical support for it, and the real fact is that, many teachers continue teaching isolated
grammar rules, which lowers the students’ proficiency of English in this country (MEN
(Ministerio de Educación Nacional), 1995).
According to the last concerns and the evident necessity of learning English, many people
go to language institutes to acquire English, and for that reason this research will study in
10
detail the academic situation of a language institute in which the most of students come
from public high schools.
This research was carried out in a first semester class of the English courses at the
Universidad Del Atlántico. This is a public university located in Barranquilla, Colombia; it
has its language school which is open not only for students of the institution, but also for
the community in general. For that reason, the population of the language courses is varied:
some of the learners are studying a career in the university, because one of the requirements
for graduating for most of the careers is to have good English proficiency; and others are
high school students, working people, or students who come from different schools.
The aims established for the language institute are:
To give materials that allow the learners to use the language in real situations.
To teach authentic language that stimulates spontaneous conversations
To develop students’ motivation in their language learning process.
The most important features which really define this institute are fundamentally:
The courses give the community an opportunity to study English with low prices;
because the institute works with the support of the government.
The teachers are professionals in language teaching, all of them graduated from the
language teaching college of the university.
The years of prestige that this public university has gained through time.
The institute offers six levels of English, each level takes a semester. At the end of these six
semesters the institution gives the students a document that certifies the course has been
approved. Furthermore, there are different schedules. From Monday to Friday, the students
have classes two hours a day; and on Saturdays four hours.
The English courses use, in all the levels, the guide book Spectrum edited by Prentice Hall
Regents. This series is formed by six books; each one has cassettes and workbooks. Besides
covering the guide books, the teacher can use extra material related to the content of the
book. The resources the institution has for the teaching-learning process are limited; they
11
just have tape recorders and cassettes available every day. There is a television, a DVD and
a VCR, but these are not enough for all the teachers and sometimes they are not working.
Likewise, there aren’t any computers available for classes, and the lack of this important
technological tool is a big weakness the courses have.
About the teaching aspect, teachers are free and autonomous to design the set of activities,
and strategies appropriated for their students taking into consideration: the English course
works based on the four language skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing), there is a
different percentage for each skill in every level, but emphasizing in the first two skills than
in the last two. In other words, the main purpose of the course is to develop conversational
skills, and the ability to communicate through the language in any situation. According to
that, the percentage of the skills and also the evaluation has to be quantitative (using the
percentage) and qualitative because they have to prepare progress reports with observations
about the process of each student.
This research will reveal a set of difficulties that were found in a first level class of the
English courses. The class is formed by 23 students around the ages of 14 and 22; most of
them are studying and belong to a low-middle class family. Although all of them have been
familiarized with the English language, because learning English is obligatory in the
curriculum of Colombian education [see art. 23 Ley general de la Educación 1997], their
linguistic competence in English was not good at the beginning of the semester, with some
exceptions.
There are many difficulties which could be identified in class through everyday interaction;
it means that when you drive a learning process in a class, being the teacher, you take
advantage of your classroom interaction to play the role of researcher (Allwright and
Bailey, 1991 p.2). Some issues noticed at the beginning of the process with this particular
group were:
They do not follow instructions in class easily.
They do not express doubts in the moment the explanation was given.
They sometimes do different activities rather than those which were assigned.
12
They talk among themselves when they are supposed to pay attention to an
explanation or to do an individual activity.
It is also important to mention positive aspects in the students; such as, their punctuality,
their good attitudes toward the teacher and their classmates and their responsibility with the
assignments. These aspects demonstrate they are not having motivation problems. So, what
is the real issue?
Probably, students are having problems of attention and concentration, because they are not
doing class activities according to their learning abilities. So that, it could be assumed that
the design of materials considering their learning styles and the use of their intelligences;
may solve their difficulties at the beginning of their language learning process. Therefore,
the following question research emerges: What issues and what kind of materials could be
designed, in the first level of the English courses in the Universidad Del Atlántico, to teach
English using the different personalities of the students?
2. NEEDS ANALYSIS
One of the aspects which distinguish an ESP course from a general English course is the
awareness of need. Needs analysis is the part of an ESP course design in which we analyze
learners, in order to discover information relevant for an effective learning process.
According to this, two questions emerge: what do we mean by “needs”? What kind of
information should a needs analysis tells us?
Needs analysis has been studied for many years under different approaches. West (1994)
stated some stages of needs analysis in language teaching; in the early 70s needs analysis
was applied just in occupational courses EOP, then it focused on academic language
courses EAP. And since the 80s, needs analysis changed its focus to be used in general
language learning; taking into account the analysis, not only of a target situation, but also of
13
deficiency and strategies in the process. But what is “need”? According to the language
centred-approach, need would be “the ability to comprehend and/or produce the linguistic
features of the target situation” (Hutchinson and Waters, 1987 p59). In other words, a need
is what exactly students will be required to do with the language in a target situation , and
how they might best master this language during the period of learning.
To know what kind of information I should need to tell the students, it is necessary to look
at needs analysis in terms of target needs, which consists on what learners need to do in the
target situation, and learning needs, which consists on what learners need to do in order to
learn. When we analyze target needs it is important to establish three concepts: necessities,
which means what learners have to know to function effectively in the target situation;
lacks, which are the things they do not know exactly or the gaps they need to fill in the
process; and wants, which are their interests and desires with respect to the target language.
As soon as we have established target needs identifying necessities, lacks and wants; the
next step is to establish learning needs. The main purpose of determining learning needs is
to define the “route”, how are we going to teach what learners need? What strategies,
activities and skills they need to use to get to the “destination”; that has been determined by
the target needs analysis.
In sum, the needs analysis is an essential feature of an ESP course design, because it gives
us the elements to determine what and how we need to teach the language in an appropriate
way. Now it is time to establish how it can gathered the information for the needs analysis;
the next chapter is going to present the different techniques may be used to collect this
specific information.
14
3. METHODOLOGY
This chapter will describe the different procedures to carry out the research. The first step is
to define what instruments are going to be appropriated to collect the information in order
to answer the question research (What issues and what kind of materials could be designed,
in the first level of the English courses in the Universidad Del Atlántico, to teach English
using the different personalities of the students?). First of all, it is necessary to clarify that
this is classroom research, which could be defined as an investigation centred on classroom
events that basically, try to answer questions or solve problems emerged from the process
itself. (Allwright, and Bailey, 1991).
There are many techniques to collect information, each has its advantages and
disadvantages, here I will mention the most common in classroom research: observations,
interviews, written questionnaires, surveys, and data tests.
Observation:
This is one of the most useful instruments to get information in a classroom. The
effectiveness of this technique depends on the use of resources like: tape recorder, or video
camera; also the design of a checklist with the criteria to be observed or charts in which you
can take notes. When you observe a class, you notice many things that I could call
constants, they mean, behaviors and situations that always happen in a class; such as,
students talking when the teacher is explaining something, students always wanting to
translate everything to Spanish, fear to participate or be first, etc. all those real aspects are
difficult to gather in other kind of instruments like surveys or interviews. However, some
students change their normal behaviors when they feel observed by a different teacher, and
this aspect can affect the authenticity of the information; but I am sure that this is a good
experience for every teacher-researcher.
Interview and survey:
These instruments consist on producing a set of questions, in order to get specific
information. They can be applied face to face or in a collective way. If you want
15
spontaneous opinions the interview with open question is a good option. But if you want
specific answers you should make a survey. The disadvantages of these two techniques are
basically logistic in nature. Because, if you have a big group of students; it is very difficult
to apply a face to face survey or interview. It is also very hard to tabulate spontaneous
answers.
Questionnaires and tests:
These two instruments are mostly based on a set of written questions which might be
formulated with options answer directly, or open-ended questions. This is a very good
technique for big groups of students, but its design requires a lot of time; and it is also
difficult to tabulate open-ended questions.
After a brief look at the most common data-collection instruments in classroom research. I
can assume that all of them are effective; its choice depends on the question research and
the context in particular.
2.1 DESCRIPTION OF THE INSTRUMENTS WHICH HAVE BEEN CHOSEN
For this research the following instruments were designed:
Data test based on multiple intelligences: I decided to design this instrument, based on the
theory of multiple intelligences established by Howard Gardner (1993), because I consider
if we teachers discover the kinds of intelligences are predominant in the students, we can
find different ways to teach them in a better way. The main purpose of this instrument is to
identify the kinds of intelligence that the students use in order to find their learning styles,
personalities and preferences. The test is formed by 10 questions, each one with four
options of answer. Each option has a symbol which represents a kind of intelligence; taking
into account that every intelligence area, Gardner has recognized, is demonstrated through
specific talents, skills, and interests:
16
LOGICAL /MATHEMATICAL
VERBAL/LINGUISTIC
VISUAL/ SPATIAL
MUSICAL/RHYTHMIC
BODILY/ KINESTHETIC
INTERPESONAL
INTRAPERSONAL
In the application of this test, there are more advantages than disadvantages. The use of
pictures with the options, made this instrument appealing for students. Also they like to
answer personality tests because they love talk about their lives. On the other hand, some
students had problems with the vocabulary but this is not a disadvantage because they
learnt new words. Maybe making four options limited the students’ preferences and this
may be a disadvantage, for that reason, I gave them the opportunity to write a fifth option in
special cases.
The second instrument is also a test which collects personal information about the
students and how they develop the four language skills in the English class. It is divided in
two parts. In the first one, the learners have to write their general information in the
following order: name, age, date and place of birth, occupation, marital status, address,
neighbourhood, people who they live with, family and their hobbies; in the second part
there is a test about the development of the language skills, it contains ten sentences related
to the four language skills (listening, speaking , reading and writing), each sentence
contains four options that must be numbered from one to four, one being the most
important and 4 the least.
The main objectives of this instrument are: to know how important language skills are for
the students, identify their learning styles by considering what kind of activities they prefer
to do inside and outside class, and to know more about their lives and interests.
About the advantages and disadvantages of this instrument, the first part is very important,
because it asks for specific and personal information which provides basic data about the
17
students’ lives. Moreover the last two items of this first part, related to the family and
hobbies, gave the learners the opportunity to write about themselves, what they like, what
they want. In the second part, however, there is a disadvantage because students have to
number in order of importance four options which obviously limited their responses;
because, probably for them some options could have the same importance in the process.
The third instrument is a survey; it has twelve (12) statements related to their
behaviours in class and the methodology used. Each statement has five categories of
evaluation: 1. Most of the times (la mayoría de las veces) 2. Frequently (con frecuencia) 3.
Sometimes (algunas veces), 4. A few times (pocas veces) and 5. Almost never (casi nunca).
The learners only have to select one of the categories in order to indicate how often each
statement they carry out in class. The main purpose of this survey is to gather students’
opinions about their behaviours in class and methodology employed. This quantitative tool
is very easy to tabulate which is an advantage for the researcher and the way it is presented,
through a chart, makes students can understand and answer the questions easily, which is
also an advantage.
In addition, the survey has six open questions in which they evaluate their learning
process. It means that each student reflects about what he/she has learnt considering his/her
difficulties and strengths and evaluates the group learning process in general. It is important
to mention that the principal objective of the six open questions is to find students
reflections about the process. Because these reflections indicate their level of awareness
about what they are learning and how they are doing it. This part of the survey not only let
learner express their opinions about the learning process, but also let me know other
important aspects about the classes I perhaps missed to mention in the chart.
The last instrument centred on students is the learning needs questionnaire. It
contains five open questions related to necessities, wants and lacks of the language learners.
The open questions are effective to have a complete idea about why the students are
studying the language, what they need the language for and what they like to do in class.
The big advantage of this questionnaire is the students’ freedom to give their opinions
18
without any limitations, and besides, this specific document is going to be vital to the needs
analysis development, important feature of this ESP course design.
Likewise, the opinions of other teachers are meaningful to develop the research.
Due to that, a structured interview with ten questions was designed. Three of the ten
questions are closed, the rest are open; and the general purpose of them is to have
different teachers’ points of view about the students’ performance according to the aims
of the institution for the first level. The interview, which was created for being
recorded, collects different first level teachers opinions about the common strengths and
difficulties found in the language learning process of the students, and also the different
constraints found in the teaching process. This last instrument is a very essential tool to
identify the frequent constraints teachers have to deal with in every class; this kind of
technique also allows teacher researchers to share and learn from other teachers;
different experiences, teaching strategies and methodologies.
4. RESULTS FROM NEEDS ANALYSIS STUDY
4.1 ANALYSIS OF THE INSTRUMENTS (Results)
This chapter will present the results found after the application and tabulation of the data-
collection instruments. In every instrument, I will describe the procedures used to tabulate
the information, presenting charts and paragraphs explaining the process in detail, and
making assumptions based on the different results.
4.1.1 TEST BASED ON MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES
Data test based on multiple intelligences is the first instrument I applied for the
investigation; its main purpose is to identify the kinds of intelligence that students
develop in order to find their learning styles, personalities and preferences. The test is
19
formed by 10 questions, each one with 4 options of answer. Each option has a symbol
that means a kind of intelligence established by Howard Gardner (1993).
LOGICAL /MATHEMATICAL
VERBAL/LINGUISTIC
VISUAL/ SPATIAL
MUSICAL/RHYTHMIC
BODILY/ KINESTHETIC
INTERPESONAL
INTRAPERSONAL
After the application of the test, I tabulated the information taking into account how many
times each symbol was selected in the eighteen tests (because the class is formed by 18
students) and I made a percentage for each kind of intelligence; to get the percentage I
multiplied the number of times each intelligence is repeated in the test by eighteen, that is
the quantity of tests applied; and I divided this result between the number of answers. The
following chart contains the results:
Results
types of
Intelligence
No. of
answers
Percentage
of class
answers
%
Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence 32 29,6
Musical intelligence 44 40,7
Visual-Spatial intelligence 33 30,5
Intra-personal intelligence 45 5,0
Inter-personal intelligence 62 57,4
Math-Logic intelligence 14 12,9
Verbal-Linguistic intelligence 23 25,5
The purpose of this second tabulation is to define what types of intelligences are
predominant in the class.
