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Antología para la unidad académica Introducción a la
Didáctica de las Lenguas.
Licenciatura en Inglés, modalidad a distancia.
Primer bloque del primer semestre.
Mtra. Martha Lorena Obermeier Pérez
Agosto, 2012
1
Índice
Pg.
Introducción 2
Programa del curso 3
Unidad 1 Conceptos básicos de la enseñanza de lenguas.
Conceptos básicos y terminología
8
Unidad 2 ¿Qué puedo enseñar en una clase de inglés?
2.1 ¿Qué se puede enseñar en una clase de inglés?
25
2.2 Competencia comunicativa y actividades comunicativas 57
Unidad 3 What do I need to teach English?
3.1 Teaching techniques.
72
Unidad 4 How to plan an English Class
4.1 Format of a lesson plan.
112
4.2 Guidelines for lesson planning. 123
Unidad 5 How can I organize everything?
5.1 The physical environment of the classroom
130
5.2 From your voice to your teaching under adverse circumstances 135
5.3 Role of the teacher 138
Bibliografía 152
2
Introducción
La presente antología tiene por objetivo principal completar los materiales de los
que disponen los alumnos de la materia Introducción a la didáctica de las lenguas.
Si bien la unidad académica cuenta con una bibliografía, ésta proviene de la misma
fuente bibliográfica en su mayoría. Esta antología pretende ofrecer al alumno
materiales de diversas fuentes para que puedan tener una visión más amplia con
respecto a los contenidos del curso.
Los alumnos que cursaron esta materia en el semestre agosto-diciembre 2012
encontraron varias carencias en los documentos que la materia les presentaba
como bibliografía. En algunos casos, la bibliografía era limitada o estaba
incompleta. La presente antología recopila materiales que complementan los
contenidos del curso y que ayudaron a que los alumnos comprendieran mejor
algunos contenidos, además de tener una visión más amplia sobre los mismos.
3
Programa del curso Introducción a la didáctica de las lenguas
Presentación:
Esta unidad académica forma parte del eje Pedagogía del plan de estudios de la
Licenciatura en Inglés. esta unidad académica presenta los distintos enfoques
metodológicos de enseñanza de las lenguas extranjeras.
Propósito general:
Al finalizar el curso, el estudiante tendrá una noción general de la enseñanza de
lenguas, partiendo de actividades comunicativas; así mismo adquirirá los
conocimientos básicos relacionados con la Planeación y el manejo de la clase.
Competencias genéricas:
La habilidad que debe poseer el estudiante es la de desarrollar y dominar los
distintos enfoques metodológicos de enseñanza de lenguas, además de saber
cómo planear y manejar una clase.
Competencia específica:
Evalúa metodologías para facilitar los procesos de aprendizaje. Diseña, adapta
selecciona y evalúa material didáctico según su contexto.
4
Contenido:
Unidad 1 Conceptos básicos de la enseñanza de lenguas.
1.1Conceptos básicos
1.2 Terminología
Unidad 2 ¿Qué puedo enseñar en una clase de inglés?
2.1 ¿Qué se puede enseñar en una clase de inglés?
2.2 Competencia comunicativa y actividades comunicativas
Unidad 3 ¿Qué necesito para enseñar inglés?
3.1 Técnicas.
3.2 Libro de texto
3.3 Tecnología
Unidad 4 ¿Cómo planeo una clase de inglés?
4.1 Formato del plan de clase
4.2 Guía para elaborar un plan de clase
4.3 Plan de clase
Unidad 5 ¿Cómo organizo todo?
5.1 Ambientación del salón de clase
5.2 De tu voz a tu enseñanza bajo circunstancias adversas
5.3 Rol del maestro.
5
Resultados de aprendizaje:
• Desarrolla y domina los distintos enfoques metodológicos de
enseñanza de lenguas
• Sabe planear y manejar una clase
• Evalúa metodologías para facilitar los procesos de enseñanza
aprendizaje
Estrategias didácticas:
Se utilizará una metodología en la cual los alumnos se involucran
activamente a través del trabajo en equipo realizando actividades
como:
• Proyectos individuales
• Presentaciones en power point
• Documentos en word
• Escuchar textos provenientes de los medios de comunicación:
radio, televisión, cine
• Video grabaciones de conversaciones en pares y grupos
• Seguir instrucciones
• Participar en conversaciones de tipo formal e informal
• Completar formularios y cuestionarios
• Producir cárteles
• Escribir finales de cuentos o sucesos
• Escribir cartas personales, notas, mensajes breves, correos
6
electrónicos y un artículo para la gaceta escolar
• Explorar temas, cuadros sinópticos y mapas conceptuales
• Organizar ideas: idea principal, oraciones de apoyo, de
ejemplificación, etc.
• Reconocer la estructura textual de un discurso oral o escrito
• Identificar palabras clave que indiquen la naturaleza del discurso
oral o escrito
• Identificar el tema central de un diálogo, exposición oral o texto
• Inferir connotaciones, actitudes e intenciones
• Parafrasear, usar redes semánticas o sinónimos
• Lecturas guiadas
• Observación de videos
• Transcripciones fonéticas de palabras tanto del inglés como del
español
• Grabación de oraciones
Recursos didácticos:
Computadora, acceso a internet, libros, artículos digitales, chat,
rúbricas, portafolio digital, DVD,CD.
7
Criterios de evaluación:
Nota: Acreditación: el estudiante se considera competente cuando
haya cumplido con el 60% de los criterios de evaluación
Examen de terminología 20%
Participación en los foros, mesas de discusión y de diálogo 20%
Ensayos, textos en línea 30%
Planes de clase 30%
100%
8
Unidad 1 Conceptos básicos de la enseñanza de lenguas
Conceptos básicos y terminología
Basic terminology
Sharwood, M. (1994) Second Language learning. [Fragmento] A quick round
tour. (Pp. 6-19). Essex. Longman.
9
Some terminology in this book will need to be interpreted within different theoretical
perspectives. However, for ease of reading, some working definitions are first
necessary. Various standard abbreviations also need to be mentioned: for example,
‘interlanguage’, which, as mentioned above, may be defined as referring to the
systematic'. Linguistic behavior of second language learners (see below for the
definition of ‘second’) will be used interchangeably with the abbreviation ‘IL’.
Readers more familiar with the psychological literature on the subjects covered will
appreciate that specifies theoretical assumptions are simply made here and not
discussed. Discussions that are necessary will be held over to later chapters. To
annotated glossary will also serve as a foretaste of the interest.
Second language (SL, TL, L2, L3)
‘Second’ language will normally stand as a cover term for any language other than
the first language learned by a given learner or group mf learners
a) irrespective of the type of learning environment and
b) irrespective if the number of other non-native languages possessed by the
learner. This includes both ‘foreign’ languages (for example, French as a foreign
language for Austrians) and languages which are not one’s mother tongue but are
nevertheless spoken regularly in one’s own community (for example, French for
English-speaking Canadians). ‘Second’ seems better than definitions such as
‘secondary’ or ‘non-native’ which imply lower status. ‘Second language’ is often
abbreviated to ‘L2’ (as opposed to ‘Ll’ — the mother tongue). An L2, then, means,
unless otherwise specified, a particular ‘non—native language under discussion’,
10
that is, the so—called ‘target’ language (TL). In certain circumstances, the more
literal terms L3, L4, etc., may be also used as in ‘the influence of a learner’s L2
German upon her L3 Dutch’. Second language research is to be interpreted as
covering a large area, including psychological, neurological, pragmatic and
sociological aspects of L2 development and L2 use.
Interlanguage (IL)
IL most generally refers to the systematic linguistic behavior of learners of a second
or other language; in other words, learners of non-native languages. It calls our
attention to the possibility of viewing learner language such as ‘the Finnish of
English learners of Finnish’, for example, as possessing systematic features which
can be studied in their own right. The idea is that they are not merely imperfect
reflections of some norm — in this particular case that norm would be ‘educated
native speaker Finnish’. The ‘language’ part of the term ‘interlanguage’ suggests
this idea of an autonomous linguistic system while the ‘inter’ of ‘interlanguage’
reminds us that this version of Finnish is supposed to be a half—way house, an
intermediate stage in the user’s linguistic development. In using the term
‘interlanguage’ as a noun, it is best to keep to the behavioral definition. Essentially
this means the language events that you can actually observe and record. It is not
the invisible language
Interlanguage (IL)
It most generally refers to the systematic linguistic behavior of learners if a second
or other language; in other words, learners of non-native languages. It calls our
11
attention to the possibility of viewing learner language such as ‘the Finnish of
English learners of Finnish’, for example, as possessing systematic features which
can be studied in their own right. The idea is that they are not merely imperfect
reflections of some norm — in this particular case that norm would be ‘educated
native speaker Finnish’.
The ‘language’ part of the term ‘interlanguage’ suggests this idea of an autonomous
linguistic system while the ‘inter’ of ‘interlanguage’ reminds us that this version of
Finnish is supposed to be a half—way house, an intermediate stage in the user’s
linguistic development. In using the term ‘interlanguage’ as a noun, it is best to keep
to the behavioral definition. Essentially this means the language events that you can
actually observe and record. It is not the invisible language Second Language
Learning: Theoretical Foundations system: this must exist somewhere in the mind
of the user but we cannot perceive it directly. Interlanguage is, as it were, the bees
and beehives we can see, touch, hear and smell and not the principles that dictate
their shape and determine all the fascinating activities that we can observe. In this
way we can talk about given samples of ‘interlanguage’ and speculate about the
‘interlanguage system’ that underlies it. The terms ‘interlanguage’ and ‘learner
language’ will be used interchangeably in this book. Without denying their
sociological value, it can be said that interlanguage studies typically focus on the
linguistic and psychological aspects of second language research. For the linguistic
and mental systems underlying interlanguage, terms such as ‘inter1anguage
system’ or ‘interlanguage grammar’ or ‘interlanguage lexicon’ will be employed.
Input and intake.
12
Another term which is widely used is ‘input’, taken from information processing. The
most normal meaning in language acquisition research circles is language data
(utterances, texts) which the learner is exposed to: that is, the learner’s experience
of the target language in all its various manifestations. Hence, ‘input studies’ are
studies of the ‘language bath’, i.e. the actual language that the learner is exposed
to. It does not include explanations and rules concerning language (see section
1.2.4) but just samples of language conveying messages.
‘lnput’, taken literally, is a misleading term. Since we cannot know from observation
alone exactly what is processed by the learner at a given moment in time, many
utterances to which the learner is exposed to may contain elements which the
learner does not register at all. In other words, the input ‘data’ may be registered on
the researcher’s tape recorder as having been available to the learner at a given
time. The utterances or written texts, and the structures they contain, may be
registered very clearly in the teacher’s memory, where formal learning is concerned.
However, whether they have been registered consciously or subconsciously by the
learner is another matter. So, I will use ‘input’, unless otherwise specified, in the
sense of potentially processible language data made available to the learner. That
part of input which has actually been processed by the learner and turned into
knowledge of some kind has been called intake (Corder 1981). Input is, as it were,
the goods that are presented to the customer, including the articles that the
customer picks up to look at. Intake is what is actually bought and taken away from
the shop, i.e. what passes into the ownership of the customer.
When interpreting and producing utterances, the learner makes use of non-linguistic
input. Knowledge of the world together with a whole host of contextual cues may be
13
used to enrich the information coming from the linguistic signal. By pointing at a car
or making appropriate noise, for example, the language user can convey the idea
of a jet plane more clearly, especially when there is uncertainty about whether the
‘jet plane’ is the correct expression or is one which the listener will immediately be
able to understand. However, when unspecified, input is conventionally assumed to
be that part of the flow of information that is specifically linguistic. Non-linguistic
information is, of course, vital for learning. Once the learner has linked the
(linguistic) input ‘jet plane’ with the gesture and thus interpreted the message, then
the possibility exists for a new word or set of words to enter the learner’s developing
lexicon.
It is important also to recognize that language proficiency either develops as a
response to input or it fails to grow despite that input. Incoming signals may be
processed for meaning alone. That means that learners may be exposed to target
forms that could in principle force them to reorganize their interlanguage system but
in fact do not bring about any change. Their interlanguage system may have those
forming negative statements like ‘I no must do it’. Being exposed to ‘I must not do it’
may not necessarily bring about a change in that system. They may have
processed the utterance simply for meaning and not noticed and stored the different
structure manifest in the input: their ‘Language Acquisition Device’ has not received
the input. It has not become intake.
From the output in Figure l.l we see that part of the relevant input has become
intake. The learner can form negative statements and can use the verb ‘run’ with
past meaning. However, what has been ignored is the position of ‘not’ in the first
example and the irregular past form of ‘run’. The learner has processed this part of
14
the input according to his or her own IL system. Nevertheless, he or she has
probably achieved 100 per cent comprehension of such messages despite the fact
that the system has not been adjusted to produce exactly what was heard.
Metalanguage
In most normal everyday language use, we are not especially aware that we are
following rules. We even select many of the words unthinkingly. When saying ‘he
was kissed’ we do not consciously refer to a passive rule for constructing this
passive sentence. We are more concerned with expressing our thoughts and
understanding what people are saying. In other words, producing more or less
correct utterances is not done in the same way that most of us solve a
mathematical problem, where we consciously juggle with numbers. It is possible,
however, to shift our attention to the sounds, letters, words and constructions we
are using. If, for example, someone suddenly asks a question such as: ‘What is the
word for an animal you keep at home?’‘What words did she actually use when she
refused? ‘What is another may q' saying “I don’t mind if I do"?’ then the listener’s
conscious attention is directed suddenly to the language itself and not just to
meaning and messages. We could call this going into the meta mode.
‘Metalanguage’ (literally ‘language about something’) and its associated adjective
‘metalinguistic’ here refer to ways in which language and particularly the language
system is seen and exploited as an object of conscious attention. Hence, a linguist
or language teacher when drawing attention to the formal properties of a language
(or interlanguage) will employ metalanguage — a set of terms to talk about
language, for example: ‘These verbs all take the preposition "of"’
15
Hence language awareness, here called ‘metalinguistic awareness’, is the
awareness of language as an object. Such awareness may appear spontaneously
in children who try to exploit it for their amusement by creating rhymes, and
linguistic jokes (puns, word play). This is ‘meta’ because it involves inspecting the
form of words and not only their meaning even though children, in the meta mode,
do not have any technical vocabulary to talk about language beyond the simple
terms such as ‘word’ or ‘way of saying’.
Metalinguistic awareness may be deliberately nurtured during formal education and
refined by means of analytic activities such as parsing sentences and finding
synonyms for words, and so on. In the latter case, a descriptive terminology, a
metalanguage, has to be developed by the teacher/linguist (‘synonym’ being one
example) and these terms may be used to create formulae, i.e. rules or principles
for formally expressing the observed regularities of the language system. Such
formalizations of metalinguistic awareness, we may call ‘metalinguistic knowledge’.
So pre-school children may be metalinguistically aware when they make a play on
words but they need metalinguistic knowledge to be able to explain why it is a joke.
This kind of knowledge they get during formal education from the moment they
learn to count the number of syllables there are in a particular word.
It is still an open question as to how much conscious awareness of the formal
properties of language, and hence instruction based on inducing this awareness,
actually helps the development of spontaneous language use (see Sharwood Smith
1980, Rutherford and Sharwood Smith 1988, Rutherford 1987a, Sharwood Smith
1991). In any case, it is useful to talk of metalinguistic ability as something which
involves a scale. The scale ranges from the fairly primitive ability that very young
16
children have, most easily captured by the term ‘awareness’, to what the literary
scholar and especially the creative writer has, or, indeed, the highly sophisticated
technical knowledge possessed by descriptive and theoretical linguists when they
talk about language structure.
Acquisition, learning and development
Unless otherwise specified, the three terms listed in this title are virtually all
synonyms of each other. Acquisition is often associated with informal modes lf
learning (Lambert 1966, Krashen 1976) but, as far as this book is concerned, the
three terms will be used interchangeably unless the context makes it clear that
some special theoretical definitions are in force. The only differences are in where
the emphasis lies.
Development is the best term as it focuses on the process itself, i.e. as something
that happens inside the learner or acquirer. The other two terms call attention to the
focus of development, i.e. the person or persons in which language development is
taking place. Accordingly, they mix in extra notions such as the conscious intention
to learn. The language learner is presented not only as ‘someone in the process of
learning’ but also, by implication, as someone who intends to learn and, a further
implication, who is somehow controlling at least part of the activity we call learning.
Since we do not yet know the actual effect of wanting to learn, or wanting to control
the manner of learning, it is better to look for more neutral terms that exclude these
extra notions.
Unfortunately, there is no suitable neutral term like ‘developer’ or ‘developee’ which
clearly indicates that the learner is ‘a place where development is taking place’, so
17
‘learner’ and ‘acquirer’ have to be used. In any case, it is assumed that language
proficiency is the result of a process most aptly called development but often called
learning and/or acquisition. The most important thing is to keep learning/
acquisition/ development separate from ‘teaching’, which is the attempt (usually by
others) to make the learner’s task easier, etc.).
Strategy
‘Strategy’ is a word which invokes the idea of general or business executives
planning their next move. The term is used in a variety of ways and its precise
meanings are sometimes difficult to ascertain. Learners are often said to adopt
strategies to cope with the business of handling non—native languages, for
example ‘learning strategies’ or ‘communicative strategies’. Strategies have to do
with ‘how to learn X’ or ‘how to communicate X’ and the term ‘strategy’, as used in
the literature, should be understood as a systematic approach to a task:
(a) whether or not the language user is actually consciously aware of applying the
strategy in a given context;
(b) whether that strategy is part of a stable repertoire of problem- solving
techniques or whether it is a sudden ad—hoc invention which the learner, pressed
for time, say, devises on the spur of the moment;
(c) whether the idea behind the strategy is to facilitate acquisition, i.e. further the
development of the learner’s knowledge and proficiency in L2, or whether it is
purely and simply designed to T facilitate communication at a given moment in time.
To take a couple of examples, a subconscious learning strategy would be when the
learner, without thinking, uses mother tongue knowledge to create forms in another
18
language (for example, automatically adopting mother tongue word order in L2
questions).
A conscious communicative strategy would be when a learner resorts to a gesture
or invents a word on the spot which he or she knows to be incorrect but which
serves to convey the intended meaning.
Crosslinguistic influence/ language transfer
The term ‘transfer’, especially as used in the 1960s and 1970s, refers to the
influence of the mother tongue (Ll) on the learner’s performance in and/ or
development of a given target language. This is a more limited use of the term than
is common in general psychology since it refers only to the effects of transferring
elements of one linguistic system to another. It is actually even more limited than
this: the direction of transfer is usually understood to be from the mother tongue to
the L2. In actual fact, the direction of transfer may be the reverse; that is, the term
may also be used in studies of language loss where a previously learned language
(e.g. the Ll) is changing under the influence of new language learning. The meaning
does, however, cover the influence 0f any ‘other tongue’ known to the learner on
that target language. For example, a German learner of Italian might be affected by
his or her previous knowledge of Spanish.
The favoured term for this concept of language influence in this book will be
crosslingnistic influence (CLI) but the older term (transfer) will also be used to aid
the study of other, and especially earlier, books and articles on this topic. CLI
covers all kinds of external linguistic influence including situations where learners
fight shy of making connections between different languages they know because
19
they feel such links to be unlikely. This other form of crosslinguistic influence is
where the learner actually avoids carrying over, say, some sound, word or
grammatical pattern from the other language because the target language is
perceived to be different. In such cases, similarities between systems are not
expected (see, for example, Kellerman 1985). The learner may not expect that
borrowing a particular plural ending (like ‘-es’) from the mother tongue, or a
particular idiomatic expression (like ‘kick the bucket’), will result in a perfectly
acceptable target language form. Avoidance of transfer is hardly transfer, but it can
be considered as a form of crosslinguistic influence. Notice that crosslinguistic
influence does not refer directly to languages influencing one another in the outside
world: it refers to what happens in a language user’s head (mind).
Knowledge
What do we really mean when we say of someone ‘she knows Ukrainian’? In point
of fact, ‘knowing’ a language takes on a number of different meanings. The handiest
way of capturing the psychological idea of knowledge is to see it as a type of mental
organization. Since someone knows Ukrainian, there must be something in her
head that corresponds to her obvious possession of some Ukrainian.
