Teaching Strategies Producers At The Harvest

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

This article describes a research project we carried out in order to study the role of student- teachers’ teaching techniques on their pupils’ extrinsic motivation as they partake in communicative speaking activities at a public school in Tunja. Data was gathered by means of field notes, focus groups and student-teachers’ documents. Findings revealed that student-teachers’ teaching techniques assume different roles depending on the stage of the class (presentation, practice and production); which at the same time constitute the nature of these roles. Explorers, keepers and producers were the main roles that participants’ teaching techniques assumed when they involved their students in communicative speaking activities.

Key words: Development of speaking skill in EFL, EFL student-teachers, extrinsic motivation, teaching techniques in EFL.

Este artículo describe un proyecto de investigación llevado a cabo para estudiar el rol que tienen las técnicas de enseñanza empleadas por los docentes practicantes en la motivación extrínseca de sus estudiantes, mientras ellos (estudiantes) participaban en actividades orales comunicativas en un colegio público de Tunja. Los datos se recolectaron por medio de notas de campo, grupos focales y los planes de clase de los futuros docentes. Los resultados revelaron que las técnicas de enseñanza empleadas por los practicantes asumen roles diferentes dependiendo de la etapa de la clase (presentación, práctica y producción), las cuales a su vez, representan la naturaleza de estos roles. Exploradores, cuidadores y productores fueron las principales técnicas de enseñanza que los participantes adoptaron al involucrar a sus estudiantes en actividades orales comunicativas.

Palabras clave: desarrollo de la habilidad de habla en inglés como lengua extranjera, estudiantes en la práctica docente, motivación extrínseca, técnicas de enseñanza del inglés como lengua extranjera.

[T1]Introduction

Due to the fact that in Colombia the EFL teaching process is more demanding every day analyzing the different factors that take place in the daily teaching practices for qualifying this process is a must. However, in a context like the students-teachers’ practicum, the issues related to teaching techniques, students extrinsic’ motivation and oral skills deserve special attention as they have not been deeply explored. So, it is highly important to analyze how these elements work together for enhancing teaching practices.

In that respect, our initial concern to develop this project emerged from our personal experiences as student-teachers in a public school of Tunja. In this context, students’ motivation to perform in English as a foreign language was extrinsic; their oral participation mainly depended on external or physical rewards, so student-teachers were moved to use them as a tool in the development of their pupils’ speaking skill. This with the purpose of implementing a communicative approach.

Bearing in mind this previous assertion, it is crucial to bring up the constructs from interactionism, one of the EFL acquisition theories, as it emphasizes on the importance of communicative contact between speakers, statement supported by Pica (1994), Long (1985), and others when they assert that conversational interaction facilitates FL acquisition under certain conditions. This should guide students-teachers to reflect about those techniques that take part in students’ encouragement of their speaking development.

In terms of such techniques, it was valuable to think about the activities implemented by students’ teachers when conducting the English teaching and learning process. As these strategies appeared as sources of motivation, their relationship with students’ extrinsic motivation during their practice of oral skills in English required a wide exploration.

In that sense, reflecting on the global EFL context, motivation is one of the factors that influences the extent to which people succeed or fail in any learning process. It is easy in language learning to claim that a learner will be more successful with a type of motivation like intrinsic, but it has also been said that some individuals have little capacity for internal motivation and must be guided and reinforced constantly. The use of incentives is based on the principle that learning occurs more effectively when the student experiences feelings of satisfaction (Weller, 2005).

Equally important, at the national level, La Ley General de Educación (1994), states that communicative competence development in a foreign language has to start in the early educational levels. All the same, the curricular guidelines for teaching English (2006) establish that language teaching has been deemed relevant in using the language as a key element of communication through interaction; so it demands the application of techniques in the foreign language teaching process that keep students motivated to use English orally.