20
The results show us that the 57.4 % of answers belong to the inter-personal intelligence
which means that most of the students are very sociable people who like to learn interacting
with others. 40.7% of the answers belong to the musical intelligence, it means that a great
amount of students like music, activities related to sounds and they like to learn through
rhythms. 30.5% of answers belong to the visual-spatial intelligence, it means that many
students consider they have visual-spatial abilities and prefer to learn through images.
29.6% of answers belong to the bodily-kinesthetic intelligence which means that a
considerable part of students love activities that imply movement and prefer to learn by
doing. 25. 5% of answers belong to the verbal- linguistic intelligence, it means that some
students prefer to learn by reading, writing and have abilities to produce oral discourses.
12.9 % of answers belong to math-logic intelligence; it means that only a few students like
to learn by numbers or quantities. And 5.0% of answers belong to the intra-personal
intelligence, it means that a very small quantity of students like individual activities
because as it was mention before the majority prefer interaction.
4.1.2 THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE LANGUAGE SKILLS
The second instrument is also a test which collects personal information about the students
and how they develop the four language skills in the English class. It is divided in two
parts. In the first one, the learners have to write their general information in the following
order: name, age, date and place of birth, occupation, marital status, address,
neighbourhood, people who they live with, family and their hobbies; In the second part,
there is a test about the development of the language skills, it consists on ten sentences
related to the four language skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing), each sentence
contains four options that must be numbered from one to four, one being the most
important and four the least.
The main objectives of this instrument are: to know how important language skills are for
the students, identify their learning styles; considering what kind of activities they prefer to
do inside and outside class, and to know more about their lives and interests.
21
In the tabulation process, I only took the second part of the test, because its first part just
provided me students’ general information that was very important for the description of
the context. After the application of this instrument I tabulated each question taking its
options one by one, because the students had to number each option from one to four in
order of importance. So that, in the following charts I will present three columns, the first
has the four options were designed for each statement, the second contains the addition of
the numbers that students answered in every option, and the third column has the
percentage obtained in every option. In order to understand the following graphics, it is
important to clarify that the option which has the less percentage, is the most important for
the students in the development of their language skills.
However, in this chapter I am not going to show the tabulation process of each question; I
am just going to analyze relevant information for the investigation, taking into account
needs, lacks and wants of the students with respect language skills
The second item (see chart 1) of the test is an affirmation that students have to complete,
numbering the four language skills in order of importance; it says in the English class. I like
to learn best by…this item was designed with the purpose of knowing the perceptions of the
students about their learning processes. The results of the tabulation show: the 20% of
answers indicate the most of students consider they learn best by speaking, the 23% of
answers by listening, 28% by reading and the 29% by writing. This result is very important
because it determines that students feel comfortable speaking and prefer speaking exercises
in class.
Chart 1
2. In the English class. I like to learn best by…
Options No of answers Percentage
Listening 42 23
Speaking 36 20
Reading 51 28
Writing 53 29
22
This third item refers to specific activities related to one of the language skills; the speaking
one. It says; to practice speaking, I prefer... The results indicate that they prefer to practice
speaking by talking to the teacher, which is really surprising and contradicted, because the
results had shown until now that they preferred to interact with their classmates instead of
the teacher. What I can assume of this, is that probably they need to practice with the
teacher because they think it is a more affective speaking exercise because they can learn
more and receive corrections and feedback from the teacher. There is something else that I
can infer; if they prefer to practice speaking with the teacher is because there is a good level
of confidence between teacher and the student; which is a very positive aspect for the
investigation.
The fourth item refers to specific activities related to other of the language skills; the
reading one. It says; to practice reading, I prefer… The results indicate students like to read
conversations and stories, because I consider it implies interaction. The fifth item refers to
specific activities related to the listening skill; to practice reading, I prefer. This result
indicates students like to practice listening with TV programs, movies and songs, which a
expected result if we consider the results of the first instrument about multiple intelligences.
The sixth item refers to specific activities related to the writing skill; to practice writing, I
prefer… and the options numbered by students in order of importance are common writing
activities in class. The results indicate students like to practice writing with exercises from
book, which means they do not like to write long texts like diaries.
The seventh item of this instrument (see chart 2) has only three options, so that, students
have to number them from one to three in order of importance. The item is an affirmation
that says I like to learn English, and the options are *reading books, *talking to my friends
*songs and movies. This item was designed to know the level of importance that each one
of these activities has for the students; this information will help in the design of the
methodology for this course. The tabulation shows that: Students like to learn English with;
in first place (31% of answers) reading books, in second place (34% of answers) song and
23
movies, and in third place (35% of answers) talking to my friends. It is important to
mention that the percentages are very similar which indicates students like to learn with the
three activities, however the exercises from the book in the first place, means that, the
existence of a guidebook let them feel sure of their learning process.
Chart 2
The ninth item of this instrument (see chart 3) is an affirmation that says I understand
better... this item is a little similar to the last one, but its difference consists on its focus; the
first one refers to the students abilities to understand the language in class, and the second
to their learning styles. This item was designed to know the level of understanding of the
students, according to the behaviours in class. The tabulation shows that: Students
understand better when they; in first place (18% of answers) listen to the teacher and the
tape recorder, in second place (26% of answers) take ideas and write them down the
notebook and (26% of answers) Practicing with examples and creating new ones, and at last
place (30% of answers) Seeing graphs, charts or diagrams from the book or the board.
These results indicate students understand better when the teacher provides oral texts, as we
see in the results of the last item, they definitely understand when they develop their
listening abilities.
Chart 3
7. I like to learn English:
Options No of answers Percentage
Reading books 34 31
Talking to my friends 38 35
songs and movies 37 34
9. I understand better:
Options No of answers
Percentage
Seeing graphs, charts or diagrams from the book or the board 53 29
Listening to the teacher and the tape recorder 33 19
Taking ideas and writing them down the notebook 47 26
Practicing with examples and creating new ones 46 26
24
Finally, the tenth item of this instrument (see chart 4) is an affirmation that says in my future,
it is going to be important: this item is very important for the investigation because its main
objective is to know the goals of the students in relation to their English studies. According
to the tabulation in the future it is going to be important for students; in first place (15% of
answers) to speak English, in second place (22% of answers) to understand English, in third
place (26% of answers) to read English, and at last place (35% of answers) to write English.
These results indicate students are going speak and understand more in their future; it
makes me assume that they need to develop since now more oral than written skills in class.
Chart 4
4.1.3. ATTITUDES OF THE STUDENTS TOWARD LEARNING
Survey
The third instrument is a survey; it has twelve (12) statements related to their behaviours in
class and the methodology used. Each statement has five categories of evaluation: 1. Most
of the times (la mayoría de las veces) 2. Frequently (con frecuencia) 3. Sometimes
(algunas veces) 4. A few times (pocas veces) 5. Almost never (casi nunca). The learners
only have to select one of the categories in order to indicate how often each statement they
carry out in class. The main purpose of this survey is to gather students’ opinions about
their behaviours in class and methodology employed, using a quantitative and specific
instrument. In addition the survey has six open questions in which they self-evaluate their
learning process. It means that each student reflects about what he/she has learnt
considering his/her difficulties and strengths and evaluates the group learning process in
general. It is important to mention that the principal objective of the six open questions is to
find students reflections about the process. Because these reflections indicate their level of
awareness about what they are learning and how they are doing it.
10. In my future, it is going to be important:
Options No of answers Percentage
to speak english 26 15
to read english 49 28
to understand english 39 22
to write english 63 35
25
In the tabulation process of this instrument, I took to analyze only five of the statements of
the chart because; they are the most appropriate for the study. The rest of the information
does not concern specifically to the investigation, it was designed with the purpose of
knowing the students points of view about the development of the classes and some other
aspects just important for the improvement of the teacher methodology.
The following chart explains the level of frequency each statement was assumed by the
students. In the first column we can see the sentences, then there are five columns; each one
of them is level of frequency, as it was explained before. I analyzed the frequency of each
sentence, counting the numbers of frequency of all the answers; according to the result of
the addition I located each sentence in a level of frequency, putting an asterisk in the
corresponding column. It is important to mention that each column has two numbers
separated by hyphen which indicates the number of answers that identify each level.
Level of
frecuency
Sentence
1. La
mayoría de la
veces
(1-18)
2. Con
frecuencia (19-36)
3. Algunas
veces (37-54)
4. Pocas
veces (55-72)
5. Casi
nunca (73-90)
Pido explicación a la
profesora cuando no entiendo algo.
* (36)
Participo
voluntariamente en
clase.
*
(40)
Practico lo que
aprendo fuera de
clase.
*
(43)
Me gusta que me
corrijan mis errores de
manera inmediata.
*
(23)
Realizo tareas y
asignaciones de
manera correcta y
puntual.
*
(32)
26
The first affirmation analyzed in the chart says: Pido explicación a la profesora cuando no
entiendo algo; its translation would be, I ask for explanation to the teacher when I do not
understand something. This information is very important for the research because of two
reasons: first, it pretends to know if the students have the enough level of confidence to tell
the teacher their doubts and concerns about the subject matter; and second, this is also a
good way to encourage awareness of their learning process.
The addition of answers shows that frequently students ask for explanation to the teacher
when they do not understand something; this result indicates that students feel free to
express doubts and be aware of their difficulties.
The second affirmation analyzed in the chart says: Participo voluntariamente en clase; its
translation would be, I participate voluntarily in class. This information is also very
important for the research because it pretends to measure the students’ motivation toward
learning the language and their capacities to interact in class. The tabulation shows that
most of student participle in class sometimes which means that maybe they do it when they
consider it is necessary and when they feel sure that they are going to do it well.
The third affirmation analyzed in the chart says: Practico lo que aprendo fuera de clase; its
translation would be, I practice what I learn outside the class. This information is very
important for the research because it helps to see if the students are applying the
knowledges of the language in their lives. This also let us to have an idea of their needs
with the language, if they need it for immediate purposes, or for a long or short future. The
tabulation shows that sometimes students practice what they learn outside the class. This
result indicates that most of students maybe practice but not in real situations because,
according to their context, they need English for short future purposes.
The fourth affirmation analyzed in the chart says: Me gusta que me corrigan mis errores de
manera inmediata; its translation would be, I like when correct my errors immediately. This
information is very important for the research because it helps to see students’ perspectives
about the way should mistakes be corrected in class. This information also let us know
27
how important is the correction of mistakes for students in their learning process. The
tabulation shows that students frequently like to be corrected immediately, this result
indicates that students consider very important the correction of mistakes in class and they
prefer when these are corrected at the moment; which is a very surprising finding, because
we tend to think the contrary due to the fact that an immediate correction affect students
fluency.
The fifth affirmation analyzed in the chart says: Realizo tareas y asignaciones de manera
correcta y puntual. its translation would be, I do homeworks and assignments in a correct
way and puctual. This information is very important for the research because it helps to
measure students’ level of responsibility with the activities which imply to work outside the
classroom. It is important to clarify that there are many factors that contribute or affect the
students’ level of engagement, such as: time availability, economical and emotional
problems, and in some cases, learning disabilities. The tabulation shows that students
frequently do homeworks and assignments correctly and punctual; this result indicates that
students do their best effort to be responsible in spite of the difficulties they could have.
According to the results, all the affirmations analyzed were in the second and the third
highest levels of frequency; and this is a good result, because it indicates that, most of
students have positive attitudes and behaviours toward their learning process of the
language.
4.14. LEARNING NEEDS QUESTIONNAIRE
This instrument centred on students is the learning needs questionnaire; it contains five
open questions related to necessities, wants and lacks of the language learners. The open
questions are effective to have a complete idea about: why the students are studying the
language, what do they need the language for and what do they like to do in class. The big
advantage of this questionnaire is the students’ freedom to give their opinions without any
limitations, and besides, this specific document is going to be vital to the development of
needs analysis, important feature of this ESP course design.
28
For the analysis, we took just two of the five questions because these are the most relevant
for the research. The rest of the questions were also designed for the needs analysis, but in
the application process there was not enough clarity about what did they have to answer?,
So that the students answered the questions from a different point of view; which is a
common disadvantage in the use of open questions.
For the tabulation process, I read all the answers of each open question, and according to
them, I defined some categories, then I added all the answers and I divided this result
between the numbers of answers of each category in order to get percentages, as you can
see clearly in the following charts:
1. ¿Por qué y para qué estas estudiando inglés?
Categories No of answers Percentage
Por afinidad y/o deseo 11 38
Competencia laboral 10 34
Por deseo de ampliar conocimientos 4 14
Superación personal 4 14
2. ¿Qué aspectos de la clase de inglés crees que se deberían incrementar, mejorar y/o cambiar?
Categories No of answers percentage
Contenido 2 11
Método-actividades 2 11
Recursos 5 28
Competencias 5 28
Comportamiento 2 11
Nada 2 11
TOTALES 18 100%
The first question of the instrument is: ¿Por qué y para qué estas estudiando inglés? Its
translation would be: why and what for are you studying English?. The main objective of
this question is to know the principal reasons which the students are in the learning process.
According to the different answers, I defined the following categories: *por afinidad y/o
deseo (for affinity and/or desire), it means all the answers related to like or preference for
the language; *competencia laboral (working competence), it means all the answers related
29
to the professional development; *por deseo de ampliar conocimientos (for the desire of
extending knowledges), it is related to the fact that some students wants to study English
just for having new knowledges and a different way to express ideas; *superación personal
(personal overcoming), this last category means all the answers that express desires of
being proficient in life, driving to improve in the subject matter, and/or learning the
language as a personal challenge.