Even though we are quite unaware of exactly which parts of her physical brain
handle that knowledge, we do know that at least some of the language system we
call Ukrainian is ‘represented’ in her complete mental system. In the same way, if
you post a letter and hear later that it has reached its destination in the Ukraine, you
can safely assume there must be a functioning postal system even though you have
little idea of what it actually looks like. It is best to think of linguistic knowledge as a
20
systematised body of mental representations underlying the learner’s language use,
irrespective of whether those mental representations coincide with those of a
mature native speaker m" the language. And just to underscore the separation of
that mental system and the physical manifestation of that system (in the physical
brain), one could add ‘and irrespective of where and how the mental
representations are actually located in the head’.
The essential insight here is the fact that knowledge is a system that the language
learner builds up on the basis of exposure to the language; where that exposure
(input), limited as it may be, leads to the formation of some systematised beliefs
about the language, some of which may deviate from the native—speaker norms,
we can talk or interlanguage ‘knowledge’.
‘Knowing’ does not, then, necessarily involve ‘knowing the native- speaker norms’.
So, if a learner regularly produces ‘goed’ where native speakers produce ‘went’, we
take this as evidence of learner knowledge that happens to deviate from native—
speaker knowledge. We do not classify it as a lack of knowledge (cf. Davies 1991).
The above liberal or technical use of the term ‘knowledge’ should help us get away
from the notion of a language learner’s linguistic behaviour as being simply
composed of a combination of two things, errors and non—errors, where ‘errors’
means deviations from the native-speaker norms. Knowing Ukrainian is not
necessarily knowing native—speaker Ukrainian. It is simply possessing a Ukrainian
system of some sort, something that people recognise as a type of Ukrainian
however they might disapprove of it. Indeed, the liberal use of the term precludes
the notion of knowledge as somehow existing in the ether just waiting to be sucked
up from outside. This misconception is, it is argued here, encouraged by the use of
21
terms like ‘internalise’ as in ‘the learner internalised rules’, illustrated in Figure 1.2
(see second example in section 1.2.3 above).
The truth of the matter is that the learners do not take in the rule. They take in
examples of the rule which they use to ‘crack the code’. So they in fact create or
recreate rule systems for themselves. The only thing that is internalised is raw data
(input), which, as the term ‘raw’ indicates, has to be processed by the learner and
turned into mental representations, i.e. ‘knowledge’ of some sort. Saying that
systematic learner behaviour reflects an internalised rule is as unhelpful as saying
that the patterns on a cabbage leaf are internalised sunshine or internalised rain.
Sunshine and water were certainly needed to make the plant grow like that but the
internal structure of that plant is not determined by the sunshine. This is determined
biologically, long before the cabbage gets its first welcome drop of rain or ray of
sunshine. Language input may seem more complex but it is powerless without a
pre-existing mental organisation or ‘programme’ to make sense of it. Input
combines with mental mechanisms to create knowledge or skill.
(Processing) Control and mental library
You may know something but not be very good at showing your new knowledge in
actual language use, especially when under pressure. The term ‘control’ (which
stands for processing control) will be used in this book to refer to the productive and
receptive control possessed by the language user over the knowledge he or she
has of various aspects of the linguistic system. Associated terms, perhaps more
familiar to the reader, would be ‘skill’ (as opposed to ‘knowledge’), ‘degrees of
fIuency’ and ‘automaticity’. Hence, hesitant linguistic behaviour may be attributed to
22
a lack of relevant knowledge but it also might be attributed to the actual possession
of the relevant knowledge without fluent control over that knowledge (see also
1.2.8, above). I may know how to say ‘Look out, there’s a car coming!’ but I may not
have sufficient control over that knowledge to shout it out suddenly and
spontaneously.
Controlling means getting hold of and assembling the relevant information, i.e.
processing it for various different purposes. Low control over knowledge means that
knowledge is available but can be accessed only under optimal conditions — that
is, the accessing process requires more—than—average time or freedom from
distraction. The notion of processing control allows us to separate out those factors
of language ability that we want to call ‘knowledge’ and those factors that have to
do with the more or less skilful deployment of knowledge in actual performance
millisecond by millisecond. The degree of control that a learner has over available
knowledge will depend on the demands of the task involved. Two learners having
identical knowledge in some area may not be as skilled in showing that knowledge
when, for example, answering an unexpected phone call in an emergency. One
learner may have a higher level of control than the other. The other learner may fall
back on other knowledge that is more easily accessed or, of course, simply fail to
convey the message.
As suggested above, control refers both to performance involving ‘reception’
(listening and reading) and performance involving ‘production’ (speaking and
writing). However, since control is always control of something, in terms of actual
performance, control comes closest to the everyday use of the term ‘proficiency’.
Fluency, proficiency or ‘skill’ in a language includes the idea of being able to control
23
efficiently what you know. Someone who knows something but cannot control it
efficiently in, say, normal conversation, would not, in this everyday sense, be
thought of as being proficient in that language. The everyday use of the term
‘competence’ (competence as skill or proficiency), unlike Chon1sky’s use of it
(competence—as— knowledge), also has this implication.
Variability
Language varies according to the context of use and also for more strictly
psychological reasons. A different word or structure may be more or less
appropriate in a given situation: for example, formal words like request (for ask) are
not used, by definition, in informal conversational contexts. Again, technical terms
will be used when two experts are talking about a technical topic. Also, a word or
structure may be more or less likely to occur depending on the speaker’s, or writer’s
frame of mind at the time. Haste or fatigue, for example, may result in the use of
more common words, or an emotional state may lead to more emotional language.
Interlanguage refers the same kind of variation as native-speaker language
although the results may be different. In addition, the language learner may have
different degrees of control over given words or structures according to their status
in their current interlanguage, whether they are in the process of being acquired or
exchanged for something new. This will also cause variation in what is done at a
given moment, depending on the nature of the task involved.
Since the learner is in possession of more than one language system, variability in
performance may have different outcomes than would be the case in a monolingual
situation. One language system may intrude upon the other in interesting ways. A
24
word from one language may be borrowed and used in another, either deliberately
or without the learner being aware of it. A possible parallel for this in native-speaker
usage would be a learner switching between items and constructions that belong in
different varieties, styles or dialects of the L1. Indeed, there may be a close parallel
since a given native speaker may not be truly native in one or other of these
subsystems of his or her mother tongue. Studying interlanguage variability provides
the researcher with a rich area of investigation posing many challenging theoretical
questions.
25
Unidad 2¿Qué puedo enseñar en una clase de inglés?
¿Qué se puede enseñar en una clase de inglés? y Competencia
comunicativa y actividades comunicativas
Dominguez, P. (2008) Destrezas receptivas y productivas en la enseñanza del
español como lengua extranjera. [Fragmento] Las destrezas
productivas: la expression oral. (pp. 58-71). Boletín Aselered.
Recuperado de http://www.aselered.org
26
Enseñanza y aprendizaje: consideraciones previas
Se puede definir la enseñanza de lenguas como “aquellas actividades destinadas a
que se produzca el aprendizaje de una lengua” (H. Stern, 1983:21), por lo
que cualquier teoría sobre la enseñanza de lenguas presupone conceptos
relacionados con su aprendizaje. Enseñanza y aprendizaje son, pues, dos
procesos tan íntimamente vinculados entre sí que no se concibe el uno sin el otro.
Como señalan Bestard Monroig y Pérez Martín (1982:52) “la correlación entre
enseñar y aprender no es tan sencilla como para creer que es suficiente con
prestar atención exclusivamente a la labor del profesor”, lo que les lleva a formular
la siguiente conclusión: “si el objetivo final de toda labor docente es que el alumno
aprenda, hace falta tener previamente una idea sobre cómo aprende el individuo”.
No es sin embargo hasta principios de los años setenta del siglo XX en que el
interés por saber en qué consiste aprender, o, dicho de otra manera, por conocer
cuáles son los mecanismos psicológicos que tienen lugar en el individuo al
aprender, dio lugar a la aparición de una nueva disciplina académica
conocida con el nombre de “adquisición de segundas lenguas”, cuyo objetivo es
justamente averiguar, desde una perspectiva científica, cómo aprende el alumno y
las consecuencias que este descubrimiento tiene para una enseñanza eficaz.
Conocer los resultados de la investigación sobre el aprendizaje es muy importante,
ya que, entre otras cosas, nos ayuda (V.Cook, 1991,1996:2) a comprender la
contribución de los estudiantes al proceso de aprendizaje, a saber cómo utilizar con
eficacia los métodos y las técnicas de enseñanza, así como a definir con mayor
precisión los objetivos y a valorar hasta qué punto son alcanzables.
27
Como es bien sabido, un componente básico del aprendizaje es lo que el alumno
aporta a la clase, lo que trae consigo al aula: distintos grados de motivación,
diferentes estilos de aprendizaje, experiencias previas de aprendizaje de otras
lenguas, etc. Por eso, “la investigación sobre el aprendizaje de lenguas nos ayuda
a entender por qué alumnos aparentemente semejantes reaccionan de forma
diferente ante las mismas técnicas de enseñanza, a la vez que nos revela los
problemas que son comunes a todos ellos.” (V.Cook, 1991,1996:.2)
La investigación sobre el aprendizaje nos proporciona también pistas
valiosísimas para saber qué método funciona mejor con nuestros alumnos o qué
técnicas son las más apropiadas para utilizar en clase.
Finalmente, saber cómo se aprenden las lenguas nos ayuda a definir mejor los
objetivos que se pretenden alcanzar y que, naturalmente, son muy variados pues
dependen tanto de factores individuales (necesidades específicas) como sociales,
políticos, culturales, etc.
¿Qué es lo que sabemos hoy por hoy sobre el aprendizaje y sobre la enseñanza de
segundas lenguas?. Esta es la pregunta que se hacía Kenneth Chastain (1980:11)
y que contesta recordándonos lo que sabemos y lo que aún desconocemos en
relación con cuatro componentes que él considera esenciales en el
aprendizaje/enseñanza de una segunda lengua, a saber: el propio aprendizaje, los
factores de tipo afectivo y social, la lingüística y la psicología. Como es lógico, hoy
sabemos muchas más cosas, pero gran parte de las respuestas siguen siendo
válidas, por lo que merece la pena reseñar las positivas que sean más relevantes.
Con respecto al aprendizaje, sabemos que, en primer lugar, debe ser
significativo, es decir, sólo se produce aprendizaje si el alumno comprende el
28
contenido y la tarea que se le pide que haga (cf. S. Krashen, “input comprensible).
Por otro lado, el grado de aprendizaje significativo viene determinado por lo que el
alumno aporta a la situación de aprendizaje: cuantos más conocimientos,
habilidades, etc., aporte, tanto mayor será aquél.
El aprendizaje ha de ser constructivo; para que se produzca ha de integrarse en el
marco intelectual del alumno, incorporando los nuevos conocimientos a los que ya
posee (cf.“teoría del conocimiento previo o schemata”).
En cuanto a los factores socio-afectivos, es de destacar que el interés, la actitud del
estudiante hacia la L2, el feedback positivo que pueda recibir del profesor o la
confianza en sí mismo no es que vayan a modificar su capacidad intelectual, pero
ciertamente juegan un papel tan primordial como los factores de tipo cognitivo.
En el campo de la lingüística hemos descubierto hace ya algunos años algo que es
fundamental: la interlengua, es decir, la fase transitoria por la que pasamos antes
de adquirir fluidez en el aprendizaje de una lengua extranjera. Y es fundamental
porque ahora los errores del estudiante, lejos de se objeto de condena por el
profesor, han pasado a considerarse como un componente esencial del
aprendizaje de lenguas.
Por lo que respecta a la psicología, el avance en la identificación y clasificación de
estrategias de aprendizaje ha hecho que surgiera un nuevo campo de
investigación, cual es la autonomía del aprendizaje que muchos profesores ya han
puesto en práctica en sus clases con indudable éxito.
Aprender una lengua extranjera: las cuatro destrezas
“To learn a language besides one’s native idiom, to penetrate its syntax, is to open
for oneself a second window on the landscape of being. It is to escape, even if only
29
partially, from the confinement of the apparently obvious, from the intolerant
poverty, so corrosive just because one is unconscious of it, of a single focus and
monohrone lens.”
“Aprender una lengua aparte de la materna, adentrarse en su sintaxis, es como
abrir una segunda ventana en el paisaje de la existencia. Es escapar, aunque sólo
sea en parte, del confinamiento de lo aparentemente obvio, de la insoportable
pobreza - tan corrosiva porque no somos conscientes de ella- de una lente
monocromática con un único objetivo”
A pesar de que pueda parecer una obviedad, no está de más insistir en el hecho de
que aprender un segundo idioma no significa sustituir unas palabras por otras, ni
siquiera ser capaz de poder mantener una pequeña conversación de nivel básico
con un nativo. Aprender otra lengua significa nada menos que adquirir una
destreza cognitiva compleja que entraña a su vez otras microdestrezas, no sólo de
índole lingüística (discriminar sonidos en la cadena hablada, comprender la
relación entre las distintas partes de la oración o el discurso, reconocer el papel
decisivo del acento o de la lo que Halliday denomina el “contexto social de la
lengua” (referentes, participantes, roles que estos desempeñan, etc.). Desde un
punto de vista didáctico, sin embargo, es como constituyentes fundamentales del
aprendizaje de una lengua, habilidades que a su vez se subdividen en receptivas o
interpretativas (escuchar, leer) y productivas o expresivas (hablar, escribir).
Conviene tener presente que “destreza” (o “habilidad”) es la traducción española
del término inglés skill, asociado a las teorías behavioristas que concebían el
aprendizaje como un proceso de formación de hábitos y en el que lo importante era
el “savoir-faire” más que el “savoir”. Por ello, algunos piensan que el aprendizaje de
30
lenguas, al menos en el plano fonético (aprender nuevos sonidos), no constituye
realmente una tarea intelectual como lo es, por ejemplo, aprender
matemáticas, física u otras disciplinas que requieren especialmente el empleo de la
inteligencia. En cualquier caso, como sabemos, la práctica es un ingrediente
esencial del progreso en el aprendizaje de una lengua extranjera que todos los
métodos de enseñanza siempre han defendido.
Si bien es cierto que la adquisición de estas cuatro destrezas es común, tanto a la
lengua materna (L1) como a una segunda lengua o lengua extranjera (L2),
las diferencias entre ambas situaciones son evidentes. Las resumimos a
continuación, siguiendo a López García (2002: 9):
a) En la lengua materna, se enseña sobre todo a leer y escribir. En la enseñanza
de una L2, se enseña sobre todo a hablar y a escuchar;
b) En la lengua materna, entendemos mucho más de lo que somos capaces de
expresar. Por el contrario, lo que somos capaces de comprender oralmente en una
L2 no está tan alejado de lo que seríamos capaces de decir en ella;
c) En la adquisición de la lengua materna, lo que se creía importante hasta hace
poco era conocer el código. Al aprendiz de una L2 lo que más le interesa es el uso
que se hace del código (cf. teoría de la relevancia o pertinencia).
El hecho de que nos refiramos a las cuatro destrezas separadamente no quiere
decir que deban tratarse siempre de un modo aislado, ya que el uso de la lengua
suele llevar implícita la interacción con el medio y por ello es normal que se
practiquen varias destrezas a la vez. En una conversación, por ejemplo, se
combinan las destrezas de escuchar y hablar; el que escucha a un conferenciante
puede tomar notas por escrito al mismo tiempo; los oyentes de una emisora de
31
radio escuchan las noticias que lee el locutor, etc. Según H. Douglas Brown
(2001:233), existen cinco situaciones que requieren el uso combinado de
algunas o de todas estas destrezas (cf. integración de destrezas), a saber:
a) cuando la lengua extranjera se usa como medio de instrucción para enseñar
distintas materias;
b) cuando se enseña con una finalidad muy concreta (un curso intensivo para
alumnos de preuniversitario en el que tienen que familiarizarse con cierto tipo de
textos);
c) en la enseñanza basada en “proyectos” que deben realizar los alumnos
en grupos;
d) cuando las muestras de L2 se presentan de tal forma que crean una sensación
de suspense en el alumno, el cual se ve así más motivado (“the episode
hypothesis”) y, finalmente,
e) en el llamado enfoque por tareas.
Destrezas y objetivos del aprendizaje
Aun cuando el uso de la lengua conlleva, como acabamos de ver, la práctica
simultánea de varias destrezas, los objetivos que persigue el aprendiz determinan
cuál de ellas es la que debe tener prioridad sobre las demás. Así, quien sólo y
exclusivamente desea aprender la lengua para poder leer textos propios de su
campo de interés (libros, revistas científicas, documentos históricos, etc.) no
32
necesita ningún entrenamiento en relación con las destrezas productivas de
expresión oral o escrita; para un camarero, sin embargo, son fundamentales las
destrezas de comprensión y expresión orales. Esto no quiere decir, por supuesto,
que haya que descuidar aquellas destrezas que no vamos a utilizar de manera
preferente. Es más, lo lógico es que quien se propone aprender otra lengua intente
adquirir también las destrezas que en un momento dado le permitan usarla en
situaciones distintas de las habituales; un médico, por ejemplo, necesita saber
inglés o francés para poder leer revistas médicas, pero también para poder
redactar una ponencia (escribir) o comunicarse (escuchar y hablar) con colegas
cuando asiste a congresos de su especialidad.
Hay también otras razones de índole pedagógica, como ya vimos en el apartado
anterior, por las que se recomienda la práctica de más de una destreza en clase,
no sólo para hacer que ésta resulte más variada e interesante, sino también porque
lo aprendido oralmente, por ejemplo, se refuerza y consolida mediante actividades
relacionadas con la expresión escrita.
Como conclusión, podemos decir que en general el aprendizaje de una segunda
lengua entraña ser capaz de entender, hablar, leer y escribir en esa lengua y que
cuando se hace hincapié en una sola de estas destrezas es por algún motivo
específico, v.g. identificar sonidos, leer o hablar con corrección - pronunciando bien
las palabras o frases, usando los patrones adecuados de acento y entonación -,
escribir utilizando el registro requerido en una determinada situación, etc.
De la competencia a la actuación
Después de utilizar la consabida metáfora del péndulo para referirse a la historia de
la enseñanza de lenguas extranjeras, se preguntaba el profesor Eric Hawkins
33
(1976:5), a la sazón director del Language Teaching Centre de la Universidad de
York, por qué otras disciplinas análogas - cuya finalidad es también la adquisición
de destrezas, como, por ejemplo, la enseñanza de la música instrumental- no se
preocupan tanto por encontrar la panacea que dé una respuesta definitiva a todos
los problemas que pueda presentar la didáctica de segundas lenguas. Y tiene
razón al afirmar que, en cierta medida, esta disciplina es única, en tanto que se
caracteriza fundamentalmente porque los resultados del aprendizaje se
demuestran en la confrontación con el hablante nativo, cuya fluidez en el uso de la
lengua debe servir para recordar a profesores y a alumnos la dificultad de la tarea
en la que se han embarcado. En efecto, para el hablante nativo su lengua es, como
el aire que respira, algo natural, un fenómeno al que raramente le presta la mínima
atención; para él el lenguaje es un instrumento que usa a diario, de un modo
automático, en su vida de relación con los demás. Si acaso, sólo en muy contadas
ocasiones se detiene a reflexionar sobre él; cuando duda de alguna palabra
o construcción, cuando alguien tergiversa lo que dice, cuando oye a otra persona
hablar en un idioma extranjero, etc. “Arte diabólico es”, que diría el portugués de
los versos de Moratín. Y es que aprender una segunda lengua siempre supone un
esfuerzo porque, como ya hemos dicho, una lengua no sólo entraña de por sí una
gran complejidad, sino que en su enseñanza/aprendizaje intervienen factores muy
diversos. De ahí que el dominio de una lengua suponga, como se viene repitiendo
desde hace tiempo, la posesión por parte del hablante, de otras competencias
aparte de la estrictamente lingüística en el sentido chomskiano. Pero volviendo a lo
que se cuestionaba el profesor Hawkins, es cierto que, hoy día quizás más que
nunca, todos buscamos la panacea, la solución mágica que nos permita
34
aprender una lengua extranjera en el menor tiempo posible y, por supuesto, del
modo más fácil. Olvidamos, claro está, que en el aprendizaje de lenguas no hay
atajos: es preciso recorrer todo el camino, el cual, por otra parte, es interminable,
no tiene fin. Ni siquiera el que iniciamos cuando aprendemos nuestra lengua
materna, punto sobre el que, me imagino, todos estaremos de acuerdo.
