English Methodology II

“Learning

Profile”

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Students: - Tamara Farías Miranda - Nicole Yáñez Pérez

Teacher: - Astrid Guerra Azocar Date: October 7th, 2014

Index

1.- Language Learning Strategies Frame Work 3-4

2.- Learner’s Background 5

3.- Interview 6-8

4.- Analysis with Examples 9-14

5.- Lesson Plan 15-17

6.- Evaluation 18

7- Conclusions 19

8.- References. 20

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Language learning strategies framework.

Some researches in the field of second language learning indicate that the

correct use of strategies for language learning is to improve mastery second

language in all its ways. Additionally, theories about strategies in second language

acquisition appeared from the idea of identifying the characteristics of effective

learners, which means that students do apply learning strategies while learning a

second language. Thus, these strategies become significant since they can be

useful for them in order to overcome obstacles which may appear along their

language learning way.

Within education, language learning strategies are special thoughts or

behaviors that people use to help them to comprehend, learn or retain new

information (O’Malley and Chamot, 1990). The use of strategies inten to make the

language learning process more significant and manageable for students, even for

the future since they can be put on practice in further learning process. When

learners choose the right strategies that fit their own learning style, they become

useful tools for active, conscious and purposeful self-regulation of learning in view

of the fact that students are in control of their own learning Scarcella &

Oxford,1992). Furthermore, it is important to stand out that a strategy is useful

when it relates well to the L2 task at hand; it fits the particular learning style

preference; and when the students employs the strategy effectively and links it with

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other relevant strategies. By fitting these conditions, strategies can make learning

easier, faster, more enjoyable, more self- directed, more efficient and manageable

to new circumstances. (Oxford, 1990). Learning strategies can also allow learners

to become more independent. (Allwright, 1990; Little 1991).

All things considered, language learning strategies can guarantee having a

good language learner capable to improve their second language increasingly. In

addition, the use of learning strategies is demonstrably by students in their

achievement and proficiency, so they enjoy a high level of self-efficacy ( Pressley &

Associates, 1990), and make the learning experience more beneficial.

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Learner´s background

The student interviewed is called Sebastian Mora He is 17 years old; He is

in his fourth year of high school in Colegio Providencia Parral.

He studies in Colegio Providencia de Parral from 1st grade of elementary

until now. During elementary school, he only had two hours of English class;

nonetheless, in high school he has four hours of English per week. They are

around 38 students in his class; He is always participating in the English class; he

has also excellent marks in this subject, even though the interviewee is not the

best student of his class.

Although he is very shy and not confident about his English level; he tries to

do his best because he likes it, and he wants to improve his English level.

Consequently, his English teacher invites him to participate in the English winter

camps because of that reason.

The interviewee remarks on the fact that he likes English because he likes

listening to music and watching movies in this language; also because it is not

difficult for him to understand what English teachers talk about. It is also important

to say, that he had at least 3 teachers in one year, and it was not easy to him and

his classmates to progress because they were always moving back in their

learning process.

In spite of he does not have extra English classes; he does not dismiss the

idea of taking an English course after he ends high school because he considers it

necessary nowadays.

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Taped Interview

T: Interviewer S: Interviewee

1. - T: Hello

2. - S: hello

3. - T: What´s your name?

4. - S: My name is Sebastian.

5. - T: okey, Can you spell me your last name?

6. - S: Mm … yeah, mmm… m-o-r-a.

7. - T: good..am. How do you feel today Sebastian?

8. - S: Mm today I’m feel so good.

9. - T: Why?

10. - S: Because…eeh is a beautiful day … the wader the weather is good and

the sun is shine.

11. - T: okey thanks, How old are you?

12. - S mm… I have emm.. 17 years old.

13. - T: Where do you from?

14. - S: I´m from… Parral

15.-T: Okey and Do you like it?

16.- S: Yeah.

17.- T:Which is your favorite place there?

18.- S: Mmm ..My favorite place in Parral is the center

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19.- T: Why?

20.- S: because there are.. There are many place to go to with my friends emm…

go to the shopping, mm.. eat to the ice-cream, … and that.

21.- T: okey, and Sebastian Do you have any sister or brother ?

22.- S: Eeh..Yes, I have 2 sister.

23.- T: Can you tell me about anyone of your sisters?