The tabulation shows that eleven (11) students answer * por afinidad y/o deseo (for affinity
and/or desire), this is 38% of answers; ten (10) * competencia liberal (working
competence), this is 38% of answers; four (4) * por deseo de ampliar conocimientos (for
the desire of extending knowledges), this is 14% of answers; and also four (4) *superación
personal (personal overcoming), this is 14% of answers. These results show that most of
students are studying the language because they really like it, and this is the reason which
their motivation in class is very notable.
The second question of the instrument is: ¿Qué aspectos de la clase de inglés crees que se
deberían incrementar, mejorar y/o cambiar? Its translation would be: what aspects of the class
do you consider we should increase, improve or change? The main objective of this
question is to know different opinions of the students about general aspects of the class.
According to the different answers, I defined the following six categories: *contenido
(content), it means all the answers related to topics and syllabus of the level; *método-
actividades (method-activities), it means all the answers related to the methodology;
*recursos (resources), it is related to all the educational aids we must use in class;
*competencias (competences), it means all the answers related to the development of four
language skills. *comportamiento (behaviour), it means the way students behave in class;
and the last category *nada (nothing) means when the students answer that everything in
class is good and they do not want to change anything.
The tabulation shows that two (2) students answer something related to * content, this is
11% of answers, and these two students referred specifically to their desire of extending
some topics they consider important in the content of the level; other two (2) answer
30
something related to *method-activities, this is 11% of answers, and both consider the
importance of having more homeworks; five (5) answer *resources, this is 28% of answers,
and they talk about the necessity to improve the cassettes and to have more resources in
class; other five (5) answer * competences, this is 28% of answers, in this question four
student were interested in the development of listening and speaking skills, and just one
student in writing; in the category *behaviour, two (2), this is 11% of answers, talk about
respect between them because they have problems when they have to agree about
something in class; and about the last category *nothing, two student say they do not want
to change any aspect of the class.
These results show every student has its point of view about things must be changed and
improved in class, and for the investigation I have to consider all of them.. Therefore, we
can assume that students want to increase the development of oral competences, they want
to have more resources in class, more homeworks, group activities that encourage respect
to their different opinions, and tasks to go deep in the topics they like.
4.1.5. STRUCTURED INTERVIEW TO TEACHERS
The opinions of other teachers are meaningful to develop the research. Due to that, it was
designed an oral structured interview with ten questions. Three of the ten questions are
closed, the rest are open; and the general purpose of them is to have different teachers’
points of view about the students’ performance according to the aims of the institution for
the first level. The interview, which was created for being recorded, collects different first
level teachers opinions about the common strengths and difficulties found in the language
learning process of the students, and also the different constrains found in the teaching
process. This last instrument is a very essential tool to identify the frequent constrains that
teachers have to deal with in every class; this kind of technique also allows teacher
researchers to share and learn from other teachers; different experiences, teaching strategies
and methodologies.
31
This interview was designed to know different opinions of some teachers in the institution,
about the development of the classes, and other specific aspects related to the investigation.
Three first level teachers were interviewed and the following paragraphs are going to show
their answers using three categories: consensus which means the agreements and parallel
opinions in the answers of the three teachers, dissension which means the differences in
opinions and disagreements, and particularities which is referred to the characteristics,
peculiarities in the answers of the teachers, and moreover, not expected comments and
opinions; common aspect involved in the development process of an oral interview .
The interview has ten questions and was developed orally and recorded completely but we
are going to show and analyze only the answers of the questions we consider are
appropriated for the research (see the transcripts of the interviews in appendix chapter).
The tabulation is presented through charts, each one of them contains the question and
columns; the first one says teachers and we identify them as T1, T2 y T3; the second
column has opinions and/or answers of the teachers; and the third show if there is
consensus, dissension and particularities between them.
2). What difficulties and strengths have you found in the academics development of the students?
DIFFICULTIES
TEACHERS T. OPINIONS/ ANSWERS CONSENSUS/DISSENSION/PARTICULARITIES
T 1 Speaking and listening
skills
consensus
T 2 Speaking skills
(pronunciation,
intonation)
consensus
T 3 Speaking and listening
skills
consensus
2). What difficulties and strengths have you found in the academics development of the students?
STRENGTHS
TEACHERS T. OPINIONS/ANSWERS CONSENSUS/DISSENSION/PARTICULARITIES
T 1 Writing skills particularity
T 2 Motivation consensus
T 3 Motivation consensus
32
The first question tabulated is the second of the interview and was designed with the
purpose of knowing the strengths and difficulties the teachers have found in the academic
development of the students. According to the results, all the teachers agree that students
have difficulties to develop their oral skills; two of them agree that one of the learners’
strengths is their motivation toward learning, and one teacher says they have strengths in
writing.
3). Do you think the percentage that was established for the language skills in good to carry out the first
semester? TEACHERS T. OPINIONS/ANSWERS CONSENSUS/DISSENSION/PARTICULARITIES
T 1 No, the percentage for
speaking is too high because
the students don’t have too
much previews knowledge of
English and also have poor
vocabulary.
Dissension with T2
Consensus with T3
T 2 Yes, because speaking is a
very important skill and it
could help to improve the
others
Dissension
T 3 No, because I think speaking is
natural process that comes
after a well developed listening
skill, so oral and
comprehension should comes
first
Consensus T 1
Dissension T 2
In the question: do you think the percentage that was established for the language skills in
good to carry out the first semester? There is consensus between T1 and T3 in the fact that
they think the speaking percentage is too high for the first level, on the other hand, T2
thinks the percentage is good. It is important to clarify that although with this investigation
we are not going to change the percentages that were established by institution, the
information let us see the opinions of the teachers who are the ones dealing with it.
6). Which educational aids do you regularly use in class, beside the text?
TEACHERS T. OPINIONS/ANSWERS CONSENSUS/DISSENSION/PARTICULARITIES
T 1 Only the guidebook and
sometimes songs and
exercises from other books
because I have not enough
time and resources to do
something else.
Some similar aids and particular situations
33
T 2 Songs, movies, exercises
from the guidebook and
others and games.
Some similar aids and particular situations
T 3 The guidebook, I design
activities related to the
content of the level, I also
use songs games and
projects.
Some similar aids and particular situations
In the question: Which educational aids do you regularly use in class, beside the text?
There is consensus in the use of songs, T2 and T3 use games, and T1 says that there is not
enough time and resources to do something more than songs and exercises beside the
guidebook.
7). Have you found in the students’ behaviours, problems of attention and concentration?
TEACHERS T. OPINIONS/ANSWERS CONSENSUS/DISSENSION/PARTICULARITIES
T 1 Yes. consensus
T 2 Yes. consensus T 3 Yes. consensus
8). What do you consider are the reasons which they are having these problems?
TEACHERS T. OPINIONS/ANSWERS CONSENSUS/DISSENSION/PARTICULARITIES
T 1 Ages of the students consensus
T 2 Ages of the students consensus T 3 Ages of the students. consensus
In the questions: Have you found in the students’ behaviours, problems of attention and
concentration? And, what do you consider are the reasons which they are having these
problems? There is consensus between the teachers, and they are also agree that these
problems are because of the ages of the students, and in that sense, it is important to
mention that all our students have different ages, we use to have students since 14 until 25
years old. In addition I consider another constrain the fact that we use to have large groups,
most of the first level classes have around 25 students.
34
9). What strategies do you use to handle these problems in your class?
TEACHERS T. OPINIONS/ANSWERS CONSENSUS/DISSENSION/PARTICULARITIES
T 1 Respect to the differences of
the students particularity
T 2 Change the sites in order to let
the students work with
different partners everyday.
Consensus with T 3
T 3 Selecting activities which they
need to be concentrated and
change constantly sites in
order to let the students work
with different partners
everyday.
Consensus with T2 and a particularity
In the question: what strategies do you use to handle these problems in your class? The
main objective is to know the different strategies colleagues use to handle the problems of
attention and concentration students present. T1 says that respect is better way to handle
the problem but this tutor does not mention any specific strategy, T2 and T3 agree about
changing the sites of the student as a strategy to catch their attention, and T3 talks about
selecting activities to generate concentration but this person does not mention any of them.
10). Do you think the design of a course considering students’ needs, interests and learning styles could solve
their difficulties?
TEACHERS T. OPINIONS/ANSWERS CONSENSUS/DISSENSION/PARTICULARITIES
T 1 yes consensus
T 2 yes consensus T 3 yes consensus
For the last question, do you think the design of a course considering students’ needs,
interests and learning styles could solve their difficulties? It was necessary to explain more
clearly the objective of the research, in order to get a real opinion from the teachers. There
was consensus, as we can see in chart, and it is important to say that the three teachers
collaborated very positively in the process; specially T2, who showed a lot of interest
letting me observe the classes and we could share information which was an interesting
experience for me as a teacher-researcher.
35
4.2 LIST OF FINDINGS
After a detailed explanation of the process of tabulation and analysis of the data collection
instruments, here I present a list of findings and its possible pedagogical implications
Students learn by sounds and images which imply the use of audio-visual resources
Students prefer to learn by doing group activities which imply the assignation of
group tasks and projects.
Students love to listen to music which implies the use of songs in class.
Students like to make friends, so that they could learn easily using interaction.
Students have different strategies to learn, which are important to take into account,
these are: interacting with others, using visual images and sounds, and placing
things in a logical order.
Students are good at analysing others, talk about themselves, and arguing about
their ideas, which imply the development of cooperative learning and discursive
competences.
According to the multiple intelligences theory, most of the students are inter-
personal and musical, which imply the use of more activities specially related to
these kinds of intelligences.
Students need to develop the four language skills, but in special the oral ones.
Students feel comfortable speaking and prefer speaking exercises in class.
Students prefer to practice speaking through conversations.
Students like to practice listening with TV programs, movies and songs.
Students think it is necessary to do exercises from textbooks to understand better. It
implies the adaptation of some textbooks.
Students understand better when they listen to the information which implies the use
of more listening exercises.
Students need more to speak and understand than read and write English in a short
future.
36
Students are learning English because they like, it means they are motivated to
learn.
Students need more speaking and listening exercises.
Students need to practice more outside the class which imply the assignation of
projects and tasks those require socialization outdoors.
Students like to be corrected at the moment they have mistakes which implies the
use of cooperative and immediate evaluation.
Students lack of attention and concentration because the information has not be
presented in the appropriated way. It implies the use strategies and activities to let
them know they have different learning styles, in order to generate respect to their
differences.
4.1 TARGET AND LEARNING NEEDS
Now it is important to determine necessities, wants and lacks of the students for this
course design. For that reason, the following text will present the findings classified
into necessities, wants and lacks
Target needs
a. Necessities: what the learners have to know in order to function effectively the
target situation.
Students need to develop the four language skills, specially the oral ones.
Students need to develop communicative skills in order to be competent in
their professions and studies.
37
b. Wants: what learners want or feel they need
Students want to speak the language
Students want more listening practice opportunities
Students want to interact with others through the language
c. Lacks: what learners actually do not know about the target language.
Students lack correct application of grammar
Students lack diversity of vocabulary
Students lack opportunities to use the language outside the classroom
According to the target needs and taking into account students learning styles and
preferences, here are teaching strategies may be appropriate to carry out the course.
Use of audio-visual resources.
Use of strategies and activities to let them know they have different learning styles.
(Respect differences).
Assign group tasks and projects.
Use of songs and movies in class.
Use of multiple intelligence activities, specially those
related to the inter-personal and musical.
Use of cooperative and immediate evaluation
38
5. PEDAGOGICAL IMPLICATIONS
The findings obtained from the data-collection instruments are valuable information for the
research, but, how might all this data be used and organized in the course design? This
chapter will analyze all the results in terms of pedagogical implications, in which all these
results are going to be presented in relation to objectives, methodology and other features
important to configure the course design.
5.1 OBJECTIVES
5.1.1 Treatment of the four language skills
The results of the tabulation, specially the test “the development of language skills”, which
collected information of how the students develop the four language skills in the English
class; show us: Students need to develop the four language skills; but in special the oral
ones, they feel comfortable speaking and prefer speaking exercises in class, and they need
more to speak and understand than read and write English in a short future. According to
those findings, it is necessary to focus the course more on the development of oral skills.
5.1.2 About their learning styles
Taking into account the results taken from instruments, specially the test of multiple
intelligences, about students learning styles I found: Students learn mostly by sounds and
images, and also prefer to learn by doing group activities in which they can interact with
others. These aspects drive me to emphasize the course in the development of cooperative
learning.
Moreover the cooperative work is closely related to the respect difference, because when
they work in groups they learn from others respecting different opinions and ideas. It is
very important to mention that one of the objectives of this course is that the students
should be able to work with activities according to their different skills and learning styles.
So that, I am going focus the course on activities related to the kinds of intelligences
student uses more to learn; the inter-personal and musical intelligences.
39
5.2 METHODOLOGY
The results gave me a lot of ideas for the methodology to be used in the course design. I
will present my conclusions in terms of strategies and activities.
5.2.1 Strategies and activities:
One of the most relevant findings shows students love to listen to music. Therefore, the
use of songs in class is a good way to teach them what they need to know. They also
Students prefer to learn by images which imply the use of visual resources like posters,
texts with a lot of pictures.
I also found students prefer to learn by doing group activities and interacting with
others. This result implies the use if socio-affective strategies which include activities
like: role plays, conversation, group tasks, oral presentations and socialization of
projects. Likewise, I found students need to practice more outside the class which imply
the assignation of projects and tasks in which they can use what they have learnt
organizing activities outdoors.
Some other results show that students are good at analysing others, talk about
themselves, and arguing about their ideas, which imply the use of cognitive and
metacognitive strategies like: produce different discourses and/or organizing ideas.
5.3 SOME OTHER IMPORTANT FEATURES
About the materials, the need analysis told me that students are lack of attention and
concentration because the information has not be presented in the appropriated way. It
implies the use of materials, in which they can receive the information from different
perspectives. On the other hand, I discover students like to be corrected at the moment
they have mistakes which implies the use of cooperative and immediate evaluation.