Si bien es cierto que en las últimas décadas ha habido avances significativos en la
enseñanza de segundas lenguas, en realidad no han sido tan radicales como para
pensar que con ellos se ha resuelto definitivamente el problema de aprender otra
lengua sin mayores dificultades. Ya decía A.S.Hornby en 1971 que en el
aprendizaje de lenguas constantemente proponemos ideas que no tienen nada de
nuevo (“old ideas in language learning are always being rediscovered”). Prueba
evidente de ello es, por ejemplo, la importancia que han vuelto a adquirir hoy día
la lengua materna y la traducción como recursos útiles en la clase; la importancia
que otra vez se le concede al vocabulario (cf. lexical approach); la atención que se
le dedica ahora a la cultura local del estudiante (cf. glocalisation) como componente
básico de los materiales didácticos; lo que piensan, opinan y creen los profesores
(cf. teacher cognition) en relación con su labor en la clase, etc.
Quizás lo más relevante de estos cambios ha sido no la revolución (?) que supone
Internet, sino el cambio de actitud hacia lo que se considera debe ser objeto de
atención prioritaria, es decir, el alumno. Del “qué y del “cómo” hemos pasado a “a
quién” enseñamos, lo que ha venido a poner de relieve algo tan evidente como es
el “aprendizaje” y todo lo relacionado con las formas y estilo de aprendizaje;
enseñanza centrada en el alumno, enfoque comunicativo, enseñanza basada en
tareas, proceso versus producto, afectividad en el aprendizaje, autonomía del
35
aprendizaje, output como input, inteligencias múltiples... No es de extrañar, por otra
parte que haya sido en los últimos años del siglo XX cuando cobra fuerza la
investigación en este terreno (cf. SLA)
Dentro de las aportaciones de las ciencias lingüísticas, es evidente que ha habido
un desplazamiento desde los enfoques basados en la competencia (lingüística y
comunicativa) hacia los que se centran en el uso de la lengua en situaciones
reales, comprobables empíricamente: “los enfoques actuales sobre la adquisición y
enseñanza de una L2 se caracterizan por rehuir los viejos reduccionismos, por su
tendencia a construir teorías y modelos que sirvan para la investigación empírica
como para la práctica profesional y, consecuentemente, están abiertas a reconocer
la existencia de numerosos factores, dimensiones y variables en dicho proceso de
adquisición y enseñanza, al margen de que pongan más énfasis en unos que en
otros.” (Mayor, J. 2004:46) Como bien sugiere este autor, “la adquisición y/o
dominio de una L2 está en función de las variables de los sujetos (biológicas,
cognitivas, orécticas y psicosociales) del sistema lingüístico (L2) (y sus
interrelaciones con el de la L1), del contexto y de los textos, discursos y locuciones
que se producen y/o comprenden.” (Ibid: 60)
¿Qué nos depara el futuro? ¿Hacia dónde va la profesión de la enseñanza de
idiomas en el futuro cercano, o incluso en un futuro más lejano?, se preguntan Jack
C.Richards y Theodore S.Rodgers (2000:248)) los cuales identifican algunos de los
factores que continuarán influyendo en la enseñanza de idiomas y que anotamos a
continuación:
1. las directrices de la política gubernamental;
2. las tendencias de la profesión;
36
3. innovaciones dirigidas por gurús;
4. las reacciones a la tecnología;
5. las influencias de algunas disciplinas académicas;
6. la influencia de la investigación;
7. innovaciones basadas en los alumnos;
8. las tendencias educativas procedentes de otros campos;
9. aportaciones de otras disciplinas.
Confiemos en que sean los factores 5 a 9 los decisivos, pero mucho me temo que
ocurra lo que ya apuntaba A.Valdman (1966:x) en 1966:
“Unfortunately, there is a wide gap between current research and incipient trends,
on the one hand, and classroom practice on the other. Effective methods
based on the latest research are seldom in evidence even in the foreign language
courses of the large universities where the majority of prospective secondary school
and college foreign language teachers are trained. (…) Hence, faced with the
exigencies and pressures of the classroom, the foreign language teacher tends to
teach as he was taught:”
“Desgraciadamente, existe un gran vacío entre la investigación y las tendencias
incipientes, por una parte, y con respecto a la práctica en el aula. No es frecuente
que se haga uso de los métodos eficaces basados en investigaciones recientes, ni
siquiera en los cursos de lenguas extranjeras de las universidades en las que se
forman la mayoría de los profesores de idiomas. (...)De aquí que, ante las
37
exigencias y presiones del aula, el profesor de lenguas extranjeras tienda a
enseñar como a él le enseñaron.”
Las destrezas receptivas : la comprensión oral
De las dos funciones que puede desempeñar el órgano del oído, oír o escuchar, es
la segunda la que tiene mayor interés en la didáctica de lenguas. Y no porque la
primera sea irrelevante; al contrario, es indispensable para que la segunda pueda
tener lugar. Dicho de otra manera, “percibir con el oído los sonidos” (DRAE) es
condición previa para “prestar atención a lo que se oye”(DRAE).
Partiendo de estas premisas, cabría ahora hacerse las siguientes preguntas:
a) ¿hasta qué punto es esta destreza imprescindible para aprender una lengua?
b) ¿cómo afecta al aprendizaje la mayor o menor capacidad auditiva del
individuo?
Con respecto al primer supuesto, la respuesta es afirmativa si el objetivo que se
persigue es la comunicación oral con otras personas. Si, como hemos señalado
más arriba, lo que se pretende es únicamente ser capaz de leer textos escritos en
esa lengua, no es necesario dedicar ningún tiempo al aprendizaje de las otras
destrezas.
Naturalmente, si la facultad de oír se ve mermada por algún impedimento físico, el
aprendizaje de una L2 se resiente. Por lo menos en lo que atañe a la comprensión
auditiva y, como consecuencia, también a la expresión oral que es su equivalente
como destreza productiva. Un sordo total difícilmente podrá alcanzar el mismo
grado de perfección en el uso oral de la lengua que una persona con un oído
38
normal. Y mucho menos si ésta además tiene buen oído para los idiomas, es
decir, facilidad para reconocer e imitar sonidos.
Por lo que llevamos dicho, fácilmente se comprenderá que la comprensión oral
está íntimamente asociada a la expresión oral sin la cual no se concibe; es, por así
decirlo, la otra cara de la misma moneda. Si bien se mira, es la primera destreza de
la lengua que ocurre según el orden natural de adquisición de la lengua materna,
pero no necesariamente la primera que se desarrolla entre los aprendices de una
segunda lengua porque éstos ya saben leer y escribir en su lengua materna,
destrezas que se pueden rentabilizar en la enseñanza de la L2. En cualquier caso,
para aprender una L2 hay que partir siempre de las destrezas receptivas, escuchar
o leer, ya que es imposible hacerlo hablando y escribiendo.
Aún podrían aducirse dos razones más para resaltar la importancia de la
comprensión oral. Una de ellas tiene que ver con las dificultades de esta destreza
que comentamos más abajo y que, por lo tanto, exige que el aprendiz tenga
muchas oportunidades de practicarla desde las primeras etapas. En este sentido,
el llamado “aprendizaje periférico” o “aprendizaje por ósmosis” hace que el habla
informal del profesor (“informal teacher-talk”) sea el mejor material que puede
utilizarse en el aula para practicar la comprensión oral (Penny Ur, 1984:62) ya que
el feedback que produce en el aprendiz puede contribuir a que mejore su expresión
oral.
La otra razón está relacionada con la semejanza que pueda existir entre la L1 y la
L2. Como señalamos más adelante, cuanto más afines sean las lenguas más fácil
será la comunicación entre sus hablantes. Así, la comunicación entre un español y
39
un portugués puede tener lugar en su lengua materna ya que ambos entienden la
lengua del otro.
Dificultades de esta destreza
Decíamos más arriba que un requisito previo para poder escuchar era poder
percibir los sonidos de todo tipo que llegan a nuestro oído y que si son articulados
forman parte de la cadena hablada, lo que supone la interacción con otra destreza,
es decir, la expresión oral por parte de alguien que habla. En este caso
escuchamos lo que otra persona dice, lo cual no significa que le entendamos si
utiliza un código distinto del nuestro, o cuando nuestro conocimiento del suyo es
aún muy pobre. Pero es posible que incluso siendo hablantes de la misma lengua
se produzcan fallos en la comunicación, ya que “escuchar es una actividad
extremadamente compleja”, como apunta Cor J. Koster (1991:5) e ilustra con la
siguiente viñeta en la que la imagen que
40
tiene en la cabeza el policía cuando señala el camino es distinta de la que se forma
en la cabeza del transeúnte, probablemente porque el primero no proporciona
toda la información necesaria para comprender el mensaje y también porque la
memoria sólo almacena una cantidad limitada de información. Más frecuente es,
sin embargo, que se produzcan fallos debidos a la ambigüedad del mensaje, lo que
a veces da origen a situaciones embarazosas o simplemente jocosas. Sirvan como
ejemplo estas muestras:
EL PADRE AL PRETENDIENTE:
-- Y USTED, JOVEN, ¿CON QUÉ CUENTA?
- CON UNA CALCULADORA, SEÑOR
UN HOMBRE PASEA CON UN GATO POR LA CALLE Y SE LE ACERCA OTRO.
- ¿ARAÑA?
- NO, GATO.
UN POLICÍA QUE VA PERSIGUIENDO A UN LADRÓN, LO PIERDE EN UNA
ESQUINA Y LE PREGUNTA A UN HOMBRE:
- ¿VIO A ALGUIEN DOBLAR ESTA ESQUINA?
- NO, CUANDO YO VINE YA ESTABA DOBLADA.
Existe la creencia, por otra parte, de que comprender lo que oímos es fácil, y, por
supuesto, mucho más fácil que hablar o escribir. Como sugiere Douglas McKeating
(1981:58) la explicación quizás habría que buscarla en el hecho de que la
comprensión oral nos produce menos ansiedad, nos supone menor esfuerzo que el
que exigen las otras dos destrezas y es menos pública que estas últimas, en las
41
que se pueden observar los errores que cometemos. Basta sin embargo echar un
vistazo al listado de microdestrezas que lleva aparejada la comprensión auditiva
(ver Tabla 1) para darse cuenta de lo tremendamente compleja, amén de fatigosa
que es esta destreza porque el oyente de una L2 no controla lo que percibe, o,
como señala López García (2002:17) “se siente inseguro de lo que escucha, hace
un esfuerzo mental extraordinario para que no se le escape nada y, en definitiva,
termina cansado.” Bien es verdad que en ocasiones el contexto es lo
suficientemente explícito como para permitir la comprensión sin que el hablante ni
siquiera tenga necesidad de intervenir porque podemos predecir sus palabras (cf.
“redundancia”). En este sentido, ya decía B. Malmberg (1966:23) que “el buen
dominio de la lengua implica una gran capacidad de adivinación y, con ella,
posibilidades mayores de comprender cuanto oímos.”
Otras dificultades tienen que ver con el reconocimiento de palabras, debido a la
variabilidad fonética de los sonidos que emite el hablante, así como con el proceso
de segmentación, que, afortunadamente, a veces no constituye ningún problema
porque el contexto suele determinar dónde comienza y dónde termina una palabra
en la cadena hablada.
Entre las variaciones más conocidas en cuanto a la forma de realizar segmentos
fonéticos, Cor J. Koster (1991:7) señala las siguientes.
a) Variabilidad en la duración de las vocales y consonantes: Ingl. /i/ /i:/;
b) Asimilación de sonidos: Esp. /n/ → [m] : un velo /umbelo/;
c) Velocidad de emisión o tempo;
d) Número y longitud de las pausas;
e) Familiaridad con la voz del hablante;
42
f) Calidad de la señal de habla.
Tabla 1 (Adaptada de J. Richards por H.D.Brown (2001:236)
Escuchar con una finalidad
Se puede decir que básicamente la percepción de textos orales en la vida real tiene
lugar de dos maneras: a) de forma casual, sin prestar mucha atención a lo que
oímos; por ejemplo, cuando está encendida la radio mientras nos arreglan el pelo
en la peluquería y b) fijándonos en lo que oímos para extraer una determinada
información que necesitamos, como cuando alguien escucha el parte
meteorológico porque quiere saber qué tiempo va a hacer el próximo fin de
semana. “Oímos de forma incluso involuntaria. Escuchamos conscientemente y
43
con un propósito”, dice E. Martín Peris (1991:17), quien amplía así el sentido de
estas palabras:
Un paso más allá de la percepción está la escucha: podemos estar presentes
en una tertulia, y no prestarle atención; podemos estar percibiendo lo que se dice,
pero no estar escuchándolo: Si damos el paso a la actividad de escuchar, entonces
nos guiamos por un objetivo concreto, buscamos algo en particular. Y ello es así
aún en el caso de que estemos movidos por la simple curiosidad; en efecto, desde
e momento en que nos ponemos a escuchar, lo hacemos atentamente, y fijamos
nuestra atención en aspectos particulares, que pueden ser múltiples y diversos,
pero que reflejan una selección, producto de un interés. (....)
Si queremos respetar en el aula los procesos que se dan en la actividad de
audición, deberemos suministrar a los alumnos un propósito para la CA, o
permitirles que lo encuentren ellos mismos.”(El subrayado es mío)
En el aprendizaje de segundas lenguas, se suele distinguir entre actividades
destinadas a escuchar de forma “extensiva” y aquellas otras en las que la audición
tiene lugar de manera “intensiva”. La diferencia estriba en que
- en el primer caso, sirven para practicar y consolidar en un nuevo
contexto material lingüístico ya conocido, para intentar aprender palabras y
expresiones nuevas partiendo de las ya conocidas, para seguir el hilo de una
narración, etc.;
- en el segundo, para que el aprendiz de una L2 pueda identificar sonidos,
combinaciones de sonidos, patrones de entonación, fenómenos derivados de la
unión de palabras en la cadena hablada (asimilación, hiatos, sinalefas, etc.),
así como otros relacionados con aspectos léxicos o gramaticales.
44
Como sabemos, cuando en el procesamiento del mensaje se parte de lo más
general (conocimientos lingüísticos previos, experiencias, guiones y esquemas a lo
más concreto (sonidos, palabras, frases, etc.) se habla técnicas de arriba abajo
(top-down); en caso contrario, de técnicas de abajo a arriba (bottom-up)
Llegados a este punto cabe preguntarse si la comprensión es suficiente para que
se produzca el aprendizaje, como postulaba Krashen o, por el contrario, es
necesario algo más. Pues bien, parece ser que bastantes de los estudios
realizados en las últimas décadas del siglo pasado sobre la posible eficacia de la
manipulación del input por parte de los hablantes nativos no demuestran que ni la
llamada técnica del enhancement o “realce”, ni tampoco la negociación (Hipótesis
de la Interacción) tengan efecto alguno sobre el aprendizaje, aunque sí favorecen
la comprensión. Es más, en el caso de la modificación del input para facilitar la
comprensión, “...el aprendiz, si pide repetición o aclaración, lo que recibe es otra
formulación diferente con el mismo contenido, de la que se ha quitado el problema.
Pero con quitarle al aprendiz la causa del problema, se le quita también la
posibilidad de descubrir qué era lo que le impidió la comprensión la primera vez,
por no hablar de la ocasión de enfocar las formas que contenían los problemas.”
(Eva Dam Jensen (2000:29) Y es que, como esta misma autora señala más
adelante, “en el momento de haber sido interpretado el contenido, la idea
pasa al almacén de largo plazo, y el eco de la imagen sonora, o sea, la
formulación verbal, se borra de la memoria de trabajo. Se necesita todo el tiempo
disponible solamente para deducir el sentido, y no sobra capacidad mental para
reparar en la forma. Es ese periodo que es demasiado corto para dejarle al
aprendiz llevar a cabo los dos procesos necesarios: primero, el de interpretar el
45
sentido y segundo, el de reparar en la forma.” (Ibid, 31) Por eso es partidaria de lo
que ella llama “repetición idéntica” (exact repetition) y que ilustra abundantemente
en el proyecto de investigación y enseñanza del español hablado “Enredos” que,
junto a Thora Vinther, lleva a cabo en la Universidad de Copenhague. En
dicho proyecto ambas investigadoras proponen “trabajar con maneras de alargar
el periodo de contacto que tiene el aprendiz con la imagen acústica que es el
tiempo de articulación más la pausa, anterior a la intervención siguiente.” (Ibid, 31)
Actividades para la comprensión oral: principios generales
Precisamente porque comprender una lengua extranjera es una tarea compleja
que, como hemos visto, entraña un número considerable de micro destrezas, las
actividades que se pueden diseñar para practicar la comprensión auditiva en el
aula son múltiples y varían según la finalidad que persigamos, así como las
características del aprendiz y su nivel de instrucción . Teresa Bordón (2002: III, 3.2,
2.7) sugiere las siguientes:
• Respuesta física: hacer algo, actuar de forma motriz. Recuérdese que este era
el punto de partida del método de Respuesta Física Total. Hay que tener en cuenta
que las actividades que requieren respuesta física son más aconsejables para
aprendices niños o jóvenes, ya que los alumnos adultos mayores a veces no
aceptan este tipo de práctica porque les cohibe o les parece poco seria.
• Transferir: dibujar, trazar un recorrido, un gráfico. Este tipo de respuesta es muy
frecuente para actividades de nivel inicial y algunas de nivel intermedio.
• Completar: rellenar huecos, contestar preguntas (con respuesta libre,
controlada). Las actividades de completar huecos o de contestar a preguntas cuya
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respuesta hay que encontrarla en el texto que se escucha, son también muy
frecuentes. Pueden valer para cualquier nivel. La dificultad de interpretación
residirá en la estrategia o estrategias que se deban emplear. No entraña la misma
dificultad identificar una pieza léxica que destacar una idea principal de las
secundarias.
• Relacionar: el texto oral con imágenes, fragmentos de texto, etc. Este tipo de
respuesta se suele utilizar en actividades de nivel inicial, donde el apoyo gráfico es
fundamental.
• Resumir: tomar notas. Esta respuesta es propia de niveles intermedio alto,
avanzado y superior, ya que resumir supone entender muy bien lo que se oye para
determinar lo importante y lo accesorio y, al mismo tiempo, escribir la información
pertinente.
• Extender: ir más allá del texto, modificándolo, creando un final, etc.
• Hablar: contestar oralmente.
Ahora bien, de la misma manera que es posible oír sin escuchar, también se puede
escuchar sin entender, aun cuando el lenguaje utilizado no entrañe mayores
dificultades de orden estructural. Una conferencia sobre física cuántica, por
ejemplo, nunca podremos seguirla con provecho a menos que seamos
especialistas en la materia. Con ello queremos señalar que las actividades que
diseñemos para un aprendiz de L2 deben estar siempre al alcance de sus
posibilidades, lo que constituye el primer requisito básico que debe tener presente
el profesor. Para comprobar que la comprensión ha tenido lugar de un modo
correcto por parte del alumno, H. Douglas Brown (2001:259) recoge las nueve
propuestas que ofrece R. Lund y que son las siguientes:
47
• Hacer - el oyente responde físicamente a una orden
• Elegir- el oyente selecciona grabados, objetos, textos
• Transferir- el oyente hace un dibujo de lo que oye
• Contestar- el oyente responde a las preguntas sobre el mensaje
• Resumir- el oyente sintetiza o toma apuntes
• Ampliar- el oyente finaliza una historia que oye
• Duplicar- el oyente traduce el mensaje a su L1 o la repite verbatim
• Imitar- el oyente encarga una comida siguiendo un texto modelo
• Hablando- el oyente participa en una conversación de forma apropiada.
Finalmente, en lo que insisten la mayoría de los autores es en la autenticidad de
los textos, ya que no sólo permiten al aprendiz establecer la conexión de lo que se
hace en el aula con las necesidades comunicativas de la vida real, sino que
estimulan su interés por ser más motivadores que los textos diseñados de un modo
artificial. La diferencia puede observarse en los siguientes diálogos, traducidos y
adaptados de Jeremy Harmer (1983:49):
Tom ¿Qué es eso que tienes en las manos?
Martin Son mis gafas de sol, mi nuevo par de gafas de sol. Tom Oh, sí, son
bonitas.
Martin Las tuyas son bonitas también. Tom Gracias. Son muy caras.
