English Teachers Use Of Spanish Influence

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

How English teacher´s use of Spanish influence his/her 3rd high school year students` listening comprehension in an English-as-a-foreign-language lessons on a subsidized school in Recoleta.

Table of contents

CALIFICACION DE LA TESINA

AGRADECIMIENTOS

GLOSARY

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Delimitation:

The following research is called "How English teacher´s use of Spanish influence his/her 3rd high school year students` listening comprehension in an English-as-a-foreign-language lessons on a subsidized school in Recoleta", as it was mentioned before it will be carried out in a subsidized school; this institution imparts only one type of program and it is the science and humanities program. The school is located in Recoleta, Santiago, Chile. In addition, it belongs to a Lower-middle social class. It has primary and secondary schools and there are two classes per grade, one for women and the other one for men. The average of students per class is 35.

Contextualization:

Hypothesis:

The students, whose English teachers develop their lessons mainly in English, listen and understand the language better than those whose teachers develop their lessons mainly in Spanish.

Theoretical Background

Research Problem:

One of the conclusions of SIMCE 2010 indicates that 63% English teachers in Chile are not teaching in English

Research Question:

How does the teacher´s use of his/her native language, Spanish for this matter, influence his/her students´ listening comprehension of English as a foreign language?

Research objectives:

General:

This research aims to demonstrate that permanent use of English on the part of teachers fosters understanding and better use of English among their students.

Specific:

A) To observe an English lesson so as to find out if teachers are doing their lessons in English or in Spanish. To describe the way teachers are doing their lessons.

B) To compare two realities through a listening test: the students’ listening comprehension level whose lessons are taught in English, and the level of the ones whose lessons are taught in Spanish.

C) To find out why teachers teach their English lessons mainly in Spanish

D) To demonstrate that students whose lessons are mainly taught in English understand the language in a better way than the ones whose lessons are taught mainly in Spanish

Justification:

The last English SIMCE given to 3rd grade students in 2010 showed that a high percentage of students did not achieve the minimum level required in the listening comprehension test. The causes of these results might be that English teachers speak mainly in Spanish, among others.

Variables:

Independent variable:

Students’ listening comprehension.

Dependent variable:

Teachers’ behavior.

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

Introduction

2.1 Language ontology

It is important to relate the teaching and learning processes to the language ontology and its three postulates.

The Oxford dictionary defines Ontology as "The branch of metaphysics dealing with the nature of being" (page XX), and language as "The method of human communication, either spoken or written, consisting of the use of words in a structured and conventional way." (page XX)

According to Rafael Echeverria, Ontology refers to "our generic understanding - our interpretation - of what it means to be a human being". (Echeverria, 1994, p. 28)

The language is constantly changing so this directly affects the way we teach and how students learn. "Language is an individual observer of the world and the human phenomenon". (Echeverria, 1994, page 28)

First postulate: We interpret human beings as linguistic beings.

Based on Echeverria (ibid), human beings live in language, so the classroom context and the methodology which the teacher uses to teach his/her students a new language, may influence the way students learn this new language, in this case English language. For example, if teachers use Spanish to teach English, the students are forced to learn this new language using their mother tongue and not using the language they want to learn.

There are three primary domains mentioned by Echeverria in his book. They are: the domain of the body, the domain of emotions and language proficiency. These three domains are interconnected and cannot be separated, because all of them need the language to be developed. (1994, p. 32 - 33)

For example, if the teacher is able to control his body at the moment of speaking and teaching, he is managing his emotions and uses English when he is teaching, learning will be more meaningful for students, and English may involve the students.

Each of these domains is linked to each other and allows a linguistic reconstruction. In this context, the domains will allow the reconstruction of the way that English is taught and the importance of language when we teach it.

Second postulate: interpret the language as generative

According to Echeverria, the language conception has changed from passive to generative, and it is constantly changing, and the way we used to perceive it is not the same now. Also, he says that there is an external reality, and when this reality belongs to us it is part of us and it becomes our own reality, and it exists for us.

For example, language allows us to describe or express what we think or feel, so it can be implemented when we are teaching the same language. It also allows us to talk about anything in order to change the traditional conception of language and language teaching. Therefore, language allows us to create a reality and this may be used in the context of a classroom to teach English.

Language creates reality, so the mode or manner in which we speak may directly affect what we teach. Language in the teaching-learning process is active and participatory. If we as teachers make students know that there is an external reality (English language), and it is incorporated in their daily life, this language will exist for students and stop being an external reality to them (Tr. Rafael Echeverria,1994).

The third postulate states that human beings create themselves in language and through it.

According to Echeverría (1994), the generative capacity of language permits that human beings can create their own language, which allows them infinite changes; so, human beings are constantly modifying the language. (Echeverria, 1994).