Unfortunately in our immediate context there is a lack of studies focused on student-teachers in order for them to characterize their teaching techniques. One of the reasons why this situation has not been explored, as it should be, is because most of the time current research has been focused on students’ intrinsic motivation and the activities teachers use to promote it following the thought that, "one of the most effective ways to help students think and learn is to free them from the control of rewards and punishments" (Bruner cited by Brown, 2000, p. 165). So this project was focused on the counterpart of this issue. Then its main purpose was, to analyze and characterize the role of student- teachers’ teaching techniques on their pupils’ extrinsic motivation as they partake in communicative speaking activities at a public school in Tunja.

From this situation, we realized about the high responsibility that student-teachers have in encouraging their students to speak in class because this is one of the most neglected skills in these settings, even though foreign language acquisition theories are based on communicative principles. In our immediate context, students felt excited to speak in class when their teachers provided them with rewards or positive feedback. Then, it shows that not necessarily students intrinsically motivated use English in class. It means that the techniques used by the teacher can be one of the ways to make the speaking skill a need for students. In that respect, Vilímec (2006, p. 33) claims that the "teacher’s main task will therefore be to make sure that the students know what to practice, and that they practice effectively, together with organizing the activities and checking while students are performing." In that sense, students-teachers’ techniques constitute an important factor on students’ motivation to learn English.

At the same time, this study also considered a population that was not a common source of research, perhaps because of its little experience in teaching. In that way, it was interesting to know how students- teachers, as members of a new generation in the educational field, put into practice their pedagogical knowledge for achieving the goals of English teaching based on the students’ extrinsic motivation.

[T1]Literature Review

Bearing in main the main objective of this study, this chapter provides theoretical considerations under which it was framed; as well as our own conceptual constructs.

Appealing to a concept of student- teacher, there is one closely related: pre-service teaching. This is understood as "the stage where beginning teachers obtain substantial on-campus coursework that they expect to transfer directly to the in-school practical setting where they begin to act as a teacher" (Schon, 1983, cited by Wallace, 1991, p.13). It means that pre-service teachers are those prospective teachers who are putting into practice their knowledge in a real classroom environment after a complete teaching training. Along with this concept, it is also meaningful to mention that novice teachers constitute a source of creativity, innovation and motivation that spring up in the implementation of strategies towards their students’ benefit.

This is related to the results of the study: Differing perceptions of pre-service English teachers’ strengths and weaknesses in the practicum: a case study in Turkey, conducted by Gürbüz, (2006). This study aimed to investigate student-teachers’ own perceptions of pre-service English language teachers’ strong and weak areas of language teaching practice in a Turkish context. In Gürbüz’s words outcomes showed that, student-teachers were very good at preparing visually attractive, colorful and creative materials appealing to students’ needs and interests, catering to all learning styles and all types of intelligences.

Secondly, they were able to create a positive and accepting learning atmosphere in class and to establish rapport with students. Their good interactional skills in the classroom were directly related to their motivation and enthusiasm in teaching. Although student-teachers themselves did not list ‘motivation’ as their strength, it was easily observable in their creativity and effort regarding their materials and activities preparation. Finally, another point not mentioned by student-teachers was good lesson planning which emerged as strength in their teaching.

The other theoretical layer from those established in the research question is teaching techniques. These have been understood as the implementation of activities that teachers carry out in their classroom with their students. Bearing in mind the goals they set, educators work in specific areas of the teaching process. In that respect, we found Brown’s (2001, cited by Gavilán, 2008, p.165) assertion useful. He claims that:

"A teaching technique is a superordinate term to refer to various activities that either teachers or learners perform in the classroom since they include all tasks and activities. In addition, they are almost planned and deliberate, considering they are the product of a choice made by the teacher that can be addressed to the pedagogical units or components of a classroom session".

At the same time Crookes (2003:144), states that, "an activity is a segment of classroom life...intended to cover all distinguishable behavioral segments in a classroom". Following this line of thought, it is clear that even though teacher’s planning includes the activities to be developed in the classroom, these intentions are influenced by how actions actually take place, depending on the stages of the class, as well as, students’ characteristics (learning styles, type of motivation, interests, needs…) among others.

We can say that teaching techniques acquire sense depending on how they are implemented by educators, as well as, the objective they pursue based on their students’ needs. So, it implies the design and application of different activities that respond to both, teacher s’ strategies use and class segments objectives.