Martin Bueno, estas mías no son caras. Son de plástico. Son muy baratas. Tom
¿Cómo? Ah, ya. Tus gafas de sol son de plástico y las mías son de
cristal. El plástico no es tan bonito como el cristal. Martin Y el plástico no es tan
caro como el cristal.
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Tom El plástico no es tan pesado como el cristal. Tus gafas de sol no son tan
pesadas como éstas.
Martin No, pero el cristal no es tan fuerte como el plástico. Estas gafas de sol de
plástico son muy fuertes. Mira, las pongo debajo de la pata de esta silla.
Tom Oh, sí, son muy fuertes. Pero no son tan bonitas como las mías.......
A: Disculpe. ¿Cómo puedo ir a la estación, por favor?
B: La estación, la estación,.... a ver. Ah, ya. Puede usted bajar.....No, siga
recto hasta que llegue a un cine, o sea, hasta la segunda calle a la derecha. El cine
está en la esquina. Luego, gire a la derecha y se encuentra con Bridge Street. Creo
que es Bridge Street. Siga un poco por esta calle....
He aquí ahora una lista de técnicas de comprensión oral inspirada en la que
propone Pat W. Peterson (citado por H. Douglas Brown, 2001:260).
Incluimos solamente algunas de las correspondientes a los niveles elemental e
intermedio:
49
50
Lenguaje y expresión oral
Aunque no existe una definición universalmente aceptada de lo que debe
entenderse por lenguaje, casi todos los intentos que ha habido para definirlo
coinciden en admitir que básicamente el lenguaje es un sistema arbitrario de signos
verbales que permiten comunicarse entre sí a todos los miembros de una
determinada comunidad. (No dejan de tener razón, sin embargo, los que opinan,
como Voltaire o Goldsmith, que para lo que realmente sirve el lenguaje es para
ocultar nuestros pensamientos) Se trata, por lo tanto, de una facultad propia de los
51
seres humanos, basada en la actividad de los órganos de la articulación que
producen sonidos articulados portadores de significado.
Si, como hemos visto, la comprensión auditiva es la primera destreza que ocurre
en el aprendizaje de la lengua materna, la expresión oral es la destreza que le
sigue a continuación, aunque no inmediatamente: sólo después de un periodo más
o menos largo de estar “expuesto” a la lengua puede el niño empezar a hacer uso
del lenguaje oral de forma adecuada.
¿Qué rasgos caracterizan esta destreza desde el punto de vista del aprendiz de
una L2? Como ya hemos señalado, depende de los objetivos que se proponga
conseguir. En líneas generales, la expresión oral se caracteriza por lo siguiente:
a) Es la destreza más importante para muchos aprendices de una L2;
b) Tiene una utilidad práctica, incluso en el caso de que las destrezas que nos
interesan primordialmente sean otras;
c) Las oportunidades de practicarla dependen de muchos factores externos al
aprendiz;
d) Conseguir un buen dominio de esta destreza no es fácil, ya que implica ser
capaz de utilizar un número considerable de microdestrezas -- capacitadoras, De
interacción y de actuación (Martín Peris E.,1996:50)- y que son prácticamente las
mismas que para la comprensión oral.
P.A.D. MacCarthy (1972:4) sintetiza este último apartado con las siguientes
palabras:
“Ability to handle spoken language is to be taken to include ability to understand the
foreign language when spoken normally by natives, without allowances being made
for the foreigner such a as slowing down, repeating phrases, speaking specially
52
loudly or distinctly, and under normal—that is, sometimes adverse—conditions of
listening, i.e. to a variety of voices and accents or against a background of noise or
interference. It also includes ability to express oneself in the language, using
appropriate forms and constructions fluently and without unnatural hesitation,
and with a delivery sufficiently resembling that of native speakers to cause
absolutely no difficulties of communication, and in favourable cases to pass
virtually unnoticed among them.”
(La capacidad de expresarse oralmente supone la habilidad de entender a los
nativos de una L2 sin que tengan que hablar más despacio, repetir frases, hablar
más alto o con más claridad y cuando las condiciones acústicas son normales –a
veces adversas-- ,es decir, porque las voces o los acentos que se escuchan son
variados, o porque hay ruidos de fondo o interferencias. También implica la
habilidad de expresarse usando construcciones gramaticales con fluidez y sin
titubear, de tal forma que la producción oral se parezca lo suficiente a la de los
hablantes nativos como para no causar problemas de comunicación y, en el mejor
de los casos, como para pasar por uno de ellos.)
La expresión y la comprensión orales: destrezas complementarias
Si consideramos la expresión oral como parte de un intercambio comunicativo,
podemos decir que la comprensión oral es una destreza productiva a la vez
que receptiva (Widdowson,1978:59). La interacción de estas dos destrezas se da
sobre todo en la conversación, la cual es una de las formas más comunes del
lenguaje hablado.
53
Ya decíamos en la lección anterior que la comprensión oral no se concibe sin la
expresión oral, a la que está estrechamente vinculada y con la que comparte
muchas características, E. microdestrezas, aun cuando, desde el punto de vista de
la psicolingüística, comprensión y producción no sean procesos equivalentes ni
inversos, como señalan algunos (Ver F. Moreno Fernández, 2002:16) En el
aprendizaje de la lengua materna, el niño empieza por escuchar a las personas
que están a su alrededor, las cuales le proporcionan los modelos que luego imitará
oralmente. Por la misma razón, “para que un aprendiz de L2 llegue a la producción
de lengua, primero tiene que haber recibido modelos y haber recibido tareas
mediadoras que le faciliten la producción.” (Bordón, 2002: III, 3.3, 1)
No quiere esto decir, ni mucho menos, que el paso de una destreza a otra sea
automático; por muy desarrollada que tenga el aprendiz de una L2 su capacidad de
escuchar y de comprender un mensaje, no podrá expresarse en la L2 de una
manera adecuada si antes no ha practicado suficientemente esta destreza. Como
dice W. H.
Rivers (1981:188): “We learn to speak by speaking”. Aprendemos a hablar
hablando, lo mismo que aprendemos a conducir un coche conduciéndolo, o a bailar
el tango bailándolo.
Dificultades de la expresión oral
La expresión oral es sin duda la destreza más difícil debido a los factores que
intervienen en ella, pues el hablante no sólo tiene que pensar qué es lo que va a
decir, sino cómo lo va a decir y, además, en un brevísimo espacio de
tiempo. Si la codificación del mensaje es de por sí un proceso complejo, lo es
54
mucho más para el aprendiz de una L2 cuyo conocimiento del nuevo código es aún
reducido. Por otra parte, conocer el código no basta; es necesario tener el
conocimiento pragmático suficiente que permita usar la lengua de modo adecuado
a cada situación comunicativa.
En líneas generales, se puede decir que los problemas que presenta la expresión
oral al aprendiz de una L2 son de dos tipos: a) lingüísticos y b) psicológicos
Siguiendo a H. D. Brown (2001: 270) los factores de orden lingüístico se agrupan
en torno a estos ocho apartados:
1. Cadena hablada.- Hablar con fluidez supone unir las palabras y no
pronunciarlas una a una.
2. Redundancia.- El hablante debe conocer este recurso del lenguaje porque le
ayuda a transmitir el mensaje con más claridad.
3. Formas reducidas.- Contracciones, elisiones, reducción silábica, etc.
4. Variación en la “expresividad”.- Comienzos equivocados, dislocaciones
sintácticas, retrocesos, frases de relleno o expresiones de apoyo (“esto”,
“digamos”, etc.)
5. Lenguaje coloquial.- Estilo informal, jergas, expresiones idiomáticas, etc.
6. Tempo elocutivo.- La rapidez con que habla un nativo suele ser un obstáculo
para la comprensión por parte del oyente no nativo
7. Aspectos prosódicos.- El acento, el ritmo y la entonación varían según las
lenguas.
8. Interacción.- La interacción con el interlocutor se rige por reglas que comparte y
respeta el hablante: interpretación de marcas lingüísticas, negociación del
55
significado, turnos de palabra, fórmulas para mantener y terminar la conversación,
etc.
Desde el punto de vista psicológico, el temor de cometer errores o el miedo al
ridículo, sobre todo cuando el interlocutor es un hablante nativo o tiene un mayor
dominio de la L2 (“interlocutor effect”) son factores que inhiben a muchos
aprendices de expresarse oralmente en público, aun cuando puedan hacerlo
aceptablemente bien. De todas formas, para éstos, más importante que tener algo
que decir o el deseo de contárselo a alguien es saber cómo decirlo. En cualquier
caso, se piensa que conviene practicar esta destreza desde las etapas iniciales del
aprendizaje.
Hay que tener presente, sin embargo, que el aprendizaje se produce igualmente
aunque no haya producción oral por el aprendiz. Recordemos cómo el niño que
aprende su lengua materna pasa asimismo por una fase silenciosa en la que sólo
escucha.
Debido a que la expresión oral no es una actividad planificada de antemano, sino
que se produce inmediatamente después de que ha tenido lugar la codificación del
mensaje, el aprendiz de L2, para asegurarse de que su interlocutor entiende lo que
dice, apela a un número variado de estrategias como pedir ayuda, utilizar
sinónimos, recurrir a su L1, parafrasear, etc.
Un problema importante relacionado con la destreza oral que se da sobre todo en
la clase de L2 es el de la falta de motivación del alumno. En este sentido, se
preguntan Mª José Gelabert et al. (2002:37) “¿Quién no ha pensado, o incluso
llevado a cabo alguna vez, llegar a la clase de expresión oral y decir a los alumnos
que iban a dedicar el tiempo a hablar de algún tema? Si se ha tenido esta
56
experiencia, se puede haber llegado a una conclusión muy importante: el alumno,
en la mayoría de los casos, no demuestra ningún interés. Si le planteamos a
nuestros alumnos nuestros tópicos más recurrentes como <<toros sí, toros no>>
sin más, la mayoría de ellos, por no decir todos, pensarán que no hemos
preparado la clase o que nuestro método no les ayuda nada.” Las
implicaciones didácticas son claras.
57
Rincon, C. (2009). Curso de español como lengua materna. [Fragmento] La
competencia comunicativa.
58
La competencia comunicativa
“La competencia comunicativa es el término más general
para la capacidad comunicativa de una persona, capacidad
que abarca tanto el conocimiento de la lengua como la
habilidad para utilizarla. La adquisición de tal competencia
está mediada por la experiencia social, las necesidades y
motivaciones, y la acción, que es a la vez una fuente renovada
de motivaciones, necesidades y experiencias”.
Dell Hymes
“La competencia comunicativa es una capacidad que
comprende no sólo la habilidad lingüística, gramatical,
de producir frases bien construidas y de saber interpretar
y emitir juicios sobre frases producidas por el hablante-
oyente o por otros, sino que, necesariamente, constará,
por un lado, de una serie de habilidades extralingüísticas
interrelacionadas, sociales y semióticas, y por el otro, de
una habilidad lingüística polifacética y multiforme”.
Gaetano Berruto
“La competencia comunicativa comprende las aptitudes y
los conocimientos que un individuo debe tener
para poder utilizar sistemas lingüísticos y translingüísticos
que están a su disposición para comunicarse
59
como miembro de una comunidad sociocultural dada”.
(María Stella Girón y Marco Antonio Vallejo, 1992)
Desde nuestra infancia, los seres humanos vamos adquiriendo
y desarrollando una capacidad relacionada
con el hecho de saber cuándo podemos hablar o cuándo debemos callar,
y también sobre qué hacerlo, con quién, dónde, para qué y en qué forma.1
Es decir, desde niños adquirimos un conocimiento no sólo de la
gramática de nuestra lengua materna sino que también aprendemos
sus diferentes registros y su
pertinencia; somos capaces de tomar parte en eventos comunicativos y
de evaluar la participación nuestra y la de los otros.
Aún más, podemos afirmar que esa competencia 3 es integral, puesto que
también involucra actitudes,valores y motivaciones relacionadas con la
lengua, con sus características y sus usos, y con los demássistemas de com
unicación en general. Naturalmente, la adquisición de tal capacidad debe estar
ligada auna experiencia social, a unas necesidades, a unas motivaciones y a una a
cción.
1 Al respecto, Basil Bernstein afirma que “Cada vez que un niño
habla o escucha, se refuerza la estructura social de la
cual forma parte y se constriñe su identidad social”.
2 Un registro es una variante de nuestra lengua condicionada
60
por factores socioeconómicos y culturales. Los hablantes
autorregulan permanentemente su forma de hablar. Por eso, a cada situación
comunicativa corresponde un registro lingüístico.
3 La competencia comunicativa
implica un conocimiento (implícito, tácito) y un uso contextualizado de
ese conocimiento (o una actuación).
El modelo de lengua que subyace en este concepto de competencia,
implica, desde luego, que la única
función de las lenguas no es nombrar, sino que ellas también están
organizadas para lamentarse,
alegrarse, rogar, prevenir, defender, atacar; están relacionadas con las distint
as formas de persuasión,
dirección, expresión y juegos simbólicos. El verdadero sentido de las lenguas hum
anas sólo puede llegar
a ser comprendido en el ámbito natural de su uso para permitir la c
onversación, la interacción
comunicativa, el trato verbal cotidiano, la vida en sociedad.
Así entendidas, las lenguas dejan de ser
meros sistemas semióticos abstractos, inmanentes, ajenos a las intenciones y
a las necesidades de los
hablantes, y se convierten en teatros, en espacios de representación, e
n repertorios de códigos
culturales cuya significación se construye y se renueva de manera
61
permanente por medio de estrategias
de participación, de cooperación y de convicción.
Como bien lo afirmábamos en la Introducción, las
lenguas no son sólo instrumentos para comunicar a otros lo que pensamos,
sino también una forma de actividad, regulada y pública.
En la década de los años setenta, los primeros etnógrafos de la
comunicación (Gumperz y Hymes)
postularon la existencia de una competencia para la comunicación o
competencia comunicativa, que comprende lo que un hablante
oyente real, dotado de ciertos roles sociales y miembro de una
determinada comunidad lingüística, debe saber para establecer una efectiva
comunicación en situaciones
culturalmente significantes, y para emitir mensajes verbales congruentes con l
a situación. Para estos
teóricos, la competencia comunicativa es un conjunto de normas que se va
adquiriendo a lo largo del
proceso de socialización y, por lo tanto, está socioculturalmente condicionada.
Así pues, esa Competencia Comunicativa exige no sólo la habilidad para ma
nejar una lengua sino además
saber situarse en el contexto comunicativo de cada comunidad específica, en
sus diversas formaciones
sociales, culturales e ideológicas.
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La competencia comunicativa se manifiesta tanto en los sistemas primarios de c
omunicación como en los
sistemas secundarios.
Los sistemas primarios son los de la comunicación cotidiana
sirven para el
intercambio comunicativo necesario en el desempeño de todos los roles que
implica la vida en sociedad:
una llamada telefónica, una carta, un memorando, un cartel, un noticiero radial, etc.
Los sistemas secundarios son de mayor elaboración y complejidad.
Requieren más capacidad cognitiva del hablante-oyente real en su
labor de codificar y descodificar textos, puesto que estas
comunicaciones se producen en esferas de más elaboración cultural. “La comunic
ación en estos sistemas
es básicamente escrita, pero también comprende formas orales como confere
ncias, foros, seminarios, etc. Se trata de la comunicación literaria,
científica, técnica, sociopolítica, jurídica, y de
comunicaciones no verbales, como las artes visuales; o mixtas, como el teatro” (Gir
ón y Vallejo, 1992:14).
Está claro, entonces, que la competencia comunicativa no se limita a la com
petencia gramatical o al
conocimiento del sistema semiótico de una lengua. Por lo tanto, la competencia co
municativa se configura
por la adquisición y desarrollo de una serie de competencias.
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La competencia lingüística:
Se caracteriza por la capacidad de un hablante para producir e interpr
etar signos verbales. El
conocimiento y el empleo adecuado del código lingüístico le permiten a un i
ndividuo crear, reproducir e
interpretar un número infinito de oraciones.
Ese conocimiento y ese empleo se vinculan con dos
modalidades diferentes de la lengua: la lengua como sistema de signos y la
lengua en funcionamiento, en
uso.
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La lengua como sistema de signos corresponde al dominio semiótico, y su
función esencial es significar.
La lengua en funcionamiento, en uso, corresponde al dominio
semántico, y su función básica es comunicar.
El siguiente paralelo nos ilustra mejor estas dos modalidades, estos dos ámbitos de
la lengua:
DOMINIO SEMIÓTICO DOMINIO SEMÁNTICO
La lengua como sistema de signos
La lengua en funcionamiento
Dominio o ámbito del signo Dominio o ámbito de la frase
No se considera la relación del signo
con lo denotado ni la relación de la
lengua con el mundo.
Integra la sociedad y el mundo.
La lengua en su función mediadora
entre el hombre y el hombre, entre el
hombre y el mundo.
Incorpora la noción de referente:
El signo tiene un valor genérico y
conceptual.
El sentido de la frase implica la
referencia al contexto y a la actitud del
locutor. Es una propiedad de la lengua Es el resultado de una actividad del
locutor que pone en acción la lengua
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La competencia paralingüística:
Es la capacidad de un hablante para utilizar de manera adecuada determinados sig
nos no lingüísticos que
le permiten expresar una actitud en relación con su interlocutor y con lo que dice: y
a sea para declarar, interrogar, intimidar, rogar, ordenar, etc.
En las comunicaciones orales, esta competencia se manifiesta en el empleo
de los signos entonacionales:
tono de la voz, cadencia o ritmo y énfasis en la pronunciación.
En las comunicaciones escritas, se manifiesta por medio del empleo de los
signos de puntuación, de las
sangrías, de los nomencladores, de la distribución general del espacio, ti
pos de letras, etc. Estos
recursos nos permiten identificar la división de un texto escrito en capí
tulos, párrafos, temas y subtemas.
La competencia quinésica: 4
Se manifiesta en la capacidad consciente o inconsciente para comunicar info
rmación mediante signos
estuales, como señas, mímica, expresiones faciales, variados movimientos cor
porales, etc. Estos signos
pueden ser expresiones propias o aprendidas, originales o convencionales.
66
La competencia proxémica:
Esta competencia consiste en la capacidad que tenemos los hablantes para
manejar el espacio y las
distancias interpersonales en los actos comunicativos. Las distancias entr
e los interlocutores, la
posibilidad de tocarse, el estar separados o en contacto, tienen significados
que varían de una cultura a
otra. Los códigos proxémicos se establecen, entonces,
según la cultura, las relaciones sociales, los
roles, el sexo, la edad.
La competencia proxémica es esa habilidad que tenemos para crear, tr
ansformar y apropiarnos de
espacios, tanto en la vida pública como privada.
Ella nos permite asignarle significado al respeto o a la
transgresión de esas distancias interpersonales y de los espacios codificados
por los distintos grupos sociales.
La competencia pragmática:
El punto de partida de esta competencia es la consideración de el hablar c
omo un hacer.Todos los
usuarios de una lengua tienen una capacidad que les permite asociar los en
unciados con los contextos en
que dichos enunciados son apropiados. El contexto no es, desde luego, sólo
el escenario físico en el que
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se realiza el acto comunicativo, sino también esos conocimientos que se asu
men como compartidos entre
los participantes. Un acto comunicativo no es algo estático ni un simple proc
eso lineal; por el contrario,
un acto comunicativo es un proceso cooperativo de interpretación de intencio
nes, en el cual un hablante
intenta hacer algo, el interlocutor interpreta esa intención, y con base en esa
interpretación elabora su respuesta, ya sea lingüística o no.
4 Al igual que quinesiología, cinemática, cinematógrafo, cinema, esta palabra se ge
nera de una raíz griega que significa movimiento.
Recordemos que la pragmática es la disciplina que se ocupa de estudiar el
uso que los hablantes hacen
del lenguaje en un contexto lingüístico o extralingüístico.
De esta manera, podemos afirmar que la
pragmática parte del supuesto de que la comunicación es la función primaria del
lenguaje.
Por eso, teniendo presente lo anterior, vamos a definir la competencia pragmática c
omo la habilidad para
hacer un uso estratégico del lenguaje en un medio social determinado,
según la intención y la situación
comunicativa; es saber ejecutar acciones sociales mediante el empleo adecua
68
do de signos lingüísticos, o
de signos de otros códigos no lingüísticos, utilizados de acuerdo con unas i
ntenciones y con unos fines deseados.