2.2 EFL (English Foreign Language)

Based on Yule (2006), EFL means learning a language that is not generally spoken in the surrounding community. As a consequence of globalization, English is the language that is taught as a foreign language in Chile.

In public schools English begins to be taught in 5º grade primary school till 4º grade in secondary schools. In most semi-private and private schools, English begins to be taught in pre-kindergarten till 4ºgrade in secondary school.

Based on MINEDUC fundamental objectives to English subject, all the students of Chile must leave school with a certain linguistics competencies. These are:

Be able to read and understand different kind of written texts.

To understand different kind of authentic oral texts. To process, assimilate and react in front of the information delivered.

To solve oral and written communicational situations related to the educational and work field. To use the foreign language to make contact with people of different countries in a simple and direct way.

To recognize and manage a lexicon of approximately 2.000 words which includes 1.600 words from the previous years.

To appreciate the contribution of the foreign language in the integral formation and potential development on the future work place and/or academic place.

Reading the MINEDUC requirements that are requested to students it is almost impossible not to compare the MINEDUC fundamental objectives of 4ºgrade students with the last results of English SIMCE. This reality shows that something is happening with English teachers that are not developing the skills that students should have. Some of these possible reasons will be seen on Teaching point.

2.3 Mother tongue

Based on Oxford Dictionary (YEAR), mother tongue is the language that you first learn to speak when you are a child. In our case, the language that we have learnt in Chile is Standard Spanish.

Spanish arrived together with the conquest of Spain to Chile and, because of this event Spanish began to spread throughout Chile becoming the official language and, leaving aside Mapudungun. For that reason, the spelling of Chilean people is ruled by Real Academia de la Lengua Española.

The language teaching began in the Conquest to the present day. The person can learn in their own context when he speaks, listen, reads and writes. Also, the person can learn the first language in educational institutions where education programs are used to teach it.

2.3.1 The use of mother tongue in class.

According to English SIMCE results of 2010, 63% of teachers among Chile performed their lessons using Spanish. This is an important fact that could help to know whether the use of mother tongue in classroom influence in the learning process of a foreign language in the students.

There are different points of views related to the use of mother tongue in classroom. Bolitho, (1983) says that the use of mother tongue may be useful when the students want to express their ideas. Abbot, (1982), mentions that students can make a mental comparison between English and Spanish, so in this case the mother tongue or L1 would not interfere in their learning process.

Atkinson, (1987),on the other hand, says that the overuse of mother tongue may affect when the students have to translate and speak in the classroom. This is because students have some difficulties at the moment of translate one idea in English to Spanish. In addition, when students speak using their mother tongue in the classroom may provoke that students feel more comfortable using their native language, leaving aside their English oral practice.

In conclusion, the use of mother tongue in classroom may influence in a negative or in a positive way. Some authors guarantee the use of mother tongue as an important tool in teaching a foreign language and, others warn about the excessive use of L1 when the intention is to promote the use of English in classroom.

2.3 Teaching

This concept as it is defined by Cambridge Dictionary is the job of being a teacher, with this we intend to explain that this action is very important and has to be taken into account. Is teaching an art or science? As it is mentioned in Harmer (year), teaching can be consider a science because of its attributes like the understanding of the language system in the case of ESL and EFL and it also can be consider as a science because of the mechanism it use.

Teachers play vital roles in the lives of the students in their classrooms. Teachers are best known for the role of educating the students that are placed in their care. Beyond that, teachers serve many other roles in the classroom. Teachers set the tone of their classrooms, build a warm environment, mentor and nurture students, become role models, and listen and look for signs of trouble.

The most common role a teacher plays in the classroom is to teach knowledge to children. Teachers are given a curriculum they must follow that meets state guidelines. This curriculum is followed by the teacher so that throughout the year, all pertinent knowledge is dispensed to the students. Teachers teach in many ways including lectures, small group activities and hands-on learning activities.

Teachers also play an important role in the classroom when it comes to the environment. Students often mimic a teacher's actions. If the teacher prepares a warm, happy environment, students are more likely to be happy. An environment set by the teacher can be either positive or negative. If students sense the teacher is angry, students may react negatively to that and therefore learning can be impaired. Teachers are responsible for the social behavior in their classrooms. This behavior is primarily a reflection of the teacher's actions and the environment she sets.

Teachers typically do not think of themselves as role models, however, inadvertently they are. Students spend a great deal of time with their teacher and therefore, the teacher becomes a role model to them. This can be a positive or negative effect depending on the teacher. Teachers are there not only to teach the children, but also to love and care for them. Teachers are typically highly respected by people in the community and therefore become a role model to students and parents.