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6. MATERIAL EVALUATION
6.1 THE ROLE OF MATERIALS
In the design of an ESP course, it is important to define appropriate material that may help
students achieve the goals have been proposed. According to that, this paper is going to
analyze the current textbook being used; and finally, it is going to establish the main
characteristics of the ideal material for this specific group.
To define appropriate material for a specific group of students, we may take into account
the interests of the learners, their context and some other aspects related to the process,
which help to determine whether the current material they are using is the correct one for
them, or it needs modifications to fulfil students learning expectations. Therefore, after a
briefly description of the context, needs analysis and the pedagogical implications, this
paper will contain the evaluation of the current textbook, analyzing its external and internal
features, and finally, the relation between this material and the ideal one in order to take
decisions about the final material we will design for the course.
6.2. DESCRIPTION OF THE CONTEXT
The research was carried out in a first semester class of the extramural English courses at
the Universidad Del Atlántico. This is a public university located in Barranquilla,
Colombia; it has its language school that belongs to the humanistic department of the
institution. The population of the language institute is varied: some of the learners are
studying a career in the university, because one of the requirements for graduating in most
of the careers is to have a good English proficiency; others are high school students,
working people, or students that come from different schools, because the courses are open
for the community in general.
41
The aims that were established for the language institute are:
To give materials that allow the learners to use the language in real situations.
To teach authentic language that stimulates spontaneous conversations
To develop students’ motivation in their language learning process.
The most important features which really define this institute are fundamentally:
The courses give the community an opportunity to study English with low prices;
because the institute works with the support of the government.
The teachers are professionals in language teaching, all of them graduated from the
language teaching college of the university.
The years of prestige that this public university has gained through time.
The English courses used, the guide book Spectrum edited by Prentice Hall Regents. This
series is formed by six books; each one has cassettes and workbooks. However, this book
was changed because it had too many years and the heads of the institution recognized the
importance of learning with up-dated material; so that, this semester we started using in
first level the new edition of Interchange edited by Cambridge.
Besides covering the guide books, the teacher can use extra material related to the content
of the book. The resources the institution has for the teaching-learning process are limited,
they just have available every day the tape recorders cassettes CDs from the textbooks.
There is a television, a DVD and a VCR; but these are not enough for all the teachers and
sometimes they are not working.
Likewise, there aren’t any computers available for classes, and the lack of this important
technological tool is a big weakness our courses have.
About the methodology, the English course works based on the four language skill
(listening, speaking, reading and writing). They use a different percentage for each skill in
each level, but they always make emphasis on the first two abilities than on the last two. In
other words, the main purpose of the course is to develop conversational skills, and the
42
ability to communicate through the language in any situation. According to that, the
teachers are free and autonomous to design the set of activities, and strategies appropriated
for their students, taking in consideration the percentage of the skills and also that the
evaluation has to be quantitative (using the percentage) and qualitative because they have
to prepare progress reports with observations about the process of each student.
The class is formed by 18 students around the ages of 14 and 25; most of them are studying
and belong to a low-middle socioeconomic status. Although all of them have been
familiarized with the English language, because learning English is obligatory in the
curriculum of the Colombian education [see art. 23 Ley general de la Educación 1997],
their linguistic competence in English was not good at the beginning of the semester
because most of them come from public high schools and, as they could express, they did
not have good experiences learning the language there.
Finally, as a result of some observations centred on the students’ behaviours in class, there
is a problem of attention and concentration, maybe because they are not doing activities in
class that focus in their learning abilities, so that, it could be assumed that the design of
materials considering their learning styles and the development of their intelligences;
definitely it may solve their difficulties at the beginning of their language learning process.
Therefore, it emerges the following question research: What kind of materials could be
designed, in the first level of the English courses in the Universidad Del Atlántico, to teach
English developing the different intelligences of the students?
43
6.3. GOALS OF THE COURSE AND OBJECTIVES
After the tabulation and analysis of five data-collection instruments and dairy
observations about the English learning process of the students, I define the
following goals and objectives for the course:
GOALS OBJECTIVES
TARGET Development of oral skills *students should be able to understand different oral input.
*Students should be able to produce oral input.
LEARNING Development of multiple intelligences
• Student should be able to work with activities according to their different skills and learning styles.
* They should be able to acquire oral abilities through the use of their intelligences.
HUMAN Respect differences *Students should be able to work together respecting their different ways of learning.
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6.4. EVALUATING THE CURRENT MATERIALS
One of the most important activities of EFL teachers is to choose materials for the classes;
there are many aspects we have to consider while doing this activity, due to that, we may
develop abilities to evaluate materials considering all the aspects involved in the process, to
finally decide the appropriated one for the students.
In the process of selecting materials, we have to analyze many factors. In the market we can
find a great variety of materials but, are their prices reasonable for the students? Is the
content appropriated for the level and ages of the learners? Is the information presented in
an understandable way? All these questions and many others, make difficult to take
decisions. Moreover, it is important to know that; According to Hutchinson, T. and Waters,
A. (1987) there are three different ways of turning the course design into actual teaching
materials:
1. materials evaluation: select existing materials
2. materials development: write your own materials
3. materials adaptation: modify existing materials
For an effective selection and/or production of materials, it is necessary to have an
evaluation process which is divided into four major steps:
The first step is DEFINE CRITERIA, which consists on the different bases to judge
materials. Moreover, it is important to establish some kind of rank order of factors taking
into account the two following steps SUBJECTIVE and OBJECTIVE ANALYSIS; the first
one analyzes the criteria of the specific course and the second how does the material being
evaluated realise the criteria.
The fourth step is the MATCHING process which consists of relating the subjective to the
objective, in other words, it is to analyze if the selected material fill out the expectations of
the course design in terms of materials requirements.
45
Finally the use of a checklist of criteria for objective and subjective analysis considering
aspects, such as: audience, aims, content and methodology. The checklist is a good
technique not only to choose existing materials, but also to create new ones; because you
can take ideas or aspects of existing materials and include them in your own production.
There are some other ways to evaluate teaching materials, for example Mc Donough and
Shaw, (1993) talk about internal and external evaluation of materials. The first consists of
having an external overview of how the materials have been organized, in other words
“what the book says about itself”, and some other aspects like: the intended audience, the
proficiency level, the type of language, the author’s view of language and the methodology.
The second consists of analysing if the external evaluation matches up with the internal
consistency and organization of the material; in this second stage, we need to consider the
treatment and presentation of the skills, sequencing and grading of the materials,
appropriacy of tests and exercises, self-study provision and teacher-learner balance in use
of the materials
In this specific case, the heads of the institution do the work of selecting textbooks and
define which one, teachers we must follow. Therefore, the textbook is mandatory and
cannot be changed. However, for this course design it is necessary to evaluate and analyze
the chosen book in order to identify its advantages and its disadvantages for the course, and
accordingly, be ready to design extra materials which may help to achieve all the goals and
objectives of the course.
The methodology to evaluate the specific textbook, will be based on some elements of the
two kinds of evaluation exposed before, the following charts will provide general
information about the external and internal features of the current textbook.
The first descriptive chart will present the external features of the textbook Interchange; the
first two columns contain the criteria and what the book says about each criteria. There is
no any kind of analysis, because it is just a description about the content of the book.
46
However, the third column contains some important comments I consider relevant for the
evaluation.
4.1 EXTERNAL FEATURES OF THE CURRENT COURSE BOOK
MAIN FEATURES COMMENTS
NAME
INTERCHANGE
THIRD EDITION
THIS IS THE LAST
VERSION OF THIS
BOOK.
AUTHOR
JACK C. RICHARDS
DATE OF PUBLICATION
2005
LEVEL
INTRO
BEGINNERS,
NUMBER OF PAGES
241
STUDENT’S BOOK
TARGET AUDIENCE
ADULTS, YOUNG ADULTS AND
TEENAGERS
APPEARANCE
COLORFUL
PICTURES
MEDIUM SIZE
NICE COVER
WELL DISTRIBUTED SPACE
IT IS VERY APPEALING
BUT SOME STUDENTS
CANNOT BUY IT
BECAUSE OF ITS PRICE,
SO THEY CANNOT
ENJOY THE
COLOURFUL PICTURES
IT CONTAINS
COMPONENTS OF THE
MATERIAL
TEXTBOOK, TEACHER’S BOOK,
WORKBOOK
3 CDS FOR TEACHERS
1 CD FOR STUDENTS
THE STUDENT CD AND
THE WORKBOOK ARE
VERY GOOD FOR THE
STUDENTS TO STUDY
AT HOME , BUT SOME
OF THEM DON’T HAVE
THESE IMPORTANT
47
TOOLS BECAUSE THEY
SAY THEY JUST CAN
PHOTOCOPY THE
STUDENT BOOK
COMPONENTS OF THE
STUDENT’S BOOK
16 UNITS, PROGRESS CHECK (EACH
TWO UNITS), INTERCHANGE
ACTIVITIES (ONE PER UNIT), SELF-
STUDY SESSION (ONE LISTENING
ACTIVITY PER UNIT).
COMPONENTS OF
THE TEACHER’S
EDITION
ORAL AND WRITTEN QUIZZES,
WORKBOOK
ANSWER KEYS, PHOTOCOPIABLES
(ONE PER UNIT) , FRESH IDEAS (ONE
PER UNIT) AND
GAMES, TEACHING NOTES (PER
PAGE)
ALL THOSE
COMPONENTS ARE
VERY USEFUL BUT
NOT ENOUGH FOR
CARRYING OUT THE
CLASS.
COMPONENTS OF EACH
UNIT
SKILL-INTEGRATED
SESSIONS:
SNAPSHOT (INTRODUCTIVE INPUT
TO TOPIC OF THE UNIT)
TWO CONVERSATIONS,
GRAMMAR FOCUS (STRUCTURE
EXPLANATION AND EXERCISES),
LISTENING,
WORD POWER (VOCABULARY)
PRONUCIATION,
IT’S ORGANIZATION IS
INDUCTIVE WHICH
MAKES STUDENTS
CARRY OUT THE
ACTIVITIES EASILY
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STRUCTURE OF THE
TABLE OF CONTENT
EACH UNIT IS DIVIDED IN TITLE/
TOPIC, SPEAKING, GRAMMAR,
PRONUNCIATION/ LISTENING,
WRITING/ READING AND
INTERCHANGE ACTIVITY.
IT LACKS ACTIVITIES
IN WHICH STUDENTS
CAN PRODUCE THEIR
OWN TEXTS,
SPECIALLY
CONVERSATIONS
AUTHOR’S POINT OF
VIEW ABOUT THE
SYLLABUS AND
APPROACH.
HIGH- INTEREST THEMES TO
INTEGRATE SPEAKING, GRAMMAR,
VOCABULARY, PRONUNCIATION,
LISTENING, READING AND WRITING.
STRONG FOCUS ON ACCURACY AND
FLUENCY.
THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE COURSE:
LANGUAGE IS BEST LEARNED
WHEN IT IS USED FOR MEANINGFUL
COMMUNICATION.
AUTHOR’S POINT OF
VIEW ABOUT
CUSTOMIZATION AND
ASSESSMENT
THE AUTHOR RECOGNIZES THE
IMPORTANCE OF ADAPTING THE
COURSE MATERIALS TO THE NEEDS,
INTERESTS, AGES, AND LEARNING
STYLES OF THE STUDENTS. THAT’S
WHY THE COURSE PROVIDES
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES FOR
TEACHERS LIKE GAMES, FRESH
IDEAS AND PHOTOCOPIABLES.
I AGREE, BECAUSE
EVERY TEACHER
NEEDS TO ADAPT THE
PUBLISHED MATERIAL
ACCORDING TO THE
NEEDS, INTERESTS,
AGES, AND LEARNING
STYLES OF THE
STUDENTS.
THE PROGRESS CHECKS SESSION
ENCOURAGES STUDENTS TO SELF-
ASSESS THEIR PROGRESS IN THE
SKILLS. IT ALSO HAS WRITTEN AND
ORAL QUIZZES FOR TEACHERS TO
EVALUATE THE LEARNERS.
THE PROGRESS CHECK
IS A GOOD TOOL TO
DEVELOP STUDENTS
SELF-ASSESSMENT.
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4.2 INTERNAL FEATURES OF THE CURRENT COURSE BOOK
Now it is necessary to analyze internally the content, methodology and organization of the
book, in order to make, then, the comparison between the ideal materials students need and
the one in use, and finally decide what is missing and must be included in the design of
extra materials. I will analyze one unit of the book, because it will help to define if there is
coherence with the external features expressed in the textbook.
4.2.1. ANALYSIS OF ONE UNIT
The following is the analysis of the unit six taken from the textbook, in every page of the
unit; I will identify the objectives of the sessions, its different activities, and I will see if
they are related to the purposes of the author.
First of all, I will analyze every activity of the unit in the same order that it is presented in
the book. Every unit has the same sessions (snapshot, conversation, word power, grammar
focus, listening, pronunciation, speaking, reading, and interchange) but the activities vary
according to the topics of each unit. Before the analysis of each page, I will show a copy of
every page of the unit in order to make the study clearer; the first page is going to be
presented as exact as it is in book, and the rest of them are going to be reduced for being
more practical.
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The first activity of the unit is the Snapshot:
Topic: transportation in the U.S
Objectives:
1. Introduce the topic giving input through pictures and listening to the vocabulary.
2. Contextualize the input checking the kind of transportation students use.
3. Encourage speaking, talking about other kinds of transportation
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This is a good warm up activity to provide real information, it also fulfil the purpose of the
author, when it contextualizes the input in the checking exercise and promote speaking
through the question about other kind of transportation
The second activity is Conversation
Title: nice car
Objectives
1. Provide a situation giving them opportunities to listen and practice pronunciation
2. Introduce grammar in context.
This second activity, although it is a good opportunity to practice pronunciation and have a
listening input; it does not develop speaking competences, which is one of the purposes of
the author when he talks about the importance of conversations.