Según pretenda con su acto comunicativo informar, ordenar, interrogar, impu
gnar, sugerir, rogar, etc.,
el sujeto hablante necesita plantearse con precisión varias preguntas, si aspir
a a alcanzar con éxito sus
propósitos:
1. Cuál es el motivo, la finalidad y el contenido de su acción comunicativa.
2. A quién va dirigida.
3. Cuándo es el momento adecuado para emprenderla.
4. Dónde debe efectuarla.
La competencia estilística:
Es el complemento indispensable de la competencia pragmática, puesto que l
a competencia estilística se
manifiesta en esa capacidad para saber cómo decir algo, cuál es la manera
más eficaz de conseguir la
finalidad propuesta.
¿Cómo hemos de decirlo para obtener lo que queremos? sería la pre
gunta clave para esta competencia.
Las actitudes estilísticas del hablante hacia su interlocutor —
como la cortesía, la amabilidad, la paciencia, el enfado, la displicencia—
son determinantes en la estructuración de los enunciados.
69
Observemos, por ejemplo, las diferencias que existen en los dos enunciados siguie
ntes, utilizados ambos para conseguir que alguien cierre la puerta:
1. ¡Cierre la puerta, carajo!
2. Por favor, ¿sería tan amable de cerrar la puerta?
Además del principio de cooperación,5 están en estrecha relación con la co
mpetencia estilística las
siguientes cuatro máximas:
1. Sé claro: evita la oscuridad en la expresión.
2. Evita la ambigüedad.
3. Sé breve.
4. Sé ordenado.
Es evidente que el cómo se dice algo puede provocar aceptación o r
echazo en el interlocutor y enriquecer o empobrecer la significación.
5 En 1975, H. P. Grice lo planteó como principio regulador de todo acto comunicat
ivo: “Haz que tu contribución a la
conversación sea la adecuada, en el momento en que se produce, pa
ra la finalidad aceptada del intercambio
conversacional en el que estás participando”.
La competencia textual:
“Es la capacidad para articular e interpretar signos organizados en un todo
coherente llamado texto. La competencia textual implica las competencias
70
consideradas anteriormente y, además, las competencias cognitiva y semántica”
(Girón y Vallejo, 1992: 20).
La noción de texto ha sido objeto de arduas disquisiciones para su definición. En
nuestro caso, podemos aceptar que un texto, “debe ser resultado de la actividad
lingüística del hombre, ha de tener incuestionablemente una específica intención
comunicativa y, por último, ha de explicitarse con suficiencia el contexto en el cual
se produce” (Bernal Leongómez, 1986: 17). Sin embargo, vamos a definirlo de un
modo más simple como cualquier comunicación elaborada con base en un
determinado sistema de signos y dotada de un propósito comunicativo específico.
La competencia cognitiva:
La enciclopedia cultural de cada hablante-oyente real le permite reconocer e
interpretar los contenidos científicos, socioculturales o ideológicos de un texto. La
capacidad para llevar a cabo esa labor descodificadora es precisamente la
competencia cognitiva. Ella hace posible que podamos comprender e interpretar
textos de carácter científico, técnico, literario, político, periodístico, comercial, etc.,
pues para adelantar ese proceso debemos tener un conocimiento de las maneras
específicas como dichos textos se estructuran y se formulan.
La competencia semántica:
Cuando le asignamos el significado adecuado a cualquier signo o establecemos su
relación con un referente determinado, estamos haciendo una demostración de
nuestra competencia semántica. De igual manera, cuando comprendemos el
sentido de una frase o de una oración, o cuando realizamos la interpretación global
71
de un texto. Veamos algunos ejemplos con textos escritos: Si reconocemos la
diferencia que existe entre accesible y asequible (e incluso si no recurrimos al
“híbrido” asequible, tan frecuente en estos tiempos), podemos construir oraciones
como: La directora del proyecto es una persona muy accesible.
En realidad, el contenido de esa lectura no me pareció accesible. Ese apartamento
te resultaría asequible si lograras reducir la cuota resultaría asequible si lograras
reducir la cuota de pago. Dada su estatura, para él son asequibles todos los
bombillos.
O también, si después de leer los siguientes versos de Alejandro González,
establecemos la correspondiente relación con el referente:
“Señora del aire graciosa, ágil, de alas transparentes llevando el sol a cuestas de la
rama al estanque, incansable”. En el primer ejemplo, la competencia semántica se
manifiesta en la capacidad para asignar significados a las palabras; y en el
segundo, para asignar referentes (como los textos literarios se caracterizan por su
pluralidad semántica y simbólica, sus referentes son menos precisos y
consolidados que los de los textos científicos). Ilustremos esta diferencia
comparando los versos anteriores con el siguiente enunciado:
“La figura consta de dos círculos concéntricos y de dos cuadrados. Cada cuadrado
está inscrito en uno de los círculos”. — intenta dibujar esta figura y asignarle el
referente a los versos —.Para terminar, podemos observar cómo el concepto de
competencia textual concuerda bastante con el de competencia comunicativa, ya
que el proceso de codificar o descodificar textos implica el concurso de variadas
competencias: lingüística, paralingüística, pragmática, etc.
72
Unidad 3 What do I need to teach English?
Teaching techniques, textbook and technology
Celce-Murcia, M. (1988). Techniques and resources in teaching grammar.
[Fragmento] Techniques and resources integrated. (Pp. 133-175). New
York: Oxford University Pres.
73
GAMES
While most ESL teachers agree that games are excellent learning activities for
children, some believe that adult students are not receptive because they require
something more than "fun and games" from their ESL classes. From our
experience, well-planned games can teach and reinforce grammar points very
successfully if the activities are geared to student´s proficiency, age, and
experience and are not presented condescendingly.
"The Treasure Hunt" is the first game we suggest because it can be used
successfully even with high-beginning or low-intermediate students. For this
game——which elicits communicative practice of imperatives and potentially all
types of questions (yes/no, wh-, alternative)—the teacher first divides the class into
groups of three. (In a large class students could form groups of four or five.) Each
group is given a small picture of a pot of gold—or some other appropriate
"treasure"—with the group’s number written on it in large script. The group is also
given a thumb tack or a strip of masking tape and asked to select one of its
members for a very important task. _
The group members who have been selected for the important task step outside the
room with the teacher and are told to hide the pot of gold in some secluded but
accessible location at least fifty paces away from the classroom door. At this stage
they should be instructed only to find a very good hiding place for the treasure as
quickly as possible and return to the classroom.
Once all class members in charge of hiding the treasure have returned, they are
told to rejoin their groups but to say nothing until further instructed. They are then
told to give careful oral instructions to the other group members as to exactly where
74
they must go to find their group’s treasure. These instructions should be verbal only.
No maps, gestures, or written notes are allowed. The other group members may
asks as many questions as they wish. The one who hides the treasure must tell the
others how to get from the classroom to the hiding place, not simply where it is.
The teacher should point out that English speakers typically use imperatives and a
variety of question types to give instructions and gather information in a situation.
Appropriate models should be provided:
S1: Go out the door and walk down the hallway.
S2: Should we turn left or right when we leave?
S1: Left, but then go right at the first corridor.
S3: How far down the corridor should we go?
When the group members have received their instructions, they go out of the room
and attempt to recover their treasure. If they become confused, they can return to
the classroom for clarification or repetition. The first pair to find its assigned treasure
and return to the classroom wins. The teacher can time all the groups and record
how long it takes for each group to return. After a specified amount of time (about
ten to fifteen minutes), all participants must return to the room, even if they haven’t
found their treasure. Time permitting, those groups that do not find their gold can
locate the treasure and figure out why they did not find it. They should be able to
explain what went wrong in their communications.
The title of our second game is "The Way Home," a board game for structured
practice and reinforcement of prepositions of direction and the future with going 20.
Each group of four students needs a game board (reproduced on a piece of
75
posterboard), a set of answer cards to consult as necessary, one coin to toss, and
four identical bottle caps, each marked with a different number.
The board consists of the 18 paths that each player follows to get from school to
home with ten locations or obstacles along the way.
The four players draw the upside-down bottle caps (numbers on the top side) to see
who will go first, second, etc. They all start at school. Each player in turn tosses the
coin to determine his path (H for heads or T for tails). To continue, he must then
announce the move he will make in the future using going to and the correct
preposition. If the toss sends him back to an earlier obstacle, he must move back
whether he can produce the correct utterance or not. For example, a player begins
at school and tosses heads. He must then say, "I’m going to go/walk/run to the
bridge" before he can carry out this forward movement with his bottle cap. If he
cannot orally express the move, or if he makes a language error his partners can
detect, he loses a turn but may consult the set of eighteen answer cards that have
the path numbers on one side and some of the most frequent responses on the
other to see what is required so his next attempt can be success. lf after going over
or under the bridge the same player next tosses heads, he must follow the arrow
and return to the river-bank Whether he can say what he is going to do or not. If he
cannot say it, he should consult the answer card, produce the correct utterance,
and then move his bottle cap back. Forward movement is the reward For producing
a correct utterance; losing a turn is the penalty for not doing so, except in the case
of backward movement, which is mandatory.
(This is so a clever student does not figure out that purposely producing an
incorrect response will prevent his having to move backwards.) The numbered
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sides of the cards should always be face up. The answer cards or the teacher nay
also be consulted if one player wishes to challenge what another player has said. lf
a challenge is successful (i.e., the player trying to more gives the wrong information
or makes an error), the player trying 10 move loses a turn and the challenger has
an extra toss of the coin on his next turn. lf the challenge is unsuccessful (i.e., the
player trying to move makes an acceptable response), the player makes normal
progress and the challenger loses a turn. There are sometimes disputes during
such challenges that the teacher has to mediate and resolve.
The first player in each group to "get home" wins the game. If the class is at a
beginning level, the diagrams and verbal descriptions on the answer cards should
be practiced and reviewed carefully before the groups start to pl1y the game. lf the
class is intermediate or advanced, it might be better to let them discover and learn a
few unfamiliar items from the cards as they play.
The third and last game we will suggest is "Bid and Swap," a card game designed
to provide communicative practice of the use of mass and count nouns, where the
mass noun represents the class noun and the corresponding count nouns represent
specific members of the class. This game encourages practice of some (mass
noun), a piece of (mass noun) , as well as requests with will that are typical of
trading or bartering contexts.
Each group of three to five players is given a set of twenty-five l cards. Five of these
pictures should represent class nouns such as furnitures, clothing, fruit, luggage,
and fish. The remaining twenty pictures should represent four specific members of
each of these five classes (eg., a chair, a table, a desk, and a sofa—for furniture).
77
As soon as everyone ii familiar with the vocabulary and aware ( of which cards
represent class nouns and which specific nouns (this can be practiced in the
groups), all the picture cards are shuffled and placed face down on the group’s
table or desk.
There are two parts to this game. First, each member of the group (the turn
sequence may be established by a toss of the dice) asks for a class of pictures by
saying, "I need/want some (mass noun) ." After each bid, the top card of the stack is
turned face up. If the bidder’s choice appears as the card for the class noun (e. g.,
fruit) or the card for a member of the class (e.g., banana), the bidder keeps that
card, hides it from the others, and then gets an extra turn. If the bidder’s choice
does not appear, the card is placed face down at the bottom of the stack. This
continues until all the cards are in the possession of the players. (The stack of cards
will probably have to be replayed several times before this happens.) Second, once
all the picture cards have been acquired, the players take turns trying to make
trades in order to complete one set of five pictures as quickly as possible. (Again, a
roll of the dice can be used to determine this sequence.) The barter offered can be
a general item for a general item, a general item for a specific item, a specific item
for a general item, or a specific item for a specific item. For example:
S1: Ali, will you trade a piece of furniture for a piece of fruit a banana)?
Ali responds "yes" or "no" and makes his own bid:
S2: Marco, will you trade a shark for a piece of clothing (a dress)?
The player being addressed by the trader can say either "yes" and make the trade
or "no." The latter, of course, is ambiguous and can mean either "I don’t have it" or
"I don’t want to trade." In either case, the next player can then propose a trade,
78
continuing in this manner until there is a winner. The winner is the first player to
complete a set of five cards—the class noun plus all four member nouns (e. g.,
furniture/chair, table, desk, sofa). A trade may result in a tie with two winners.
PROBLEM-SOLVING ACTIVITIES
Problem—solving activities rank high in most accounts of communicative language
teaching. Brumfit (1984), for example, reports on some promising experimental
work in South Indian schools where the Procedural syllabus has been
implemented. This is an approach to second- language teaching developed by
Prabhu based almost exclusively on the use of highly challenging problem-solving
activities. Similarly, Widdowson(1986) has encouraged extensive use of problems.
such as the following for communicative language teaching:
There was a farmer who had to get himself, his dog, his chicken, and a bag of grain
across the river. Unfortunately, his boat was so small [that] the farmer could carry
only the dog, the chicken, or the grain during one crossing. Also, he could not leave
the dog with the chicken because he would eat her, and he could not leave the
chicken with the grain because she would eat it. What did the farmer do to get
himself and everything else across the river safely?
Although such problems provide an excellent opportunity for language practice, it is
hard to get students to focus systematically on me or two structures while solving
them. The problem above could elicit conditional sentences, or sequential logical
connectors, or causal logical connectors, or a host of other structures. Thus, as a
resource for teaching grammar, the problem is too diffuse unless the teacher finds a
way to provide a structural focus. Communicative practice involving problem-solving
79
activities should naturally elicit and focus on a smaller range of structures, and it is
this type of narrowly focused problem-solving activity that we will concentrate on in
this chapter.
The first activity is a fairly simple one called "Where Were You Born?" In classes in
which students come from a wide variety of places, this exercise can provide
communicative practice of this common Passive-voice question and corresponding
answers, which occur in the Past tense in English rather than the present tense, as
is the case in many other languages.
At the end of one class session, the teacher distributes three- by-five index cards
and asks each student to write down his name and the name of the town or nearest
large city where he was born. During the next class session, students form groups
of four or five, and each group receives one sheet that contains a list of the names
of all class members and another that contains a list of all the places where the
Class members were born. Each group should select a secretary to keep track of
the information.
The teacher should allow about ten minutes for the groups to record the birthplace
next to the name of every student on the list. Students should guess if they are not
sure. Before the exercise, the teacher should provide a model group conversation
such as the following:
S1: I was born in Lima
S2: I’ll put that down. Where were you born?
S3: I was born near Havana. Where was Li born? Shanghai or
Taipei?
S4: I don’t know. I know José was born in Monterrey.
80
S5: Li was born in Taipei.
The group with the largest number of correct matches wins. If most students were
born in the same town, the teacher can use their dates of birth instead of the places
of birth. Both pieces of information require use of the past tense of to be born.
our second suggestion for a problem-solving activity is called "Lost on a Desert
Island." It involves a problem that students should I be assigned individually for
homework so they can select choices for the seven most important items in
preparation for resolving the following problem in class:
You are one of four surviving crew members of a small ship that sank off the coast
of a large desert island. You and your companions must now walk some 100 miles
to the other side of the island where other ships are much more likely to pass. You
will then be able to signal one of these ships to pick you up. Much of the equipment
on board sank with your ship. Because survival depends on your reaching the other
side of the island where you can signal passing ships, you must choose the seven
most critical items for the 100-mile trip, since you are all weak and cannot carry
everything.
Listed below are the fourteen items that the four of you were able to rescue. Your
task is to select the seven most important onus with the goal of eventual rescue.
You must defend each choice with a good reason.
Items
a box of matches 4 gallons of water
50 feet of nylon rope a first—aid kit
a portable stove two signal flares
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a flashlight with batteries two .45 caliber pistols
a magnetic compass a case of powdered milk
a life raft a solar-powered FM
a world map receiver transmitter
some of food concentrate
Answer any questions regarding vocabulary, grammar, or the task in general when
the problem is first presented. The grammatical objectives for this lesson are:
1 communicative practice of article usage with reference to the count and mass
nouns on the list of objects
2. the use of the comparative and/or superlative degree(s) in deciding which items
are among the seven most important ones
There will also be some use of logical connectors of reason or purpose, such as
because(in order to), when students try to convince each other in case of conflicting
priorities. Before the class divides into groups to discuss the problem, the teacher
should model one possible argument in order to focus practice appropriately. For
example: "The life raft is the least important item since they have to walk across the
island, not travel by water." The teacher could also ask students to offer a few more
arguments before the group work begins:
"The water is more important than the milk because . . ."
"We’ll need the matches to light the flares."
Each group is given fifteen minutes to arrive at a consensus. Individual students will
probably have made slightly different selections on their own, so it will be up to them
to debate and decide among themselves which seven items are, in fact, the most
important ones.
82
When the fifteen minutes have elapsed, each group should write its list of the seven
most important items on the board so results can be compared across groups. Any
discrepancies should be noted and, if possible, resolved by the class as a whole.
Our third and final problem, "Decisions, Decisions," is adapted from Rosensvveig
(1974), who suggests a personal student-centered dilemma in the values
clarification genre. We recommend a format such as the following, which has two
phases. On the first day, the teacher presents the problem below to the students,
along with a list of possible responses:
A good friend of yours is a foreign student in the United States and is midway
through his Ph.D. in physics. He has only two more years remaining on his
scholarship from the Ford Foundation. Things were progressing smoothly, but now
he has received a letter from home saying his mother is seriously ill. His family
wants him to return home until his mother recovers, an indefinite period of time.
However, if he decides to go home, he will leave behind a girlfriend he is thinking of
marrying. It is possible that should he go home, he won’t see her again.
Professionally, he knows his country needs physicists for its development, so he
feels pressured to complete his studies. Being a physicist is also an important
career goal for him. If he goes home, he risks losing his scholarship, since it is not
given to students who interrupt their education. Your friend has just written you a
long letter explaining his problem in great detail. What would you advise him to do?
Listed below are nine possible suggestions you can make to your friend. Place the
number 1 by the best suggestion, 2 by the second best suggestion, and so on. Do
this first at home tonight, and then in your groups during the next class, you will
have twenty minutes to reach a consensus on your rankings.
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During phase two (the next day) before students compare their rankings, the
teacher can point out that they should use expressions such as I think (that). . ., I
suppose (that). . ., [believe (that). . ., and other verbs of cognition that take that
clauses. They also might use future conditionals to explore the various options the
student has (e.g., If he does that, . . . will happen). They definitely will use modals
and auxiliaries of advice and persuasion such as should, ought to, and had better
(e.g., You had better go home. I f you don’t, you may never see your mother again)
and logical connectors such as because and since (e.g., I think you should stay
here and finish your studies because. . .) when they defend the reasons for their
rankings. There is, of course, no absolutely correct ranking for the choices provided
in this activity. Preferences are usually a matter of personal or cultural bias.1
It has been our experience that students will use the structure I they have been
studying, particularly if the teacher requests that they do so. Therefore, this exercise
could be used for communicative practice of any of the above-mentioned structures,
but students must be told the precise objective(s) of the exercise. `
COMMENTARY
Most games and some problem-solving activities contain an element of competition.
This is especially true if individual students, as opposed to teams or groups, are
participating in an activity. Teachers may want to consider adapting such activities
to make them non-competitive so there will be no "winners" or "losers." This is
critical if the teacher senses that weaker students could get discouraged by always
losing. However, the students are by nature highly competitive individuals, then
such activities may be most effective if they are made as competitive as possible.
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The teacher will have to judge what is most appropriate for any given class. The
personalities and preferences of students, not the personal philosophy of the
teacher, should determine whether or not a competitive atmosphere is appropriate
during game; and problem—solving activities.
Once the task is understood and students—in pairs or groups, or as individuals—
are ready to proceed, the teacher must carefully but unobtrusively monitor the class
to check on comprehension and to see that the task is progressing. Any problems,
questions, or conflicts that arise must be resolved while students are carrying out
the task. To promote communication and spontaneity during the game or problem,
the teacher should correct as little as possible, intervening only when there is a
factual misunderstanding or when communication breaks down.
The teacher should note errors while the activity is in progress and then discuss the
errors either with individuals or with the whole class after the activity is over. When
several students are making the same error, we suggest that the teacher present a
mini grammar lesson as soon after the activity as possible.
THE MINIGRAMMAR LESSON
An essential skill for any ESL professional is the ability to detect common
systematic errors in the speech of students. Once detected, these errors should be
remedied promptly if they are frequent enough during communicative practice to be
distracting. This kind of correction can be done with a mini grammar lesson.