Mentoring is a natural role taken on by teachers, whether it is intentional or not. This again can have positive or negative effects on children. Mentoring is a way a teacher encourages students to strive to be the best they can. This also includes encouraging students to enjoy learning. Part of mentoring consists of listening to students. By taking time to listen to what students say, teachers impart to students a sense of ownership in the classroom. This helps build their confidence and helps them want to be successful.

Another role played by teachers is a protector role. Teachers are taught to look for signs of trouble in the students. When students' behaviors change or physical signs of abuse are noticed, teachers are required to look into the problem. Teachers must follow faculty procedures when it comes to following up on all signs of trouble.

2.3.1 Teaching Principles

It is clear that nowadays exist different practices in language teaching. Although teachers try to do their best, sometimes it is not even clear whether they are a teacher who is task-based or a PPP teacher, also sometimes the lesson it is planned to be student centered but it finished being teacher centered. Is it because of the wide variety? Or is simply because it exist principles and teachers try to used them all and not centered in only one?

According to H. Douglas, there are 12 principles divided into 3 categories, those are cognitive principles, socio affective principles and linguistic principles. And it is important to mention that all 12 principles are in a way cognitive, affective, and linguistic. Because all of them has a little bit from the other.

2.3.2.1 Cognitive Principles

Cognitive principles as it name explained are mainly related to intellectual and mental functions.

2.3.2.1.1 Principle 1: Automaticity

It is commonly attributed to children that they learnt a language subconsciously, why this we meant that they do not study language and do not analyze grammar or linguistic figures, they just acquire the language. Through an inductive process of exposure to language input and opportunity to experiment with output, they appear to learn languages without thinking about them ( Douglas,2007)

The principle of automacity described by Douglas, highlights the importance of:

Subconscious absorption of language through meaningful use.

Efficient and rapid movement away from focus on the forms of language to a focus on the purposes to which language is put.

Efficient and rapid movement away from capacity-limited control of a few language forms (often refered to as fluency)

Resistance to the temptation to analyze language forms.

For Douglas, is important to mention that although this principle says that you should not focus on language forms, if you do it is not necessarily harmful. In fact adultas, especially, can benefit greatly from certain processing rules, definition and other aspects of language. It is clear that adults’ brain is not as fast cognitively speaking as children’s brain.

What does automaticity means to teachers, according to Douglas?:

1. Because classroom learning normally begins with controlled, focal,

processing, there is no mandate to entirely avoid overt attention to

language systems (grammar, phonology, discourse, etc.).

Make sure that large portion of your lesson are focused on the "use" of language for purposes that are as genuine as a classroom context will permit. Student will gain more language competence in the long run if the functional purposes of language are the focal point. It is clear that language is for use it, so the more practice the lesson contains the better your students will get.

Automaticity is not gained overnight; therefore, you , as teacher, need to exercise patience with student as you slowly help them to achieve fluency. Because remember that acquiring a language is process and your students need you as the model to follow and to receive the tools they need to create their own speech.

2.3.2.1.2 Principle 2: Meaningful Learning

Closely related to the principle of automacity are cognitive theories of learning established by Ausubel, which convincingly argue the strength of meaningful as opposed to rote learning. David Ausubel developed theory called meaningful learning. In Ausubel's view, to learn meaningfully, students must relate new knowledge (concepts and propositions) to what they already know. He proposed the notion of an advanced organizer as a way to help students link their ideas with new material or concepts. Ausubel's theory of learning claims that new concepts to be learned can be incorporated into more inclusive concepts or ideas. These more inclusive concepts or ideas are advance organizers. Advance organizers can be verbal phrases, or a graphic. In any case, the advance organizer is designed to provide, what cognitive psychologists call, the mental scaffolding.

According to Douglas, some classroom implications of the principle of Meaningful Learning include the following:

Capitalize on the power of meaningful learning by appealing to student’s interest, academic goals, and career goals.

Whenever a new topic or concept is introduced, attempt to anchor it in students’ existing knowledge and background so that it becomes associated with something they already know.

Avoid the pitfalls or rote learning:

Too much grammar explanation

Too many abstract principles and theories

Too much drilling and/or memorization

Activities that do not contribute to accomplishing the goals of the lesson, unit, or course.

Activities whose purposes are not clear

Techniques that are so mechanical or tricky that student focus on the mechanics instead of on the language or meanings.

2.3.2.1.3 Principle 3: The Anticipation of Reward

The theory of behaviorism stated but Skinner have clearly demonstrated the strength of reward in both animal and human behavior. Virtually everything we do is inspired and driven by a sense of purpose or goal according to Skinner, and the anticipation of a reward is what help us to move.

The implications for the classroom are obvious. At one end of the spectrum, teachers can perceive the importance of the immediate administration of such rewards as praise for correct responses, appropriate grades or scores to indicate success, or other public recognition. At other end, it is important that teachers assist students on their work. Students must know that they are doing something that is useful for their language learning and not doing something in order to get a reward.

