Tema-1 “ LANGUAGE AS COMMUNICATION: ORAL AND WRITTEN

Tema-1
“ LANGUAGE AS COMMUNICATION: ORAL AND WRITTEN LANGUAGE. FACTORS
DEFINING A COMMUNICATIVE SITUATION: LISTENER, CODE, FUNCTIONALITY
AND CONTEXT “
In this unit we are going to study language and its major functions:
* We will show how Communication is one of these Functions.
* We will show how learning a language is not only a grammatical process but also a Social
Process.
* We will also analyse the differences between Writing and Speech.
* We will discuss some important Communicative Theory defining their key factors.
* Finally, we will show how important it is to create Real Communication Situations in our
Classrooms in order to improve language teaching.
A conclusion summing up what has been said throught the unit will follow, ending up with
the bibliography used for the elaboration of this discussion.
INTRODUCTION
We must point out that language is not just a “subject” in the sense of a package of
knowledge. It is not just a set of information and insights. It is a fundamental part of
being human. Traditional approaches used to treat a language as if it were a free-standing
package of knowledge by analysing and observing it. Many of us learnt a language that way.
But this process is a very abstract one and experience has shown that it does not appeal to
everyone. To learn to use a language at all well for ourselves rather than for textbook
purposes, most of us have to become involved in it as an experience. We have to make it a
human event not just a set of information. We do this by using it for real communication,
for genuine giving and receiving of messages.
* Now that we have introduced this particular topic we are going to deal with the study of
language as Communication, its functions and the concept of communicative competence.
The word language has prompted many definitions. For example;
Sapir said that “ language is a purely human and non instinctive method of commicating
ideas, emotions and desires by means of voluntarily produced symbols “.
Hall defined language as “ the institution whereby humans communicate and interact with
each other by means of habitually used oral-auditory symbols “
As we can see with these two definitions it is difficult to make a precise and
comprehensive statement about formal and functional universal properties of language, so
some linguists have tried to identify the various properties that are thought to be its
essential defining characteristics.
The most widely acknowledged comparative approach has been that proposed by Charles
Hockett. This set of 13 design features of communication using spoken language are as
follows:
1. Auditory-vocal channel: sound is used between mouth and ear.
2. Broadcast transmission and directional reception: a signal can be heard by any auditory
system within earshot and the source can be located using the ear’s direction finding.
3. Rapid fading: auditory signals are transitory.
4. Interchangeability: speakers of a language can reproduce any linguistic message they can
understand.
5. Total feedback: speakers hear and can reflect upon everything they say.
6. Specialization: the sound waves of speech have no other functions than to signal
meaning.
7. Semanticity: the elements of the signal convey meaning through their stable association
with real world situations.
8. Arbitrariness: there is no depency between the element of the signal and the nature of
the reality to which it refers.
9. Discreetness: speech uses a small set of found elements that clearly contrast with each
other.
10. Displacement: it is possible to talk about events remote in space or time from the
situation of the speaker.
11. Productivity: there is an infinitive capacity to express and understand meaning, by using
old sentence elements to produce new elements.
12. Traditional transmission: language is transmitted from a generation to the next by a
process of teaching and learning.
13. Duality of patterning: the sounds of language have no intrinsic meaning, but combine in
different ways to form elements, such as words, that do convey meaning.
* After having studied the main properties of language, and communication, we will now see
how the learning of a language involves a Social Process.
The most usual answer to the question of “why we use language” is to communicate our
ideas, and this ability to communicate or communicative competence will be studied in the
next part. But it would be wrong to think of communicating our ideas as the only aim for
which language is used. Several other functions may be identified where the
communications of ideas has a marginal or irrelevant consideration.
One of the most common uses of language, the expressive or emotional one, is a means of
getting rid of our nervous energy when we are under stress, when we are angry, afraid, etc.
We do not try to communicate because we can use language in this way whether we are
alone or not.
Malinowski termed the third use of language we are studying Phatic Communication. He
used it to refer to the social function of language , that is, to signal friendship or lack of
enemity. Also, to maintain a comfortable relationship between people.
The fourth function we may find is based on Phonetic Properties. The persuasive cadences
of political speechmaking, or the chants used by prisoners or soldiers have only one
apparent reason: people take delight in them.
They can only be explained by a universal desire to exploit the sonic potential of language.
The fifth function is the Performative one. A performative is an utterance that performs
an act. This use occurs in the naming of a ship at a launching ceremony, or when a priest
baptises a child.
We can also find other functions such as:
- recording facts
- instrument of thought
- expression of regional, social, educational, sexual or occupational identity.
The British linguist Halliday grouped all these functions into three Metafunctions, which
are the manifestations in the linguistic system of the two unique manifestation purposes
which underline all uses of language, combined with the third component (textual) which
breathes relevance into the other two.
1) The Idealistic Funtion: is to organise the speaker’s or writer’s experience of the real or
imaginary world.
2) The Interpersonal Function: is to indicate, establish or maintain social relationships
between people.
3) The Textual Function: which serves to create written or spoken texts which cohere
within themselves and which fit the particular situation in which they are used.
Now we shall study the function of communication or what is named Communicative
Competence.
Chomsky defined language as a set of sentences, each finite in length and constructed out
of a finite set of elements. An able speaker has a subconcious knowledge of the grammer
rules of his language which allows him to make sentences in that language. However, Dell
Hymes thought that Chomsky had missed out some very important information:
The Rules Of Use. When a native speaks, he does not only utter grammatically correct
forms, he also knows where and when to use the sentences and to whom.
For Hymes the Communicative Competence had four aspects:
1) Systematic Potential:
This means that a native speaker possesses a system that has a potential for creating a lot
of language. This is similar to Chomsky’s competence.
2) Appropriacy:
This means that the native speaker knows what language is appropriate in a given situation,
according to: setting, participants, purposes, channel and topic.
3) Occurence:
This means that the native speaker knows how often something is said in the language and
acts accordingly.
4) Feasibility:
This means that a native speaker knows whether something is possible in the language.
These four categories have been adapted for teaching purposes. Thus, Real Decreto
1006/1991 of 14th June, which establishes the teaching requirements for Primary
Education nation-wide, sees communicative competence as comprising five
subcompetences:
1) Grammar Competence.
The ability to put into practice the system of grammar rules by which a language operates.
2) Sociolinguistic Competence.
The ability to produce appropriate utterances in different sociolinguistic contexts
depending on contextual factors such as status of participants, purpose of the
interaction....
3) Sociocultural Competence.
This is understood to be the knowledge of the social and cultural context in which the
language is used.
4) Discourse Competence.
The ability to produce unified written or spoken discourse that shows coherence and
cohesion in different types of texts.
5) Strategic Competence.
The ability to use verbal and non-verbal strategies to compensate for breakdowns in
communication, or to improve the effectiveness of communication, as for example, the use
of paraphrase, tone of voices or gestures.
On the other hand, Canale defined Discourse Competence as the aspect of communicative
competence which describes the ability to produce unified written or spoken discourse
that shows coherence and cohesion and which conforms to the norms of different genres.
* Up to this point we have studied the concept of language as means of communication,
amongst other functions.
Now, let us move onto another important aspect of this unit, which deals with the main
differences between writing and speech.
Before summarising the main differences between spoken and written language we will
outline their main features independantly.
On the one hand we have spoken language, which is the most obvious aspect of language.
Speech is not essential to the definition of an infinitely productive communication system,
such as is constituted by language. But, in fact, speech is the universal material of
language. Man has almost certainly been a speaking animal. The earliest known systems of
writing go back perhaps some 5000 years. This means that for many hundreds of thousands
of years human languages have been transmitted and developed entirely as a spoken means
of communication.
The description and classification of speech sounds is the main aim of phonetics. Sounds
may be identified with reference to their production, their transmission and their
reception. These three activities occur at the physiological level, which implies the action
of muscles and nerves. The motor nerves that link the speaker’s brain with his speech
mechanism activate the corresponding muscles. The movements of the tongue, lips, vocal
chords, etc, constitute the articulatory stage of the speech chain, and the area of
phonetics that deals with it is articulatory phonetics.
The movement of the articulation produces disturbances in the air pressure called sound
waves which are physical manifestations. This is the acoustic stage of the chain, during
which the sound waves travel towards the listener’s ear. These sound waves activate the
listener’s ear drum.
On the other hand we have written language which evolved independently at different
times in several parts of the world.
We can classify writing systems into two types:
1) Non-Phonological Systems.
These do not show a clear relationship between the symbols and the sounds of the
language. They include the pictographic, ideagraphic, uniform and Egyptian hieroglyphics
and logographics.
2) Phonological Systems.
These do show a clear relationship between the symbols and the sounds of language. We
can distinguish between syllabic and alphabetic systems.
In a syllabic system each grapheme corresponds to a spoken syllable. Alphabetic writing
establishes a direct correspondance between graphemes and phonemes.
In a perfect regular system there is one grapheme for each morpheme. However, most
alphabets in present day use fail to meet this criteria. At one extreme we find such
languages as Spanish, which has a very regular system; at the other we find such cases as
English and Gaelic where there is a marked tendency to irregularity.
Now let’s study the main differences between writing and speech. The most obvious is the
contrast in physical form.
Speech uses phonic substance typically in the form of air-pressure movements, whereas
writing uses graphic substance, typically in the form of marks on a surface. As writing can
only occasionally be thought of as an interaction, we can establish the following points of
contrast:
1) The permanence of writing allows repeated reading and close analysis. The spontaneity
and rapidity of speech minimises the chance of complex pre-planning, and promotes
features that assisst speakers to think standing up.
2) The participants in written interaction cannot usually see each other, so they cannot
make clear what they mean. However, in speech interactions feedback is possible.
3) The majority of graphic features presents a system of contrasts that has no speech
equivalent. Many genres of written language, such as tables, graphs and complex formulae,
cannot be conveyed by reading aloud.
4) Some contructions may only be found in writing, others only occur in speech, such as in
slang and swear words.
5) Finally we can say that writing tends to be more formal and so it is more likely to
provide the standard that society values. Its performance provides it with a special status.
Despite these differences, the written and spoken language have mutually interacted in
many respects. We normally use the written language in order to improve our command of
vocabulary, active or passive, spoken or written.
Loan words may come into a country in a written form, and sometimes everything we know
about a language is from its written form eg: Latin. It is true that writing has derived from
speech in an historical sense, but nowadays their independance is mutual.
* Now we have examined the differences between speech and written language
we shall concentrate on the theory of communication, and those factors defining a
communicative act.
According to Ivor Armstrong Richards, “communication takes place when one mind so acts
upon its environment that another mind is influenced, and in that other mind an experience
occurs which is like the experience in the first mind, and is caused in part by that
experience.”
From this definition we can conclude that any communicative act necessarily happens among
persons or between a person who acts as a speaker and a listener or between various
people who act as receivers. Besides these people there are other elements in a
communicative act:
* The Message
The content of information that the speaker sends to the listener.
* The Channel
The place through which the message flows.
* The Code
A limited and moderately wide group of signs which combine according to certain rules
known by the speaker and by the listener.
* The Context
The situation in which the speaker and the listener are in, which sometimes helps to
interpret the message.
* As we have seen communication is the exchange of meanings through a common system of
symbols. Now it is time to ask ourselves:
“What does communication in the classroom imply ?”
Many studies of classroom language have shown that in most native speaker ? is used for
function rather than for direct teaching. These extra functions include: greetings,
discussion, health, attendance,the weather and so on.
Barnes (1969), in his description of classroom language, labelled these functions “social”.
Social interaction also takes placein foreign language and 2nd language classrooms, but in
many such classrooms native language is used for this purpose.
Fanselow (1977) attempted to set up a system for observing and recording different types
of communication in the language classroom. He established five headings in the form of
questions:
1) Who communicates ?
2) What is the pedagological purpose of the communication ?
3) What mediums are used to communicate content ?
4) How are the mediums used ?
5) What areas of content are communicated ?
All of these questions are useful in thinking how language is used in the classroom.
The first of these areas, Language, concerns those times when a teacher is explaining or
illustrating the language, or when the pupils are asking questions about the language, or
practising pronunciation or structures. In most English language classes, this part of the
lesson is conducted in English.
The second, Procedure, concerns those times when the teacher is managing the classroom,
explaining what to do next, how to do it and so on. Some teachers use English for classroom
management, and others use the children’s mother tongue, at least during the early stages.
The third of Fanselow’s categories, Subject Matter, concerns those times when the
language is being used to convey some specific topic as a part of a lesson. For example, if
the teacher tells the story “The Frog Got Lost”, the subject matter is the frog and its
adventures. In this case the teacher’s aim might be to illustrate the use of the past simple
tense, but the content area of language used in that part of the lesson is not tense but the
tale of the frog. In the language classroom, this part of the lesson would be conducted in
English.
The final content category identified by Fanselow, Life, concerns communication between
teacher and pupils about Real Life Matters, not directly about the lesson. This category
embraces the type of questioning that Barnes called “social” as well as any other type of
communication about the real world.
Thus, for example, if the teacher directs a particular student to “open the window” or asks
another who has nothing to write on “Where is your notebook?”, or genuinely asks another
“Is your brother in the football match on Saturday?”, then he/she is using language about
the real world that is part of the learner’s direct experience. This is a great opportunity
for real communication in the English classroom through English. When speaking to children
in English, it is important, as it is when they are learning their first language, to support
communication through the use of gesture, facial expression and action because this gives
children clues to the meaning of what they hear and so draws their attention to and helps
them to become familiar with the sounds, rhythm and stress of the second language.
Strategies that parents use intuitively to draw children into the use of the first language
must be used deliberately by the teachers to draw children into using the second language.
Research has shown that parents generally speak more slowly, articulate more carefully,
and use gesture, facial expression and tone when talking to young children to aid their
understanding and to encourage them to produce.
CONCLUSION
To conclude, we could bear in mind that an important aspect of interaction in the English
classroom is that it must be managed by the learners as well as by the teacher. That is to
say that learners must be confident enough to initiate communication in English, and not
merely respond when they are addressed by the teacher. A pupil that has something to
say, an apology or a request to make, a question to ask, a greeting to give, should be
encouraged to express him/herself in English. If resources are not to be wanted and
opportunities to be missed, children must learn English in the same way they learnt their
mother tongue, as a living language that can be used for active communication as much as
for establishing personal relationships.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
The bibliography used for the elaboration of this topic is as follows:
* “Teaching the Spoken Language” by Gillian Brown and George Yule C.U.P. 1997.
* “Teaching English to Children” by Christopher Brumfit, Jayne Moon and Ray Tongue.
Longman 1992.
* “Teaching English in the Primary Classroom” by Susan Halliwell. Longman 1992.
TEMA 1
LA LENGUA COMO COMUNICACIÓN: LENGUAJE ORAL Y LENGUAJE ESCRITO.
FACTORES QUE DEFINEN UNA SITUACIÓN COMUNICATIVA: EMISOR, RECEPTOR
FUNCIONALIDAD Y CONTEXTO.
0. INTRODUCTION.
1. LANGUAGE AS COMMUNICATION.
1.1.
Language definitions.
1.2.
Language functions.
1.3.
Communicative competence.
2. SPOKEN AND WRITTEN LANGUAGE.
2.1.
Spoken language.
2.2.
Written language.
2.3.
Historical Attitudes.
2.4.
Differences between writing and speech.
3. COMMUNICATION THEORY.
3.1.
Communication definition.
3.2.
Main Models.
3.3.
Key factors.
4. BIBLIOGRAPHY.
0. INTRODUCTION.
Traditional foreign language teaching concentrated on getting students consciously to learn items
of language in insolation. These bits of information would be mainly used to read texts and only
occasionally for oral communication. The focus was not on communication but on a piece of language.
Following Krashen’s distinction between acquisition and learning we can say that people got to know
about the language (learning) but could not use it in a real context (acquisition).
The British applied linguist Allwright tried to bridge this dichotomy when he theorised that if de
language teacher’s management activities were directed exclusively at involving the learners in solving
communication problems in the target language, then language learning wil take care of itlself. We may or
may not agree with this extreme rendering of the Communicative approach, but we all agree nowadays on
the importance of letting ous pupils use English for real communication during at least, the production
stage.
In this unit we are going to study language and its functions to see that communication is one of
thes functions. We wil then posit that learning a language is not only a grammatical and lexical process
but also a social process. We also analyze the differences between writing and speech; and finally we will
discuss the most important communication theory models, defining their key factors.
1. LANGUAGE AS COMMUNICATION.
1.1. Language Definitions.
The word language has prompted innumerable definitions. Some focus on the general concept of
language (what we call lengua or lenguaje) and some focus on the more specific notion of a language
(what we call lengua or idioma).
SAPIR (1921) said that “language is a purely human non-instinctive method of communicating
ideas, emotions and desires by means of voluntarily produced symbols”. HALL (1964) defined language
as “the institution whereby humans communicate and interact whith each other by means of habitually
used oral-auditory arbitrary symbols”. As we can see in these two definitions it is diffi cult to make a
precise and comprehensive statement about formal adn functional universal properties of language so
some linguists have trien to indentify the various properties that are thought to be its essential defining
characteristics.
The most widely acknowledged comparative approach has been the one proposed by Charles
HOCKETT. His set of 13 design features of communication using spoken language were as follows:
-
Auditory-vocal channel: sound is used between mouth and ear.
-
Broadcast transmission and directional reception: a signal can be heard by any auditory system
within earshot, and the source can be located using the ears’ direction-finding ability.
-
Rapid fading: auditory signals are transitory.
-
Interchangeability: speakers of a language can reproduce any linguistic message they can understand.
-
Total feedback: speakers hear and can reflect upon everything that they say.
-
Specitalization: the sound waves of speech have no other function than to signal meaning.
-
Semanticity: the elemens of the signal convey meaning through their stable association with realworld situations.
-
Arbitrariness: there is no dependence of the element of the signal on the nature of the reality to which
it refers.
-
Discreteness: speech uses a small set of sound elements tha clearly contrast whith each other.
-
Displacement: it is possible to talk about events remote in space or time from the situation of the
speaker.
-
Productivity: ther is an infinite capacity to express and understand meaning, by using old setence
elements to produce new sentences.
-
Traditional transmissión: language is transmitted from one generation to the next primarily by a
process of teaching and learning.
-
Duality of pottering: the sound of language have no intrinsic meaning, but combine in diferents ways
to form elements, such as words, than do convey meaning.
After having studied thje main properties of language (what is language?) we will now see its function
(whats language for?).
1.2. Language Functions.
The most usual answer to the question “why do we use language?” is “to communicate our ideas”
and this ability to communicate or communicative competence is studied in the next part. But it would be
wrong to think of communicating our ideas as the only way in which we use language (referential,
ideational or propositional function). Several other functions may be indentified where the
communication of ideas is a marginal or irrelevant consideration.
One of the commonest uses of languages, the expressive or emotional one, is a means of getting
rid of our nervous energy when we are under stress. We do not try to communicate ideas because we can
use language in this way whether we are alone or not. Swear words and obscenities are problably the most
usual signals to be used in this way, especially when we are angry. But there are also many emotive
utterances of positive kind, such as expressions of fear, affection, astonishment...
MALINOWSKY (1844-1942) termed the third use of language we are studying “phatic
communication”. He used it to refere to the social function of language, which arises out of the basic
human need to signal friendship, or, at least, lack of enmity. If someone does not say hello to you when hi
is supposed to, you may think hi is hostile. In these cases the sole function of language is to maintain a
comfortable relationship between people, to provide a means of avoiding an embarrassing situation. Phatic
communication, however, is far from universal, some cultures prefer silence, eg, the Aritama of
Colombia.
The fourth function we may find is based on phonetic properties. The rhythmical litanies of
religious groups, the presuasive cadences of political speechmaking, the dialogue chants used by prisoner
or soldiers have only one apparent reason: people take delight in them. They can only be explained by a
universal desire to exploit the sonic potential of language.
The fith function is the performative one. A performative sentence ins an utterance that performs
an act. This use occurs in the naming of a ship at a launching ceremony, or when a priest baptizes a child.
We may also finde other functions such as:
-
recording facts.
Instrument of thought
Expression of regional, social, educational, sexual or occupational identity.
The British linguist HALLIDAY grouped all these functions into three metafunctions, shich are the
manifestation in the linguistic system of the two veryu general purposes shich underlie all uses of
language combine whith the rhird component (textual) shich brethes relevance into the other two.
1.- The ideational function is to organize the speaker’s or writer’s experience of the real or imaginary
world, i.e. language refers to real or imagined persons, things, actions, events, states,etc.
2.- The interpersonal function is to indicate, establish or mantain social relationships between
people. It includes forms of address, speech function, modality ...
3.- The third component is the textual function which serves to create written or spoken texts which
cohere within themselves and which fit the particular situation in which they are used.
1.3. Communicative competence
CHOMSKY (1957) defined language as `a set of sentences, each finite in length and constructed
out of a finite set of elements. A capable speaker has a subconscious knowledge of the grammar rules of
his language which allows him to make sentences in that language’. However, Dell HYMES thought that
Chomsky had missed out some very important information: the rules of the use. When a native speaker
speaks, he does not onlu utter grammatically correct forms, he also knows where and when to use these
sentences and to whom. Hymes, then, said that competence by itself is not enough to explain a native
speaker’s knowledge, and he replaced it with his own concept of communicative competence.
HYMES distinguishes 4 aspects of this competence:
- systematic potential
- appropriacy
- occurrence
- feasibility
Systematic potential means that the native speaker possesses a system that has a potential for creating a
lot of language. This is similar to Comsky’s competence.
Appropriacy means that the native speaker knows what language is appropriate in a given situation. His
choice is based on the following variables, among others:
Setting
Participants
Purpose
Channel
Topic
Occurrence means that the native speaker knows how often something is said in the language and acts
accordingly.
Feasibility means that the native speaker knows whether something is possible in the language. Even if
there is no grammatical rule to ban 20-adjective prehead construction, we know that these constructions
are not possible in the language.
These 4 categories have been adapted for teaching purposes. Thus, the Royal Decree 1006/1991 of
14 June (BOE 25 June), which establishes the teaching requirements for Primary Education nationwide,
sees communicative competence as comprising five subcompetences:
-
Grammar competence (competencia gramatical, o capacidad de poner en práctica las unidades y
reglas de funcionamiento del sistema de la lengua).
Discourse competence (competencia discursiva o capacidad de utilizar diferentes tipos de discurso y
organizarlos en función de la situación comunicativa y de los inetrlocutores).
Sociolinguistic competence ( competencia sociolingüística o capacidad de adecuar los enunciados a
un contexto concreto, atendiendo a los usos aceptados en una comunidad lingüística determinada).
Strategic competence ( competencia estratégica o capacidad para definir, corregir, matizar o en
general, realizar ajustes en el curso de la situación comunicativa).
Sociocultural competence ( competencia sociocultural, entendida como un cierto grado de
familiaridad con el contexto social y cultural en el que se utiliza una determinada lengua).
The terms grammar, sociolinguistic and sociocultural competence are quite self explanatory so we will
only analyze discourse and strategic competence.
CANALE (1980) defined discourse competence as an aspect of communicative competence which
describes the ability to produce unified written or spoken discourse that shows coherence and cohesion
and which conforms to the norms of different genres. Our pupils must be able to produce discourse in
which successive utterances are linked through ruoles of discourse competence.
Strategic competence may be defined as an aspect of communicative competence which describes
the ability of speakers to use verbal and non-verbal communication strategies to compensate for
breakdowns in communication or to improve the effectiveness of communication.
2. SPOKEN AND WRITTEN LANGUAGE
It is traditionl in language study to distinguish between spoken and written language. Before
summarizing their main differences we will outline their main features independently.
2.1.
Spoken Language
The most obvious aspect of language is speech. Speech is not essential to the definition of an infinitely
productive communication system, such as it is constituted by language. But, in fact, speech is the
universal material of human language. Man has been a speaking animal from early in the emergence of
Homo Sapiens as a recognizable distinct species. The earliest known systems of writing go back perhaps
5.000 years. This means that for many hundreds of thousands of years human language were transmitted
and developed entirely as spoken means of communication.
The description and clasification of sounds is the main aim of phonetics. Sounds may be identified
with reference to their production, transmission and reception. These three activities occur at a
physiological level, which implies the action of nerves and muscles. The motor nerves that link the
speaker’s brain with his speech mechanism activate the corresponding muscle. The movements of the
tongue, lips, vocal folds, etc. Constitute the articulatory stage of the speech chain, and the area of
phonetics that deals with it is articulatory phonetics.The movement of the articulators produces
disturbances in the air pressure called sound waves, which are physical manifestations. This is the acoustic
stage of the chain, during which the sound waves travel towards the listener’s ear-drum. The study of
speech sound waves correspons to acoustic phonetics. The hearing process is the domain of auditory
phonetics. This can be seen in the following table:
SPEECH
CHAIN
BRAIN
SPEECH
MECHANISM
SOUND
WAVES
EAR
BRAIN
Activity psychological
physiological
physical
physiological psychologicals stage
linguistic
production
transmission perception
linguistic
Phonetics
articulatory
phonetics
acoustic
phonetics
auditory
phonetics
In this table we can see how phonetics is the study of all possible speech sounds.
This is not the most important task for linguist, however. A linguist must study the way in which a
language’s speakers systematically use a selection of theses sounds in order to express meaning. In this
activity he is helped by phonology. Phonology is continually loking beneath th surface of speech to
determine its underlying regularities. It is not interested in sounds but in phonemes, ie. Smallest
contrastive phonological units which can produce a difference in meaning. The study of speech is
therefore, the field of both Phonetics and Phonology.
2.2.
Written language.
Myths and legends of the supernatural shroud the early history of writing. One point, at least, is
fairly clear. It now seems most likely that writing systems evolved independently of each other at different
times in several parts of the world –in Mesopotamia, China... There is nothing to support a theory of
common origin.
-
We can classify writting systems into two types:
Non-phonological.
Phonological.
Non-phonological systems do not show a clear relationship between the symbols and the sounds of
the language. They include the pictographic, ideographic, cuneiform and egyptian hieroglyphic and
logographic.
In the pictographic system, the graphemes or pictographs or pictograms provide a recognizable
picture of entities as they exist in the world.
Ideograms or ideographs have an abstract or conventional meaning, no longer displaying a clear
pictorial link whith external reality.
The cuneiform method of writing dates from the 4 th. Millennium BC, and was used to express both
non-phonological and phonological writing systems. The name derives from the Latin, meaning ‘wedgeshaped’ and refers to the technique used to make the symbols.
Egyptian hieroglyphic developed about 3000 BC. It is a mixture of ideograms, phonograms and
determinative symbols. It was called hieroglyphic because of its prominent use in temples ad tombs
(Greek, ‘sacred carving”).
Logographic writing systems are those where the graphemes represent words. The best known case
is Chinese and Japanese kanji. The symbols are variously referred to as logographs, logograms or
characters.
Phonological systems do show a clear relationship between the symbols and the sounds of
language. We can distinguish syllabic and alphabetic systems.
In a system of syllabic writing, each grapheme corresponds to a spoken syllable, usually a
consonant-vowel pair. This system can be seen in Japanese Kataka.
Alphabetic writing establishes a direct correspondence between graphemes and morphemes. This
makes it the most economic and adaptable of all the writing systems. In a perfectly regular sustem there is
one grapheme for each morpheme. However, most alphabets in present day use fail to meet this criterion.
At one extreme we find such languages as Spanish, which has a very regular system; at the other, we find
such cases as English and Gaelic, where there is a marked tendency to irregularity.
2.3.
Historical attitudes.
Historically speaking, written language was considered tobe superior to spoken language for many
centuries. It was the medium of literature, and literature was considered a source of standards of linguistic
excellence. Witten records provide language with permanence and authority and so the rules of grammar
were illustrated exclusively from written texts.
On the other hand, spoken language was ignored as an object unworthy of study. Spoken language
demostrates such a lack of care and organization that cannot be studied scientifically; it was said to have
no rules, and speakers have thought that, in order to speak properly, it was necessary to follow the correct
norm. As this norm was based on written standards, it is clear that the prescriptive tradition rested
supremacy of writing over speech.
This viewpiont became widely criticized at the turn of our century. Leonard Bloomfield insisted
that "writing is not language but merely a way of recording language by means of visible marks". This
approach pointed out several factors, some of which we have already mentioned:
-
Speech is many centuries older than writing
-
It developes naturally in children
Writing systems are mostly derivative, ie, they are based on the sounds of speech.
If speech is the primary medium of communication, it was also argued that it should be the main
object of linguistic study. Actually, the majority of the world's cultures' languages have never been written
down and this has nothing to do with their evolutionary degree. It is a fallacy to suppose that the
languages of illiterate or so-called primitive peoples are less structured, less rich in vocabulary, and less
efficient than the languages of literate civilization. E. Sapir was one of the first linguistics to attack the
myth that primitive peoples spoke primitive languages. In one study he compared the grammatical
equivalents of the sentence "he will give it to you" in six Amerindian languages. Among many fascinating
features of these complex grammatical forms, note the level of abstraction introduced by the following
example:
Southern Paiute
Maya-vaania-aka-anga-'mi= guve will visible-thing visible-creature thee
Many linguistics and ethnographerstherefore stressed the urgency of providing techniques for the
analysis of spoken language and because of this emphasis on the spoken language, it was now the turn of
writing to fall into disrepute. Many linguistics came to think of written language as a tool of secundary
inportance. Writing came to be excluded from the primary subject matter of linguistic science. Many
grammarians presented an account of speech alone.
Nowadays, there is no sense in the view that one medium of communication is untrinsically better.
Writing cannot substitute for speech, nor speech for writing. The functions of speech and writing are
usually said to complement each other.
On the other hand, there are many functional para llels which seem to be increase in modern
society. We cannot use recording devices to keep facts and communicate ideas. On the other hand writing
is also taken the social of phatic function typically associated with the immediacy of speech.
Despite these parallels we can obviously find striking differences.
2.4.
Differences between writing and speech
Research has begun to investigate the nature and extent of the differences between them. Most
obviously, they contrast in physical form:
-
Specch uses phonic substance typically in the form of air-pressure movements
Writing uses graphic substance typically in the form of marks on a surface.
Differences of structure and use are the product of radically different communicative situations.
Crystal (1987) pointed that `speech is tme-bound, dynamic, transient, part of an interaction in which,
typically, both participants are present, and the speaker has a specific addressee in mind´. Writing is
space-bound, static, permanent, the result of a situation in which, typically, the producer is distant from
the recipient and, often, may not even know who the recipient is. As writing can only occasionally be
thought of as an interaction it is just normal that we can establish the following points of contrast:
1.- The permanence of writing allows repeated reading and close analysis. The spontaneity and
rapidity of speech minimizes the chance of complex preplanning, and promotes features that assist to
think standing up.
2.- The participants in written interaction cannot usually see each other, and they thus cannot rely
on the context to help make clear what they mean as they would when speaking. As a consequence,
deictic expressions are normally avoided. On the other hand, feedback is available in most speech
interactions.
3.- The majority of graphic features present a system of contrast that has no speech equivalent.
Many genres of written language, such as tables, graphs, and complex formulae, cannot be conveyed by
reading aloud.
4.- Some constructions may be found onlu¡y in writing, such as the French simple past, and others
only occur in speech, such as `whatchamacallit´, or slang expressions.
5.- Finally we can say that written language tends to be more formal and so it is more likely to
provide the standard that society values.
Despite these differences, there are many respects in which the written and the spoken language
have mutually interacted. We normally use the written language in order to improve our command of
vocabulary, active or passive, spoken or written. Loan words may come into a country in a written form,
and sometimes, everything we know about language is its writing.
3. COMMUNICATION THEORY.
3.1. Definition
Communication, the exchange of meanings between individuals through a common system of
symbols, concerned scholars since the time of ancient Greece. In 1928 the English literary critic and
author Ivor Armtrong Richards offered one of the first definitions of communication.
Since about 1920 the growth and apparent influence of communication technology have attracted
the attention of many specialists who have attempted to isolate communication as a specific facet of their
particular interest.
In the1960s, Marshall McLuhan, drew the threads of interest in the field of communication into a
view that associated many contemporary psychological and sociological phenomena with the media
employed in modern culture. McLuhan's idea, `the medium is the message´, stimulated numerous
filmmakers, photographers, and others, who adopted McLuhan´s view that contemporary society had
moved from a print culture to a visual one.
By the late 20th century the main focus of interest in communication seemed to be drifting away
from McLuhanism and to be centring upon:
1.- The mass communication industries
2.- Persuasive communication and the use of technology to influence dispositions
3.- Processes of interpersonal communication as mediators of information
4.- Dynamics of verbal and non-verbal (and perhaps extrasensory) communication
5.- Perception of different kinds of communication
6.- Uses of communication technology for social and artistic purposes, including education
7.- Development of relevant critism for artistic endeavours employing modern communication
technology.
In short, a communication expert may be oriented to any number of disciplines in a field of inquiry
that has, as yet, neither drawn for itself a conclusive roster of subject matter nor agreed upon specific
methodologies of analysis.
3.2. Models
Fragmentation and problems of interdisciplinarity outlook have generated a wide range of
discussion concerning the ways in which communication occurs and the processes it entails. Most
communication theorists admit that their main task is to answer the query originally posed by the U.S
political scientist H. D. Lasswell, `Who says what to whom with what effect?´. Obviously all of the
factors in this question may be interpreted differently by scholars and writers in different disciplines.
Scientists may make use of dynamic or linear models.
3.2.1. Dynamic models.
Dynamic models are used in describe cognitive, emotional, and artistic aspects of communication
as they occur in sociocultural contexts. These models do not try to be quantitative as linear ones. They
often centre attention upon different modes of communication and theorize that the messages they contain
including messages of emotional quality and artistic content, are communicated in various manners to and
from different sorts of people.
Many analysts of communication such as McLuhan assert that the channel actually dictates, or
severely influences, the message, both as sent and received. For them, the stability and function of channel
or medium are more variable and less mechanistically related to the process than they are for followers of
Shannon and Weaver.
3.2.2. Linear models: Shannon and Weaver's.
Claude Shannon and Warren Weaver's Mathematical Model of Communication is one of the most
productive schematic models of a communication systems that has ever been proposed. The simplicity,
clarity, and surface generally of their model proved attractive to many students of communication in a
number of disciplines. As originally conceived, the model contained five elements arranged in linear
order:
-
An information source
A transmiter
A channel of transmission
A receiver
A destination
This model was originally intended for electronic messages so, in time, the five elements of the
model were renamed so as to specify components for other types of communication transmitted in various
manners. The information source was split into its components to provide a wider range of applicability:
-
a source
an encoder
a message
a channel
a decoder
a receiver
Another concept, first called a `noise source´ but later associated with the notion of entropy was
imposed upon the communication model. Entropy diminishes the integrity of the message and distorts the
message for the receiver. Negative entropy may also occur in instances where incomplete or blurred
messages are nevertheless received intact, either because of the ability of the receiver to fill in missing
details or to recognize, despite distortion or paucity of information, both the intent and the content of the
communication.
But not only negative entropy counteracts entropy. Redundancy, the repetition of elements within a
message that prevents the failure of communication of information, is the greatest antidote to entropy.
Redundancy is apparently involved in most human activities, and, because it helps to overcome the
various forms of entropy that tends to turn intelligible messages into unintelligible ones, it is an
indispensable element for effective communication.
We can see that the model, despite the introduction of entropy and redundancy, is conceptually
static. To correct this flaw, Norbert Wiener, the father of cybernetics, added the principle of feedback, ie,
sources tend to be responsive to their own behaviour and to the context of communication. Interaction
between human beings in conversation cannot function without the ability of the message sender to weigh
and calculate the apparent effect of this words on his listener.
We will now analyze each of these key factors.
3.3. Key factors
This unit title mentions some of the key factors affecting any communicative interaction such as
the sender and the receiver. After putting them in the broader framework of the Mathematical Model of
Communication we will analyze the intended effects of our communicative interactions (speech acts) and
the environment in which they are exchanged (social context).
The information source selects a desired message out of a possible set of messages. The transmitter
changes the message into a signal which is sent over the communication channel where it is received by
the receiver and changed back into a message which is sent to the destination. In the process of
transmission certain unwanted additions to the signal may occur which are not part of the message and
these are referred to as noise or entropy; negative entropy and redundancy counteract entropy. For somo
communication systems the components are simple to specify as, for instance:
-
information source: a man on the telephone
transmitter: the mouthpiece
message and signal: the words the man speaks
channel: the electrical wires
receiver: the earpiece
destination: the listener
In face-to-face communication, the speaker can be both information source and transmitter, while
the listener can be both receiver and destination.
3.3.1. Speech acts.
J.L. Austin (1911-1960) was the first to draw attention to the many functions performed by
utterances as part of interpersonal communication. He distinguishes two main types of functional
potential:
-
performative
contative
A performative is an utterance that perform an act: to say is to act, as we have already seen when
studying language functions. Performatives may be explicit and implicit performatives, which do not
contain a performative verb.
Constatives are utterances which assert something that is either true or false.
In speech act analysis the effect of utterances on the behaviour of speaker and hearer is studies
using a threefold distinction:
A locutionary act is the saying of something which is meaningful and can be understood. For
example, saying the sentence `shoot the snake´ is a locutionary act if hearers understand the words `shoot
´, `the´and `snake´ and can identify the particular snake referred to.
An illocutionary act is using a sentence to perform a function. For example `shoot the snake´may
be intended as an order or a piece of advice.
A perlocutionary act is the result or effect that is produced by means of saying something. For
example, shooting the snake would be a perlocutionary act.
Austin´s three-part distinction is less frequently used than a two part distinction between the
propositional content of a sentence and the illocutionary force or intended effects of speech acts. There are
thousands of possible illocutionary acts, and several attempts have been made to classify them into a small
number of types:
-
representatives
directives
commisives
expressives
declarations
In declaratives the speaker is committed in varying degrees, to the truth of a proposition.
In directives the speaker tries to get the hearer to do something.
In commissives the speaker is committed, in varying degrees, to a certain course of action.
In expressives the speaker expresses an attitude about a state of affairs.
In declarations the speaker alters the external status or conditions of an object or situation solely by
making the utterance.
As we can infer from the examples there are some fuzzy areas and overlappings between different
types of illocutionary force. But an utterance may lose its illocutionary force if does not satisfy several
criteria, known as felicity conditions. For example the preparatory conditions have to be right: the person
performing the speech act has to have the authority to do so.
Ordinary people automatically accept these conditions when they communicate. If any of these
conditions does not obtain, then a special interpretation of the speech act has to apply. Both normal and
special interpretations of utterances have much to do with the context in which they are made.
3.3.2. Context.
Context is defined by the Collins English Dictionary as:
1. The parts of a piece of writing, speech, etc, that precede and follow a word or passage and
contribute to its full meaning.
2. The conditions and circumstances that are relevant to an event, fact, etc.
The first definition covers what we may call linguistic context, but as we can infer from the second
definition, linguistic context may not be enough to fully understand an utterance understood as a speech
act. In fact, linguistic elements in a text may refer not only to other parts of the text but also to the outside
world, to the context of situation.
The concept of context of situation was formulated by Malinowski in 1923. It has been worked
over and extended by a number of linguistics, specially Hymes and Halliday. Hymes categorizes the
communicative situation in terms of eight components while Halliday offers three headings for the
analysis:
CONTEXT OF SITUATION
HYMES
1. Form and content of text
2. Setting
HALLIDAY
1. field
2. mode
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Participants
Ends
Key
Medium
Genre
Interactional norms
3. tenor
We will now analyze Halliday´s more abstract interpretation as it practically subsumes Hymes´s
one.
The field is the total event, in which the text is functioning, together with the purpose activity of
the speaker or writer; it thus includes the suject matter as one element in it.
The mode is the function of the text in the event, including therefore both the channel taken by the
language, and its genre or rethorical mode, as narrative, didactic, persuasive and so on.
The tenor refers to to the participants who are taking part in this communicative exchange, who
they are and what kind of relationship thay have to one another. It is clear that role relationships, ie, the
relationship which people have to each other in a act of communication, influences the way they speak to
each other. One of the speakers may have, for instance, a role which has a higher status than that of the
other speaker or speakers.
4. BIBLIOGRAPHY.
-
Collins English Dictionary. Collins. Glasgow, 1992.
-
Crystal, D. The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language. CUP. Cambridge, 1987.
-
Encyclopaedia Britannica. Enc. Brit. Inc. Chicago, 1990.
-
Halliday, M. A. K. Spoken and written Language. Geelong, Vic. Deakin University Press, 1976.
-
Halliday, M. A. K. Language as social semiotics. Arnold. London, 1978.
-
Halliday, M. A. K. Functional grammar. Arnold. London, 1982.
-
Halliday, M. A. K and Hasan, R. Cohesion in English. Longman. London, 1976.
-
Richards, J. C, Platt, J., and Platt, H. Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied
Linguistics. Longman. London, 1992.
Materiales para la Reforma. Primaria. MEC. Madrid, 1992.
-
Steinberg, D. D. Psycholinguistics. Longman. London.1982
Tema 1
LA LENGUA COMO COMUNICACIÓN: LENGUAJE ORAL Y
LENGUAJE ESCRITO. FACTORES QUE DEFINEN UNA SITUACIÓN
COMUNICATIVA: EMISOR, RECEPTOR, FUNCIONALIDAD Y
CONTEXTO.
1. INTRODUCTION
Traditionally, theories of language have concentrated on the study of its different components in isolation,
such as grammar, semantics, phonology, seeing language as a system that included all of them. However,
when language is first acquired in childhood, is merely by means of communicating with the people
around. In this sense, new approaches in the last third of the 20 th C, paid attention to language as
communication.
We, as human beings, need to communicate, and as most of us live in a literary society, we normally use
oral and written language to transmit or receive information. As far as oral communication is concerned,
most human beings speak using oral language in order to exchange information and interact with other
people, but the use of oral language entails the knowledge of certain particular elements, norms, routines,
formulae and strategies that are put into work when we are in conversations.
On the other hand, writing and reading require formal instruction, and children face a series of difficulties
when learning these skills, because they have to comfort oral to written discourse, adapting rules, learning
spelling, dividing speech chains into chunks called words, etc.
However, learning to write and read is probably the most fundamental step in education, because is the
basis for future instruction and access to many fields of knowledge. In this unit, we are going to review
the main characteristics of oral and written language, and then we will analyse the factors that define a
communicative situation, namely the sender and the receiver of the message, the functionality and the
context.
2. ORAL LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION
Among all the communication codes which are used by human beings (music, kinesics, sign language),
written and oral language is the most efficient for the transmission and reception of information, thoughts,
feelings and opinions. In addition, these linguistic codes are exclusively human and make us distinct from
animals. But written and oral language are different processes: whereas we learn to write through a
formal instruction, speaking and listening come naturally along different stages of the child´s evolution.
Therefore we can say that oral language comes first in our history as individuals. Therefore, speech and
writing are not alternative processes, but rather we must consider them counterparts: all oral language
should have a good representative system in a written form.
From a psychological point of view, oral communication is a two-way process in which both speaker
(encoder) and hearer (decoder) must be present in the same situational context at a particular time and
place (unless we talk about special cases of oral communication such as phone conversations). The
functions of oral communication are, as we said before, to communicate or exchange our ideas or to
interact with other people. Unlike written communication, in oral interaction we can monitor the reactions
of the hearer through the feedback so that we can our speech in the course of the communication, as well
as use different linguistic and non-linguistic features (gesturing, intonation...) to make our messages
clearer. However, as it takes place in a particular place and time, the interlocutors have to make their
contributions at a high speed, without much time to think, unlike writing.
Along history, the study of spoken language has not much tradition, unlike written language, due to
several reasons:
-
it was considered a secondary type of language as it was not reserved only to cultivate people.
unlike written language, there was a lack of permanent records of oral language during our past
history.
it presents more mutability in the understanding and interpretation of what it is said than in
written lg.
Halliday was among the first linguists to study oral language, saying that it was not a formless and
featureless variety of written language. Since then, there has been an increasing interest to which it has
contributed the inventions of audio, video and computer devices. In oral communication, we distinguish
two different types:
Prepared speech
The formal setting is organised as writing (syntax, lexis & discourse
organisation) It is memorised or written down before (lectures, speech, oral poetry)
Spontaneous speech Speaker has not thought or memorised the message beforehand. It may
present inaccuracies, hesitations, silences and mistakes
As spontaneous speech is the main form of oral communication, and directly reflects real communication
processes with different demands and situations, and prepared speech does not allow for feedback and
monitoring, the analysis and study of oral communication should concentrate on spontaneous speech,
where the negotiation of meaning plays an important role for the communication purpose to be correctly
achieved.
But because of its pervasive and everyday nature, its scientific study has proved particularly complex. It
has been difficult to obtain acoustically clear, natural samples of spontaneous conversation, especially of
its more informal varieties. When samples have been obtained, the variety of topics, participants, and
social situations which characterise conversation have made it difficult to determine which aspects of the
behaviour are systematic and rule-governed.
2.1. ELEMENTS AND NORMS THAT RULE ORAL DISCOURSE
Linguistic elements
STRESS When we talk we have to bare in mind there is a regular distribution of accents along
words and sentences. However, if we want to give special emphasis to a particular word or
phrase, we change that regular pattern of stress and accent in order to make more prominent
what we want.
RHYTHM It is the relationship we make between accents (chunks of words) and silences.
Rhythm can range from very monotonous one (in quick or prepared speech) to rhythm with
contrasts in order to give expressiveness and sense to our speech. Pauses are also important,
because sometimes are made to divide grammatical units and other times are unpredictable
and caused by hesitations.
INTONATION is the falling and rising of voice during speech. Any departure from what it is
considered “normal” intonation shows special effects and expresses emotions and attitudes.
Normally, falling tones show conclusion and certainty, whereas rising tones may show
inconclusion or doubt (I´ll do it / I´ll do it... )
Paralinguistic elements
We cannot consider oral verbal communication without remembering that the whole body takes
part. In fact, many times, a person can express sympathy, hostility or incredulity by means of
body and facial gestures. This “body language” is normally culturally related & is learnt the same
way as verbal behaviour is learnt, although it allows for spontaneity and creativity: we use head,
face, hands, arms, shoulders, fingers...
Other linguistic features that characterise conversational language are:
Speed of speech is relatively rapid; there are many assimilations & elisions of letters; compressions of
auxiliary sequences (gonna); it can be difficult to identify sentence boundaries in long loose passages;
informal discourse markers are common ( you know, I mean); great creativity in the vocabulary choice,
ranging from unexpected coinage (Be unsad) to use of vague words (thingummy).
2.2. RULES
When we use language, we do not only utter grammatically correct sentences, but we know where, when
and to whom we are addressing our utterances. This is the reason why a speaker needs to know not only
the linguistic and grammatical rules of a language (Chomsky´s linguistic competence) or rules of usage,
but also how to put into effect these rules in order to achieve effective communication, so that we also
need to be familiar with rules of use.
Rules of usage In order to produce and understand messages in a particular language we need to be
familiar with:
PHONOLOGY We need to know the organisation, characteristics and patterns of sounds to
communicate.
MORPHOLOGY We need to know the word formation rules and types of combinations of bases
& affixes.
SYNTAX We need to know how words are put together to form sentences and which are their
relationships.
SEMANTICS We need to know how words can be combined to produce the meaning we want or
to understand the meaning expressed by others, even if it is nonliteral, methaporical or
anomalous.
Rules of use To be communicatively efficient, we need to show our linguistic competence in real speech
through:
APPROPRIATENESS or knowledge of what type of language suits best in a given situation,
taking into account the context with its participants and their social relationships, the
setting, the topic, the purpose..
COHERENCE or ability to organise our messages in a logical and comprehensible way to transmit
meaning.
COHESION or capacity to organise and structure utterances to facilitate interpretation by means of
endophoras and exophoras ( references to linguistic & situational contexts), repetitions,
ellipsis...
2.3. ROUTINES AND HABITUAL FORMULAE
Man´s ability to be creative with language is something obvious, but there are times when we choose how,
when and why not to be creative, to repeat what has been said or heard many times, often in exactly the
same form. Linguistic routines are fixed utterances which must be considered as single units to
understand their meaning, and they are of a learned character (Hi! familiar or empty How do you do?), the
process through which we acquire ritual competence being perhaps the most important socialisation we
make of language.
Understanding routines & formulae require shared cultural knowledge because they are generally
metaphorical in nature and must be interpreted at a non-literal level. People are often quite opposed to
routines, formulae and rituals because they are meaningless and depersonalise our ideas, because literal
semantic value is largely irrelevant. Some typical routines and habitual formulae are used in funeral
condolences, religious ceremonies, weddings, graduation ceremonies...
2.4. STRATEGIES SPECIFIC OF ORAL COMMUNICATION
Particular attention has been paid to the markers of conversational turns: how people know their turn to
speak. In formal dialogue, there are often explicit markers, showing that a speaker is about to talk; in
debate, the person in the chair more or less controls speakers´ turns. In conversation, however, the cues
are more subtle, involving variations in the melody, rhythm, and speed of speech, and in patterns of eye
movement.
When people talk in a group, they look at and away from their listeners in about equal proportions, but
when approaching the end of what they have to say, they look at the listeners more steadily, and in
particular maintain closer eye contact with those they expect to continue the conversation. A listener who
wishes to be the next speaker may indicate a desire to do so by showing an increase in bodily tension,
such as by leaning forward or audibly drawing in breath. In addition, there are many explicit indications,
verbal and non-verbal, that a speaker is coming to an end (Last but not least...), wishes to pass the
conversational ball (What do you think?, staring to someone), wishes to join in (Could I just say that...),
leave (Well, that is all...), change the topic (Speaking of Mary...), or check on listeners´ attention or
attitude (Are you with me?).
The subject-matter is an important variable, with some topics being “safe” in certain social groups (in
Britain, the weather, pets, children, and the locality), others more or less “unsafe” (religious and political
beliefs, questions of personal income such as How much do you earn¿). There are usually some arbitrary
divisions: for example, in Britain, it is polite to comment o the taste and presentation of a meal, but
usually impolite to enquire after how much it cost.
In Grice´s view, we cooperate in a conversation in order to produce a rational and efficient exchange of
information, so that to reach a good final result in a communicative process, we apply 4 cooperative
principles or maxims:
- Maxim of quality: Our contributions have to be sincere, believing what we say & avoiding things we
lack evidence of
- Maxim of quantity: We should make our contributions as briefly, orderly & informative as required for
the exchange.
- Maxim of relevance: An utterance has to be relevant with respect to the stage the conversation has
reached.
- Maxim of manner: Which concerns the manner of expression (avoiding obscurity, ambiguity...).
3.WRITTEN LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION
Written communication is a type of communication, and as such, its main purpose is to express ideas and
experiences or exchange meanings between individuals with a particular system of codes, which is
different to that used in oral communication. In written communication, the encoder of the message is the
writer and the decoder and interpreter of the message is the reader, and many times, this interpretation
does not coincide with the writer´s intended meaning.
When we write, we use graphic symbols, which relate to the sounds we make when we speak. But
writing is much more than the production of graphic symbols, just as speech is more than the production
of sounds: these symbols have to be arranged, according to certain conventions, to form words, and
words to form sentences. These sentences then have to be ordered and linked together in certain
ways, forming a coherent whole called text.
Since classical times, there have been two contradictory approaches to speech and writing: firstly, the
view that writing is the primary and speech the secondary medium, because writing is more culturally
significant and lastingly valuable than speech; and secondly, the view that speech is primary and writing
secondary because speech is prior to writing both historically and in terms of a child´s acquisition of
language. But leaving aside this dichotomy, the first thing we must notice is that speech and writing are
not alternative processes: speech comes first, but writing demands more skill and practice, and they have
different formal patterns.
Most important of all, however, is that written and spoken language are counterparts: a writing system
should be capable of representing all the possible wordings of a person´s thoughts. This implies that both
systems could be regarded as the two sides of the same coin.
From a psychological point of view, writing is a solitary activity, the interlocutor is not present, so we
are required to write on our own, without the interaction or the help of the feedback usually provided
in oral communication. That is why we have to compensate for the absence of some linguistic features
which help to keep communication going on in speech, such as prosody and paralinguisic devices such as
gesturing, intonation, etc. Our texts are interpreted by the reader alone, and we cannot monitor his or
her reactions, unlike the speaker: we have to sustain the whole process of communication and to stay in
contact with our reader through words alone, and this is why we must be very clear and explicit about our
intentions when we write.
However, not all the acvantages are on the side of the oral communication: in writing, we normally have
time to think about what we are trying to express, so that we can revise it and re-write it, if need be, and
the reader, to understand a text, can also read and re-read it as many times as wanted.
3.1. STRUCTURE AND FORMAL ELEMENTS OF WRITTEN COMMUNICATION
There are some features characteristic of written language, but this should not be taken to imply that there
´s a well-delimited dividing line between writing and speech. However, the extend to which each of them
makes use of different resources is directly related to the nature of the two channels: speech is the
language of immediate communication, and writing is a type of communication with a distance in
between. This is the reason why written texts present the following formal elements:
Linguistic features of written language
at a time, so that:
-
A good writing system must be fixed, flexible, and adaptable
it must provide a codified expression for the elements expressed by oral language: each idea =
a written form
it must provide means for creating expressions for elements not codified yet: neologisms,
borrowings...
Syntactic features of written language
speech are:
-
markers and rhetorical organisers for clauses relationships and clarity (written texts are more
permanent)
use of heavily pre-modified NPs , SVO ordering and use of passive constructions and
subordinate phrases
Lexical features of written language
feedback:
-
The syntactic elements which make writing different from
In order to compensate the absence of paralinguistic devices and
more accuracy in the use of vocabulary, avoiding redundancy and ambiguity (due to its
permanent nature)
use of anaphoras and cataphoras, repetitions, synonyms... to signal relationships between
sentences
-
there is more lexical density in writing than in speech (more lexical items than grammatical
ones)
Graphological implications Texts can be presented in different ways, as our culture value many times
more the form than the content. To compensate for the absence of feedback and paralinguistic devices,
written texts need to be accurate in spelling, punctuation, capital letters to mark sentence boundaries,
indentation of paragraphs, different fonts to call attention (italics, bold...) and in poetry or texts to draw
attention, exploitation of resources such as order and choice of words, variations in spelling (Biba la
kurtura).
In any case, what is most characteristic of written communication is that we see it (the organisation,
length...).
3.2. TYPES OF WRITTEN TEXTS: NORMS GOVERNING THEM, ROUTINES AND
FORMULAE
In writing, communication also takes place following system and ritual constraints: this is the reason why
when we look at a text we can distinguish and obtain information regarding different types of
organisation, different purposes and different lengths.
Traditionally, written texts were divided following the classification of genres. Then, linguists linked
their rhetorical mode to the syntactic structures, routines and formulae that characterised them, and
established the following classification:
Postcards
Pieces of writing normally directed to friends or family when travelling ,and sometimes
used for congratulations and greetings. We just write on one side and the language used is
colloquial.
Letters
They can be formal (to enterprises or someone we are not closed to) and informal (to
friends or family) There are some routines to write letters: apart from the writer´s address
on the top right-hand corner, the date, the first line (dear + name/sir/madam/Mr/Mrs...), the
closing (Yours...) and the signature, present in both types of letters, each type of letter
follows this structural organisation into paragraphs:
Formal:
1st = reason why writing, 2nd = what you want from addressee, 3rd =
conclusion.
Informal:
1st = introduction, 2nd = reason, 3rd = additional info, 4th = conclusion.
There are also directive letters, to provoke some reaction on the reader, using imperatives
& remarks.
Filling-in forms
Consist of answering what you are asked, as briefly as possible, so no writing style
is needed to do so.
Curriculum vitae Consists of a clear summary to give the academic knowledge and experience
someone has on a certain matter, so it includes personal details, current occupation,
academic qualification and professional experience.
Summaries
Brief résumés of articles, booklets and books that due to their special form of composition
and writing they allow the reader to gather the main information about the original work
without reading it.
Reports
They are used to present clearly and with details the summary of present and past facts or
activities, and sometimes of predictable future facts from checked data, sometimes
containing the interpretation of the writer but normally with the intention of stating the
reality of an enterprise or institution without deformative personal visions, and can be
expositive, interpretative & demonstrative
Narrative texts
The most universal of all the types of written texts, refer back to the story-telling
traditions of most cultures. In fact there seem to be some basic universal structure that
governs this type of texts:
- Orientation (time, place and character identification to inform reader of the story
world),
Goal. Problem. Resolution. Coda and sometimes a morale at the end.
For this characteristic structure, some of the routines and formulae used are presentatives
(there is...), relatives, adjuncts of place and time, flash-backs, different narrative p.o.v.,
narrative dialogues, etc...
Descriptive texts
They are concerned with the location and characterisation of people and things in
the space, as well as providing background information which sets the stage for narration.
This type of texts is very popular in L2 teaching, and all types have the same preestablished organisation. Within descriptive texts we might find:
- External descriptions, presenting a holistic view of the object by an account of all
its parts
- Functional descriptions, which deal with instruments and the tasks they may
perform
- Psychological descriptions, which express the feelings that something produces in
someone
Some of the most characteristic structures are presentatives (there...), adjuncts of location,
stative verbs (look, seem, be...), use of metaphors, comparisons, qualifying adjectives and
relative sentences.
Expository texts
They identify and characterise phenomena, including text forms such as definitions,
explanations, instructions, guidelines, summaries, etc...They may be subjective (an essay)
and objective (definitions, instructions), or even advice giving. They may be analytical,
starting from a concept and then characterising its parts, and ending with a conclusion.
Typical structures are stative verbs, “in order to”, “so as to”, imperatives, modals and verbs
of quality.
Argumentative texts They are those whose purpose is to support or weaken another statement whose
validity is questionable.
The structures we find are very flexible, being this the reason for the existence of several
types:
Classical/Pros & cons zigzag/One-sided arg/Ecclectic appro/Opposition´s arg first/Other
side questioned
There are sometimes when we choose how, when and why not to be creative with language to repeat what
is normally used in a given situation: we use linguistic routines and formulae. These are defined as fixed
utterances or sequences of utterances which must be considered as single units, because their
meaning cannot be derived of them unless considered as a whole.
In written texts we find different types of routines and formulaic expressions, which vary depending on
the type of text, as we have been previously seeing. Understanding them usually requires sharing cultural
knowledge, because they are genarally metaphorical in nature and must be interpreted at a non-linguistic
level (for instance, Dear in a letter does not always carry affective meaning).
All those phrases and sentences that, to some extend, have a prescriptive character, can be considered as
routines and formulaic expressions: to consider all the different existing routines would take too long, but
some examples are, in letters & postcards (Yours sincerely) in C.V´s, the organisation of info in different
blocks, in narration (Once upon a time) in descriptions (on the left, high above),etc...
All in all, we can say that they are sometimes very useful but often meaningless & depersonalise our
expressions & ideas.
4. THE COMMUNICATION PROCESS
Definition
Generally speaking, communication is the exchange of meanings between individuals through a
common system of symbols, and this has been the concern of scholars since the Greeks.
Communication refers to the transmission of information (a message) between a source and a
receiver, using a signalling system.
At the turn of the century, the English literary critic Ivor Armstrong Richards offered one of the
first definitions, saying that communication takes place when one mind so acts upon its
environment that another mind is influenced, and in that other mind an experience occurs
which is like the experience in the first mind, and is caused in part by that experience.
The study of human communication in all its modes is known as semiotics. There are several types of
communication, and although in principle any of the five senses can be used as a medium of
communication, in practice only three (tactile, visual and aural) are implemented in both activeexpressive and passive-receptive ways.
Tactile communication involves touch (e.g. shaking hands, grasping the arm) and the manipulation of
physical distance and body orientation in order to communicate indifference or disagreement, and is
studied by proxemics. Visual communication involves the use of facial expressions (smiling, winking...,
which communicate a wide range of emotions) and gestures and body postures of varying levels of
formality (kneeling, bowing...). Visual non-verbal communication is studied by kinesics. Often, visual
and tactile effects interact closely with verbal communication, sometimes even conveying particular
nuances of meaning not easy to communicate in speech (such as the drawing of inverted commas in the
air to signal a special meaning), and most of the times culturally related.
The chief branch of communication studies involves the oral-aural mode, in the form of speech, and its
systematic visual reflex in the form of writing. These are the verbal aspects of communication,
distinguished from the non-verbal (kinesics and proxemics) aspects, often popularly referred to as body
language.
The term language, as we understand it, is usually restricted to speech and writing, because these
mediums of transmission display a highly sophisticated internal structure and creativity. Non-verbal
communication, by contrast, involves relatively little creativity. In language, it is commonplace to find
new words being created, and sentences varying in practically infinite complexity. In this respect,
languages differ markedly from the very limited set of facial expressions, gestures, and body movements.
According to Harmer, the characteristics apply to every communicative situation is that a speaker/writer
wants to communicate, has a communicative purpose, and selects language, and a listener/reader wants to
listen to something, is interested in a communicative purpose, and process a variety of language.
Models
In order to study the process of communication several models have been offered;
fragmentation and problems of interdisciplinary outlook have generated a wide range of discussion
concerning the ways in which communication occurs. Most communication theorists admit that
their main task is to answer the question Who says what to whom with what effect? The most
important models are:
Dynamic Used to describe cognitive, emotional and artistic aspects of the different modes
(narrative, pictorial, dramatic...) of communication as they occur in sociocultural contexts in their
various manners and to and from different sorts of people. For those using this model, the stability
and function of the channel are more variable and less mechanically related to the process than the
linear models.
Linear
Proposed by Shannon and Weaver, though very mathematical, its simplicity, clarity
and surface generality proved very attractive. Originally intended for electronic messages, it was
then applied to all sorts of communication. In its conception it contained five elements arranged in
linear order: information source, transmitter, channel, receiver, destination. Then, the five
elements were renamed so as to specify components for other types of communication, and the
information source was split into its components to provide a wider range of applicability: source,
encoder, message, channel, decoder, receiver.
Key factors
In theory, communication is said to have taken place if the information received is the same as that
sent. In practice, we have to allow for all kinds of interfering factors, such as entropy (noise
distorsion) which can be counteracted by negative entropy (receiver´s ability to clear blurred
messages), by redundancy (used by the encoder), or by feedback (the sender calculates and
weights the effects on the receiver and acts accordingly); and then we have the context, which
covers the references to the linguistic aspects of the message or endophora (anaphora and
cataphora) and the external aspects of situation or exophora (such as the field, or total event and
purpose of the communication, the mode, or function of the text in the event, including channel
and genre, and the tenor, which refers to the participants and their relationships).
5. FACTORS AND FUNCTIONS OF A COMMUNICATIVE SITUATION
The most usual answer to the question “why do we use language?” is “to communicate our ideas”. But it
would be wrong to think that communicating our ideas is the only purpose for which we use language.
Several other functions may be identified where the communication of ideas is marginal or irrelevant. We
hardly find verbal messages that would fulfil only one function , although the verbal structure of a
message depends primarily on the predominant function;
Following Jakobson, we agree that language must be investigated in all the variety of its functions, but an
outline of these functions demands a concise survey of the constitutive factors in any act of verbal
communication: the ADDRESSER sends a MESSAGE to the ADDRESSEE that to be operative requires
a CONTEXT referred to and to be grasped by the addressee (either verbal and situational, a CODE, fully
or partially common to the addresser and addressee, and a CONTACT, a physical channel and
psychological connection enabling them to enter and stay in communication
If the main purpose of our use of language is to communicate our ideas, concentrating on the context to
which these ideas refer to, then we are dealing with the referential or ideational function.
If there is a direct expression of the addresser´s attitude toward what is being communicated, tending to
produce an impression of a certain emotion, that is the emotive or expressive function (also very
common), which differs from the referential one in the sound pattern, and it flavours to some extend all
our utterances.
If we orientate our message towards the addressee because we want a certain reaction, we are dealing with
the conative function, syntactically and often phonetically deviate from other functions (vocatives and
imperatives).
We talk about the phatic function when the language we use is for the purpose of establishing or
maintaining social relationships, to check if the channel or contact works, to attract or confirm the
attention of the interlocutor or to discontinue communication, rather than to communicate ideas, and is
normally displayed by ritualised formulas (Well..., How do you do?).
If we use the language to talk about the language, such as when checking if addressee is using the same
code as the addresser (Do you follow me? Do you know what I mean?), we talk of the metalingual
function.
If, on the contrary, the focus is on the phonetic properties of the message, althogh not being the sole
function of the message, we say that we are using the poetic function of language.
To end up, we will say that Halliday grouped all the functions into three interrelated metafunctions:
ideational, to express ideas or experiences, the interpersonal to indicate, establish or maintain social
relationships, and the textual, to create written or spoken texts that fit in the particular situation in which
they are used.
6. FUNCTIONALITY AND CONTEXT: THE NEGOTIATION OF MEANING
However, if communication were simply a matter of applying the adequate schema, we wouldn´t have to
worry about the addressee´s response to the communication process. Therefore, we need procedures to
integrate these abstract schemata into the concrete process of discourse itself.
All communication depends on the alignment and adjustment of each interlocutor´s schemata, and
the procedures we use are the interactive negotiating activities that interpret the directions provided
and enable us to alter our expectations in the light of new evidence as the discourse proceeds , and
this procedural ability which traduces the schematic knowledge into communicative behaviour is called
capacity (inference, practical reasoning, negotiation of meaning, problem solving...).
This capacity apply to two different dimensions: one referred to the kind of schema that is being realised,
and the other to the kind of communicative situation that has to be negotiated, that is, to the way in which
the relationship between the schemata of the interlocutors is to be managed. We find that there are
occasions in which we use procedures to clear up and make more explicit and evident the frame of
reference, or use rhetorical routines to specify more accurately our illocutionary acts (the intended
effects of our utterances) or that felicity conditions are not satisfactory so that we must use those
procedures.
Other procedures, this time on the part of the addressee, are interpretative (as in A-“I have two tickets for
the theatre” B- “I´ve got an exam tomorrow”). In some occasions, however, negotiation is too long, too
difficult or even fails (as in interethnic interaction) because the schemata are very different, so that
interlocutors may use other signalling system (e.g. pictorial), or use (re)-formulation procedures (So
what you say is... Now let´s put it straight..)
7. CONCLUSION
Communication is , therefore, the main purpose of a language, and the use and function that fulfils
depends greatly on the characteristics of the information or the form of the message. In any case, for a
communication process to be complete, it is necessary that both addresser and addressee negotiate the
meaning of what is being transmitted, overcoming any possible obstacles difficulting that process.
8. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Halliday, M. A. K.
Tannen, D.
MacArthur, T.
An Introduction to Functional Grammar
Conversational Style
Chapter 9 1985
Chapter 8 1984
The Oxford Companion to the English Language OUP Oxford 1992
Hedge, T.
Writing.
OUP. Oxford. 1993
UNIT 2: COMMUNICATION IN THE LANGUAGE LESSON. LINGUISTIC AND NONLINGUISTIC COMMUNICATION
1. COMMUNICATION
Communication abilities at a very early stage are one of the primary aims of foreign language teaching.
Modern approaches to communication do not include only linguistic production but gesture, behaviour,
mime and other aspects occurring in first language communication.
The communicative use of the visual and tactile modes in their non-linguistic aspects is referred as “nonverbal” communication or “body language”.
Communication means to say something to someone with a communicative purpose and in an appropriate
way.
2. COMMUNICATION IN THE CLASSROOM
The main aims in language teaching are:
 Using oral and writing language in classroom actions.
 Using idioms and sentences (congratulations, greetings,…)
 Using extralinguistic strategies (gesture, body language,…)
And these are the contents:
 Conceptual (linguistic): identifying, greeting, describing, asking, expressing needs and emotions,
quantify, object location, requesting, denying, offering,…
 Procedures (non-linguistic): acting, doing what they are commanded (total Physical Response)
 Socio-cultural: knowing games, sports and traditional songs in that language.
Communication goals:
The learner gets a social and linguistic development:
 Gets an internal linguistic consciousness
 Takes part in a social interaction
 Gets a cultural knowledge of that society and their habits, and also a way to science, technology and
international relations
 Gets practice in everyday activities
Learners can understand much more that they can speak, so current language ca be used in the classroom.
3. COMMUNICATIVE LEARNING AND TEACHING ACTIVITIES
There is almost an unlimited range of activities within the communicative approach (information sharing,
negotiation of meaning and interaction)
Most communicative techniques operate by providing information and holding it from the others, creating
an information gap.
Every communicative activity has these characteristics:
 A desire to communicate
 A communicative form
 A variety of contents and language
The teacher’s role must be to facilitate the communication process and be involved as a participant within
the group, analysing needs, counselling, managing the process and organising resources.
Learners must interact within the group. Successful communication can only be achieved through group
interaction.
4. NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION
The communicative event is not based on the verbal component only. It also implies paralinguistic devices
such as gesture, facial expression, body language, sight. They are information and emotional sources.
These non-verbal acts are culturally related. Different cultures may use different gestures (hand using,
head movement, …e.g.: nodding in Hungary is opposite to everywhere else)
There is also the silent language like the physical distance maintained between individuals, the sense of
time appropriate for communication under different conditions… The sight directs very well
communication. If we do not like someone we put our eyes away, insecurity makes eyes go down or if we
are very interested our eyes are widely open to make the speaker go on.
5. EXTRALINGUISTIC STRATEGIES
The most common strategies of language learning are:
 Learning grammar rules and using them
 Imitating linguistic habits
 Learning vocabulary and structures by heart
 Finding out strategies, making hypotheses, contrasting them and getting the knowledge
Non verbal reactions to messages in different contexts:
 Games: guessing games, drawing games,…
 Drama: acting, miming, …
 Role play: using sentences as a native speaker, which is funny and vividly remembered.
 Total Physical Response: is a teaching method built around the co-ordination of speech and action. It
attempts to teach language through physical activity.
The more intensively a memory connection is traced the stronger the memory association will be and the
more likely it will be recalled.
It makes second language learning a process like first language acquisition. Comprehension abilities
precede productive skills but they transfer from one to others.
The speech directed to children consists mainly of commands. Most of the grammatical structures of the
target language and hundreds of lexical items can be learned from the skilful use of the imperative.
The lower the stress is the greater the learning is. Successful learning normally occurs in stress controlled
classrooms, in pleasurable experiences and low anxiety situations.
Grammatical features and lexical items are selected according to the classroom situations and the ease
they can be learnt. Total Physical Response is uses after language presentation and practice in order to
consolidate structures and vocabulary.
The teacher is the director of the stage play and pupils are the actors. The teacher decides what to teach,
how to present the new material, how to select materials.
Correction should be used only when our pupils will really benefit from it. in the beginning the learner
cannot attempt efficiently to the corrections because all attention is directed to producing utterances.
Learners listen attentively and respond physically to our commands. Teachers monitor and encourage to
speak when learners fell ready to speak.
Procedure:
 Warming up or introductory review
 Introduction of new language, new commands and new items
 Simple questions which can be answered with a gesture such as pointing
 Pupils utter commands. Manipulating teacher and pupils’ behaviour.
 Reading and writing activities (blackboard, notebooks, …). Writing, reading and acting out the
sentence.
It is very suitable for our primary lessons. It is only valid for beginners. When our pupils’ knowledge is
very limited we do not expect them to talk: they have to watch, listen and act.
Our main objective is to provide children as much understable listening as we can while they are doing an
enjoyable activity.
The use of gesture allows them to talk when they cannot speak. Commands can be responded by physical
actions (e.g.: point)
“COMMUNICATION IN THE FOREIGN LANGUAGE
CLASSROOM:
VERBAL
AND
NON-VERBAL
COMMUNICATION. EXTRALINGUISTIC STRATEGIES:
NON VERBAL REACTIONS TO MESSAGES IN DIFERENT
CONTEXTS”.-
INTRODUCTION.Communication is a key word for us as English teachers. Not only is it the essence
of human interaction, it is the centre of language learning.
Chomsky was one of the first language investigators to try to explain why a child
learns language; he says that the enfant begins to produce language by a process of
deduction using the input received and with natural resources construct an internal
grammar.
But later, linguists such as Hymes, noted that a child doesn´t know just a set of
rules. He/she learns how and when to use them, and to whom.He says that when a native
person speaks, he or she takes into account factors such as:
1. Systemic potential. Whether something (word, structure...) works grammatically
or not if it fits into the grammatical system.
2. Appropriacy. Whether a word or structure is suitable in the context according
factors such as the relative social class of the speakers, regional variations, age
and status differences, the topic being discussed and so on.
3. Feasability. Knowing whether a construction is possible or not. It may be
possible grammatically but seem ridiculous in real use such as the use of six
adverbs together.
4. Occurence. A knowledge of how often something appears in the language
(example: foreign learners of English from latin countries often use more latinsounding words than a typical native speakers).
Halliday considers that language is, indeed, learned in a functional context of use.
To summarize all the above, a communicative context governs language use, and language
learning implies an acquisition of these rules of use.
Grammar is not enough, as we can be grammatically correct and socioculturally
incorrect or with ill-designed strategies. And so communication breaks down.
Canale and Swain developed the idea of communicative competence, a design
taken on by the M.E.C. as the basis for objectives in the curricular design and as a guide
for teaching methodology.
This communicative competence consists of 5 subcompetences: grammatical,
discourse, sociolinguistic, strategic and sociocultural.
-
-
-
-
GRAMMATICAL or the ability to use the rules of the language system.
(example: the position of the adjective in English). systemic potential.
DISCOURSE or the ability to use different types of speech o writing based on the
situation and to do it coherently and cohesively.
SOCIOLINGUISTIC or the ability to adapt utterances to a particular social
context (socialclass, regional languages, registers). appropiacy.
STRATEGIC or the ability to influence the course of the communicative
situation (body movement, intonation). Related to redundancy. The aim is to
mantein the channel of communication open or to improve the reception.
SOCIOCULTURAL – being familiar with the social and cultural context, the
background where the language is spoken.(example:when we say “milkman” we
understand all the contexts such as: Who is the milkman?, When does the
milkman deliver the milk? and so on).
This communicative competence and its subcompetences seeks to help children to
provide opportunities for gaining real language in real use.
Communication is the activity or process of giving information to other people or to
other living things, usign signals such as speech, body movements or radio signals.
Communication is then the basis of a foreign language class from the basic
curricular design and aims to lesson plans and methodology.
In the 20 th Century worl of international travel, commerce, culture, technology and
news/information, communication needs to be optimun and our pupils will want to, or need
to have the four skills in language on many occasions for communicative purposes.
We shall now look at what this means in terms of verbal and non verbal
communication.
This is part of their preparation for life in general, and for their development as
people.
VERBAL COMMUNICATION:
This consists of two skills, namely listening and speaking.
LISTENING precedes speaking. It consists of the decoding of sound according to
acquired rules.It can be defined as the process of discriminating the sounds of the English
language through a process of hearing and understanding them. Listening is related to
PHONOLOGY This science studies the phonemes, the relationship between units of
sounds and differences in meaning.
We need to remember that there are differences between the Spanish sounds and the
English sounds. We must allow the children to be clear on these differences, using accent,
rhythm and entonation.
All material used in teaching sounds and meaning should be based on its usefulness
in real communicative interaction.
There are many ways of presenting material so that it can be a means of helping
children in oral-comprehension. We may use flash-cards, real objects, pictures from
magazines, gestures, mime, language laboratory, radio, t.v., fims, tape-recorder and so on.
SPEAKING is the encoding of the acquired sounds, deduced by listening, into
signals.The end of this is to communicate something to someone and is related to
PHONETICS  The study of sounds: how they are produced and how they are received.
Pupils need a lot of practise in comprehension (listening) in order to hold a
conversation in English. Both skills (listening and speaking) are linked in the learning
process, since the people need to absorb the elements of a message if they are going to
contribute to a conversation.
This encoding and decoding is not only on a grammatical level, as Chomsky inferred
at first, but as Guiraud affirms a process which takes logic from phonology, semantics, etc,
but also subjective experience and social rules.
So, we will begin talking about oral-comprehension techniques. If we want to
develop this ability in our children we shall need to observe the processes used by the
learner in listening comprehension.
At first, the pupil hears a series of noises and he/she can´t tell what the difference is
between them. After some time, he/she begins to note that the sounds are in some sort of
order, with regularity in the pauses and voice pattern.
As he/she learns some simple expresions, he or she begins to see that there are
recurring sounds, and he/she associates them with meaning. So, he or she is starting to
recognise familiar elements, but doesn´t see all the relationship. He/she does not really
understand.
As he or she becomes more familiar with the language, he/she recognizes the
different elements, but doesn´t remember what he/she recognized. This is because he/she is
recognizing single elements and not the whole message. The mind is eliminating
information which it can´t take at first; only a certain amount can be taken into short-term
memory.
The receptive system in the brain then takes these selected elements into long-term
storage. But only a small part of the total message will be remembered, this is why pupils
seem to be able to understand very little at first. They have to concentrate very well to be
able to take in not only the sounds, but their meaning, the brain is not able to do this too
fast, and we must remember this.
That´s why we help our pupils by giving them short sequences of sounds so that they
can get the meaning easily and store it automatically. So, REPETITION is essential for
acquiring this process
The LOGSE, in its 9 objectives of the curricular design, reflects the importance of
proficiency in these skills.
No child can ever really communicate in English without some ability to listen and
speak. In traditional “Grammar Translation” these skills were often neglected.
The reason for this neglect was that some people consider speaking and listening to
be primitive skills. They saw that children acquired these abilities naturally and so it was
felt that verbal communication was less sofisticated than the written form of the language.
So, more importance was given to a study of the written language and for many
years verbal communication was nor considered to be worthy of study.
This is reflected in the approaches to teaching of languages wich followed a classical
methodology imitating latin and greek approaches which by their very nature center on
reading and writing.
In this century however, and thanks to the contributions on social anthropologists
and linguistics we have come to understand that the spoken form of a language is a
valuable communication tool full of sophisticated rules of use and which is a vehicle for
social interaction.
We can think of Vigotsky studies on ethnic groups where he demonstrates how
complex the verbal communication is within societies which some people consider to be
primitive.
So, speaking and listening are complex skills and even though they are acquired in
an apparently natural way there is a process involved which is intricate.
As an example of this we can look at some of the features which are unique to verbal
communication.
Goffman highlited some of these.
We could mention that in verbal communication there are signals which the adresser
and adressee recognize as open-close signals such as the word “well” or a cough to open
and there are other non-verbal signalssuch as hand movemet to open or close a
conversation. We could also think of the fact that in verbal communication there is an
inmediate and constant response from the adressee which we don´t have in written
communication. This leads to the possibility of the speaker using strategies to ensure the
message is being received.
These strategies include back signals such as the hearer nodding his/her head or
expressions such as “really” or “umhm”.
These demonstrate to the hearer that the message is being received.
If he or she feels that the adressee is having difficulty in receiving the message
because he/she notes a lack of interests,comprehension, etc, he/she may choose to use
strategies such as raising the voice, repetition or gestures to improve attention or
understanding.
We can not do this in written communication because the adressee is not usually
present and we can´t judge the receiver´s response and then react.
Further to this in verbal communication speakers and listeners pay attention to the
norms of what is acceptable in a given context as regards quantity, for example.We could
imagine that a British conversation consists of shorter exchanges than in an anaerobic
context.There are also, of course, complex rules of what is socially and culturally
acceptable in specific contexts depending on the relative age, social class and regional
origin and so on of speaker and hearer. For example, the speaker is aware of taboo words
or topics and of conventions which are appropiate in a given situation.It would be
inappropiate, for example, to use some swearwords in polite company.
In written communication the writer does not always know who will read the
message and cannot always select suitable exppressions, topics and vocabulary.
Taking the above into account we can affirm that when a child begins to listen with
understanding and to speak with intelligibility he/she is acquiring very useful social skills
for everyday use.
These skills are not primitive instruments but elaborate competences which society
demands and values.
Within verbal communication we recognize that there are non verbal elements. We
will now look at these aspects of spoken communication.
NON VERBAL COMMUNICATION.
In all verbal communication we are aware that the message is sent through a code
that is made up of sounds travelling trough the air, having been emitted trough the
articulation of the speaker´s speech organs. But this message is communicated by non
verbal signals too real componets of normal communication.
The following are typical contextual non verbal elements.
Knapp clasifies the non verbal aspects as follows:
1. Body movements: includes gestures, movements of the body, limbs, hands, head,
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
feet, facial expressions (smiling), eye behaviour such as blinking, direction of
sight and also posture.
Physical characteristics: includes physical appearance, general attraction, body
scents, height, hair, skin ton (these characteristics are constant).
Paralanguage: refers to how something is said and not what is said. It uses the
non verbal vocal signs surronding speech (tone, qualities of the voice, rythm).
Proxemics: is the manner in which man uses space as specific cultural product,
the study of use and perception of social and personal space. The individual
determines his own space base on social and personal rules (perception and use
of personal and social space).
Tactile conduct: kissing, hitting, guiding ...
Artifacts: include the manipulation of objects, which can act as non-verbal
stimuli, with interacting persons.These artifacts can be: perfume, clothing,
lipstick ...
Surroundig factors: this category includes those elements that intervine in human
relations which are not a direct part of it: furniture, interio decoration.
The purpose of non verbal communication is to be part of the functional aspect
of communication:
a) to communicate emotions
b) to regulate communication/conventions.
c) To interpret.
d) To identify social status, etc.
The cultural specificness of these elements should highlited (Spanish and English gestures
are different).
Meaningful language includes a knowledge of these aspects for true communication.
The importance of drama, mime, action songs, role-plays, simulation of real life
situations to include as many non-verbal elements as possible cn not be underestimated.
EXTRALINGUISTIC STRATEGIES: NON VERBAL REACTIONS TO
MESSAGES IN DIFFERENT CONTEXTS.In this part of the topic we will see how the use of extralinguistic elements is linked
not only to achieving grammatical and sociocultural competence but to strategic
competence.
This is the ability to plan and adapt communication, so that the desired end is
achieved.
In different contexts different strategies are required.
We should make some points here:
1) Strategies develop and are sought when a need is seen. Children look for
extralinguistic help when they are interested in, or enthusiastic about, or are
seeing the advantage in communicating.
2) We shoul put children in different situations of verbal communication and help
them to develop non verbal aids with games and activities which link non-verbal
elements with the context and communication need.
3) This acquisition of language skills and non-verbal strategies requires an
atmosphere of relaxation, with no tension, ridicule, pressure.
4) Children should see how language verbal and non verbal changes in different
context, ruled by situation,climate, social class, age, formality and informality
and so on.
One method which focuses on the aid of non-verbal communication is Total
Physical Response. Every extralinguistic resource its use is developing communication
beginning with the listening skills, where imperatives are inferred by movements, actions,
etc.
Though we may not wish to use a TPR methodology with all its implications, the
contributions it makes to the teaching-learning process as part of our methodological plan
in an eclectic approach can be valuable.
As teachers we will be aware that elements such as furniture, space, decorations and
so on can help or hinder communication. There will be occassions when we will want to
re-arange desks, chairs, decorations, posters or other objects, so that they can help in a
communicative process. For example, if we are perfoming a play we can set up various
objects as scenary so that the children fell contextualized. For instance, in a play about
Goldilock and the three bears we could put a table in the centre of the classroom with three
different-size chairs beside it.This extralinguistic elements help children, who can use them
as aids in communication.
To give an example of a Total Physical Response methodology which uses
extralinguistic strategies we can consider for instance the game of “Simon says” where, in
the context of a game, children learn to understand simple imperatives along with
associated parts of the body. They obey the orders of the teacher only when he or she
speaks on behalf of Simon. To help the children the teacher performs the action, which the
children initate. Eventually they do not need this extralinguistic back-up.
From the very first days of learning a foreign language, children become accostumed
to deducing meaning from the context, which is full of extralinguistic clues. When we say:
- “ close the door, please” pointing to the open door and miming a closing movement. This
is a very simple but effective T.P.R. activity.
Not only do children learn to understand spoken messages in this way. They begin to
try to communicate using non-verbal and stralinguistic strategies at their disposal, from
gestures to mime and with the use of other artifacts.
CONCLUSION.In this topic we have attempted to demonstrate the nature of verbal communication.
The spoken language in each productive and receptive forms depends not only on
the understanding of sounds or the creation of these sounds.
The context of this communication includes many elements which are aids in the
process and we should be aware of how we can maximized verbal and non-verbal items to
encouraged children to infer meaning and to use all sorts of extralinguistic strategies to
improve communication.
By means of meaningful, motivating activities which use aspects such as bodymovement, gestures, artifacts, the five senses, we can motivate our young learners of
English to believe that communicating in the English language is within their reach.
TOPIC 3
DEVELOPMENT OF THE FOUR BASIC LINGUISTIC
SKILLS: LISTENING, SPEAKING, READING AND
WRITING. COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE IN ENGLISH
I will start with a short introduction to let you know what this topic is about
0. INTRODUCTION
In the society where we live, the possibilities of cultural interchanges
studying abroad, watching TV, so on, determines that, communication, at least
one foreign language is a necessity.
With our educational reform, according the GENERAL
ORGANIC act 1/1990 of 3 of October of Educative System, its are
persuades THREE AIMS:

A WIDER EDUCATION: compulsory and free education are
extended up to the change of sixteen, which also coincides with the
labour ages.
 A BETTER EDUCATION: the number of teachers and
school resources are increased; the teacher-in-service training
courses are promoted, school resources and vocational guidance
programmes are improved.

MORE USEFUL EDUCATION: a new model of vocational
training with greater practice knowledge and with a greater relation
with the labour market are proposed, and the necessites of our
present society.

In the General Organic Act 1/90 of 3rd of October of Educative System,
we can find in the 2nd Chapter, article 13-b that, in Primary Education, among
the capacities to develop in our pupils is “ to understand and produce easy
messages in a foreign language”.
We also have in the RD 1344/91 of 6th of September about Teaching
Requirements in the territory managed by the old Ministry of Education and
Culture, in the Art.4 that the objective a) is “understand and produce oral and
written messages in Spanish, language of the community and in a foreign
language “ and continuous “The ability to communicate in a foreign language
and the knowledge of this language give a good help for a better
comprehension and learning the own language”.
So,for these reasons, compulsory education must attend to this social
need and give pupils a communicative competence in a foreign language.
Within this communicative competence, we as teachers have to develop the
four main skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing.
Thus, in this topic, I will talk about them in the following points:
1. DEVELOPMENT OF THE FOUR BASIC LINGUISTIC SKILLS:
LISTENING, SPEAKING, READING AND WRITING
2. COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE IN ENGLISH.
3. CONCLUSION
4. BIBLIOGRAPHY.
1. DEVELOPMENT OF THE FOUR BASIC LINGUISTIC SKILLS:
LISTENING, SPEAKING, READING AND WRITING
In the RD 1344/ 91 of 6 of September about teaching Requirements in the
territory managed by the old Ministry of Education and Culture, we can read
that” the development of the basic linguistic skills it has to be seen as a
process of integration. In the real life, communicative acts use different
skills, so, it’s not logic, to treat them in an aisle form.”
Now I am going to talk about these skills, and I will start with listening.
1. Listening or learning to listen in order to hear and understand
properly.
-First of all, there are several general principles in teaching / learning
listening comprehension, and these principles are:
I. Listening comprehension lessons, it must have definite goals,
carefully stated. These goals should fit into the overall curriculum.
II. Listening comprehension lessons, it should be constructed, with a
carefully step-by-step planning. This implies that the listening
tasks progress, from simple hearing based activities, to more
complex understanding based ones as our pupils gain in language
competence.
III. Listening comprehension lessons should teach not test
IV. Listening comprehension lessons structure it should demand active
pupil participation. And finally
V. These lessons should stress conscious memory work.
-We can use several STRATEGIES in order to develop listening
comprehension such as: SCANNING, SKIMMING, RECONSTRUCTION OF
ORAL DISCOURSE, PREDICTION, RECOGNIZING INTERNAL
STRUCTURES AND CONNECTORS, GUESSING FORM CONTEXT, and,
EXTENSIVE and INTENSIVE STRATEGIES.
1. SCANNING or looking for specific details. It’s better to say
questions before the listening practice.
2. SKIMMING or to identify the principal ideas. F. instance, we want
that our pupils ask themselves, what is this text about?. And to
guess the type text (poem, folk tale), settings (place, street),
characters (formal, informal, neuter), and key words.
3. RECONSTRUCTION OF ORAL DISCOURSE: after we refer to the
first listening, the teacher can make a conceptual map on the
blackboard, considering a word or sentence as the listening key.
4. PREDICTION, pupils can predict what will be the next one that
they are going to listen.
5. RECOGNIZING INTERNAL STRUCTURES AND CONNECTORS:
this strategy gives us clues about the content. F. example:
 FALL/RISE INTONATION, and the particle BUT indicate
contrast expression
 SO + FALL INTONATION indicate “RESULT”
 FIRST, THEN, FINALLY, help us to identify and arrange
sequences in different parts.
6. GUESSING FORM CONTEXT: is to find out the meaning of
unknown words. We can use gestures, pictures… and, the two last
ones are
7. EXTENSIVE and INTENSIVE LISTENING
 EXTENSIVE LISTENING will be a focused or general
feature of the styles of discourse. The language level in this
kind of listening is, inside the student’s capacity, and they
listen for pleasure and interest. This strategy, can be used
for the representation of already known material in a new
environment and it can also serve the function of introducing
new language.
 INTENSIVE LISTENING is closer to ear training, and it’s
the most widely used for listening practice in classroom.
Students are asked to listen a passage, with the aim of
collecting and organizing the information it contains. This
strategy, can be used for the focus of language items as part
of language teaching programme, and for general
comprehension and understanding.
- And, finally, in this point, I will talk about PLANNING CONSIDERATIONS.
First of all, these are a number of steps that we have to bear in mind when
planning the listening work for our class:
1. choose the listening text.
2. check that the activities are suitable
3. adjust the difficulty level of the activities, if we need to
4. consider, whether the listening work you are planning will fit
the time available or not
5. think about visual aids
6. decide whether any special equipment will be needed
7. make up our mind about what procedure you will adopt for the
listening session
8. if you are planning, to present the listening text “live” practice
reading it aloud
-Once we have taken these steps, we must teach our children to develop
skills, and according to Harmer, we can divide these skills into TWO TYPES:
GENERAL UNDERSTANDING and SPECIFIC UNDERSTANDING:
a. GENERAL UNDERSTANDING is concerned with the treatment of a text
as a whole, and includes the following microskills:
PREDICTION: because it is useful to encourage children to predict what they
think might come next in a spoken message. This means that they then listen to checks
whether their expectation matches the reality of what they hear.
EXTRACTING SPECIFIC INFORMATION and GETTING THE
GENERAL PICTURE of an activity of listening and,
b. SPECIFIC UNDERSTANDING, which involve a detailed comprehension of
the text. They also include the following microskills:
- INFERRING OPINION and ATTITUDE because an awareness of stress,
intonation and body language, such as facial expressions or gestures, will
help the children work out meaning, specially in dialogues or story- telling.
- DEDUCING MEANING FROM CONTEXT because although the teacher
might like to gloss new words before the children listen to something, she
also needs to encourage them to use pictures and their general knowledge
about a topic to work out the meaning of unfamiliar words.
-And RECONGNIZING DISCOURSE PATTERNS and MARKERS: words such
as first, then, finally, or but, so, give important signals about what is coming
next in a spoken text. This is especially important when listening to a
sequence of events, such as in a story or a set of instructions.
-About LISTENING ACTIVITIES,, we make sure the children are clear
about why they are listening. This means spelling out which part of the
message they need to focus on and what they are going to do before listening,
while listening or after listening. So, to develop these skills, are commonly
divided into THREE CATEGORIES: PRE-LISTENING, WHILE and POSTLISTENING.
o PRE-LISTENING ACTIVITIES have as a main aim to arouse our pupils’
interest and include MAKING LIST OF IDEAS or LABELLING.
o In WHILE LISTENING ACTIVITIES we have TRUE/FALSE or
SPOTTING MISTAKER and
o POST- LISTENING ACTIVITIES include SUMMARIZING or
DICTATION.
An activity type could be for instance:
-Listen and perform actions/ follow instructions: this kind of activity is used
with action songs, rhymes or games such as “ What’s the time Mr. Wolf?”
-Purpose: listening for enjoyment and to improve memory and concentration
span.
-Materials: instructions for games.
According the book “The Primary English Teacher’s Guide “ by Brewster, Ellis
and Girard, existing methods and materials for primary school English
contain recorded phrases for use in the initial classes.
However, it is primarily the teacher who, by conducting the class in English,
will provide the opportunity for the pupils continually to improve their
listening ability in as natural a manner as possible.
There are other simple ways of training pupils to listen effectively such as
the teaching of numbers and letters with dictations, or visuals aids, such as
pictures of plants, animals or people, can also be used by the pupils to
respond to dictations involving the names of objects.
2. Speaking, or learning to speak in order to be understood
-First, I will say several GENERAL PRINCIPLES in SPEAKING SKILL:
1. The beginning of oral expression will start when the pupil can
understand the meaning of language’s first elements.
2. Thus, we will use short dialogues and its will attack attention of
them, both the topic and the attractive form to present it.
3. In relation with the first syntactic structures (which we can
present in first or second cycle), they are principally
GESTALTS or PREFABRICATED LANGUAGE, for instance a
greeting like ‘how are you’.
4. Before preparing our activities we have to consider several
aspects as COMPETENCE level, if our pupils ARE GOING TO
USE A BOOK, AGE, CONTENTS.
- An oral lesson is often divided into STAGES commonly known as
PRESENTATION STAGE, PRACTICE STAGE and PRODUCTION STAGE:

PRESENTATION STAGE has as a main aim to give our
pupils the opportunities to realize the usefulness and relevance of the new
language and their need to learn it.
In the initial stages, first lessons often focus on teaching simple greetings
and introductions, f.ex: “hello”, “What’s your name?”, “My name is”.
In the early stages of learning, not much spontaneous speech can be expected
from pupils.
Such speech (language) consists of:
-Simple greetings: hello, how are you
-Social English: have a nice weekend?
-Routines: what’s the date?
-Classroom language: listen, repeat, sit down, good
-Asking permission: Can I go to the toilet?
We have to bear in mind that once we have chosen a context for the
presentation, we must decide on a procedure, which includes points in this
order:
a) First, build up the situational context by means of pictures and tapes
b) Elicit the new language.
c) Focus our pupils’ attention on the model sentence, and (to) get the
repetition both chorally or individually.
d) And, check students’ understanding.
The teacher’s main role during this stage is as INFORMANT
 In PRACTICE STAGE our pupils assimilate and memorizes the new language
by means of activities such as repetitions.
The teacher’s role is mainly those as CONDUCTOR and CORRECTOR and

In PRODUCTION STAGE, the main aims are to give
learners the opportunities to integrate the new learnt
language into previously learnt language in an
unpredictable linguistic context, and to provide both,
teachers and pupils, with feedback about the learning and
teaching process.
The teacher’s role is as FACILITATOR.
According to Brewster the main thing is to be understood without the listener
being obliged to go through a series of mental gymnastics in order to discover
what the pupil was most probably trying to say.
From a psychological point of view, it’s a good idea not to force things and to
let each pupil start to contribute when they feel ready.
-Some speaking activities that we can use are REPETITION activities like
“Chinese whispers (the teacher whisper a word a sentence in the pupils’ ear
and this message will be transmitted in the same form to whole class. The last
pupils has to repeat aloud what he has just listened or ASKING AND GIVING
INFORMATION it can consists of the repetition of certain structures with
minimums changes which have been practised previously in class to complete a
questionnaire, posters, etc …
For instance, an activity type could be:
Look, listen and repeat: the teacher shows a picture, says the word and pupils
repeat: look! An elephant. Repeat.
When the teacher is satisfied with her pupil’s pronunciation she can move
another word.
Once several new items have been introduced, the teacher can check by
showing a picture and asking, what’s this? And pupils reply.
Purpose: to introduce new vocabulary or structures.
Materials: picture cards, for example animals. Food, colours, actions
3. Learning to read and write
 Learning to read a foreign language is obviously not a primary aim of
early learning of English. Nevertheless, the two skills of reading and
writing are learning tools, which it would be wrong to ignore, as they
occupy a position of fundamental importance in the objectives of
primary school education and in the activities of the pupils.
 Learning to read in English will gradually give young beginners an ability
to read autonomously as they acquire both the necessary ability and the
taste for reading. There are publishers specializing in English as a
foreign language that offers illustrated readers for children. The
adventures of the animal and human heroes in these books excite the
interest of the children and encourage them to read on.
 We have TWO TYPES OF STRATEGIES to develop reading
comprehension: ACCORDING TO THE SENSE USED and ACCORDING
THE ACTIVITIES.
ACCORDING TO THE SENSE USED we have READING BY EAR
and READING BY EYE

READING BY EAR: we can’t read without the phonic
element, that’s to say, reading is a lineal process and we advance identifying
and reproducing the phonic elements of texts. This strategy is very
important in the first stage of learning a foreign language.