The third activity of the unit
Is the Word power:
Topic: family
52
53
Objectives:
1. Present vocabulary related to the topic.
2. Provide information organizing or categorizing vocabulary.
This is a good cognitive activity in which they complete sentences using the pictures and
information. However it is not meaningful for the students as it could be if it presents a
popular or famous family, for example.
The fourth is grammar focus:
Function: Simple present statements
Simple present statements with irregular verbs
Objectives
1. Provide grammatical structures including audio recordings of the input.
2. Provide controlled exercises to practice the input given.
3. Promote freer, more personalized speaking practice.
This is a very traditional but effective way to explain grammatical functions. Also, the
meaning of the sentences has sense for the students because all the sessions follow the same
topic, the exercise C is very important because it promotes learners production of ideas,
which is a characteristic of the communicative competence. And definitely, as the author
says, grammar is presented gradually and according to the level.
54
55
The fifth session of the unit is Pronunciation:
Syllabus: third- person singular –s endings
Objective:
1. Provide correct pronunciation of words influenced by grammatical rules.
This session is good to let students get familiar and recognize different sounds, but there are
not meaningful exercises to practice the information given.
The sixth session is a Speaking activity (WHO IS IT?):
Objective:
1. Provide communicative tasks that help develop oral fluency
2. Recycle grammar and vocabulary of the unit.
3. Promote interaction in class.
This exercise is a good opportunity to develop speaking skills and socialize in class. Also
students can practice the grammatical functions they have learnt, organizing and then
producing their personal information.
The seventh activity is another conversation that provides a situation in which they are
giving more input. And the eighth is another grammar focus session, it is important to
56
clarify that all the sessions in every unit follow the same parameters; that is why, analyzing
one unit is enough to see how the syllabus is presented in the whole book.
The ninth activity is listening:
1. Develop listening giving an oral input and a checking exercise.
2. Provide a listening input in order to develop oral comprehension of main ideas and
details.
3. Promote post-listening speaking tasks.
57
The activity is very good; all the recordings have a good sound quality in the whole book
listening activities. Moreover, they incorporate, as the author says, top-down processing
skills (e.g. making predictions), and bottom-up processing skills (e.g. decoding individual
words).
The tenth activity is Interchange:
Title: class survey
Objectives:
1. Expands on the unit topic, vocabulary, and grammar
2. Provide opportunities to consolidate new knowledges in a creative and funny way.
58
3. Promote fluency through interaction
This session is a task-based activity which is very important in every unit because it
always has communicative activities such as surveys, information gaps and games.
However, these activities are located at the end of the book, and this is a disadvantage
for the students who are photocopying the book per unit; each activity must be located
in its specific unit.
The last session of the unit is
Reading:
Title: What’s your schedule like?
Objectives:
1. Develop reading comprehension using a pre-reading question and a sequencing
information exercise.
59
3. Promote written production using personal information and peer work.
These sessions present a variety of text types which help students develop reading
strategies and acquire new vocabulary.
In summary, all the sessions of the textbook and the most of the activities are coherent with
the author’s approach; and even though it is a good and up-dated material, ̈no textbook or
set of materials is likely to be perfect” (Mc Donough and Shaw, 1993:65) specially because
we, as teachers, have to consider that every student has different ways to learn, different
learning interests and specific contexts. For that reason, in the following chart we are going
to see; which features of the textbook fulfil the expectations of the target group and which
do not.
4.2.2. INTERNAL FEATURES OF THE IDEAL MATERIAL AND THE MATERIAL IN
USE.
The following chart contains two columns: The first one shows the internal features that the
ideal material must have, according to the needs analysis and the pedagogical implications
of the course design; and the second column contains the internal features of the material in
use, according to the analysis done before. The two kinds of materials are analyzed in
terms of content, methodology, grammar syllabus and treatment of skills; because this is
the criteria I defined for this internal analysis, in other to organize the appropriate material
for the course design.
IDEAL MATERIAL MATERIAL IN USE
CONTENT (TOPICS)
Up- dated, entertaining and real topics.
The text book is up-dated and contain
many entertaining and real topics, like,
chats in the internet (p. 35), and
information about famous young people
60
(p. 100)
Contextualized topics and information
which stimulates cross-cultural
comparison and discussion.
The book has information about some
countries, and its cultures, but there is not
information about ours.
METHODOLOGY
Varied, but making emphasis on task
based activities, which promotes
interaction.
The book has varied activities, but it needs
more task based ones.
Group work Activities (cooperative
learning)
Every unit has a lot of pair activities but it
needs more activities for bigger groups
like the survey (in page 57).
Projects which let learners practice
outside the classroom
This material does not have these kinds of
projects
Songs for practicing listening and acquire
more vocabulary
It does not have songs
GRAMMAR SYLLABUS
Basic and meaningful structures for
beginners.
Basic structures for beginners following
three dimensions: meaning, form and use.
Graded, functional and with a context.
Graded, functional but the context in
which it is presented, sometimes it is not
meaningful for the students.
Complement grammar input given from
the book with Many activities which
It has a lot of good grammar input and
controlled exercises but it needs more
61
promote the use of the structures
spontaneously.
activities to practice and reinforce
spontaneously the input given.
TREATMENT OF SKILLS
Emphasis on the oral skills
Integrated skills but focusing on speaking
Activities which promote oral production
It has speaking activities but students need
more.
Songs which promote oral comprehension
and reinforce other listening activities
from the text book
It has a lot of good listening activities,
except songs.
Some authentic input like songs, pieces of
movies to develop oral and written
comprehension.
The book contains adapted material which
is necessary for this first level, but
learners need to have contact with some
contextualized material that the textbook
does not provide.
A few reading and writing activities which
develop written comprehension and
increase students’ lexis.
It contains good reading and writing
activities, but students sometimes want to
know more vocabulary and opportunities
to use it.
This chart shows clearly what kind of material students need and what the textbook offers
for them; and this information helps to define what kind of extra material needs to be
designed to fulfil the lacks of the material in use. In other words, the ideal material is going
be the complement of the material in use.
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5. DECISIONS ABOUT THE CURRENT TEXTBOOK
The following chart is going to show the advantages and disadvantages of the material in
use, as a result of its analysis, and considering the main aspects that the material of the
course design need to have.
ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES
It is up-dated
Full of colors and pictures
Attractive topics
Supported materials
Balanced use of skills but
In special, speaking
Promotes interaction with a lot of pair activities.
A lot of good grammar input
and controlled exercises
Does not have enough oral
Production activities.
Lack of contextualized material; like
songs and short readings to develop
oral and written comprehension.
Does not encourage outdoor projects
More activities for big groups
More activities to practice and
reinforce grammar input
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6. FINAL CONSIDERATIONS
In conclusion, the ideal material which will support the current textbook (Interchange,
third addition) must have the following characteristics:
• SOME AUTHENTIC TEXTS
When I say authenticity, I mean texts which can be created or adapted according to the
learners’ needs and its context “An authentic text for a student, then, could be one
which belongs to the appropriate topic for the student’s specialism” (Robinson, 1991). I
consider that some songs and short readings might be appropriated. Because, I found in
the needs analysis, these students like music, and there are many songs meaningful for
them, taking into account the influence is having English in our Latin music. On the
other hand, short readings can be interesting for the students, if the topics are
contextualized.
• TASKS THAT PROMOTE GROUP WORK AND SPEAKING PRACTICE OPPORTUNITIES OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM.
To prepare presentations or projects gives the students the opportunity to work outside
the classroom; to apply, practice and/or reinforce what they have learnt; and to acquire
more knowledge while interacting with others using the language.
• SKILL-INTEGRATED ACTIVITIES CLOSELY RELATED TO THE USE OF
THE PREDOMINANT INTELLIGENCES IN THE STUDENTS
According to the need analysis study, students need a lot of activities integrating the
four skills, but emphasising in the oral comprehension and production. Therefore
they need an extra material with skill-integrated activities, but with a listening and
speaking focus. This material also may have activities related to the predominant
intelligences in them (interpersonal, musical and visual) which implies the use of a lot
of conversations and group activities full of images and sounds.
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7. COURSE DESIGN
This chapter will concentrate on the theory, planning, design and application to be required
in an ESP course based on students needs. Therefore, in the following paragraphs you will
theoretical support of decisions taken about the approaches to education, language and
learning for the course; the formulation of goals and objectives; the constituent analysis of
the objectives for selecting the teaching points; the selection of the appropriate focus for the
syllabus and syllabus shape; and the methodology the course need to be carried out.
7.1 APPROACHES TO THE COURSE DESIGN
Every ESP course design needs to have a theoretical support which may be possible its
applicability. Due to that, I will mention different approaches to course design and finally I
will focus on the appropriate approach for this course.
In the process of designing an English course the most important are learners’ needs,
therefore there are two well-established approaches to needs-based course design: the top-
down and the bottom-up approach (Moss, 1997).
The top-down approach, starts analyzing target needs in order to establish general goals and
objectives, from these objectives we derive teaching points, and when the content of the
course is defined we are ready to select materials, its sequence and structure. Finally we see
if it might be implemented through moving from top down, from the most general view of
the course to the specific teaching points and materials.
On the other hand, the bottom-up approach proceeds in a reverse order. Although the
process begins with needs analysis, this analysis is seen in terms of having got to know the
students on the ground, and then organise them in groups according to their interests,
65
English proficiency and goals. The next step is to decide the kinds of activities to be
selected, its sequence; theories of language and learning, and finally the development if
assessment, evaluation instruments and procedures which will involved the learner in the
process of assessing the success of the course and of his/her individual learning process.
This approach works from the specific and individual students’ data to general concerns of
goals, content, methodology and evaluation.
Both approaches have been successful in some specific situations, but they present some
constrains in terms of structure, for example, the top-down could present in some cases lack
of flexibility and forget to consider individual learning styles. And the bottom-up could, at
times, give the impression of lack of direction. For these reasons, it was proposed a third
approach, the sandwich approach, which combines elements of the two approaches above.
This approach is the appropriated for this course design for first level students of the
English courses at the Universidad Del Atlántico, because its structure and coherence
contains the relevant aspects to carry out the course effectively.
This approach is formed by the use of data and theory in a horizontal plane making a
sandwich, it means that the information gathered from students and its community about
their needs, the situational constrains and the theory related to education, learning and
language learning constitute the bread and butter of the sandwich. As soon as we have
defined need analysis and the theory in a coherent way, it is time to fill in the sandwich
establishing goals and objectives of course, teaching point and specific objectives; and
finally, the syllabus design, which must have sequence, structure, materials production,
revision, modification, implementation and evaluation. The most important aspect of this
sandwich approach is coherence in the decisions taken, if you put appropriate ingredients
you will have a delicious and healthy sandwich in you hands.
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7.1.1 APPROACH TO EDUCATION
People have tried to educate their children
in one way or another since the beginning of human life.
(Johnson, James et al, 1988: p 263)
The following paragraphs will explain the main features to be considered while
constructing the appropriate view of education for course design. These aspects are; the
polices established by Colombian education, the aims of the institution and the general
models of education.
After many years of changes and adoption of conceptions, the education in Colombia
nowadays is conceived as an integral process which makes possible to create critic, active,
innovative, productive, and responsible people able to contribute to the construction of the
country and the society wanted. According to all these qualities Colombian people must be
educated for, we as teachers have the big responsibility to not only teach knowledges but
also values and strategies to solve problems.
Furthermore, the Universidad Del Atlántico is in the process of educating people able to
solve problems in their professional fields and also be important and active participants in
the solution of conflicts in their communities. Moreover, with the language courses the
institution is offering to the community the opportunity to learn a foreign language which is
an important tool to be competent in the technological revolution our world is leading.
So that, this course design may look at the students, as active members of the society who
need to be competent in their jobs, interact with others and be problem solvers in the
community.
There are many models of education all over the world, but according to the context of this
course design, I will mention aspects of three models of education which I consider
matches the view of education of the country, the institution and the learner’s needs (Asken
and Carnell, 1998).
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The functionalist is a model of education which has, as its primary goal, the teaching of
specific skills and knowledge; I consider this aspect very important for my course design
because my students need to have specific knowledge and skills which may be useful and
practically applicable in society.
From the liberatory model of education, I take the flexibility of the relationships between
teacher and learners which are less hierarchical, and the facilitation of interpersonal
relationships; because my students are young adults who need to have self-confidence
while interacting with others.
It is also important to know that every student has abilities, preferences and learning styles.
Due to this, my course design will emphasize in the use of multiple intelligences to develop
individual potential, which is a characteristic of the client-centred model of education.
In sum, my course design sees education as a process in which students will not only learn
specific knowledge and skills to be used in their professional fields, but also values and
strategies to solve problems and interact with others.
7.1.2 APPROACH TO LANGUAGE
Every ESP course design might be supported by clear ideas about the nature of language.
Therefore, here I will give a brief outline of various ideas about language to be selected in
this course design.
The nature of language has been studied by many philosophers and linguists through out
time, who have established a wide range of definitions, concepts and dichotomies which
have been relevant in the development of linguistics studies. Nowadays, the language
teaching is still suffering changes because it is pretending to go further Chomsky’s
conceptions, which consider language as a relation between competence and a performance
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and not merely as a conventional symbol system regarding communication. “We thus
make a fundamental distinction between competence (the speaker-hearer’s knowledge of
his language) and performance (the actual use of language in concrete situations)”
(Chomsky, 1965. p4).
After Chomsky established the linguistic competence, Dell Hymes (1972) poses the notion
of communicative competence which transforms the language teaching as an interaction
between a speaker-hearer and a meaning situational context.