24.- Eeh yeah eeh Lucia ehh she lives in Curicó, she is in the older she have ..

she has 24 years eeehh she works in the hospital de Curicó eeh … she is a

nurse, emm… she likes emm.. cook eeh.. go to the cinema, mmm… that.

25.- T: okey, now Let´s talk about your personal interest. What kind of music do

you like?

26.- S: Emm can you repeat me please ?

27.- T Okay, what kind of music do you like or you prefer?

28.- Ahh..mm …I like to Indi-pop music, mmm… Lana del Rey.. Lana del rey is

my favourist artist.

27.- T: What song do you recommend me?

28.- S: Brooklyn baby mm Lana del rey.

29.- T: okey, Have you ever assisted to a concert band?

30.- S: Ahh no, never

31.- T: Mm Sebastian, do you like sports?

32.- S: Ehh ..Yes, I like

33.- T: Which one?

34.- S: Ehh.. Volleyball

35.- T: And do you practice it ?

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36.- S: Ehh nou because I don´t have time.

37.- T: Let´s talk about the future. What do you like to study?

38.- S: Ehh Yes, I like to study ehh ingenieria.

39.- T: amm Sebastian when is your birthday?

40.- S: my birthday is in October 17th.

41.- T: What are you going to do for your birthday?

42.- S: mm.. I don´t know. ehh I go to the disco , ehh to dance with my friends

mmm…drink mm..I like to eat mm.. so eh I hope eat many food with my family

eh.. celebrate with my family my sister and my parents.

43.- T: Okay, that’s all Sebastian, Thank so much Sebastian.

44.- S: mm.. Your welcome.

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Interview analysis: Identification of Linguistics needs

Apparently, Sebastian has a beginner level of English during the whole interview,

which is coherent with the fact that he has English in high school. While he

answered correctly most of the questions even using Spanish in some occasions

for example when he was asked what do you like to study? He answered..Ehh

Yes, I like to study ehh “ ingenieria”. Besides, he did have problems

understanding some of the questions; for instance when he was asked what kind of

music do you like? He asked to repeat the question.

1. Phonetics and Phonology.

1.1 Pronunciation:

Sebastian presented some pronunciation problems during the interview and some

of them were continuously repeated. For example, he pronounced the sound /tʃ/

instead of /ʃ/ in the word / ˈʃɒpɪŋ / (shopping). This is common in Chilean speakers,

because the interference of the mother tongue predominates when we are adults,

we attempt to produce sounds which are more available (Brown, 2000); in this

case, Chilean speakers associate the sound /ʃ/ with a social status which is not well

seen, and because it has negative social connotations. Another pronunciation

mistake made by the interviewee was that he pronounced the word / ˈweðəʳ /

(weather ) as /ˈwæder/. It has shown those mistakes knowing as “slips of the

tongue” proposed by Harmer, 2008, in which the student knows the correct

pronunciation but as in this case was because he was nervous. Lastly he also did

not pronounce correctly the word / ˈvɒlɪbɔːl / (volleyball) as he pronounced /

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ˈvɒleɪbɔːl/ , this error can be associated to Spanish pronunciation, as according to

Coe (1987), Spanish has five pure vowels and five diphthongs, whereas English

has twelve pure vowel sounds and eight diphthongs.

Phonetic Transcription

Evidently he has some pronunciation problems that are not very serious but they

need to be taking into consideration. As it is presented in the following table.

Word RP student

But bʌt baet

Shine ʃain tʃain

Weather ˈweðəʳ ˈwæder

Nurse nəːs nʊrs

oldoʊlder ɔːlder

1.2 Stress

During the interview it was noticed that Sebastian did not present a lots stress

problems, it can be related to the fact that he knows some stress patterns when

he listen recordings in classes or during his free time while he is listening to music.

Although here are some:

1) Line 24: the word /sɪˈnəmə/ (cinema) instead of /ˈsɪnəmə/.

2) Line 28 the word / feɪvərIt/ (favourite) instead of / ˈfeɪvərIt/.

1.3 Fluency

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Sebastian did many pauses and hesitation like (e) and (m). In this case he was

trying to link ideas; even if he tended to confuse with the termination of the words.

This happens most of the time with Chilean speakers that are learning a second

language.

Examples:

1) Line 20: There are many place to go to with my friends emm… go to the shopping, mm.. eat to the ice-cream.

2) Line 24: she likes emm.. cook eeh.. go to the cinema, mmm… that.