READING BY EYE: the relation between written word and
signification is direct. Thus, the words are read as units with meaning
without the participation of an intermediate mechanism. This strategy is
used with pupils who have a certain reading fluency and.
ACCORDING TO THE ACTIVITIES USED we have SCANNING,
SKIMMING, FOLLOW A SEQUENCE, SURVIVAL READING, PREDICTION,
INFORMATION TRANSFER.
1. SCANNING or looking for specific details such as a friends address.
It’s better to say questions before reading.
2. SKIMMING or to identify the principal ideas. F. Instance, we want
that our pupils ask themselves, what is this text about?. And they can
identify type text (poem, folk tale), settings (place, street),
characters (formal, informal, neuter), and key words.
3. FOLLOW A SEQUENCE: it’s useful to understand instructions or
identifying. F. Instance the life phases of famous people.
4. SURVIVALS READING: it’s referred to localization of text, which
help us to find something that we are looking for in an urban context.
F. instance: traffic signals with sort text (ONE WAY), or informative
signals (EXIT, MIND THE GAP)
5. PREDICTION, when we can use clues which show. What’s going to the
next f. instance, we say: ‘there was an Englishman, a Frenchman, and an
Irishman.
6. INFORMATION TRANSFER: this strategy permits us to translate
determined facts of a text to different ones. F. Instance: a travel, or
adventure story can be transformed in a comic or map.
 About READING SKILLS: and according to Harmer we can divide
these skills into two types: GENERAL UNDERSTANDING and
SPECIFIC UNDERSTANDING.
-GENERAL UNDERSTANDING are concerned with the treatment of a text as
a whole. They include the following micro skills: PREDICTION, EXTRACTING
SPECIFIC INFORMATION, and GETTING THE GENERAL PICTURE.
-SPECIFIC UNDERSTANDING are subsequently and involve a detailed
comprehension of the text. They include: INFERRING OPINION AND
ATTITUDE, DEDUCING MEANING FROM CONTEXT, and RECOGNIZING
DISCOURSE PATTERNS AND MARKERS.
 We can also talk about READING ACTIVITIES, and are commonly
divided into THREE TYPES: PRE- READING, WHILE READING and
POST- READING ACTIVITIES.
o PRE- READING ACTIVITIES have as a main aim to arouse our pupils’
interest in what they are going to read. They may include: PRELIMINARY DISCUSSION, HEADLINESS AND TITLES, and
SEQUENCING PICTURES.
o WHILE READING ACTIVITIES for general and specific
understanding. They may include: SUGGESTING A TITLE, UNDERLINE
THE INFORMATION REQUIRED, and CHART COMPLETATION.
o POST- READING ACTIVITIES can be thought as a follow up work.
They may include PREPARE A SIMILAR NEXT, PARTICIPATE IN A
ROLE-PLAY BASED ON THE NEXT MAKE A DRAWING.
 Finally to say that reading in English in the early stages will usually
remain at the word level, where children play simple games as
dominoes, snap or bingo.
 For instance, an activity type could be:
Playing games such as odd- one out or spot the difference. Pupils
identify similarities and differences between letters or words.
Purpose: to develop phonic skills and sight recognition of words.
Material: flashcards or worksheets with words grouped in three or
fours.
And about the last skill, writing, we can say that in the early stages of
learning English, the pupils will generally write very little. It is a good idea to
use copying in a way, which encourages pupils to think, this means using
crosswords, and matching, sequencing or classifying activities.
We also have in this skill several stages:
1. First, FAMILIARIZATION AND CONTROLLED WRITING:
at the beginning, words and expressions won’t be presented
isolated, but with a lot of contextual aids, wallcharts,
flashcards. We can use activities such as FILLIG
CROSSWORDS, PUTTING UNDER PICTURES the right
sentences (with routines expressions)
2. The second stage is GUIDING WRITING and we use precommunicative activities to reach out the free composition of
short texts. We have for instance, INFORMATION
TRANSFER STRATEGY: with excursion photographies which
give us material to produce texts (they have to write about
what they see) and
3. The third stage is FREE COMPOSITION that can be
introduced when the previous ones have been filled and with
activities such as FILLING CHRISTMAS or BITHDAY
CARDS
+ According to Matthew, writing skills can be divided on:
1. GRAPHIC SKILLS which include aspects such as
PUNCTUATION or SPELLING
2. STYLISTIC SKILLS refer to our pupils’ ability to express
precise meaning in a variety of styles and registers( to say
“hello” sad or happy
3. ORGANIZATIONAL SKILLS which involve the sequencing of
ideas (by using connectors such as “first”, “finally”
4. GRAMATICAL SKILLS refer to our pupils’ ability to use
successfully a variety of sentence patterns and construction
and (negatives or affirmative sentences)
5. RHETORICAL SKILLS refer to pupils’ ability to use cohesion
devices in order to link part of a text into logically related
sequences (more or less as organizational)
An activity type could be: Snap:
Materials: 24 playing cards with common words written on them. The words
need to be grouped into families which have two or three letters in common,
for example: at, hat, mat, cat; the, other, mother, another.
Method: the cards are divided equally between two players. Each player places
the card face down in the usual way. When a player says “snap”, she/ he has to
say why the two cards are linked. No single letter matching is allowed. The
winner is the first player to collect all the cards.
And with that I finish the first main point in this topic.
Now, I will talk about the other main point.
2. THE COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE IN ENGLISH
Chomsky defined language as a set of sentences each finite in length and
constructed out of a finite set of elements
He said that a native speaker has a subconscious knowledge of the
grammatical rules of his language, which allows him to make sentences in that
language. This is what Chomsky called COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE.
However, DELL HYMES thought that Chomsky had forgotten some very
important information about the rules of use, because when a native speaks, he
doesn’t only utter grammatically corrects, he also knows WHERE, WHEN, and to
WHOM to use these.
He said that competence by itself is not enough to explain a speaker’s
knowledge, and, replace it with the concept of communicative competence.
He distinguished FOUR ASPECTS of his CC: systematic potential,
appropiacy, occurrence and feasibility
 SYSTEMATIC POTENTIAL means that the native speaker
possesses a system that has a potential for creating a lot of
language. This is similar to Chomsky competence.
 APPROPIACY means the native speaker knows what language
is appropriate in a given situation. His choice is based on the
following variables: SETTING, PARTICIPANT, PURPOSE,
CHANNEL and TOPIC
 OCURRENCE means that the native speaker knows how often
something is said in a language and acts accordingly
 FEASIBILITY means the native speaker knows whether
something is possible in a language or not
+ These four categories have been adapted for teaching purposes
+ Thus, the Royal Decree 1006/91 of 14 th of June which establishes the
teaching requirements for Primary Education nationwide sees Communicative
Competence as comprising five subcompetences: GRAMMAR C, DISCOURSE,
SOCIOLINGUISTIC, STRATEGIC AND SOCIOCULTURAL COMPETENCE.
 GRAMMAR C.: the ability to put into practice the linguistic
units according to the rules of use established in the
linguistic system
 DISCOURSE C: the ability to use different types of
discourse and organize them according to the communicative
situation and the speakers involved in it.
 SOCIOLINGUISTIC C: the ability to adequate the
utterances to the specific context, in according with the
accepted usage of the determined linguistic community.
 STRATEGIC C: the ability to define, correct or in general,
make adjustments, in the communicative situation.
 SOCIOCULTURAL C: which has to be understood as a certain
awareness of the social and cultural context in which the
foreign language is used.
Finally and 3. CONCLUSION of this topic, to say that the integrated
education of the four main skills, beside to permit us the use of material for
practising different linguistics activities, it answer to natural phenomenon in
our everyday life: sometimes we talk (orally way) not only what we see, listen,
but we also talk about something that we have just read, or, we write about
something that we have heard or read.
Any practice, thus, about a determined linguistic skills, must be
completed and rested on the other ones.
4. BIBLIOGRAPHY
th
 The royal decree 1006/91 of 14
of June about teaching
requirements for Primary Education.
 “The Primary English Teacher’s Guide” by Brewster. Ed. Penguin.
English 1992
 “The Cambridge Encyclopaedia of Language” by Crystal. Ed.
Cambridge. University Press 1987
 “The Practice of English Language Teaching” by Harmer. Ed.
Longman. London. 1983
UNIT 4: FOREIGN LANGUAGE AS COMMUNICATION INSTRUMENT. INTERNATIONAL
AND MULTILINGUAL REALITIES. INTEREST FOR A NEW LANGUAGE AND CULTURE.
1. FOREIGN LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL COMMUNICATION.
Language can be a barrier to communication. The most usual way to go round is to find someone to
interpret or translate it. there are many problems because exact equivalence is impossible and there is
always a loss of information, even with an accurate translation.
On the other hand some people have created new artificial languages, neutral, standardised, easy to learn,
with a lot of functions, etc, but people cannot identify with a language nobody speaks.
There is another solution, using a natural language for communication between different groups of people.
For centuries Latin has been used but nowadays is English the one that is getting that position.
It is due to the political, economic and military power of the UK first and the USA later. Trading,
industry, science and literature have contributed to it.
English is a live language, changing and developing quickly. There are many linguistic loans from all
languages and the meaning of some words change quite easily. In addition to that, verbs system is simple
and English has not got genre.
Some people, most of them from countries with important languages, are reluctant to learn a second
language. But foreign language learning becomes a necessity nowadays:
 The European Community: meeting people from other countries on equal linguistic terms. And also
the possibility for workers to move from country to country.
 People travel a lot and languages help to cope with different situations and give the opportunity of
interaction with natives.
 There are more and more cultural exchanges. Science, technology and trading demand foreign
languages.
 Languages promote understanding, tolerance and respect for the cultural identity, rights and values of
others. They broaden our minds, because we find other ways of thinking about things.
 Foreign language learning prepare students to cope with an ever-changing environment. They face up
to social and personal demands.
 Linguistic awareness is getting more and more accurate with foreign language studying. Mother
tongue gets also better.
So, teaching a language means also showing the linguistic aspects and knowing about the culture. The
language is a vehicle for it.
2. TEACHING LANGUAGE AND CULTURE
New materials include increasingly information about different aspects of the target language community
(geography, social values, sports,…)
It can help the contrast between foreign community habits and pupils’ own habits. They must be aware of
the different ways of behaviour and also reduce the risk of intolerance.
Meaning is not an isolated property of the text, it does not only appear in discourse, it is relational. Pupils
must know about the context where the text is shown.
Being English is a part of a person. We must also mind sex, age, social class, ethnic background,…
The teaching of English culture is not only a matter of words. We must not reduce culture to stereotypes.
We are educating people for a more tolerant world and the civilised acceptance of difference.
Our task is to encourage people to take an interest and develop a positive attitude towards the foreign
country and its people.
3. CONTENTS
Sociocultural expressions are shown mostly in traditional material (e.g.: songs: “I love sixpence”,
“Teapot”)
Traditional games and sports also help.
Establishing differences and contrasts in:
 Some jobs (e.g.: milkman)
 Social politeness (Mr., Mrs., Miss, Excuse me, please…)
 Everyday activities (meals, time, school timetable)
 Weather (clothes, seasons)
 Sociocultural distinctions (driving on the left)
 Celebrations (Halloween)
THEME 4
THE SECOND LANGUAGE AS A MEANS OF COMMUNICATION
AMONG PEOPLE AND NATIONS. GENERATING AN INTEREST IN
LINGUISTIC DIVERSITY THROUGH ANOTHER LANGUAGE AND
CULTURE
OUTLINE
PART ONE: TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION
2. CONTENTS
2.1.
Language and communication
2.2.
Language and different cultures
2.3.
Language as an instrument of holistic learning
2.4.
The importance of having materials in the resource room to achieve a good intercultural
atmosphere
2.5.
‘Immersion approach’ to second language learning
2.6.
How to experience the culture of the English-speaking world in the classroom
3. BIBLIOGRAPHY
PART TWO: PRACTICAL DEVELOPMENT
1. LEVEL
2. TIME OF SESSIONS
3. OBJECTIVES
3.1.
General
3.2.
Specific
4. METHODOLOGY
5. THE TEACHING UNIT: SPECIFIC CONTENTS
6. ACTIVITIES AND TASKS
7. MATERIALS
8. FINAL TASK
9. EVALUATION
PART ONE: TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION
Modern textbooks take into account the linguistic aspects of a second language. In Fanfare, for
example, Barbara Wilkes cites the following as her aims and objectives: to create an initial interest and
enjoyment in foreign-language learning; to develop a positive attitude towards foreign cultures and
people; to develop and awareness of the link between language and culture; to develop an awareness of
language as an instrument of communication (Wilkes 1994: 8-9).
Thus, in addition to contributing “to the process of the development of the child’s intellectual,
social, emotional, and physical skills,” and fostering “improved learning skills”, teaching English as a
foreign language (TEFL) should also include aspects related to intercultural appreciation and
communication.
2. CONTENTS
2.1.
Language and communication
Louis Porcher has observed that one of the objects of teaching a foreign language “is to give the
learner some measure of communicative competence in that language. This competence may correspond
to a future need of the learner (1980: 18).” In effect, that the mastering a second language has become a
need for most people today is no longer a debatable issue. Schools not only have the responsibility of
teaching a second language as a linguistic system, but also as a social system to be used by the learner.
Hence, communication should begin in the school where the learning of a second language is taking place.
Porcher maintains that since all teaching is itself a message, “It must therefore be suitable for those for
whom it is in fact intended (19).” For the author, a language is a social practice, a part of a people’s
history. Thus, it becomes necessary to educate pupils in the socio-cultural context which is characteristic
of the countries in which the foreign language is the mother tongue. It is evident that inter-culturism is fast
becoming an essential dimension in all teaching.
The Modern Languages Programme of the Council for Cultural Co-Operation of the Council of
Europe has specifically defined the political objective which guides the programme in the following
manner: “to facilitate communication and interaction among Europeans of different mother tongues in the
service of European mobility, mutual understanding and cooperation, and in order to overcome prejudice
and discrimination (Trim 1981: I).” The following members of the CDCC Project Group 4, D. Coste, C.
Edelhoff, R. Bergenthoft, J. L M. Trim, each other has something to say in this respect.
Daniel Coste writes, “As far as we are concerned, ‘learning to communicate’ does not involve
learning something totally new: all language learners are communicators already; what foreign language
learning involves is learning to communicate differently and to communicate with a different set of
people." Coste holds that different ways of communicating have to be learned (and not just linguistic
ones). Furthermore, it is his belief that in order to learn to communicate with a different set of people, one
must also learn about them. Hence, communication is inseparable from a cultural context. The learning
process itself becomes one of learning to communicate: “For adults, adolescents and children alike,
learning is a process which, however slightly, involves and changes the whole individual as a person and
social agent; when it comes to learning a different language to communicate differently with a different
set of people, it is a fair assumption that the changes and the involvement will be all marked (34).”
2.2.
Language and different cultures
Christopher Edelhoff feels the attitude of learners is as important as their linguistic knowledge and
skills. “Teachers teaching a communication curriculum must be ready to accept that communication is
free interaction between people of all talents, views, races and socio-cultural backgrounds and that foreign
language communication, especially, is there for international understanding, human rights, democratic
development and individual enrichment.” In order to achieve this end the learner needs to have an attitude
which reflects open-mindedness and respect for others; attitude must also include respect for the history,
environment, and views of other people (76).”
Rume Bergentoft reminds us, “In the final Act of the Conference on Security and Co-operation in
Europe, signed in Helsinki in 1975 by the heads of state of the participating nations, the latter expressed
their conviction regarding the role now played by a knowledge of languages in connection among other
things with closer international cooperation. It was decided that a wider knowledge of languages was
needed to promote world peace and cooperation (33).
Finally, J. L. Trim warns of the “classical paradigm” of language teaching and “elitism” in
traditional language teaching at school. “The ‘classical paradigm’ continued to dominate grammar schools
until recently, and is till strong in many member countries...” The author explains that the ‘classical
paradigm’ tends to extend certain values and attitudes, which reflect the classics to the languages and
cultures of modern Europe. He points out that from this perspective, the study of a foreign language is but
an intellectual discipline, based on the translation of passages from the classics which have little bearing
on the real world in which learners actually live. Trim further declares, “This ‘classical paradigm’ is
avowedly elitist.” He feels that it creates barriers to communication which tend to reinforce and perpetuate
divisions in society. However, Trim concludes that, though the classical paradigm continues to be
powerful, contemporary creative writing no longer employs the criteria of clarity and refined taste “to
which the classical paradigm attaches the greatest importance (p. XX-XXI).”
Other authors have taken similar positions. Earl W. Stevick refers to a language class as being
“one area in which a number of private universes intersect one another (1980: 7).” He feels that each
learner, though a total individual, is in fact affected by what the others do. The teacher should be aware –
and sympathize with the fact- that there are times when a learner will resist learning something which
violates certain peer norms. For example, learners may at first reject the language simply because of its
foreignness. Teachers should therefore be aware that the fear of losing support from those closest to the
learner (peers, parents, etc.) may be an inhibiting factor. Stevick refers to a “world of meaningful action”,
which, he says, tends to draw peers, family members, and life-goals during the language learning process.
He concludes, “Foreignness, shallowness, irrelevance, and the subordinate position of the student –all may
be obstacles to a learner’s feeling of ‘primacy in a world of meaningful action’ (10).”
2.3.
Language as an instrument of holistic learning
Paul G. La forge affirms, “Language learning is people: this is the basic social process in learning (
1983: viii).” By this he means that the acquisition of second language is the result of an interpersonal
relationship which includes the teacher and the group of students. For La Forge, the interactions are
dynamic and contribute to a personal growth for all involved. Their relationship becomes modified as a
result of the learning of a new language. Furthermore, he recognizes the significance of the social process
in twentieth-century language development: “A process view of language has opened the route to an
understanding of mankind, social history, and the laws of how a society functions (1).” This means that
EFL learning involves social, historical, cultural, and individual interconnections.
Gertrude Moskowitz defends a system of “Humanistic Education”, which she describes as
“combining the subject matter to be learned with the feelings, emotions, experiences, and lives of the
learners (1978: 11).” She is concerned with educating the whole person, both intellectually and
emotionally.
In the author’s opinion, second language learning not only stimulates better human understanding,
but it also leads to greater independence and self-steem. By learning another language, learners care more
both for themselves and others.
Caleb Gattegno believed in “the spirit of language.” He felt hat by learning another language one
absorbs the culture and history of the language users. Human beings incorporate into their languages
conscious or unconscious collective aims, passions, and vision, which are taken on by the learner. He
suggested that languages are reflections of the various modes of thought of a people: “The spirit of each
language seems to act as a container for the melody and the structure of the language and most users are
unconscious of it (1978: 19)”.
2.4.
The importance of having materials in the resource room to achieve a good
intercultural atmosphere
Brumfit and Finocchiaro suggest that acquiring a language also implies acquiring “enough
knowledge about the culture of the target community to participate fully in a conversation at the beginning
of a stay in a foreign country”. Additionally, they hold that EFL teaching should provide “the implicit and
explicit learning of culture and language varieties through a multi-media approach and an active
methodology based on creative use of language (1985: 26)”. In order to achieve this they suggest using
the following resources: radio broadcasts, television, tapes, cassettes, documentary, recreational films,
pictures, and short dialogs dealing with everyday situations. Furthermore, paralinguistic features need to
be considered as well as gestures and facial expressions. The authors insist that learners cultural insights
are a must in EFL learning.
2.5.
‘Immersion approach’ to second language learning
H. H. Stern alludes to an area of investigation, language teaching for younger children, which
came to the fore around 1960 when UNESCO organized meetings in Hamburg in 1962 and 1966 with the
purpose of stimulating comparative research in different countries. However, he sadly concludes that
within ten years most of the resulting enquiries had “not always produced the clear-cut finding that had
perhaps been expected from them when they were initiated (1984: 56)”. The two UNESCO-sponsored
international meetings were intended to promote research on early language teaching and on the
effectiveness of an early start. These meetings centred on the feasibility of an early start in school systems
and revealed that young children responded to second language teaching in a positive way (364).
On a similar note, Stern asserts that two of the most interesting research endeavours in the
seventies were the Council of Europe Modern Languages Project and the Canadian French immersion
experiments, of which he was a participant. The Council of Europe Project, which was initiated in 1971,
involves the co-operation of school-ars in several countries.
The French immersion research programme in Canada, which began in 1965, “illustrates the
effectiveness of an ‘immersion’ approach to second language learning (1984: 66)”. In both studies,
communication or communicative competence was one of the prime objectives.
Stern further points out that the term “communicative competence”, is a term which is used a great
deal. Hymes was the first to employ the term, in contrast to Chomsky’s “linguistic competence”.
“Communicative competence” reflects the social view of language. The concept of communicative
competence is integral with communicative language teaching. It has become a central focus for EFL
teaching, which involves the study and practice of functional, structural, lexical and sociocultural aspects.
The learning experience itself should be personal and engage in a direct use of the language and contact
with the target language community (Stern 1984: 26).
2.6.
How to experience the culture of the English-speaking world in the classroom
Finally, to develop cultural insights, Finocchiaro suggests the classroom should “reflect the culture
of the English-speaking world (1974: 94)”. She submits that the following aspects be incorporated into
EFL teaching: maps and posters, a bulletin board with newspaper and magazine clipping, including comic
strips, proverbs and pictures; a table or shelf with objects such as stamps, money, artifacts, and a library
corner. She also recommends the carrying out of “projects related to English-speaking culture which will
then serve for class reporting and discussion (95)”. Such projects might include the following: preparation
of maps, travel itineraries, floor plans, menus, calendars indicating holidays, scrapbook, flimstrips or
pictures, play readings, a book fair. Additionally, culture may be experienced through songs, festivals,
poems, multimedia resource material. She also suggests, “A pen pal project should be initiated very soon
after the students learn to write (97)”.
3. BIBLIOGRAPHY
FINOCCHIARO, M.: (1974). English as a second language: from theory to practice. Reprint ed. New
York: Regents.
FINOCCHIARO M. And BRUMFIT, C.: (1985). The functional-notional approach: from theory to
practice. Reprint ed. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press.
GATTEGNO, C.: (1978). Teaching foreign languages in schools: the silent way. 2nd ed. New York:
Educational Solutions.
LA FORGE, P. G.: (1983). Counseling and Culture in Second Language Acquisition. Oxford:
Pergamon Press.
MOSKOWITZ, G.: (1978). Caring and sharing in the foreign language class: A sourcebook on
humanistic techniques. Rowley, Massachusetts: Newbury House.
PORCHER, L.: (1980). Reflections on language needs in the school. Strasbourg: Council for Cultural
Cooperation of the Council of Europe.
STERN, H. H.: (1984). Fundamental concepts of languge teaching. 3rd ed. Oxford: Oxford Univ.
Press.
STEVICK, E.W.:(1980). Teaching languages: a way and ways. Rowley, Massachusetts: Newbury
House.
TRIM, J. L. M., project adviser: (1981). Modern languages programme 1971-1981. Strasbourg:
Council for Cultural Co-Operation of the Council of Europe.
VILKES, B.: (1994). Fanfare. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press.
PART TWO: PRACTICAL DEVELOPMENT
1. LEVEL
Third cycle (6 th grade)
2. TIME OF SESSION
Four periods of class, one week before Christmas.
3. OBJECTIVES
3.1.
-
General
To recognize the communicative value of learning a foreign language, showing a positive
attitude of understanding and respect for other languages and cultures.
3.2.
-
Specific
Students will be able to increase their understanding of and compare Christmas customs in
English speaking countries.
-
Learn the lyrics and music of popular Christmas Carol and sing it.
-
Experience and extract information from the song in the past tense.
-
Interact with other cultures.
4. METHODOLOGY
The methodology used should be suitable to a communicative approach to teaching English as a
foreign language. That is, taking into consideration the age, ability and needs of the students, as well as
the criteria specified in the overall objectives of the course, the EFL teacher should apply leaning
strategies which are based on learning by doing, i.e., task oriented strategies. The tasks required elicit a
participative attitude on the part of the learners and a guiding role on the part of the teacher. Additionally,
the teacher should help the students to learn both to think and to do in the target language.
5. THE TEACHING UNIT: SPECIFIC CONTENTS
Conceptual:
-
vocabulary (Specifics words from the song and Christmas words)
-
phonological aspects (practise the pronunciation of the consonant –r-).
Procedural:
-
Christmas environment.
-
warm-up activities
-
listening tasks
-
Productive activities
Sociological aspects:
-
Curiosity for different customs.
-
Respect for different cultures.
6. ACTIVITIES AND TASKS
6.1.
Brain-storming: The students (SS) say any English words they know which are related to
Christmas.
6.2.
The teacher (T) shows them how to make a calendar of events.
6.3.
SS work in groups (four to five people) and make one calendar for each group.
6.4.
Using a cassette recorder, T plays Christmas carols while SS work with the calendars.
6.5.
SS hang their calendars on the walls and T uses them to go over the meaning of words.
6.6.
T plays the song Rudolph the red-nose Reindeer and while SS listen carefully.
6.7.
SS read the lyrics of the song with missing words (listening task).
6.8.
By listening and discussing SS find the missing words and start memorizing the lyrics (day
by day).
6.9.
T gives SS a text from “Mary’s Diary” which tells what Mary did last Christmas.
6.10
Using their own native language (L1), SS discuss in how the Christmas customs narrated in
Mary’s diary compare with customs in Spain.
6.11
At the end of the short-term series, the classroom is decorated. SS give each other presents
and they sing together the song “Rudolph the red-nose reindeer”.
7. MATERIALS
-
A cassette tape of the song “Rudolph...” and a cassette recorder.
-
Wrapping paper, glue, scissors, coloured markers and optional material (tacks, staplers, etc.).
-
A textof Mary’s diary talking about Christmas customs in her country.
8. FINAL TASK
SS write about what they did last Christmas: The pages will go into a class diary that everyone can
read.
9. EVALUATION
(See thematic number 14)
TEMA 5: GEOGRAPHIC, HISTORIC AND CULTURAL
FRAMEWORK
OF
THE
ENGLISH-SPEAKING
CONUNTRIES. DIDACTIC APPLICATION OF THE MOST
MEANINGFUL GEOGRAPHIC, HISTORIC AND CULTURAL
ASPECTS.
1.- INTRODUCTION:
English is spoken in all continents. English is the most widespread
language on earth.
English speaking is established in the British Isles, North America,
Australia and North Africa. The English speaking is uncertain in
Africa, Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. We will draw a
geographical, historical and cultural outline of the most important
English-speaking countries.
We will study the importance of sociocultural competence to the
acquisition of communicative, and list activities to reach it.
2.- GEOGRAPHIC, HISTORIC
AND CULTURAL
FRAMEWORK OF THE ENGLISH-SPEAKING COUNTRIES.
2.1.- EXTENT AND SIGNIFICATION OF THE ENGLISH
LANGUAGE.
English has spread all over the world. Currently English is spoken
and understood in the whole continent. It is the international language
of commerce, science and research. It is easier to learn for Asiatics and
Africans, but France wants to avoid the use of English words. In Spain
there have been campaigns against the American “contamination” in
papers, radio, TV or cinema.
We can say that in South America, English is widely spoken.
Many Caribbean countries are bilingual, they speak English and Spanish.
This demand of English, all over the world, has caused an economic phenomenon, a military
expansion, the scientific advances and the power of media.
2.2.- ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE.
The Angles, the Saxons and the Jutes, imported English from the continent when they invaded “Great Britain”,
after the arrival of the Roman Empire in the 5 th century.
The language of these three peoples was basically the same, and the know dialects of Old English developed
after their setting in the isles.
The Norman Conquest in 1066 caused tremendous linguistic changes from that moment on we will talk about
Middle English.
Characteristics of Middle English were:
 Reductions of inflections.
 Disappearance of the grammatical gender.
 Rigidity in sentence word order.
 Fight among dialects.
 French orthography.
The influence of French and Latin terms modify the structure of the English Language.
About 1250, when the Normans lost Normandy and French language took and important paper, it began to be
questioned whether English should be used as a representative national language.
Which dialled should become the standard language? Around 1350 the London dialect was about to become the
“winner”.
The political predominance of London as a governing centre facilities the spreading of this dialect thought the
country.
From 1400 onwards French is reduced to the aristocracy and as a vehicle of commercial transactions with the
continent.
From 1650 to 1850 there is a change in the attitude of English people towards their own language.
There have been some changes in the Standard English, they are a consequence of the diversification of the
“social dialects”.
2.3.- GEOGRAPHIC, HISTORIC AND CULTURAL FRAMEWORK OF THE ENGLISH-SPEAKING
COUNTRIES.
English is the most spoken language in the world after Chinese. We are going to talk about the general
characteristics of the English-speaking countries.
A.- THE UNITED KINGDOM.
In full the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Is made up of England, Wales, Scotland and
Northern Ireland.
It’s a member of the Commonwealth and European Community. The capital is London. The currency is sterling
pound.
It is a constitutional monarchy, with two houses: House of Lords and House of Commons. The chief of state is the
sovereign, and the head of government is the prime minister.
Its geographic situation has marked its history, characterized by its independence to the continent. Nowadays this
distance has disappeared with the building of the channel tunnel.
Industry has always been the main economic source, here the industrial revolution took place. Commerce has
also been the basic for their prosperity. The UK dominated the maritime routes. The British monarchy was founded
in 1066 by William the Conqueror, it has been a system, with a small break of ten years corresponding to the
republican government imposed by Oliver Cromwell.
At the present moment, the monarch is Elisabeth II; she is also the head of the Anglican Church.
There are two big political parties: the conservative party and the labour party.
The principal river is the Thames. The highest point in UK is Ben Nevis (1343) in Scotland. The population grew in
1950 with the arrival of Commonwealth emigrants. They came from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
B.- THE REPUBLIC OF IRELAND.
This nation occupies the largest part of an island situated west of Great Britain. The national language is Irish, but
the official one is English. The major religion is Catholicism. Its capital is Dublin.
Ireland is an unitary multiparty republic, with two houses: senate and the house of representative. The chief of
state is the president and the head of government is the prime minister. Currency is Irish pound. The highest point
is carrantuchill; the major river is the Shannon. Ireland belongs to the European Community. Ireland obtains the
independence from Great Britain in 1921.
The Irish economy is based on the agriculture. It has not got important mineral resources.
The religious conflict: Catholics and Protestants, The majority of the population in England is Anglican, the main
features of the Anglican Church are the subordination to the Queen and its positives rejection of the Pope authority.
In Northern Ireland, most of the population is Catholic. In Belfast, the capital, Catholics and Protestants cause
almost daily victims. The IRA, Irish Republican Army, commits terrorist attacks. The IRA wants the Protestants to
abandon Northern Ireland. They want to get the self-government for the Ulster.
C.- THE UNITED STATES.
English language is an universal language because it has been established in many countries. This export began
in 17th century with the birth of the colonies in North America. The main reason of the status of English is the great
number or inhabitants in USA and the massive emigrations on the 19 th and 20th century.
The USA is a federal republic formed by 50 states.
Two legislatives houses: senate and the house of representative. The head of state and government is the
president.
Its capital is Washington. The first river is Mississippi river. The currency is American dollar.
Religion: there isn’t a principal religion. Protestantism is, perhaps, the most practised.
It is a nation of groups, where the minorities try to get equal rights and opportunities. The language is English, but
there are minorities such as Spanish or Asians, trying to keep alive their language.
It is a very rich country, with important metallic and energy sources. The USA obtains the independence from
Great Britain in 1783. From more than half a century ago the USA is the 1 st world power. Its history is a long and
constant territorial progress, with a great political and military development.
D.- THE BRITISH EMPIRE
The Victorian Era (1837-1901) was a period of prestige for Great Britain.
In the 16 th century Great Britain developed its commercial capacity, by conquering every strategic point along the
mercantile routes. During the 18th and 19th centuries, they became a great empire.
All these territories were controlled by generators who imposed their language, their culture and laws. Most of
these territories were colonies for the exploitation, which originated the British richness and splendour. The
population was formed by emigrant who wanted to start a new life.
The different territories got their independence, but some of them were not prepared for self-governing and have
became 3rd world countries ruled by dictators.
E.- THE COMMONWEALTH.
It was founded in 1931 to carry out the dissolution of the British Empire. It is formed by 32 independent nations, they
maintain the English crown as their Head of State.
The reason for this institution is the economic interest of the countries that belong to it.
States members: UK, Canada, Trinity and Tobago, Kenya, Nigeria, Zambia, Australia, New Zealand, etc.
F.- PHILIPPINES.
The republic of Philippines is an independent state since 1946.
Language: Tagalo; English as a commercial language.
Religion: Catholic.
Capital: Manila.
Spain lost the colony in 1898, under the domain of USA in 1935, it was constituted as a sovereign state under the
North American supervision.
G.- THE COMMON LAW.
An amazing fact about the English legal system. There is not a penal or civil code. They have the common law.
The sentences are based on previous trials.
The juries are formed by citizens coming from different social classes, they consider if the accused is guilty or
innocent.
In USA, there are federal jurisdictions, every state has its own laws, courts and police.
3.- DIDACTIC APPLICATION OF THE MOST MANINGFUL GEOGRAPHIC HISTORIC AND CULTURAL
ASPECTS.
The teacher of a modern language must teach not only the foreign language but also the civilization of the
countries and people who speak that language.
Apart from history and geography, our pupils must get familiar politics, mass media, etc.
3.1.- HOW CAN WE TEACH ENGLICH CIVILIZATION?
There are 3 different procedures:
1. Interpretative reading.
First we must know the level of the group before planning any activity.
There should be a correspondence between the level of the text and the level of the group.
Different types of texts. The important result is that they get the signification about the society or social
aspects reflected in the textExample: journey around the world in 80 days. The typical gentleman.
2. Practices of oral expression.
We can offer our pupils photographs showing different aspects of British life, they must say whatever
they suggest to them.
We can use a dramatization of a dialogue, eg. “An English breakfast” (foods, timetable, courtesy
sentences), “a tourist visit” (we can use postcards or photographs). We can mention Christmas,
Thanksgiving Day, American Independence).
3. Didactic use of songs.
They are a pedagogic support for the teaching of civilization.
The songs must have certain characteristics:
-
correspondence with the level of the pupils.
-
Interesting for the pupils
They can learn some structures with the songs.
INTRODUCTION
Every aspect of language is enormously complex. Yet, children learn most of the intricate system of their
mother tongue before the age of six. Before they can add 2+2, children are putting sentences together, asking
questions, negating sentences, using the syntactic, phonological, morphological, and semantic rules of the
language. Children are not taught language as they are taught arithmetic. They learn language in a different way.
LINGUIST COMPETENCE AND COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE
We are far from completely understanding the language acquisition process. We are just beginning to
grapple with those aspects of the human neurological and biological make up which explain the child’s ability
to acquire language. Certainly it is clear that the child is equipped from birth with the necessary neural
prerequisites for language and language use.
Our knowledge of the nature of human language tell us something about what the child does and
does when acquiring a language:
1) Children do not learn a language by storing all the words ant all the sentences in some
giant mental dictionary. The list of words is finite, but no dictionary can hold all the
sentences, which are infinite in number.
2) Children learn to understand sentences they have never heard before, and to construct
sentences, most of which they have never produced before.
3) Children must therefore learn “rules” which permit them to use language creatively.
4) No one teaches them these rules. Their parents are no more aware of phonological,
syntactic, morphological, and semantic rules than the children are. Children, then, seem
to act like very efficient linguists equipped with a perfect theory of language, who use
this theory to build up the grammar of the language they hear.
In addition to acquiring the complex rules of the grammar (that is, linguistic competence),
children must also learn the complex rules of the appropriate social use for language, what
certain scholars have called communicative competence. These include, for example, the
greetings which are to be used, the “taboo” words, the polite forms of address the various
styles which are appropriate to different situations, and so forth.
STAGES OF LANGUAGE ACQUISITION IN CHILDREN
Linguists divide the child’s acquisition of a language into
prelinguistic and linguistic stages. There continues to be disagreement
as to what should be included in these periods. But most scholars agree
that the earliest cries and whimpers of the newborn cannot be
considered early language. Such noises are completely stimuluscontrolled; they are the child’s involuntary responses to hunger,
discomfort, the feeling of well-being, etc.
THE BABBLING STAGE
Usually around the sixth month period, the infant begins to babble. The sounds produced in this
period seem to include the sounds of human languages. The role of babbling is not clearly understood, but
it is absolutely clear that in order that the language develop finally, the child must receive some auditory
input.
THE HOLOPHRASTIC STAGE
Sometime after children are one year old, they begin to use same string of sounds repeatedly to
“mean” the same thing. Most children seem to go through the “one word=one sentence” stage. The child
uses just one word to express concepts or predications which will later be expressed by complex phrases
and sentences.
THE TWO-WORD STAGE
Around the time of their second birthday children begin to produce two-word utterances like:
“allgone sock”; “bye-bye boat”; “it ball”; “hi mommy”; “dirty sock”; mummy sock”.
During this stage there are no syntactic or morphological markers; that is, no inflections for
number, tense, or person. The two words a child utters can express a number of different grammatical
relations which will later be expressed by other syntactic devices.
TELEGRAPH TO INFINITY
There does not seem to be any “three-word sentence” stage. When a child starts stringing more
than two words together, the utterances may be two, three, four, or five words or longer. The words in a
“sentence” are not strung together randomly; from a very early stage, children’s utterances reveal their
grasp of the principles of sentence formation.
These first utterances of children which are longer than two words have a special characteristic.
Usually, the small “function” words such as to, the, can, is, etc, are missing ; only the words which carry
the main message –the “content” words– occur. Children often sound as if they were reading telegrams,
which is why such utterances are called “telegraphic speech”. For example: “Cathy build house”; “No sit
here”; “Car stand up table”.
As children acquire more and more language, or more closely
approximate the adult grammar, they not only begin to use function
words but also acquire the inflectional and derivational morphemes of
the language. There seems to be a natural order of acquisition of
morphemes. It seems that the suffix –ing is the earliest inflectional
morpheme acquired. Eventually all the other inflections are added,
along with the syntactic rules, and finally the child’s utterances sound
like those spoken by adults.
THEORIES OF CHILD LANGUAGE ACQUISISTION
IMITATION
There are those who think that children merely imitate what they hear. Imitation is involved, of
course, but the sentences produced by children show that they are not imitating adult speech. Even when
children are deliberately trying to imitate what they hear, there are unable to produce sentences which
cannot be generated by their grammar.
POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT
Another theory suggest that children learn to produce “correct” sentences because they are
positively reinforced when they say something right and negatively reinforced when they say something
wrong. This view does not tell us how children construct the correct rules.
Whatever “correction” takes place is based more on the content of the message than on its form.
That is, if a child says ”Nobody don’t like me”, the mother may say “Everybody likes you2. Besides, all
attempts to “correct” a child’s language are doomed to failure. Children don’t know what they are doing
wrong and are even unable to make the corrections when they are pointed to them.
CREATIVE CONSTRUCTION
The reinforcement theory fails along with the imitation theory. Neither of these views accounts for
the fact that children are constructing their own rules. Different rules govern the construction of sentences
as the grammar is learned.
The “imperfect” sentences children use are perfectly regular. They are not “mistakes” in the child’s
language; they reflect his or her grammar at a certain stage of development. The child seems to form the
simplest and most general rule he can from the language input he receives, and is so “pleased” with his
“theory” that he uses the rule whenever he can.
The most obvious example of this “overgeneralization” is shown when children treat irregular
verbs and nouns as if they were regular. We have probably all heard children say “goed”, “singed”, or
“foots”, “childs”. These mistakes tell us more about how children learn language than the “correct” forms
they use. The child couldn’t be imitating; children use such forms in families where parents would never
utter such “bad English”.
The child’s ability to generalize patterns and construct rules is also shown in the development of
the semantic system. For example, the child learns the word “daddy” and later applies it to other men.
Thus, a third theory suggests that language acquisition is a creative construction process, and that
children have to “construct” all the rules of the grammar. According to the famous linguist Noam
Chomsky., “it seems plain that language acquisition is based on the child’s discovery of what from a
formal point of view is a deep and abstract theory – a generative grammar of his language”.
Children seem to be equipped with special abilities or with a “language acquisition device”,
residing principally in the left side of the brain, to know just what they can ignore, to find all the
regularities in the language.
The details of this “innate” device are far from understood. As we gain more information about brain
functions and the preconditions for language acquisition, we will learn more about the nature of human
language.
LEARNING AND ACQUISITION OF A SECOND LANGUAGE
As we compare a child’s acquisition of his mother tongue with the learning and acquisition of a
second or foreign language, it becomes evident that the processes and theories involved seem to be, at
least to a certain extent, parallel. Other aspects, on the other hand, keep less similarity , as it the case with
the stages that children go through.
The learning progression does not take place in a linear way, by successive appropriation of the different
subsystems implied, but rather by a global approximation which in the initial stages implies a considerable
simplification and an exclusion of peculiarities that are not perceived as essential. Progress consists then in a
continuous process of completing, polishing and enriching this global apprehension of the new communication
system. Thus, the teaching and learning of a foreign language should not be viewed so much in terms of a series
of elemental units of content which are perfectly apprehended before proceeding to the next, but in terms of a
communication system which is globally elaborated and whose complexity and communicative potential
increases in a progressive form.
It should be pointed out that the information processing mechanisms often work efficiently even when the
student is not producing utterances. During the first moments in the learning of a foreign language, there are
often silent periods during which the student does not produce at all. This silence, however, cannot
unmistakably be interpreted as a lack of learning; it often covers an intense activity that cannot be directly
observed and which sometime in the future, will let him produce utterances which reflect the internal
representation that he has built during those silent periods. If we accept that creative construction can take place
without generating an immediate production, we will have to admit that receptive activities specific
comprehension competencies can be developed, but also, what is not so evident, the general communicative
competence that is behind every linguistic system.
The above explained makes clear that the process of language learning is complex and that this process
takes place in a personal and distinct way for each individual since the strategies which let the subject receive
and transform the input he receives are always used in a particular way.
SECOND LANGUAJE ACQUISTION THEORY
According to Krashen there are five hypotheses, which try to explain the process of acquisition of
a second language:
THE ACQUISTION-LEARNING HYPOTHESIS
Acquisition in a not conscious process in which the person is not aware of the grammar or the rules
he uses. In many ways acquisition can be compared to the process by which a child becomes proficient in
his mother tongue. In this way, fluency is progressively gained as the proficiency in consolidated. Errors
are accepted as a normal part of the process.
Learning occurs consciously, we have to study the rules which
govern a given language. We are not responsible for our fluency since
we depend on the activities suggested by the teacher. Learning has
only one function: as editor or as monitor, that is, to make corrections
and change our output.
THE NATURAL ORDER HYPOTHESIS
This Hypothesis states the grammatical structures are acquired in a fairly predictable order in L1
native language and L2 (second language). In other words, just as children learn their native language in a
natural order, so students of a foreign language learn structures in a predictable way.
Nevertheless two points can be made against this hypothesis:
a) We do not have information about the order of acquisition of every structure in every language.
Besides, there are individual variations.
b) The existence of a natural order of acquisition does not imply that we should teach second
languages following this order.
THE MONITOR HYPOTHESIS
The monitor hypothesis states the relationship between acquisition and learning. Acquisition plays
a far more important role than learning because learning is used as editor or monitor only. The function of
monitor is to make self corrections and change the output before of after speaking or writing.
But in order to use the monitor, three conditions need be fulfilled:
a) Time: in order to make a self-correction we need time. Self correction can hardly be used
without altering fluency.
b) Focus on form: we have to be aware of the grammar forms we are using and know that there is
a choice of forms.
c) Finally, once we have stopped and concentrated on the form, it is necessary to have a correct
knowledge of the rules so that the proper correction can be made.
Thus, it can be easily deducted that monitor “overusers” may have difficulty in acquiring fluency.
Monitor, however, can be a great help if used for grammar tests and writing.
THE INPUT HYPOTHESIS
We acquire language by understanding input that contains i + 1
“i + 1” means a step by step progression. In order to progress the input (i) should be only a
bit beyond (1) the acquirer’s current level of competence.
We understand language that we do not “know” by using context, extra-linguistic
information, and our knowledge of the world. In the same fashion, language is made
understandable to us through the use of devices such as simplified, visual clues, key words and
phrases, gestures or familiar topics.
We do not teach speaking directly
Speaking fluency emerges on its own over time, thus, the best way to “teach” speaking is to
provide comprehensible input. For the same reason, early speech is typically not accurate. Direct
error correction should be avoided.
The “best” input should not be “grammatically sequenced”
It is enough by providing genuinely interesting and comprehensible input. Teachers should
organize content on the basis of themes or topics which are relevant to the students’ needs and
interests (communication-based syllabus or curriculum).
THE AFFECTIVE FILTER HYPOTHESIS
It deals with the effect of affective variables on L2 acquisition. They are variables like anxiety,
motivation or self-confidence.
The affective filter produces a mental block which prevents inputs to enter the “language
acquisition device”.
Krashen summarizes his five hypothesis with a single claim:
“Comprehensible input is the only causative variable in second language acquisition. People
acquire second languages when they obtain comprehensible input and when their affective filters are low
enough to allow the input in”.
AGE DIFFERENCES IN SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION
Older acquirers are faster in the early stages of second language acquisition because:
a) they are better at obtaining comprehensible input as they have good conversational
management;
b) they have superior knowledge of the world, which helps to make input comprehensible;
c) they can participate in conversation earlier, via use of first language syntax.
Younger acquirers tend to attain higher levels of proficiency in second languages than adults in the
long run due to a lower affective filter.
IMPLICATIONS FOR SECOND LANGUAGE TEACHING
The five hypothesis about L2 acquisition predict that any successful L2 teaching program must
have the following characteristics;
a) It must supply input in the L2 that is:
-
Comprehensible.
-
Interesting and relevant to students.
The goal is, thus, to transmit messages, not to practice grammar.
b) It must not force students to speak before they are ready and must be tolerant of errors
in early speech. We improve in grammatical accuracy by obtaining more input, not by
error correction.
c) It must put grammar in its proper place. Some adults, and very few children, are able to
use conscious grammar rules to increase the grammatical accuracy of their output; and
even for these people, very strict conditions (time, focus on form, and knowledge of the
rule) need to be fulfilled before the conscious knowledge of grammar can be applied,
given the monitor hypothesis presented above.
ROLE OF THE FIRST LANGUAGE IN SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION
CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS HYPOTHESIS
The first language has long been considered the major cause of a learner’s problems with the new
language. It “interferes” with the learner’s acquisition of his of her L2.
If a structure in L1 differs from that of L2, errors that reflect the structure on the L1 will be
produced. This process has been labelled interference or negative transfer.
Spanish structure: adj + noun:
La casa grande
Interference with English:
*The house big
If a structure in both languages is the same, there will be positive transfer or zero interference, and
there will be no errors in L2 performance.
Spanish plural marker “-s”:
libros
English plural marker “-s”:
books
The contrastive Analysis treatment of errors was popular up through the 1960’s. A large part of the
rationale for the Contrastive Analysis hypothesis was drawn from principles of behaviourist psychology.
There are two central concepts in transfer:
a) the automatic and not conscious use of the old behaviour (habits) in new learning situations
(behaviourist view);
b) the use of past knowledge and experience in new situations (other educational and
psychological views).
In recent years there have been enough data accumulated to place the L2 learner’s first language in a
“respectable” role. Present research results suggest that the major impact the L1 has on L2 acquisition may have
to do with accent, not with grammar.
ERROR ANALYSIS MOVEMENT
Many teachers and researchers noticed that a great number of the errors that students make could
not possibly be traced to their native languages. The theoretical climate of the late fifties and early sixties
provided the ultimate rationale for the error analysis approach:
Noam Chomsky’s, Review of B.F. Skinner’s Verbal Behaviour (1959) questioned the very core of
the behaviourist habit theory which accounts for language learning. Chomsky’s views, along with
Piagetian psychology, succeeded in highlighting the previously neglected mental make-up of learners as a
central force in the learning process, not a habit formation.
Interlingual and developmental errors
The term error is used to refer to any deviation from a selected norm of language performance, no
mater what the characteristics or causes of the deviation might be.
In the Error Analysis view, errors that reflect the learner’s L1 structures are not called interference
but interlingual errors.
Development errors are errors similar to those made by children acquiring their native tongue. For
example, students of English as a foreign often say things such as:
He cans play football very well.
This error is also found in the speech of children acquiring English as their first language.
Researchers have consistently found that, contrary to widespread opinion, the great majority of
errors made by second language learners are not interlingual, but developmental. Although adults tend to
exhibit more L1 influence in their errors then children do, adult interlingual errors also occur in small
proportions.
Implications of error analysis for L2 learning
Error Analysis has yielded insights into the L2 acquisition process that have stimulated major
changes in teaching practices. Studying learner’s errors serves two major purposes:
a) it provides data from which interferences about the nature of the language acquisition process
can be made; and
b) it indicates to teachers and curriculum developers, which part of the target language students
have most difficulty to produce correctly and which error types detract most from a learner’s
ability to communicate effectively.
INTERLANGUAGE
Interlanguage is the linguistic system that a learner constructs on his way to the mastery of a target
language.
Methodologically, interlanguage may be said to incorporate the assumption of both Contrastive
Analysis and Error Analysis. While Contrastive Analysis contrasts the learner’s native language and the
target language, and conventional Error Analysis involves contrast between the learner’s performance and
the target language, interlanguage take all three elements into account, explicitly incorporating the
contrastive analysis of the learner’s interlanguage with both his native and the target language.
Tema-6
The unit under consideration is entitled: "INFLUENCES OF LINGUISTICS ON THE TEACHING
OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES. THE SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE
ACQUISITION OF THE FIRST SCHOOL LANGUAGE AND THAT OF THE FOREIGN
LANGUAGE"
We will start our discussion with a sort of introduction and continue with the first point that deals with
the influences of Linguistic Language Teaching, as well as the influences of other sciences. At this point
from a definition of Linguistics, we then move onto Compared Linguistics. Two linguistic theories are
also looked into: Structuralism and Generative Grammar. Sociolinguistic is also defined. We will finish
this block with the contributions of other sciences such as Pedagogy and Psycology to the process of
foreign language teaching.
Secondly, we will look into the language learning process and we shall try to find the differences
between the acquisition of the mother tongue and the learning of a foreign language. Within this block, we
will also refer to the Curriculum, and the Constructivist Model proposed by it; the difference between
acquisition and learning is established and different suggestions to avoid problems in the second language
learning.
A conclusion summing up what has been discussed throughout the unit will be followed by the bibliography used for the elaboration of this topic.
As a sort INTRODUCTION we shall point out that in the last twenty years the need for change in language didactics has
been analysed along the following lines:
1-Change of the concept of Education, where a stronger a stonger focus on communication is given;
2- the need for the study of foreign languages through a better education;
3- how the technological progress and the development of audivisual aids have contributed to the modernisation of
teaching;
4- the students demand of an active learning of foreign languages.
Teachers have to take advantage of the large numbers of pedagological theories and approaches and choose those that can
be best applied in their students' specific situation.
Therefore, the teacher has to develop an eminentely creative task and learn how to incorporate into his methodology the
latest findings in the field of Linguistics, and the contributions of many other sciences.
Once having begun the unit we are going to deal with the first block of our discussion; which considers the influences of
Linguistics on FLT.
The teaching of any subject must be supported by a series of general disciplines that are common to the teaching of any
subject, such as Psychology, Sociology and so on.
In LT these disciplines assist in the teaching from any perspective. Linguistics are included here, or more accurately
Macrolinguistics, which includes Sociolinguistics and Microlinguistics. The findings from these disciplines used on the
teaching of L, help us to make decisions to overcome the problems involved in teaching.
The so called, Linguistic Science or Linguistics, that is, the study of language is a very recent science. For centuries, the
interest was only centred on the research of a universal grammar. In the 19th century Compared Linguistics, appeared which
established that the relationship among language can be explained in a scientific way. Nowadays, however Applied
Linguistics deal with collecting data from those disciplines whose objectives are the study of language, its learning, its use,
and to utilise those facts to clarify the factors related to LT.
Let's move on now to consider what Applied Linguistics is for. It collects data and interprets the results that may achive
its aim and uses its findings to carry out its own experimental research.
Applied Linguistics has to do with all those theories that analyse how they can be useful LT and then proceed with their
pedagological application.
This knowledge is use to build grammars, to do comparative analysis between two or more languages, to carry out
research on the illiteracy rates of the population and to study languages and their regional varieties.
The most interesting field of study deals with second L learning and acquisition. Applied Linguistics uses these findings
from other sciences and applies them to LL.
We are going to consider some sciences on which the concept of FLT is based. The most important theories are
Structuralism and Generative Grammar.These theories are example of how research in Applied Linguistics can be
helpful in explaining the process of mother tongue acquisition and second LL.
Structuralism first appeared with Saussure in the 19th century. This theory defends that language is a social
phenomenon which is useful because it works in a community. This approach implies a psychological perspective, its study
is centred on speech and not on grammatical structures. He made a distinction between language ( the system ) and speech
( the individual of the system ). They begin with an active study of all speeches, arriving at the general rules. All these
structuralistic principles have in commonthe assumption that grammar does not consist of a system of rules that govern the
isolated elements of language, but of a set of structures that have to be taught, especially those that are different in the
learners' first language.
The application of structuralism in LT was developed after the 2nd World War. Linguistics examined and classified the
structure of the first L and the second L being studied. They analysed which structures were similar to that language and
which offered interference, they made drills.
Structuralism is based on "behaviourist psycology stimulus answer response", and its attitude towards teaching is based
on the premise that 2nd L acquisition is the result of habit and condidional reflexes, we learn by imitation and repetition.
Against this theory appeared Chomsky with his "Generative Grammar" Theory. Chomsky observed that structuralism
did not explain how the child was able to produce sentences that he had never produced before. Chomsky's generativist
theory postulated the existence of a specific ability in the child, an ability that allowed him to generate an infinitive number
of rules. A creative person who can create an unlimited number of sentences with just a few linguistic elements. The child
hears his first L and is able to develop a series of increasingly global and correct hypothesis about that language system.
Before Chomsky students were given correct grammatical examples, nowadays students can compare sentences with and
without errors, and they are allowed to make mistakes because that is understood as an important step in an autonomous
process of learning. This theory gives special importance to free expression and creativity.
Chomsky establishes a distinction between competence (the knowledge that the person has about his mother tongue) and
performance, that is the effective use of this knowledge in his normal speech.
We should point out here an essential aspect of the research of applied linguistics, that is, to what extent can the process of
first L acquisition be equivalent to the process of 2nd L learning. Thus it can be seen that the process is the same, 2nd
Language learners draw hypothesis about the L system, apply the rules and modify them according to the feedback they
receive. A 2nd L learner learns from his effort to communicate. If what the learner wants to communicate lies within the
possibilities of his system, he will have no problems. The problem arises when he wants to communicate something that is
not in his system. Therefore, he can choose to follow other paths, such as using gestures, or transfering the limits he knows,
in other words, he will take a risk.
We could conclude from the above that errors that students make reveal the state of development of his system. We must
give him enough information on the success or failure of his communicative attempt. He requires input to contrast his
production. The student then learns through the process of communicating; he who takes a risk will be the one who learns
most.
Up to this point we have shown some of the linguistic theories which help us to explain the acquisition of a mother tongue
and the learning of a FL.
Now let us move on to mention the importance of another science: Sociolinguistics. This science studies and states the
relationship between the possession of a L and the control of reality. The social level of the family conditions the
development of speech abilities and level of performance. The classroom can be a useful substitute for a poor linguistic
environment.
We should also mention the studies of some linguists, like Firth and Martinowsky. They spoke about the concept of
situational context, that is the meaning of an utterance is a consequence of the cultural and situational context where it takes
place.
In the Eighties many programs in ELT were developed. All of them were based on the consideration of a L as an
instrument of communication. The threshold level, for instance, whose author is Wilkins, established a program model for a
European adult student of foreign L in terms of his communicative needs. It was intended to
create a program based on the areas of his interests.
In Europe L teaching was slowly changing. Linguistics were mainly concerned with oral language as a means of
communication. Learners were taught to comprehend and then to speak. The interferance of the first L had to be avoided.
Conversation was the main focus of the class.
The process of LT goes parallel to the learning process. In the 70s special attention waspaid to this learning process. The
concept of interferance, introduced by Corder, refers to the problems of interferance caused by the mother tongue on the
learning of a foreign language.
Now, we shall study the contributions of other sciences to the process of foreign LT.
On the one hand, we find Pedagogy whose contribution to the teaching of foreign L and to the concept of modern
education is the following: that the educational principles are flexible, and should be adapted to every social change. An
individualised teaching is required, as well as the formation of an integral person with special attention to his creative
ability. Group work, collaboration and the participation of students in all the educational process should also be considered.
On the other hand, we find he science of Psycology. Some important studies are the following: in the teaching of foreign L
motivation is very important. Apart from motivation a deep knowledge of the pupil's psychological characteristics is
required; we need to know the student's abilities and rhythm of learning to better adopt the structure of the subject to his
structure of knowledge. So the teacher will be able to allow pupils to learn more depending on their own needs and rhythm.
Summarising, we could say that the most important contribution of Pedagogy and Pedagogy to foreign L teaching is that
the teaching must be centred on the pupils' needs and personality; creativity whilst imagination should be developed through
motivation.
After having dealt with some of the contributions of Linguistics and other sciences to FLT, we shall analyse the process of
L learning and the similarites and differences between the acquisition of the mother tongue and the learning of a foreign L.
The starting point of the theoretical basis of the conception of 2nd L learning is found in the Curriculum: " The foreign L
acquisition process can be characterised as a creative construction process during which the student, relying on a set of
natural strategies, based on the input received, formulates hypotheses in order to make up the internal representation of the
new L system."
Knowing a L implies knowing its sociolinguistic, discourse and strategic aspects. The sociolinguistic aspect implies the
knowlwdge of the rules related to a given sociolnguistic context; the discourse aspect organises cohesion and coherence in
different spoken and written statements; the strategic aspect is responsible for completing the interaction when taking into
account the objective of
communication.
The Contructive Model proposed by the Curriculum is based on the following aspects:
1- The student is considered the centred of the teaching process;
2- The student has a certain knowledge that adds to the new information
and combines them to produce significant learning.
Another important aspect of the contructive model is that of learning through discovery. L functions as regards rules are
learned by a process of discovery. The students generates hypotheses himself and check that they match the established
rules.
Before moving on to study some of the theories on the L learning process, let us focus on the differences between the
acquisition and learning.
Krashen in his book Language Acquisition Hypothesis makes a clear distinction between acquisition and learning.
According to him, the acquisition is a natural process whereas learning is conscious formal process. Acquisition implies an
implicit knowledge of rules in contrast with learning which implies the explicit knowledge of rules.
Acquisition is the way a child acquires his mother tongue, whereas learning is the way students learn a foreign language.
After having looked into the differences between acquisition and learnig, we are going to study some of the theories on
the acquisition and learning of a second language.
Vigotsky establishes three main stages in language acquisition. The first one is when language is only a means of external
communication in a child, both in form and function. The third one is when language is interiorised and becomes verbal
thought and then guides cognitive development.
Today it is believed that the first statements of children are due to their individual system, independent from that of adults;
language is built or rebuilt by the child who gradually makea a system of rules, an implicit grammar and a set of
communication rules with which he interprets what he receives.Thus, the child produces statements correctly but these are
mere repetitive routine. The interesting aspect is that the child makes incorrect statements which shows that he is trying to
create a language using his own linguistic mechanism, according to certain opearating rules that he himself has generated, it
is an internal implicit grammar.
The second language acquisition process goes through three different phases:
1.- Cognitive elaboration: the learner centres his attention on types of models presented to him in the 2nd L. He has
an attitude towards comprehending or remembering the different aspects of the models presented.
2.- Associate phase: the child begins to form hypotheses about the input received, as well as its organisation and
arrangement, contrasting them with his knowledge and exemplifying them with the production of such models in similar
contexts.
3.- Autonomy phase: the child can use what he has learned spontaneously.In order for this phase to take place, a great
amount of previous practice is required.
Another important aspect of the constructive model is that the student has an active role in which he will have to
implement certain strategies similar to those used in first L acquisition to adapt, generalise, correct rules and so on.
Lastly an assumption in the previous model is that in any learning process there is a semantic motivation. There is a
natural predisposition for producing meaning, which is motivating when learning a 2nd L.
Moving on, another section of this topic concerns the basic differences and similarities between the acquisition of a
mother tongue and the learning of a foreign
L.
Firstly, we will examine the similarities. They are three:
-the interlingual development,
-the subconcious mental process and
-the variation.
We are going to explain now what we undertand by the interlingual development process. When a language is learned,
the learner is not ready to use it for some years. Interlingual development is the process a learner must go through before is
able to speak fluently or as well as a native speaker.
The second similarity is the subconcious mental process; the brain organises the input received to allow the mechanisms
to speak.
The third similarity is the variation. Not all language learners follow the same path. There are individual variations which
make some students learn slower than others. Phychological personality and others also come into play here.
Now, let us consider the differences. There are three important differences between the acquisition of the mother tongue
and the learning of a FL. These are:
-the age,
-the phenomenon of fossilitation and
-the transference.
According to many authors, age is a factor that determines the success or failure in 2nd LL. Today there is absolute
unanimity in the fact that is approximality in puberty
when the ability to acquire L under natural conditions is lost.
Another difference is the phenomenon of fossilitation. Many 2nd L learners never quite learn the L correctly. Thie causes
may be due to the type of teaching is given, the problems of motivation or the students personal characteristics.
The third difference is the transference. When we speak a 2nd L, it is almost impossible not to make mistakes influenced
by our native L.
As we have explained, a basic difference between the acquisition of a mother tongue and the learning of a FL is that the
first one is a natural process which does not need a methodology, whereas the 2nd one does; the FLL happens in a classroom
and not in social life.
In mother tongue acquisition there is a continuos linguistic information, and a direct contact between the L and its cultural
envirinment; the correction of errors appears after training and effort. On the contrary, we find that FLL involves planning
with special objectives and a specific didactic method.
We should finally point out some suggestions to overcome problems in the 2nd LL process.
Firstly, we should not change the natural order of the interlingual process.
Secondly, pupils must receive a high input. We must respect a silent period and allow children to express themselves in a
spontaneous and natural way.
Finally, regarding how to overcome the fossilitation phenomenon, we find different opinions by different authors. Some of
then think that pupils should be push to produce, and grammar should be taught. Others state that grammar should be taught
in an inductive way, without forcing pupils to use it correctly.
Summarising, we can point out the following. In this unit we have presented some of the most important contributions to
FLT; especially the principles of Linguistics, Structuralism and Generative Grammar. After that, we have looked into the
most important differences and similarities between the acquisition of the mother tongue
and the learning of a FL.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
1- The Teaching of English as an International Language by Abbot, G and Wingard, P. Collins, 1981.
2- Approches and Methods in Second Language Learning by Garner, R.C. and Lambert.
Rowley Press Newbury.
3- Linguistics in Language Teaching by Wilking, D. Edward Arnold, 1972.
UNIT 6
CONTRIBUTIONS OF LINGUISTICS TO THE TEACHING OF FOREIGN
LANGUAGES. THE PROCESS OF LINGUISTIC LEARNING:
SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE ACQUISITION OF
THE FIRST LANGUAGE AT SCHOOL AND THE FOREIGN
LANGUAGE.
CONTRIBUTIONS OF LINGUISTICS TO THE TEACHING OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES.
The teaching of foreign languages has always developed along with Linguistics,although it has been in
this century when the traditional conceptions of science of language has been transformed by a widening
and specializing of its knowledge. On the other hand, in the current situation of Linguistics, there is an
intention to overcome the contradictions of previous beliefs, in order to elaborate a new model, much
more eclectic and useful for the process of language teaching and learning.
A HISTORICAL OVERVIEW: DIFFERENT APPROACHES AND METHODS.
The theoretical aspects upon which the main methods and approaches are based and studied in the field of
Applied Linguistics, and a first systematization of these theoretical principles at the beginning of the 19th
century.
Before that, the methodology used in the language teaching processes in the 17th and 18th was
Grammar-Translation Method whose techniques were based on the model of Latin teaching, when this
was already a dead language. This model was, in fact,unsuitable to teach living languages,as it was a mere
adaptation of techniques belonging to a prestigious discipline.
However, just from the second half of the 19th century the first applied linguists appeared, looking for
some theoretical basis on which they could support the language teaching processes. To do so, they
observed the children´s acquisition mechanisms of their first language, the importance of oral
communication, and the first steps done in the studies of Phonetics.
Although these first principles had less impact at the moment, they served as an influence on later works.
Thus, they are very related with the second researching line, the Reform Movement which supported, on
the one hand, the adoption of an inductive approach in which oral production was considered more
important than written production, and on the other hand, a deep study of Phonetics in order to introduce
more efficient exercises to improve pronunciation.
In the 19th century appeared the Direct Method, based on the model of the first language acquisition.
According to this approach, the best way to learn the second language was the practice of oral production
just since the beginning with the help of non-verbal strategies to explain the meaning of some of the
words or phrases which were likely to appear.
In the 20th century, the works of Applied Linguistics on the field of language teaching point out to their
application on academic contexts, and they require the adoption of teaching techniques which take into
account the classroom reality.
At the end of the World War II, the American Army had to organize intensive language courses in order
to prepare the military staff to work as translators or interpreters in the occupied countries because the
Reading Method which was most used, did not guarantee enough fluency in oral comprehension and
production, they appealed to the structuralist linguists´ experiences such as Bloomfield.
After the World War II, the Audiolingual Method appeared, partially based on the Army courses. In this
method there is a relationship between Structuralism (Bloomfield) and Psychological Behaviourism
(Skinner), whose stimulus-response-reinforcement theories would have a great influence on the layout of
the mechanic exercises which are characteristical of the Audiolingual Method. For this method, oral
production is more important than written and the order for practising the skill is: aural comprehension
(listening), oral production (speaking), written comprehension (reading), and written production (writing).
In Great Britain another linguistic school appeared, which worked independently from the Audiolingual.
It developed a very similar method of teaching foreign languages: The Situational Language Teaching.
It is based on Structuralism but much more formal in their linguistic references.It gives more importance
to the situational context and to a selection of vocabulary. Nevertheless, the exercises of both methods do
not prepare the students for real situations of communication.
In the Sixties, a new approach appeared in Great Britain: The Communicative Language Teaching in
which the situational component of the Situational Language Teaching is the frame for communicative
interactions and not only for the practice of structures. In this approach, the term communicative
competence was coined by American linguist D.Hymes to refer to the ability of using the linguistic system
in an efficient way to communicate in society.
From the decade of the 60s,other approaches have appeared which have contributed to development of
Applied Linguistics. These methods are interested in the cognitive processes and in the affective and
contextual conditions which must take place for the learning or acquisition of the foreign language.
The first one is the Total Physical Response, based on J.Asher´s methodological criteria. One of the
main principles of this new approach is that pupils remember more easily those utterances which they can
relate with actions made by themselves. Thus the comprehension of meaning the orders that the teacher
asks the pupils to do lead them to produce no-verbal responses such as getting up,opening the
door,drawing,etc.
Following the same line, the Natural Approach, based on S Krashen and T.Terrell works, propose the
possibility of acquiring a second language in an academic context if the conditions which are similar to
those which can be found in the process of acquiring the first language by young children are fulfilled.
Language learning as a conscient process lead children to acquire some knowledge which will help them
to correct their mistakes, what is called Monitor Theory.
Finally, it is important to quote some approaches, such as The Silent Way, which looks for the learners´
hard concentration on the utterances; Suggestopaedia, which uses relaxation and suggestion as helpers for
language learning; and the Community Language Learning, based on group therapy and which uses the
target language as a means of expressing feeling.
THE MAIN LINGUISTIC SCIENCES.
Phonetics and Phonology.
These two sciences deal with sounds and how they can combine to make meanings.
Phonetics works the whole sound body of a language, studing its phonic elements in a systemic way. It
gives the representation of sounds which helps to pronounce the language in a correct way. The main parts
of Phonetics are: Articulatory Phonetics, which concentrates on how the sounds are emitted by speakers;
Auditory Phonetics, which studies those sounds in relation to the listeners; and Acoustic Phonetics, which
deals with the physical part of sounds by using different instruments to register them.
Phonology deals with the function of those sounds in the communicative process and gives an exhaustive
analysis of the rules of the sound system within the language.
Phonetics is ,together with Linguistics, one of the main sciences concerned with language and arose in the
16th century as the science that studied the relationship between spelling and sound. In 1886 the
International Phonetic Association (IPA) was founded. This association devised a phonetic alphabet, or set
of symbols that would serve to represent the sound of any language. This alphabet is now widely used in
textbooks and pronouncing dictionaries.
As our present objective is the teaching of a foreign language, the most useful view for this purpose is to
regard Phonetics and Linguistics as the two Linguistic Sciences. Both of them study language, but from
different angle. Phonetics is interested in sounds and how they are organized and transmitted,whereas
Linguistics is concerned with how language is structured grammatically and semantically.
Grammar.
Within Grammar we can find two sciences: Morphology and Syntax.
Morphology studies the form of the words of a language, and deals with the word flexions of genre,
number and case, and with the problems which may arise in this area. It also studies among others, the
changes which are produced in meaning by the influence of affixes.
Syntax established the rules for sentence combination and analyses the different of the words within the
sentences.
Grammar has two main objectives; it gives the rules necessary to generate the meaningful chains or
strings which are characteristical of a language. On the other hand, it gives rules useful for the speaker to
verify that a chain of meaning belongs to the language s/he speaks.
The most important ideas in the field, nowadays, are given by Chomsky´s Generative Grammar, which
sets up that a language is built upon a finite vocabulary corpus, this being a group of symbols which
combine to make sentences.
Semantics.
Semantics studies the meaning and sense of words, and it applies its researches to three important fields:
 Structural Semantics, based on Saussure´s works. He claimed that the signification of a sign is not
only limited to the relationship between the signifier and signified parts of it, but also between this
sign and the others.
 Distributional Semantics, in which the meanings of the linguistic units are in relation with the contexts
in which they appear.
 Generative Semantics, which does not take into account the different elements of the sentence but the
sentence itself as a model.
Pragmatics.
It is a modern science which considers speech an act by itself, because language is inserted in a
productive context. This context is the communicative situation and knowledge shared by the speaker and
the listener.
The speech act is regarded as a cooperative process in which the participants´intentions must be
interpreted. H.P. Grice established in his book Logic and Conversation,that, in every speech act, there is a
conventional meaning given by speakers´knowledge of the language rules, and an implicative meaning,
given by the speakers´intention towards their message and towards the listeners, as well as by the context.
In this sense, Grice´s Cooperative Principle established that speakers cooperate in their engagement in
conversation, their engagement being on four maxims:




The maxim of Quantity, which says: Make your contribution as informative as it is required.
The maxim of Quality, which says: Make your contribution true; be sincere.
The maxim of Relation, saying: Make your contribution relevant; do not be unconnected.
The maxim of Manner: Avoid obscurity, ambiguity; give order to your speech.
Normally, speakers fulfill these four maxims in their speech acts. However, when one or more of them
are broken up intencionally, this fact gives place to what Grice calls a conversational implicature, that is,
an implication made by the speaker who intends to say something, in an indirect way, to the listener.
THE PROCESS OF LINGUISTIC LEARNING.
The experiments carried out about the learning of the first language lead to the conclusion that only
before puberty the child´s brain has a great plasticity that allows him/her perfectly the languages that s/he
hears around, but when puberty comes, that plasticity seems to decrease gradually.
Nevertheless, this conclusion says nothing about what happens in the person´s brain when learning a
language, nor does it explain how some people after puberty have achieved a mastering of one or several
languages, even with a great degree of perfection. Moreover, the methods and techniques of foreign
language teaching are exclusively based on the results of teaching experience, but never on a precise
knowledge of how the individual´s internal mechanisms work, although, on the other hand, as the process
of learning the mother tongue coincides with the first years of life, when the child experiments the most
spectacular physical and mental development, it is natural to think that there exists a narrow relationship
between these two processes: the first and the second language learning.
THEORETICAL APPROACHES ON LANGUAGE LEARNING.
Although, up to now, the several researches that have been undertaken on this matter have not been able
to explain appropiately how second language learning process works, they have shown that some methods
and techniques are more efficient than others. In order to establish a solid scientific basis, these researches
have leaned on learning processes in general, and on the process of first language acquisition.
There are essential differences between the learning of a second language and the acquisition of the first
language. When children acquire their native language, they are answering to their vital necessity of
dominating the environment in which they are inserted. When they have this tool, their purpose to learn
another language is very different. Indeed, the circumstances in which we acquire our L1 are very
different from those in which we learn a L2.
Three important theories can be applied both to the acquisition and the learning of languages:
 SKINNER´S Behaviourism, which is based on experiments made with animals. According to
behaviourist researchers, the way how animals and human beings learn is similar. The theory on
human speech says that every speech act is produced as a response to a stimulus. This stimulus can
have different origins, such as the environment, the speaker needs and another speech act made by an
interlocutor. Besides, if the appropiate answer is to be produced, it is necessary some sort of
reinforcement. In our case, this reinforcement can be the speaker´s desire to be understood or simply
to communicate.
The behaviourist researcher regards language learning as the acquisition of several habits which can
only be acquired by repeating the adequate answers in different situations. During this process of
continuous repetition the student of a second language adopts a participative role. What is important
for Behaviourism is not the meaning of the spoken chains, but the authomatic production of responses
to the different stimula.
- CHOMSKY´S Innatism appeared in the 60s as a contraposition to Behaviourism. For him, all human
beings have innate universal grammatical rules just from before they are born. These rules are valid
for all languages. When the child starts speaking s/he applied them to the language s/he listens to
around him/her. At the same time, s/he makes his/her own grammatical rules of his/her own language
and during the whole process of acquisition , these rules are adapted to the general concept s/he has.
 ASSOCIATIONISM, for its part, include these factors in its researches. This theory claim that
communication factors transmit aditional information which children associate with a concrete
situation. In this sense, they make relations between expressions that they may hear and the objects or
actions which accompany those expressions. Their need to fall back on these relationships decrease as
they memorize the associations. Thus, the end of this progression is in their use of the linguistic
system without appealing to extralinguistic elements.
Associationism coincides with Behaviorism in making relations between words and object. However,
in Associationis, the process is not mechanical, but it result as a consequence of the individual´s
intelligence. In this sense, s/he is active participant in the communication process and in the learning
processes because s/he is able to draw his/her own conclusions.
It is important to say that, to speak a language, we have to know both the vocabulary and grammar of
that language, and that children lean on their own intelligence to establish the rules which will help
them to make suitable speech acts. During the whole learning process these rules are continuously
revised.
On the other hand, if we want to learn a second language, it is necessary to mention the importance of
the teaching process, which is of less relevance in the process of acquisition.
FACTORS.
When learning a second language, people have different purposes and the achieve different result. This
fact make us suppose that there exist different factors which make influence on this process. Several
studies have given place to some conclusions and they set up three main factors which are of great
importance in the second language learning process.
1. Motivation.
Motivation seems to be the most interesting factors of all three, because it does not make any influence
on the L1 learning processes. The L1 acquisition allows children to get into relation with their
environment and to satisfy their needs. As they get to master the use of their first language, they discover
the possibilities they have to cover up other necessities and functions which may appear.
If the L2 is learnt when older, the concepts belonging to the L1 language are already settled up and they
are used by adults in their L2 learning process. If there is an interest in learning the L2, this teachinglearning process will be followed in a very efficient way because knowing another language implies
knowing another culture.
At a glance, it seems that if the learner stays in the host country of the language s/he is studying. S/he will
find it easier to learn that language. However, this is only true if the learner is actually interested in
participating in social contacts with native speakers. His/her wishes to control the environment are more
important here than the teaching aspects.
When speaking about motivation, it is not only important to appeal reward, in the behaviouristic sense of
the word, but we must also include human psychological needs. Among them we can find essential ones,
such as hanger o fear; and some others dealing with personal security, feeling of belonging to a
community, self-confidence and relation with the other members of the community we belong to. Apart
from the motivation in satisfying these psychological needs, every individual is more encouraged as
his/her objectives are more important for him/her, as for example, those referring to cultural interest,
family well-being, etc.
Researches have shown that there are two types of motivation:
 Integrative motivation, referring to the students´feeling of belonging to the community of native
speakers of the language they are learning and of participating in their cultural environment.
 Instrumental motivation, dealing with the learners´need to learn the second language to apply for a job
or to study abroad.
This second type of motivation is very common in Primary Education, and as teachers, our role is to
encourage in our students the integrative motivation. To do so, there are a series of techniques: bringing to
the classroom material (pictures,brochures,leaflets,...) about the country; organizing competitions on
sports characteristical of the country; or accompanying the students to shows (films,plays,concerts,...) in
the foreign language.
On the other hand, teachers must have in mind that children are better receivers of these kinds of
activities than adults, and that they are easily encouraged to participate in tasks where they can play an
active role (dramatizations,games,mural making,..).
Language aptitude.
It has been shown that there are some people who can learn a language more easily than other
people,who, in turn, find it rather difficult to get enough competence in that new language. A lot of
research has been made in this sense to find the relationship between our own aptitude or inner ability and
the results achieved in our learning process. Thus, it has been shown that there is no direct connection
between our intelligence and our aptitude for language learning. On the contrary, it seems to exist a
dependence on series of factors, such as the brain ability to record and memorize certain phonetical
material; our own faculty to tackle grammatical information; our capacity to remember new words; and
our ability to discover or infer, without help, linguistic forms and rules.
The Modern Language Aptitude Test (MLAT) is used to measure these abilities, although it is only based
on linguistic elements. Besides, it seems that this test only gives us 50 per cent of certainly, and that is the
reason why the Language Aptitude Battery (LAB) was also used to measure language aptitude, but
including other extralinguistic elements such as motivation. According to the results given by this test, the
students who get satisfactory results in the other subjects usually get good qualifications in foreign
language. Indeed, this is usually true, but there are other students as well who are very good at foreign
language, but not at rest of the subjects. In conclusion, there does not exist definitive criteria for us to base
on when dealing with this matter.
However, the fact that intelligence does not make great influence over foreign language acquisition does
not mean that teacher leave it aside. On the contrary, it is important to take intelligence into consideration
when choose the appropiate methodology in class. Thus, for less intelligent students, the most useful
method seems to be that of repetition, whereas a methodology based on explanation of what they are
learning seems to suit better to cleverer pupils.
Age.
Here, the question is, “which is the appropiate age to start learning a second language?”. According to
some studies the best age to foreign language learning is between four and eight years, because the child
experiments an intensive process of evolution characterised by his/her ability to learn through mere
exposition to data. Nevertheless, there some teachers who think that children should not start learning a
second language until they have enough fluency on their first language. They even say that an early start
in L2 learning can prevent children from acquiring their L1 efficiently.
All these opinions leads us to analyse the advantages and disadvantages of foreign language learning
early start. In order to do that, we can have a look at those cases of emigrants´children who get
competence in a L2. As opposed to them, those children who learn a foreign language at school do not
usually achieve that degree of perfection.
For all this, one of the main reasons to introduce L2 learning in Primary Education is the better
assimilation of phonetical elements that children have at this age. Besides, children usually are less
reticent to participate actively in class, just as they do not have the adults´sense of ridiculous, although
adults normally have less dificulty on getting concentrated. All these age factors, however, should not
interfere on the teaching-learning process, and we should think that, wether younger or older, the human
being has mechanisms of every type to acquire foreign languages if they are motivated to do so.
What, in fact, should worry us is the fact that the little success which the student may have in Primary
School is, unfortunately, due not to the factors of age, aptitude or motivation, but the teacher´s low level
of preparation in relation with how to let the students into a foreign language.
SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE ACQUISITION OF THE FIRST
LANGUAGE AND THE FOREIGN LANGUAGE AT SCHOOL.
According to Chomsky, the difference between acquisition and learning is that acquisition can only take
place up to a certain age because when we have already got the mechanisms which allow us to register
those cncept, procedures, and pieces of information in order to use them in our daily lives for different
purposes,all which we can get afterwards is not tackled through our mechanisms of acquisition, but
through our learning processes. It is just during acquisition when children make their own grammar, by
verifying which rules are correct and which are wrong. This checking process is made through their
analysis of input data which are contrasted with their own innate rules.
Chomsky´s theories on this field are nowadays considered and followed when dealing with how children
acquire their first language, and they are very useful to study those processes which give place to foreign
language learning and to put them into practice when teaching that foreign language at school.
MOTHER TONGUE ACQUISITION.
When they begin speaking, children produce certan utterances which they have not heard before. Thios
fact leads us to think that there must be an inner mechanism which, basing itself on the outer linguistic
data, allow the production of different grammatical structures. From this generative-transformational point
of view (Chomsky´s) these phenomena can be explained through the Language Acquisition Device, which
make childen know the linguistic universals (word order,linguistic categories, etc), as well as the
procedures which are necessary to acquire a language.
Mother tongue acquisition begins in the very moment the child is given birth, when s/he hear the first
sounds,voices and even his/her own cry. When s/he is three or four years old, s/he has already got hold of
the way how his/her language works, and is able to communicate more or less effectively with the
speakers of the same language.
The innate ability to oral communication is characteristical of all human beings, except from those who
suffer from some sort of serious congenital illness or disability. As it has been said before, intelligence is
not directly related to language acquisition because those people who are not relatively clever have been
succesful in acquire their native language.
Within the whole process of mother tongue acquisition, there exist some steps followed by children:
 Prelinguistic stage: From birth to the age of eight months, children acquire spontaneously the use of
auditory mechanisms. It is the stage when they produce non-symbolic sounds.
 First word production: When they are 11 months old, children produce a voice sound which is
somehow symbolic for them. This is the stage in which they give names to people or objects placed
around them.
 Second year: Children´s messy vocalic structures begin to get shape and they begin to participate into
communicative exchanges. Their parents´role gets more and more important. However, it is not a
matter of repetition of what they say, but beyond that, children create by themselves sounds which
they regard as correct or wrong depending on the adults´reactions. These criteria of validation help the
child to take or opt out the different strings of language they are giving birth to. Those strings which
s/he considers to be correct are the same that the ones produced by adults and are reinforced by means
of continuous repetition.
 Between 3 and 4 years old: The process of acquisition keeps on developing. This a period of great
creativity and less difficulty for auditory discrimination, and for imitation. The essential aspects of the
process of acquisition are developed in full. The following grammatical system children build on are
very similar to those which respond to the adults´grammatical rules.
 Entering school: The school substitutes their parents in the acquisition process and provides them with
written code. It is just in this moment when the process of learning behings, and it will all their lives.
BILINGUALISM AND MULTILINGUALISM.
The fact that children start acquiring their mother tongue when they are babies suggests that it would be
quite a good idea to take advantage of this ability to make them acquire some others. Indeed, there are
people in many places who are bilingual since they were born, this ocurring in families where two or more
languages are spoken at the same time. Besides, we must take into account that, from a phonetical and
auditory point of view, children have all the biological characteristics to be able to acquire naturally more
than one language just from their childhood.
In some cases children can acquire simultaneously their mother tongue and their father tongue. However,
“bilingualism” does not mean “same lingualism”, that is, both languages being used with the same
frequency of time. On the contrary, their use depends on the circumstances around, and normally, one
language is more often used that another.
On the other hand, several researches have shown that it would be of great help for children to be
bilingual since the beginning, in terms of psychological development. However, this is only possible
whenever the contact with their parents´languages is as more natural as possible; if not, there may exist a
possible slowing down in their acquiring process.
Bilingualism is essentially the result of family circumstances, or of other natural ways of contact with
different languages, such as those cases in which children live long periods of time in a foreign country, or
in which two languages coexist in the same country.
Nevertheless, those bilingual or multilingual countries, such as Belgium, Switzerland, Canada, or Spain,
can not always offer their citizens the possibility to take advantage of this situation when they are
acquiring their first language/s. The main reason for this is that those languages often compete among
them, that is, they are rivals, and people belonging to one of the linguistic communities often have a
negative attitude towards the other/s, as it is case of Canada.
It is in Canada where an inmersion program was put into practice in 1965. The experiment began in a
little village called Saint Lambert, and it was completed and assesed by the psychological department of
the University of Montreal. The program consisted in the alternation of French and English. Children
spoke English at home, but at school, they were taught French by using it in the different subjects they had
to study. This project had great relevance and has given place to a lot of research in that country.
With regard to Europe, only in bilingual countries can this program be put into practice. Luxemburg is a
case apart, because it is a trilingual country: Luxemburguese is spoken at home, German is taught from
the first year of Primary Education, and French, from the third year. This early trilingualism is completed
in Secondary Education with the teaching of English. The citizens of Luxemburg, where there are not
universities, have the possibility of choosing among those universities of Germany, Austria, Switzerland,
France, Belgium, Canada and the United States. This situation is very difficult to achieve in many other
European countries.
However, something similar is what is called bilingual education, which implies the teaching in a foreign
language of one or more topics well kown by the pupils. The methodology is being carried at school in
Netherlands, Germany, France and Scandinavian countries.
TOPIC 7:
SPOKEN LANGUAGE. LISTENING COMPREHENSION: FROM HEARING TO
ACTIVE AND SELECTIVE LISTENING. SPEAKING: FROM IMITATION TO
FREE PRODUCTION.
I.- INTRODUCTION
II.- SPOKEN LANGUAGE
1.- Characteristics






The need for accuracy
Addressee in mind
Same situational context
Spontaneity and the speed
Linguistic features
Grammar and vocabulary
III.- LISTENING
1.- Definition of the process
2
2.- Stages of the process

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
Identify the phonic and syntactic patterning
Identify and select them without retention
Identification and guided selection with short term retention
Identification and selection with long term retention
3.- Planning a listening lesson




What to be learnt
How to teach
What material to use
What activities will be done
4.- Guidelines to develop the listening skill
5.- Listening subskills

Listening to confirm expectations



3
Listening to extract specific information
Listening for general understanding
Inferring the speaker’s attitude
6.- Listening materials
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Songs
Video recordings
Tapes
The teacher
7.- Listening activities
Pre-listening activities
 Prediction exercises
 Vocabulary exercises
 Grammar exercises
While-listening activities
 Ear training activities
 Global-listening exercises
4 - Completing diagrams
5 - Problem solving
 Selective-listening activities
6 - Answering display questions
7 - Following instructions
8 - Completion-type activities
9 - Identifying mistakes or contradictions
Post-listening activities
IV.- SPEAKING
1.- Definition of the process
2.- Planning a speaking lesson
3.- Speaking activities
Activities based on repetition and imitation




Repetition drills
Substitution drills
Transformation drills
Guessing drills
Controlled activities





Question and answer
Right / wrong statements and corrections
Stating consequences
Model dialogue and key words
Gapped dialogues
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Cuewords
Picture cards
Language games
Decision-making activities
Questionnaires
Autonomous interaction
 Functional communication
 Social interaction
V.- SUMMARY
VI.- REFERENCES
I.- INTRODUCTION
In this topic, we’ll start from the idea that the Foreign Language Area Curriculum mentions
a sequence which must be followed when teaching the different skills: the oral skills (listening
and speaking) are stressed over written skills (reading and writing). That's because learning to
speak and to understand means learning the language, whereas reading and writing implies that
the language is already known and that we are using its graphic representation.
Although it's better to teach a FL following this sequence, teachers have to take into
account that every skill should be reinforced by the rest and none of them can be taught in
isolation.
In this topic we'll concentrate on the oral language, analysing in the first part the main
characteristics of it and the differences with the written language.
In the second part of the topic, we'll go into detail about both types of oral language, listening and
speaking skills, examining some of the activities we can do in order to improve them. We’ll take into
account that listening is a receptive skill, while speaking is a productive skill.
II.- SPOKEN LANGUAGE
Let us concentrate on the spoken language. We'll explain its characteristics analysing, at
the same time, its differences with the written language.
1.- Characteristics
 Perhaps, the most important difference between writing and speaking is related to the need for
accuracy. Native speakers constantly make mistakes
when they are speaking: they change the subject in the middle of a sentence, hesitate an say the same
thing in different ways,… These mistakes, except in extremely formal situations, are considered as
normal. However, it's expected that writing should be "correct".
 Another characteristic is that speech is time-bound, dynamic and transient. It's a part of an interaction
in which both participants are present, and the speaker has a specific addressee in mind. Meanwhile,
in most of the cases, the writer doesn't know who the addressee is, so that there is a little expectation
of a reply.
 In this regard, participants are in a face-to-face interaction and share the same situational context; as
a result, they can rely on non-verbal devices, as body language, facial expression and gesture, as well
as rely on the context, in order to help make clear what they mean. This does not happen in speech.
 Another characteristic is that speakers do at least three things at once: planning what to say next,
saying what they have planned, and monitoring
what they are saying in order to check that it is what they meant to say. On the other hand, in the
speech prevails the spontaneity and the speed, so it's more difficult to engage in complex advanced
planning. Whereas, writers can be more precise and organised about what they have to say, and also
because they have more time for planning and revision.
 Talking about the linguistic features, a speaker has a great range of expressive possibilities,
since he can vary his intonation and stress. The writing system cannot directly represent the
prosodic features of speech. Only a very few graphic conventions relate to prosody, such as
question marks.
 As grammar and vocabulary regards, the syntax of speech is much simpler than the syntax
of writing. The lexicon of speech is also often vague, using words which refer directly to the
situation (deictic expressions, such as that one, in here, right now). In written language these
expressions are very unusual.
III.- LISTENING
1.- Definition of the process
Let us concentrate on the listening skill. It is a receptive skill and it wasn't until the
development of the Communicative Approach in the 70's when the listening skill took importance
in the language acquisition. Some previous methods, such as the Direct Method and the AudioLingual Method, put emphasis in the oral comprehension, but listening was concentrated on the
lower levels.
The Communicative Approach postulated the use of realistic and authentic language and
learners were trained to match what they heard into a context; the context helped them to
understand the meaning.
Nowadays it is accepted that listening plays an important role in Foreign Language
Teaching because it provides a great input for the learner, it allows introducing new language and
it can provide enjoyment.
2.- Stages of the process
The process of writing goes on through different stages, which we'll analyse as follows.
 Firstly, the pupils have to identify the phonic and syntactic patterning, that is, to recognise
the familiar elements in the mass of speech without being able to recognise the
interrelationships within the whole system.
 Then, the pupils must identify and select them without retention, that is, listening for
pleasure with no questions to be answered.
 After that, SS must do an identification and guided selection with short term retention, that
is, they are giver a prior indication of what they are going to listen. They demonstrate their
comprehension immediately in some sort of exercise.
 An the last stage is the identification and selection with long term retention, that is, SS
demonstrate their comprehension developing activities which require the use of the material
previously learnt.
3.- Planning a listening lesson
In order to achieve a successful development of the listening skill, it is essential to plan it
very carefully. A listening lesson involves considering five aspects:
 What to be learnt; we have to decide the listening skills to be developed. In the early stages
we should concentrate on listening at the level of recognition.
 How to teach; the procedure to follow.
 What material to use; we have to make a choice regarding materials, and it has to be made
according to two criteria:
- The linguistic difficulty of the listening text; the text should be within the students
language proficiency range.
- The learners’ motivation; the materials used should be motivating for the students.
We should remember that the teacher can also be a source of spoken language, he / she
can also provide input.
 What activities will be done; they should also be motivating and relevant to the students
needs.
4.- Guidelines to develop the listening skill
There are some guidelines that may be useful when planning how to develop pupils'
listening skill, which we’ll mention as follows:
 Firstly, we must try to give children the confidence; the SS should be told that they cannot
always be expected to understand every word.
 Secondly, we must help the SS to develop the strategies for listening; the most important
strategy is the use of "intelligent guesswork", that is, they can use their background knowledge
to work out the meaning of a word. They can also use other strategies such as predicting,
working out the meaning from the context,… The SS should be encouraged to notice the body
language or the way the speaker use his/her voice.
 Finally, we must explain them why they have to listen; this means spelling out which part of
the message they need to focus on and what they are going to do before listening, while they
listening or after listening.
We will now focus on two of the aspects when planning a lesson, the listening subskills
and the listening materials.
5.- Listening subskills
The listening subskills are: listening to confirm expectations, listening to extract specific
information, listening for general understanding and inferring the speaker’s attitude.
 Listening to confirm expectations. We can ask students to predict what they are going to
listen and then, listen to it to confirm their expectations. In this way, the students’ interest is
aroused and they have a definite purpose for listening.
 Listening to extract specific information. Extracting specific information when listening is a
major subskill since a great deal of what is said in conversation in redundant and unnecessary.
 Listening for general understanding. Students listen to conversations in order to get a
general idea of what the main points are. The students’ task is fairly simple but it is a vital skill
(because they listen to authentic spoken language) that they must develop.
 Inferring the speaker’s attitude. An awareness of stress, intonation or any body language,
such as facial expression or gestures, will help the children to work out meaning.
6.- Listening materials
Talking about the listening materials, the most useful ones are the songs, the video
recordings, the tapes and the teacher.
 Songs are an important source of motivation. They may be used to change the pace of the
lesson or to introduce cultural aspects. They reinforce the learning process since they are very
useful to review and learn vocabulary, pronunciation, grammatical structures and patterns.
 Video recordings: When using the video it is essential to choose the right technique
depending on the purpose: recognition, production or a combination of both. There are several
reasons for using video to develop listening skills:
-
It is a motivating type of material.
The pupils’ imagination is fostered.
This sort of communication has an image context.
Paralinguistic features help comprehension.
 Tapes: We can use tapes adjusting the level to the pupils’ needs.
 The teacher: as a matter of fact, can also provide input. The pupils listen to the teacher most
of the time, so he / she must have a good pronunciation.
7.- Listening activities
The listening activities can be divided into pre-listening, while-listening and post-listening
activities. Let us see each one separately.
Pre-listening activities
These activities aim to warm SS up and prepare them to achieve the most from the passage
and to arouse their interest. We can distinguish three types of pre-listening activities: prediction
activities, vocabulary exercises and grammar exercises.
Prediction exercises encourage the SS to draw inferences and increase the amount of
language recognised at first hearing, for instance:
 The SS are told the topic of the listening passage and are asked to guess some of the words or
phrases they think they might hear.
 The teacher plays the first few sentences of the recording and challenges the SS to work out
what is going on. The SS call out their ideas, which are discussed.
Vocabulary exercises, for example:
 The SS are given a list of words that might occur in the listening text and are asked to listen
for which ones occur and which do not.
 The pupils do a picture and word matching exercise. This has two advantages. Firstly you can
bring certain words into the forefront of the SS’ minds, and secondly, you can ensure that they
know the meaning of new words. It is not necessary that all the words which appear in the
exercise should appear on the tape.
Grammar exercises, such as gap-filling exercises, involving grammatical structures. The
sentences will be taken from the listening passage. The SS will check the answers from the tape.
While-listening activities
While-listening activities aim to guide the pupils to handle the information in the passage.
Three types of exercises are to be distinguished:
Ear training activities help SS in distinguishing between key sounds, stress and intonation
patterns. They are most suitable in the early stages.
Global-listening exercises are aimed at helping SS to construct an overall sense of a text
and they include:
 Completing diagrams
 Problem solving activities in which SS match or recognise information in a text, for example:
- The SS compare what they hear with the information given to them in a picture.
They listen to see how far the information the speaker provides agrees with, or
contradicts, the information they were originally given.
- Another problem-solving activity is storyline pictures sets: the SS listen to a story or
set of instructions referring to a number of pictures and are asked to recognise the
pictures described and to put them in the correct order according to the passage.
Selective-listening activities are designed to help SS derive specific information from a
text, for instance:
 Answering display questions; questions testing understanding of detail. The questions can be
answered individually or in groups and may take various forms: open-ended questions,
multiple choice questions, true/false statements. The questions should be read and understood
in the pre-listening stage.
 Following instructions, that is, listen-and-do exercises in which they must listen to what
someone says, understand it and complete a task. They include picture dictation, where SS
have to draw a picture which the teacher or another S talks about without showing it;
completing a map or picture; tracing a route on a map in order to arrive at a particular place.
These activities involve careful listening without requiring a verbal response.
 In completion-type activities SS have to complete a version of a story, a description or a song
while they listen.
 Another kind of while-listening activity is Identifying mistakes or contradictions: SS hear two
versions of a story or two accounts of an event and have to identify the points of difference.
Many games depend for their success on SS listening carefully to each other, e.g. Simon
says, in which a S in front of the class gives commands, some preceded by the words Simon
says and others not. The class obeys the former only.
Post-listening activities
In post-listening activities SS take the information they have gained from the listening
passage and use it for another purpose (composition, discussion).
Some extension work can also be done based on the content of the passage.
IV.- SPEAKING
1.- Definition of the process
As follows, we'll concentrate on the speaking skill. During the first half of this century, this
skill was neglected, since in the FL teaching, the emphasis was on the written skills. Moreover,
speaking has received more attention in the last twenty years.
Although in the Direct and the Audio-Lingual method the emphasis was on oral
communication, students could not do free activities until they have mastered the new language in
controlled exercises, in drills. Now it is accepted that some sort of dynamic and meaningful
exercises should be included in speaking lessons from the beginning.
When SS are learning a FL, they want prompt results and speaking is the aim when they
come to class. They want to speak and that's the most important thing to them. When listening, the
input received can be in a higher lever than expected; in contrast, when speaking, the speaker
choose the language according to his/her level and that's an easy aspect in comparison with
listening.
Although the speaker can choose the level, speaking is one of the most problematical skills
since successful oral communication involves many things:
 To know some grammar and vocabulary.
 Ability to make the foreign sounds correctly.
 To master the suprasegmental features.
 Fluency.
 Some listening skills.
When a child is learning a FL, he usually makes mistakes. A solution would be to guide oral
practice to avoid the SS' mistakes, or at least to try that they make as few as possible. Then, the
psychological aspect is important, because when children realise that they can speak without
mistakes, they'll be motivated to go on speaking properly.
The main goal of speaking will be fluency, which can be defined as the ability to express
oneself intelligibly, reasonably, accurately and without too much hesitation.
2.- Planning a speaking lesson
When planning a speaking lesson, we must bear in mind that speaking activities should
fulfill certain requirements:
 Activities must provide opportunities for language practice.
 They must be interesting.
 As regard to the subject matter, it must be within the students' experience; it must be close to
their lives.
3.- Speaking activities
Speaking activities fall into the following three categories: activities based on repetition
and imitation, controlled activities and autonomous interaction.
Activities based on repetition and imitation
Littlewood’s structural and quasi-communicative activities belong to this group. They are
preparatory activities, intended to prepare learners for communicative activities. The former focus
on the grammatical system and on ways in which items can be combined. The latter consist of two
or more conversational exchanges.
Drills are an example of this type of structure-orientated exercises. They help to assimilate
facts about new language and enable the student to produce the new language for the first time by
helping him master the basic structural patterns of the language. They are usually very controlled
and have a fairly limited potential. They shouldn't be used either too frequently or for too long.
The teacher will insist on accuracy, correcting where SS make mistakes. In addition, the
SS' talking time can be notably increased in large groups. There are different kinds of drills:
 Repetition drills; SS have to repeat the sample pattern accurately and quickly; e.g. "I went to
the market and I bought…"
 Substitution drills; SS are required to replace a word or phrase of the model sentence by the
cue word/phrase provided by the teacher.
 Transformation drills; e.g. putting affirmative sentences in the negative or active sentences
in the passive.
 Guessing drills; they get SS to try to find out through guessing. They are thus based on the
information gap principle. Some examples are:
- SS think of something they did the previous weekend and then they take turns to find
out what it is by asking.
- SS imagine that they have been ill and they take turns to find out each other’s illness
by asking.
Controlled activities
Controlled activities help SS develop confidence and the ability to participate in simple
conversations. Texts (dialogues and prose passages) can be exploited for oral practice. The
advantage of the activities based on them over the drills we have looked at is that they offer a
well-defined context for practice.
 Question and answer practice is one of the commonest ways of giving language practice in
the classroom.
 Other techniques are right / wrong statements and corrections. SS are asked to say whether a
statement is right or wrong within the context of the text and, if it is wrong, they give the
correct version; or they are asked to correct statements.
 A third technique can be stating consequences, in which the SS have to say what happened as
a result of an event or action described.
T: Columbus discovered America.
S1: Other people followed him.
S2: It changes the story of the world.
Pairwork activities provide SS with a greater amount of meaningful practice. There are
various types of pairwork activities: model dialogue and key words, gapped dialogues, cue words,
picture cards, language games, decision-making activities and questionnaires. Let us outline each
one of them:
 Model dialogue and key words: SS work with a set of 4-5 dialogues related to the same theme
together with a list of key words which they can use to produce different dialogues.
 In gapped dialogues one of the speakers has to supply the missing utterances. The speaker’s
missing words may also be cued by indicating what functions he has to express, e.g.
A.- .......... (invite somebody to go out with you).
B.- Sorry, I’m busy.
A.- .......... (suggest another day).
B.- Yes, that would be fine.
A.- .......... ( suggest a time).
B.- All right. See you then.
 Cuewords: SS are given cards with a number of cuewords on them, around which a dialogue
can be modelled, and a model dialogue to work with.
 Picture cards can be used for a range of activities:
- Finding uses; SS have to find uses for an object within a particular environment, to
compare the uses for an object in two environments, or to find two uses for an object,
one normal use, the other absurd.
- Association activities; SS have to link two objects e.g. in terms of use, material, etc.
 Language games also help to improve speaking skills, e.g. Hide and seek, where SS “hide”
and object somewhere in a picture. They then take turns to find out where the object has been
hidden by asking questions like Is it on the bookcase? Is it under the TV?
 Decision-making activities require SS to make certain decisions. They employ the information
gap principle, that is, SS have to try to find out what each has decided. For instance, they are
given a set of numbered places and they write the numbers on a street plan to indicate their
positions, which their partners have to guess.
Non-pictorial aids such as maps, menus, radio and TV programmes are another way of
getting SS to interact using fairly controlled language. For example, with maps SS can practise
giving directions. With menus they can decide what they are going to eat and drink. With TV
and radio programmes they can discuss what they are going to watch or listen.
 Questionnaires with mixed structures are effective ways of getting SS to draw on all their
linguistic resources. They involve identifying somebody who corresponds to a requirement of
the questionnaire. For example, the questionnaire may read:
Find someone who:
NAME
- is wearing black socks
- likes flying
- can’t swim
- has never been abroad
- would like to go to the moon
Autonomous interaction
The last type of speaking activities is related to the autonomous interaction, that aims to get
from the students a free production of language.
Communicative activities provide the learners opportunities to use the language for
themselves. The opportunity to say something has to be given to them, so that they can see for
themselves the value and use of what they are learning. The activities must be geared to the
learners’ needs and the teacher should formulate the tasks in terms that SS can understand and
ensure that the instructions are clear. If the task is very complex, it is advisable to set up a
rehearsal before asking SS to start. Moreover, the teacher should:
 make sure that everybody speaks English and that everything runs smoothly.
 set up mixed ability pairs/groups because SS learn from one another.
 elicit or pre-teach the language SS will need during the activity.
 monitor the task discreetly. H / S should intervene only if he/she is quite certain that learners
cannot manage on their own.
 should not keep correcting and demand too high a standard of accuracy.
Littlewood distinguishes two types of communicative activities: functional communication
and social interaction.
a) Functional communication activities involve the communication of information. They have
to overcome an information gap or solve a problem. By ‘information gap’ Littlewood means a
type of activity in which one or more of the SS has to get information from someone else.
Some examples of these activities are the following:
 Discovering identical pairs: one S has to find which of four other has the same picture as
his.
 Discovering missing information: two SS each have an incomplete table and each has to
get missing information from other.
 Discovering secrets (guessing games). These games are accuracy-focussed games chose
purpose is to reinforce what has already been taught. For example “Twenty questions”
(one player thinks of a famous person or place and the others try to find out what by
asking no more than twenty questions).
b) Social interaction activities involve simulation and role-play. In a simulation SS act as
themselves (giving directions to a passer-by outside the school), while in a role-play they act
as someone else. For role play the class is usually divided into small groups who are given
situations and roles to act out.
They are different ways of providing a framework for role-play practice:
 Open-ended dialogues, e.g. dialogues which leave the learners free to decide how to
develop them.
 Mapped dialogues: SS are given functional cues on separate cards. We may define the
relationship between the two speakers, e.g. they are friends.
1 Invite B to go out with you
1 Decline
2 Suggest another possibility
2 Accept
3 Confirm arrangements
3 Agree
 Role instructions describe the situation and tell the participants how they should interact.
Example: you go into a bookshop to buy a book (describe author and title). Ask the
bookseller is he has the book. If the book is not available, decide whether to order it.
Other activities are discussions and fluency-focussed games, i.e. games in which SS use
language rather than simply practise it, for example in a debate to choose the SS that will controll
the class library.
V.- SUMMARY
To summarise, in this topic we have dealt with the oral skills (listening and speaking),
which, in the Foreign Language Area curriculum, are stressed over the written skills (reading and
writing). We've given some guidelines in order to make a proper planning and we've suggest some
of the activities we can do when teaching both skills.
VI.- REFERENCES