“El niño adquiere la competencia relacionada con el hecho de cuando sí y cuando no
hablar, y también sobre qué hacerlo, con quién, dónde, y en qué forma. En resumen. Un
niño llega a ser capaz de llevar a cabo un repertorio de actos de habla, de tomar parte en
eventos comunicativos y de evaluar la participación de otros. Aun más, esta competencia
es integral con actitudes valores y motivaciones relacionados con la lengua, con sus
características y usos, e integral con la competencia y actitudes hacia la interrelación de
la lengua con otros códigos de conducta comunicativa.” (Hymes, 1972).
This new view of language is very important to the design of this course, because it makes
conceive language as a dynamic system in which students learn the foreign language for
being able to use it effectively in a real context.
7.1.3 APPROACH TO LANGUAGE LEARNING
The way you lead a learning process depends on the way you conceive the concept of
learning. Due to this, it is important to establish the view of learning of this course design.
But, what is learning? According to Dennis Child (1986 p. 81) learning occurs whenever
one adopts new, or modifies existing, behaviour patterns in a way which has some
influence on future performance or attitudes.
There are two main approaches of learning: behaviourist (or connectionist) and cognitivist.
The first one assumed that humans learn when there is a stimulus; it means that
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behaviourist theories consists on the relationship between stimulus (input), response
(output) and reinforce (evaluation). The second one, on the contrary, concentrates on the
humans’ perceptions about learning, in other words, (p. 91) the emphasis is on adaptability
in the use of existing knowledge to form new insights rather than the mechanical repetition
of stimulus responses bonds.
As we can see, learning is natural condition of human beings. And even thought, this is not
an exclusive academic matter, teachers must consider it important because we teach people
with backgrounds, own personality, different ways of processing information, and all those
aspects generates diverse behaviours when they learn something.
Certainly, every student has a different learning style; each style is determined by
personality, preferences and the way we perceive the world. Many authors have
established terms and characteristics to define each different learning style. For example,
According to Carl and Myers, learners can be introverts or extroverts, sensing or intuitive,
thinkers or feelers, and judging or perceptive.
Each learning preference implies the use of specific learning strategies. So that, it is
necessary to focus on the different ways our students acquire the information we provide
them. Furthermore, it is important to know the concept of learning strategy and what kinds
of learning strategies might be employed according to each student condition. (Wenden,
1987. p 71) Learning strategies are techniques, approaches, or actions that students take in
order to facilitate the learning; (Oxford, 1990) in language learning, there are direct and
indirect strategies: the direct strategies are memory, cognitive and compensation; and the
indirect ones are metacognitive, social and affective.
The memory strategies are related to the way you acquire information and they might be
used in two different settings: the language classroom and a naturalistic language setting
outside of the classroom. The principal memory strategies are: the creation of mental
linkages (grouping, association and placing new words into a context), the use of images,
semantic maps, keywords and sounds to represent concepts, the reviewing and the
employment of physical actions.
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The cognitive strategies are related to the constructions of mental models based on:
practicing; which involves repetition, recognition, use of formulas and patterns and practice
naturalistically. Receiving and sending messages; which mean the way to get and produce
ideas. And finally the creation of structures for input and output; which refer taking notes,
summarizing and highlighting.
In the compensation strategies, the students use clues to understand and produce ideas in
the new language without having complete knowledge of it. These strategies help the
learners to keep on using the language, getting fluency, and making up possible lexical and
grammar limitations. (p. 47) The compensation strategies are: guessing linguistic features,
switching to the mother tongue unknown expressions, getting help, using mimics or
gestures, avoiding communication partially or totally, selecting the topic, adjusting and
approximating the message, coining words, and using circumlocution or synonym.
Metacognitive strategies (O’Malley. 1990 p.137) involve thinking about the learning
process, planning for learning, monitoring the learning task and evaluating how well one
has learnt. These strategies are essential, because they help learners to use the target
language in real situations and also to coordinate their own learning process. There are
three main metacognitive strategies. The first centres on the learning; it implies
overviewing and linking with already known material, paying attention, and delaying
speech production to focus on listening. The second is the arrangement and planning of
learning; it implies finding out about language learning, organizing, setting goals and
objectives, identifying purpose of a language task, planning for a language task, and
seeking practice opportunities. And the third is the evaluation of learning which focuses on
self-monitoring and self- evaluating.
The last two strategies are the social and the affective, (p.139) these involve interacting
with others in learning activities and using affective control to assist a learning task. These
two kinds of strategies go together, because a classroom is an interaction between
participants (students, teachers and context). Therefore, it is important to consider
emotions, attitudes, motivations and values that influence these participants in the learning
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process. The most important social and affective strategies are: the space for questions
(learners can express doubts and teachers can explain and verify issues), the cooperation
between participants, self-talk (reduction a anxiety by using mental techniques that make
one feel competent to do a learning task), and self-reinforcement (personal motivation by
arranging rewards for oneself when a language learning activity has been completed).
On the other hand, Gardner (1983) proposes the multiple intelligence theory, in which he
concluded that intelligence is centered in many different areas of the brain which are
interconnected, can work independently if needed and can be developed with the right
environmental conditions. The intelligences Gardner recognizes are: verbal-linguistic,
math-logic, spatial, bodily-kinaesthetic, musical, interpersonal, interpersonal, intrapersonal
and naturalist. Each intelligence area is demonstrated through specific talents, skills, and
interests.
This multiple intelligences theory has influenced considerably the educational community
all over the world; because it changed many educators thinking not only about the concept
of intelligence, but also the ways people can learn. Gardner recognizes three main ways that
his theory can be used by educators. These are by:
1. Cultivating desired capabilities and talents in our students.
2. Approaching a concept, subject matter, or discipline in a variety of ways.
3. Personalizing education as we take human differences seriously.
I can summarize that my view of learning for this course design is cognitivist because I
may provide my students with tools which contribute to help them develop their mental
processes using the appropriate learning strategies according to the intelligences they use.
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7. 2. GOALS OF THE COURSE AND OBJECTIVES
After the tabulation and analysis of five data-collection instruments and dairy
observations about the English learning process of the students, I define the
following goals and objectives for the course:
GOALS OBJECTIVES
TARGET Development of oral skills *students should be able to understand different oral input.
*Students should be able to produce oral input.
LEARNING Development of multiple intelligences
• Student should be able to work with activities according to their different skills and learning styles.
* They should be able to acquire oral abilities through the use of their intelligences.
HUMAN Respect differences *Students should be able to work together respecting their different ways of learning.
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7.3 CONSTITUENT ANALYSIS
Now, it is necessary to establish constituent analysis and teaching points; because
they let define what the students need to know and do, in order to achieve the
goals and objectives of the course.
Target goal
Development of oral skills
General objectives
1. Students should be able to understand different oral texts (conversations
and songs).
CONSTITUENT KNOWLEDGE
The sounds of English language
The lexical items related to the types of oral input to be selected
The difference between formal and informal conversations
The colloquial words and expressions in the selected texts
The grammatical functions related to the type of oral input to be selected.
The context and cultural aspects involved in the type oral input to be
selected.
CONSTITUENT SKILLS
To identify sounds of English language
To be able to apply in different contexts the lexical items related to the
type of oral input to be selected.
To compare formal and informal devices involved in a conversation
To identify and interpret colloquial expressions in the selected topics.
To understand grammatical functions related to the type of oral input to
selected.
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To be aware of context and cultural aspects involved in the type of oral
input.
2. Students should be able to produce oral input
CONSTITUENT KNOWLEDGE
Pronunciation of English sounds
The functions, structures to communicate in English
Lexical items related to the topic
The use of language functions in different contexts
CONSTITUENT SKILLS
To pronounce sounds of English
To use the language functions and structures in order to express what
they want
To select lexical items according to the topic
Learning goal
Development of multiple intelligences
Objective
1. Students should be able to work with activities according to their different
skills and learning styles.
CONSTITUENT KNOWLEDGE
Difficulties and strengths in their learning process
The abilities they can use to develop different tasks
CONSTITUENT SKILLS
To be aware of their abilities and difficulties in the learning process.
To use their abilities in order to select the appropriate task for them
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Human goal
Respect differences
Objective
1. Students should be able to work together respecting their different ways of
learning
CONSTITUENT KNOWLEDGE
People have different way of understanding/ interpreting ideas
Ability to learn from others
CONSTITUENT SKILLS
To listen to others in order to understand them
To accept other ideas and ways of learning
To learn by sharing with others
7.4 TEACHING POINTS
These teaching points help to identify what I need teach in order to achieve the
goals of the course. It is important to grade the level of knowledge students have
with respect to every teaching point; for this reason, in the following list, each point
is accompanied by a symbol. (o) Means students lack this point, and ( ) means
students know some about this point.
Target goal
Development of oral skills
General objectives
1. Students should be able to understand different oral texts (conversations and
songs).
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KNOWLEDGE
The sounds of English language
The lexical items related to the types of oral input to be selected
The difference between formal and informal conversations
o The colloquial words and expressions in the selected songs
o The grammatical functions related to the type of oral input to be selected.
o The context and cultural aspects involved in the type oral input to be
selected.
SKILLS
To identify sounds of English language
o To be able to apply in different contexts the lexical items related to the type
of oral input to be selected.
o To compare formal and informal devices involved in a conversation
o To identify and interpret colloquial expressions in the selected topics.
o To understand grammatical functions related to the type of oral input to
selected.
o To be aware of context and cultural aspects involved in the type of oral
input.
2. Students should be able to produce oral input
KNOWLEDGE
Pronunciation of English sounds
o The functions, structures to communicate in English
Lexical items related to the topic
o The use of language functions in different contexts
SKILLS
To pronounce sounds of English
o To use the language functions and structures in order to express what they
want
To select lexical items according to the topic
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Learning goal
Development of multiple intelligences
Objective
1. Students should be able to work with activities according to their different
skills and learning styles.
KNOWLEDGE
Difficulties and strengths in their learning process
The abilities they can use to develop different tasks
SKILLS
To be aware of their abilities and difficulties in the learning process.
To use their abilities in order to select the appropriate task for them
Human goal
Respect differences
Objective
1. Students should be able to work together respecting their different ways of
learning
KNOWLEDGE
People have different ways of understanding/ interpreting ideas
o Ability to learn from others
SKILLS
o To listen to others in order to understand them
o To accept other ideas and ways of learning
o To learn by sharing with others
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7.5 SYLLABUS FOCUS
The syllabus is a very important part of a course design because it defines what will be
taught. It is necessary to clarify that “one of the main purposes of a syllabus is to break
down the mass of knowledge to be learnt into manageable units” (Hutchinson and Waters
1987; p.85). Therefore, it emerges the following question, how can a syllabus be organized
in a course design? There are four syllabus approaches to a course design:
The language-centred is a syllabus approach which focuses its attention in the production of
texts and activities with the purpose of evaluating language forms and structures. The skill-
based approach, on the other hand, wants to facilitate learners the development of the skills
and strategies considered necessary in the target situation. The third approach to syllabus is
the learning-centred which focuses on the way language items or skills and strategies are
presented. And the last approach is the learner-centred, in which the selection of topics and
activities depends exclusively on the students’ wants and needs.
The selection of an appropriate syllabus approach depends on a very important aspect: there
must have a relation between the syllabus approach and the course design in terms of the
view of education, language and learning; goals, content, methodology, roles of teachers
and learners, and the assessment. Having clear that aspect, I can say that my approach to
syllabus is skill-based centred because it centres its attention in the development of some
skills which is related to my goals. Moreover it matches with my course in terms of content
(communicative functions and strategies), methodology (interaction with authentic
material), teacher’s role (provider of knowledge, facilitator and monitor), learner’s role
(active language user) and assessment (various tasks according to the skill emphasis).
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7.6 SYLLABUS SHAPE
One of the most important decisions course designers Need to take when writing materials
is the selection of a syllabus shape. There are five types of syllabus shape: the linear format
is the traditional shape which is organized, in a strict order, making emphasis in grammar
or structures. The modular format integrates thematic and or situational language content
with a skills orientation and thematic integration. In the cyclical format the topic may be
worked more than once but every time it comes with a more complex level of difficulty, so
teacher can feel free of going back and forward the content in different ways and various
times in the course. In the matrix format the topics are varied and independent which allows
flexibility in its order and selection. And the story-line format in which the thematic has an
effect of continuity and it is mostly presented in a narrative way.
After a brief look at the different syllabus shapes, I consider modular is the appropriate
syllabus shape for the materials of this course design, because in this modular shape each
thematic or communicative situation is skill oriented and my materials need to have a lot of
activities integrating skills, specially the oral ones. Moreover the basic component of this
shape is the flexibility in the materials to be used, according to that, these materials, which
will support the current text book, will provide different tasks according to the intelligences
learners use.
The course will consist on modules, every module contains a thematic or situation with
activities which will supplement the input given in the current textbook interchange third
edition, each module will follow the same sequence of skill- building tasks, the different
tasks want to promote group work and speaking practice opportunities outside the
classroom, and the variety of activities will be closely related to the use of the predominant
intelligence in the students (interpersonal).
The following is the map of the course, which describes the scope and sequence of
the materials:
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SCOPE AND SEQUENCE
MODULES THEMES FUNCTIONS SKILLS
Listening Speaking Reading writing
1 MAKING
FRIENDS
INTRODUCIN
G YOURSELF
AND OTHERS (formal and
informal)
GREETINGS (formal and
informal)
To identify formal and
informal
introductions and greetings
Use the appropriate
expressions
to greet others
Select
situations and act out
conversatio
ns in the classroom
Relate gestures to
situations
Rewrite short
dialogues
and place expressions
according
to different situations
2
TELL ME
ABOUT YOU….