According to Douglas, the implications of The Anticipation of Reward principle in the classroom are:

Provide an optimal degree of immediate verbal praise and encouragement to students as a form of short-term reward (just enough to keep them confident in their ability but not so much that your praise simply becomes verbal recognition).

Encourage students to reward each other with compliments and supportive action.

In classes with very low motivation, short-term reminders of progress may help students to perceive their development. Gold stars and stickers, issuimg certain privileges for good work, and progress charts and graphs may spark some interest.

Display enthusiasm and excitement yourself in the classroom. If you as teacher are dull, lifeless, bored, and have low energy, you can be almost sure that it will be contagious.

Try to get learners to see the long-term rewards in learning English by pointing out what they can do with English where they live and around the world, the prestige in being able to use English, the academic benefits of knowing English, jobs that require English and so on.

2.3.2.1.4 Principle 4: Intrinsic Motivation

Here the behavior stems from needs, wants, or desires within oneself, the behavior itself is self-rewarding; therefore, no externally administered reward is necessary (Douglas,2007). With this it is clear that student do their best in order to get personal satisfaction rather than a point or a star.

Douglas also says that if all students where intrinsically motivated teachers might not even been required. But as teachers, is necessary that we teach that not every task, goal or activity will lead to a reward. It is very important that students create the feeling of personal satisfaction at the time of doing something, because at the end the only ones who will benefit from the learning are themselves.

2.3.2.1.5 Principle 5: Strategic Investment

Douglas says that a few decades ago, the language-teaching profession largely concerned itself with the delivery of language to students. This is closely related with the theory of jug and mug that was presented to us in our methodology courses. This theory deals with a teacher (the jug) pour the knowledge into their students(mugs) without worrying about the other variables.

This fifth principle, takes the methods that a learner employs to internalize and to perform in the language are as important as the teacher’s methods.

When teaching, is important to use a wide variety of methods and techniques, this will ensure that as teachers we reach the maximum number of students. It is important to remember that not every person learn on the same way.

Douglas stated that a teacher’s greatest dilemma is how to attend to each student in a class while still reaching the class as a whole group. In relatively large classes of 30 to 50 students, individual attention becomes increasingly difficult if not impossible. This principle nevertheless is a reminder to provide as much attention as you can to each individual student.

Some aspects of the dilemma surrounding variation and the need for individualization can be solved through specific strategies-based instruction, for that you may consider these questions as more gist for your education mill:

Am I seizing whatever opportunity I can to let learned in on the secrets that will help them to develop and use strategies for learning and communication?

Am I helping students to become aware of their preferences, styles, strengths and weaknesses, so that they can then take appropriate action in the form of strategies for better learning?

Do my lesson and impromptu feedback adequately sensitize students to the wisdom of their taking responsibility for their own learning?

How can I ensure that my students will want to put forth the effort of trying out some strategies?.

This four questions will helps definitely to know if we, as teachers are strategically investing in our classrooms.

2.3.2.1.6 Principle 6: Autonomy

Douglas, consider a number of implications into the classrooms and those are:

Learners at the beginning stages of language will of course be somewhat dependent on the teacher, which is natural and normal. But teachers can help beginners

As learners gain confidence and begin to be able to experiment with language, implement activities in the classroom that allow creativity but are not completely beyond the capacity of students.

Don’t forget that pair and group work and other interactive activities in your classroom provide opportunities for students to d language on their own.

In oral and written production in the classroom, encourage creativity and praise student for trying language that’s a little beyond their present capacity.

Remember, you are a facilitator and coach, so while your students are in your

2.3.2.2 Socioaffective Principles:

The socioaffective principles are three and are characterized by a more marked degree of emotional involvement. Although, is important to mention that the previous principles has some attributes of socioaffectivity but cannot be totally considered as socioaffective. Douglas, explained that this principles are focus on the feelings about self, about communicating with others in a community of learners, and about the ties between language and one’s culture.

The socio affective principles are language ego, willingness to communicate and language-culture connections .

2.3.3 Motivation

Cambridge Dictionary defines Motivation as the enthusiasm for doing something (Cambridge University Press, 2005). It is known that every human being has different levels of enthusiasm when they have to do or make certain activities. As human being we do not do every single activity with the same initiative, that why Anita Woolfolk defines motivation as an inner state that activates, commands and maintains the behavior. (Woolfolk, 2006). Schunk, defines motivation as the process of promote and support behaviour in order to reach an aim. In the same way as learning, we cannot observe motivation, but we can infer it from people’s behaviour, such as verbal expressions, dedication and effort on doing something.