The techniques of Language Teaching by Billows, F.L.
Teaching Language as communication by Widdowson, H.G. Oxford University Press.
Teaching Oral English by Byrne, D. Published in 1986.
Getting Students to Talk by Golewiowska, A. Published in 1990.
TOPIC 7. FOREIGN LANGUAGE SPEECH. THE COMPLEXITY OF GLOBAL UNDERSTANDING
IN ORAL INTERACTION: FROM HEARING TO ACTIVE LISTENING. SPEECH IPRODUCTION:
IMITATIVE REPRODUCTION AND AUTONOMOUS REPRODUCTION.
INDEX
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
INTRODUCTION
D.A. WILKINS AND J.A. VAN EK
SPECIFYING THE DISCRETE LINGUISTIC-CULTURAL ITEMS
AUDIOLINGUALISM AND NEO-FIRTHIANISM
THE INTERPERSONAL SPEECH ACT
AUTONOMOUS INTERACTION
LISTENING AND SPEAKING
1. INTRODUCTION
Speech, or spoken language, is the most obvious aspect of language, it is the universal material of
human language. For many hundreds of thousands of years human language was transmitted and
developed entirely as spoken means of communication.
Using a foreign language eefectively requires having a number of different abilities. Linguistists have
identified four major abilities, which are called linguistic skills. They are: listening, speaking, reading
and writing. (about their classification and their integration, see topic 3).
In this unit we are going to study the listening and speaking skills, first how our pupils evolve from
hearing to active listening, and second, from imitative speaking to autonomous talking.
2. LISTENING COMPREHENSION: FROM HEARING TO ACTIVE LISTENING
Listening in a foreign language is hard work. It is a principle that listening should precede speaking. Clearly,
it is impossible to expect our pupils to produce a sound which does not exist in their mother tongue or a natural
sentence using the stress, rhythm and intonation of a native speaker of the foreign language without first of all
providing them with a model of the form they are to produce. It is not possible to produce satisfactorily what
one has not heard. The logical step, then, is attempting to achieve oral fluency or accuracy is to consider our
pupils´ ability to listen.
At first sight it appears that listening is a passive skill, and speaking is an active one. This is not really
true, since the deconding of the message calls for active participation in the communication between
the participants. A receptive skill is involved in understanding the message. Understanding is usually
signalled in a face-to-face conversation by the nods, glances, bbody-movements and often phatic
noises of the listener. This visual and verbal signalling confirms to the speaker that listening and
understanding has taken place so, while hearing can be thought of a passive condition, listening is
always an active process.
Studies of classroom interaction show that children spend a large part of their time listening – listening
to the teacher, to each otther or to pre-recorded material. Problems are likely to arise if teachers do not
teach children how to listen, so that they can cope effectively with these demands. Besides, our work
as teachers of young learners is much easier if the children are motivated and enjoy what they are
doing. It is up to us to ensure that the activities they are engaged in are interesting and/or fun. We also
have to be clear that our students cannot understand everything they hear. We should provide
purposeful activities where learners are asked to focus on specific points. We must ensure that the
children´s learning is supported wherever necessary. Learners will also of course listen just for fun,
without having to do anything with what they hear.
FROM HEARING TO UNDERSTANDING
The first stage in the listening skill learning process is ear-training, if we cannot hear we will not
understand. Later on we must help our pupils develop their aural understanding abilities.
If we want our pupils to be efficient listeners in English we must give them enough practice in both
intensive and extensive listening. Intensive listening is closer to ear-training. If we feel that our pupils
are not producing satisfactorily a certain sound or they have not encountered it yet, we can get them to
listen carefully for the sound in a given passage, as a first step towards imitation, then production of
the sound. This is called intensive listening.
Onn the other hand, we may be aware that our pupils cannot understand ordinatry English of the type
that is used in our coursebook tape. In this case a more general familiaritty with the lexis and grammar
of the listening texts is required so we must prepare aural lessons which will not focus on a sound or
two but on general features of the style of sicourse materials. This is called extensive listening.
EFFECTIVE LISTENING
Language comprehension is generally seen as part of an interactive process arising from the complex
interplay of the three main dimensions of interaction: the social, the cognitive and the linguistic.
Studies of young learners´comprehension skills show that many aspects of listening are mastered at an
early age, particularly in supportive, conversational contexts where social skills are highlighted.
However, when the listening focus involves more demanding cognitive skills, such as processing
information or monitoring the adequacy of a message, children frequently encounter problems.
Many authors currently take the view that there are several parallels between the processes involved in
L1 acquisition and L2 learning. It is felt that children have the ability to transfer some of the skills and
strategies in their L1 acquisition to second language learning. The kinds of information source used in
comprehension can be summarised under two main headings:
a. knowledge about the content of the spoken message
- general knowledge to do with facts and information
- sociocultural knowledge to do with topics, settings and participants in interaction
- procedural knowledge about how language is used, for example, knowing that
questions generally demand responses
b. knowledge about the language used in the spoken message
- recognition of items of vocabulary and sentence patterns
- understanding of phonological features such as stress, intonation and sounds
The role of the teacher is to encourage children to draw upon different information sources, skills and
strategies in order to learn how to help themselves understand. Once the teachers are aware of these processes,
they will be able to include in their planning interactive or specific listening tasks focusing on one or more of
these strategies. Six types of strategy are given below, described in the context of listening to a story:
1. Getting the general picture: this strategy is used when children are being encouraged to listen to a
story simply for pleasure. In this case the learners do not attempt to focus their attention in or
remember details but to listen for gist to get a general idea of what the story is about
2. Predicting: this strategy is useful when children are trying to follow the sequence of events in a
story. If the children are motivated and have some support for their understanding, they can be
encouraged first to predict and then to check whether what they hear matches their expectation.
This is an example of a learning context where knowledge of the language system and general
knoowledge based on previous experience of L1 stories work together to facilitate comprehension
3. Extracting specific information: the focus here is on recognising specific components of the
language system, such as selecting relevant adjectives to describe particular characters in a story to
fill in a tick-chart or recognising specific verbs and nouns when matching pictures with events in a
story. If the aim of the activity is listening comprehension rather than memory testing, for this
strategy to work the learners need to know what kind of information to listen out for. The support
materials (pictures and charts) help the learner distinguish relevant from irrelevant parts of the
message.
4. Inferring opinion or attitude: an awareness of stress and intonation, combined with knowledge of
lexical items and grammatical patterns, enables the learner to determine whether a character is
happy, angry or sad and therefore to work our some of the context of the story
5. Working out meaning from context: it must be made clear to children learning English that they
will not be able or expected to understand every word in a story. Thus the teacher needs to develop
their confidence in facing texts with new vocabulary. Key words may be glossed beforehand while
visual support or written framewords (charts, for instance) will help the learners understand detail.
Some learners might be able to draw upon their knowledge of the langauge system.
6. Recognising discourse patterns and markers: every story will have certain story-tellinng
conventions, for example an introduction beginning, “Many years ago there was a wicked
witch…” The recognition of discourse markers used in logical relationships, as well as the use of
appropriate intonation, will help learners to work out some of the storyline.
THE LISTENING CLASS
It is important to make a distinction between the teaching and testing of listening. The practice of
asking the childrren to listen to something with no support other than questions to answer after
listeniing has many drawbacks. It concentrates too much on the testing of comprehension or memory
rather than encouraging children to develop strategies to coping with the spoken message. This kind of
methodology tends to overload the child´s capacity for porcessing and retaining information. Thus the
emphasis is placed on assessing what the children have understood rather than in supporting their
understanding so that they can show that they have understood.
It is only when teachers direct the children´s attention to the pupose of the listening task beforehand
and procde a suitable framework for providing acees to the spoken message that they can be said to be
teaching listening. Possible frameworks to be used can take the form of pictures, charts or questions
which aim to create interest and supply motivation and support for the successful completion of the
task. This kind of methodology reflects the view that the listening process is a form of interaction
between the listener and the text. The meanings which learners construct in this interactive process
depend on the one hand on their “set” to the text and on the other hand on the content and the language
contained in the ttext. The “set” can be described in terms of what the learner brings to the text, that is,
the schematic knowledte described earlier such as background knowledge and feelings, attitudes or
interest. The content of the text will of course draw upon linguistic items such as vocabulary and
grammar as well as discourse geatures such as refference, lexical relations, logical connectors and
intonation. The linguistic content may serve to refer to events, people, animals, places, objects,
feelings, attributes, concpets and so forth. With the help of the teacher, who creates a context and a
purpose for liistening, the focus of the comprehension activity can be on any of these aspects.
The teaching of comprehension is said to have three phases: pre-, while- and post- listening activities.
The first stage is an introduction or orientation to the text during which the teacher might elicit what
the children already know about a topic by asking them questions, or create interest by relating aspects
of the content to the children´s own experiences.
The second stage involves an explanation of the pupose of the listening task so that the children are
quite clear what their role is and whether they need to focus on specific aspects of the text. The
purpose mau be simply to listen and enjoy a story, song or rhyme in which case they can participate if
the teacher wishes. If the listening purpose is to extract specific information it is at this point that the
teacher will explain the task and refer to any visual or written support he/she has planned. The learners
will then listen to the text, which may be pre-recorded or spoken by the teahcer or another child, and
complete the activity.
The stage after this is then concerned with checking information by asking questions (oral or written)
or by asking for feedback on any other outcomes the learners may have produced, such as completing
a game, finding the correct sequence of events or drawing and labelling a picture.
THE ROLE OF THE TEACHER
It requires patience, imagination and skill to create an interesting environment for young learners to
develop confidence in listening. The teacher´s role is this respect is fourfold:
1. Planning for listening
2. choosing appropriate texts and tasks:
3. Providing support
4. varying the learning context
3. LISTENIING AND SPEAKING
Listening and speaking tasks should always be properly introduced: the context of the text and the task
involved needs to be clear to the students before they start an exrecise. Teachers should beware of setting
artificially high standards of correctness. Experienced teachers accept different degreees of variation from the
“perfect” model. Additioanlly, there are teachers who use “teacher talk” at certain moments of the lesson.
“Teacher talk” is using a very simplified version of the target language so that the students can understand
better. There is no harm in doing this, as long as studnets also receive natural language input as well. A teacher
might use “teacher talk” when presenting a langauge item; an unnaturally slow pronunciation would help the
students to identify the sounds better. However, during the development session, oral drills practice should be
done using natural speech patterns.
As for fluency and accuracy, the listening and speaking skills should be approached from both of these
perspectives: there are moments in the lesson when accuracy is imperative. For example, when a language item
is presented, accuracy is of the utmost importance; it is equally important during oral drills sessions. However,
during productiooon, especially during free pair work and groups work activities, practice for fluency is
preferable. The teacheer can monitor the production of the studnets, noting language weakness which need to be
dealt with in subsequent class sessions.
Listening entails the following aspects: guessing the meaning of unknownn vocabulary; folowing the main
ideas of something spoken using natural speeach; summarizing a speaker´s intention; recognizing style and
register differences; identifying the structures of a spoken statement; making inferences; formulating a
personaly opiniionn about a text; formulating an intellectual attitude and an emotional attitude towards a text;
taking notes while listening to a speech; identifying the amin phonological aspects of the English language
(vowels, dipthongs, tripthongs, consonants, rhythm, stress, intonaation, word junction); comparing prekowledege with what is being said; the speaker´s intention; the speaker´s attitude; phonological aspects.
Speaking entails the following aspects: formal and informal manner; preparing and giving oral reports;
asking and answering questions (interviews); telling a story and expanding narratives; connecting sentences;
dividing speech into paragraphs and main ideas; constrciting dialogues; making correclty formed declarative
and interrogative statements; interpreting a picture story; summarizing a peech hard using notes taken;
paraphrase what another person has ssaid; tell a story (invented or retold).
UNIT 8: LEARNING TO READ AND WRITE. READING COMPREHENSION: EXTENSIVE
AND INTENSIVE READING. WRITING: FROM INTERPRETATION TO PRODUCTION.
1. WRITTEN LANGUAGE
Speech uses phatic substance and writing, graphic substance. Speech is considered to be part of an
interaction which both participants are present and the speaker has a specific address in mind. On the
other hand, in written language the producer is distant from the receiver and sometimes even do not know
who the receiver is. While speech is time-bound and dynamic, writing is space-bound and static.
So writing allows repeated reading and close analysis. It needs careful organisation and structured
expression. Some words must be avoided when the meaning relies on the situation.
Ambiguity must also be minimised in writing, as there is no possibility of asking for immediate
explanation.
Some constructions might be fond only in writing (formal) and others, in speech (slang, swear words, …)
2. LEARNING TO READ AND WRITE IN THE FIRST LANGUAGE
There are many different methods to teach reading:
 Phonic approaches try to identify the regular sound/letter relationship. Permitted vocabulary is
restricted.
 Global approaches try to recognise individual words as wholes without breaking them into constituent
letters or sounds. It is based on meaning.
Nowadays there are some mixed schemes, integrating the strength of each.
Fluent reading needs some strategies:
 Rapid and selective techniques (scanning)
 Silent techniques (skimming)
For writing is necessary to acquire the motor skill of sequencing letters, using different shapes and sizes,
word spaces, spaces between lines, margins, etc. But writing is more than that automatic exercise, it is the
ability to use the structures of the language in an appropriate and mature way.
There are different stages of writing acquisition:
a. Basic motor skill and principles of spelling system are developed.
b. Using the writing system to express what they can already say in speech.
c. Writing and speech split up, and writing develop its own pattern and organisation.
d. Writers can make stylistic choices and develop a personal way of expressing.
3. LEARNING TO READ AND WRITE IN THE SECOND LANGUAGE
Reading is to distinguish the meaning of a chain of words in a text, quite quickly.
English spelling is different from sounds, so words and structures must be worked first in an oral way.
Before reading, children must know most of vocabulary structures and have some knowledge about the
topic, culture and situation.
Reading techniques
Children need some techniques in order to get the maximum information from a text with the minimum of
misunderstanding:
 Extensive reading: getting a global picture, a clear idea of the overall meaning of the text (skimming)
 Intensive reading: paying attention to the details, getting particular points (scanning)
 Having an interpretation of the text based on reader’s own experience.
 Guessing many unknown words by simply studying the context.
 Predicting what they are going to read next, recognising discourse linkers (although, but,…)
 Inferring opinion and attitude, based on the recognition of linguistic style and appropriate purposes.
After reading comprehension learners must interpret the text:
 Picking the author’s intention
 Distinguishing facts and opinions
 Finding relations with personal experience.
Reading activities (three stages)
 Pre-reading tasks: to familiarise with the topic. Looking at previous knowledge. It is necessary to
create expectations in order to increase their interest. They will read to confirm expectations and that
is motivating. (describing photographs or covers of the text, informal dialogues about the topic,
prediction of the content, giving a tittle, …)
 While-reading tasks:
 Skimming: reading a text to get the gist of it (suggesting the tittle of the passage,
matching text tittles with series of short texts,…)
 Scanning: extracting specific information from the text (underlining information
required, completing an information form, classifying under different headings, tick in a
list of objects already read, …)
 Combining both, skimming and scanning (answering questions, describing main
characters physical and emotionally, completing a drawing, anticipate actions,…)
 Making inferences: recognising opinion and attitudes (questions of possible
interpretations)
 Post-reading tasks: the main aim of these activities is to internalise the language of the text
(crossword, drawing comics, role play, carry out a survey, summarise, change the end, continuing the
story, preparing a similar text, boarding games,…)
4. WRITING: FROM CONTROLLED PRACTICE TO FREE PRODUCTION
Traditional methods used writing to fix linguistic forms in memory. There was no intention to teach the
learner to express anything of himself through the new language.
Nowadays we need to identify the needs of communication of our pupils. Our pupils will spend most time
completing tightly controlled written exercises. Sometimes they might be encouraging to produce free
writing.
Writing needs some abilities:
 Graphical or visual skills: includes spelling, punctuation, capitalisation and format.
 Grammatical skills: to use successfully a variety of sentence patterns.
 Stylistic or expressive skills: to express precise meanings in a variety of styles and registers.
 Rhetorical skills: cohesion and links of parts of the text into logical sequence.
 Organisational skills: sequencing the ideas, summarising relevant points and rejecting irrelevant
information.
Writing activities might be these ones:
 For practice:
 Making lists, personal vocabulary
 Completing crosswords
 Matching labels to pictures
 Classifying words under headings
 Writing speech bubbles for cartoons
 Explaining surveys or questionnaires
 Correcting mistakes
 Copying sentences that have been matched
 Answering questions
 For communication:
 Writing games (descriptions of famous people)
 Exchanging letters (playing a role)
 Story construction (small pieces of paper)
 Writing reports and advertisements)
Correction of written work can be done by both, teacher and pupil. The teacher must show positive
aspects, showing the pupil where the work was effective and where it was not.
The teacher can underline the error and write in the margin the type of error it is: concordance, wrong
word order, unclear meaning, …
THE WRITTEN FOREIGN LANGUAGE. APPROXIMATION,
MATURATION AND IMPROVEMENT OF THE READER-WRITER
PROCESS.
THE READING COMPREHENSION: TECHNIQUES FOR GLOBAL
AND SPECIFIC COMPREHENSION OF TEXTS.
THE WRITTEN EXPRESSION: FROM THE INTERPRETATION TO
THE PRODUCTION OF TEXTS.
INTRODUCTION.
In this unit, I am going to explain the reading-writing process.
In first place, I will explain some aspects of this process in general, the relationship that
exists between both of them and how can be develop this process in order to acquire the
English language.
In the last part of the unit, I will explain both skills, reading and writing. In addition, all its
features like the importance of the authentic or non-authentic material which is used to do
the exercises.
Another important aspect that I am going to be in mind in the last part is the techniques
and activities, which can be carry out in class to improve both skills.
THE READING-WRITING PROCESS.
In the first part of the unit, I am going to explain the relationship that exists between the
reading and writing skills. Both terms are narrowing linked because these skills are present
from the first stages in the approach of the foreign language. The language is firstly heard
and then it is read.
Reading, is an important skill, which can contribute to the accomplishment of a language
in posterior stages. This skill can be useful in order to achieve vocabulary, or it can be a
motive to read for pleasure. The additional lecture, which is read in a voluntary way, offers
the opportunity to learn in an unconscious way aspects like culture from the foreign
language. The main advantage of the reading for the students is that it improves their
general English level. We have as teachers to encourage the complementary readings,
which has to be chose by the students.
We have to realise that, when we are going to teach a language in the first stages, our
students do not have knowledge about grammar or syntax. Due to that, the teacher will be
the guide in the learning. Teachers will have to use some strategies like the comment of the
illustrations, the chose of easy situations… In the first stages, it would be advisable direct
to our students with patters, which has the same structure.
In order to improve the reading-writing process, we can use a great variety of activities
and techniques. It is obvious that we have to start from easy to texts that are more complex.
We will try to offer to the students short tales with familiar situations related to their daily
life, alternating with fantastic stories like adventures with monsters.
In class we have to exploit the illustrations, because they are very important in order to
understand the context of the situation. In a great variety of activities, the introduction of
the teacher will help the students to understand the aim of the activity.
Then, the teacher can ask some questions to check if they have understood what is pretend
in the activity. After that, we can do the reading. In the first curses, the texts are read aloud
to continue to silent reading, and later, to the summaries. Then, we can do the
comprehension exercise:
- questions made by the teacher, from open to more close answers,
- judgements made by the teacher, which can be true or false and
- summaries of texts using synonymous and paraphrases of a text.
It is advisable that, whenever possible, the teacher relates the current situations that is carry out to more
familiar situations.
In more advanced levels we can use:
- charts,
- questionnaires and surveys where the object is to interview a classmate, for example
according to their likes, dislikes, preferences,
- role-plays: these activities are connected with dialogues and performances. The
students are appointed a certain role and they must ask according to it.
In these advanced levels, it would be advisable:
- the use of the dictionary and
- the preparation of their own vocabulary in personal dictionaries.
In the last cycle is advisable that the students try to infer the meaning from the context.
THE READING COMPREHENSION.
Now, it is time to discuss the reading comprehension. Reading in the foreign language
must start from the first year when the language is studied.
We have to interact with the text in order to understand the message, even where the text contains
language which the students are not able to produce.
One aspect of reading that concerns many teachers, is the difference between authentic
and non-authentic texts.
The authentic texts are designed for native speakers, not for language students. This kind
of material can be newspapers, advertisements or radio-programmes.
A non-authentic text in language teaching terms is one that has been written especially
for language students. Such texts sometimes concentrate on the language they wish to
teach. In these texts appear some particular grammatical structures, vocabulary or some
particular tenses.
When teachers choose the right kind of material and the students are successful, then the
benefits are obvious. What we need, therefore, are texts where the students can understand
the general meaning of, whether they are truly authentic or not.
The job of the teacher is to train the students in a number of skills which they will need for
the understanding of reading and listening texts. These skills can be divide into two
groups.
a) Type one skills, are those operations that students perform on a text when they tackle
it for the first time. The first thing the students are asked to do with a text
concerns it treatment as a whole.
Thus, students may be asked to look at a text and extract specific information. They
might read or listen to perform a task to confirm or check expectations they have about
a text. Type 1 skills are:
- Predictive skills: efficient readers or listeners predict what they are going to
read and hear.
- Extracting specific information: students have to focus on the specific
information they are searching for. This skill, when is applied to reading is
called “scanning”.
- Getting the general idea: we often read or listen to things because we want to
“get the general idea”. When applied to reading this skill is often called
“skimming”.
(enfrentar)
b) Type 2 skills are those that are subsequently used when studying reading or listening
material and they involved detailed comprehension of the text.
They are practised after type 1 skills have been worked on. They are:
- Extracting detailed information like: what does the writer mean? What
precisely is the speaker trying to say? How many…?
- Recognising functions and discourse pattern. To recognise some discourse
markers are an important part of understanding how a text is constructed. We
need to make students aware of these features in order to help them to become
more efficient.
- Deducing meaning from context.
It is convenient that in class, the student gets used to extensive and intensive reading.
For the intensive readings, the students will work with short texts, from which they
understand basically all the words.
In the extensive reading, students make the effort to understand the message using all
kind the strategies. These are some ideas of reading activities:
-
PRE QUESTION: A question is given before reading, to find out a piece of central
information.
DO IT YOURSELF QUESTIONS: Students compose and answer their own question.
PROVIDE A TITTLE: Students can suggest an alternative tittle.
SUMMARISE: Students summarise the content in two or three sentences.
CONTINUE THE TEXT: Learners suggest what might happen next in a text.
PREFACE: Learners suggest what might happen before.
GAPPED TEXTS: Gaps are left which can only be filled in if the texts have been
understood.
MISTAKES IN THE TEXTS: Towards the end of a text, there can be some mistakes.
Students have to know in advance how many mistakes there are in the text.
COMPARISON: There are two texts on similar topics, students note points of
similarity or difference.
RESPONDING: The text is a letter or a provocative article and the students discuss
how to respond to the letter or write an answer to the article.
RE-PRESENTATION OF CONTENT: The text gives information and students
represent its content through different graphics mediums.
WRITTEN EXPRESSION.
In the last part of the unit, I am going to explain the written expression. Frequently, writing
is relegated to the status of homework. This is a pity since writing, especially
communicative writing, can play a valuable part in the class.
Reading has a notable influence in the writing expression, the more we read the better we
write. It can be said that, there is a better level in the written expression in those students
who use a more variety of written texts in their daily life.
When we are going to planning the written activities, we have to consider the following
aspects:
a) Contextualization: when we write a message in real life, we always do it within a
context or situation, because who writes presupposes certain aspects determined by the
situation. We have to be in mind aspects like the type of the register.
b) Aim: writing has always a purpose, according to this, there will be determined the
expressions, vocabulary, etc. The purpose has to have a meaning for the student. Due to
that, the students need to know different kind of writings and practise them in order to
connect with the possible reader.
c) Creativity: it seems convenient to provide the student with occasions where they can
create their own texts and feel that it is the product of their will and personal effort.
d) Motivation: the essential objective in language production is to provide the student with
motivation to learn. If the activities are motivating, the students will feel an inner
satisfaction to learn, to communicate with others and carry a task they like.
e) Integration: in a communicative approach of writing, it is necessary the integration with
other skills which contributes to several purposes:
- allows the practise of the some linguistic or functional contexts in the same skills,
- develop two or more linguistic skills within the same context and
- approximates the use of the language to the real world.
A receptive or an oral activity can precede the writing activity.
The types of writings can be divided in two groups:
- Personal texts:
 for personal use: shopping lists, dates, recipes
 direct to other people: messages, letters, invitations…
- Institutional writings: commercial letters, information request, magazines…
Another kind of division can be:
a) Activities where it is only necessary to copy a written text.
b) Activities designed to encourage student’s creativity.
To practice handwriting, spelling and new vocabulary at word level we can:
a)
b)
c)
d)
Make lists.
Make personal dictionaries.
Completing crosswords.
Classifying words under headings.
In addition, under the sentence level students can:
a) Write tittles for pictures.
b) Write speech bubbles for cartoons.
c) Matching halves of sentences and copying.
d) Sequencing sentences and copying.
e) Correcting mistakes in written sentences.
f) Answering questions.
There are a lot of techniques to help students to develop their writing expression, from
the very controlled expression to the free writing. Some techniques are:
- Writing guides with model and visual stimulus (description of a person). We can use
photographs, drawings, magazines…
- Writing guides from a stimulus. Transferring information from the oral to the written
language, (the elaboration of questionnaires can be an example).
- Writing guided by the establishment of a situation and give instructions to write a text.
Leaving or taking messages can be an example.
- Free writing, in order to develop the student’s imagination (creation of novels, short
tales, stories, diaries about the English class…).
- Diaries can be interesting for the teacher. Thus, the teacher can obtain interesting data
about the student’s attitude.
UNIT 8-
LENGUA EXTRANJERA ESCRITA. APROXIMACIÓN, MADURACIÓN Y
PERFECCIONAMIENTO DEL PROCESO LECTOESCRITOR. LA COMPRENSIÓN
LECTORA : TÉCNICAS DE COMPRENSIÓN GLOBAL Y ESPECÍFICA DE TEXTOS. LA
EXPRESIÓN ESCRITA : DE LA INTERPRETACIÓN A LA PRODUCCIÓN DE TEXTOS.
 Introduction
 The written foreign language: aproximation, maturation, and improvement
 The reading comprehension
 The written expression
 Conclusion
As a way of introduction is worth considering that the efectiveness in the use of a
language requires we have different skills, which are, called “linguistic skills”.
We can find two kind of skills. On one hand, the skills which are acquired by means
of oral interaction, listening and speaking, and on the other hand, the skills acquired by
means of visual interaction, reading and writing.
If we want to achieve a communicative competence among our students, we must
work simustaneously the four skills.
In relation to the written foreign language we have to bear in mind we can find three
different styles according to writing purpose; the expresive style focuses on the expression
of the writer´s personal feelings; the trasactional style focuses on logical statements and the
poetic style which expresses imaginative experiences. In the same way, we can find a serie
of stages in writing. They´ll be the preparatory stage where principles of the spelling
system are acquired; the consolidation stage in which children begin to use the writing
system to express what they can say in speech; the differenciation stage where the students
diverge from speech and develop their own and finally, the integration stage where they
have a good command of language and they can vary their stylistic choices.
Along the Primary Education we pretend students get basical necessities of written
language. Moreover, they must be able to answer in usual situations of written language,
they must express communicative intentions and recognize the characteristics in each
situation.
As for the approach to reading-writing it is convenient to begin to develop the
reading-writing capacity of the foreign language through simple and superfluous texts,
descriptions and brief narrations, class instructions, children and popular songs, tales
encouraging the pleasure to interpret the written texts and enjoy with the reading.
The reading allows the gradual addition of vocabulary and the motivation for second
language learning.
Some methods present a book for additional lecture. If the student reads texts
spontaneously and in a voluntary way, the success will be complete, as the readings will
also give him the opportunity to know and assimilate easily the culture from the foreign
country.
At the beginning, the contexts of the new lessons must be easy; in this stage, the
reading will be confined, most of the time, to repeat words and structures seen in the lesson
(in class), offering new combinations, visual help as pictures, etc. The teacher will read
aloud several times and he´ll ask them questions in order to answer yes or no.
As for maturing of the reading-writing process we have to take into account as the
course advances, the reading-writing exercises will be, logically, more complex. They´ll
serve to assimilate the structures we have just seen and review the previous ones.
The procedure to follow could be based on an introduction of the teacher where the
students observe a picture, the teacher asks them some questions and then he relates the
text to other situations. The next step will be listening and reading the text and finally we´ll
present a comprehension exercise using questions which can be open, that is, the answer
expected can change, or close where the expected answer is yes or no.
Teacher: Where did mummy put the cake?
Student: On the cupboard.
Teacher: Is the cupboard small?
Student: No, it´s big.
Reaching this point, the student is able to interpret a complementary text. We’ll try
to offer the student short tales with familiar situations, related to their daily lives,
alternating with fantastic stories in order to get the success and arise the student´s interest.
We can work out different types of activities: in class, the teacher will comment
superficially the plot and then he will read the text; the first texts are read aloud, to
continue gradually to silent reading and later to the summaries or brief written
commentaries.
After the reading, the teacher suggests a series of judgements that will have to be
determined as true or false.
We can propose different endings or return to writing the text but under another
point of view, composition of a text whose sentences appear disarranged, etc.
We are going to continue with the improvement of the reading-writing process. We
have to consider the texts will present a greater difficulty, they may be more long extended
and, in some occasions, without pictures.
When finishing these readings, a simple comment will help understand and place the
text. We´ll elaborate in class a summary, we can divide the text in parts with subtitles, the
students can answer questions and they can explain their personal opinions about the
central idea.
On the other hand, we can use complementary readings. The additional text will
consist on a reading already chosen by the student, although we can provide him with
comics, series of cartoons, magazines, etc.
The traditional tales and the easy poems are a good source of reading materials.
Now that the possibilities of the students reading-writing are better, it is advisable
the use of the dictionary, the preparation of their own vocabulary and the elaboration of his
own notebook where he can register in alphabetical order.
In relation to reading comprehension we have to bear in mind that the reading
capacity of the students from Primary Education, starts to acquire a more systematic
characteristic. It´s convenient the student gets used to extensive and intensive reading.
For the intensive reading, the student will work with short texts, from which he will
understand basically all the words (labels, advertisements, letters from friends, etc.).
In the extensive reading, the student will make the effort to understand the messages
although he may not known the meaning of some words. In this case, he can ask for the
teacher´s help, other classmates, basic bilingual dictionaries and other communication
strategies (inference by the context, similarity with the mother tongue...).
In the foreuign language class we can practise activities of different kind focused on
global or specific comprehension.
At first, the short of games proposed will be in relation with with what the student
already knows in his mother tongue so he can infer from his previous experience the sense
of formal or referntial elements (headings, presentation...) which allow him to formulate
hypothesis about the content.
We can work out a great number of clues which help the comprehension as
photographs, charts, pictures, presentation of the text, the headings, words in the text
which are repeated, familiar words, ask the students questions: Who? When? How?
The age to start reading must start from the first year when the language is studied
(from the beginning).
The techniques will be suitable to the student´s level, the complexity will vary as he
is acquiring more knowledge and promoting to new courses. Firstly, they’ll read short
sentences and later they´ll achieve the interpretation of a brief and simple text.
We can find a serie of advantages in reading, which consists, have learn other
cultures, review structures and vocabulary and a better-written expression.
In the same way, we must distinguish three types of pupils. Those who find difficult
to get a global idea, those who don´t pay attention to details (quick reading) and those who
are imaginative readers because they interpret the text as they like.
As result, we have to be careful with the texts we choose. We have to adapt the
readings to the group and the individuals.
In relation to the techniques for the global comprehension, skimming, we have to
consider that it can be achieved using the following strategies or techniques:
- The student relies on the clues previously mentioned who writes? When?
Where? Why?
-
The text will be adpated to the student´s level.
- Comprehension of the main idea in the text being neccessary to make student
understand that is perfectly possible to understand the main idea without knowing all
the words completely. Nouns and verbs have more important meaning than other
words.
- Deduce the neaning of unknown words from the context.
- Register the vocabulary in a notebook.
- Look up words in the dictionary.
- Identify relations between sentences by connectors.
- Recognise discourse patterns (conjuctions, etc.)
As examples we can include reading based on the inference system, reading carried
out by the teacher in aloud voice, reading made by the students in class, reading aloud and
normal reading.
As for the techniques for specific text comprehension, scanning, we´ll take into
account reading performs by the teacher in aloud voice where the students have the text
and repeat it. Also, they can infer, deduce a specific information by means of clues,
questions, etc.
The students reading in class aloud would be another strategie provided them with
narrative or descriptive passages or short poems; reading at home as an enjoyable activity,
not as a school task. Advertising will be interesting at the time of finding specific
information. The teacher could bring a written example, preferably original and with
drawings or colour photos.
The scanning is a technique related to the speed in reading and involves the
attainment of information by means of searching words or key propositions. It´s a very
productive exercises where the student answers questions reading the text very quickly.
Finally, it is important to point out that although there are different techniqes for the
global and for the specific comprehension of texts, both will have to be always together or
integrate in order to achieve a better acquisition of the foreign language.
We are going to continue with the written expression. Firstly we are going to expone
a serie of writing skills visual or graphical as spelling, punctuation and capitalization;
grammatical as sentence pattern and constructions; expresive using different styles;
rethorical in order to link parts of the text into logical related sentences; organisational
rejecting irrelevant information or summarizing relevant points and finally the fact of
knowing formal structures.
Also it´s important to emphasize that the more we read the better we write.
Krashem develops the hypothesis that the written skill is acquired in the same way
as the speaking skill. The student would request a given language, comprehensive input, in
a quantity enough to develop his capacity. This input should be accomplished for pleasure
and interest, so his attention would be focused on the message or content and not on the
form how the message is expressed.
We have to follow a serie of criteria for planning activities of written expression, which consists of
contextualization, because when we write a message in real life, we always do it within a context or situation.
The place where the written activity is generated may be as well a determinant element of it. If this takes place
in a relaxed atmosphere, the result will be very different that the outcome obtained in an examination
atmosphere.
An another criterion is the aim, that is, writing has always a purpose which
determine the expressions, vocabulary, etc.
The type of register is also important according to descriptions, informal or formal
letters, etc.
The creativity since when we write we elaborate ideas trying to express the contents
by means of words or sentences. It´s important to provide the student with occasions where
he can create his own language and feel that it is the product of his effort. We suggest the
importance of programming activities, where the student writes spontaneously short
messages or informal notes in the target language, we´ll select subjects about which the
students have read or had a personal experience and therefore are interesting for him.
It´s interesting the reasoning of the writers and the integration with other skills in
order to aproximate the use of the language to the real world, develop two or more
linguistic skills within the same context so the students aware of the written text, the
resources to achieve, the conventions of personal or institutional writings, headings,
address, greetings,etc.
The last criteria we are going to comment is to provide the student with a motivation
to learn.
We can develop two kind of motivation, intrinsic and extrinsic. If the activities are
motivating, the student will feel satisfaction to learn, to communicate with others and carry
out a task he likes.
In relation to the step from interpretation to text production we are going to consider
some activities or preparatory techniques as well as techniques of written expression.
Firstly we have to bear in mind we can find two main kind of writings. On one hand
the personal writings for personal use which appear reflected in shopping lists, telephones
and adresses, dates, reading books, recipes, etc. Or directed to other people (messages,
invitations, letters, postcards, etc.)
On the other hand, the institutional or public writings that are found in daily life:
commercial letters, biographies, posters, songs, puzzles, crosswords, games, compositions,
etc.
The preparatory techniques are related to the development of reading
comprehension. We may emphasize the inference technique of the meaning of a word in
the context, or the ones guessing the meaning of unknown words and the meanings implicit
in the text, and the techniques of predicting the content of a text from the knowledge of
one of its parts.
In the first place, the students are provided with a text where there are a key word
missing. We ask them to pay attention to the context surrounding this word (vocabulary,
structures, idioms, etc.) to infer the meaning. In pairs or small group, the students try to
guess which word it is.
Other technique is the “linguistic reflection”, which help the student to perceive
specific aspects from the text.
Later, the students can write letters to the students from another class or formal letter
to travel agencies. The next activity is based on “braimstorming” and helps the student to
remember and learn the vocabulary necessary to develop a subject.
The students are asked to say the words they can think about a topic and later they
will write a composition using the vocabulary noted down.
After the preparatory techniques, we suggest techniques to help students to develop
their written expression, so the task they carry out will be attractive and easy. These will
vary from the very controlled to the free writing. In most of the activities the student is
encouraged to write his own communicative text with his experiences, interests, feelings,
etc to a possible reader.
We can work out activities following a model where we can present an illustrative
drawing as orientation and stimulus, transferring information activities as elaboration of
questionaires, activities from a situation and given instructions to write a text, activities
without specific support (creation of tales, short novels, writing diaries, etc.).
As conclusion of the topic we consider very important students feel the interest and
curiosity towards the written text as well as the capacity to elaborate them.
The bibliography used has been:
- Bello y otros. Didáctica de las segundas lenguas. Aula XXI Ed. Santillana.
Madrid. 1990
-
Harmer. The practice of English Language Teaching. Longman. Burnt Mill.
1983
- Byrne. Teaching writing skills. Longman. Burnt Mill. 1988
-
White, R. Process Writing. Longman. London. 1991
- Cajas Rojas
TEMARIO A: TEMA 9
Sistema fonológico de la lengua inglesa II: Acento, ritmo y entonación. Comparación con
el sistema fonológico de la lengua o lenguas oficiales de la Comunidad Autónoma
correspondiente.
CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION
1. Phonetics and Phonology
2. Phonemes and Speech Sounds
3. Stress/Rhythm and Intonation
2. STRESS
1. Degrees of Stress
2. Position of Stress
3. Stress in the Canarian Dialect/ Spanish language
3. RHYTHM
1. Weak and Strong Forms
2. Regularity of Rhythm
3. Rhythm in the Canarian Dialect/ Spanish language
4. INTONATION
1. Falling Tone
2. Rising Tone
3. Fall-rise Tone
4. Rise-fall Tone
5. Level Tone
6. Fall+rise Tone
5. TEACHING IMPLICATIONS
1. INTRODUCTION
The most noticeable feature of a foreign language is often intonation and rhythm. Some languages
are described as sounding "like music", other languages as being "flat and without melody". If the
pronunciation of individual sounds can be compared with the individual notes in a piece of music, the
intonation can be compared with the melody or tune.
When studying the pronunciation system of a language we differentiate two categories:
 Segmental elements: Vowel and consonant sounds.
 Prosodic elements: rhythm, stress and intonation.
1. Phonetics and Phonology
PHONETICS: is the science that studies the language sounds; how sounds are
produced in general.
PHONOLOGY: is the study of the sound system in a particular language. It includes
intonation, rhythm, sounds patterns, etc.
2. Phonemes and Speech Sounds
PHONEME: is the smallest unit of speech that can change the meaning of a word.
SPEECH SOUND: is any unit of sound produced by the speech organs. They are the
muscles and parts of the mouth, which we use to speak.
The Phoneme is also defined as "only in terms of its differences from the other
phonemes in the same language".
Ex: Ship sheep
Minimal pairs: Such pairs, which differ only in one phoneme.
3. Stress, Rhythm and Intonation
When dealing with the concepts of Stress, Rhythm and Intonation, we should start by
referring to the concept of prominence
 Prominence: is the characteristic in common with all stressed syllables. Four different
factors are important:
a. Loudness
b. Length
c. Pitch: is closely related to the frequency of vibration of the vocal cords.
d. A syllable will tend to be prominent if it contains a vowel that is different in quality from
neighbouring vowels.
 Stress concerns the relative prominence with which one part of a word or a longer utterance
is distinguished from other parts.
 Rhythm concerns the relative prominence, or pattern of the stresses being perceived as
peaks of prominence, occurring at somewhat regular intervals of time. English is a language
with a tendency for a stress-timed rhythm.
 Intonation is the association of the relative prominence with pitch, the aspect of the sound
which we perceive in terms of "high" or "low".
Other prosodic systems include factors such as tempo and the relative speed of utterance.
Perception of the rhythm base may involve observing variations of loudness, pitch and
speed.
1. STRESS
We can study stress from the point of view of production and of perception. The production
of stress is generally believed to depend on the speaker using more muscular energy than is
used for unstressed syllables. Many different sound characteristics are important in making a
syllable recognisably stressed.
In English, stressed syllables are longer then unstressed ones, the vowels are more voiced
within them. Stress is not marked in the spelling system, but it can be transcribed
phonetically.
The importance of stress should be noted, given that incorrect stress on syllables is an
obstacle to communication, because it may lead the speaker to understand a different word,
that follows a different stress pattern.
1. Degrees of Stress
We can distinguish between the primary and secondary stress. The first one is also
called tonic strong stress, while the second one is also called non-tonic strong stress.
Ex: ‘presup,ose
There are other authors who consider that there exist three stresses.
Ex: ‘many ‘lovely ‘’girls
2. Position of Stress
Normally stresses are in a fixed position in a word.