2. Lexis

The student was able to answer all of the questions, even though he asked the

interviewer to repeat one of them. Nevertheless, his answers were short and he

could not make longer sentences making his speech less fluent and basic.

a) Line 29: He was asked about assisting to a concert band and his answer was: “

Ahh no, never”. He could have said that he would like to go some day or how he

would feel if his favorite band is coming over.

3. Grammar/Syntax

Even though the student did not produce very fluent and long answers, it is noticed

some clear and recurrent grammatical and syntactical mistakes. In his answer, it is

clearly noticed the confusion about the order of some words. Furthermore, one

common mistake made by the learner was the skipping the subject in his

sentences, especially when the subject corresponds to “it”.

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3.1 Word order

A) Line 20: The learner was asked to mentions reasons why Parral’s downtown

was his favorite place (line 19) and his answer was: : “…go to the shopping, mm..

eat to the ice-cream…”, and he should have said “to go shopping, to eat ice

cream”.

3.2 Omission of subject.

Some of these mistakes were shown in the following lines:

a) Line 10: “Because…eeh is a beautiful day …the wather the weather is good

and the sun is shine”. He should have said “ because it’s a beautiful day…”.

Misuse of the present simple tense, there is no subject.

b) Line 34: He was asked if he liked sports and which one. He responded : “ ehh,

volleyball” He should have said “ I like volleyball”. Misuse of the present simple

tense, there is no subject.

3.3 Verb to be

Another mistake shown in his answer was the incorrect used of verb “TO

BE” in basic questions:

a) Line 8: He was asked how he was feeling in that moment. He answer was: “

Today I’m feel so good”. He should have asked “ Today I feel so good”. Misuse of

verb to be in present simple.

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b) Line 12: He was asked how old he is and he answer was: “ I have 17 years old”.

He answer should have been “ I’m 17 years old”. Misuse of verb to be in present

simple.

c) Line 23: He was asked to talk about one of his sister and in his answer he said:

…” she has 24 years”. He should have said “she is 24 years old”. Misuse of verb

to be in present simple.

3.4 Use of prepositions.

The use of prepositions has been a very difficult issue in learning English

since their use is very different in Spanish and students tend to use it as they are

used in their mother tongue language.

a) Line 20: He was describing why he liked about Parral so in his answer he said:

“..eat to the ice-cream”. He should have omitted the preposition to: “ eat ice-

cream”.

b) Line 27: He was asked about the music he liked and he responded: “I like to

Indi-pop music. Preposition “to” is not necessary.

c) Line 41: The interviewer asked when his birthday was and he answered: “my

birthday is in October 17th”. The right preposition to use before a month is “on”.

3.5 Verb combination rule

This rules refers to the fact that when two verb together, the second one

would add either the –ING form or the infinitive form using the preposition “to”.

These mistakes made by the learner are very recurrent in less advanced students;

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in fact, ESL students require a lot of exposure to the correct form or explicit

grammatical instruction in order to acquire this rule and appropriately overcome

such a common issue.

a) Line 43: The student was asked to tell what he was going to do on his birthday

and in his answer he said: “I hope eat many food with my family” instead of saying

“ I hope to eat many food with my family”. Misuse of verb combination.

3.6 Verb tense

The students failed on choosing the correct verb tense for some questions. When

talking about something that is going to happen soon in the future, the correct form

is “ verb to be + going + to”.

a) Line 43: The students was asked to say what he was going to do on his birthday

and he say: “mm.. I don´t know. ehh I go to the disco”. He should have said “ I’m

going to go to the disco”. Wrong decision of verb tense.

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Lesson Plan

According to the information gathered from the analysis of the

student’s linguistic strengths and weaknesses, there are some aspects which need

to be addressed in order to improve them. From all of this information, it is possible

to plan an entire lesson aimed to correct his mistakes and enhance his

communicative skills, as well as improve his grammar and pronunciation. In this

way, the aspect chosen for the “one to one class” lesson plan is grammar, since

the learner’s most common issue was a non- grammatical structure.

The monitoring strategy selected is “personalize” in order to make the

learning process more meaningful, and easier to remember for the learner.

Moreover, the use of this strategy would help the student to identify his own

mistakes in written and spoken form. According to this idea, the learner will have to

write about his favorite singer and some characteristics of her such us likes,

dislikes, what she does during her day, etc and the linguistic aim is to use different

verb tenses correctly. Consequently, by referring to his favorite singer, the student

would have a meaningful learning since his interests are being taken into account.