2.3.3.1 Types of motivation

As it is stated by several authors we can find 2 different types of motivations into human beings. One is related with obtaining things, could be a price or a reward after accomplishing a task whereas the other one is related with the personal satisfaction that completing the task involves. The 2 types of motivations are:

2.3.3.1.1 Extrinsic Motivation

It is when you do something in order to achieve a goal or to avoid something. E.g.: You can study to get a good mark, so you can raise your average; or you study because if you do not have a good mark, your parents will punish you. In both cases, you are studying whereas to achieve a goal (good mark), or avoid the punish.

2.3.3.1.2 Intrinsic Motivation

As it was explained previously in 2.3.2.1.4, Intrinstic Motivation refers to people’s wish of have in control the environment and to focus on control and competences. (Schunk,1997). Intrinsic motivation implies the wish of doing something just for doing it, this means, do an activity to perform on it. When someone is in intrinsically motivated, this person does something not for reaching a goal but just for doing, finish the activity. Whereas the extrinsically way, the person does an activity just to reach a goal (e.g. a good mark, a price, a greeting)

2.3.5.5 Teacher’s Behaviour.

The Oxford dictionary defines behaviour as the way in which one acts or conducts oneself, especially toward others. In this case we focused this on the teacher. The teacher as any other human being, feels, think and it is involved in a whole world of problem and solutions. The role of teacher is not only affected by the students it is also affected by several other variables, one of them is self- esteem.

2.3.5.6 Teacher’s self-esteem

A factor that can directly affect the teaching-learning process on students is the teacher’s self-esteem. It is very hard that a teacher, who does not have a good self-esteem and because of that is unmotivated, could give their students meaningful learning. One thing that can affect the teacher’s self-esteem is the sense of efficacy, that is the believed that a teacher has on his skills in order to organize and execute his students’ learning on a positive way (Arancibia, 2011). So, teachers are more susceptible to adopt new strategies in the classroom if they have more confidence on their own ability to control and affect the students’ learning. The sense of efficacy implies the teacher’s own believed of having tools and being able to solve problems, and the believed that the teacher can influence the results of the environment. This two dimensions are related with the anticipation to failure, this is, how a teacher can predict the success or the failure on learning work, so is the representation that the teacher has on his own abilities in relation with the representation of he has about the difficulties of the task. It is very important for a teacher to have a good self-esteem in order to have confidence on his own capabilities to solve problems and successful probabilities, for being able to influence on a positive way the students’ performance.

2.5 SIMCE results 2010

Through time, English language teaching has become more and more important in Chile. Since 20th century, this foreign language has been inserted in the Chilean educational curriculum, because English in Chile needs to be a second language in the next few years that is why in 2010 it was included in the Evaluation System of Teaching Quality (SIMCE – its acronym in Spanish), which measures the level of knowledge of a subject, in this case English, that students have reached at the end of a period.

Mainly, the idea of incorporating English language in the curriculum pointed to a change in the country in order to transform Chile into a bilingual country. Through time and with the results obtained in the test (SIMCE), we can notice that Chile is very far from being a bilingual country. In order to improve the results in the future tests, the Ministry of Education have created many opportunities to make this language familiar to Chileans, and in 2004 they created the English Open Doors Program, but even with this program students did not achieve good results, people from English Open Doors reported that one of the main reasons why students obtain bad results is because of the use of the first tongue by teachers.

The results of the first English SIMCE test given to all students of 3rd year in secondary school along an across the country between October 25 and November 5, 2010, show that only one in ten pupils achieved a level considered "basic" it means that students just manage good understanding of basic survival needs such as addresses, prices, directions, etc, and they understand simple questions in social situations in the listening test according to the basic level for reading, students understand common words, and shop names they also read memos and simple menus, train and bus routes, traffic signals.

SIMCE test was based on TOEIC Bridge test, which is in line with international standards of English, to assess student learning. This test can identify students who have achieved a basic level on English, according to international standards. The skills that were evaluated were: listening and reading.

SIMCE results have shown that the best results are obtained by:

Students that begin their English lessons at an earlier age.

Students who have more hours of English teaching.

Students whose teachers speak English during the lesson.

Students attending English language courses outside school hours.

Students that begin their English lessons at an earlier age.

In Chile most of the students, especially in public schools, begin their English lessons in fifth grade, but there are private schools which begin their English lessons in pre- school, that issue can be a reason why they can manage better the language at the end of their education at school. When they are children, they can imitate more sounds, so it is not complicated to introduce a new language in their minds. According to Skinner (YEAR), at first the kids just imitate, and then associate certain words with situations, objects or actions. In accordance with Lenneberg (1967), children whose linguistic development is produced normally, acquire the language device between eighteen and thirty months old (Narbona and chevri-Muller, 2001) (http://www.emagister.com/curso-psicologia-lenguaje/psicologia-teorias-sobre-adquisicion-lenguaje)

Students who have more hours of English teaching.