First syllable: ‘precept
Second syllable: to’night
Third syllable: engi’neer
Fourth syllable: misunder’stood
Fifth syllable: palatali’zation
Exceptions:
a. Native words and early French loans
Ex: ‘kingly ‘kingliness un’kingliness
b. All abstract nouns ending in –ion
Ex: ‘mission
c. Nouns ending in –ity
Ex: ‘vacuous va’cuity
d. Nouns and adjectives ending in –ian
Ex: ‘liberty liber’tarian
e. Adjectives ending in –ic
Ex: ‘phoneme pho’nemic
f.
Words with more than one function
A wide selection of words that can operate equally well as nouns/adjectives or verbs, are
differentiated by their stress in the two functions:
Ex: ‘present (Noun or adjective) pre’sent (verb)
g. Compound nouns
They are generally stressed on the first element with a secondary stress on the second
element in contrast to the normal noun phrase stress pattern:
Ex: ‘black ,bird (compound nouns) a ,black ‘bird (noun phrase)
h. Stress in phrases
When we come to stress in phrases and other syntactic units, we provide different underlying
relations between juxtaposed items.
Ex: An ‘English ,teacher (someone who teaches English)
An ,English ‘teacher (a teacher who is English)
1. Stress in the Canarian Dialect/ Spanish language
a. Lexical and secondary stress
The Canarian speakers should keep in mind the different importance given to the secondary
accent in Spanish as compared with English. The pronunciation of isolated words rarely occurs
in Spanish, it only happens in Adverbs ending in "-mente", and in a few compound adverbs.
Ex: símpleménte óptico-acústico
b. Contrastive secondary stress
The secondary stress occurs in the Canarian dialect as well, but it is not prominent:
Ex: las cuestiones tanto ‘interiores como ‘exteriores
Although English compounds generally turn into a secondary stress the one which was the
primary in the root, and this secondary stress still keeps a considerable strength; Spanish
moves the stress to the suffixes:
Ex: ‘central / ,centra’lize centrál / centralizár
A secondary stress does not appear except in the cases where the general rules of Spanish
regulate it.
c. Stress position and Effect
In two-syllable words both languages have a preference for stressing the syllable before the last;
English tends to stress the antepenultimate syllable in three or more syllables words whereas
Spanish keeps the penult position for stress.
English vowels are deeply affected by their stress, whether primary or secondary. Stressed vowels
have a precise and clear pronunciation, whereas unstressed vowels have a tendency to become
indistinct.
Finally , in Spanish the stress is represented in the spelling, what makes it easier to be remembered
and pronounced , whereas in English it’s not represented.
1. RHYTHM
Rhythm may be defined as the regular succession of strong and weak stresses in utterances.
The notion of rhythm involves some noticeable event happening at regular intervals of time.
The theory that English has stress- timed rhythm implies that stressed syllables will tend to
occur at relatively regular intervals whether they are separated by unstressed syllables or
not.
Some writers have developed theories of English rhythm in which a unit of rhythm, the foot is
used. Some theories of rhythm go further, and point to the fact that some feet are stronger
than others, producing strong-weak patterns.
1. Weak and Strong forms
The weak form, in which the vowel is pronounced with the schwa vowel, is more
common than the other.
The strong form in which the vowel is pronounced as it is written.
Obviously the use of one or another form may affect the meaning of the utterance.
Ex: ‘Jane and her ‘mother ‘’are ‘stupid = it is not true that they are not stupid
‘Jane ‘’and her ‘mother are ‘stupid = not just one, but both are stupid
Weak forms are a manifestation of stress and rhythm in English, and must not be
avoided in teaching, or the learner will sound unnatural in connected speech.
2. Regularity of Rhythm
The natural rhythm of English provides roughly equal intervals of time between the stressed items.
The prevailing tendency in unstressed syllables and words is to reduce the vowels to the obscure / /,
thus we have / / in a great many syllables:
Ex: a kilo of potato / ‘ki:l v p ‘ te t z/
Regularity of rhythm is used for specific pourposes:
a. Counting:
Ex: ‘one, ‘two, ‘three,..., seventy ‘four, seventy ‘five
b. Inventory or lists
c. Emphasis:
Ex: you should ‘always ‘look be’fore you ‘cross the ‘’road
1. Rhythm in the Canarian Dialect/ Spanish language
It is essential in English to have a sentence rhythm, which does not exist in Spanish.
In an English sentence certain words which are too close to the initial rhythmic beat lose their lexical
stress in spite of having lexical stress. This does not happen in Spanish.
Ex: Mary’s younger brother wanted fifty chocolate peanuts
In this example we can see the difference with the Spanish stress, in Spanish all the words will be
stressed; however, in English only the syllables in bold type are really stressed, thus favouring
rhythm.
The behaviour of prepositions and conjunctions differs in both languages: they are usually stressed
in English; in Spanish only the preposition "según" is stressed.
Stress also varies in English depending on whether it is used on strong or weak forms of the same
words. There is nothing in Spanish, which resembles the English strong and weak forms so this will
prove difficult for Spanish students.
1. INTONATION
Intonation is the tune within the sentence that may alter the meaning. Here the pitch of the
voice plays the most important part. We describe pitch in terms of high and low. There is
another necessary condition and that is that a pitch difference must be perceptible.
Intonation is generally found in sequences of stressed and unstressed syllables, though it can
be a single word. We call it the tone unit, within which there is the nucleus (capital
letters). The first stressed syllable in a tone unit is a onset (‘), the end will be (‘’)
The rise and fall of pitch throughout is called its intonation contour. English has a number
of intonation patterns which add conventionalized meanings to the utterance: question,
statement, surprise, disbelief, sarcasm, teasing. An important feature of English intonation is
the use of an intonational accent (and extra stress) to mark the focus of a sentence. Normally
this focus accent goes on the last major word of the sentence, but it can come earlier in order
to
emphasize one of the earlier words or to contrast it with something else.
Ex: She ‘told SOMeone’’
She ‘bought it for a PARty’’
""
onset nucleus
Tone unit
1. Falling Tone
This is the commonest tone in English affirmative sentences, wh-word question, one
word answers to questions, and on words, names, numbers and letters said in
isolation.
Ex: ‘What’s the TÍME’’
‘LÓNDON’’
‘TWÓ’’
‘´R’’
2. Rising Tone
It is used to suggest that what is said is not final.
Ex: Counting: ‘ÓNE’’ ‘TWÓ’’...
Or because a response is needed (though not in wh-word question):
Ex: Are you ‘HÁPpy’’
Or when two clauses are joined together:
Ex: When I ‘GÉT there’’ I’ll HÍT him’’
A question will use a rising tone while the question tag uses the falling tone.
The fall and rise are by far and away the most common of the nuclear tones.
3. Fall-rise Intonation
It often occurs in the nucleus of a doubtful condition, but it is particularly common
with the initial adverb:
Ex: I’ll’ see him if he CÓMES’’
4. Rise-fall Intonation
It expresses as it does both genuine and assumed warmth, as well as feelings of shock
or surprise.
Ex: ‘That’s GRÉAT’’
5. Level Tone
It sometimes used to the exact predictability of what is to follow:
Ex: he DRÁNK’’ he WÓManised he ‘DÍED
6. Fall-rise Intonation
It is common in everyday usage:
Ex: She looks FÍNE to MÉ’’
It is often used with marked focus, the fall coming on the focus item and the rise on the last
lexical item in the tone unit:
Ex: It’s his ‘MÁNners that I can’t STÁND’’ = ‘What I don’t LÍKE ‘’ are his ?Mánners’’
2. TEACHING IMPLICATIONS
All languages have their own intonation patterns. Why is intonation important? Intonation conveys
both meaning and attitude, so when a non-native speaker gets the intonation wrong, s/he can be
misunderstood or sometimes misinterpreted as sounding rude or demanding when this is not
intended. If a non-native speaker is almost fluent in the English language, intonation is often the
only way in which one can tell that s/he is foreign. Moreover, if a foreign speaker is advanced in
terms of grammar, vocabulary, etc., native speakers will make fewer allowances for intonation
problems than they would with speakers who are obviously at a more elementary level. For example,
if an advanced level speaker unintentionally sounds rude or demanding, the listeners will assume
that s/he means it.
What can be done to improve intonation? First of all students should be aware of the differences
between their intonation and the English one:
 Spanish intonation is much more measured, so we have to teach the students how to intonate
the different English elements.
 Intonation in Spoken Spanish does not rise and fall as much as English. Students should try
and keep the voice as levelled as possible.
Some useful techniques may be :
 Listen to as much spoken English as possible (on cassette if you are unable to listen to native
speakers) and be aware of where the voice rises and falls. When you listen, try to consider
the attitude and feelings being conveyed. One word, for example, can be said in several
different ways, depending on the meaning you wish to convey.
 Stories motivate children to listen and learn, and help them to become aware of the sound
and feel of English. A selection of ready-to-tell stories is included although the activities can
be used with any story.
 Creating Drama with poetry is an exciting language learning experience. The use of poetry as
drama in the English as a second language (ESL) classroom enables the students to explore
the linguistic and conceptual aspects of the written text without concentrating on the
mechanics of language. Through this technique, apart from several other aspects the teacher
can model student’s pronunciation, intonation, stress, rhythm, and oral expression;
We as teachers have to take into account all the differences existing between L1 and L2 patterns of
stress, rhythm and intonation, and try our students to differentiate them. So English people can
understand their speaking.
TEMA 9: DESCRIPCIÓN DEL SISTEMA FONOLÓGICO DE LA LENGUA INGLESA. MODELOS Y
TÉCNICAS DE APRENDIZAJE. PERCEPCIÓN, DISCRIMINACIÓN Y EMISIÓN DE SONIDOS,
ENTONACIONES, RITMOS Y ACENTOS. LA CORRECCIÓN FONÉTICA.
1.- DESCRIPCIÓN DEL SISTEMA FONOLÓGICO DE LA LENGUA INGLESA.
1.1.- ¿Por qué es importante la fonética?
1.2.- ¿Qué inglés? ¿Acentos?
1.3.- ¿Cómo representar los “sonidos”?
1.4.- La voz: cuerdas vocales, articulación y fonación. Órganos auxiliares.
1.4.1.- ¿Cómo se produce la voz?
1.4.2.- Fonación.
1.4.3.- Articulación.
2.- MODELOS Y TÉCNICAS DE APRENDIZAJE.
2.1.- Papel del profesor.
2.2.- Técnicas de comunicación.
2.3.- Técnicas de producción.
3.- PERCEPCIÓN DISCRIMINACIÓN Y EMISIÓN DE SONIDOS, ENTONACIONES, RITMOS Y
ACENTOS.
3.1.- Introducción.
3.2.- Vocales y diptongos.
3.3.- Consonantes.
3.4.- Semivocales.
3.5.- Entonación, acento y ritmo.
4.- LA CORRECCIÓN FONÉTICA.
1.- DESCRIPCIÓN DEL SISTEMA FONOLÓGICO DE LA LENGUA INGLESA.
1.1.- ¿Por qué es importante la fonética?
Después de muchos años de estudiar y enseñar el inglés a hispanohablantes, he llegado a la
conclusión de que la mayoría de los alumnos persiguen un mismo objetivo: adquirir una fluidez de
comunicación oral. Esto no es nada fácil de conseguir, teniendo en cuenta que la lengua inglesa pertenece
a un grupo no romance -como es el caso del español--, que el aparato fonético del hablante se "anquilosa"
con la edad -siendo por ello menos capaces de emitir mayor variedad de sonidos--, y que por norma
general los alumnos no están en contacto con el "ambiente" anglófono necesario.
Para alguien que estudie una lengua fuera del país de origen, se hace absolutamente necesario el
establecimiento de unos códigos que permitan la explicación de los sonidos de dicha lengua. El hablante
no nativo sólo tiene como recurso la IMITACION de dichos sonidos. Esta "imitación", llevará a un mejor
o peor grado de "exactitud" dependiendo de muchos factores. Entre ellos, a mi modo de ver, el principal
es la comprensión exacta de todos los sonidos de la lengua que se estudia.
Y para una buena comprensión de los sonidos, es necesaria una BUENA DESCRIPCION de los
mismos: el oído tiene tendencia a "asimilar" fonemas -que a veces distan bastante de los de la lengua
materna--. Esto significa que escuchamos lo que estamos acostumbrados a escuchar. De forma muy
simplista, un español sólo es capaz de distinguir una "a", y todo lo que se parezca a ella lo "escuchará"
como una "a".
1.2.- ¿Qué inglés? ¿Acentos?
Lo primero que uno descubre cuando quiere comenzar a hablar inglés, es la gran diferencia de
"formas" del idioma que existen(tanto habladas como escritas). La riqueza de acentos del inglés es
realmente sorprendente, por lo que, teniendo en cuenta que hemos de IMITAR a un angloparlante, ¿a
quién elegimos como modelo?
Esta es realmente una difícil pregunta, a la que solo puedo responder: elija el modelo que más le
guste, que más se adapte a sus necesidades y a sus posibilidades. Pero, sobre todo, el que le sea más
accesible y le permita un mayor número de horas de audición. Por ejemplo, si usted puede sintonizar con
la BBC, utilícela como modelo. ¡Sería absurdo pretender imitar un acento escocés sin haberlo oído
nunca !
Aquí, se muestran las explicaciones que corresponden al denominado RSP: Pronunciación
Recibida Standard (Received Standard Pronunciation). El acento RSP es una variedad de acento del Sur
de Inglaterra que es de los más utilizados en la enseñanza. Esta es la única razón por la que aquí se
muestra: como dije antes, cuánto mayor sea la fuente de información y la posibilidad de contacto con una
variedad de inglés, tanto mejor será la IMITACION conseguida.
1.3.- ¿Cómo representar los “sonidos”?
Después de todo lo dicho anteriormente, sólo nos queda contestar a una pregunta crucial:¿cómo es
posible representar sonidos mediante la escritura?. Bueno, no es fácil desde luego: nada importante suele
serlo. Todo requiere un esfuerzo. Y por suerte otros se han esforzado antes que nosotros por resolver este
problema: para representar sonidos utilizamos un conjunto de símbolos que los representan, incluyendo
signos menores que nos permiten indicar la fuerza de pronunciación, calidad del sonido, abertura de la
boca, posición de los órganos de la fonación, etc.
A ese conjunto de símbolos es a lo que se ha convenido en denominar ALFABETO FONETICO
INTERNACIONAL (IPA = International Phonetic Alphabet).
1.4.- La voz: cuerdas vocales, articulación y fonación. Órganos auxiliares.
Me parece fundamental explicar, aunque sea brevemente, los mecanismos de producción de la voz
humana y los elementos que en ella intervienen. Sólo mediante un conocimiento de los mismos podremos,
de una forma consciente, poder influir en la producción de los sonidos que emitimos y así conseguir una
aproximación máxima a la pronunciación del inglés.
1.4.1.- ¿Cómo se produce la voz?
Durante el proceso de la respiración el aire pasa a través de la traquea desde los pulmones. Llegado
a un punto -la nuez--, se encuentra con un obstáculo primordial: las cuerdas vocales, situadas en la región
conocida como laringe.
Las cuerdas vocales son dos bandas elásticas situadas una enfrente de otra. No hay que pensar en
ellas como "tiras", sino más bien como, repito, "bandas". Sus bordes están un poco engrosados y se
conocen como ligamentos vocales. El conjunto de cuerda y ligamento tiene la capacidad de aproximarse y
alejarse de su opuesto, produciendo una obturación total del "tubo" traqueal -impidiendo el paso del aire
completamente--; o pueden separarse -posición de descanso-dejando un hueco entre ellas que permite el
paso del aire. A ese hueco le denominamos GLOTIS, o abertura glotal.
La voz se genera durante el proceso de expulsión del aire, y se puede resumir en dos grandes
apartados: (1) La fonación; y (2) la articulación.
1.4.2.- Fonación.
La gran velocidad a la que discurre el aire por la laringe provoca la vibración de las cuerdas, a una
velocidad realmente sorprendente: 800 pulsos por segundo y más. Esa vibración tan rápida y regular,
provoca una nota musical, que es, en esencia, la producción de la voz.
El tono de la nota, puede ser modificado, lo que produce una variedad de "sonidos" que provocorán la
esencia del lenguaje hablado. Ese tono se modifica por dos mecanismos:
 El estiramiento o relajación de las cuerdas, que produce una mayor o menor frecuencia de la
vibración(tonos altos o bajos)
 La modificación del volumen de sus bordes: el adelgazamiento para altas frecuencias; el
engrosamiento para bajas frecuencias.
El control de las cuerdas vocales se produce mediante la participación de varios músculos y
ligamentos situados en la laringe (región de la nuez - en inglés Adam's apple -). Simplemente parándonos
a escuchar una simple frase, podremos comprobar la complejidad y el refinamiento de los músculos
citados, que permiten la articulación rápida y exacta de multitud de sonidos diferentes ( aparte de la
grandeza indiscutible del canto, el instrumento musical más perfecto jamás creado).
1.4.3.- Articulación.
El sonido primario formado en la laringe, será luego modificado en el transcurso del trayecto que le
queda al aire por recorrer. La participación, unas veces activa y otras pasiva, de diferentes órganos,
modificará ese sonido hasta convertirlo en un "fonema", es decir, la expresión lingüística más reducida.
Los órganos que participan en la articulación se denominan también órganos auxiliares y son los
siguientes:
 La lengua: su posición y su forma son pilares fundamentales en la articulación del lenguaje. Para
demostrarlo simplemente recordar la forma en la que habla un borracho: su incapacidad
articulatoria deriva, fundamentalmente, de la pérdida del control sobre los movimientos de la
lengua. Sin duda es el órgano auxiliar más importante para el habla.
Podemos distinguir en la lengua tres partes fundamentales:
 El ápice o punta de la lengua, que será utilizado con extrema precisión para articular ciertos
sonidos.
 Su parte media, en la que distinguiremos dos partes también:
 la parte que descansa bajo los alvéolos superiores, a la que denominaremos pala.
Disfruta de una movilidad extrema y pude acceder, junto con el ápice, hasta los
labios, dientes, alvéolos, etc.
 La parte que le sigue, a la que denominaremos cuerpo, y que descansa bajo el
paladar duro. La posibilidad de modificar su forma, desde un aplanamiento a una
concavidad notable, modificarán en mucho la calidad del sonido emitido. También
puede contactar con el paladar produciendo una obturación a la corriente aérea.
 La raíz: puede también aplanarse o elevarse para contactar con el paladar blando.
 El paladar (o cielo de la boca). Se divide en dos partes:
 El paladar duro, que permanece inmóvil y por lo tanto participa pasivamente.
 El paladar blando, que puede ser movido verticalmente provocando la obturación de la cavidad
nasal, e impidiendo el paso del aire hacia la nariz.
 La cavidad nasal: actúa como una caja de resonancia.
 Los dientes. Son fundamentales y podemos distinguir tres partes:
 Los dientes en sí mismos, es decir su borde cortante.
 Los alvéolos: es decir, el lugar donde están "enraizados" en la encía. Más que los "agujeros"
-inaccesibles si existen los dientes- nos referimos al borde que existe alrededor de cada pieza
dental.
 La parte interna de las piezas dentales que, desde el interior, puede ser utilizada como apoyo
por la lengua, además de una barrera física en sí misma.
2.- MODELOS Y TÉCNICAS DE APRENDIZAJE.
2.1.- Papel del profesor.
En todos los modelos y técnicas de aprendizaje el profesor debe tener e siguiente papel:
-
Debe ayudar a los alumnos a percibir sonidos. Los alumnos tendrán una fuerte tendencia a imitar
los sonidos del español. El profesor debe comprobar que sus alumnos están escuchando sonidos
de acuerdo con las categorías apropiadas y ayudarles a crear nuevas categorías si es necesario.
-
Debe ayudar a los alumnos a producir sonidos que no ocurren en su lengua en este caso el
español. Si la imitación no es suficiente, el profesor debe capaz de dar trucos y técnicas que le
ayuden a producir el nuevo sonido.
-
Debe dar feedback e información sobre la actuación de los alumnos y resultados.
-
Debe ser capaz de reconocer posibles problemas con los que los alumnos puedan encontrarse.
-
Debe establecer prioridades y decidir en qué aspecto concentrarse primero.
-
Debe diseñar actividades adecuadas para el nivel y el propósito a alcanzar garantizando el
progreso y la motivación de los alumnos.
El objetivo a alcanzar debe ser razonable en función de las necesidades del alumno. Un objetivo
razonable para la enseñanza primaria es el de ¡legar a una máxima comprensibilidad, es decir, ser capaces
de identificar con precisión el mayor número de palabras.
2.2.- Técnicas de comunicación.
Para enfrentar a los alumnos con sonidos “extraños” hay que evitar que se perciban como variantes
de los sonidos que ya conocen. Para ello deben practicar con ejercicios de discriminación auditiva. Una
vez que son capaces de “escuchar” las diferencias, podrán trabajar hacia una mejor pronunciación.
Existen varios tipos de ejercicios de discriminación:
- Identificación del sonido,
 En un contexto familiar:
Where is it? Come in.
 En palabras aisladas: live, sit, if finish.
 En un contexto más amplio: Come in, Mrs Mitchell.
-
Técnica de “minimal pairs”,
 Entre español e inglés: fin/fin
 Entre sonidos similares del inglés: bit/beet
-
Técnica de diferenciación de sonidos,
 Inglés/español:
it, it (igual)
fin, fin (diferente)
vida, vida (igual)
 Inglés/inglés:
eat, eat (igual)
feel, fill (diferente)
-
Variación: Marcar la vocal diferente en read, heat, his, crease, ease.
2.3.- Técnicas de Producción.
Mediante estas técnicas, el alumno produce los sonidos que ya es capaz discriminar correctamente.
Hay varios tipos:
-
Ejercicios de producción imitativa, en los que el alumno repite un modelo corregir o confirmar su
pronunciación.
-
-
Ejercicios de producción no imitativa (guiada):
Teacher:
Where is your book?
Alumno:
My book is on the desk.
Ejercicios de producción autónoma, en donde la conversación tiene lugar e alumnos.
3.- PERCEPCIÓN DISCRIMINACIÓN Y EMISIÓN DE SONIDOS, ENTONACIONES, RITMOS Y
ACENTOS.
3.1.- Introducción.
La lengua inglesa tiene 46 fonemas o sonidos distintos, mientras que su alfabeto consta tan sólo de
26 letras. De ello resulta que algunas letras responden a más de un sonido. Por otra parte, algunos sonidos
pueden escribirse con diferentes letras.
La letra u, por ejemplo, en bus y put representa a dos fonemas diferentes y se pronuncia de distinta
manera, en tanto que, aun cuando su ortografía no sea la misma, sí es el mismo fonema o sonido el que se
da en las palabras: she, east, receive, field, key, police.
Los sonidos de una lengua se agrupan en «familias» constituidas por cada uno de estos sonidos y
sus variantes según ocurren en las distintas secuencias; y cada una de estas «familias de sonidos»
constituye un fonema cuya pronunciación puede variar ligeramente mientras no rebase los límites de la
frecuencia fundamental y las armónicas correspondientes a dicho fonema.
Cada fonema tiene, pues, como hemos dicho, una o más letras que lo representan ortográficamente y, a la
vez, corresponde a un sonido fonológico que, en ocasiones, no tiene una letra especial que lo represente.
Por ello, y para facilitar la adquisición de todos los sonidos de una lengua, se recurre a la representación
de los mismos por medio de unos símbolos especiales recogidos en el llamado alfabeto fonético, en el cual
cada fonema tiene una representación gráfica especial que contribuye a identificarlo. El alfabeto fonético
es, pues, de indudable utilidad en el aprendizaje de una lengua.
El inglés de Inglaterra no difiere fundamentalmente del que se habla y escribe Norteamérica.
Existen, sin embargo, diversas peculiaridades terminológicas y que conviene tener en cuenta.
A continuación se especifican los símbolos del Alfabeto Fonético Internacional que corresponden
a cada fonema y su representación ortográfica.
3.2.- Vocales y diptongos.
- /i:/. La i de tree es siempre una vocal larga, anterior, casi cerrada, que se articula con los labios
distendidos y una apertura estrecha entre las mandíbulas. Los bordes laterales de la lengua se apoyan
firmemente en los molares superiores Es siempre un sonido largo; más largo y más cerrado que la
española de “sí”.
Ortografía:
e even
e (final) he
ee tree
ea speak
ie field
ei receive
i police
ey key
Obsérvese el fonema [i:] en algunas combinaciones poco usuales: ay en quay; eo en people.
- /i/. La i de it es siempre una vocal breve casi semicerrada. Es más breve y más cerrada que la anterior
y el contacto entre los bordes de la lengua y los molares superiores es también menor. Se articula con las
mandíbulas y los labios en posición casi relajada. Es un sonido más breve y más relajado que la i española
de cinco, silbo.
Ortografía:
i big
y only
e England
ie ladies
a (te) climate
a (ge) village
ay Sunday
ey money
Obsérvese el fonema [i] en mountain, biscuit, build, business, busy.
Se pronuncian con [i] los siguientes morfemas:
be- become
re- return
de- demand
-less careless
-ness goodness
-es glasses
-ed wanted
[i] está también presente en innumerables vocales débiles (no acentuadas).
- /e/. La e de pen es un fonema breve que se articula con los labios en posición natural y una apertura
mediana entre las mandíbulas. Se parece a la e española de clavel, pero es algo más abierta.
Ortografía:
e pen
ea head
a any
ai said
Obsérvese el fonema [e] presente en says, bury, Geoffrey.
- /ae/. La a de man es un sonido breve, entre semiabierto y semicerrado. Se articula con los labios
distendidos y una apertura mediana entre las mandíbulas, ligeramente más abierta que para [e]. Se articula
con cierta tensión de la lengua y la faringe; su timbre se aproxima a la a palatal de calle. No obstante, la
calidad de este sonido sólo se adquiere por imitación directa. Corresponde a la a ortográfica y sólo la
combinación a¡ tiene idéntica pronunciación.
a cat
ai plait
- /a:/. La a de car es un fonema posterior. Es siempre larga y totalmente abierta y se articula con los
labios en posición natural y la apertura entre las mandíbulas bastante amplia. No hay contacto entre los
bordes laterales de la lengua y los molares superiores. Se parece a la a velar española de causa, pero es
aún más larga y más velar. La -r que en sílaba trabada sigue a a no se pronuncia en posición final excepto
cuando le sigue una palabra con vocal inicial.
Ortografía:
ar (+ consonante) car, cart
a (+ f, s, n +consonante) after, past, dance
a (+ ff, as, th +consonante) staff, father, glass
er clerk
ear heart
a (+11 muda) calm
- /o/. La o de not es siempre breve. Es un fonema totalmente posterior y abierto que se articula con los
labios ligerísimamente abocinados y sin contacto alguno entre los bordes laterales de la lengua y los
molares superiores. Es mucho más abierta que la o española y parece un sonido intermedio entre y a velar
españolas.
Ortografía:
o hot, not, dog
ou, ow cough, Gloucester, knowledge
au because, sausage
a was, what
Obsérvese el fonema [o] en yacht.
- /o:/. La o de short es una vocal bastante larga que se articula con los labios medianamente
abocinados y sin contacto entre los bordes laterales de la lengua y los molares superiores. Es más cerrada
que la o breve inglesa, y la posición de los labios es menos abocinada que para articular la o española d
Roma. Su timbre se aproxima, aunque es más abierto y más largo, a la o española de orden. En los últimos
tiempos, la calidad de [o:] se ha ido desplazando hasta aproximarse a la o cardinal, por lo que, hoy en día,
es un sonido más cerrado que el que aún se oye en hablantes más conservadores.
Ortografía:
or short
ou bought
au daughter
aw saw
ore before
oor door
oar roar
our four
a+l all, talk
(w)a walk, wall
o+f, th, s often, cloth, loss
Las palabras cuya ortografía pertenece al último grupo pueden pronunciarse también con el fonema
[o], pronunciación adoptada por mayoría de la generación más joven. Siguen también la misma tendencia
la palabras cuya ortografía es au o a(l). Así se oyen, pronunciadas indistinta mente con [o] o con [o:],
palabras como Australia, Austria, salt, etc.
Este fonema [o:] ha desplazado casi totalmente el diptongo final que, hace unos años, se empleaba
exclusivamente para la ortografía o+r.
- /u/. La u de full es siempre una vocal breve que se articula exactamente por encima de la posición
semicerrada y próxima a la región central. Se pronuncia con los labios bastante abocinados, la lengua
relajada, y sin tensión. No hay contacto entre los bordes laterales de la lengua y los molares superiores
Como la vocal [i], tiene una posición centralizada respecto a su correspondiente fonema largo. En timbre,
es más abierta que la u abierta española de lujo.
Ortografía:
u pull, put
o woman
oo good,look
ou would, could
- /u:/. La u de moon es una vocal posterior larga y cerrada que se articula un poco por debajo de la
posición cerrada y ligeramente centralizada. Se articula con los labios abocinados, pero sin tensar, y las
mandíbulas más cerradas que en el correspondiente fonema breve [u].
Ortografia:
u June, Susan
ue blue
o do
oo soon, too
ou soup, you
ew new, few
Obsérvese el fonema [u:] en shoe.
- /^/. La u de but, tal como la pronuncia la generación joven es un fonema breve y casi abierto. Se
articula hacia el centro, en posición ligeramente anterior, con los labios abiertos y las mandíbulas bastante
abiertas, sin que la lengua llegue a tocar los molares superiores. Este sonido no existe en español y ha de
adquirirse directamente por imitación. Hay otra variante de [^] que usan las personas mayores, que es más
posterior y se aproxima a la a velar española de la exclamación ¡Madre!
Ortografía:
u cup, much
o come, mother
ou young, couple
Obsérvese el fonema [^] en blood, flood, does
- /3:/. La vocal de girl es un fonema siempre largo que se articula con los labios distendidos y sin
contacto entre los bordes laterales de la lengua y los molares superiores. Se forma en un punto central
entre las vocales posteriores y las anteriores, y en una región que se extiende desde un punto ligeramente
superior al de las vocales semiabiertas hasta un punto situado un poco por encima de las semicerradas. En
español no hay un sonido semejante a éste que podríamos describir como intermedio entre e y o, pero con
los labios distendidos. Se parece a la vocal compuesta francesa eu en feu, jeux, peu.
Ortográficamente, este fonema corresponde, en la mayoría de casos, a un vocal seguida de -r, pero
dicha -r no se pronuncia, excepto cuando está en posición final absoluta o final de sílaba y le sigue una
vocal.
Ortografía:
ir, yr
bird, myrtle
er, err
her, err
ear heard
Obsérvese el fonema [3:] en colonel.
- // Esta vocal, como la anterior, se articula en la región central y es siempre débil. Se articula con
los labios en posición natural y su timbre varía según su posición en la palabra. Así, de articularse en una
región por debajo de la semiabierta, cuando está en posición final como en sister, pasa a ser entre
semiabierta y semicerrada, en otras posiciones, y puede llegar has semicerrada junto a -k, -g y -ng. Dado
que [z] sustituye con mucha frecuencia a otras vocales en las sílabas no acentuadas, es el fonema más
ampliamente usado del habla inglesa.
Ortografía:
a along
e sentence
o London
oar cupboard
u chorus
ou colour, famous
a (final) Canada
ar collar
er father
Obsérvese el fonema [] en the, picture.
- /ei/. El diptongo de lady es un fonema que se articula partiendo de una [e] situada en un punto
más próximo a la región semiabierta que a la semicerrada, y que se desliza hacia [i] con los labios
distendidos.
Ortografía:
a table
ai Spain
ay day
ey they
ea break
- /ou/. La o no tiene dos variantes principales, una conservadora y otra más moderna usada por las
generaciones más jóvenes. La primera realización, [ u] parte de una [ ] realizada en un punto en la región
entre semiabierta y semicerrada y algo centralizada, y se desliza hacia [u], a la vez que el abocinamiento
de los labios se acentúa. La segunda variante [au], parte de una posición central, por debajo de la
semicerrada de [] y se desliza hacia [u] con los labios en posición natural, que se abocinan ligeramente
hacia la última parte del sonido.
Ortografía:
o old
ou shoulder
ow know
oa road
- /ai/. El diptongo [ai] de child se articula partiendo de una [a] abierta situada más cerca de la posición
anterior que de la posición posterior, y se desliza hacia [i] sin alcanzarla. Los labios pasan de una posición
natural, al iniciarse el sonido, a una posición relajada al terminarlo.
Ortografía:
i wife
y why
ie cries
ei height
- /au/. El diptongo [au] de house se articula partiendo de un punto por delante de la región posterior y
ligeramente por encima de la abierta y se desliza, si alcanzarla, hacia [u]. Los labios pasan de una posición
natural a un ligero abocinamiento.
Ortografía:
ou blouse
ow brown
- /oi/. El diptongo [oi] de boy se articula partiendo de una o, más próxima a semiabierta que a abierta
y se desliza sin alcanzarla hacia [i]. La posición de los labios pasa desde ligeramente abocinados, al iniciar
el sonido, a naturales hacia el final del mismo.
Ortografía:
oi noise
oy boy
Además de los cinco diptongos arriba mencionados, hay en inglés cuatro diptongos cuyo segundo
elemento es aproximadamente un mismo punto central que corresponde a [] como se pronuncia al final
de father.
- /i/. El diptongo de here se articula partiendo aproximadamente de [i] y deslizándose hacia []. La
posición de los labios es natural, ligeramente distendidos a comienzo de la articulación.
Ortografía:
ere here
eer beer
ear dear
ier fierce
-/e/. El diptongo de chair se inicia partiendo de la posición semiabierta de [] y deslizándose hacia
el fonema [], como se pronuncia en father, con los labios en posición natural.
Ortografía:
air chair
ear pear
are care
Obsérvense las palabras their, heir, que se pronuncian con este diptongo.
- /u/. El diptongo de tour empieza partiendo de la posición de [u] y se desliza hacia [ ] como los
anteriores, con los labios ligeramente abocinados al iniciar el sonido y realmente distendidos hacia el
final.
Ortografía:
ure sure
our tour
oor poor
ewer fewer
3.3.- Consonantes.
- /p/. La p de pen se articula con mayor fuerza que la española. Los labios, fuertemente comprimidos
uno contra otro, se separan con violencia y dejan es capar el aire acumulado detrás. En posición inicial es
aspirada cuando ocurre en sílaba acentuada; es decir, que al separar los labios se deja escapar un ligera
espiración de aire parecida a una brevísima h que se articula entre la p y el sonido que le sigue, como en
Peter.
- /b/. La b de bed es muy semejante a la [b] oclusiva española después de pausa, se articula con los
labios fuertemente comprimidos. Como ocurre con [p], la [b] inglesa se realiza con mayor fuerza que la
española, y la explosión de aire que ocurre al separar los labios es más violenta. En posición final
precedida de m, la b es muda. También es muda en algunas palabras, precediendo a t: doubt [daut].
- /t/. La t de ten se articula apoyando la punta de la lengua en los alvéolos superiores, pero
evitando que toque los dientes. En posición inicial es aspirada cuando se da en sílaba acentuada.
- /d/. La d de do se articula con la punta de la lengua apoyada contra los alvéolos superiores
pero sin tocar en absoluto los dientes. Hay que evitar articular una d semejante a la española, en la
que la lengua avanza hasta los dientes pues con ello entraríamos en el área de otro fonema y podría
dar lugar a confusión. La d fricativa española de venído no se da en inglés.
- /k/ La c y la k de cat y key, respectivamente, son semejantes a la c española seguída de a, o, u.
En sílaba inicial acentuada le sigue una ligera aspiración como a t y p. El fonema [k] seguido
inmediatamente de s [ks] corresponde a la realización fonética de x: box.
- /g/. La g de garden se parece a la g oclusiva española de gana cuando precede a, o, u.
-/f/. La f de five se articula como la española. La realización ortográfica de [f] puede ser también ph,
como en telephone.
- /v/. La v de give se articula apoyando ligeramente los dientes superiores en el labio inferior y
espirando el aire libremente. Es semejante a [f], pero sonora La calidad de esta [v] es muy distinta
de la española que se realiza fonéticamente como b. Hay que cuidar especialmente la articulación
de dicho fonema para evitar posibles confusiones de significado.
- //. La th de think es una articulación fricativa que se realiza apoyando la punta de la lengua
contra el borde y la parte posterior de los dientes, dejando escapar el aire entre éstos y la punta de la
lengua. El contacto es menos firme con los incisivos que con los demás dientes laterales. El sonido de
th inglesa es muy parecido al de c española seguida de e, i, aunque ésta es algo más interdental y más
enérgica que la th inglesa.
- //. La th de the es un sonido fricativo que se articula como el anterior, pero e menos
interdental. Este sonido no se da normalmente en español, pero se aproxima a la d fricativa
española de cada, aunque es menos relajada y más interdental.
- /s/. La s ortográfica se realiza de dos maneras según su localización en la palabra: como
consonante sorda [s] y como consonante sonora [z]. Se articula dejando escapar el aire entre la
punta de la lengua y los alvéolos superiores En posición inicial se parece a la s española aunque
ésta es algo más grave Se realiza como consonante sorda [s]: en posición inicial; en el morfema de
plural -s y en el de la tercera persona del singular del presente de indicativo, cuando sigue a una
consonante sorda: p, t, k, f, th; en posición final precedida de i, a, u; y en el fonema c seguida de e,
i, y.
- /z/. La realización sonora del fonema [s], es decir [z], no tiene equivalencia exacta en español
y debe adquirirse por imitación directa. Se aproxima a la s española de rasgo, a la francesa de
maison y a la catalana de rosa. Los estudiantes que no posean este sonido en su lengua materna se
deben esforzar para que su realización sea lo suficientemente sonora para que no se confunda con
la s sorda, lo que podría dar lugar a confusión. Se realizan como fricativa sonora [z]: el morfema
de plural de los nombres cuyo singular termine en consonante sonora o en vocal; el morfema de
tercera persona del singular del Presente de Indicativo cuando sigue a una consonante sonora o
vocal; y el morfema del plural o de la tercera pers. sing. del presente de indicativo -es. También se
realiza como [z] la z inicial y la final cuando va seguida de e muda.
pens [penz]
cars [ca:z]
days [deiz]
ladies [leidiz]
zoo [zu: ]
size [saiz]
Obsérvese que, cuando el morfema de plural -es se añade a una palabra que termina en -y precedida de
consonante, dicha -y se cambia por -i antes de añadir la terminación. El morfema -es se realiza siempre
como [iz].
- /S/ La sh de she se articula elevando la punta y el predorso de la lengua hacia los alvéolos
superiores, estableciendo un ligero contacto entre ambos y espirando el aire por este conducto. No tiene
equivalencia en español, pero timbre se aproxima algo a la fricación de la última parte de la ch española
de techo. Para realizar una [S] correcta hay que colocar la lengua más hacia atrás que para articular [s] y,
además, abocinar un poco los labios. Corresponde a sh ortográfica.
- //. El fonema [] de treasure se articula como el anterior, pero es sonoro. No tiene
equivalencia en español, aunque se aproxima un poco a la ll pronunciada en Andalucía, Canarias e
Hispanoamérica.
- /tS/ El fonema [tS] de chocolate se articula elevando la punta y el dorso de la lengua hacia los
alvéolos superiores. Es muy semejante a la ch española pero la fricación es menos aguda y más larga que
en la consonante española. Corresponde a ch ortográfica.
- /d/. El fonema [d] de jacket es muy semejante al anterior pero es sonoro. Corresponde a j y g
ortográficas.
- /h/. El fonema [h] de have se articula espirando libremente el aire de los pulmones de forma que
cause una fricación sorda muy débil que puede ocurrir e cualquier punto de la boca, ya dispuesta para
realizar la vocal que le siga. Este sonido debe practicarse con suma atención porque no es una j española
Aunque se parezca, su sonido es mucho más suave. La mayor parte de lo españoles pronuncian este
fonema demasiado parecido a la j española. Corresponde a h ortográfica. En inglés, la h se pronuncia
siempre, exceptuando un número muy reducido de palabras
- /m/. La m de man es semejante a la española pero algo más fuerte. Se articula comprimiendo los
labios y separándolos con cierta violencia para dejar es capar el aire acumulado detrás, que a la vez, sale
también por la nariz. Su ortografía normal es m, mm o mb.
- /n/. La n de not se articula apoyando la punta de la lengua en los alvéolos superiores y
separándolos repentinamente a la vez que el aire escapa por la nariz. El fonema [n] tiene la particularidad
de que, cuando está precedido d t o d, forma sílaba con ellas sin necesidad de vocal intermedia. Dado que
una combinación de este tipo no se da en español, debe ser practicada cuidadosamente para obtener la
calidad que requiere el sonido. Se apoya la lengua en los alvéolos superiores como para articular t o d y,
sin mover la lengua de esta posición, se procede a articular [n]. El aire espirado para articular t o d y
detenido por la presión de la punta de la lengua contra los alvéolos se escapa repentinamente por la nariz
al articular la [n]. El sonido así obtenido es [n] silábica, como la oímos en garden y en button.
- //. El fonema [] tal y como se pronuncia al final de king, se articula elevando el predorso de
la lengua contra el velo del paladar y espirando el aire por la nariz. Ortográficamente, corresponde a ng y
n seguida de k. Puede darse en posición final, como en king y en wrong y en medio de palabra cuando la
terminación de ésta es un morfema separable, como en kingly, singer. Pero si se da en posición intermedia
y la terminación no es separable, ha de pronunciar se como [n] más [g] o [k] y no como [  ]. Este
fonema, por sí solo, no se da en español (salvo en posición final -con- en algunas regiones como Galicia
Andalucía y Canarias). No obstante, ocurre cuando n precede a g y a k. Po lo tanto, el sonido final de king
o think se aproxima al español de tengo o de cinco.
- /r/. El fonema [r] de red se articula elevando la punta de la lengua hacia la región postalveolar,
para dejarla caer inmediatamente, sin tocarla y casi sin fricción y pasar a articular la vocal siguiente. El
fonema [r] se pronuncia de esta forma cuando le sigue una vocal aunque ésta sea inicial en otra palabra
que siga inmediatamente [r]. En posición intermedia la r se pronuncia como fuera inicial cuando precede
inmediatamente a una vocal en la sílaba siguiente. En posición final, no seguida de palabra con vocal
inicial [r] no pronuncia, ni tampoco delante de consonante.
- /l/. En inglés el fonema [l] tiene dos variantes principales. La primera corresponde de a una l
clara, parecida a la española, que se articula apoyando la punta de la lengua en los alvéolos superiores y
dejando escapar el aire por los lados de la misma. Esta variedad se emplea delante de vocal, exceptuando
e muda. La segunda variante es una l velar «oscura» parecida a la l catalana, que se realiza delante de e
muda, delante de consonante y en posición final Se articula con la punta de la lengua en posición
semejante a la primera variante de l pero con el predorso de la lengua bajo y el postdorso retraído.
Corresponde a l y ll ortográficas: feel, all.
3.4.- Semivocales.
En inglés hay dos sonidos que no encajan en ninguno de los grupos descritos. Son fonemas que
lingüísticamente funcionan como consonantes pero que mejor diríamos que fonéticamente se realizan
como vocales por la forma de su articulación. Son [j] y [w].
- /j/. Se articula como una i muy breve con los labios distendidos o naturales y ella se pasa
rápidamente al sonido que siga. Con frecuencia este sonido realiza fonéticamente en ew, ue, ui, u. Su
realización fonética responde principalmente a la semivocal y a la vocal i. Las palabras en las que ocurre
deben practicarse especialmente para que su realización sea lo suficientemente rápida. yes [jes], new
[nju:].
- /w/. Se articula como una u, realizada con los labios muy redondeados, de la cual se pasa
rápidamente al sonido que le sigue. Cuando el sonido que sigue a [w] sea una vocal que se realice con los
labios abocinados, como por ejemplo [o] o [u], la posición de los labios será tanto más redondeada para
resaltar la diferencia. Hay que cuidar especialmente la realización de este sonido como queda dicho, sin
confundirlo con la g fricativa española, con el que no tiene ninguna conexión. Esta asimilación es
frecuente entre personas de habla española: incluso llega a escribirse en palabras adoptadas del inglés,
como ocurre con la voz sandwich, realizada fonética y ortográficamente, en español, con g.
TABLA DE PRONUNCIACIÓN
3.5.- Entonación acento y ritmo.
La curva melódica de la voz al hablar constituye la entonación de una lengua. Dentro de cada una
de éstas, hay distintas variantes de ritmo y de entonación por medio de las cuales se expone, no sólo la
expresión fonológica de dicha lengua como distinta de las demás, sino matices intelectuales y emocionales
debidos a circunstancias transitorias que alteran el ritmo usual de la oración que podríamos llamar básica.
Aquí nos limitaremos a dar las curvas melódicas fundamentales del inglés, que todo estudiante de
dicha lengua debe conocer si quiere comunicarse con hablante nativos sin correr el riesgo de que sus
palabras puedan ser incorrectamente comprendidas por su interlocutor.
El ritmo del inglés es muy uniforme. Las palabras que tienen acento tónico (nombre, verbo,
adjetivo y adverbio) se suceden a intervalos regulares en la cadena del habla, y cuantas sílabas no
acentuadas se dan entre dos de estos acentos tónicos han de pronunciarse en un período de tiempo igual,
tanto si es una sola como si son varias. De aquí que algunas sílabas no acentuadas hayan de pronunciarse
con gran rapidez, en tanto que otras sean más largas. Esto da a la lengua un ritmo muy peculiar y ha
contribuido no poco a la neutralización de muchos sonidos, que son por ello difíciles de recoger por un
oído poco acostumbrado.
Hay en inglés tres curvas melódicas fundamentales. La primera de ellas se conoce como curva
descendente o entonación melódica final descendente. En ella la voz empieza en una nota bastante alta y
desciende hasta una nota muy baja Este descenso de la voz se hace de manera gradual, partiendo de la
primera sílaba acentuada de la oración y descendiendo un tono en cada sílaba acentuada en la que
desciende hasta una nota realmente grave. Cuantas sílabas no acentuadas se den entre los acentos tónicos
que haya en la frase deben pronunciarse e el mismo tono que el acento tónico precedente. Las últimas
sílabas después del último acento son totalmente débiles y se pronuncian en un tono muy grave, sin que la
voz se eleve nunca por encima del tono del último acento:
I 'phoned him 'yesterday.
'Where do you `want to 'go?
Dentro de esta misma curva existe la posibilidad de que haya una palabra que se quiera destacar
especialmente en la oración o, sencillamente, aligerar la monotonía de la inflexión. En este caso, al llegar
a dicha palabra, la voz se eleva ligerísimamente y desciende después hasta el final como en la primera
variante.
'Where do you 'think he 'wants to 'go?
La entonación descendente se emplea:
a) en oraciones aseverativas firmes;
b) en preguntas introducidas por palabras interrogativas del tipo: who, what, when, etc., cuya
respuesta no es Sí ni No;
c) en exclamaciones y órdenes;
d) en preguntas confirmativas (tag questions) que siguen a una oración expositiva cuando se
espera acuerdo por parte del interlocutor.
La segunda curva melódica es la curva melódica ascendente. En ella, la voz desciende, como en la
anterior, hasta la última sílaba acentuada en la que alcanza nivel más grave de la inflexión, y el tono
vuelve a elevarse un poco, aunque sin alcanzar gran altura. Si, después de la última sílaba acentuada,
hubiese sílabas débiles, la inflexión ascendente se realizará en éstas.
Are 'those the ones you 'bought?
'Are you 'coming?
Como en la variante anterior, puede recalcarse cualquier palabra de la oración que se desee. En
este caso, la voz descenderá hasta alcanzar su tono más grave en sílaba acentuada de esta palabra y seguirá
en el mismo tono hasta la última sílaba acentuada, en la que efectuará la inflexión ascendente.
La entonación ascendente se emplea:
a) en oraciones interrogativas que requieren Sí o No como respuesta;
b) en oraciones enunciativas empleadas como interrogativas y que requieren Sí No como
respuesta;
c) oraciones subordinadas o frases introductorias en una oración compuesta, cuando se sigue
hablando;
d) preguntas confirmativas cuando no se espera, necesariamente, acuerdo;
e) enumeración de los distintos puntos de una lista (en el último la voz desciende)
La tercera curva melódica es la descendente-ascendente. En ella la voz desciende en la palabra más
importante de la oración y se eleva de nuevo, ya sea en la misma sílaba, ya en alguna otra de las
siguientes. Las sílabas no acentuadas antes la sílaba en que la voz desciende se pronuncian en un tono
grave, y las sílabas acentuadas, si las hay, bajan de tono gradualmente desde la primera, que se pronuncia
en un tono bastante alto hasta llegar a la palabra principal, que baja ha pronunciarse en un tono muy grave.
A partir de aquí, la elevación de la voz puede realizarse en la misma sílaba, o en otra de las siguientes,
como ya se ha dicho. En este último caso, las sílabas intermedias entre el tono más grave y el más agudo
han de pronunciarse en tono grave.
Se emplea la inflexión descendente-ascendente:
a) en oraciones aseverativas seguidas de algún determinante;
b) para expresar discrepancia, sugerencia, protesta, duda implícita, corrección d algo dicho;
c) para expresar énfasis.
He 'isn't 'coming, 'is he?
Good 'morning.
I'm 'so 'sorry.
4.- LA CORRECCIÓN FONÉTICA.
En toda técnica de aprendizaje existen una serie de factores que afecta aprendizaje de la
pronunciación:
-
La lengua nativa. Cuanto más diferencias haya, más dificultades e alumno.
-
El factor edad. Los estudios demuestran conclusiones divergentes, debido interacción de la edad
con otros factores como la habilidad, la motivación, interés, etc.
-
Cantidad de exposición a la lengua. No sólo es importante este factor, también la manera en que
el alumno reacciona a las oportunidades para y usar el inglés.
-
Habilidad fonética. Algunos alumnos ven mejor las diferencias entre sonidos otros. De todos
modos, la práctica puede mejorar sus habilidades.
-
Actitud e identidad. Imitar correctamente el habla de una persona puede ser forma de demostrar
respeto e interés hacía esa persona y hacia el grupo que representa. Las personas con actitudes
positivas hacia la lengua de desarrollar acentos más perfectos.
-
Motivación y preocupación por una buena pronunciación. La mentalidad “No quiero decirlo si no
puedo hacerlo perfectamente”.
Para corregir errores de pronunciación, sobre todo aquellos que afectan ¡comunicación, es necesario
que el alumno practique con ejercicios de discrímii hasta la total identificación de los sonidos. Aquellos
alumnos que no son distinguir ciertos sonidos tampoco serán capaces de producirlo. Es necesario,
concentrarse en posibles focos de errores:
-
Aquellos sonidos en inglés que no tienen equivalente en español, como /s , z/ o /f ,
v/.
-
Aquellos sonidos en inglés que son aparentemente iguales a algunos en español,
como el inglés /S/ y el sonido español /ch/.
Aquellos sonidos en inglés que son similares a algunos en español pero que tienen distinta
distribución, como / / en this, que es un fonema en inglés, pero un alófono en español: dado
(/da o/).
TEMARIO A: TEMA 9
Sistema fonológico de la lengua inglesa II: Acento, ritmo y entonación.
Comparación con el sistema fonológico de la lengua o lenguas oficiales de la
Comunidad Autónoma correspondiente.
CONTENTS
6. INTRODUCTION
1. Phonetics and Phonology
2. Phonemes and Speech Sounds
3. Stress/Rhythm and Intonation
7. STRESS
1. Degrees of Stress
2. Position of Stress
3. Stress in the Canarian Dialect/ Spanish language
8. RHYTHM
1. Weak and Strong Forms
2. Regularity of Rhythm
3. Rhythm in the Canarian Dialect/ Spanish language
9. INTONATION
1. Falling Tone
2. Rising Tone
3. Fall-rise Tone
4. Rise-fall Tone
5. Level Tone
6. Fall+rise Tone
10.TEACHING IMPLICATIONS
2. INTRODUCTION
The most noticeable feature of a foreign language is often intonation and rhythm. Some
languages are described as sounding "like music", other languages as being "flat and
without melody". If the pronunciation of individual sounds can be compared with the
individual notes in a piece of music, the intonation can be compared with the melody or
tune.
When studying the pronunciation system of a language we differentiate two categories:
 Segmental elements: Vowel and consonant sounds.
 Prosodic elements: rhythm, stress and intonation.
4. Phonetics and Phonology
PHONETICS: is the science that studies the language sounds; how
sounds are produced in general.
PHONOLOGY: is the study of the sound system in a particular language.
It includes intonation, rhythm, sounds patterns, etc.
5. Phonemes and Speech Sounds
PHONEME: is the smallest unit of speech that can change the meaning of
a word.
SPEECH SOUND: is any unit of sound produced by the speech organs.
They are the muscles and parts of the mouth, which we use to speak.
The Phoneme is also defined as "only in terms of its differences from the
other phonemes in the same language".
Ex: Ship sheep
Minimal pairs: Such pairs, which differ only in one phoneme.
6. Stress, Rhythm and Intonation
When dealing with the concepts of Stress, Rhythm and Intonation, we should
start by referring to the concept of prominence
 Prominence: is the characteristic in common with all stressed syllables. Four
different factors are important:
e. Loudness
f. Length
g. Pitch: is closely related to the frequency of vibration of the vocal cords.
h. A syllable will tend to be prominent if it contains a vowel that is different in
quality from neighbouring vowels.
 Stress concerns the relative prominence with which one part of a word or a
longer utterance is distinguished from other parts.
 Rhythm concerns the relative prominence, or pattern of the stresses being
perceived as peaks of prominence, occurring at somewhat regular intervals of
time. English is a language with a tendency for a stress-timed rhythm.
 Intonation is the association of the relative prominence with pitch, the aspect of
the sound which we perceive in terms of "high" or "low".
Other prosodic systems include factors such as tempo and the relative speed of
utterance. Perception of the rhythm base may involve observing variations of
loudness, pitch and speed.
2. STRESS
We can study stress from the point of view of production and of perception.
The production of stress is generally believed to depend on the speaker using
more muscular energy than is used for unstressed syllables. Many different sound
characteristics are important in making a syllable recognisably stressed.
In English, stressed syllables are longer then unstressed ones, the vowels are
more voiced within them. Stress is not marked in the spelling system, but it can
be transcribed phonetically.
The importance of stress should be noted, given that incorrect stress on syllables
is an obstacle to communication, because it may lead the speaker to understand
a different word, that follows a different stress pattern.
1. Degrees of Stress
We can distinguish between the primary and secondary stress. The first
one is also called tonic strong stress, while the second one is also called
non-tonic strong stress.
Ex: ‘presup,ose
There are other authors who consider that there exist three stresses.
Ex: ‘many ‘lovely ‘’girls
2. Position of Stress
Normally stresses are in a fixed position in a word.