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Learning Strategies Lesson Plan Form

Language level: Beginner

Language: English as a second language

Grade level: 4th year- high school

Focus LLS: Personalize.

Language objective: Produce a description about student’s favorite singer and present it orally and written.

Strategy objective: Use of personalization to remember the description and to allow the written and orally presentation to be done.

Strategy Rationale: Connecting personal information to develop speaking and writing skills to make it meaningful to the learner.

Material: Worksheet of student’ favorite singer.

Procedure:

Preparation

Ask students if they struggle to remember information in the target language. In

addition, ask the student what the best way to remember information in the target

language is. “What do you do to remember information about what you read or

listen”. Write down what the student says on the whiteboard.

Presentation

The teacher present the strategy of personalization explaining that helps to

remember information that is interesting for the student. Moreover, teacher

explains that personalization means to connect information from topics you are

interested in to personal experiences. Consequently, this will make the new

information more meaningful and easier to remember, so it can help any time when

struggling new information. “ I know it is frustrated when you can’t remember what

you read or listen, but this strategy will help you to do so. Do not hesitate to use it

since it will really help you”.

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The teacher models the strategy by telling the students about his/her favorite

singer and explaining the strategy used, in this case, personalize: “ I chose one

singer who is very important for me since my mother really like his songs and we

would listen to the his song every time we were at home spending some time

together. I took the information from his biography and some magazines where he

had been interviewed. I used the strategy of personalization since this singer is

meaningful to me and that’s the reason why I can remember him and present to

you. Moreover, at the end I write some personal opinions about him and what I

would like to say to him if he were in front of me”.

Practice

Teacher tell students to do the same activity, using as an example his/her own

example but using characteristics about their own favorite singer. The information

will be brought and read by the students. “Using the information about the singer

you choose, write about him/her mentioning characteristics and why this person is

meaningful to you”.

Evaluation

When the student has finished, the teacher asks to present the description of

his favorite singer orally. After listening, the teacher asks the student if the strategy

used was useful to remember information gather from biographies and magazines.

Expansion

The students can take some advantages from this strategy. For example, he

can learn new vocabulary in order to become more fluent and to give more

information when he is asked to answer questions. He can use any person, thing,

sport, events, holiday celebration, etc. The important matter is that it should be

chosen from his interests.

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Evaluation

According to the previous analysis done, we can make some conclusions

about what our students need to improve in our future classes. Made this activity

was gratifying in order to know and comprehend strengths and weaknesses of only

one student and focus on him. It is also important to mention the importance of

letting our students know what learning strategies they can use to learn in a better

way. The language learner profile provided us with information about what the

needs of our students are and how we can deal with them and also how we can

progress our own strategies as teachers to be and also as learners.

At the moment of choosing a strategy, we can say that it will be really useful

because it responds to his own interests and in that way he will appreciate this new

way of learning; moreover, this strategy will help him to improve a better oral and

written performance in terms of pronunciation, grammar and fluency.

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Conclusion

This document covered some of the most important and most frequent

issues that an ESL learner faces when trying to express communicative skills, even

though the current study only analyze one learner profile. Moreover, it has proved

the significance that choosing the use of strategies has for both teacher and

student.

From the analysis of the listening task, one significant issue that the student

shows is some basic mistakes in pronunciation, stress, use of tenses, preposition

and word order. The interview also shows that the student presents nervousness

and anxiety when talking in a language different from his mother tongue. This

makes him to miss some important part of speech such us subject and to keep

Spanish on his mind. Therefore, the analysis’ findings suggest that teacher needs

to promote the use of strategies in order to help students to improve their

communications skills, and students need to become more aware about their

learning process and to be able to correct some mistakes so they won’t happen

again.

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Reference.

Brown, H.D. (2000), Age of Acquistion, Interference between first and second

languages, (pages 67,68). Principles of language learning and teaching. New York

city: Longman.

Coe, N. in Swan, M. & Smith, B. Learner English: A teacher’s guide to interference

and other problems. (1987). Cambridge University press.

Chamot, A.U. (1999) The learning strategies handbook. New York: Longman.

Chamot, A.U. (1999) Language learning lessons,(pages 221,222,223). The

learning strategies handbook. New York: Mc Graw Hill .

Scrivener, J. (2005) Phonology: The sound of English, (pages 287, 288). Learning

Teaching. Oxford: Macmillan.

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