According to the Chilean educational curriculum, the minimum amount of hours in the English subject are two. However, there are some schools which have more than XX hours because of two reasons: They are private schools, and they develop their own curriculum, or schools have different areas of study and one of them is English.

Students whose teachers speak English during class.

According to Ministry of education of Chile, students whose teachers speak English during the class were the ones that achieved the highest results in the SIMCE 2010. On the contrary the ones that achieved the lowest results were the ones whose teachers speak Spanish during class.

The following chart shows the percentages of students that informed whether their teachers speak English or Spanish in class.

Descripción: C:\Users\Sue\Downloads\bbbbbbb.bmp

Students attending English language courses outside school hours.

The most important aspect in the learning process is practice, so if the student is practicing most of the time, his/her results will be better and also they can improve vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation and so on. Courses outside school might be useful in terms of practice because the students are spending more time in the new language so they are learning more.

http://www.educarchile.cl/Portal.Base/Web/VerContenido.aspx?ID=208390

2.6 Listening

It is very common to associate the listening skill with the speaking one. They are closely related and one depends by the other and vice versa. But when people want to know if someone comprehend and performed on English (if someone knows English), they just ask "do you speak English?" So nobody is worried about you comprehend English (in the case of receptive skills: listening and reading) or if you have a good performance on writing (even if you know how to write in English). Considering this, how can you speak English if you do not listen or do not know how to listen it? Every day we are more listening than speaking. We can listen what other people say, but that does not mean we are going to respond to what we listen, e.g.: when you are walking down the street or when you are on the underground you are able to listen what people is talking to each other, but that does not mean you are going to start a conversation. So the listening skill should be as important as the speaking one. We therefore need to pay close attention to listening as a mode of performance for assessment in the classroom. (Brown 2004) (p.119)

2.6.1 Types of Listening

According to Harmer (2006), there are two types of listening:

2.6.1.1 Extensive listening: Reefers to the teacher encouraging students to choose for themselves what they listen to and to do it for pleasure and general language improvement (Harmer, 2006). Extensive listening usually takes place outside the classroom, and they take the listening by their own motivation, e.g.: listening to music in English, watching an English spoken movie, etc. Therefore, when teachers give the students opportunity to choose what they want to hear/ listen, their motivation increase. A good idea to apply Extensive Listening in the classroom would be to ask some students to bring to the class a record of what they want and as a whole class to decide which one they are going to listen to. The purpose of this task is to give the students more reasons to listening.

2.6.1.2 Intensive listening: is the use of different kinds of activities in the classroom to involve students in English language, so teachers can use taped material in order to students can practice the listening skills. Also, teachers can speak in English with students to create an ensuring communication. The students have the opportunity to hear a clear spoken dialogue or a written text.

Advantages of Intensive Listening: the use of taped material allows the students to hear different voices and accents, apart from their own teacher’s because of the real context that is used.

Disadvantages of Intensive Listening: it is difficult for the teacher to ensure that all the students can hear the recording because of the acoustic that classrooms generally have and the environmental noise.

2.6.2 Approaches to Listening

Even when a person knows every single grammatical rule of English or has wide English vocabulary, that does not mean that can understand every word when the English is spoken. According to Scrivener (2011) these are some of the reasons people give to explain why they do not understand spoken English: (p.249)

People speak too fast to follow

They cannot tell where words start and stop

People pronounce words they just do not recognize

They cannot work out details of what is being said

They cannot get even a general sense of the message

They do not know what attitudes people are expressing

They cannot pick out those parts that are most important for them to understand

Nowadays, most of students are taught the listening skill in a very bad way, where the teacher plays a recording of people talking in different situations and at the end they are asked a few comprehension questions, and if they answer badly, they are said that should have paid more attention. So the students do not know on what part of the listening to pay more attention, because they do not know what the questions will be before they start to listen.

Another problem with listening lessons is that in most cases the students work with printed material with a copy of the listening, so they do not actually have to listen at all, because with the text the lesson turns into a reading activity. Reading is usually easier for students and most of them will probably get the answers from the text rather than by listening.

Scrivener (2011) gives a set of tips to follow in order to make Listening lessons more effective:

The activity must really demand listening

It must not be simply a memory test

Tasks should be realistic or useful in some way

The activity must actively help them to improve their listening

It should not be threatening

It should help students work around difficulties to achieve specific results

He also recommends giving students the questions before the recording is played and no after, so the students will listen with a clear aim in mind. By giving the learners a clear purpose in listening, you turn the exercise from a memory test into a listening task. (Scrivener, 2011) (p.251)

So the correct procedure to do a listening lesson should be:

Set questions.