First syllable: ‘precept
Second syllable: to’night
Third syllable: engi’neer
Fourth syllable: misunder’stood
Fifth syllable: palatali’zation
Exceptions:
i.
Native words and early French loans
Ex: ‘kingly ‘kingliness un’kingliness
j.
All abstract nouns ending in –ion
Ex: ‘mission
k. Nouns ending in –ity
Ex: ‘vacuous va’cuity
l.
Nouns and adjectives ending in –ian
Ex: ‘liberty liber’tarian
m. Adjectives ending in –ic
Ex: ‘phoneme pho’nemic
n. Words with more than one function
A wide selection of words that can operate equally well as nouns/adjectives or
verbs, are differentiated by their stress in the two functions:
Ex: ‘present (Noun or adjective) pre’sent (verb)
o. Compound nouns
They are generally stressed on the first element with a secondary stress on the
second element in contrast to the normal noun phrase stress pattern:
Ex: ‘black ,bird (compound nouns) a ,black ‘bird (noun phrase)
p. Stress in phrases
When we come to stress in phrases and other syntactic units, we provide different
underlying relations between juxtaposed items.
Ex: An ‘English ,teacher (someone who teaches English)
An ,English ‘teacher (a teacher who is English)
2. Stress in the Canarian Dialect/ Spanish language
d. Lexical and secondary stress
The Canarian speakers should keep in mind the different importance given to the
secondary accent in Spanish as compared with English. The pronunciation of
isolated words rarely occurs in Spanish, it only happens in Adverbs ending in "mente", and in a few compound adverbs.
Ex: símpleménte óptico-acústico
e. Contrastive secondary stress
The secondary stress occurs in the Canarian dialect as well, but it is not
prominent:
Ex: las cuestiones tanto ‘interiores como ‘exteriores
Although English compounds generally turn into a secondary stress the one which
was the primary in the root, and this secondary stress still keeps a considerable
strength; Spanish moves the stress to the suffixes:
Ex: ‘central / ,centra’lize centrál / centralizár
A secondary stress does not appear except in the cases where the general rules
of Spanish regulate it.
f.
Stress position and Effect
In two-syllable words both languages have a preference for stressing the syllable before
the last; English tends to stress the antepenultimate syllable in three or more syllables
words whereas Spanish keeps the penult position for stress.
English vowels are deeply affected by their stress, whether primary or secondary.
Stressed vowels have a precise and clear pronunciation, whereas unstressed vowels
have a tendency to become indistinct.
Finally , in Spanish the stress is represented in the spelling, what makes it easier to be
remembered and pronounced , whereas in English it’s not represented.
2. RHYTHM
Rhythm may be defined as the regular succession of strong and weak stresses in
utterances. The notion of rhythm involves some noticeable event happening at
regular intervals of time. The theory that English has stress- timed rhythm
implies that stressed syllables will tend to occur at relatively regular intervals
whether they are separated by unstressed syllables or not.
Some writers have developed theories of English rhythm in which a unit of
rhythm, the foot is used. Some theories of rhythm go further, and point to the
fact that some feet are stronger than others, producing strong-weak patterns.
1. Weak and Strong forms
The weak form, in which the vowel is pronounced with the schwa vowel,
is more common than the other.
The strong form in which the vowel is pronounced as it is written.
Obviously the use of one or another form may affect the meaning of the
utterance.
Ex: ‘Jane and her ‘mother ‘’are ‘stupid = it is not true that they are not
stupid
‘Jane ‘’and her ‘mother are ‘stupid = not just one, but both are stupid
Weak forms are a manifestation of stress and rhythm in English, and must
not be avoided in teaching, or the learner will sound unnatural in
connected speech.
2. Regularity of Rhythm
The natural rhythm of English provides roughly equal intervals of time between the
stressed items.
The prevailing tendency in unstressed syllables and words is to reduce the vowels to the
obscure / /, thus we have / / in a great many syllables:
Ex: a kilo of potato / ‘ki:l v p ‘ te t z/
Regularity of rhythm is used for specific pourposes:
d. Counting:
Ex: ‘one, ‘two, ‘three,..., seventy ‘four, seventy ‘five
e. Inventory or lists
f. Emphasis:
Ex: you should ‘always ‘look be’fore you ‘cross the ‘’road
2. Rhythm in the Canarian Dialect/ Spanish language
It is essential in English to have a sentence rhythm, which does not exist in Spanish.
In an English sentence certain words which are too close to the initial rhythmic beat lose
their lexical stress in spite of having lexical stress. This does not happen in Spanish.
Ex: Mary’s younger brother wanted fifty chocolate peanuts
In this example we can see the difference with the Spanish stress, in Spanish all the
words will be stressed; however, in English only the syllables in bold type are really
stressed, thus favouring rhythm.
The behaviour of prepositions and conjunctions differs in both languages: they are
usually stressed in English; in Spanish only the preposition "según" is stressed.
Stress also varies in English depending on whether it is used on strong or weak forms of
the same words. There is nothing in Spanish, which resembles the English strong and
weak forms so this will prove difficult for Spanish students.
3. INTONATION
Intonation is the tune within the sentence that may alter the meaning. Here the
pitch of the voice plays the most important part. We describe pitch in terms of
high and low. There is another necessary condition and that is that a pitch
difference must be perceptible.
Intonation is generally found in sequences of stressed and unstressed syllables,
though it can be a single word. We call it the tone unit, within which there is the
nucleus (capital letters). The first stressed syllable in a tone unit is a onset
(‘), the end will be (‘’)
The rise and fall of pitch throughout is called its intonation contour. English has
a number of intonation patterns which add conventionalized meanings to the
utterance: question, statement, surprise, disbelief, sarcasm, teasing. An
important feature of English intonation is the use of an intonational accent (and
extra stress) to mark the focus of a sentence. Normally this focus accent goes on
the last major word of the sentence, but it can come earlier in order to
emphasize one of the earlier words or to contrast it with something else.
Ex: She ‘told SOMeone’’
She ‘bought it for a PARty’’
""
onset nucleus
Tone unit
1. Falling Tone
This is the commonest tone in English affirmative sentences, wh-word
question, one word answers to questions, and on words, names, numbers
and letters said in isolation.
Ex: ‘What’s the TÍME’’
‘LÓNDON’’
‘TWÓ’’
‘´R’’
2. Rising Tone
It is used to suggest that what is said is not final.
Ex: Counting: ‘ÓNE’’ ‘TWÓ’’...
Or because a response is needed (though not in wh-word question):
Ex: Are you ‘HÁPpy’’
Or when two clauses are joined together:
Ex: When I ‘GÉT there’’ I’ll HÍT him’’
A question will use a rising tone while the question tag uses the falling
tone.
The fall and rise are by far and away the most common of the nuclear
tones.
3. Fall-rise Intonation
It often occurs in the nucleus of a doubtful condition, but it is particularly
common with the initial adverb:
Ex: I’ll’ see him if he CÓMES’’
4. Rise-fall Intonation
It expresses as it does both genuine and assumed warmth, as well as
feelings of shock or surprise.
Ex: ‘That’s GRÉAT’’
5. Level Tone
It sometimes used to the exact predictability of what is to follow:
Ex: he DRÁNK’’ he WÓManised he ‘DÍED
6. Fall-rise Intonation
It is common in everyday usage:
Ex: She looks FÍNE to MÉ’’
It is often used with marked focus, the fall coming on the focus item and the rise
on the last lexical item in the tone unit:
Ex: It’s his ‘MÁNners that I can’t STÁND’’ = ‘What I don’t LÍKE ‘’ are his ?
Mánners’’
4. TEACHING IMPLICATIONS
All languages have their own intonation patterns. Why is intonation important?
Intonation conveys both meaning and attitude, so when a non-native speaker gets the
intonation wrong, s/he can be misunderstood or sometimes misinterpreted as sounding
rude or demanding when this is not intended. If a non-native speaker is almost fluent in
the English language, intonation is often the only way in which one can tell that s/he is
foreign. Moreover, if a foreign speaker is advanced in terms of grammar, vocabulary,
etc., native speakers will make fewer allowances for intonation problems than they
would with speakers who are obviously at a more elementary level. For example, if an
advanced level speaker unintentionally sounds rude or demanding, the listeners will
assume that s/he means it.
What can be done to improve intonation? First of all students should be aware of the
differences between their intonation and the English one:
 Spanish intonation is much more measured, so we have to teach the students
how to intonate the different English elements.
 Intonation in Spoken Spanish does not rise and fall as much as English. Students
should try and keep the voice as levelled as possible.
Some useful techniques may be :
 Listen to as much spoken English as possible (on cassette if you are unable to
listen to native speakers) and be aware of where the voice rises and falls. When
you listen, try to consider the attitude and feelings being conveyed. One word, for
example, can be said in several different ways, depending on the meaning you
wish to convey.
 Stories motivate children to listen and learn, and help them to become aware of
the sound and feel of English. A selection of ready-to-tell stories is included
although the activities can be used with any story.
 Creating Drama with poetry is an exciting language learning experience. The use
of poetry as drama in the English as a second language (ESL) classroom enables
the students to explore the linguistic and conceptual aspects of the written text
without concentrating on the mechanics of language. Through this technique,
apart from several other aspects the teacher can model student’s pronunciation,
intonation, stress, rhythm, and oral expression;
We as teachers have to take into account all the differences existing between L1 and L2
patterns of stress, rhythm and intonation, and try our students to differentiate them. So
English people can understand their speaking.
TEMA 10 (ESPECÍFICO DE AUDICIÓN Y
LENGUAJE)
SISTEMAS ALTERNATIVOS Y COMPLEMENTARIOS DE COMUNICACIÓN. EL
PROCESO DE EVALUACIÓN Y TOMA DE DECISIONES SOBRE LOS SISTEMAS
ALTERNATIVOS. EL PROCESO DE INTERVENCIÓN.
1. SISTEMAS DE COMUNICACIÓN ALTERNATIVOS
Y/O COMPLEMENTARIOS.
.
2.S.P.C.
3.BLISS: HISTORIA, ¿QUÉ ES?, VENTAJAS.
4.MÉTODOS DE EDUCACIÓN DE SUJETOS CON
DEFICIENCIA AUDITIVA.
- CLASIFICACIÓN
- ORALISMO-MANUALISMO
- LENGUAJE DE SIGNOS
- CUED-SPEECH
- LENGUAJE BIMODAL
5.EL PROCESO DE EVALUACIÓN Y LA TOMA DE
DECISIONES SOBRE LOS SISTEMAS ALTERNATIVOS. EL
PROCESO DE INTERVENCIÓN.
EVALUACIÓN DE LOS SISTEMAS BLISS Y SPC
EVALUACIÓN DE LOS MÉTODOS LENGUAJE DE
SIGNOS, CUED-SPEECH Y BIMODAL
6.BIBLIOGRAFÍA
1.SISTEMAS DE COMUNICACIÓN ALTERNATIVOS Y/O
COMPLEMENTARIOS
Son el conjunto de sistemas que se han desarrollado para facilitar la comunicación de
los sujetos, que por distintas razones, no poseen una emisión normal del lenguaje oral.
Se puede distinguir entre:
Sistemas alternativos: se ofrecen como la única forma de lenguaje que puede
desarrollar el sujeto.
Sistemas complementarios: vienen a apoyar otra forma de lenguaje que el sujeto ya
posee.
Diferenciamos dos bloques de sistemas alternativos y/o complementarios:
Métodos de comunicación no vocal: SPC Y BLISS, se emplearán con sujetos
afectados de P.C., con deficiencias físicas que impiden su comunicación oral, con autistas y
deficientes mentales.
Métodos específicos de los sujetos con deficiencias auditivas: lenguaje de signos,
bimodal y cued-speech.
No deben ser considerados como definitivos o excluyentes del lenguaje oral, sino que se
ofrecen como una herramienta de sustitución del mismo, aunque en algunos sujetos si se
pueden convertir en la única forma de comunicación debido a su grado de deficiencia.
2.SPC, SISTEMA DE SÍMBOLOS PICTOGRÁFICOS PARA
LA COMUNICACIÓN.
Se basa, principalmente, en símbolos pictográficos, es decir, dibujos sencillos e iconos. Cada
símbolo aparece acompañado de la palabra que representa, y en caso de términos demasiados
abstractos, puede aparecer sólo la palabra escrita.
Los símbolos del SPC presentan las siguientes características:
Representan las palabras y conceptos más habituales en el lenguaje cotidiano.
Puede ser utilizado por distintos grupos de edad.
Símbolos fáciles y rápidamente diferenciables.
El vocabulario, se divide en seis categorías:
Personas
Verbos.
Adjetivos y adverbios
Nombres.
Artículos, conjunciones...
Términos sociales
Cada símbolo es coloreado según a la categoría a la que pertenece, así tenemos:
Personas=amarillo
Verbos=verde
Términos descriptivos=azul
Nombres=naranja
Términos diversos=blanco
Términos sociales=rosa
Este código cromático tiene como ventajas: facilitar una localización más rápida,
reestructurar las frases sencillas, motivación del niño.
A la hora de aplicar éste método, hay que tener en cuenta algunas consideraciones:
Adecuado para personas con un nivel del lenguaje expresivo simple.
No indicado para personas con problemas visuales.
Los sujetos deben poseer un mínimo de habilidades cognitivas.
El sujeto debe sentir la necesidad de comunicarse.
Todas las personas implicadas, deben mostrar paciencia para enseñarlo.
3.SISTEMA BLISS
HISTORIA Fueron creados por el australiano CH. BLISS, quien quiso crear un lenguaje
internacional que pudiera ser entendido por cualquier persona del mundo.
En 1949 publicó su primer manual, pero no obtuvo ningún éxito, hasta que en 1971 fue
utilizado por un grupo de especialistas para la comunicación en niños deficientes físicos.
¿QUÉ ES EL BLISSIMBOLISMO? Sistema de símbolos que utiliza formas para
transmitir significados, son formas geométricas básicas (cuadrado, círculo....) y cada uno está
asociado a un significado específico. Pueden combinarse entre sí para formar nuevos
significados. Los símbolos se agrupan en cuatro categorías:
Símbolos pictográficos: recuerdan la forma de lo que representa.
Símbolos ideográficos: no recuerdan la imagen pero la evocan.
Símbolos arbitrarios: no pueden razonarse.
Símbolos combinados: combinación de los anteriores.
Otros factores, además de la forma, sirven para determinar el significado del símbolo:
Tamaño
posición
dirección amplitud
referencias.
Una característica, es que los símbolos se agrupan en categorías que reciben un color
específico (igual que en el SPC).
El sujeto posee un tablero donde están los símbolos con un orden concreto, en cada uno
aparece escrito lo que significa facilitando así la interpretación a personas que no conozcan el
método y quieran comunicarse con el sujeto.
Es un método especialmente indicado para personas con deficiencia física.
Las habilidades básicas que debe poseer el sujeto son:
Habilidad de discriminación visual
Habilidad cognitiva
Habilidades motrices
Buena coordinación entre comprensión auditiva y visual.
VENTAJAS DEL MÉTODO BLISS son las siguientes:
Fáciles de aprender
Fácil generalización
Contribuyen a la estructuración mental
Ayudan a la adquisición de la lectura
4.MÉTODOS DE EDUCACIÓN DE SORDOS
CLASIFICACIÓN Los clasificamos en:
MÉTODOS ORALES: UNISENSORIALES
MULTISENSORIALES
AUDIOORALES
AUDIOORALES CON REPRESENTACIÓN MANUA
MÉTODOS GESTUALES: MÍMICA PURA
DACTILOLOGÍA PURA
MÍMICA CON LENGUAJE ORAL
MÍMICA CON LENG ESCRITO
MÉTODOS MIXTOS: COMUNICACIÓN BIMODAL
COMUNICACIÓN TOTAL
OPOSICIÓN ORALISMO-MANUALISNO Hay tres grupos claramente definidos:
El grupo oralista, se basa en el uso del lenguaje oral, descartando el lenguaje de signos por
considerarlo poco estructurado y entorpecer el lenguaje oral.
El manualista, defiende la expresión de la palabra mediante signos realizados con las manos y
los dedos.
El tercer grupo lo forman los métodos mixtos,educar al sujeto sordo valiéndose de todos los
recursos y procedimientos que estén a nuestro alcance, ya sea mímica, oralismo, gestos....
LENGUAJE DE SIGNOS El lenguaje mímico, manual o gestual, es uno de los lenguajes
utilizados por los sujetos con deficiencia auditiva, consta de signos realizados con las manos
y dedos, acompañado de gestos (opuesto al oralismo).
Dentro del lenguaje mímico, podemos diferenciar varios métodos:
LENGUAJE MÍMICO : DACTILOLOGÍA
LENGUAJE DE SIGNOS
Dactilología : o alfabeto manual, representa cada una de las letras del alfabeto por medio
de distintas configuraciones de la mano. Se realiza con una sola mano y suele servir de
complemento al lenguaje de signos para designar nombres propios o términos sin traducción.
Lenguaje de signos : a su vez, puede comprender:
Lenguaje de signos utilizado en las comunidades de sordos
Lenguaje de signos con estructura gramatical semejante a la de los
normoyentes.
Sistema que sirve de apoyo al lenguaje oral.
No es universal, lo que significa que sordos de distintos países ( o incluso del mismo país,
pero de diferente ciudad) utilizan signos distintos.
En este tipo de lenguaje nos podemos encontrar signos icónicos y signos arbitrarios.
No consiste solamente en un conjunto de gestos, sino que presenta una estructura,
determinada por una serie de parámetros:
Configuración de la mano
Localización
Movimiento
CUED-SPEECH O PALBRA COMPLEMENTADA Es un complemento visual a la
lectura labial que permite eliminar ,las posibles confusiones de fonemas con el mismo punto
de articulación. Pertenece a la corriente oralista.
Su objetivo es facilitar la discriminación y comprensión de los sonidos del habla por medio
de señales manuales que se realizan cerca de la cara.
Su metodología , se basa en tres posiciones de la mano para las vocales (lado, barbilla y
garganta), y ocho para las consonantes.
Un requisito básico, es su práctica ante el espejo, para fijar bien las posiciones de las manos y
evitar movimientos inapropiados.
El sistema se basa:
La sílaba es la unidad básica
Los kinemas en sí no tienen significado
El niño tiene que leer los labios del interlocutor
El sistema es simple y puede ser aprendido por niños menores de 2 años
A partir de los estudios realizados a niños sordos españoles, se producen las siguientes
hipótesis:
La palabra complementada despeja la ambigüedad del mensaje
Parece indicado para sordos profundos
Asimilación perfecta en niños con deficiencia auditiva
SISTEMA BIMODAL Expresión simultánea manual y oral de la lengua de una
comunidad de oyentes, utilizando para su emisión el vocabulario del lenguaje de signos. No
es la utilización de dos lenguas, sino que se trata de un solo lenguaje (oral) acompañado de
signos(vocabulario de signos).
Este tipo de comunicación desempeña dos funciones claras:
Desarrollar la comunicación del sujeto
Permitir el aprendizaje del lenguaje oral
En la práctica educativa, tanto profesores, padres..., deberían utilizar este método para la
comunicación. Los signos deben aprenderse de forma natural, según surjan las necesidades
del niño, aunque es conveniente trabajar algunas de forma más sistematizada como las
nociones espaciales, temporales, causales, las categorías y preguntas concretas.
En este sistema, el niño adquiere ante los signos que las palabras, por lo que debemos
enseñarle a partir de nociones y construcciones ya adquiridas en el niño su correspondencia
oral.
5.EL PROCESO DE EVALUACIÓN Y TOMA DE
DECISIONES SOBRE LOS SISTEMAS ALTERNATIVOS. EL
PROCESO DE INTERVENCIÓN.
La elección del sistema, está condicionada por las posibilidades reales que presente el sujeto
con el que vamos a trabajar. Es evidente que son muchos los factores a tener en cuenta para
realizar la elección:
Posibilidades del sujeto (tipo de deficiencia, grado de afectación...)
Actitud de padres y educadores
Ambiente educativo en el que el sujeto está inmerso, etc...
EVALUACIÓN DE LOS SITEMAS SPC Y BLISS
Ambos métodos son muy similares en cuanto a su estructura y composición, lo que incluso
puede llevar el uso conjunto de ambos sistemas.
VENTAJAS: Su aprendizaje y memorización pueden ser relativamente fáciles, al incluir
muchos símbolos pictográficos e ideográficos.
Puede estar indicado para personas que no estén preparadas para el uso del alfabeto,
pero que necesitan comunicarse con las personas de su entorno.
Los símbolos pueden ampliar mucho su significado mediante distintas
combinaciones y ampliaciones.
Favorece el desarrollo personal global del niño a nivel social, emocional, y de mejora
de la propia imagen.
INCONVENIENTES: Para que la comunicación sea efectiva es necesario que el interlocutor
conozca también el sistema Bliss o SPC.
Puede convertirse en una alternativa al lenguaje oral, impidiendo su aprendizaje y
desarrollo.
Es necesario elaborar el tablero con los símbolos, siendo casi siempre necesario
realizarlos manualmente (por ausencia de impresoras que realicen estos símbolos).
EVALUACIÓN DE LOS MÉTODOS LENGUAJE DE SIGNOS, CUEDSPEECH Y BIMODAL.
LENGUAJE DE SIGNOS
Las VENTAJAS son:
Proporciona un medio de comunicación al sujeto con deficiencia auditiva
desde muy temprana edad.
Los signos se aprenden antes que el lenguaje oral y escrito.
Permite el desarrollo lingüístico del niño.
Es fácil de aprender por los padres y educadores.
Los INCONVENIENTES son:
Para algunos autores, no potencia el desarrollo del lenguaje oral.
Son diferentes los signos empleados entre distintas comunidades de deficientes
auditivos.
Hay conceptos o palabras que no pueden ser representados si no es con ayuda
de otros métodos (dactilología).
CUED-SPEECH
Las VENTAJAS, son:
Favorece la discriminación fonética que facilita la lectura labial, y amplía el
vocabulario.
Puede aplicarse desde edades tempranas.
El niño aprende a hablar antes que a leer y escribir, como ocurre con el niño
normoyente.
Al concentrar la atención en los labios, se contribuye a desarrollar la aptitud
para la lectura labio-facial.
La velocidad de articulación de las palabras es casi el doble que con el
lenguaje de signos.
Los INCONVENIENTES,son:
Necesita un programa paralelo para desmutizar al niño.
Demasiada dependencia visual y esfuerzo contínuo de la atención en la cara
del interlocutor.
Dependencia de la palabra complementada para entender a cualquier
interlocutor.
LENGUAJE BIMODAL
Las VENTAJAS, son:
Suponen un uso complementario de dos canales de información , lo que
aumentará y facilitará la comprensión del sujeto.
El INCONVENIENTE, es que no es de carácter universal.
BIBLIOGRAFÍA
BASIL, C Sistemas de Comunicación no Vocal, para niños con disminuciones
físicas. Fundesco. Madrid. 1985.
MARCHESI, A. El desarrollo cognitivo y lingüístico de los niños sordos.
Alianza. Madrid. 1987.
MONFORT, M. Los trastornos de la comunicación en el niño. Cepe. Madrid.
1985.
OWRAN, L. Los símbolos Bliss, una introducción. Mec. Madrid. 1985.
ANEXO TEMA 10
APLICACIÓN DIDÁCTICA DEL TEMA 10
PAUTAS CONCRETAS DE ACTUACIÓN CON UN NIÑO PARALÍTICO
CEREBRAL INTEGRADO EN UNA CLASE DE PREESCOLAR:
ENSEÑANZA DEL BLISS.
Las pautas de actuación irán encaminadas en estos sentidos:
Conseguir una posición adecuada.
Adaptación del material didáctico.
Profesor de Apoyo a la Integración.
Pautas concretas en la enseñanza del Bliss.
ADAPTACIÓN DEL MOBILIARIO ESCOLAR
Mesa: altura, semicírculo cortado, tablas sujeción...
Silla: altura, reposapiés, ruedas, molde....
Petos: cuñas...
ADAPTACIÓN DEL MATERIAL DIDÁCTICO.
Señalizadores: Licornios
Varilla-muñeca
Linterna
Soportes: Tablero
ETRAN
Comunicador.
Todas estas adaptaciones van encaminadas por una parte a posibilitar el acceso físico del niño
a los materiales didácticos que más adelante se exponen, así como a conseguir una posición
corporal que inhiba los movimientos reflejos anormales que caracterizan a los niños con P.C.:
Posturas inhibidoras de reflejos y espasticidades.
Posturas que posibiliten el equilibrio.
Posturas que mantengan erguida la cabeza.
PROFESOR DE APOYO
La presencia de un niño de cinco años con Parálisis Cerebral, en el aula de preescolar, es
posible que necesite del apoyo de otra persona que no sea el tutor de la clase. Una posibilidad
es que el profesor de Apoyo a la Integración o el profesor de Audición y Lenguaje (logopeda)
esté un tiempo determinado en el aula de preescolar atendiendo a ese niño, sobre todo en los
momentos concretos en que se desarrolle el programa de Bliss.
Está claro que estos detalles dependerán de la dotación de personal que hubiese en el centro,
y que la forma de llevar a cabo este trabajo no tendría que ser igual en todos los colegios.
PROGRAMA BLISS
Primer paso
Sería establecer las respuestas SÍ/NO mediante dibujos significativos. Podrían ser:
Un niño coge suavemente a un gato....................SÍ
Un niño coge a un gato por el rabo......................NO
Estos dibujos se harían en la pizarra, cada uno en un extremo, y servirían para iniciar la
comunicación entre los niños “normales” con el niño con P.C.
Cualquier pregunta que se hiciese sería contestada con un movimiento de los ojos, que se
dirigen hacia el dibujo representativo de SÍ o NO.
Más tarde se añadiría a estos dibujos los signos (+) y (-), como una iniciación a la
simbolización.
Segundo paso
Puesta en contacto con los símbolos pictográficos básicos. Estos símbolos serían
siempre en negro y se les añadiría color como ayuda.
Ejemplo: el símbolo “alimento” (círculo con una línea horizontal debajo) se le añadiría un
tenedor y un cuchillo en color a los lados.
Tercer paso
Actividades comunes para todo el grupo de clase:
Plastilina: los niños hacen árboles, barcos, animales...y los emparejan con los
símbolos correspondientes con “churros” de plastilina.
Plantillas: recortamos las formas de los símbolos en cartón.
Murales: al realizarlos, a los objetos más conocidos les colocamos al lado el
símbolo Bliss.
Franelograma: usar los objetos con su símbolo al lado.
Marionetas: pegar a cada personaje el símbolo correspondiente.
Completar fichas: dibujos y símbolos; unir los que correspondan.
Con estas actividades, todos los niños se inician en el sistema Bliss como un juego, se pueden
comunicar con su compañero P.C. y se sientan las bases de la aceptación mutua.
TOPIC 10
ENGLISH ORTHOGRAPHIC CODES. RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN
SOUND AND ORTHOGRAPHY. PROPOSALS FOR THE TEACHING OF
THE WRITTEN CODE. ORTHOGRAPHIC APPLICATIONS IN WRITTEN
PRODUCTIONS.
This unit is about English orthography, how it changes depending on the morphological
functions of words.
The topic is divided into six different sections:
- The first section is a brief introduction.
- The second one is the orthographic codes.
- The third one is the relationship between sound and letter.
- The fourth one is where we are going to talk about different activities to
improve the pupil’s writing.
- The fifth one is the conclusion.
- And the last section is the bibliography.
As an introduction to this topic we can say that English orthographic system
was fixed between the 8th and 9th centuries.
In English there is no a univocal system of orthographic reference for all the
different sounds such as in Spanish. This is due to the evolution of the
phonological system and the evolution of the written system which took place in
different centuries.
The written system took place between 14th and 15th, whereas phonological one
appeared between 18th and 19th.
Now we are going to go on the next point, which deals with spelling codes. I am
going to talk about the main orthographic rules in English, but of course, there
are so many that it would be impossible to remember each one of them.
I will start by these concerning capital letters.
The initial letter of the following cases must be written in capital:
- Days, months and bank holidays.
- People first name and places.
- Mr, Miss, Mrs, Dr.
- Countries, places of origin and language.
- The first written word of tittles in books, films, places, etc, as well as the rest
of initial except prepositions and articles.
I will continue with plural formation. Plural is usually formed by adding –s to
the singular. But there are some cases which must be named:
- When singular words end in –y and when preceded by a consonant will
change to –i and will add –es. ( lady/ ladies). But –y when preceded by a
vowel will just add –s. ( boy/ boys)
- When singular words end in –ch, -sh, -s, -x, -z,-o, in plural formation will
end in –es. ( church / churches). But ending in –o of foreign origin just
adding –s.( piano/pianos)
- Among the words ending in –f, -fe there are three different solutions:
 there are twelve nouns which form their plural by changing –f , -fe to
–ves. ( knife/knives)
 nouns such as scarf, wharf and hoof form their plural just adding
-s, or –ves indistinctively. ( scarfs/ sacarves).
 other words ending in –f, -fe form their plural just adding –s.
(safe/safes).
- There are other nouns which form their plural by means of a vocalic change.
( man /men). (an exception, child/children).
- There are nouns which do not admit any plural feature. Animal species,
(fish).
- To sum up the plural point I will includ all those cases which don’t follow
the rules for several reasons:
 Some words have only singular forms, (news, knowledge)
 Others always have plural form, ( police, glasses, clothes)
 Words ending in –ics, (mathematics). But when they are referred as
sciences they are considered as singular words.
 There are words with plural form but the verb accompanying them is
singular.( news)
- Words of foreign origin.
Greek and Latin words which are kept exactly the same change to plural
according to the rules of the language where they come from.
(terminus/termini).
However, there is an increasing tendency to assimilate those very common
words to the English plural formation. (dogma/dogmas).
Sometimes both forms, that of origin and the English one co-exist, but the
meaning is different. (index/ indexes/ indices)
- Compounds. In compound words is normally the last word the one which
adds the plural form. (armchair/ armchairs).
 If the first part of a compound word is man or woman, both parts will
take plural form. ( men students)
 When compounds words have been formed by prepositions or adverbs
only the first part of the noun takes plural form.(brothers in law)
 When the last part of a compound word is an adjective, the first word
is the one taking plural form. (courts martial)
 Abbreviations may also take plural form. (WIPs)
After having seen plural formation, we are going to look at duplication of final
consonants.
When we add the following endings: -ed, -ing, -er, -est, to a word in order to
form compounds, the final consonant duplicates whenever it is –b, -d, -g, -l, -m,
-n, -p, -r, -t. (rob/ robber)
Nevertheless, there are cases where the consonants don’t duplicate even though
the circunstances stated above are given. (open/ opening).
It is due to the fact that the consonant duplicates only when the accent falls on the last
syllable of the word.
Another item will be the suffix –ly.
The addition of this suffix to an adjective makes it become a manner adverb.
(nice /nicely)
The addiction of this suffix sometimes implies an orthographic change in some
words.
- When a word ends in –y will change to –i. (happy / happily)
- If an adjective ends in –le will change its ending to –ly. ( possible / possibly)
- If the adjective ends in –ic when adding –ly a vowel –a also be added.
( tragic /tragically)
- Exceptions to this rule are: ( truly, publicly)
Now the change of –y to –i. Apart of the rules already stated above, there are
some more changes:
- Whenever any suffix is added to any word ending in –y, it will change to –i .
(hurry / hurried, easy / easier)
- Exceptions, a suffix beginning in –i such as –ism, -ish, -ize, -ing makes –y
be kept. ( boy / boyish). Except ( say/said, lay/laid, pay /paid)
- Words ending in –ie change this ending to –y before –ing. ( die/ dying, lie/
lying).
Another item is numerals.
Hundred, thousand, million, when used as a specific number have no plural
form. ( six hundred people)
However plural must be used when the idea of a large non specific number is
given. ( hundreds of years)
One more orthographic rule in English is weights and measures.
- Ounce, pound and ton take –s when used as nouns. Stone doesn’t take plural.
( two pounds of sugar, my weigh is five stone).
 Numerals never take –s when used as compound adjectives. ( sixpound note).
-Length measures usually take plural –s. ( six inches, two miles). Foot and feet
may be used.
 never these measures change to plural when used as compounds. (a ten
mile walk, a six foot quilt).
One more rule is –e in final position.
- We omit it when adding a suffix beginning with a vowel. ( write/ writing).
This doesn’t happen when the word ends in –ee. ( disagree/ disagreeable).
- When a word ends in –ce and the suffix –ous is added then –e changes to –i.
( vice/ vicious).
- If a suffix beginning with a consonant is added, then –e is kept. ( hope /
hopeful).
- Except in some words: true/ truly, argue/ argument.
Another rule in spelling is the suffix –full.
The suffix –full loses the last consonant when added to a word to form an
adjective. ( beauty/ beautyful).
The original suffix is kept when adverbs from these adjectives are formed.
( beautiful / beautifully).
When the words to which the suffix is added ends in –ll one of them will be
lost. ( skill/ skilful).
-Ise or –ize in final position is another rule.
Both groups –ise, .ize appearing in some English verbs may sometimes be used
indistinctly. ( computerise / computerize).
The written form –ize is preferred but with some exceptions.
- Two syllable words. ( revise, advise).
- The following words.( advertise, improvise, exercise)
- Nevertheless –ise is used more in British English, and –ize is more in
American English.
The last rule we are going to mention is hyphened compouns, but as we said
before there are too much rules that is impossible to explain each one.
- Compound adjectives are usually joined by a hyphen. ( blue-eyed).
- A group of words which are commonly used as adjectives before a noun are
also joined by a hyphen. ( a five-pound note).
- Hyphen is also used in group of words forming a compound whose first
word is the stressed one.
Once having studied some orthographic rules in English we are going to move
onto the next point in the topic which deal with the relationship between sound
and orthography.
Whereas the English written form starts to be fixed during the 8 th and 9th
centuries, the phonological system takes a more or less fixed structure about 18th
and 19th centuries.
This fact makes almost impossible to establish a correct correspondence
between phonemes and letters, in order to have a model to follow both when
writing what we hear and when pronouncing what we read.
When an equivalence is observed and we try to systematise it, exceptions are so
many than it is useless to establish a rule.
Nevertheless, among the very few equivalences we will point out the following:
- At the end of a word and after a vowel, both phonemes /k/ and /tf/ may be
represented by –ck and -tch. ( pack, watch)
- After a consonant or two vowels both phonemes /k/ and /tf/ are usually
represented by –k and –ch.( bank, bench).
- The vocalic phoneme /i:/ is frequently written –ie and in some cases –ei.
( believe, ceiling).
- The consonantal group –gh usually represented the phoneme /f/. Sometimes
it is no pronounced. ( cough, enough). Exception ( although)
- The phoneme /k/ is represented by –ch when it is in between-vowel position.
( headache)
- The letter a is read as /e/ in: any, many.
- The letters ea are read as /e/ in : breakfast, head.
- In other cases the letters ea are pronounced /ei/. (steak).
- The vowel o is pronounced as /^/ in : mother.
- The phoneme /^/ may be also represented by the letters ou: country.
- The letter u is read as /u/: put.
- The phoneme /ai/ corresponds to several different letters: buy, dial.
- There are letters which in particular positions within the word don’t
represented any phoneme, they are not pronounced, ‘ silent letter’.
 L, should, walk.
 T, preceded by s, castle, listen.
 W and K in initial position when following by a consonant: writer,
knife.
 G, sign, campaign.
 Consonants B, N preceded by M, plumber, autumn.
 H, when, where.
 R after a vowel makes the vowel be long, car, iron.
- We can find three-syllable written words, the stress falls on the first one and
the central vowel is not pronounced. ( evening) .
- As far as plurals are concerned, the regular ending is –(e)s has three different
pronunciations:
 After /s/, /z/, /f/, /tf/ and /d3/ the plural ending is –es, which
corresponds with the phoneme /iz/. ( buses).
 After any voiceless phoneme /p/, /f/, /Q/, /t/ and /k/ the plural ending –
(e)s corresponds with the phoneme/s/. (caps).
 After all the vowels and voiced consonants the plural ending –(e)s
correspond with the phoneme /z/. (plays).
 Exceptions to this rule are found in words where the plural ending
affects the pronunciation of the word root.(house).
- Third person singular of the present of verbs and possessive case followed
these rules above.
I should like to say that it is difficult to establish rules for the pronunciation of
words in English that students should learn.
To follow with this topic we are going to analyse some proposals for the
teaching of the written code. And also, orthographic applications in written
productions.
We shall start this section by saying that the pupils to whom we are teaching the
foreign language in the first year are likely to have problems when reading or
writing their own mother tongue. Therefore, introducing them a new writing
code may be confusing for them. We must also consider that in real life they
write very little, even in their mother tongue, that is why we propose that the
students should start by copying words.
Which serves as a starting- point for making this activity enjoyable or boring
and monotonous.
- We can try to avoid it by giving them a card with drawing and card with
words related to these drawings, they only have to combine the words with
the drawings, by copying both in their notebook.
- We can also give them a strip of comics with the chosen words and the
students will have to insert the words in the speaking bubbles of each comic.
Matching pictures to speech bubbles.
- Another activity is called word machines, consisting of obtaining one word
by means of two or more transformations of a previously given word. ( pin
from den).
- We may also ask the students to group the words containing two or more
equal letters in different order.
- We may give them groups of four or five words in which one of them is not
correctly written and they will have to find one and tell why it is incorrect.
- Another rather successful game is called hangman, where we can eliminate
as many elements as we think necessary according to the difficulty of the
words for our student’s level. Similar to this game is the shark with stairs.
- We cam also use crosswords or word games focused on words about a
particular topic. It is useful for warming up and relaxing activities.
- Another game is ‘I spy with my little eye’ which has endless possibilities of
explotation. With good level, make sentences with mistakes and students
have to correct them.
- The well-known game ‘noughts and crosses’ may be adapted to our
orthographic needs.
- We find also very valuable the use of a dictionary. It is convenient to have a
dictionary in the class. Tasks and games in groups or pairs are particularly
useful, that is, when the teacher plays the role of a facilitator. Another
encouraging task for the students is to make their own dictionary where they
can include the vocabulary already studied in class.
- In order to make the students aware of how difficult it is the relationship
between sounds and letters we can also make colleges where to include
drawings referred to a word which they know both the orthography and the
pronunciation and then add a short clue referred to a different word which is
pronounced the same and, however, is written differently.
After having studied some proposals to achieve orthographic rules in English,
we are going to finish the topic with a brief conclusion.
It will be interesting that all these different changes produced must be taught
little by little, and also in an enjoyable way to motivate students, otherwise they
will reject them because they will find them too difficult to be assimilated.
11. LEXICAL AND SEMANTICAL FIELDS OF ENGLISH.
1.INTRODUCTION.
Words are essential to communication. Everybody learns to speak in isolated words
and then we begin to use chains of words and verbs. Students tend to pick up vocabulary first
and then a framework in which these words can be used.
At the same time that students learn vocabulary they must learn phonetics and
grammar.
Usually students have a problem with the vocabulary when they have to use it in a
context and also with words that don’t have the same meaning as in their mother tongue.
For that reason, they must practice to assimilate them.
2.LEXICAL AND SEMANTIC FIELD.
We can identify two groups:
Lexical field: which refers to the formation of words.
Semantic field: which refers to the understanding of words.
3.LEXICAL FIELD.
To understand this subject, first I am going to explain what BASE and STEM are, within the
rules of word-formation.
BASE: is a form to which a rule of word-formation is applied.
STEM: is the part of the word that remaining after every affix has been removed.
For example:
Base
Stem
Friendly
Friend
Friend
Unfriendly
Friendly
Friend
The STEM can be understood as the root of the word and the BASE as the original part from
which a mixture is made. Once a base has undergone a rule of word-formation, the derived word
itself may become the base for another derivation.
For example:
“Unfriendliness”
Friend…………………………………………………… Noun
(Friend)-ly……………………………………………
Noun……………… Adjective
Un-((friend)-ly)………………………………….
Adjective………
Adjective
(Un-((friend)-ly))-ness……………………..
Adjective……...
Noun
The chief processes of English word-formation by which the base may be modified
are:
3.1. Affixation:
a) Prefixation
Adding a prefix to the base: happy---unhappy
-Types of prefixes.
Negative prefixes
Un-: unfair
Reversative prefixes
Dis-: discontent
Pejorative prefixes
Mis-: misinform
Prefixes of degree or size
Super-: supermarket
Prefixes of attitude
Anti-: anti-social
Locative prefixes
Sub-: subway
Prefixes of time and order
Pre-: precaution
Number prefixes
Tri-: trident
Conversion prefixes
En-: endanger
Other Prefixes
Vice-: vicepresident
b) Suffixation
Adding a suffix to the base: happy-----happily
-Types of suffixes.
1. Noun suffixes:
Occupational
-er: gangster
Diminutive or femenine
-ess: waitress
Status
-hood: childhood
Other noun suffixes
-ful: spoonful
Noun/adjectives suffixes
-ese: Chinese
Deverbal suffixes
-er: driver
De-adjectival suffixes
-ee: employee
2. Verb suffixes:
-ify: simplify
-(ize): popularise
-en: sadden
3. Adjective suffixes:
Suffixes added to nouns
-ful: useful
Suffixes common in borrowed and neo-classical words
-ic: Arabic
Other adjective suffixes
-able: readable
4. Adverb suffixes:
-ly: happily
-ward (s): backwards
-wise: weatherwise
3.2. Compound words.
Adding one base to another: tea + pot= teapot.
1. Kinds of composition in the noun:
Subject + verb: playboy
Verb + object: storytelling
Verb + adverbial compounds: sun-bathing
Noun + noun compounds: frogman
Adjectives + noun: blackboard
Bahubrihi compounds: paperback
2. Kinds of composition in the verb:
Back-formation: housekeeper
Verb + adverb: outdo
3. Adjective compounds:
Object + -ing participle: heartbreaking
Verb + adverbial compounds: homemade
Verbless compounds: tax-free
Reduplicatives or repetition compounds: ping-pong
4. SEMANTIC FIELD.
As I have said, the semantic field refers to the understanding of words (homonyms,
synonyms and antonyms).
4.1.
Homonymy and Polysemy.
Homonymy is when a single word has different meanings not closely related.
For example:
File - a box for keeping papers in order
- a tool for smoothing surfaces
- a line of persons or things one behind the other
We can find two classes of homonymy:
1. Homophones: are the words that show identity of pronunciation: “no”---“know”
2. Homographs: are the words that have the same spelling: “saw (noun)”----“saw
(verb)”
- Homomorph is the term to refer to those words which share the same morphological
form, the same stem. This concept is relevant to grammar: fast (adjective)—fast
(adverb).
And, Polysemy is when a word has several different but closely related meanings.
For example:
Branch - of a tree
- family
- railway line…
4.2.
Synonymy.
Synonymy is the relationship between words that mean exactly the same. It is a semantic
relation.
For example:
Foggy---Misty
Fiddle----Violin
4.3.
Antonymy.
Antonymy is when a word is opposite in meaning to another. For example: better--worst
a) Complementaries: words that are incompatibles and there is no possibility of a
third lying between them: true---false
b) Multiple Incompatibles: Days, seasons, months… “It’s Monday” excludes all
other the days.
c) Gradable Antonyms: There are intermediate terms between them: hot/ warm/
cool/ cold.
d) Converses: The words are reciprocal: husband---wife // father---son.
5. FALSE FRIENDS.
We call false friend to a word that is similar to another in our language.
For instance, Spanish students must pay attention to Latin fields because they may
change:
“Success”---éxito, not “suceso”
“Contamination”----infección, not “contaminación”----“pollution”
6. TEACHING VOCABULARY.
To learn vocabulary words, the teacher should pronounce the new item, in association
to the orthographic realization of the same and also to teach it meaning.
The teacher also has to use the new word on a context to help students assimilate this
word with its meaning.
After this, student must try to use the new item, inserting it in a context they think
suitable to use it.
Finally, the student should use this word as many time as possible to fix it in their
minds.
There are some techniques in vocabulary teaching that may help 2.82.72.127students.
These are the followings:
a) The use of visuals
Flashcards; blackboard; transparencies; “clock board”; labels; magazine pictures; props;
colour coding; classroom objects; posters…
b) The use of gestures
Students can gesture when describing adjectives as tall,…
c) The use of known vocabulary
The teacher can use synonyms and antonyms; categories; definitions… to explain the
new meanings.
7. CONCLUSION.
There are many different methods to teach vocabulary. These methods depend on the
level of the students and on the types of items we want to teach them.
However, as the students advance in their learning process, their needs become more
and more important. For that reason, we must study which are the most common fields that
they would like to deal with in the class.
THEME 11 : LEXICAL AND SEMANTIC FIELDS OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE.
LEXICON REQUIRED FOR THE SOCIALIZATION, INFORMATION AND
EXPRESSION OF ATTITUDES. TYPES OF ACTIVITIES JOINED TO THE TEACHING
AND LEARNING OF LEXICON IN THE FOREIGN LANGUAGE.
The first thing a child does in his/her Mother Tongue, once he/she has carried out the
emission of sound stage, is to say words, isolated words but with meaning. They are
connected with the world around him/her and are probably those with which the child has a
narrow relationship. According to the increase of his/her perception and knowledge of the
reality, his/her vocabulary also increases.
So, in order to establish which vocabulary can have MORE INTEREST for our students´
learning, we must take into account the world they live in and the purpose they have when
they learn a Foreign Language, with the purpose of being a SIGNIFICANT
VOCABULARY for them.
It must be a vocabulary for COMMUNICATION, based on the child or being specially
interesting to him/her.
So, vocabulary is an important factor in all language teaching : students must continually
be learning words at the same time they learn Grammar and Phonetics.
Presenting new words is only the first step in the process of language learning, and
students must remember them and make them part of their own vocabulary. But sometimes it
is quite difficult because there are SOME PROBLEMS that do not allow the acquisition
process to be easier :
 On the one hand, some of the words taught in Foreign Language lessons occur naturally
in sequence : days of the week, numbers, etc… and these series are easily memorized,
but the problem arises when students have to use them out of the sequence.
 On the other hand, some similar words or COGNATES facilitate the learning of new
words ; some of them are “True cognates”, it is, their meaning is more or less equivalent
in both languages (ex., “real” = “real” ), and some of them are “False cognates”, which
lead students to confusion (ex., “Actually” means “en realidad”, not “actualmente” ). In
the first case they are easy to remember, but in the second case we have to help our
students.
 Another problem arises when the words in the Mother Tongue and in the Foreign
Language do not cover the same area of meaning. There are words in the Target
Language which do not make distinctions that the Foreign Language does (ex., “trip,
travel, journey,…”). These distinctions imply that there is a change in the way of
viewing reality and, therefore, this change must be learnt too.
In order to remember this vocabulary better, it can be connected in groups which have a
common element: a topic, semantic associations, or the formal relations used to form
derivations of these words ; when words are associated this way, we call it “SEMANTIC
FIELDS” or “WORD FAMILIES”, and when the connectors are the formal relations they
form LEXICAL FIELDS.
At the same time we should look for general centres of our students´ interests so that we
could choose the most suitable vocabulary for those settings, which could be the following
ones :
-Informal conversations with the classmates.
-Descriptions of objects, persons or animals.
-Interviews.
-Telephone calls.
-Children´s stories, etc…
So, OUR MAIN TASK is to provide our pupils with a series of resources that help them
to have independence when they have to communicate in a Foreign Language. The use of
these resources will make their vocabulary, more or less limited, be increased in a way that
does not require a lot of effort.
The first step consists of making our students be aware of that in English there is the
same possibility as in their Mother Tongue to form new words by means of the following
TECHNIQUES :
1.CONVERSION
2.AFFIXATION
3.COMPOUNDING
1. CONVERSION
It is a process in which an item is adapted or converted to a new word-class without
the addition of a suffix.
The most common are the following :
a) Verb to noun conversion. Ex., “to love” —> “love”
b) Adjective to noun conversion. Ex., “a daily newspaper” —> “a daily”
c) Noun to verb conversion. Ex., “bottle” —> “to bottle”
d) Adjective to verb conversion. Ex., “a brick garage” —> “the garage is brick”.
2. AFFIXATION
In this group we include :
a.) PREFIXES, which do not generally alter the word-class of the base. Examples :
1. Negative prefixes : “un-“ , “in-“ , “il(l)-“ ,...
Ex., unfair, inhuman, illogical.
2. Prefixes of Degree/Size : “super-“, “under-“,…
Ex., superman, undercook.
3. Pejorative prefixes : “mal-“ , “pseudo-“,...
Ex., pseudoscientific, maltreat.
4. Number prefixes : “uni-“ , “bi-“ , …
Ex., unisex, bicycle.
5. Prefixes of Time/Order : “pre-“, “post-“, “ex-“,…
Ex., pre-war, ex-president.
6. Prefixes of Attitude : “co-“, “anti-“,…
Ex., co-education, anti-war.
7. Locative prefixes : “sub-“ , “inter-“,…
Ex., subway, interplay.
8. Etc…
b.)SUFFIXES, which frequently alter the word-class of the base. Examples :
1. Verb to noun suffixes : “-er” , “-ing”,…
Ex., driver, painting.
2. Adjective to noun suffixes : “-ness”, “-ity”,…
Ex., happiness, diversity.
3.
Noun to adjective suffixes : “-ist”, “-y”,…
Ex., masochist, hairy.
4. Noun to noun suffixes : “-hood” , “-ship”,…
Ex., boyhood, friendship.
5. Adjective suffixes. There are some adjective suffixes for which it is
impossible to specify a particular meaning, that is, their semantic
functions are extremely varied. Ex., “-ive”, “-able”, “-al”, etc...,
such as in “explosive, criminal or acceptable”.
6. Etc…
3. COMPOUNDING
A compound is a unit consisting of 2 or more bases.
Ortographically, compounds are written :
b.)
SOLID : in 1 word. Ex., “bedroom”, ”headache”, “hangman”,…
c.)
HYPHENATED : Ex., “tax-free”, “sister-in-law”,…
d.)
OPEN : Ex., “reading material”, “television screen”, “navy blue”,…
Phonologically, they have got a MAIN STRESS on the first element
SECONDARY STRESS on the second one.
Ex., ´bed,room .
and
a
Semantically, they can be seen to be isolated from ordinary syntactic constructions by
having a meaning which may be related to but cannot simply be inferred from the meaning of
its parts.
Compounds may be :
1.- Reduplicative , which are compounds with 2 or more elements that are identical or only
slightly different, such as “knock-knock”, “tick-tock”,…
2.- Clipping , which implies the substraction of 1 or more syllables from a word, which is
also available in its full form, such as “phone” (telephone), “exam”
(examination), “ad” (advertisement), …
3.- Blend , in which, at least, 1 of the elements is fragmentary when compared to its
corresponding word for, such as “Interpol” (International Police), Eurovision
(European Television), …
4.- Acronyms , which are words formed from the initial letters of words that make up a
descriptive or a proper name, such as “FBI” (Federal Bureau of
Investigation), UFO (Unidentified Flying Object), …
Up till now we have made reference to word-formation, which is going to be useful for
our students in order to establish relationships between new words and the previous known
ones.
*At Primary School we know the vocabulary presented to our students must be related
to their necessities and world around them such as the family, animals, toys, etc…and we also
know we must provide them with the Linguistic and Non-linguistic strategies to favour the
INTERACTION WITH THE OTHERS through, for example :
-simple greetings : “Good morning. How are you?”,…
-social English : “Have a nice weekend”,…
-asking for permission : “Can I go to the toilet, please?”,…
-communicative strategies : “Sorry, I don´t understand”,…
So, it is a very important point for us to bear in mind that we have to help children relate
the new vocabulary and expressions they are learning in the foreign language to their lives, it
is, they must realize that if they are learning, for instance, the members of the family, it is
going to be useful for them to get information about their classmates´ families and vice versa
too; we mean that new words are learnt, not only to do the activities in the book or to pass a
test, but to favour their SOCIALIZATION, to know their classmates better, and to exchange
INFORMATION about their feelings, needs, interests, lives, etc… So it is very important the
GROUP WORK in the English class.
But, as well as these FEATURES, when teaching new vocabulary, we have also to take
into account :
a. The students´ needs. It is very useful to study in depth which are the most common fields
that the children would like to deal with in class. These fields will depend very much on
the students´ age, social background, interests and hobbies, etc…
b. The frequence of the item, because it is not very useful to keep on teaching new words
which are NOT frequently used.
c. The time we have at our disposal to teach new vocabulary.
d. The students´ conditions to learn new words, such as phonological problems, difficulties
for memorizing, etc…
e. The lack of materials such as dictionaries, TV, flashcards,…
f. And the Receptive and Productive Vocabulary. The first kind comprises the words
students recognize but which are not mostly used; the second type are the words which are
mostly used by them. For example, the Receptive vocabulary is “pullover and sweater”
and the Productive one could be only “jumper”.
We know that just telling the students the expressions and mechanisms of the Foreign
Language does NOT make them learn. Whenever we do an activity for pupils to learn certain
vocabulary we must try, in the first place, that this vocabulary is presented in REAL
SITUATIONAL or LINGUISTIC SETTING that let them guess the meaning; on the other
hand, new words and expressions must be always presented in an ORAL WAY to avoid pupils
getting wrong conclusions about their pronunciation when they see the written form.
After this, students must try to use the new items productively, that is, to insert the
words in a context they think suitable to use it. This is the best way to make them understand
all the different meanings that the new words have, since they always relate the meaning of
these items in the Foreign Language with the possible meanings that these words may have in
their Mother Tongue.
The classroom is where the most of the students´ interactions take place, and we know
these communicative exchanges are not always spontaneous, it is, they are started, guided and
controlled by the teacher, and the main reason could be that pupils do not receive from the
very beginning of the Teaching and Learning process the necessary linguistic and nonlinguistic strategies or resources to do that on their own.
*There are many different methods to teach vocabulary. They depend… :
-on the one hand, on the linguistic level that the students already have.
-and, on the other hand, on the type of items we want to teach them.
But, in broad outlines, some of the TECHNIQUES or ACTIVITIES we can present to
children in order to help them develop their autonomous learning of lexicon little by little
could be the following ones :
1. In order
to INTRODUCE new vocabulary :
A. Using objects, because as much of the vocabulary at this educative stage consists of
concrete nouns, so introducing a new word by showing the real object often helps them
memorize it better.
B. Using flashcards or transparencies with the picture and the written form of the new item.
C. Drawings, that is, objects can be drawn on the blackboard or in their notebooks.
D. Mime, gestures,…may be used for certain descriptive adjectives, prepositions of place,
action verbs, etc…
E. Songs are another way of introducing new vocabulary. There is a great variety of them
we may use in class with this purpose :
-Songs that deal with certain topics: the colours, the family, etc…
-Songs to move their bodies.
-Songs to work rhythm, stress and intonation.
-Songs to repeat a certain structure.
-Etc…
F. Synonyms and Antonyms, what let pupils associate the new word with a concept they
already know.
G. Guessing the meaning from context. This meaning can be obtained by means of the
relation with the pictures, the orthographic or pronunciation similarities with their mother
tongue.
H. Names of categories can also be taught verbally if the students know some names of
items that belong within a particular category. Ex., “Tennis/Football/Baseball/Basketball/
… is a sport”
I.
Etc…
J.
Translation, if none of those techniques works. The use or the avoidance of the Mother
Tongue is a matter that must be decided by each individual teacher according to his/her
group´s characteristics: some students at the elementary levels feel more comfortable
when they mentally relate the new words with a native equivalent, but other students like
to discover the meaning of the new items that have been explained without the resource
of the Native Language and they feel very proud of their discovery.
In any case, it must be minimized in the classroom.
2.Once we have presented the vocabulary, the following step is to give the students the
opportunity to PRACTISE it in suitable real contexts within the classroom. Some of the
techniques we may use are the following :
A. Games, such as :
-“Kim´s game” .
-“Dominoes” or “Bingo”.
-Memory games, such as:
. “Chinese Whisper” (the Spanish “Juego del Teléfono”).
. “I went to the market” (in which a child starts saying, “I went to the market and I
bought potatoes”, then the next student adds a word and says, “I went to the market
and I bought potatoes and tomatoes”, and so on).
- Etc…
B. Matching words to pictures.
C. Making handicrafts, slides, puppets, etc… related to the new vocabulary worked out in the
class.
D. Colour coding is another technique which help students to associate the new concepts that
they are learning to what they already know, so it is easier for them to remember new
words. For instance, we may associate the “yellow” colour with nouns, the “red” colour
with verbs, and so on using coloured discs, or coloured symbols, etc...
E. Labelling pictures with the right word.
F. Picture dictation, in which the teacher gives instructions focusing on specific vocabulary.
Ex., “Draw a red table/pencil/cat…”.
G. Ordering a text, in which we have a text and we cut it into stripes; then we hand them out
to pupils for making the text up.
H. Etc…
3.Many children learn new words relatively quickly, but they also forget them quickly.
Once vocabulary has been introduced and practised, some techniques may be used to
CONSOLIDATE and REVISE it, such as :
A. Picture dictionaries/Vocabulary books created by the own student.
We can organize these alphabetically or by topics. It is useful to use a ring-folder so they
can add new pages when necessary. Pupils collect or draw pictures to illustrate the
meaning of a word and write the name below.
B. Collages or Posters, in which students collect pictures or photos around a topic, then they
stick them on to a large sheet of cardpaper and write their names. These posters or
collages are an element to remember the vocabulary that has been learnt and, at the same
time, they can be used to decorate the classroom walls.
C. Word families/sets with pictures coloured and labelled. They are kept into envelopes
which can be labelled too, for example, “Clothes” , “Fruit”, etc… and may be used, from
time to time, as games to revise it.
D. Games, such as “Pictionary”, etc…
*We could conclude that, starting from our class´ characteristics, we will select which
vocabulary and which of the previous techniques explained are the most suitable and useful.
The use of varied resources and materials will encourage children and will make the
English lessons be more effective and pleasant, which is very important if we want to create a
suitable atmosphere in the class and to develop our students´ motivation.
THEME 11
LEXICAL AND SEMANTIC FIELDS IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE.
NECESSARY LEXICON FOR SOCIALISATION, INFORMATION
AND EXPRESSING ATTITUDES. TYPOLOGY OF ACTIVITIES
TIED TO TEACHING AND LEARNING VOCABULARY IN THE
CLASSROOM.
1. Introduction.
2. Lexical and semantic fields in the English language.
2.1. Meaning.
2.2. Word formation.
3. Necessary lexicon for socialisation, information and expressing
attitudes.
3.1. Socialisation.
3.2. Information.
3.3. Expressing emotional attitudes.
3.4. Expressing intellectual attitudes.
4. Typology of activities tied to teaching and learning vocabulary in the
classroom.
4.1. Teaching vocabulary.
4.2. Activities.
4.3. The importance of dictionary.
5. Bibliography.
1. INTRODUCTION.
An ability to manipulate grammatical structure does not have any potential
for expressing meaning unless words are used. We talk about the importance of
“choosing your words carefully” in certain situation, but we are less concerned
about choosing structures carefully. Then structural accuracy seems to be the
dominant focus. In real life, however, it is even possible that where vocabulary is
used correctly it can cancel out structural inaccuracy.
For many years vocabulary was seen as incidental to the main purpose of
language teaching - namely the acquisition of grammatical knowledge about the
language. Vocabulary was necessary to give students something to hang on to
when learning structures, but was frequently not a main focus for learning itself.
Recently methodologists and linguists have increasingly been turning their
attention to vocabulary, stressing its importance in language teaching and
reassessing some of the ways in which it is taught and learnt. Teachers should
have the same kind of expertise in the teaching of vocabulary as they do in the
teaching of structure.
2. LEXICAL AND SEMANTIC FIELDS IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE.
There are a vast number of words that are not found everywhere,
words that are restricted to a particular country or to a particular part
of the country. Attending the lexical and semantic fields, there are a
great number of varieties. We can emphasise regional and colloquial
varieties.
Regional dialect words have every right to be included in an English
vocabulary count. They are English words even if they are used only in a
single locality. But no one knows how many there are. Most regional
vocabulary -especially that used in cities - is never recorded. There must
be thousands of distinctive words inhabiting such areas as Brooklyn, the
East End of London, San Francisco,... none of which has ever appeared in
any dictionary.
The more colloquial varieties of English, and slang in particular, also
tend to be given inadequate treatment. In dictionary writing, the
traditional has been to take material only from the written language, and
this has led to the compilers concentrating on educated, standard forms.
They commonly leave out non- standard expressions, such as everyday
slang and obscenities, as well as the slang of specific social groups and
areas, such as the army, sport, public school, banking or medicine.
1.1. Meaning.
The first thing to realise about vocabulary items is that they
frequently have more than one meaning.
When we come across a word and try to decipher its meaning we will
have to look at the context in which it is used. Sometimes words have
meanings in relation to other words. Thus students need to know the
meaning of “vegetable” as a word to describe any one of a number of
other things (cabbages, carrots,...) We understand the meaning of a word
like “good” in the context of a word like “bad”. Words have “opposites”
(antonyms) and synonyms.
What a word means can be change, stretched or limited by how it is
used and this is something students need to know about.
Word meaning is frequently stretched through the use of
“metaphor” and “idiom”. We know that the word “hiss” for example,
describes the noise that snakes make. But we stretch its meaning to
describe the way people talk to each other.
Word meaning is also governed by collocation - that is which word go
with each other. In order to know how to use the word “sprained” we
need to know that whereas we can say “sprained ankle”, “sprained wrist”,
we cannot say “sprained rib”.
We often use words in certain social and topical context. What we
say is governed by the style and register we are in. If you want to tell
someone you are angry you will choose carefully between the neutral
expression of this fact “I’m angry” and the informal version “I’m really
pissed off”. The later would certainly seem rude to listeners in certain
contexts. At a different level we recognise that the two doctors talking
about an illness will talk in a different register than one of them who then
talks to the patient in question, who has never studied medicine.
Students need to recognise metaphorical language use and they
need to know how words collocate. They also need to understand what
stylistic and topical contexts words and expressions occur in.
2.2. Word formation.
Words can change their shape and their grammatical value too.
Students need to know facts about word formation and how to twist
words to fit different grammatical contexts.
Students also need to know how suffixes and prefixes work. There
are over 100 common prefixes and suffixes in English.
Another important technique is to join two words together to make
a different word, a compound, as in blackbird, shopkeeper and frying-pan.
Note that the meaning of a compound isn’t simply found by adding
together the meaning of its parts. Also not that compounds aren’t always
written as single words.
3. NECESSARY LEXICON FOR SOCIALIZATION, INFORMATION AND
EXPRESSING ATTITUDES.
The purpose of language is to communicate, whether with others by
talking and writing or with ourselves by thinking. In verbal communication, six
main categories within the functions of language can be distinguished:
Ÿ Communicating and searching for information based of facts.
Ÿ Expressing and finding out emotional attitudes.
Ÿ Expressing and finding out moral attitudes.
Ÿ Expressing and finding out intellectual attitudes.
Ÿ Telling someone to do something (persuasion)
Ÿ Socialising.
This list of functions is not exhaustive. First of all, it is difficult to make a
complete list. Secondly, the list represent a list contemplated for the “threefold
level”. More functions can be added at higher levels.
3.1. Socialisation.
Our aim in teaching English is enable students to use the language in real
life and to develop his/her communicative competence. We are going to see now,
at a elementary level, the necessary lexicon and structures to develop social
relations.
Ÿ To greet people:
Hello, Good morning. Nice to see you...
Ÿ When meeting people:How are you? I’m fine, thanks. What about you?
Ÿ Introducing and being introduced: My name is... Have you met...?
Ÿ When leaving:
Good bye. See you later. Good night.
Ÿ Asking for things:
Can you give me...? Could you lend me...?
Ÿ Requesting others to do something: Could you ..., please?
Ÿ Expressing sympathy: I’m sorry. That’s too bad. what a shame!
Ÿ Apologising:
I’m sorry about ...gerund.
Ÿ Congratulating:
Congratulations. I’m glad! That’s wonderful!
Ÿ Offering things:
Ÿ
Ÿ
Ÿ
Ÿ
Ÿ
Do you want...? Would you like...? Do you fancy...
gerund?
Offering to do sth: Do you want me to...? Shall I...?
Asking for permission: May I...? Do you mind if I...?
Inviting:
Would you like to...?
Agreeing to meet:
I’ll see you... Let’s meet...
Thanking:
Thank you/ Thanks.
3.2. Information
Information also implies its transmission.
Halliday divides this function into two: the logical function and the
experience function. The latter is used to communicate ideas and the former
relates these, places them on the same level or on a subordinate level.
Affirmative sentences are used to give information and questions to ask
for information.
Ÿ Personal identification:
-Name: What’s your name? I’m...
-Address and telephone number: Where do you live?
-Date and place of birth, age and nationality: Where was he born? Where are
you from?
-Jobs, family, character, physical appearance: What does he do? How many
brothers have you got? What’s he like? What does she look like?
Ÿ Reporting, Describing, Narrating: What happened? I came...
Ÿ Correction: You’ve never been in Liverpool!
Ÿ Asking: Where do you spend...? Who’s your favourite...?
In English we have also the direct or indirect speech, and the question
tags as special structures for giving and receiving information.
3.3. Expressing emotional attitudes.
It’s important to establish some general objectives bearing in mind that
our students possess this affective ability. These are mainly:
-To benefit from the new language.
-To find enjoyment in the new language.
-To discover a new form of communication.
-To discover a new source of diversion.
Ÿ Feelings:
-Pleasure: What fun! I love watching...
-Displeasure:
I hate homework. I don’t like washing up.
-Satisfaction:
I’m so pleased you have come.
-Disappointment: What a pity! You’ve missed the party.
-Preference:
I prefer skating to skiing.
-Gratitude: Thanks!
Ÿ Wishes:
-Want, desire:
I would like to have long hair.
-Polite request:
Would you mind picking up my suitcases?
-Offering to help: Shall I help you downstairs?
-Request for oneself: May I borrow your classnotes?
-Making requests: May I have a glass of water?
Ÿ Intentions:
-Explaining intentions: I’m going to work hard this term.
-Persuading: Oh, come Tom! You will enjoy the party a lot.
-Making plans: Let us meet at 6’30 in the post office.
-Promises: I will be there.
-Asking about intention: What are you going to do?
3.4. Expressing intellectual attitudes.
A very important group of communicative functions is the one which serve
to express intellectual attitudes that are developed by means of a huge and
complex series of specific structures and lexicon.
Ÿ Expressing agreement and disagreement: I agree with you. I don’t think so.
Ÿ Inquiring about agreement and disagreement: Do you think so?
Ÿ Denying something: No, I never go there.
Ÿ Accepting or denying an offer or invitation: Thank you. All right.
Ÿ Offering to do something: Can I help you?
5. BIBLIOGRAPHY.
Billows F.L. The Techniques of Language Teaching (Longman 1977)
Bright H.A. McGregor. Teaching English as a second language (Longman
1970)
Doff A. Teach English (Cambridge University Press 1988)
Harmer J. The Practice of English Language Teaching.
Widowson H.G. Teaching Language as Communication (Oxford University
Press 1988).
TOPIC 11. LEXICAL AND SEMANTIC FIELDS IN ENGLISH. SOCIALIZATION,
INFORMATION AND ATTITUDE EXPRESSION VOCABULARY, ACTIVITIES
USED IN TEACHING AND LEARNING VOCABULARY IN THE FOREIGN
LANGUAGE CLASSROOM.
INTRODUCTION
In this topic we will go into detail some aspects of semantics (study of meaning in
language). The unit of semantics is the lexeme or lexical item.
We will discuss how vocabulary is organized, the vocabulary needed to express common
communicative functions and some activities that we can use in learning and teaching
vocabulary.
There are several ways of organizing lexemes. We can study also the paradigmatic
relationships.
We will now focus on lexical and semantic items.
2. LEXICAL AND SEMANTIC FIELDS IN ENGLISH
2.1. Lexical / Semantic fields
Semantic or lexical fields can be defined as semantically related groups. The words of a
language can be classified into sets which are related to conceptual fields and divide up
the semantic space: feeling, possession, perception, speech, existence.
2.2. Sense relationships
They are the internal organising principle that creates lexical fields. There are two types:
• syntagmatic relationships: are the relationship on the horizontal axis when two items
are often used together e.g. rural life, green area, dark, hair..
• Paradigmatic relationships: are the relationships on the vertical axis. We can find
several types:
a)
Synonymy /sinonimi/: it should be noted (es importante decir) synonymy is not
frecuent in the language. They are groups of words that share a general sense and
so may be interchangeable in a limited numbers of contexts. e.g. die (morir), pass
away (pasar al otro mundo)
b)
Antonymy: antonymy is the relationship of oppositeness of meaning.
 Non-gradable or ungradable antonyms, are mutually exclusive, eg.
alive/dead, male/female...
 Gradable antonyms permit the expression of degree, e.g. big/small,
cold/hot. And the comparative (warm, cool, chilly, cold).
 Converses denote a reciprocal relationship: one term presupposes the
other (family and social relation- e.g. parent/child...)
2.3.
c)
Hyponymy: it is the relationship of inclusion in that the meaning of the general
term (superordinate) is included in the meaning of the specific term e.g.
flower/rose, colour/blue, season (superordinate)/winter (hyponymy).
d)
Incompatibility: exclusive members of the same superordinate category are
referred to as incompatibles, e.g. winter/summer. Relationship between
hyponymyns.
Componential analysis
Consists of breaking down the lexical items within the same semantic field into their
constituent parts in order to examine the similarities and differences between them.
-
SOCIALIZATION,
VOCABULARY
INFORMATION
AND
ATTITUDE
EXPRESSION
In this section we will deal with the vocabulary our students need to express themselves
with fluency in common situations.
3.1. Socialization vocabulary
It is the vocabulary used to introducing ourselves. In socialization we will study the
language related to:
a) Greetings:
 Introducing oneself and being introduced:
This vocabulary is used when people meet for the fist time.
- Hello, I’m / Hello my name is...
- Pleased to meet you (formal) / Nice to meet you (informal)