Appealing to the literature, there is a study carried out by Gavilán (2008). Its outcomes gave us lights to characterize the nature of teaching techniques. The chief aim of this research was to describe the activities implemented by two first semester English teachers and categorized them within the frame of language teaching techniques stated by Brown (2001): controlled, semi-controlled and free within the context of a languages teaching Program. The techniques used to data collection were based upon class observations, teachers’ logs and a semi-structured interview.

Looking at the outcomes of this investigation, we can say that teaching techniques acquire sense depending on the control teachers make on them, as well as, the objective they pursue based on their students’ needs. So, it implies the designing and application of different activities that respond to both, the teacher’s control and to the objectives of the class segments. At the same time, the accomplishment of such objectives intrinsically related to the students’ abilities to face the challenges through the instructional sections of a class.

Extrinsic motivation is the following key concepts we will discuss. It is important to say that in spite of the fact that intrinsic motivation is more valuable and permanent than the instrumental one, it has been also demonstrated that students need outside stimulus (grades, prizes, extra points, public recognition, etc.) as a guaranty for successful performance in classrooms. This aspect is reinforced by Akey (2006) when he claims that:" in the educational setting, students need incentives to perform, so one of the real situations that teachers must face is to provide students with tangible rewards" At the same time, Deci, (1975:23) explains that: "extrinsically motivated behaviors are carried out in anticipation of a reward from outside and beyond the self. Typical extrinsic rewards are money, prizes, grades, and even certain type of positive feedback".

Those outcomes provided us with contributions in terms of understanding extrinsic motivation as a way of making students more confident when achieving the learning goals that an activity enhances in their learning process. Rewards cannot be enough for sustain the idea of an intrinsically motivated student, but sufficient for maintaining extrinsically motivated student’s effort at any task, as well as, at any skill development.

To support the previous assertions, there is an exploration about different ways in which motivation has been conceived according to the development of teaching and learning approaches in psychology and in TESOL. It was conducted by Bastidas Arteaga, (2006) and was called: A framework to understanding motivation in the TESOL field.

In this article the author presents an overview of the approaches used to contextualize motivation in psychology and apply it to TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of other Languages). This study states that traditionally, motivation was studied in behavioral terms in the psychological context. In the TESOL field two types of motivation were proposed: instrumental and integrative. In recent studies, it has been proposed the study of motivation from a cognitive perspective, where intrinsic and extrinsic orientations are its main constructs.

The lights coming from this study let us understand the value and the importance of the outer world in students’ learning. On the contrary, it must be a motivational channel through which intrinsic force surrounded by the extrinsic one results in more realistic, authentic and meaningful experiences in the EFL classroom.

The last spinal cord concept for this investigation was communicative speaking activities. Looking at the theory, (Brown 1994, 245), stated among the most important features in CLT (Communicative Language Teaching), the following aspects: "Language techniques are designed to engage learners in the pragmatic, authentic, functional use of language for meaningful purposes. In the communicative classroom, students ultimately have to use the language, productively and receptively, in unrehearsed context". It means that, what turns an activity into a communicative one is the opportunity students have to express their thoughts and feelings as clear and concrete as possible that leads them to get confidence and achieve the communicative goals when facing any situation in an oral or written way. Likewise, through communicative activities learners establish relationships with others where they negotiate meaning and assume different roles.

Considering the speaking skill and its connection with communicative activities, we found Littlewood’s taxonomy, (1991:16-36) useful. He classified communicative activities, into two further categories: ‘functional activities’, and ‘social interaction activities’. In regards to the first one, the chief goal is to encourage students’ ability to use the language they know to achieve the goals of communication like solving problems or making decisions. Turning to the second one, the social interaction activities attempt to extend the pragmatic use of the language. . It means that communication is mediated by the context where its participants have to adapt their discourse in terms of how, when, where and what to say.