Play recording.

Check if the students have found the answers.

If not, play the recording again as often as necessary.

Whether he finally gets the right or wrong answer is to some degree irrelevant, because in trying to get the right answer, he is stretching his powers of listening to the limit. The guideline is "process rather than product", meaning that the going is more important than the getting there. I am trying to steer you away from thinking that right answers are the only goal. The goal is to work on the listening itself. (Scrivenner, 2011) (p.255)

This conceptual map named "The task-recording-feedback circle" shows the process the teacher should follow during a listening class, according to Scrivener (2011). (p.253)

Mapa Conceptual.jpg

As all the skills: speaking, listening, reading and writing, listening also has principles. One of these principles deals with encouraging students to listen as often and as much as possible. According to Harmer, the more students listen, the better they get at listening – and the better they get at understanding pronunciation and at using it appropriately themselves. So as important as a person speaks English also is that listen goodly, because by listening people can also learn to speak.

METHODOLOGY

Type of Research Study:

This research requires a quantitative investigation, in order to prove that students, whose teachers speak mainly English in their English lessons, have better listening comprehension than those whose English teachers speak mainly Spanish in the lessons.

Our research demands a thorough analysis of the information and results, the observations in the classroom help us to notice the differences between two different ways to teach English, it concerns teachers´ way to teach and students´ way to learn.

Research Design:

This research is quantitative but it has a qualitative view, since it concerns compare levels of two different courses in the same school, basically measure the level of English listening comprehension that students have. Since our research aims if teachers are using Spanish or English in their English lessons, also, it measure through collecting data from two teachers of third grade from a semi private school. According to Sampieri, a quantitative view use data collection to test hypotheses based on numerical measurement and statistical analysis to establish patterns of behavior (Sampieri, 2003)

Data Gathering Techniques:

After we decided which would be our research question, we have to focus on the elaboration of our theoretical framework. We worked with authors such as …………………………………. Then we contacted the school, "Liceo San Juan Diego" in order to apply our investigations with their students and teachers. We decided to apply the research on two groups of third year secondary students. The instruments to collect data were designed by us and those are: Interview with two English teachers, one per group of students; Checklist to the observations of lessons to both teachers; Questionnaire to the students of both groups and finally, a Listening test to the students in order to know how their listening comprehension is. We ask some teachers from San Sebastian University to validate our instruments.

Once we went to the school, we applied the interview to the teachers. Also we applied the questionnaire to the students of both groups. We observed the lessons of both teachers ten times each and apply the checklist to their lessons. And finally we apply the listening test to each group of students separately.

We proceeded to do the data analysis. We tabulated the data and graphed the data, using a computer program called "SPSS" .

Instrument validation:

Since our research is fully quantitative, the objectives that we have raised and, search of know whether the use of Spanish by the teacher influences students' listening comprehension, we have taken ​​the decision of use these instruments to carry out our research.

On the present research four instruments were used, those are: A checklist, a questionnaire, an interview and a test.

In order to validate these instruments, an expert judgment was required. The validation consisted on one schedule per instrument which first contain the research question, general objective and specifics objectives of the research.

Then, in a chart the instrument`s name is given, also the classification and the specific objectives. Next, it is attached the already finished instrument in order to be observed by the judges. Below this, a contingency table for the judges can be found. This table contains all the questions or asseverations of the instrument, in order to be accepted, rejected or modified by the judges.

Finally, there is a chart for the judges to add general comments of the instrument. Here judges can explain their acceptance, rejection or modification of an item. After that, the document must be signed by the judges.

Each instrument has a validation schedule which have been evaluated and signed by three San Sebastian University professors. The jury panel is composed by: Virginia Pichilaf (Programme Director), Christopher Walker (English Professor) and, Jorge Urquhart (Spanish Professor, PhD. in Linguistics).

The only instrument that did not need be validated by these steps was the listening test performed by 3er grade San Juan Diego secondary school students, because was already validated by MINEDUC to be applied.

Once this process is completed, the instruments will be improved through the judges’ observations.

Checklist

This checklist is closed and consists of 20 observable situations in English lessons by the teacher and the students of San Juan Diego School which will be checked with a yes or no tick plus our observations in 5 visits.

Our specific objectives to this instrument are:

To compare the results obtained through the observation of the two 3rd grade courses of San Juan Diego School.

To know if the teachers and students use the English language in classroom.

Questionnaire

This instrument is closed and consists of 12 questions with 3 or 4 kinds of alternatives ruled by letters. This questionnaire is made for 10 students of 3er grade A and 10 students of 3er grade B of San Juan Diego secondary school.

The specific objectives of this instrument are:

To compare the teachers answers with the students answers to confirm that teachers are not altering their answers regarding to the use of English in classroom.