TALK (ask for
and give information)
ABOUT…
FAMILY, PERSONALIT
Y, AGES,
TELEPHONE NUMBERS,
JOBS,
BIRTHDAYS AND
ADDRESSES,
Identify roles
of each member of a
family
Share
personal information
with your
classmates
know family
members, occupations,
adjectives to
describe personality,
and numbers
through short readings and
conversations
Write
about members
of a famous
family and their
occupation
s, ages and personality
3
FAMOUS
PEOPLE
BIOGHAPHIC
AL
INFORMATION ABOUT
FAMOUS
PEOPLE: Nationality
Date of birth
Identify
famous
people according to
some of their
information Learn new
vocabulary
pronunciation and
expressions
Talk about
your
favorite famous
people
listening a song
Read
biographies
of famous people,
identify dates
of birth, nationality
and what
they did to become
famous
.
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7.7 METHODOLOGY
El verdadero maestro no es el que escoge celosamente los conceptos y conocimientos que
sus alumnos deben aprender, sino el que permite e induce al autodesarrollo, a cualificar el
pensamiento y crear alternativas frente a su vida cotidiana.
ConsueloMedrano
This part of the paper will focus on the methodology for the chosen syllabus of the course
design. There are many aspects to be considered in the selection and implementation of an
appropriate methodology, such as: roles of teacher, and learner, and type of activities for
class organization; which are going to be exposed in the following paragraphs.
When we talk about methodology for a course design, we mean the way how activities,
tasks and learning experiences selected should be carried out within the teaching- learning
process. Because, as Nunan (1988, p 158) points out, the methodology is “the study and
development of tasks and activities”.
There are several approaches or methods in English language teaching. But we will
highlight the two most important and contrasted ones: the audio-lingual method (Richards
and Rodgers, 1990 p. 31)that was developed during the World War II; and in which the
language is learnt by forming habits through imitation and repetition and the students learn
to use it automatically without developing thinking skills. And in the communicative
approach (1990, p 131), in which the language is learnt to be used appropriately, so the
students must learn to be competent using the language according to different situations and
contexts.
I consider the methodology of this course design follows most of principles of the
communicative approach, which are basically:
* The target language as a vehicle of communication, not just the object of study.
* learning to use the language forms appropriately, developing communicative competence.
* Communicative interaction encourages cooperative relationships among the students.
* The social context of the communicative event is essential in giving meanings to the
utterances.
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* The grammar and vocabulary are learnt from function, situational context, and the roles
of the interlocutors.
7.7.1 THE TEACHER’S ROLE
To establish the role of the teacher in a course design, it is necessary to base on the
principles of the syllabus focus and methodological approach which were selected.
According to the skill-centred syllabus the teacher is a provider of knowledge who gives
students the tools to facilitate their learning process. Likewise, for the communicative
approach, the teacher provides situations likely to promote communication in the
classroom. Following those principles, in this course design the teacher is going to be a
provider of information and creator of tasks in which the students can use the language
appropriately.
7.7.2 LEARNER’S ROLE
If the teacher is a facilitator of students learning process, so learners may be active
participants in it. They need to be competent users of the language in different contexts.
The most important responsibilities of the student in this course are: to communicate in the
language, expressing opinion and ideas, to be able to manage the process of negotiation of
meaning with others, and be free to communicate without paying attention to the errors,
because they are natural outcomes in the development of communication skills.
7.7.3 CLASS ORGANIZATION
Now it emerge the following questions: what type of criteria do I have to use for selecting
the appropriate activities for the course design? How can the classes be organized?
Every activity you carry out in the classroom, need to achieve a specific teaching-learning
goal and objective. Furthermore, the selection of activities depends on the teacher
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“assumptions and beliefs about how students learn and on the kind of methodology that
they believe best support this learning process” (Richards and lockhart, 1994 p 162)
Accordingly, the activities this course design will based on the development of four
macroskills, making emphasis in listening and speaking.
About the organization of the activities, I consider very important to have a lesson plan
every time you present activities. For that reason, I will present a lesson plan from one of
the classes of the course design, following a Richards structure (1994, p 162).
Lesson plan
Class: basic reading/ listening
Aims: To learn new vocabulary
To develop listening and reading skills
Resources: worksheet with the letter of the song and exercises, tape recorder and
a CD.
Activities:
1. Listen to the song “hips don’t lie” by Shakira.
2. Highlight with different colors the parts of the song where Shakira and the rappers sing.
3. Find the lines in which the last words are misplaced (have a similar pronunciation)
4. Match vocabulary with its synonyms
5. Answer the following questions about the content and context of the song
6. Listen to the song again and fill in the blanks
This is a class of the course design, in which I integrate listening and reading. I use a song
because it is an authentic material in which students can practice pronunciation and learn
more vocabulary. Moreover, in the activity number 5 students should answer questions
about the content and context of the song, it allows they develop communicative skills;
because every song is involved in a context, and expresses ideas and feelings, and this is a
very special song because it reflexes the mixture of the Latin and the American culture.
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8. EVALUATION
“No curriculum model would be complete without an evaluation component”
(Nunan, 1988: 116)
Every teaching-learning process needs to be evaluated and this is not the exception. The
evaluation is an important part of ESP course design, so that, in the following paragraphs
you will see its conceptions, main components and approaches, and how all these features
are focused in this course design for first level English students of the language institute at
the Universidad del Atlántico.
The term evaluation tends to be understood as the mere act of testing. Nevertheless it must
be clarified that testing is just a component of evaluation itself. Evaluation then is more
than a set of tests, it is a systematic process in which we collect and analyze relevant
information about the effectiveness and development of a group of people, or program in
relation to the achievement of the goals, objectives and specific objectives proposed.
In ESP course design we might look at evaluation from two different points of view:
Student’s evaluation, in which we assess the students performance in the course; and the
course evaluation, which is the evaluation of the course itself, “this kind of evaluation helps
to assess whether the course objectives are being met- whether the course, in other words,
is doing what is was designed to do” (1987, p 144).
8.1 LEARNER’S EVALUATION
First of all, it is necessary to point out that there is a difference between terms; assessment
and evaluation. Assessment refers to engage an ongoing process in which, the students are
measured according to the achievement of the course objectives through exams, quizzes, or
exercises in class. Whereas evaluation refers to the process of gathering information, in
other to make decisions.
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According to Hughes (1989 p 9) there are four types of assessment, its use depends on the
teachers purpose:
Placement tests: these are used to place students in the course more suited to their needs
Diagnostic tests: these are used to identify learners’ strengths and difficulties at the
beginning of a learning process.
Achievement tests: they assess the students in terms of the objectives the course has been
proposed.
Proficiency tests: they test whether the students are having sufficient commands of the
language for a particular purpose.
In the production of a test there are different approaches we can distinguish, I will expose
them in the following chart.
DIRECT TESTING INDIRECT TESTING
It Requires students perform the skill
we wish to measure.
It attempts to measure the abilities which
underlie the skills in which we are interested
DISCRETE POINT INTEGRATIVE TESTING
It refers to the testing of one element, It refers to the testing of many elements in a
completion of a task.
NORM- REFERENCE TESTING CRITERION- REFERENCE TESTING
It compares one student performance to
that of other students, placing the
student in a rate scale.
It classifies students according to his/her
abilities to perform some tasks
satisfactorily
OBJECTIVE TESTING SUBJECTIVE TESTING
It gives a score without a judgement It gives a score considering a judgement
Furthermore, it is important to know that the teacher is not the only person who can
evaluate in a classroom, there are three kinds of assessment: Self –assessment, in which
every learner can evaluate his/her progress; In Peer-evaluation the student can assess a
partner learning process, and the hetero-evaluation in which they can reflect about the
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learning process of the group of learners in general. This alternative for evaluation
constitutes a part of the metacognitive awareness they need concerning their own learning
processes. It is “…as an automatic part of our teaching, to enable learners to take more
responsibility for helping themselves progress” (Underhill, 2003 p 23).
Now, based on the previous information about assessment, I will set the main features of
the learner’s evaluation in this course design. Due to the skill-based character of the
syllabus, I consider direct and indirect testing are necessary to evaluate this group of
students. Also integrative tests should be required because its completion reflects the
communicative approach principles. Moreover, achievement tests cannot be avoided,
because they assess the students in terms of the specific objectives of the course.
Focusing on the context of the course design, the institution works with summative testing,
in which grades must be collected and presented, in a report paper at the end of every level.
The format of the report allows norm - reference testing because I have to place each
student in a rate scale. And it allows a balance between subjective and objective testing
because the final score is the result of many subjective and objective scores taken during
the learning process in the classroom. For example many grades might be taken from
multiple choice quizzes, which are considered as objectives; and others from role plays,
which are considered as subjective (1990, 19).
About the production of evaluation instruments, I concentrate on the design of charts in
which oral activities can be evaluated in a more systematical and objective way; because, if
the target goal of the course is the development of oral skills, it is necessary to produce
effective instruments to assess oral students production. Therefore, here is an example
could be used to assess oral activities. The activities are described in the assignment paper
(Figure 1) which is part of the materials design, then you will find the evaluation
instrument for the teacher, and finally, a special paper for students; in this evaluation
instrument students are going to self- assess their jobs and assess another group’s job.
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Figure 1.
To be presented by __________
THERE ARE TWO DIFFERENT ACTIVITIES YOU CAN PREPARE, CHOOSE ONE.
1. A famous family: find on internet information about a famous family,
and then prepare a presentation in which you can tell us about their
occupations, ages and personality.
2. Dialogue: Prepare a conversation in which you can ask and give personal
information about you and your family. Possible situations: first date with
someone you like and/or first day at school or job.
Very important!
Work in pairs or groups of three.
Use posters, clothes or decoration to recreate the situations.
Use the models and vocabulary provided by the teacher.
Don’t forget you can get feedback from the teacher before your presentation
Be organized bringing the material and instruments you are going to need
Be creative while preparing the activity.
Take minimum 5 maximum 10 minutes to present the activity
Enjoy your presentations
Miss. Adriana
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EVALUATION INSTRUMENT
UNIVERSIDAD DEL ATLÀNTICO – ENGLISH COURSES LEVEL I
OBJETIVE: To evaluate the students’ oral presentations
TOPIC: Family DATE: ________________
PUT A *SCORE ACCORDING TO THE FOLLOWING CRITERIA
1. TEXT/COHERENCE 4. PRONUNCIATION
2. TOPIC/ ORGANIZATION 5. ENTONATION
3. VOCABULARY 6. CREATIVITY
GROUP 1 Activity: _____________
STUDENT TEXT/
ORG
TOPIC/
ORG
VOC
.
PRON ENT CRE TOTAL
GROUP GRADE: ____
FINAL GRADE: ____
GROUP 2 Activity: _____________
STUDENT TEXT/
ORG
TOPIC/
ORG
VOC
.
PRON ENT CRE TOTAL
GROUP GRADE: ____
FINAL GRADE: ____
GROUP 3 Activity: _____________
STUDENT TEXT/
ORG
TOPIC/
ORG
VOC
.
PRON ENT CRE TOTAL
GROUP GRADE: ____
FINAL GRADE: ____
*The score established by the institution (from 1 to five).
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EVALUATION INSTRUMENT
UNIVERSIDAD DEL ATLÀNTICO – ENGLISH COURSES LEVEL I
OBJETIVES: To self-evaluate my job and to evaluate another group’s job.
TOPIC: Family DATE: ________________
PUT A SCORE ACCORDING TO THE FOLLOWING CRITERIA
1. TEXT/COHERENCE 4. PRONUNCIATION
2. TOPIC/ ORGANIZATION 5. ENTONATION
3. VOCABULARY 6. CREATIVITY
MY GROUP 1 Activity: _____________
STUDENT TEXT/
ORG
TOPIC/
ORG
VOC
.
PRON ENT CRE TOTAL
GROUP GRADE: ____
FINAL GRADE: ____
GROUP _______ Activity: _____________
STUDENT TEXT/
ORG
TOPIC/
ORG
VOC
.
PRON ENT CRE TOTAL
GROUP GRADE: ____
FINAL GRADE: ____
90
8.2 COURSE EVALUATION
“Since the ESP course exists to satisfy a particular educational need, evaluation helps to
show how well the course is actually fulfilling the need” (1987: 152)
There are certain aspects I will consider for evaluating this course, these are: the elements
the course need to be evaluated, the methodology, and the participants should be involved
in the process. First, the elements my course needs to evaluate are basically: the coherence
between student needs and the goals and objectives which were established, completeness
on the theories and whether there could have a real applicability of them, and whether there
is a perfect agreement with the objectives, the methodology and activities in the course
design.
There are many instruments we can use to evaluate the course, like: surveys,
questionnaires, discussions, etc. Its effectiveness, appropriateness and efficiency depend on
the type of course and what we really want to evaluate. Finally I will say that this is an
ongoing process in which teacher-researchers, students, and the institutions can play the
role of evaluators.
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9. CONCLUSIONS
REFLEXIONS ABOUT THE RESEARCH PROCESS
Why is research important for teachers? That is the first question that emerges when this
process starts. In this moment it might be answered shows us the importance of each
situation that occurs in a classroom for language learning. So that, if we want to study the
learning process of a language; it is necessary to focus in the classroom. But how can I do
language classroom research? , what is it exactly? Where is it come from? What are its
main characteristics?
Definitely, the research was carried out answers all the questions above and also let see
learning-teaching process from different points of view which allow us to do a better job
with the students. Now we are involved with the current teaching-learning theories,
strategies and methodologies that contribute to the improvement of our current practice and
educational process as teachers.
The investigation is a useful tool to handle the common difficulties found in our everyday
classes. Besides it opens teachers’ minds because we find different ways to solve our
problems reading other teacher-researchers experiences, and creating strategies based on
principles, assumptions and given theories.
Doing research obviously is not easy, it is very important to have time and resources, and
you need the collaboration of students, other colleagues and the institution. In this
particular case everything has been positive because everybody has participated with good
actions, however time is never enough and the institution where the ESP course is going to
be designed does not have the resources to do research.