RESEARCH DESIGN

With the purpose of answering the question stated in this study, we followed the principles of qualitative research, defined by Merriam (cited by Nunan, 1998: 77), as "an intensive, holistic, descriptive analysis of a single entity, phenomenon of social unit". This approach was selected because the project was framed in a social environment where a specific situation was described, analyzed and characterized. Moreover this research was descriptive, as well as, interpretative guided by the case study approach. This methodology is defined in Yin’s terms (1984:23) "as an empirical inquiry that investigates a contemporary phenomenon within its real- life context; when the boundaries between phenomenon and context are not clearly evident; and in which multiple sources of evidence are used". It also presented a detail account of the phenomenon under study and contains a description to collect information in order to interpret and construct new knowledge.

Setting and participants

This research took place at a public school of Tunja where our participants were immersed, as well as, at Universidad Pedagógica y Tecnológica de Colombia. The participants for this investigation were tenth semester pre-service teachers in the Modern Languages Program at UPTC. This was a group of three people. The three pre-service teachers were particularly selected because their practicum took place at a public school where the two researchers had the possibility to get the data. Those students- teachers were in the last phase of their university formation, but also in the first stage of their professional life. It means that they counted with knowledge of different disciplines that are present in their program curriculum: Pedagogical Projects, Communicative Projects, Didactics I and II, Applied Linguistics, Grammar, Phonetics, Literature, etc. In addition, they had previously had experiences in English teaching for about thirty sessions or classes throughout their eighth and ninth semesters.

Data collection instruments and methodology

With the purpose of achieving the research objective of this investigation, four instruments were used: field notes, focus group (audio recorded meetings), students- teachers’ documents (lesson plans) and students’ interviews. Thirty observations of the students- teachers’ classes were conducted and recorded in a format (see annex A.). This instrument was structured in two main parts. In the first one, the researchers wrote a detailed description of what happened in the classroom. In the second one, the information gathered in the first part was organized, as well as, connected with theory. Each participant was observed ten times with the purpose of achieving the following objectives: to identify the oral teaching techniques as well as the different extrinsic motivators (rewards, positive feedback) implemented by pre-service teachers as their students develop speaking activities

Secondly we audio recorded four focus group sessions with the three participants along the development of the project. The chief discussion topics were: the type of activities that student-teachers conducted in the class for students to talk; the extrinsic motivators used in class; the teaching sequence followed in the class and the different topics and materials implemented (see annexes B).

The student- teachers’ documents were the third instrument adopted. In this project the documents were the pre-service teachers’ lesson plans which participants had prepared for their classes. Thirty of those were taken for the analysis. The purpose was to see what types of activities the student-teachers designed and how those activities were related to their students’ extrinsic motivation as they developed their speaking skill.

At the same time, a semi-structured interview was applied to forty- five students for looking at their perceptions about the activities their teachers implemented in class and how those learners felt and got involved in them (See annex C).

The methodology implemented for analyzing the data collected was based on Grounded theory, Strauss and Corbin (1990). The cornerstone of this premise revolves around coding procedures, defined as the steps through which the information is divided, conceptualized and reintegrated in different ways. Based on that, once the information was gathered, the analysis process started. We made a detail reading studying the primary instrument and establishing common issues, which were validated with the information provided by the secondary ones.

Our use of primary and secondary instruments entailed a data triangulation process. At this respect, it is important to say that two types of triangulation were used. The first methodological triangulation (Cohen and Manion, 2000) as previously explained with the use of various instruments for data collection. The second one was investigator triangulation. In that sense, each piece of information collected through each single instrument was analyzed in an individual form. Then, the findings were confronted to establish common patterns.

In addition, evidence was encoded for facilitating the findings presentation. In that respect, field notes were codified as (FN); groupal interviews as (GI); focus group as (FG); pre- service teachers’ documents as (PD) and video recordings as (VR). Furthermore, the participants were named with fictitious names given by the researchers, having in mind the ethical principles in research, for respecting the participants’ image and privacy. Additionally, the participants’ narratives were translated into English by the researchers.