To establish the frequency and intensity of the use of English by students in relation to the activities and techniques used by the teacher in the classroom.

Interview

This instrument is semi-structured and consists of 11 opened questions that are made to two teachers of San Juan Diego School. One of these teacher teaches in 3er grade A and the other one in 3er grade B in San Juan Diego secondary School.

Our specific objectives of this instrument are:

To know the techniques that San Juan Diego school`s teachers use to teach English to the students.

To check if teachers really use motivating material to the students.

Test

This test is a SIMCE standard essay test of listening made for the MINEDUC to practice before of give the English SIMCE. This test was given to 3er grade A and 3er grade B San Juan Diego secondary school. This instrument is divided in 5 parts. The 1st part consists of listening 5 questions and chooses the right answer. The 2nd part consists of listen a conversation and fills the gaps with the correct information. The 3er part consists of listen a conversation and chooses the right answer. The 4th part consists of listen a dialogue and completes the chart with the missing information. Finally, the 5th part consists of listen a dialogue and completes the chart with the missing information.

This test is validated by the Ministry of Education.

The specific objectives of this instrument are:

Measure the listening level possessed by students of 3rd grades San Juan Diego secondary school.

To establish ranges of listening comprehension after applying the SIMCE essay test to the 3er grades students of San Juan Diego secondary school.

Population:

This research is carried out with two EFL teachers and (NUMBER)students from 3º Medio as the universe, which belong to a subsidized school. One of the teachers was a female and one was a male, and both were graduated with at least a year of experience. Both of them teach in secondary levels.

The students belonged to 3 Medio, they were male and female students between 16 and 17 years old.

Kind of Sample

The kind of sample is non-probabilistic intentional, because our sample have been chosen trying to represent the majority of the group in the case of students and the whole universe of English teachers.

¿Cómo el uso de la lengua nativa por parte del profesor, en este caso español, influye en la comprensión auditiva de sus estudiantes como idioma extranjero?

How does the teacher use his/her native language, Spanish for this matter, influence his/her students listening comprehension of English as a foreign language?

Variables

Variables

Conceptualizacion

Conceptualization

Dependiente: uso de la lengua nativa que utiliza el profesor en la sala de clases.

Dependent: The Language used by English teachers.

Idioma que utilizan los profesores del Colegio San Juan Diego para dictar sus clases de inglés.

The language used by the teachers who teach at San Juan Diego’s School to develop their classes.

Corresponde a la lengua que primero se aprende y es hablada en el hogar en el que se nace es la lengua que acompaña el desarrollo del individuo, la que provee de un marco semantico y de categorizacion del mundo, es la lengua que mas se usa, la que se conoce major, es la lengua que se piensa y se sueña, y en la que uno se identifica como hablante nativo y es visto asi por los hablantes que lo rodean (Pelusso, 1997)

Corresponds to the language that it’s first learnt and it is spoken in the home you belong to. This language grown together with the subject and it gives him/her a semantic framework. It is the most used language, the one best known by the subject, the language dreamed and tought by the individual. It corresponds with the language that represent the subject.

Independiente: Comprensión auditiva de los estudiantes.

Independent: The listening comprehension that 3ºMedio Students have.

* Combinación de aquello que escuchamos, de lo entendemos y de lo que recordamos.

(Brooks y Health 1991, citados por González 2010)

Combination of what we listen, understand and remember.

(Brooks y Health 1991, quoted by González 2010)

Variables

Variables

Operacionalizacion

Operationalization

Dependiente: Lenguaje que utilizan los profesores.

Dependent: The Language used by English teachers.

A través de cinco observaciones indirectas junto a una lista de cotejo a clases de inglés. De esta forma, se podrá corroborar si el profesor dicta sus clases de inglés en este mismo idioma o en español.

Through five class observations. In this way, it will be corroborated whether the teacher teach his/her English Classes in Spanish or in English.

Independiente: Comprensión auditiva de los estudiantes.

Independent: The listening comprehension that 3ºMedio Students have.

Aplicando una prueba auditiva estandarizada (MINEDUC-SIMCE) en Ingles podremos verificar si los alumnos cuyos profesores hacen las clases en inglés obtienen mejores resultados a diferencia de los que hacen las clases en español.

Applying an English listening test it will be verified if the students whose teachers develop their English classes in English obtain better results than those whose teachers develop their classes in Spanish.

REFERENCIAS:

González, 2010: http://www.eumed.net/libros-gratis/2010e/841/ensenanza%20de%20la%20comprension%20auditiva%20en%20ingles.htm

http://www.cultura-sorda.eu/resource/PELUSO_LENGUA_materna_y_primera_1997.pdf

DATA ANALYSIS

CONCLUSION AND SUGESTIONS