For example, imagine an intermediate-level ESL class doing the preceding
"Decisions, Decisions" problem. Several students are saying sentences such as
these, which the teacher notes for subsequent feedback and correction:
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"You should to finish your studies because . . ."
"You must to go home because . . ."
"You should to write your father before you decide because . . ."
The error in these sentences is the use of the infinitive marker to after true
modals—perhaps based on analogy with the maverick modal ought to, or with
periphrastic forms of modals (e.g., have to, be able to, etc.),or with regular verbs
that take infinitive complements (e. g., try to, want to, etc.),The teacher can take a
few minutes the next day to put these sentences on the board, explaining that they
are the students’ own sentences and asking the class what the problem is. Usually
someone knows. If not, the teacher can rewrite, next to the sentences with the
errors, the first four or five words of each sentence exactly as she would say them
(i.e., without error). Rather than telling the class outright what the problem is, she
can ask students to find the difference between their sentences and her sentences.
Once the errors have been detected and the rules elicited, the teacher can ask the
class to generate two lists of verbs: (1) modals and modal—like forms that do not
take to and (2) periphrastic modals and true verbs that require to. For example:
(1) (2)
must have to
should ought to
will be going to
could try to
had better plan to
Students can work in pairs and write short dialogs for a situation in which two
college roommates are taking the same world history class. They are studying for
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the first exam and are trying to figure out what they should study and what the
professor is going to ask on the test.
Task: What do the roommates say to each other?
Write a short dialog. Use at least two verbs from each list.
S1: l’m sure he will ask about the Crusades.
S2: So what do we have to study?
S1: We should outline what happened from 1095 to 1270.
S2: Well, let’s try to list the main events for a start.
The teacher can then check all the dialogs as they are being written and perhaps
ask a few groups to read theirs aloud. The class should listen as the dialogs are
read and correct them afterward if necessary. To summarize, a mini grammar
lesson consists of the following steps:
1. teacher presents relevant data (i.e., errors) to students
2. teacher, without lecturing, gets students to detect and correct the error(s)
3. teacher presents students with a warm—up exercise on the target structure(s) (e.
g., has them generate a paradigm, make lists, do a cloze exercise, etc.)
4. teacher provides a contextualized, and if possible, a communicative task to
practice the structure(s)
A skilled ESL teacher can, as needed, generate such a mini lesson
extemporaneously and teach it in about fifteen minutes. We feel that regular, well—
timed use of such short lessons in response to systematic errors being made in
class is one of the most effective feedback and correction strategies a teacher can
provide her ESL students.
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ACTlVITIES
Discussion Questions
1. Could an entire course syllabus be organized around games and/or problem-
solving activities? Explain why this would or would not be possible and/or desirable.
2. Is it important to put a time limit (and to enforce it) on all games and problems
done in an ESL class? Why or why not?
3. Why is it desirable to allow some time for a postgame or post problem discussion
with the whole class whenever such activities are done in an ESL class?
4. Consider all the games and puzzles you have at home. Could any be adapted for
use in an ESL class to teach grammar?
Suggested Activities
1. Adapt or develop a game that could be used to teach a structure not covered in
this chapter. Try out the game with a small group of non-native English speakers
and describe how it worked. How would you change or improve it?
2. If possible, look at one of the many books on using games to teach English to
ESL/EFL students (e.g., Lee 1979, McCallum 1980, Rinvolucri 1985, Maley 1981,
Wright, et al. 1984). Find a game with a grammar objective that you feel you could
use with an EFL/ESL class. Share the game with others in your group.
3. Adapt the strategy for feedback and correction recommended in the mini lesson
portion of this chapter to an area of grammar you know causes problems for your
students. What is the grammar area? What would you do at each step in the mini
lesson?
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TEXT-BASED EXERCISES AND ACTIVITIES
During the past ten years great advances have taken place in the teaching of
reading and composition in the ESL classroom. Work in reading theory done by
Goodman (1970), Goodman and Goodman (1971), Smith (1982), and others, as
well as work on the writing process done by Raimes (1983), Zamel (1983), and
others have shown us that process is important. In other words, the steps,
procedures, and strategies that we teach our students and encourage them to
follow while reading or writing are ultimately as important as what they are able to
read or write. In this chapter, we don’t want to diminish or ignore what has been
learned about the reading or the writing process with reference to ESL students.
Rather, it is our intent to point out that grammar can play a small but important role
in their reading comprehension (Schlesinger 1968) and a significant role in the
perceived quality of their writing (McGirt 1984).
While most grammar instruction in the ESL classroom focuses on the sentence
level, reading and writing activities engage the students at the "text" level (i.e., a
semantically coherent piece of spoken or written discourse). Thus, if we want to
teach grammar in a way that will facilitate transfer to our students’ reading and
writing, we must teach it at the text level, not just the sentence level. The activities
suggested in this chapter, all of which match grammar with discourse, are some of
the ways in which this can be accomplished. The primary technique is the
comprehension and generation or manipulation of texts, and we start with the texts
themselves as resources for creating a variety of activities.
Although beginning students can do some of the activities we describe below, most
of the exercises are more appropriate for intermediate and advanced ESL students
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who have the necessary control of basic sentence-level grammar to carry out a
variety of reading and writing assignments. .
The activities we stress in this chapter are especially relevant in the ESL
composition classroom since in order for ESL students to use English grammar
effectively and accurately in their writing, they need to develop an awareness of
English structure that goes beyond sentence-level grammar drills.
TEXT REPLICATION
The most obvious and traditional, but nonetheless useful, text-based grammar
exercises are dictation and dicto-comp. Both of these techniques can be presented
visually or aurally, although the latter type of presentation is much more common,
and both can require recall of a structure and integration of this structure into a
meaningful text. Consider a passage such as the following:
Many different kinds of students attend Northwestern University. There are some
who study, some who go to parties, some who play sports, and many who do all or
most of these activities. There are students whose families pay their tuition and
others who have been awarded scholarships. There are also a few who work and
go to college at the same time. There are students who live on campus or who rent
a room or apartment off campus. There are also some whose families live in the
area, and many of them commute.
The teacher can use the passage as a dictation for structure practice of relative
clauses with the relative pronouns who and whose. Secondary points might be
existential there and use of quantifiers such as some or many, which are words that
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often occur with relative clauses in a paragraph such as this one, which deals with
classification.
If used orally, the teacher will read the passage once at normal speed, then a
second time by reading one phrase at a time with pauses to allow for writing, and a
third time by reading at normal speed but with pauses after each clause to allow for
correction. If used visually, the passage is presented on the overhead projector and
the class is instructed to read it all the way through. The passage is then visually
presented phrase by phrase, but each phrase is removed from view as the class
writes it down. Finally, the passage is shown once again in its entirety (students
may only read, not write), after which students should be given a few minutes to
make their final corrections. Teachers who have used both visual and aural
dictation find that learners tend s to make the same kinds of mistakes whether they
listen and write or look and write.
There are a number of constructive ways in which dictations can be corrected.
Some of the most elaborate suggestions are those given by Sawyer and Silver
(1961), who recommend that each dictation be presented at three separate class
meetings. First the dictation is given and the errors are underlined but not corrected;
then students have their first effort with errors underlined in front of them as they
take the dictation for the second time. Immediately after their second attempt is
collected, a copy of the dictation is given to them to read. On the third
administration, the teacher can reasonably expect students’ work to be perfect,
including spelling and mechanics.
The dicto—comp was first discussed in print by Wishon and Burks (1968). If the
teacher presents the dicto-comp aurally (the usual way), the text is read about three
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times while the class listens. After each reading, the class may ask questions about
words or phrases that confuse them, and they can discuss the gist of the passage,
but they should not write anything other than key words or troublesome
expressions. After the final reading, students try to reproduce the original as
perfectly as possible. When they cannot remember the exact wording, they should
use their best approximation.
The same thing can also be done visually. The teacher puts the passage on an
overhead transparency and lets the class read it once. The teacher then removes
the passage and lets students ask questions. After a second look at the passage,
students are encouraged to discuss it after it has been removed. Following the third
reading, the passage is removed and students try to reproduce it. Consider the
following text:
When Ted was young he used to go out to the airport quite often to Watch the
planes taking of and landing. He saw all kinds of people coming and going, He
listened to the speaker announcing the flight numbers and destinations of the
departing planes. Whenever Ted heard her announce a flight leaving; for Rome or
Athens, he imagined himself boarding the plane.
This can be used to practice or reinforce sensory perception verbs (e. g.,watch,
see, and listen) and the -ing complement pattern, which is one of two patterns
occurring after verbs of sensory perception.
TEXT COMPLETION
There are two different kinds of text completion exercises the cloze passage and
the gapped text. In a cloze passage, the blank spaces represent single words that
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have been deleted, in a gapped text, me or more words are needed to fill each
blank.
A cloze passage can be formed either by a random deletion process (i.e. , every nth
word deleted) or by a rational deletion process (i.e., an specific items such as
articles or prepositions deleted). She latter is much better suited for focusing on
specific points of grammar. Such cloze exercises have long been used to teach
grammar in context. In the easiest type of cloze exercise, students simply have to
choose between two items [e.g., a/an or the, as in example (a) below] or two forms
[e.g., (gerund versus infinitive, as in example (b)].
There was once (1) crow who stole (2) wedge of cheese from (3) kitchen
window. She flew off with (4) cheese to (5) iearby tree. (6) fox saw what
(7) crow had done, and he walked over to (8) tree.
"Oh, Mistress Crow, you have such lovely back feathers, such slender feet,
such (9) beautiful yellow beak, and such fine black eyes! You must have (10)
beautiful voice. Would you please sing for me?" (11) crow felt very proud. She
opened her beak and sang CAW-CAW-CAW. Of course (12) , cheese
dropped down, (13) fox snatched it up and ate every bite.
b . Don’t expect (1) a Van Gogh painting in the same way you might enjoy a
Renoir. Van Gogh will force you (2) people, objects, and landscapes in a
different way, a different light. He risked (3) different and many who knew him
thought he was insane. When he decided (4) , he did so to the exclusion of
virtually everything else, this permitted him (5) new dimensions in color, light, and
texture. He particularly enjoyed (6) in the south of France because of the sunlight
and colors he experienced there.
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Note that (b) is not a "true" cloze exercise, since the choice of an infinitive requires
two words (i.e., to + verb). The gerund, however, requires only one word, so use of
this verbal is consistent with the definition of a true cloze exercise.
Cloze exercises are more difficult if a large set of choices is involved, such as in the
following passage, where for each blank students must fill in the best preposition of
time or place:
Thomas Mann, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature (1) 1929, was born (2)
Luebeck, Germany, (3) june 6, 1887. After finishing his studies (4) Luebeck, he
went (5) Munich, where his family had moved several years earlier. With the
exception of the time he spent (6) Italy (7) 1896 (8) 1898, Mann remained (9)
Munich (10) 1933, at which time he exiled himself (11) Switzerland because of
his political differences with the Nazi regime. Mann stayed (12) Switzerland (13)
1938. (14) that he came (15) the United States and taught (16) Princeton
University (1 7) two years. (18) April, 1941, Mann took his family (19) California,
and they settled (20) Pacific Palisades, a suburb of Los Angeles, (21) 740 Amalfi
Drive, a house that proved too small for the Manns and their six children. (22)
February, 1942, they moved (23) a large house (24) 1550 San Remo Drive, also
(25) the Palisades. Here Mann lived (26) 1942 (2 7) 1952, when he returned
(28) Switzerland, having become disenchanted with McCarthyism (29) the United
States. Mann died (30) August l2, 1955 (31) Kilchberg, a small town (32)
Zurich. Such cloze exercises focus a learner’s attention on many local aspects of
grammar without ignoring the larger discourse; some typical teaching points for
these exercises have been illustrated above. Cloze exercises work best if students
try to do them individually first and then compare their responses with a partner or
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with others in a small group. Serious differences should be reconciled with
mediation from the teacher. It is important that each blank be numbered so
discussion and correction can proceed without confusion. Gapped text completion
exercises typically are more difficult than cloze exercises, since students are
required to supply more language. Again, enough text must be given to establish
the context. Structurally related chunks of text can then be omitted to encourage
practice of multiword structures in context.
A gap exercise, like a cloze exercise, usually serves as focused practice or
reinforcement rather than initial presentation. At the lower proficiency levels, a good
gap exercise might be one that elicits yes/no questions in the form of a dialog.
For example:
A: Hi, my name is José.
B: Glad to meet you. I’m Ivan.
A: (1)?
B: No, I study at USC.
A: (2)?
B: No, I study engineering.
A: (3)?
B: No, electrical engineering.
A: I haven’t been doing too well. Why don’t you ask a few questions?
Even if the teacher says nothing to the class, it is apparent that yes/no questions
are being elicited. Students can do gap exercises as written reinforcement of the
question forms they have been practicing. The teacher should get the class to
review all the answers since there are usually several correct responses possible.
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This is another difference between cloze exercises, where frequently only one
response is correct, and gap exercises. A more sophisticated gapped text might
involve elicitation of the passive voice. For example:
The local newspaper did a survey of which 1985 films the public liked best. The
results were not surprising. Prizzi´s Honor (1) by 25 percent of those
surveyed, while Out of/1 frica (2) by 17 percent. The Color Purple (3) by
15 percent and The Trip to Bountiful and Witness (4) 12 percent each. No other
film received more than 5 percent of the first-place votes.
Since gap exercises do not specify the number of words missing, they can be used
to reinforce grammatical points that call for one or more words, such as tense. The
following exercise (e. g., "Fill in each blank with the appropriate form ofthe verb
indicated") is an example of a gapped text where one, two, or three words may be
required in any given blank, depending on the context: The audience in Dodger
Stadium (1) for almost 30 minutes (wait) when Michael ]ackson finally (2)
onstage. Within seconds (appear) his band (3) some music and his brothers
(Ney) (4) him. The crowd (5) wildly. The much—awaited join) (cheer)
"Victory Tour" (6) (begin) Even after Michael (7) and (8) for some (sing)
(dance) time, the crowd (9) completely.(nor scale Jovan) Michael and his family (1
0) for two hours while colorful (perform) lazer light displays (11) and thousands of
girls (12) . it (13) a technically brilliant spectacle. Afterwards, most people who
(14) there (15) it (16) the ]ackson family’s best performance ever.
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TEXT MANIPULATION AND IMITATION
Text manipulation exercises were popular during the audio-lingual heyday, when
they were called "controlled composition." In spite of this name, they have little to do
with teaching composition; rather, they are grammar exercises that provide students
with practice in making particular structure—discourse matches. Dykstra, et al.
(1966)and paulston(l972) used exercises such as the following, in which Students
are instructed to rewrite a past—tense narrative in the present tense) to elicit
contextualized practice of the third person singular present inflection (and,
coincidentally, adverbial expressions of frequency):
Sarah took her little sister Nancy to the park once a week. Nancy always went to
the swings first. She wanted Sarah to push her, but Sarah soon grew tired of that.
Sarah usually guided Nancy Over to the slide, where Nancy climbed up and slid
down several times while Sarah watched. Sometimes Nancy convinced Sarah to go
on the see-saw with her for a while, but that never lasted very long. Nancy loved the
park, and in her own way, Sarah did tea it was much better than being cooped up
in their small apartment.
From a discourse perspective, this sort of text manipulation is acceptable if students
understand that the original text is a past habitual narrative and that by putting it into
the present tense they are producing a present habitual narrative.
In another example of this type of exercise, students rewrite a passage about
someone named Lee. In the original, Lee is a girl. The task is then to rewrite the
passage assuming that Lee is actually a boy. This involves changing all pronoun
forms from she and her to he, him, and his, thus providing practice in distinguishing
the gender of the various pronoun cases. This is particularly helpful at lower levels,
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especially with students whose native languages do not make a gender distinction
for third person singular pronouns.
A more sophisticated text manipulation and imitation exercise occurs when the
teacher provides students with a model passage drawn from literature, such as the
following: After all these years I can picture that old time to myself now, just as it
was then: the white town drowsing in the sunshine of a summer’s morning, the
streets empty or pretty nearly so; one or two clerks sitting in front of the Water
Street stores, with their splint-bottomed chairs tilted back against the walls, chins on
breasts, hats slouched over their faces, asleep ....
Mark Twain, LM: an the Mississippi
In their imitation of such a passage students must make a slight change of topic,
such as writing about another place or another season. However, they should be
instructed to retain the style and structure of the original passage as much as
possible. The model above, for example, gives students practice in post—nominal
adjectival phrases in context—especially -ing and -ed participles. The following
passage was produced by one student who did this exercise: After all these months
in America I can still picture my home town to myself now, just as it was when I left,
the town sparkling under a blanket of white snow on a winter’s afternoon, the
streets full of Christmas shoppers. One Santa Claus sitting inside each large
department store, with his huge chair placed carefully next to the Christmas tree, a
white beard hanging from his chin, a red hat sitting on his head . . .
Another type of focused practice in structure-discourse matching that is often
productive for intermediate and advanced ESL students is the use of text-based
sentence-combining exercises, in which a scrambled sequence of simple sentences
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with a common structure or structures is presented, and the writer is asked to
reorder the sentences and combine them into a coherent and cohesive text. The
following illustration is adapted from a technique suggested in Slager (1973):
l. Now this old section is no longer a slum.
2. Many changes have been made.
3. New businesses have been started.
4. Education has not been neglected.
5. This section has been changed into an exciting place to live
and work.
6. One old building had been converted into a theater.
7. A new college has recently been opened.
8. An old section of Portland has recently been restored.
9. New elementary and secondary schools have been built.
10. Cultural activities have been encouraged.
These sentences, which focus on the present perfect passive, can be reordered
and combined into a paragraph such as the following: An old section of Portland
has recently been restored. Many changes have been made. For example, new
businesses have been started, and one old building has been converted into a
theater because cultural activities have been encouraged. Education has not been
neglected. New elementary and secondary schools have been built, and a new
college has recently been opened. Now this old section of the city is no longer a
slum; it has been changed into a new and exciting place to live and work. Our final
example of a text manipulation exercise involves using a transcribed conversation
to elicit indirect speech. To save time the teacher could find a conversation in some
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published source, such as The White House Trarzscrqirs, or record and transcribe a
conversation for class use. The conversation, which must be a self contained text,
should be about 150 words long, with several short exchanges. In the following
example provided by Anne Ediger, the speakers are Myra and Bonnie, two UCLA
students, and Cathy, their French instructor, who is a teaching assistant there in the
French Department.
M: This is the first time I’ve ever had a class in a language where I haven’t been
afraid to speak the language. Usually I would never speak. But in your class I enjoy
it.
B: Yeah. We have so much fun in this class!
M: I know. I’m just dreading next fall. I’ll probably get some horrible person, who . . .
B: A biddy, some biddy!
C: Now, we don’t have any old biddies, except one, and she teaches grad courses.
M: Oh good. Well, I’ll check ’em out and whoever I get, I’ll come talk to you. I’ll find
out how their teaching is.
C: Okay.
B: You know, I was going to come down to you earlier in the course and say, "Look,
ifwe give you a hard time, it’s not because we don’t like you. It’s just that it’s fun in
your class."
C: No. I’d rather have it that way. I hated the first four weeks because I feel very
uneasy when I just know that people don’t want to talk to each other, or to me.
B: I thought the first four weeks were really interesting, I mean I was really
fascinated by the language. First, students can go over the authentic conversation
with their instructor to be sure they understand it, and then the class can begin to
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convert the conversation (i.e., direct speech) into indirect speech, with the instructor
writing on the board or the overhead projector. It is important to emphasize at this
stage that not every single word needs to be reported, the setting and the speaker
must be identified, and the facts and ideas expressed by the speakers must be
conveyed.
The instructor should point out that the selection of a reporting verb can help reflect
the speaker’s mood. For example:
Bonnie and Myra are both students at UCLA. Cathy is their French instructor and a
graduate student in the French Department. They are having a conversation over
coffee after class. The end of the term is approaching.
Myra said that it was the first time she had ever had a language class where she
hadn’t been afraid to speak the language. Usually she never spoke, but in this class
she enjoyed speaking.