FINDINGS

Figure 1 summarizes the emerging categories of this study which are presented in a metaphoric way; we have associated them with the role of a sower when following the three different stages of seed growth. The sower is the symbolic representation of student’ teachers teaching techniques, that assume different roles depending on the three main stages of growth (seed sowing, seed growth and hay harvest). These at their turn, reflect the three main phases that student’ teachers follow in their classes: (presentation, practice and production). These stages constitute the nature of the roles of student- teachers’ teaching techniques in this investigation. Those categories are: Teaching techniques: explorers for sowing the seed, teaching activities, keepers during seed growth, and Teaching strategies: producers at the harvest.

Figure 1. Teaching Techniques’ Roles

TEACHING TECHNIQUES’ ROLES

HARVESTERS

SPRINKLERS

ENERGIZERS

TEACHING STRATEGIES: PRODUCERS AT THE HARVEST

HARVEST

PRODUCTION

TEACHING ACTIVITIES: KEEPERS DURING SEED GROWTH

SEED GROWTH

PRACTICE

HELPERS

NUTRIENTS PROVIDERS

TEACHING TECNIQUES: EXPLORERS FOR SOWING THE SEED

SEED SOWING

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Teaching techniques: explorers for sowing the seed.

This category concerns the roles student- teachers’ teaching techniques have in the initial stage of a class. At this phase, teaching techniques appear as explorers of students’ context in order to activate their previous knowledge. These techniques seek to generate language in authentic situations. The purpose is to boost students’ interests and engage their emotions, curiosity and attention as preliminary motivation to link the development of the class; this assertion is supported by Velandia (2008, 9) when she states that "the use of warm up activities increases students’ attention and helps us link the processes of the class". In other words, motivate and engage students at the beginning of the lesson (Brown, 2001).

Here, students’ motivation is influenced by teaching techniques focused on external factors like personal information sharing and visual aids. Those techniques are framed within outer motivational issues because of their instrumental aim. In terms of personal information sharing, the teacher is the one who expected students to talk about their immediate context, appealing to activities such as questions, the use of realia, and discussions of one’s own experiences. In regards to this, Bailey (cited in Brown 1994, p.156) says that "when external power wants the L2 learner to acquire the L2, there is an extrinsic influence".

At the same time, the use of visual aids appears to help students talk at the presentation stage. This motivates students to focus on the topic of study, making connections and establishing relationships between what they see and their previous knowledge (schemata). In that respect, Brown (2007) stated that pictures can be used in many stages of the instructional process, to introduce and motivate the study of new topics.

Then, personal information sharing and the use of visual aids constitute the two following subcategories under which the roles of student teachers’ teaching techniques at the initial stage are supported.

In site information: nutrients provider to initiate students’ oral participation

This subcategory describe how pre- service teachers’ teaching techniques, which involved the use of realia, personal questions, and experience discussions at the presentation stage functioned as students partake in communicative activities. It means that this type of activities arouse students’ interest to participate orally by means of short dialogues and conversations about the external world of learners.

In the reality of this study, it was evident the role of teaching techniques as in site information nutrients providers in students’ oral performance, when the teacher started the class asking questions about their students’ own world and most of them raised their hand to give answers, evident in the following excerpt:

"In one class, the teacher started asking us about the gifts that we have received on birthdays and Christmas and the whole class wanted to participate (GI, 3, Homero)"

At the same time, the premise of this subcategory is supported by student teachers’. They claim that questioning their pupils about aspects close to them arouse their interest and bolster their willingness to share experiences confirming Castrillón’s (2003, p. 63) ideas: "it is important to include learners’ life aspects in the process because these increase their interest and desire to participate".

"For instance, when the class starts I call students by their names and ask them: what is your father’s name? What is your favourite T.V program? And aspects that are familiar for them in order to motivate and encourage them to talk in English (FG 1 Mora)"

"We have to try to relate a common students’ issue with the grammar aspect that is going to be taught in order for students to understand and find it useful (FG 3 Mora)"

Visual helpers for making students recognize the ground

This subcategory involves the role that visual aids, as a teaching technique, play in the presentation stage. It is related to the support given by activities with posters, pictures, flashcards, frieze, comic strips, puzzles, and so on, to help students understand the topic of the class and feel motivated to use English orally. These activities have an extrinsic component reflected on the materials presented which boosts pupils’ risk-taking attitude to speak. With regards to this, Luchini (2006, p. 129) affirms: "visual stimuli are an economic an effective way of providing a topic of conversation without giving the learners words or phrases to manipulate".