Nowadays, I see myself as a language teacher starting a learning process to become a good
researcher. To achieve the goal it is necessary to continue working on the acquisition of
research abilities like: observing, making assumptions, being critical and self-critical, being
92
analytical, developing and interpreting concepts and creations of strategies in order to solve
problems. These are the fundamental elements to consider when we are searching in a
classroom. Furthermore it is very important to have a good relationship with the students,
because the results of the research are going to be successful if you improve students’
capacities to interact with others, which must be the main language teacher purpose.
In conclusion, a good language teacher must be: sensitive, creative, communicative, with
well developed research skills to solve problems and good planner. Also there are some
elements to be considered: the syllabus, the method, the atmosphere and the co-produced
outcomes; which are three: the learner’s receptivity, their practice opportunities and the
input (Allwright and Bailey, 1991 p.28).
93
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ALLWRIGHT, Dick and Kathleen M. Bailey. (1991) Focus on the language classroom; An
introduction to classroom Research for language teachers. C.U.P.
ASKEN, Susan and CARNELL, Eileen (1998): Transforming Learning; Individual and Global Change. London; Cassell.
CUNNINGSWORTH, Alan. (1984) Evaluating and Selecting E.F.L Teaching Materials.
London: Heinemann Educational Books.
CHILD, Dennis (1986) Psychology and the Teacher. London: Cassell.
CHOMSKY, Noam. (1965) Aspects of the theory of syntax. M I T Press.
GARDNER, Howard. (1993) Multiple Intelligences: The Theory in Practice. New York:
Basicbooks, HarperCollins publisher,
HOLMES, Jhon. (1986).The teacher as researcher: Pontificia U. Católica de Sao Paulo.
HUGHES, Arthur. (1989) Testing for language teachers. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press.
HUTCHINSON, T. and WATERS, A. (1987) English for specific purposes: A learning-
centred approach. Cambridge University Press,.
HYMES, Dell, (1972) Acerca de la competencia comunicativa, en: Forma y Fusión No. 9
Bogotá, departamento de lingüística Universidad Nacional, 1996.
JOHNSON, James et al (1988) Introduction to the Foundations of America. Education
USA. Allyn and Bacon Inc.
Ley General de la Educación (1996) Colombia: Editorial Unión Limitada LTDA.
94
MC. DONOUGH, Jo and SHOW, Christopher. Material and methods in E.L.T. Oxford:
Blackwell Publishers.
MEDRANO, C. (1999) El Maestro Como Elemento Crítico De La Sociedad, en Revista:
Participación y Educación. Universidad Del Atlántico
MEN (Ministerio de Educación Nacional). Bilingüismo en Colombia, meta en el 2009: en
revista virtual, www.colombiaaprende.edu.co, 2005.
MOSS, Gillian. (1997) Making Sandwiches: A combined Approach to course Design. Barranquilla. Universidad Del Norte.
NICHOLSON-NELSON, Kristen. (1998) Developing students’ Multiple Intelligences:
scholastic professional books. NY.
NUNAN, David. (2002) Methods in Language Learning. Cambridge University Press.
NUNAN, David. (1988) Syllabus Design. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
O’MALLEY, M and CHAMOT, A. (1990) Learning Strategies in Second Language
Acquisition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
OXFORD, Rebecca (1990). Language Learning Strategies. What Every Teacher Should
Know. New York: New House Publishers.
RICHARDS, Jack C. (2005) Interchange Third Edition, Cambridge University press.
RICHARDS, J.C and Lockhart, C. (1994) Reflective Teaching in second Language
Classrooms. Cambridge University Press
RICHARDS, J.C, and RODGERS, T.S. (1986). Approaches and methods in language
teaching: A Description and Analysis. Cambridge University Press.
95
ROBINSON, Pauline (1991) ESP today: a practioner’s guide. New York, Prentice Hall.
TOMLIMSON, Brian. (1998) Materials development in language teaching. Cambridge
University press.
UNDERHILL, Nic. (2003) Testing Spoken Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University
press.
WALLACE, Michael. (1998) Action research for language teachers: Cambridge
University press.
WARSHASWSKY, Diane. (1992) Spectrum 1: Prentice Hall Regents.NJ.
WENDEN, Anita; RUBIN, Joan (1987) Learner Strategies in Language Learning. Prentice
Hall International. London, 1987.
WEST, Richard. (1994) “Needs analysis in language teaching” in the magazine language
teaching, university of Manchester, January.
96
APPENDIX
TEST I
Choose the options you consider are correct according to your personality.
Name:_______________________
1. What do you like to study? 6. How do you study? Working in groups or with
Words another person.
Numbers
Images Building a model
Drawing or visualizing
Sounds
Quantifying and placing the
things in a logical order
2. What kind of sports do you prefer? 7. What kind of profession do you
like?
I don’t like sports Accountant
Golf or hiking
Music therapist
Swimming
Psychologist
Football or volleyball
Journalist
3. What do you do in your free time? 8. Sometimes have you ever tried
to…? Write your own book
To dance
Know the number of dogs that
To visit friends your city has
To listen to music Listen to the whole music
you have in one morning
To be alone Looking images and pictures
in clouds.
4. I’m sensitive to… 9. You are good at …
Music forming mental images of
yourself
Color
Finding analogies
Feelings
Playing sports or dancing
Movement
Speaking or arguing
10. In my childhood…
5. What is the most important? I made friends easily
My accounts I loved being outdoors
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My friends I enjoy drawing or painting
My books I spent a lot of time thinking
My CDs to myself and my future.
TEST II
PERSONAL INFORMATION QUESTIONS
A: Fill out the form.
Name: _______________________________________________________
Age: ______ date and place of birth: __________________________
Occupation: __________________________________________________
Marital status: ________________________
Address:_________________________ Neighbourhood:______________
Who do you live with? _________________________________________
Tell something about your family________________________________ ___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
What are your hobbies? ________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE LANGUAGE SKILLS
This test pretends to determine the development of your language skills.
B. Number (from 1 to 4) in order of importance the four options of each statement,
considering that 1 is the best and 4 is the worst.
1. Talking about the four languages skills, I think I do better.
Listening _____ speaking_____ reading______ writing_____
2. In the English class, I like to learn best by
Listening ______ speaking_____ reading______ writing_____
3. To practice speaking, I prefer:
Oral presentations____ Role plays___ Speak only to the teacher____
Speak to my classmates ____
98
4. To practice reading, I prefer:
Articles___ stories___ Conversations____ comics____
5. To practice listening I prefer:
Songs___ The exercises from the book ____ TV programs or
Or movies____ The teacher and students’ dialogues in class___
6. To practice writing, I prefer:
Letters____ The exercises from the book___ Projects___ Diaries___
7. I like to learn English: (number from 1 to 3:1 the best, 3 the worst)
Reading books ____ Talking to my friends___ With songs and
Movies ____
8. I understand English
Listening to the teacher___ Reading the guide book___ looking for extra
material ___ Doing exercises___
9. I understand better
Seeing graphs, charts, or diagrams from the book or the board____
Listening to the teacher and the tape recorder ____
Taking ideas and writing them down the notebook____
Practicing with examples and creating new ones____
10. In my future, it is going to be most important
To speak English ___ To read English___ To understand English ___ To
write English____
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EVALUACION DEL PROCESO Y ESPECTATIVAS
LEARNING NEEDS QUESTIONNAIRE
Responde las siguientes preguntas:
1. ¿Por qué y para qué estas estudiando inglés?
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
2. ¿Te gusta la clase de inglés? Si ___ No___ ¿Por qué?
_________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
3. ¿Qué es lo que más te gusta de la clase?
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
4. ¿Qué es lo que menos te gusta de la clase?
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
5. ¿Que aspectos de la clase crees que se deberían incrementar, mejorar y/o cambiar?
Justifica tu respuesta.
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
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ENCUESTA
EVALÚE LAS CLASES Y SU PROCESO DE APRENDIZAJE
A. Indique con que frecuencia realiza o cumple cada uno de los enunciados, teniendo en
cuenta las siguientes variantes
1. La mayoría de las veces 2.Con frecuencia 3. Algunas veces 4. Pocas veces
5. Casi nunca
1. En la clase de inglés se desarrollan las cuatro habilidades de acuerdo a
los porcentajes establecidos. (Escucha 30%, Habla 40%, Lectura 15%,
Escritura 15%)
1
2
3
4
5
2. las actividades que se realizan en clase son instructivas y amenas 1 2 3 4 5
3. Entiendo lo que dicen en inglés la profesora y mis compañeros 1 2 3 4 5
4. Pido explicación a la profesora cuando no entiendo algo 1 2 3 4 5
5. Participo voluntariamente en clase 1 2 3 4 5
6. Me distraigo con facilidad en clase 1 2 3 4 5
7. Necesito traducir al español las cosas para poder comprenderlas 1 2 3 4 5
8. Practico lo que aprendo fuera de clase 1 2 3 4 5
9. Me gusta que me corrijan mis errores de manera inmediata 1 2 3 4 5
10. El texto guía es claro y satisface mis necesidades 1 2 3 4 5
11. Las evaluaciones son claras y me ayudan a descubrir mis fortalezas y
debilidades.
1 2 3 4 5
12. Realizo tareas y asignaciones de manera correcta y puntual 1 2 3 4 5
B. Responda las siguientes preguntas
1. ¿Qué has aprendido?
2. ¿Qué fortalezas y dificultades has descubierto en tu aprendizaje del inglés?
3. ¿Cómo crees que se podrían superar las dificultades?
4. ¿Tuviste problemas de atención y concentración durante las clases? Justifica tu
respuesta
5. ¿Te gustó trabajar en grupo? Menciona ventajas y desventajas
6. ¿Cómo evaluarías el proceso de todo el grupo en general?
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STRUCTURED INTERVIEW
This was designed to know another teacher’s opinion about the class.
Teacher’s name: _____________________________
1). According to the aims of the semester; what is, in your opinion, the level of English of the class in
general?
Very good Good Average Insufficient
2). What difficulties and strengths have you found in the academics development of the students?
______________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________
3). Do you think the percentage that was established for the language skills in good to carry out the first
semester? Yes No
Why? _________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
4). What do you think about guidebook?
________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________
5). Is the institution giving us all the facilities for teaching English? Yes No
Why?___________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________
6). Which educational aids do you regularly use in class, beside the text?
________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________
7). Have you found in the students’ behaviours, problems of attention and concentration? Yes
No
8). What do you consider are the reasons which they are having these problems?
________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________
9). What strategies do you use to handle these problems in your class?
________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________
10). Do you think the design of a course considering students’ needs, interests and learning styles could solve
their difficulties? Yes No
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TRANSCRIPTS
STRUCTURED INTERVIEW
Here are the transcripts of the answers taken from the three teachers were interviewed.
1). According to the aims of the semester; what is, in your opinion, the level of English of the class in
general?
T1 T2 T3
- Good - Average - Average 2). What difficulties and strengths have you found in the academics development of the students?
T1 T2 T3
- I found that the students have a good level at writing; they can do the written exercises without the help of the teacher. At listening, I could see that they need to practice listening exercises and they same at speaking.
- Difficulties in pronunciation and the entonation. They are always interest in working when they are working in role plays. They want to work; most of them are motivated in class. They have the opportunity to work with extra-material.
- I do think students have difficulties while speaking and listening because for many of them this is the first contact with oral English. But they have a good attitude toward learning.
3). Do you think the percentage that was established for the language skills in good to carry out the first
semester? Why ?
T1 T2 T3
- No, because the 40 % percent in the speaking part, I think is too much for students that don’t know very much about vocabulary, and don’t have an effective Knowledge.
- Yes, speaking is a very important skill; the others are important too and help to improve the first one.
- No, because I think speaking is natural process that comes after a well developed listening skill, so oral and comprehension should comes first.
4). What do you think about guidebook?
______
T1 T2 T3
- I think it has a lot of very good readings and it has the basic themes students have to learn. But I think that the vocabulary is too poor.
- It’s Good, but it is not thing we can use in class, we can use songs, movies and many other materials.
- it is good, because it has good reading and conversations but I think it is not up-dated. So we have to use other kind of materials.
Note: I didn’t consider this information because it was gathered when we had a different guidebook.
103
5). Is the institution giving us all the facilities for teaching English? Yes No
Why?
T1 T2 T3
- No, because teachers and students need an English library to find our grammar structures and a computer lab to practice listening. We need implements to teach in a better way.
- No, because we don’t have extra materials and we have to go to other places to get them. They just give us the guidebook, the cassettes and the tape recorders.
- No, we don’t have a resource center where we can consult, we definitely need audio-visual aids
6). Which educational aids do you regularly use in class, beside the text?
T1 T2 T3
- I don’t use too much aids, because I teach English just on Saturdays and I have to finish a unit per Saturday. I don’t use too much aids, I just bring songs to my classroom, and I make exercises.
- Yes, I bring to class songs, movies, movies, exercises from the guidebook and others and games
- Yes, I design activities related to the content of the level, I also use songs games and projects.
7). Have you found in the students’ behaviours, problems of attention and concentration? Yes
No
T1 T2 T3
-Yes. - Yes - Yes 8). What do you consider are the reasons which they are having these problems?
T1 T2 T3
- I think they are in a difficult stage in their lives. They just come from high school and they are beginning a new process.
- The principal reason is that they are teenagers, not all of them but most of them. So its attention is always dispersed.
-The students have difficulties to pay attention, because they have different ages, and sometimes their interests are different.
9). What strategies do you use to handle these problems in your class?
T1 T2 T3
- Ok, I try to be tolerant and I use the love methodology. I think you have to treat good your students and respect their
- I used to changing the sites in order to let the students work with different partners everyday, and this strategy help
- I select activities in which they need to be concentrated and I change constantly sites in order to let the students work
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differences. to catch its attention and concentration..
with different partners everyday.
10). Do you think the design of a course considering students’ needs, interests and learning styles could solve
their difficulties? Yes No
T1 T2 T3
- Yes - yes, it’s a good idea because each student is different
- of course, because we as teacher need to know students, what they want, what they like and need in the English class.