Bonnie exclaimed that they all were having a lot of fun in the class . . . At this point,
the teacher can elicit some of the differences in tense, person, and other
expressions between the original conversation and the written report. Then students
can work in pairs or small groups to complete the indirect report, asking questions
as necessary. Each pair or group should write out its version on a transparency so
the class can discuss and correct the different versions later and compare these
with the teacher’s version. Finally, all the differences noted between direct and
indirect speech should be summarized, and students can be given another dialog to
convert into indirect speech as a homework assignment. For students who need to
deal with academic topics rather than general English, a transcribed interview with a
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specialist on an important topic could be used for this activity instead of a
conversation.
TEXT ELICITATION
Because certain topics or tasks seem naturally to elicit certain structures, they
should be more systematically exploited when teachers use a text-based approach
to grammar practice. For example, if the teacher gives as a topic or title for a short
essay, "What would you do if you won a million dollars in the lottery?" then she
should specify that students use the hypothetical conditional (i.e. , the subjunctive).
This provides both communicative and focused practice, since students supply their
own ideas while the teacher specifies the structure. A student given this assignment
might produce something like this: If I won a million dollars in the lottery, first I would
buy myself a car. I have always wanted a new car but have never been able to
afford one. Second, I would go home at Christmastime to visit my parents because I
have not seen them for almost two years. Then I would discuss with them what I
should do with the rest of the money. They would give me good advice, which I
would need, because I don’t always spend my money wisely. A small, task-based
communicative project was suggested to us by Thom Hudson, who has
successfully used a survey task with his ESL classes to practice the passive. First,
his students conduct a survey using only native English speakers as their subjects.
They gather some basic background information on each person interviewed (e. g.,
sex, nationality, occupation, area of residence) and then ask a fairly innocuous
question (e.g., "What is your favorite TV program?") When they tabulate and write
up their findings, the passive voice should occur with high frequency.
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Models such as the following could be provided for the class: TV Favorites: A
Survey of 50 Americans Fifty Americans living in Minneapolis were asked to identify
their favorite TV programs during the week of May l2, 1986. "Dynasty" was
mentioned most frequently (l9 responses), then "Dallas" (9), and the third choice
was "M.A.S.H." (6). No other program was mentioned more than three times.
"M.A.S.H." was selected by men more often than women (five men, one woman),
whereas women preferred "Dallas" (eight women, one man). The votes for
"Dynasty" were more equally divided (twelve women, seven men).
GRAMMATICALITY JUDGMENTS
There are certain times during an ESL lesson when the teacher may reasonably
ask students to make grammaticality judgments, that is, the teacher can ask
whether a sentence is grammatically correct and if not, why. Chaudron (1983)
reminds us, however, that only as learners become more advanced do they
become better at this type of activity; beginners are rather weak at making
grammaticality judgments. Thus, the ESL teacher should probably emphasize
explicit error correction activities with intermediate and advanced rather than
beginning students. Chaudron also reminds us that intermediate students can best
recognize and correct their own errors, while more advanced ESL students can
effectively correct the errors of other learners in addition to correcting their own.
Also, spending too much time on error correction with beginning students can be
counterproductive, since beginners tend to correct erroneously (i.e., make correct
segments incorrect).
103
Certainly the ability to recognize and locate an error precedes the ability to make an
accurate correction. Thus, ESL teachers may elect to start raising learner
awareness of correct and incorrect structures by asking students to find and label
the correct and/or incorrect sentence(s) in a pair or set:
l. a. I enjoy to go to the movies.
b. I enjoy going to the movies.
2. a. The girl speaks Italian is over there.
b. The girl which speaks Italian is over there.
c. The girl who speaks Italian is over there.
If students have difficulty with very analytical discussions of grammaticality and
correctness, the teacher may want to begin to raise their awareness of form in this
manner:
T: Class, most of you say (a) while I say (b). What’s the difference?
a. I have seen the movie yesterday.
b. I saw the movie yesterday.
A few well—selected examples should precede some of the more demanding error
location and correction activities suggested below. This type of activity can also be
used in the presentation phase of a lesson to focus attention on a new structure, as
a short review of previous lessons at the start of a class hour, or to correct an error
after a communicative exercise. Remember, however, that only intermediate or
advanced students should be asked to make grammaticality judgments.
One example of a more complex activity is for students to judge each sentence in a
connected series as grammatical or ungrammatical.
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Grammatical ungrammatical
a. People who move to
Los Angeles come for three reasons.
b. First, city has a good climate.
c. lt is relatively warm and sunny
all year long.
d. Second, there is many jobs in
Los Angeles since business and
trade are centered there.
Alternatively, the writing-error detection exercises often used by the Educational
Testing Service and others testing language proficiency operate at a more local
level and require students to identify which one of the three or four segments in
each sentence of a text is ungrammatical:
a . People who move to Los Angeles come to area for three reasons.
a b c d
b. First, there has a good climate.
a b c
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c. It is warm and sun all year long.
a b c
d. Second, there is many jobs because business and trade are centered
there.
a b c d
Of course, once students become adept at locating errors, the next step is for them
to be able to correct the errors. One of the easiest ways to start is for the teacher to
present sentences with errors such as (1a) and (2a) and (2b) above and to elicit
corrections from students. Beyond this, the teacher can present a coherent
sequence of grammatical and ungrammatical sentences as in (3), so students must
first decide whether the sentence is correct or incorrect and if incorrect, what the
correct form should be. Likewise, a writing-error detection exercise such as the one
in (4) can be expanded, so students not only locate but also correct the error in
each sentence. Two holistic approaches to error correction that are very promising
but time-consuming are: (1) interview analysis for correction of oral production and
(2) reformulation for correction of written production. In interview analysis (Weschler
1987), the teacher-tutor records an extended conversation with the learner and
transcribes exactly what the learner has said. The transcription then becomes the
material used for error correction. The learner reads over the transcription and with
the help of the teacher-tutor, when needed, corrects the mistakes with a colored
pen and repeats the correct form aloud several times. In reformulation (Cohen
1983, 1985), the teacher-tutor takes a paragraph or essay written by the learner
106
and rewrites it in his own words (i.e., overall organization and vocabulary items may
get changed along with faulty grammar). The learner then compares his original
with the teacher-tutor’s reformulation to see, first of all, if the message has been
preserved. Then he tries to understand why certain changes have been made. The
discussion can, of course, be narrowed down to mechanics and spelling or to
grammar if either of these is the area of greatest concern (e.g., because of error
frequency or current pedagogical focus).
Since both interview analysis and reformulation are very time consuming, they are
more appropriate for private tutors rather than for classroom teachers, although
teachers can adapt these techniques by getting their students to do some of the
work. For example, a teacher can direct students to record a story about a
memorable experience they had when they were young, transcribe the story exactly
as it was told, and rewrite the story trying to avoid the errors made when the story
was told. In such an adaptation, teachers supervise the work in- stead of trying to
do it themselves. And by doing the work, students become that much more aware
of their problems.
TEXT EDITING AND GRAMMAR CORRECTION AND FEEDBACK
It is always easier to correct someone else’s written work than one’s own. Using this
generalization as a starting point, Witbeck (1976) pro- poses three peer correction
strategies that are useful when the teacher wants students to focus on correcting
specific grammatical errors during the editing process.
Witbeck suggests that paragraphs or short papers by students be used whenever
possible and that papers be selected because they illustrate frequent error types,
107
such as substitution of the present perfect for the simple past tense or overuse of
the infinitive to + verb after modals. To ensure maximum focus, the teacher may
even correct all other errors and ask students to do specific problem-solving
correction activities, such as, "Find two verbs that need an sto show present tense,"
"Find four nouns that should take the definite article," etc.
We recommend using explicit grammatical terminology with students, especially in
classes where students already know it, although example errors and corrections or
informal circumlocutions can also be used. All exercises presuppose that grammar
points focused on in the activity have already been covered. An alternative to
Witbeck’s use of student paragraphs or essays as sources of peer correction
materials is to prepare a composite essay for group correction that illustrates similar
errors from several students’ written work. This avoids embarrassment by focusing
on common problems. We have used this procedure, for example, to practice
correction of tense and modal errors in conditional sentences with good results.
In large classes in which students write a lot, the teacher cannot correct everything.
Instead, he can take an individualized approach by using a method called "the blue
sheet. " In this approach the teacher attaches a blue sheet to the paragraph or
essay, lists two obvious structural errors made by the student, and refers the
student to pages and exercises in the class grammar text pertinent to the two
errors. Students do the assigned exercises when they get their blue sheets; the
teacher then corrects them before the students rewrite their passages. We have
bund that such an item-by-item approach can yield good results over a period of
time. The same approach could be used to identify and correct specific grammatical
errors that the teacher has detected with some frequency in the students’ speech.
108
Even in smaller classes, not every error needs to be corrected on every paper. In
fact, such overkill tends to discourage students and thus impedes progress in the
long run. Best results are achieved by focusing on one or two error types at a time,
at least in the beginning. An individualized checklist encourages students to focus
when they edit and correct their own work. Its use is the next logical step in the
grammar editing process and works best if, at first, short pieces of writing are used.
When the teacher returns the first draft, grammar errors are underlined and major
areas of difficulty are listed or checked off on the attached checklist. In this way,
each student is aware of the errors he should correct as well as the location of the
errors. Students should consult with the teacher or tutor if they do not understand
what the errors are or how to correct them. Each student should keep these
checklists and all the drafts of each writing assignment together in a notebook or
folder. The teacher can then have individual conferences and, where necessary,
refer students to additional exercises for those grammar areas in which errors are
most persistent.
Students soon become adept at making such targeted corrections. As they
progress, they should be asked to correct several structures already covered in
class in passages in which the errors are only minimally indicated; for example, by
underlining. Once the class (or the student) gets very good at editing by this means,
neither the location nor the error type should be specified. Some students respond
better to a less judgmental correction procedure in which the teacher or tutor merely
specifies rewordings for sentences or phrases that contain grammatical errors on
an attached sheet. For example, consider this opening paragraph from an unedited
ESL composition:
109
College Life
As a quarter begins, students are busy to choose the right classes for themselves.
Right classes are which they can get a good grade from by the end of the quarter.
The most concern issue of a college student is how he can do well on the
examinations and f receive a good transcript.
The attached sheet gives the following suggested rewordings:
the quarter
busy choosing
The right classes are those in which a good grade by the end of the quarter
The greatest concern of a college student
a transcript with good grades
The student takes these suggestions into consideration when writing the second
draft and asks for clarification if anything is confusing. The best results are
ultimately achieved if the teacher moves gradually from very focused correction
procedures to less and less focused ones. Whichever error correction strategy is
used, it is imperative that students incorporate the corrections and become aware of
major grammatical problems. Over a period of time, these correction strategies,
combined with systematic grammar instruction, have a positive effect on the
accuracy of the writing produced by ESL students.
CONCLUSION
To ensure that students make a match between grammar and discourse we have
argued the need for text—based grammar exercises and activities in all phases of
grammar instruction: presentation, focused practice, communicative activities, and
110
feedback and correction. Since reading and writing are text-based skills, grammar
will transfer only if it is also practiced at the text level, and not simply at the
sentence level. Texts for such exercises can be found in anthologies, biographies,
newspapers, magazines, textbooks, and students’ own academic and personal
writing.
Most of the writing activities we have suggested work best if the teacher—or a
native English speaker—does them along with the class so that students can
compare what they have written with the work of a native speaker.
We end this chapter with a caveat: grammar does not equal composition.
Composition is a complex process that involves many phases for native and
noimiutive alike: prewriting, composing, revising, editing, and rewriting. As students
edit their compositions and then rewrite them, grammar correction should be done
as well. One of the biggest differences between ESL and native English students is
that ESL students produce about seven to ten times more morphological and
syntactic errors in their writing than native speakers.3 Thus, by ex- tension, ESL
students need to do roughly seven to ICH times more work on grammar editing and
correcting than native speakers.
ACTIVITIES
Discussion Questions
1. Do you agree or disagree with those who claim that grammar instruction has no
effect on the quality of an ESL student’s written work? Why?
2. Do you think the distinction the authors make between cloze and gap exercises is
worth maintaining? Why or why not?
111
3. Witbeck feels that peer correction of ESL compositions is a good first step toward
self correction. Do you agree? Why or why not?
Suggested Activities
1. Find a text in a newspaper or magazine that makes frequent use of a particular
structure. Then develop an activity that uses the text to practice the structure.
2. The "text elicitation" activities are the most communicative of all the writing
exercises we suggested. Think of a good text elicitation activity that focuses on
some structure other than the two illustrated in this chapter (i.e., hypothetical
conditional and passive voice). Share it with your colleagues.
3. Below are the last two paragraphs of the composition on "College Life," written by
the ESL student whose first paragraph was quoted above. Identify the errors and
specify techniques and resources you would use to help the student correct them.
Final exams period is the most intense and busy period for students. They have to
finish their projects or papers before the finals. And they have to sure they know the
class materials inside and out. So we see a lot of students staying up very late
during this period. Black eyes and tired faces can be seen everywhere in the
campus. As we see, the college pressures on students are so intense. For those
who graduate from colleges, we know that they have gone through four years
hardships and struggles.
112
Unidad 4 How to plan an English Class
Format of a lesson plan, guidelines for lesson planning and lesson
plan.
Plan para la secuencia de la lección. Extraido el 19 de agosto del 2012 de:
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:lMalCKzZskkJ:www.tellp
.org/docs/project_outcomes/LP%2520lesson%2520classroom%2520co
mparisons%2520-%2520Spanish.doc+&hl=es-
419&gl=mx&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESiIXsJInaDCP4EywiUatep9QIerf0nRm
pyZWJLpAh_xT8qay3gOVawLd3Yg2fDSpZ_m15bkotJeo5uk66OfuB6Cu
lPnK1ZZJNR3tDI99UAghm9ATCJwWoFK4pJLygKSheHgIO_C&sig=AHI
EtbSMO7s1TErCYBEKL8AwIprKPNrDhw
113
Clase: Idioma: inglés
Fecha:
Tema: Los salones de clases en España e
Inglaterra
Duración:
2 lecciones de 30 minutos con toda
la clase
1 sesión de comunicación web en
pares
Recursos: Fotos de los salones de clases en
España e Inglaterra para proyectar y distribuir;
textos que describen el salón de clases
Objetivos/Resultados del aprendizaje:
Lección 1: Ser capaz de describir (en inglés) una fotografía del salón de clases
inglés de su compañero, notando las similitudes y diferencias;
Lección 2: Ser capaz de hacer preguntas a sus compañeros ingleses (en inglés)
acerca del salón de clases de estos últimos; ser capaz de hacer preguntas a sus
compañeros ingleses (en inglés) sobre una fotografía de su propio salón de clases
en España y darles la oportunidad a los niños ingleses de escuchar y responder en
español.
Lección 3: Ser capaz de llevar a cabo una conversación corta con un alumno inglés,
comparando sus salones de clases, usando español e inglés como sea oportuno.
Trabajo subsiguiente: blog
114
Escritura
Leer y entender las ideas principales
de un texto escrito corto
Lenguaje introducido recientemente
(estructuras, vocabulario):
Estrategias de comunicación: nivel de idioma
principiante
Colores, números 1-10, tamaños (big, small)
Objetos del salón de clases, ej.: a chair
a table
a pen
a pencil
a pencil case
an interactive whiteboard
a black board
a window
a sink
a book
a notebook
There is
Nuevo lenguaje para esta lección (estructuras,
vocabulario):
I see…
In Spain….
Oralidad
Preparar y practicar una pequeña
conversación
Entendimiento intercultural
Reconocer las similitudes y
diferencias entre los lugares
Estrategias de comunicación
Trabajo por turnos, interactuación,
reparación, no verbal, y
paralingüística: nivel principiantes
Tecnología
Blog
Webcam (alumno-alumno)
Plataforma de aprendizaje
115
In England …..
The classroom
Do you like...?
Is there…?
What colour is the x?
How many x are there?
What else?
Lección 1 Introducción
El profesor saluda a la clase en inglés, como
vea conveniente y la clase responde; el
profesor muestra rápidamente una fotografía
del salón de clases inglés, en la Plataforma de
Aprendizaje: What is it? (a classrooom), where
is it? In Spain or in England?
Actividad principal
Mostrar una foto del salón de clases inglés en
la pizarra digital interactiva. En pares los
alumnos hacen una lluvia de ideas de palabras
en inglés, que ellos conozcan y hacen una lista
Oportunidades para
evaluar
El profesor monitoriza
el vocabulario ya
conocido, la
pronunciación y la
participación del
alumno en general
116
para presentar (5 minutos);
El profesor proporciona la ortografía correcta
durante la presentación, ej:
a chair
a table
a pen
a pencil
a pencil case
an interactive whiteboard
a black board
a window
a sink
a book
a notebook
Los alumnos, en pares, hacen oraciones que
empiecen así: ‘in England there is…’ y ‘in the
classroom I see…’, ‘I see…’
El profesor hace observaciones orales.
El profesor distribuye un texto escrito corto,
que identifica 3 cosas en el salón de clases
El profesor monitoriza
la comprensión del
texto
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inglés (una foto con un texto debajo, disponible
en la Plataforma de Aprendizaje) Los alumnos
encuentran las 3 cosas en el texto y hacen
círculos en la fotografía.
El profesor muestra la foto en la pizarra digital
interactiva y lee el texto; los alumnos se
acercan a la pizarra y encierran en un círculo la
parte relevante de la foto.
Plenaria
El profesor dice oraciones basadas en la foto (I
can see x; there is a x), los alumnos repiten si
es cierto.
Los profesores terminan la sesión como vean
conveniente (goodbye, thank you, bon appetit,
see you soon, etc.)
Monitoriza la
comprensión de la
lengua meta hablada
118
Lección 2 Introducción
El profesor saluda a la clase en inglés, como
vea conveniente y la clase responde
Recapitulación de la lección anterior, ¿cuánto
recuerdan los alumnos de la foto, sin verla (en
inglés)? O: el profesor juega un juego de
verdadero/falso, ej.: ‘are the walls blue? – yes
or not?’
Actividad principal
Mostrar la foto en la pizarra digital interactiva,
el profesor muestra preguntas y 4 ejemplos de
modelos de preguntas, una de cada tipo; la
clase se divide en grupos, y cada grupo recibe
una pregunta de la siguiente lista para
empezar:
Do you like...?
Is there…?
What colour is the x?
How many x are there?
¿Cuántas preguntas puedes hacer?
Monitoriza la
comprensión de la
lengua meta hablada
Monitoriza el numero
de las diferentes
preguntas producidas
en base/basadas en
el ejemplo
119
Un grupo de alumnos le hace sus preguntas al
resto de la clase, los alumnos responden
cuando puedan, incorporando ‘I don’t know’
cuando sea apropiado, y cualquier otra
estrategia de comunicación relevante, por ej.: ‘I
don’t understand’ , ‘can you repeat please’ …
El profesor muestra la fotografía del salón de
clases en España, en español. Los alumnos en
grupos deciden que preguntas hacer a sus
compañeros ingleses en el blog. El profesor
recibe las sugerencias y la clase se pone de
acuerdo en un grupo de preguntas para
publicar en ele blog, el trabajo es con toda la
clase.
Plenaria
El profesor hace preguntas basándose en el
texto español para obtener comparaciones.
Monitoriza la
pronunciación y el
uso de las
estrategias de
comunicación
Monitoriza /guía a los
alumnos a hacer
preguntas dentro
del/en el nivel
lingüístico apropiado
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Lección 3 Sesión independiente de comunicación
alumno-alumno (2 países)
Antes de la sesión de comunicación, los
alumnos, en pares, hacen un dibujo de su
propio salón de clases, o un salón de clases
ideal o un salón de clases imaginario,
basándose en un plantilla a la que le añaden
detalles o color (ej. dibujan/colorean pupitres,
sillas, mochilas).
Sesión de comunicación:
Los alumnos inician la comunicación y
responden como sea conveniente (usando las
estrategias de comunicación que se les ha
enseñado);
Los alumnos le preguntan al compañero (a) en
el otro país, en la lengua meta, sobre el dibujo
del salón de clases, usando las preguntas que
se practicaron anteriormente:
Do you like...?
Is there…?
Autoevaluación del
alumnos después de
la sesión, utilizando
una lista de control
121
What colour is the x?
How many x are there?
What else?
Los alumnos escuchan las respuestas,
indicando si siguen o no y pidiendo repetición
cuando sea necesario; los alumnos hacen un
dibujo basándose en la información que han
entendido en una plantilla vacía. Muestran el
dibujo a la cámara para hacer una
comparación.