Based on data, we determined that pupils’ attention increased when they had contact with colorful visual resources. They felt excited, impressed, concentrated, willing to participate and made themselves clear. In relation to this issue, student- teachers stated:

"The purpose is to bring posters, images because nowadays students do not learn by just using the board" (FG 2. Mora)

"I like to bring posters, memory charts, comic strips and all that material that catch their attention and I have realized that they participate more and make associations easily" (FG 1. Fresa)

Teaching activities: keepers during seed growth

This category refers to the roles assumed by the student teachers’ teaching techniques at the practice stage. Those roles are: sprinklers and energizers. Through these ones, pupils put into practice the input offered during the presentation stage; as Harmer (2007, p. 364) claims: "practice is the space to set up activities that involved the application, exercise or reproduction of the language item to be taught". Our characterization of the activities implemented at this stage resulted in the configuration of two main roles: pupils’ world representation: sprinkler for keeping them talking and diverse activities inclusion: energizer for learners’ oral growing.

Pupils’ world representation: sprinkler for keeping them talking

This subcategory represents the role that student teachers adopt to bring their students’ world into the classroom, maintaining their oral participation. "If the teacher uses the environment that surrounds children’s lives to be expressed in English, young learners will see the foreign language as a means to express their experiences in their daily life". (Monsalve and Correal, 2006, p. 137). This role takes place when clear instructions, examples and a safe atmosphere are provided in the practice stage. These constitute outer elements that support the desire to participate. In regards to the student teachers’ voice, a common view is to contextualize students through both, clear instructions and examples.

"I always start with my own example to foster students’ examples sharing" (FG 7, Sandia)

"It is a matter of motivating students to talk about familiar topics, daily situations in their contexts, to make they feel confident to develop the activities" (FG 7, Fresa)

Diverse activities inclusion: energizer for learners’ oral growing

This second role comes from the inclusion of different activities which resulted in the students’ oral skill improvement. This role constituted a tool for maintaining pupils motivated when talking, similar to what happens with a plant when it is fertilized. At this point, a well- known notion takes places: "in variety there is enjoyment". It refers to the energy students get when they are in contact with different strategies that impel them to speak. At the same time, the connection that they find between those techniques and their individual learning styles for learning. In that sense student- teachers say:

"Listening exercises, videos and discussions or debates around these are important for keeping students’ attention; to sum up, materials and activities variation is needed"(FG 6, Mora).

An additional ingredient that complements this role as an energizer is the competition characterized by extrinsic rewards (extra marks, happy faces, grades, etc.) that move students to take part in oral activities. Looking at theory, Byrne (1984, p. 99) states "we do not wish the students to become excessively competitive, but we want to recognize that the competition provides a valuable force to a purposeful use of language". This seems to relate to why pre- service teachers appeal to students’ extrinsic motivation while they are talking.

"They love external motivators; these are one of the best ways to encourage them to speak in English" (FG 5, Mora)

"The students are happier and try to participate more when they receive extra points, so they can improve their pronunciation and vocabulary" (FG 5, Sandia)

"They get excited when I give them extra points for their participation and when these help them to improve their scores" (FG 4, Mora)

Teaching strategies: producers at the harvest

This last category aims to define and characterize the role student- teachers’ teaching techniques have at the production stage. Here, these strategies represent the sower who has to collect the fruits. It means that the seed has grown and it is time for the harvest, as happens with students at the end of a class. At this point they are expected to put into practice what they have learnt with not so much dependence on the teacher.

In that respect, authors such as Cross (1992), Harmer (2007), Nunan (1991), and Woodward (2001) agree that the stage of production is the period of the class in which students are asked to use the stock of their linguistic knowledge creatively in less artificial situations or tasks. Behind this category there is one role.

Variety of activities implementation: harvester of uncontrolled oral performance

This subcategory revolves around the role that student- teachers’ teaching techniques have at the production stage in relation to the pupils’ oral production. Here, it works as a gatherer of evidences of what was gained by students in terms of their speaking ability enhancement. Considering that the production stage is more centered on the learner, student- teachers’ exert less control on their teaching techniques in order for pupils to complete them in a creative and free way. With the purpose of reaching this point, where students perform orally in a comfortable and confident atmosphere, it is necessary that these activities include interaction, extrinsic motivators and an opportunity to bring reality into the classroom. In that sense, the following lines present the two main techniques applied by pre- service teachers at the last stage of a class.

In regards to this subcategory, pre- service teachers expressed that during the development of these activities they assumed a passive role for allowing students to demonstrate their oral performance. It means that they did not interrupt their pupils’ oral participation so frequently for helping them to keep confidence:

"When I implement team work or peer work in the production stage of my class, I want my students to express themselves using what I teach them while they are in a confortable atmosphere" (FG 4, Sandia)

"My students like to demonstrate what they know in oral activities while they are in groups and when familiar topics are set. Furthermore I try to avoid interventions while they are talking, I prefer to provide them feedback at the end"(FG 2, Fresa)

"Students get motivated to participate in oral activities when extra points and marks are given at the moment of their team (peer group) participation. They also feel more confortable because me as the teacher is controlling or limiting their performance"(FG 6, Mora)

As the researchers in this study we could perceive that when activities offered students a clear view of their reality, spaces for interaction, and the inclusion of the competitive component they kept interested and confident while completing them.

This previous assertion let us state that, even though extrinsic motivation is not so favored by research, it is a powerful tool for guiding pupils to arouse their inner desire for learning a language in a particular context like this and why not for others too. In other words, students’ extrinsic motivation must not be considered as a negative fact against pupils’ language learning, on the contrary, it offers a chance to keep them working actively for developing not only speaking but the other communicative skills.

CONCLUSIONS AND PEDAGOGICAL IMPLICATIONS

Student- teachers’’ teaching techniques became the extrinsic motivation’ root and consequently the influence for the development of a particular skill like speaking in their students.

In that sense, the first category was: Teaching techniques: explorers for sowing the seed. This category represented the initial roles assumed by the sower, in this case student- teachers’ teaching techniques to initiate the seed sowing process, it means the presentation stage. Under this assertion, two subcategories emerged: In site information: nutrients provider to initiate students’ oral participation and, visual helpers for making students recognize the ground.

The second category established was: Teaching activities: keepers during seed growth. Here, the coming two subcategories appeared as the roles assumed by the student’ teachers teaching techniques along the practice stage: pupils’ world representation: sprinkler for keeping them talking and, diverse activities inclusion: energizer for learners’ oral growing.

The last category: Teaching strategies: producers at the harvest, symbolizes the roles of the teaching techniques at the production stage. In that respect, one role was identified: variety of activities implementation: harvester of uncontrolled oral performance.

So this study revealed the value of variety as one of the teaching techniques’ characteristics considering that learners are more willing to learn when they find fun, challenge, satisfaction, competition and recognition when participating in those activities.

Findings in this study also let us to set some implications. Further research is needed to go in-depth into the issue of how student- teachers’ update their pedagogical knowledge, contributing as sources of change, innovation and improvement in the language teaching and learning profession. In the same vein, cooperating teachers at schools should take advantage of student- teachers’ teaching techniques as sources for the development of other communicative skills. It means that, the perspectives proposed by the new generation of language teachers need to contribute to the educational field, so these should be implemented in classrooms. Opening this possibility can also favor the establishment of more cooperative relationships between pre- service teachers’ practices and in- service teachers’ experiences during the practicum.

Finally, this investigation can open a space for reshaping teaching models used at schools, as well as the training provided to student- teachers at universities. On the one hand, primary and secondary English teachers may adopt the methodologies and strategies implemented by preservice-teachers in their classrooms, with the purpose of becoming more updated, qualifying their teaching and increasing students’ motivation for learning. On the other hand, it should also imply for universities to include provision of early research-teaching immersion experiences for young teachers. This would enhance those novice teachers’ autonomy to assess their own pedagogical interventions.

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