Los alumnos intercambian y describen su
dibujo en la L1, respondiendo a las preguntas;
la comparación se hace como ya se ha
indicado.
Los alumnos terminan la conversación, ej.:
agradeciendo y despidiéndose.
122
Trabajo
subsiguien
te
Bloguear
La clase trabaja en grupos: en semanas
alternas, cada clase busca entender las
respuestas en la lengua meta, y hacer más
preguntas y comentarios en la L1.
Evaluación de la secuencia de la lección:
123
Lessonplan guidelines. Extraido el 19 de agosto del 2012 de:
http://www.ride.ri.gov/instruction/curriculum/rhodeisland/resources/lessonpla
nguidelines.pdf
124
Lesson Planning Guidelines
Use the following questions to facilitate and foster your lesson development. Be
sure to incorporate your responses to these questions within your lesson plan.
Grade/Content Area:
Title: A short, simple, direct title that summarizes lesson content.
GLEs/GSEs:
The following format must be used to indicate the GLE/GSE’s. Example:
In written narratives, students organize and relate a story line/plot/series of events
by…Establishing problem/conflict/challenge and maintaining point of view.
The use of underlines, examples, and the identification of state versus local should
not be included.
Which Grade Level Expectation(s) or Grade Span Expectation(s) is the primary focu
s of this lesson?
Which specific indicator(s) will be addressed within this lesson?
Context for the Lesson:
Include any important background information that is relevant for understanding the
lesson.
Original sources and acknowledge adaptations or resources used within the lesson.
What is the reason for using this lesson?
What data/evidence supports the need for using this lesson?
How much time is required for this lesson?
125
What other information supports using this lesson?
Opportunities to Learn:
*If any of these components are embedded within the lesson, then a notation must be m
ade within this section.
How are you using multiple ways of approaching or engaging students in the
lesson activities?*
How are students given an opportunity to apply skills and concepts learned?*
What is the rigor of the activity/activities in which students are engaged? (De
pth of Knowledge) *
How do you differentiate instruction to accommodate different learning styles
of your students?*
How do you group the class to best engage students in this lesson?*
What does the student need to have prepared prior to this lesson?*
What materials do you need to prepare prior to this lesson?
o Handouts, writing implements, manipulatives, texts, etc.
What conditions must exist to facilitate or enhance this lesson?
o Access to technology, special equipment, structure of working space
o Integration across content areas
Objectives:
What do you want the students to learn and be able to do from this lesson? (Not just t
he activity they will complete)
What are the objectives of this lesson? How do the objectives match and/or corresp
ond with the GLEs/GSEs?
126
Do all of your objectives align with your assessment(s)?
SMART Goals:
Specific: Does the objective clearly specify what will be accomplished and by
how much?
o Measurable: Is the objective measurable?
Appropriate: Does the objective make sense in terms of what the activity is
trying to accomplish?
o Realistic: Is the objective achievable given the available resources and experien
ce?
o Time-based: Does the objective specify by when it will be achieved?
Instructional Procedures: Opening/ Engagement/Closure:
Effective lessons have three components: an opening, an engagement, and a closure.
In order to
ensure all components are included, percentages have been provided to illustrate app
roximate times for each component within the lesson.
Opening (10-15% of lesson):
How do you activate students’ prior knowledge and connect it to this new learning?
How do you get students interested in this lesson?
Engagement (60-70% of lesson):
What questions can you pose to encourage students to take risks and to deepen stu
dents’ understanding?
127
How do you facilitate student discourse?
How do you facilitate the lesson so that all students are active learners and reflectiv
e during this lesson?
How do you monitor students’ learning throughout this lesson?
Closure (20-25% of lesson):
How do you ensure that the salient points of this lesson are highlighted to guide stu
dent understanding?
What kinds of questions do you ask to get meaningful student feedback?
What opportunities do you provide for students to share their understandings of the
task?
Assessment:
Assessments both summative (overall) and formative (on-
going) need to be appropriate to the task and aligned with the objectives.
How do you assess students’ learning? (Assessment[s] needs to be aligned with les
son objective[s].)
How do you provide specific, constructive, and timely feedback to your students to p
romote student learning?
Reflections:
Taking time to reflect on student work and the lesson taught gives new insights
for future instruction and student learning.
128
Reflection on Student Work:
Student work includes a sample of each:
Sample #1- Approaching Proficiency
Sample #2- Proficient
Sample #3- Exceeds Proficiency
Utilize the following questions when reflecting on each piece of student work:
What does the student work tell you about the students’ understanding and the effe
ctiveness of your lesson? (Cite examples)
How will you provide instructional support to improve student learning?
Reflection on Lesson Implementation:
Were the lesson objectives met?
Did your lesson meet your objective(s), in conjunction with GLEs/GSEs?
Was your assessment(s) appropriate for your objective(s)?
What worked well in this lesson?
How do you know that this lesson was effective?
How do you determine the effectiveness of the assessment?
Were the modifications appropriate for students?
How were all the students engaged in this lesson?
What changes would you propose for the next time you implement this lesson?
What part of this lesson proved easy or difficult for students?
129
How will you connect students’ new learning from this lesson to the next lesson?
How will you summarize students’ learning to inform your instruction?
What did you learn from the assessment(s) used in this lesson?
When you use this lesson again, what will you do differently or similarly?
What did you learn from teaching this lesson?
How did this lesson enhance your own understanding as a teacher and further your
own professional development?
How do you know you were successful in engaging all students to be active and refl
ective learners?
Unidad 5 How can I organize everything?
130
The physical environment of the classroom, from your voice to
your teaching under adverse circumstances, the role of the
teacher.
Creating an effective physical classroom environment. Extraido el 19 de
agosto del 2012 de: http://www.teachervision.fen.com/classroom-
management/decorative-arts/6506.html
131
Creating an Effective Physical Classroom Environment
Every teacher knows that a safe, clean, comfortable and attractive classroom can
stimulate learning and help build a classroom community. But for many teachers,
setting up the physical environment of their classrooms can be quite daunting,
especially when faced with older buildings, crowded classrooms and insufficient
storage space. You can make the most of your classroom environment by carefully
considering your needs and the needs of your students.
Survey Your Classroom: Looking at the Basics
The first things to consider when organizing your classroom are cleanliness, light
and temperature. Although you may not have complete control over some of these
elements, try to make or suggest improvements as necessary.
The Floor Plan: Assessing Your Needs
Once you have checked the basic elements in your classroom, think about your
floor plan. It should maximize classroom space and reflect your individual teaching
style.
Your floor plan will also depend on the grade you are teaching. For the lower
grades, your classroom setup may include many different learning areas, such as a
reading area, an art center and a technology center. The placement of these areas
132
will depend upon the layout of your classroom. However, when setting up these
areas, you will want to keep the following points in mind:
Room dividers should be low so that all areas are visible to you.
Areas that invite group work should not be next to quiet areas where students read
or study independently.
Art or other messy areas are best located near a sink.
You should always be able to make eye contact with all students.
Classroom Decor: Facing the Blank Canvas
Encourage students to make the classroom space their own. Welcome their
contributions to its decoration, and urge them to take responsibility for its
maintenance. Here are some easy, low-cost ways to make your classroom into an
inviting, effective space for all:
Dress Up the Walls
Interesting and attractive visual aids, such as bulletin boards and posters, are key
components of an effective classroom. Wall decorations should be colorful,
appealing and relevant to current classwork. They should be rotated and refreshed
frequently.
Be sure to think about the cultural backgrounds of your students when dressing the
walls. Try to represent your students' diversity on posters or bulletin boards.
133
Set aside a section of the bulletin board to be your designated "Student Work
Museum" and post children's drawings, written work and other projects there. Make
sure that each student's work is displayed often.
Post daily schedules in a place where students can read them easily. This
accessibility of the classroom schedule can help students grow comfortable with
class and school routines. For younger students, make a daily schedule that
includes pictures or icons.
The Greenhouse Effect
Caring for live plants can give your classroom a warm, comforting feel. It can also
help teach students responsibility – and science! Local nurseries or greenhouses
may even be willing to donate the plants to your class.
Entrust children, especially older children, to care for the class plants. They can
make sure that the plants receive adequate water, light and air.
Use Lots of Storage Space
The primary classroom should have as much storage space as possible, both for
students' personal belongings and for shared tools and materials. Each child should
have a personal space, such as a desk or a cubby and a coat hook, for his or her
own things.
General classroom storage should be easily available to older students, who should
be more responsible for collective belongings. Storage areas for any materials that
134
younger students may access, such as crayons or books, should be clearly labeled
(with words and pictures) so that children can clean up without your help. Rehearse
the Classroom.
When you've finished setting up your classroom, give it a practice run or two. Walk
through a typical school day, making sure that both you and the students have
enough space to work and move around, that everyone in the classroom can see
and hear and that every part of the room is as pleasant as possible. For example,
write on the blackboard, and then take a walk around the room. Check sight lines
from every spot where students might be working.
Your classroom will continue to change and evolve as the school year progresses.
These suggestions can help you create a classroom environment that is welcoming,
comfortable, clean and secure.
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Davies, C. (2011) Use your voice to manage your classroom. Extraído el 19 de
agosto del 2012 de:
http://resumes-for-teachers.com/blog/classroom-management-tips/use-your-
voice-to-manage-your-classroom/
136
Use your voice to manage your classroom
When managing your classroom, one of the most important tools at your disposal is
your voice. The way in which you communicate to your students verbally will play a
role in how your students will respond. The way you use your voice – the tone, pace
and volume – has a lot to do with how your message will be interpreted.
Students tend to react more to the way you speak rather than what you may
actually be saying. Your voice can wind kids up, create boredom making students
un-attentive, or it can command respect and attention. If you want to remove all
potential triggers for bad behavior, you need to pay attention to and possibly
change the way you speak.
When giving instructions or explaining consequences, drop your volume, change
your tone, and slightly slow down the pace. This works wonders in getting your
message across positively. This will also assist in not having your instructions
misconstrued – they will understand what you expect.
One of the biggest mistakes a teacher can make when giving directions, is to spew
out fact after fact from the front of the classroom expecting the students to absorb
all the information. If this is your dominant teaching method, then you probably have
to deal with many behavior problems.
137
When you need to explain things to your class, try to make the experience
interactive and use it as another chance to show you’re in command of the group by
constantly directing questions at different individuals. This keeps students on their
toes and paying attention because they quickly catch on that they could be asked a
question. It also helps them to retain the information better, as when they are
directly involved in the instruction process there will be less confusion.
It’s good to remember that the way you speak – your tone, pace, and volume – is
just as important as the actual words you are saying. It makes the difference as to
whether students will listen or not.
138
Harden. R (2000) The good teacher is more than a lecturer- the twelve roles of
the teacher. [Fragmento] (pp. 4-13) Extraído el 19 de agosto del 2012
de:
http://wikieducator.org/images/e/e3/Twelev_Roles_of_a_Lecturer.pdf
139
The good teacher is more than a lecturer. The twelve roles of the teacher
Teaching is demanding and complex task. This guide
looks at teaching and what it involves. Implicit in the widely accepted and far-
reaching changes in
medical education is a changing role for the medical
teacher. Twelve roles have been identified and these
can be grouped in six areas in the model presented:
1 The information provider in the lecture, and in
the clinical context
2 The role model on-the-job, and in more formal
teaching settings
3 The facilitator as a mentor and learning facilitator
4 The student assessor and curriculum evaluator
5 The curriculum and course planner, and
6 The resource material creator, and study guide
producer.
140
As presented in the model, some roles require more
medical expertise and others more educational
expertise. Some roles have more direct face-to-face
contact with students and others less. The roles are
presented in a ‘competing values’ framework – they
may convey conflicting messages, eg providing
information or encouraging independent learning,
helping the student or examining their competence.
The role model framework is of use in the assessment
of the needs for staff to implement a curriculum, in
the appointment and promotion of teachers and in
the organisation of a staff development programme.
Some teachers will have only one role. Most teachers
will have several roles. All roles, however, need to
be represented in an institution or teaching
organisation. This has implications for the
appointment of staff and for staff training. Where
there are insuff icient numbers of appropriately
trained existing staff to meet a role requirement, staff
141
must be reassigned to the role, where this is possible,
and the necessary training provided. Alternatively if
this is not possible or deemed desirable, additional
staff need to be recruited for the specific purpose of
fulfilling the role identified. A ‘role profile’ needs
to be negotiated and agreed with staff at the time of
their appointment and this should be reviewed on a
regular basis.
Indeed it has become fashionable to talk about
learning and learners rather than teaching and the
teacher. This increased attention to the learner may
be seen by teachers as a loss of control and power
which can lead to feelings of uncertainty, inadequacy
and anxiety (Bashir 1998). The shift may even be
seen as, in some way, a devaluing of the role of the
teacher. It has to be recognised, however, that this is
not true, that teaching and learning are closely related
and that the purpose of teaching is to enhance
learning. It is important to ensure that the changing
role of the teacher is not neglected in discussions
about new educational strategies and approaches to
142
curriculum development.
The changing role of the teacher
The changing role of the teacher may cause unease
among those entrenched in traditional approaches
to education. The Rt. Hon. Sir Rhodes Boyson MP
(1996), former headmaster of Highbury Grove
Comprehensive in North London, wrote “Too often,
the teacher has degenerated into an uneasy mixture
of classroom chum, social worker and amateur
counsellor” (p44).
Brew and Boud (1998) have highlighted the more
complex demands now being placed on university
teachers and the changing nature of their work tasks,
with new academic roles and the diversification of
existing ones. “There has been a significant shift”
they suggest “from thinking that clever people can
do everything to a recognition of the complexity and
range of academic work” (p18). The tasks facing a
teacher are not simple or easy. “Teaching” suggested
Brookfield (1990) “is the educational equivalent of
white water rafting”.
143
While the Dearing report on higher education (1997)
praised British universities for their world class
record, it highlighted the pressures on teachers and
the poor quality of their teaching. “There is no
doubt”, Dearing suggested, “about the increased
pressures facing staff in higher education”. Bold
predictions about the impact of technology on
teaching methods have not been realised and the
adoption of recommended new approaches in
medical education have been disappointing (General
Medical Council, 1993). Why is this? Much of the
responsibility for these failures rest with the teachers.
Teachers have been slow to identify with and embrace
the new roles expected of them. The result has been
to hold back many changes in medical education.
One change in higher and continuing education is
the acceptance of distance learning as a significant
approach. The embedding of distance learning in
mainstream medical education involves the adoption
of an approach to learners and learning which is
different from the one with which medical teachers
144
have experience. Concern has been expressed that
the consequences will be “the likely undermining
of the respect, prestige and authority that goes with
the teacher’s role as ‘director of learning’ and the
loss of their ability to engage their students into
intellectual conversations and debates” (Bashir
1998). If the adoption of distance learning is to
flourish in medical education then teachers must
accept the different roles for the teachers implicit in
this approach to teaching and learning.
What is certain, irrespective of whether we have face-
to-face or distance learning and whatever the
educational strategy implemented, the teacher will
play a key role in student learning. In all phases of
education, student achievement correlates with the
quality of the teacher. Terry Dozier (1998), an adviser
to the U S Secretary of Education, emphasised that
“if we don’t focus on the quality of teaching, other
reform efforts won’t bring us what we’re hoping for”.
The availability of a good teacher, for example, may
have a greater effect on improving student
145
achievement than other, much publicised factors
such as class size.
The good teacher
The question arises as to what is a good teacher. A
good teacher can be defined as a teacher who helps
the student to learn. He or she contributes to this in
a number of ways. The teacher’s role goes well
beyond information giving, with the teacher having
a range of key roles to play in the education process.
What one sees as good teaching, suggests Biggs
(1999), depends on what conception of teaching one
has. Two concepts are based on the strategies of
teacher-centred and student-centred education
(Harden et al 1984). Teacher-centred strategies are
focussed on the teacher as a transmitter of
information, with information passing from the
expert teacher to the novice learner. Student-centred
strategies, in contrast, see the focus as being on
changes in students’ learning and on what students
do to achieve this rather than on what the teacher
does. “If students are to learn desired outcomes in a
146
reasonably effective manner”, Shuell (1986)
suggests “then the teacher’s fundamental task is to
get students to engage in learning activities that are
likely to result in their achieving those outcomes. It
is helpful to remember that what the student does is
actually more important in determining what is
learned than what the teacher does”. Biggs goes on
to describe the art of teaching as the communication
to students of the need to learn. “Motivation”, he
suggests “is the product of good teaching not its
prerequisite” (p61).
The roles of the teacher
A key question is: what is the role of the teacher in
the context of the developments taking place in
medical education? There has been little sustained
analysis of the role of the teacher (Squires 1999). In
general, we have been preoccupied with the details
of curriculum planning, with the content of the
teaching programme and with the range of education
strategies adopted. We have failed to take a broader
view of the role of the teacher in these tasks.
147
What are teachers for in our institution? For what
would they be most missed if they were not there? It
is likely that, faced with these questions, members
of staff would give a range of answers. Uncertainty
and difficulty with the range of roles expected of a
teacher is illustrated in the following extracts of letters
from teachers regarding their own roles and
responsibilities.
“I was appointed to the University as a
lecturer to enthuse students about my subject
and to convey to them, through my lectures,
the essential information they need to acquire.
It is not my job to sit in so-called problem-
based learning groups watching students
struggle, often ineffectively, with a subject new
to them and in the process wasting both their
and my time.”
I found this new method, by far, a more rewarding experience for me as a
teacher. I am convinced that the students
benefit from the more active participation in
148
their own learning that inevitably occurs.”
“I am concerned about the amount of time I
am expected to serve on the curriculum
committee and on the system-based working
groups, planning the course and its delivery.
In my previous post I was simply left to get on
and deliver the teaching programme in my
subject, which is what I am employed to do.”
“Thank you for giving me the opportunity to
meet with the students and go over with them
their responses in the recent Objective
Structured Clinical Examination. A number of
students subsequently told me that they found
this one of the most powerful learning sessions
this year.”
“I carry a heavy clinical, research and
teaching burden. I need, therefore, to look at
how my time can be used most effectively. I
have been asked to prepare study guides
relating to the part of the course for which I
am responsible. I do not think that the
149
preparation of study guides, which it is claimed
will make learning easier and more effective
for the student, makes the best use of my time.
There is no need to spoon feed students in this
way. If they attend my lectures and clinical
teaching sessions they will soon find out what
it is that they are expected to learn.”
Fortunately, not all teachers share these role
ambiguities as illustrated in a further set of extracts.
“I greatly enjoyed working last term with the
students in the PBL groups. My previous
experience as a teacher had been with a more
didactic approach and an emphasis on
“I welcome the time I have been given off my
routine teaching duties to prepare a series of
computer-based learning programmes in my
subject. This will allow us to replace about half
of the lectures currently scheduled with
opportunities for the student to engage in
independent learning and critical thinking. We
will be able also to make better use of the
150
remaining lectures scheduled.”
Unless we agree what roles of a teacher we need for
our institution, we cannot seriously attempt to appoint
appropriate teachers to the post, we cannot arrange
useful staff development activities and we cannot
define ‘good teaching’ and reward it by promotion
or other recognition. This guide presents a model or
framework in which the teacher’s expanded role in
education today is described. It identifies twelve roles
for the medical teacher. The implications and use of
the model are discussed.
Identification of the roles of the teacher
The twelve roles described in the model presented
have been identified from three sources:
❑ from an analysis by the authors of the tasks
expected of the teacher in the design and
implementation of a curriculum in one medical
school (Harden et al 1997)
❑ from a study of the diaries kept by 12 medical
students over a three month period and an analysis
151
of their comments as they related to the role of
the teacher
❑ from the literature relating to the roles of a teacher
identified in Medline and the TIME (Topics In
Medical Education) database and from medical
education texts including Cox and Ewan (1988)
and Newble and Cannon (1995).
The six areas of activity of the teacher can be
summarised as:
1 The teacher as information provider
2 The teacher as role model
3 The teacher as facilitator
4 The teacher as assessor
5 The teacher as planner
6 The teacher as resource developer.
Using a musical metaphor, the roles of the teacher
may be likened to the performance of an orchestral
piece of music. The composer is the planner who
has the inspiration and delineates the music to be
played. The conductor interprets the composer’s
152
score and facilitates and guides the players to
perform the music and the audience to appreciate.
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