Social abbreviations: Mr, Mrs, Miss, Ms, Sir, Lady...
 Greeting people:
- Hello / Good morning (formal)/ morning (informal)
- Good night (formal) / Night - night (for children)
 Saying goodbye:
- Good bye / bye / See you later
 Congratulating:
- Well done / congratulations
 Seasonal greetings:
- Happy birthday! / Merry Christmas!
b) Expressing good wishes:
- Have a good time / day / Enjoy yourself
c)
Inviting:
- Can / could I see you tonight? What time is good for you?
- Would you like to come round for dinner on Saturday?
d) Thanking:
-Than you / thank you very much/ thanks a lot
e) Apologizing:
- I?m sorry / sorry / I?m terribly sorry about that....
f) Expressing symphaty:
- What a pity / I?m sorry / How terrible!...
g) Offering to do something:
- Do you want me to ... ? / Shall I .....?
3. 2. Information vocabulary
Typical structures to give or get information
A) Asking for and giving information
a) Information about oneself: name (what’s your name?), origin, Nationality, date of birth,
address, telephone numbwer, age, mental status, job, family,..
b) Information about the time: What time is it? / what’s the time?
c) Information about physical cahracteristics: What does he look like? He is tall...
d) Information about prizes: How much is this book? / It is 5 pounds
B) Describing someone / something
Our pupils must learn to describe people and common places
- Declarative sentences: It is ... , It has ...
- Adjectives
- Prepositions
- Vocabulary: colours, sizes, materials, weight, etc..
C) Narrating
We can list the elementos that are essential for narration
- Verbal tenses
- Link (Connectors) (then, afterwards, later, so...)
D) Asking for an opinion
- What do you think about...? / I think ... What about you? /
- How do you feel about?
E) Clarifying
- I mean / in fact / in other words
F) Asking for clarification
- Pardon? / Could you repeat that? / Say that again, please / What do you mean by..?
3.3. Attitude expression vocabulary
A) Intellectual attitudes
a) Expressing agreement and disagreement:
-agreement: I share your opinion / I agree / That’s just what I think / That’s all
b) Expressing opinions:
- In my opinion / I believe / If you ask me / From my oint of view
c) Expressing certainly / uncertainly:
- Certainly: I am sure / I certainly think.
- Doubt: Maybe / Perhaps / I wonder if...
- Uncertainly: I don’t know if they are well / I’m not sure if they are well
d) Expressing possibility and impossibility:
- It is possible that... / It is impossible that... / They may be in July by now ...
e) Expressing obligation:
- I must begin working now (internal obligation)
- you have to be here by five again (external obligation)
f) Expressing approval / disapproval:
- I approve of ... / you are right in..
- I’m apposed to ... / I object to / I strongly disapprove of...
B) Emotional attitudes
a) Expressing a feeling:
- Likes and dislikes: I like / I love fish / I enjoy / I am ford of / I hate
I dislike / I can’t stand / I am tired of ..
- Sadness: I really feel down today / I am under the weather
- Indifference: I don’t care at all
- Surprise: This is a surprise / It is surprising / How amazing / What a surprise..
- Hope: I hope so / I expect to come tonight
- Fear: I’m afraid of exams
- Gratefulness: thank you very much
b) Expressing intention:
- I’m going to + infinitive (intention to do something)
- I intend to come back on Sunday
right
4. ACTIVITIES USED IN TEACHING AND LEARNING VOCABULARY IN THE
FOREIGN LANGUAGE CLASSROOM
There are three crucial factors in vocabulary learning:
1) Once the teacher has introduced the new lexical item, h/s should provide the students
enough opportunities to bring the item into active meaningful use.
2) The lexical items taught should be relevant to the learners’ needs and interests.
3) In introducing vocabulary, the teacher should use visual aids. Visual back up is very
important to help convey meaning and to help pupils memorize new words. (Flash cards,
photos, realia, mime...)
ACTIVITIES
a) Activities to practise language structures or patterns in context:
- Memorizing short dialogues / role plays / making dialogues with a similar
structure, e.g. to do a menu, timetable....
b) Activities using the dictionary:
- Matching with their word definitions / looking up homophones
c) Activities based on semantic fields. Activities based on diagrams:
-e.g.: pupils must complete a diagram with different types of adjectives related to
-hair (colour) (type)...
-e.g. : Which word do not belong in their groups? (for example words related to food)
- The students are provided with a list of words. They have to draw a diagram
- Odd man out (one word is different): Tick the word which does not belong in a
series.
- Sequencing activities: Sutdents have to put a series of words rin the appropiate place
on the cline, ladder, scale....e.g. bad, good, terrible, quite good, horrible, so-so, awful,
fabulous, great
d) Activities based on antonyms.:
-matching antonyms, giving antonyms, antonym card game (complete pair of
antonyms)
e) Activities based on pictures:
-Matching or labelling objects / Narrative based on pictures
f) Multiple choice activities
g) Games: Guessing games / Crosswords / word bingo / a word begining with...
5. SUMMARY
In this topic we have expounded the different ways in which lexemes can be organised:
semantic or lexical fields, sense relationships and componential analysis
We have then presented the vocabulary our pupils need to communicate with others in
habitual situations. We have grouped this vocabulary into socialization vocabulary,
information vocabulary and attitude expression vocabulary.
In last section of the topic we have suggested various types of vocabulary activities.
REFERENCES:
-
Byrne, D. Teaching writing skills. Longman. London (1988)
Hallyday, M.A.K. Functional Grammar. Arnold. London. (1982)
Materiales para la Reforma. Primaria. MEC. Madrid (1992)
SUBJECT 11. CAMPOS LÉXICOS Y SEMÁNTICOS EN LA LENGUA
INGLESA. LÉXICO NECESARIO PARA LA SOCIALIZACIÓN, LA
INFORMACIÓN Y LA EXPRESIÓN DE ACTITUDES. TIPOLOGÍA DE
ACTIVIDADES LIGADAS A LA ENSEÑANZA Y EL APRENDIZAJE DEL
LÉXICO EN LA CLASE DE LENGUA EXTRANJERA.
INTRODUCTION
Traditionally, the teaching of a foreign language has focused on the teaching and
learning of grammar as well as of vocabulary. The first thing children do in their
mother tongue, once they are able to, is to say words. These words will be isolated, they
won’t say sentences, but they are words which come from their surrounding and which
have meaning anyway. At the same time that the children are more aware of reality,
they learn more and more words.
In the process of learning a foreign language, the teacher must take into account the
natural process of language learning. The 4 skills are naturally acquired in the
following order: LISTENING, SPEAKING, READING and WRITING . Therefore it
seems to be quite logical to learn a foreign language in the same way.
However, as it was mentioned above, the teaching of a foreign language has been always
based on both grammar and vocabulary aspects. The reason for this is that a child that
can already read and write in his/her own language would feel frustrated if he/she could
only produce isolated words.
LEXICAL AND SEMANTIC FIELDS
Choosing which vocabulary of the foreign language should be taught is not easy.
Throughout the history of the teaching of foreign language there have been 2 basic
trends trying to select the most adequate vocabulary:
 The first of them was based on the frequency of use . This means there are words
which are used more frequently than others due to determined circumstances. Some
works have been published, trying in an attempt to show the most frequently used
words in written English.
 The second trend is based on the fact that there are some words that are more
necessary than others due to their direct relationship with learning aims. It is very
difficult to establish which words are necessary and which words are not because
many different factors and realities can vary the criteria. That is why the teacher
has to take into account the students’ world and interests. As well as this , the
vocabulary cannot be presented in isolation but within real situations or linguistic
contexts. This will facilitate both comprehension and production. The important
factor is that they are useful words for communication. Thus teachers should look
for these ‘interesting’ contexts, for instance:
a) informal conversations with classroom mates
b) phone calls
c) children stories
d) instructions for the functioning and organisation of the classroom, house ,
work... .
e) descriptions of objects, people or animals
f) jokes and games
g) interviews
h) penfriends
It is easier to learn vocabulary when it is possible to associate it in some way. There
are 2 important ways of relating words:
1. On the one hand, when they are related by means of semantic associations,
that is, with their meaning, we say that they are related through semantic
fields. E.g.: Sports, fruits, clothes,... .
2. On the other hand, when the link is through formal relations, we say that
they are related through lexical fields.E.g.: photography, photographer,
photocopy, photographic... .
The classroom is the place where interaction in the foreign language mainly takes place.
Often, the language used in the classroom does not have a real application outside but
there are many other sentences that are also used in normal social situations, such as:
Could you open the door, please?, Sit down, please.
Students should be provided from the beginning with simple linguistic tools that allow
them to express their necessities and problems, such as :
a) asking and giving information: Excuse me!, Could you repeat that?, ...
b) expressing attitudes and actions: I don’t like it at all, I hate it,...
c) using social formulae: Happy birthday!, How old are you?, Good
morning!,...
d) asking questions in class for information: How do you spell it?,... .
Our main task as teachers is offering the students a series of resources that allow them
to communicate in a foreign language. That is why, apart from the teaching the abovementioned vocabulary and structures, we must make them aware of the fact that a great
deal of new words can be formed, as in their mother tongue, by means of:
WORD FORMATION
There are different processes of word formation, such as:
1. AFFIXATION: There are two processes:
 Prefixation: It consists in adding a prefix to the base o
without a change of word-class ( normally classmaintaining ). For instance : We have some words as:
man , market,... if we add a prefix: super-, we have
another word. E.g.: superman, supermarket, ... .
 Suffixation: It consists in adding a suffix to the base
normally changing he word-class ( class-changing ).
For instance : we have some nouns and if we add a
suffixes it is become in a adjective . E.g.:
Help
helpless
black
blackish
2. CONVERSION
A word changes its cathegory but it doesn´t change its
form. E.g.: A verb can be changed into noun . There are
different types:
Verb... Noun: To love- love, to answer- answer
Adjective... Noun: Daily newspaper-daily, comic actorcomic
Noun... Verb: Bottle- to bottle, nurse- to nurse
Adjective... Verb: Calm- to calm, dry- to dry
There are other types of conversion:
MINOR CATEGORIES OF CONVERSION
 Conversion from closed-system words to nouns. E.g.:
this book is a must for them
 Conversion of phrases to nouns.E.g.: My house is one of
the also-rans ( from my horse also ran)
 Conversion of phrases to adjectives.E.g.: an under-theweather feeling
 Conversion fron affixes to nouns.E.g.: Patriotism and
any other isms you’d like to name.
 Conversion of secondary word-class. E.g.: I am running
( intransitive vb.)// I am running a mile ( monotransitive
vb. )
Shakespeare was a writer. ( proper noun). There are
many Shakespeares in t he world ( common one )
APPROXIMATE CONVERSION: Voicing and stress shift .
In some cases conversion is approximate rather than
complete, that is a word, in he course of changing its
grammatical function may undergo a slight change of
pronunciation or spelling. He most important kinds of
alteration are:
 Voicing of final consonants: advice (noun)- advise
( verb ), house ( noun)- house ( verb)
 Shift of stress: When disyllabic verbs become nouns
the stress sometimes change from the second to the
first syllable. This happens with words like conduct,
contrast,conflict,convert,....
3. COMPOUNDING
This process consists in putting two bases together
forming a syntactic unit. There are different types:
 NOUN COMPOUNDS: Are those which function as
nouns. There are several types.
-SUBJECT + VERB: sunrise ‘the sun rises’
-VERB + OBJECT: record-player ‘ X plays the
record’
-VERB + ADVERBIAL: swimming-pool ‘X swims in
the pool’
-VERBLESS COMPOUND: ashtray ‘ a tray (is) for the
ash’
 ADJECTIVE COMPOUNDS: are
function as adjectives. Types:
those
which
-VERB+OBJECT: a man-eating giant ‘X eats a man’
-VERB+ ADVERBIAL: an ocean-going boat ‘ X goes
across the ocean’
-VERBLESS COMPOUND: class-conscious ‘X is
conscious of his/her class’
 VERB COMPOUNDS: are those which function as
verbs. The problem with this kind of compounds is
that they are normally back-formations of noun
compounds.E.g.:baby-sit,
4. BACK FORMATION
Formation of a new word by the removal of ( real or
apparent ) affixes from a existing word. The majority of
back-formations in English are verbs.E.g.:
-Burgle (from burglar) = to robe
-housekeep ( from housekeeping)
5. REDUPLICATION
Reduplicatives are compounds with two or more
constituents which are identical or slightly different. Most
of reduplicatives are taken from the language of nursery.
E.g.: walkie-talkie, criss-cross, goody-goody (very good,
delicious), ping-pong, hocus-pocus ( abracadabra), wishywashy ( when someone uses a very academic language.).
Uses of reduplicatives:
 to imitate sounds: tick-tock
 to suggest alternating movements: see- saw
( balancín)
 to suggest vacillation or nonsense: wishy-washy
 to intensify: tip-top.
6. CLIPPING
It denotes he subtraction of one or more syllables of a
word. Clippings are normally familiar words which are
often shortened to a single syllable ( especially in
informal language). The shortening may occur:
a) at the beginning of the word: telephone-phone
b) at the end of the word: photograph-photo
c) both at the beginning and end of the word:
influenza-flu.
Another examples could be: ad ( advertisement), exam
( examination ),...
7.BLENDING ( blends or portmanteau words)
Especial type of compounds in which at least one of the
elements is fragmentary. E.g.:
smog( smoke + fog), heliport ( helicopter + airport),
Eurovision ( Europe + vision ) , transistor ( transfer +
resistor )
8.ACRONYMS
Words formed from the initial letters or larger parts of
words. There are two types:
a) ALPHABETISM or ABREVIATIONS: words which
are pronounced as sequence of letters: UFO, USA,
EC, UK , ...
b) PROPER ACRONYMS: pronounced as a simple
word: VAT, NATO, RADAR ( radio detecting and
ranging).
9.WORD-MANUFACTURE/ COINAGE
When a word is invented by someone and it can defining
something. For instance: GOOGOL ( a number that is equal
to 1 followed by 100 zeros).
10.BORROWING
Linguistic forms can be taken by one language or dialect
from another. E.g.: restaurant, café, pizza, patio... .
TYPOLOGY OF ACTIVITIES RELATED TO THE TEACHING
AND LEARNING OF LEXICON
So far we have referred to the formation of words and to
which is the necessary vocabulary, but the simple fact of
telling our students which are the expressions and
mechanisms does not make them learn them. There are
certain factors that are very important to consider in the
teaching of vocabulary and we offer some helpful
techniques:
A)PRESENTATION OF VOCABULARY
Whenever we elaborate an activity with the aim of
acquiring vocabulary, we have to bear in mind that lexicon
must be presented in real situational or linguistic context
that facilitate deduction of meaning. On the other hand, it
must be presented orally for the student to internalise
pronunciation prior to orthography. Taking into account
these factors we can present a word by means of:
a) linguistic resources, in an indirect way using a
synonym or antonym.
b) Describing it ( with this technique we will use the
lexicon corresponding to descriptions)
c) Working out meaning through the context.
d) We can present vocabulary by means of realia ( for
instance, when the lexicon presented refers to
classroom
objects,
clothes,
or
physical
characteristics)
B) PRACTICE
Once the vocabulary has been presented, the next step is
to give the pupil the possibility to put into practice in
adequate real contexts inside the classroom in order to
check that the student has understood. For this step there
is a series of adequate activities:
a) arrange drawings and words
b) riddles ( object, people or animals)
c) Bingo. This game can be used in order to practise
any type of vocabulary ( number, fruits, colours) .
We can use this activity and revising the
vocabulary.
d) Arrange and classify ( in different categories:
colours, liquids,...)
e) Domino
f) Telephone
g) Picture dictation
h) Arrange a text step by step
i) Association game. E.g.: I went to the market and
bought some bread//I went to the market and
bought some bread and some fish // ... .
j) stories
C) CONSOLIDATION OF THE VOCABULARY ACQUIRED
It is the most difficult because for the vocabulary learnt not
to be forgotten, it must be used frequently. Making
collages is an adequate instrument to revise vocabulary.
Students themselves can collect photos about determined
semantic field ( animals, clothing, sports, fruits , ....) stick
them onto a pasteboard and write their names in English.
We can hung it on the walls ( as vocabulary reminders)
CONCLUSION
We will decide which vocabulary and resources are the
most appropriate and useful setting out from the
peculiarities of our classroom . None of them excludes
one another. The use of motivating varied resources will
make the English class effective as well as amusing.
José Luis Martin Rol.
TEMA 11. CAMPOS LÉXICOS Y SEMÁNTICOS EN LENGUA INGLESA. LÉXICO NECESARIO
PARA LA SOCIALIZACIÓN, LA INFORMACIÓN Y LA EXPRESIÓN DE ACTITUDES. TIPOLOGÍA
DE ACTIVIDADES LIGADAS A LA ENSEÑANZA Y EL APRENDIZAJE DEL LÉXICO EN LA
CLASE DE LENGUA EXTRANJERA.
In this unit we will study how we can order vocabulary (lexical fields) and how vocabulary is
organised (semantic features), then we will see some vocabulary needed to express some common
communicative functions (socialization, information and attitude expression and finally techniques
used in learning and teaching vocabulary.
Without vocabulary, structures and function haven’t got any sense. We can see the
importance of vocabulary when we don’t find the words we need to express something. However,
many teachers spend more time in teaching grammar than in teaching vocabulary.
Firstly, I am going to start talking about the semantic structure. There are several ways of
oraganizing lexemes. We can try to group them into fields of meaning, or studying the types of
paradigmatic relationships existing between them, or analyzing lexical items into a series of semantic
features or components.
Talking about semantic or lexical fields we can say that lexemes can be organised into a
system, in which these lexemes interrelate, and define each other in specific ways, For example, the
various lexemes for “ parts of the body” (head, neck, shoulders, etc.) It has been argued that the
whole of a language’s vocabulary is structured into fields; but there is in fact a great deal of variations
as we move from one part of the language to another. There would be little difficulty gathering
together all the English lexemes for “body parts”, for example; but it would be very difficult to do the
same job for “noise” or “sociology”.
There have been many philosophical and linguistic attempts to classify the concepts or words
in a language. In recent times, the most influential and popular work has been the Thesaurus of Peter
Mark Roget (1779-1869), fir published by Longman in 1852. Roget divided the vocabulary into six
main areas: abstract relations, space, matter, intellect, volition and affections. Each area was given a
detailed and exhaustive subclassification, producing 1.000 Semitic categories in all. The first three
classes cover the external world. Abstract relations deals with such ideas as number, order and time;
Space is concerned with movements, shapes, and sizes. Matter covers the physical world and
humankind’s perception of it by means of the five senses. The last three classes deal with the internal
world of human beings. Intellect studies the human mind. Volition deals with the human will.
Affections, whose original tittle is emotion, religion and morality, deals with the human heart and soul.
There is a progression from abstract concepts through the material universe, to mankind itself,
culminating in what Roget saw as humanity’s highest achievements: morality and religion.
Oral: One path through the thesaurus is the following:
affections
general terms personal sympathetic moral religious
obligation
sentiments
conditions
practice institutions
temperance intemperance sensualism aceticism
Thesauri of this kind have now been produced for several languages, and prove to be a useful
adjunct to many practical linguistic activities, such as professional writing, translating, and setting or
solving crosswords. For the semanticist, however, their value is limited, as they contain no information
about the sense relationships between individual lexemes, and items that come from different
regional, social, or professional varieties are juxtaposed without comment. To study the structure of a
semantic field, more precise means of plotting the sense relations between lexemes need to be used.
In this point we have to talk about sense relationships too. The organization of the lexemes of
a language is based on our intuitions that groups of lexemes are related in sense. The relationships
between lexemes can be analyzed under two main headings:
1. Syntagmatic relationships that refer to the tendency of lexemes to work together or
collocate in predictable ways, for example we know what items are commonly associated with
“kitchen”, for instance.
2. Paradigmatic relationships that refer to the way in which lexemes can substitute for each
other. Several types of paradigmatic relationships have been recognized. These include:
a) synonymy that is the relationships of “sameness” of meaning, for instance, kingly, royal,
regal. And the search for synonyms is a traditional pedagogical exercise
b) Hyponymy that refers to the notion of inclusion, whereby we can say that something is a
kind of something else, for example, an orange, or an apple are fruits. apple or orange are hyponyms.
c) Antonymy that is the relationship of oppositeness. where there are a variety of different
forms of oppositeness, such as: complementary (they cannot be graded (single/married),
converseness (two-way contrasts that are interdependent) (husband/wife), gradability ( permit the
expression of degrees)(big /small).
d) Incompatibility that refers to groups of lexemes that are mutually exclusive members of the
same superordinate category. For example red and green are incompatible lexemes within the
category colour.
For language learners, there is a further type of sense relation but most learners find this
useful to make a conscious effort to link words between a foreign language and their own.
The second main point of the theme refers to the necessary lexicon for socialization,
information and expressing attitudes. In verbal communication, six main categories within the
functions of language can be distinguished:
1. Communicating and searching for information based on facts.
2. Expressing and finding out emotional attitudes.
3. Expressing and finding out moral attitudes.
4. Expressing and finding out intellectual attitudes.
5. Telling someone to do something (persuasion).
6. Socializing.
Each one of these categories, and each one of the functions, can be carried out separately in
speech acts. Often, however, two or more functions will combine in the same speech act. Moreover, a
person can search for information and at the same time express surprise (emotional attitude).
This list of functions is not exhaustive. First of all, it is difficult to make a complete list.
Secondly, the list represents a list contemplated for the “threshold level” (nivel umbral). More functions
can be added at higher levels.
We will then examine the structures and lexicon needed for social relations and to give and
receive information, as well as how emotional and intellectual attitudes are expressed.
1. Socialization vocabulary.
Understanding and controlling interactions in discourse are important for a child because they
enable him to enter communicative spaces, to understand acceptable presentation procedures, to
understand the rights of others in communication, to interpret the message of a public advertisement,
to use the telephone properly, or to be able to ask for information at public entities, etc. Now we will
see the structures and lexicon necessary for social relations.
a) Starting and ending a conversation:
* Greetings:
responses:
Hello! /Hi
hello hi
How are you?
I am fine, thanks.
How are you doing/getting on? I am very well, thanks
I am not too bad, thanks.
Good morning
Good morning.
* Farewell:
Good bye, good night
the same
cheers, see you later, so long, cheerio.
Nice to have met you
Yes, I hope we meet again.
It’s been nice knowing you.
Give my regards to your wife
Yes I will.
Remember me to your parents.
Say hello to Jim.
Take care.
* Introductions:
Hello I am Jim.
Hello, Jim./ Nice to meet you.
How do you do? My name is James How do you do, James?
b) Complimenting and congratulating:
* complimenting:
responses
What a marvellous meal!
I’m glad you liked it.
That was one of the best book I’ve ever read It’s nice of you to say so.
* congratulating:
responses
Well done!
thanks a lot.
May we congratulate you on... It’s very kind of you.
C) Offering and thanking:
* offering:
Bye,
Would you like another helping? Yes, please, No, thank you.
* thanking:
thanks a lot.
You’re welcome/ Not at all.
d) Apologising and regretting:
*Apologising:Oh , forgive me, I’m terribly sorry.- That’s quite all right, no
harm
done.
I do apologize- It doesn’t matter.
Sorry about that- Don’t worry.
* regretting:
I regret that
e) Expressing condolences:
Please accept my deepest sympathy on the death of your mother.
f) Expressing good wishes, seasonal greetings and toast:
* Good wishes:
Good luck! Best wishes for..! Have a good time...! Enjoy yourself!
Seasonal greetings:
Merry Christmas! Happy birthday!
* Toasts:
Good health! Cheers! bottoms up!
g) speaking on the phone:
* receiving the call: Hello,456788
* Making a call: Can I speak to Jim, please?
*
We have already listed some simple acts of communication whereby people establish and
maintain social relations with one another. Now we are going to study the expression of information.
Probably one of the most important reasons we use language for is to give someone some
piece of information which we think they do not know. Questions and statements are the structures we
typically use to convey or ask for information. They do not need, however, the use of a specific
vocabulary, with the exception, perhaps of interrogative pronouns. Where we do need to teach our
pupils specific vocabulary is when we consider people’s reactions to information, for instance opinion,
agreement, interruption and so on.
a) Opinion:
* asking for an opinion: What do you think about/ What are your
feelings about , What your attitude is to..
* giving an opinion: in my opinion, as I see it, My own view of the matter
is that...
* asking without giving your opinion: I don’t know what to think about, I
no particular views on, I have no strong feelings about...
b) Expressing agreement and disagreement:
* Agreement: I agree, I couldn’t agree more, That’s just what I think, So
do I . I share your opinion.
* Disagreement: I can’t agree with you, I disagree, I don’t think that is
it is awful.
* Partial agreement: it’s true that..., but/ If I accept this you must
accept..
c) Interrupting: Excuse me, sorry, just a moment.
have
true,
d) corroboration: I agree, and what is more,/ Yes, in fact,
d) Clarification:
* Clarifying: , I mean.../..., in other words...
* asking for clarification: sorry?, Pardon?, Could you repeat that?, What
you mean by..?
do
The last thing we will see in this point is the vocabulary needed to express attitudes, where
we have to distinguish in the next functions:
a) Volition:
* willingness: I am ready to paint your home/I will do anything for you
* wish: I wish you every happiness in your wedding dayWould you like?
*Intention: I intent to see you tomorrow/ I am going to see her
tomorrow.
* Insistence: I insist on overcome the issue.
b) Liking and disliking:
*Likes: I like, I love, I enjoy, I am fond of, I am keen on
* Diskikes: I don’t like, I dislike, I hate, I detest , I can’t stand, I am fed up
with
* Indifference: I don’t mind
* Preference: I prefer reading
c) Hope: I hope she arrives on time.
d) Anticipation of pleasure: I am looking forward to hearing from you,
e) Regret: I wish I were tall, I am sorry to hear that,
f) Approval and disapproval:
* approval: you are quite right to, I am in favour of,
* disapproval: I must object to, I am opposed,
g) Surprise: It’s rather surprising that, what a surprise
h) Concern: I am worried that, It’s disturbing that...
i) Emotive emphasis:
* Interjections: Whoops, mm, gosh, whoah
* Exclamations: What a man!, How extraordinary!
*repetition: He is very very silly.
* Emphasizers: She’s an absolute beginner.
As we can see there are many lexical items that our pupils must be able to use in order to
acquire a basic communicative competence.
To finish we will see the third main point in the theme, the techniques used in learning and
teaching vocabulary.
Now we will point out the most common techniques to introduce the new vocabulary. The first
thing we will see is how we must introduce the new vocabulary.
The first step is introducing the new vocabulary, the main thing here is the meaning. To explain the
meaning there are several techniques and these are:
a) Visual techniques: We can use flashcards, photographs, blackboard drawings, wall charts
and realia that we can carry to our class easily. A picture has a great importance because a pupil can
remember more easily a word when we have showed him/her the picture than we have only
translated the word. (TARJETAS MEGIAS)
b) Verbal techniques: We can give a definition in simple English with words that they know.
We may also use synonyms. We may also use any of the types of antonyms we have described.
c) The use of records with sounds that they can associate with the object before they listen to
the word in English for instance the transports like a car, train, motorbike, etc.
d) The use of mime, action and gesture: With gestures the teacher can explain a lot of words,
action verbs such as drink, eat, walk as well as adjectives like happy, sad or deictic words such as
from, to there...
e) Translation: when other techniques are not useful to explain any difficult word, the teacher
can use the translation into the mother tongue. However, translation cannot be the main technique if
we don’t want our pupils to continue to use Spanish as a framework on which to attach English items.
The second step in teaching vocabulary is that our pupils remember them, and if we want our
pupils to remember the vocabulary we will have to practice it and there are three main ways of
practising it:
a) Revision through denotation: These activities are based on showing our pupils the real
object or action, or a picture:
1. Labelling: our pupils are given a picture and have to write the names of the objects in the
picture.
2. I spy: a pupil think in an object that the rest of the class can see and he/she gives a clue
that is the first vowel. The rest of the class try to guess the word. The phrase they use is: I spy with
my little eye something beginning with B. Is it a book?
3. spot the difference: our pupils are put into pairs. Each member has a slightly different
picture. Without showing it to one another they have to discover the differences.
4. Describe and draw: This activity is similar to the last one, one member of the pair has a
drawing and the other one a blank piece of paper. The pupil with the picture must tell his partner what
to draw.
5. Picture dominoes and picture rummy: this games are based on the associations our pupils
may establish between the objects appearing in cards. In dominoes they do it with pairs of cards,
while in rummy they do it with threes, fours.
6.Kim’s game: we show our pupils a picture or a tray with object on it, or series of different
flash cards or magazine pictures. They have two minutes to memorize as man as they can, and
afterwards they will have to say or write what they saw. And we can transform this game into Chinese
whispers if only one child sees the tray and then whispers the objects into his partner’s ear. The
process goes on and we see the similarities and differences between the initial and the final list.
7. I spy: A pupil thinks about an object that the rest of the class can see and he or she says: I
spy with my little eye something beginning with... and the first letter of the object and the rest of the
class try to guess it.
b) Revision through word families: In this activities we revise vocabulary in relation to other
words in the same lexical field. Some examples of these activities are the following:
1. Word thermometers: these are useful for indicating degree. For example place these words
in the correct place on the thermometer: always, sometimes, usually, never, rarely. (dibujar un
termometro).
2. Series: this game uses lexical fields. Our pupils must write as many words as they know in
one field. We can use these words in Word Bingo. Our pupil write ten words relating to one lexical
field. We call out words connected with this lexical field. The firs pupil who crosses out all the words
on his page is the winner.
3. Spiders: we draw a spider in the blackboard with a topic or a word and they have to write in
the legs all the words they can think of connected with this word.
4. Odd man out: the teacher says four or five words but one of them isn’t related to the rest
and they have to guess it.
5. Categories: we use jumbled words which must be categorised into lexical fields.
c) Revision through explanations: In these activities where paraphrase the words we are
revising. Some examples are the following:
1. Crosswords: These can be divided round topic ideas.
2. Coffee-pot: is a word which is used instead of a particular verb a pupil has thought of. The
rest of the class must find out this verb by means of questions such as: When do you coffee pot?
3.Vocabulary quizzes: In groups they prepare questions that elicit the correct answer. Then,
they ask them in turns.
Now we are going to see to finish the learner-centred techniques. Recent developments have
emphasised the importance of equipping our pupils with the necessary strategies for dealing with
skills activities. In learning vocabulary his involves:
1. Asking others, in English, if possible, can foster co-operative learning and it also makes our
pupils to offer the best context to elicit the word they want This is a skill we have in our mother tongue,
and we use it very frequently when we do not know a lexical field.
2. Using a dictionary is one of the most important skills we must teach our pupils. Teaching
students how to use a dictionary should include the following aspects: The students must know how a
dictionary is organized regarding ideas, etymology, synonyms, etc., They must be familiar with the
symbols and abbreviations used in the dictionary.. A skill that the teacher should practice with his
students is understanding the dictionary definitions of words. The learners must acquire a critical
ability that will enable them to discern the advantages of using a certain type of dictionary as opposed
to another in specific situations. Finally, the student must develop the ability to choose the correct use
of word based on a specific concept. At initial levels it is better to use pictorial dictionaries.
3. Another skill we can teach our pupils is to deduce meaning out of context. This is a
predictive skill that they must use both in listening and in reading.
Oral: For evaluating vocabulary we have many examples of activities:
1. Cloze test: the pupil must write the words that there aren’t write in the text because they
are necessary.
2. Matching antonyms.
3. Matching words with their definition.
Bibliography
Alburquerque. R et al. En el aula de Ingles. Longman. London, 1990
Gairns R& Redman S Working with words. CUP. 1986.
Wallance M Teaching Vocabulary Heinemann 1982
Propuesta de Secuencia. Lenguas Extranjersa. Mec. Escuela Española. Madrid. 1992.
Picture dictionaries.
Abbs B Picture Workbook Longman 1986
Oxford Children’s Picture Dictionary OUP. 1981
THEME 12: ESSENTIAL MORPHOSYNTACTICAL ELEMENTS IN ENGLISH.
ELEMENTARY COMMUNICATIVE STRUCTURES AND USE OF GRAMMATICAL
CATEGORIES IN ORAL AND WRITTEN PRODUCTIONS.
1. Introduction.
The structures of a language, the rules governing the
changes of their forms and the combination of elements
composing it, constitute the grammar of that language. If our
intention is to learn a language, we cannot just learn its
vocabulary but we will have to learn also the elements making
it up.
Apart from learning a language, if we want to communicate with it productively, we will
have to learn that there are other factors shaping the meaning of a grammatically correct sentence
in a language, such as: situations, speakers and social background, that is, the context.
1. Essential elements of morphosyntax.
The range of constructions studied by grammar is divided
into sub-fields. The oldest and most widely-used division is
that between morphology and syntax.
The most basic units of syntax are the sentence and the word. The sentence is the largest
unit of syntax: as we move upwards beyond the sentence we pass from syntax into discourse
analysis; the word is the lowest unit of syntax: as we move downwards beyond the word we pass
from syntax into morphology. The most elementary words, such as girl, car, to, have only one
morpheme, the smallest units of meaning and the units of morphology. In this theme we will study
the main grammatical units:
morpheme
word
sentence
1.1. The morpheme.
If we study the structure of the following words: un-friend-ly, cat-s, bring-ing, we
can
see that the elements friend, cat, bring, have a meaning, as do the elements attached to them (the
affixes). Other words cannot be divided into different meaningful units.
In English is difficult to analyze irregular nouns and verbs; mice is the plural of mouse, but
it is not obvious how to identify a plural morpheme in the word, analogous to the –s ending of cats.
Another complication is that morphemes sometimes have more than one phonetic form, eg. The
past tense morpheme –ed in English is pronounced in three different ways. These variant forms of a
morpheme are known as allomorphs.
Two main fields are traditionally recognized within morphology:
a)
Inflectional morphology: studies the way in which words vary in order to
express grammatical contrasts in sentences, such as singular/past or past/present. These
grammatical contrasts are called grammatical categories:
aspect: perfective, imperfective progressive, nonprogressive
case: nominative, vocative, accusative, genitive, partitive
gender: masculine, feminine, neuter, animate, inanimate
mood: indicative, subjunctive, optative
number: singular, dual, trial, plural
person: first, second, third...
tense: present, past, future
voice: active, passive
b)
Derivational morphology: studies the principles governing the construction of
new words, without reference to the specific grammatical role a word might play in a sentence.
There are three chief processes in English by which new words are created:
aim and to aim.
e.g. knock-knock.
-
Affixation: divided into prefixation (adding prefixes) and
suffixation (adding suffixes).
Conversion: a word changes its class without any change of form e.g.
Compounding: adding one base to another e.g. blackboard.
Reduplication: type of compound in which both elements are the same
Clipping: informal shortenings e.g. flu, ad, telly.
Blendings: two words merge into one, e.g. smog = smoke + fog.
Infixation: emphatic structures such as abso-booming-lutely.
1.2. The word.
As we have already pointed out, words sit at the boundary between morphology and syntax.
Words are usually the easiest units to identify in the written language, as they commonly have
spaces on either side. It is more difficult to decide what words are in the stream of speech as pauses
do not occur between each word in natural speech.
Words have been grouped into word classes, traditionally labelled the parts of speech.
a)
Closed classes: They can be composed of all the existing elements or of those
that may be created. In order to define them in relation with other words, we must do it with those
with which they have a semantic relation.
prepositions: of, at, in without, in spite of.
pronouns: he, they, anybody, one, which
determiner: the, a, that, when, although
conjunctions: and, that, when , although
modal verbs: can, must, will, could
primary verbs: be, have, do
articles: the, a, an
demonstratives: this, that, these, those
b)
elements.
-
Open classes: The components of this group do not admit any addition of other
c)
-
To these we may add two lesser categories:
numerals: one, first
interjections: ugh, phew
words of unique function: not, to
nouns: John, room, answer, play
adjectives: happy, steady, new
full verbs: search, grow, play
adverbs: steadily, completely, really
1.3. The sentence.
In the discourse, the basic unit is the statement which is defined because it is a fragment of
communication, no matter what its extension is, within to marked pauses or the previous silence
plus a marked pause. For the fragmentation we do not take into account its grammatical structure or
its context, which may be insufficient and incomplete.
Statements can be isolated:
a)
Some organise all its constituents in relation to a verb conjugated in a personal
form. These are named sentences.
b)
Other statements are characterised in relation to the lack of a verb in personal
form according to the nucleus, e.g. yes. These are called phrases.
1.3.1. Parts of a sentence.
According to Quirk and Greenbaum when analysing the smallest parts of the sentences, they
distinguish between subject and predicate:
Subject
Mary
Predicate
pointed at him.
Predicate: has a close relationship with what is being dealt with, what the sentence is about,
and it generally implies that something new is being told about a subject which has
previously appeared in another sentence.
Subject: determines the agreement and it is also the changing part within the sentence, that
is the reason why few generalisations are permitted.
The predicate can be sub-divided into auxiliary and verbal predication:
Subject
He
Auxiliary
will
Predicate
Verbal predication
write Arthur a letter.
A) Auxiliaries as “operators”.
The verb may be composed of several auxiliaries, e.g. They would have
been..., in these cases the first auxiliary is considered the “operator”: would.
In declarative affirmative sentences where there is no auxiliary, when an
operator is needed do is introduced, e.g. Did you tell him? and the verb to be and
have perform as operators whether they are auxiliary or not:
John is a student – Is John a student?
They have (got) a cottage – Have they (got) a cottage?
1.3.2. Elements of a sentence.
There are five elements we can split the sentence in.
1.
2.
3.
a)
b)
4.
a)
b)
5.
Subject
Verb
Complement
Subject complement or atribute.
Object complement.
Object
Direct object
Indirect object
Adverbial
1.3.2.1. The Subject.
The subject of a sentence can be a clause with nominal function:
(That he came quickly) was unusual.
but it is normally a nominal clause and in its simples forms are a personal pronoun or a
proper noun. In affirmative sentences the subject is always placed before the verb and in
interrogative sentences the subject is placed after the operator. It also keeps person and
number agreement with the verb.
1.3.2.2. Verb categories.
The verbal sentence may be composed of one or
two words. In the case of two words, it is composed of a main
verb preceded by one or more “auxiliary” verbs.
John wrote a letter  He had given her an apple.
There are different types of verbs, in close correspondence to other types of
objects and complements. Quirk and Greenbaum distinguish between:
1)
Intensive verbs: sentences with subject complement.
2)
Extensive verbs: the rest. All the extensive verbs admit a direct object, some
also admit an indirect object.
3)
Intransitive verbs: they are followed by no obligatory element
Prices rose.
4)
Transitive verbs: they are followed by and object.
a) Monotransitive:
She likes carrots.
b) Ditransitive:
He gave me a pen.
c) Complex transitive: She lead me to my seat.
5)
Progressive verbs: they admit a progressive aspect:
We wrote Arthur a letter.
6)
Non-progressive verbs: they do not admit a progressive aspect:
John is a student – John is being now a student (WRONG)
Morphologically the verb can be classified in two
categories:
a) Lexical verb: walk, write
b) Auxiliary verb:
- primary: have, be
- modal: may, can, shall
The English verbs have five components:
1) Lexeme: present (except third person singular),
imperative, subjunctive and infinitive.
2) –(e)s form: third person singular.
3) Present participle (-ing): continuous form and
present participle sentences (Meeting him was
good).
4) Past participle (-ed): perfect tenses of regular
verbs, passive voice and past participle in –ed
sentences.
5) Lexical irregular verbs: from 3 to 8, e.g. be, am,
are, is, was...
6) Modal auxiliaries: special verbs with no
infinitive, no –ing participle, no –ed participle
and no imperative.
1.3.2.3. Complements.
These elements may have the same structure as the subject itself.
We must distinguish between:
1) Subject complement: this type of complement has a direct
relationship with the subject.
John is a student  subject complement (attribute=with stative
verbs).
He became richer  subject complement (predicative=with
dynamic verbs as the result of the action)
2)
Object complement: this complement has a relationship with the direct
object similar to the one the subject complement keeps with the subject.
The prize made him rich  object complement (resulting attribute)
I drank the coffee cold.  object complement (current attribute)
1.3.2.4. Objects.
The objects are placed after the subject and the verb. When the sentence is
passive, both of them assume the subject status.
1)
Direct object: In general it is a name referred to a person and the
semantic relation between them is that something is done for or received by someone. It is more
frequent than the indirect object and this always appears whenever there is an indirect object,
preceding it.
2) Indirect object: It is normally the recipient or receiver of the
action.
John wrote his friend a letter  direct object
indirect object
1.4. Adverbial categories.
Adverbials may be many and varied. From a syntactic point of view the only classification
which is important to make is that between obligatory adverbials and the remainder. Some
adverbs can be omitted and the sentence would only suffer a slight change, remaining its sense
almost untouched, like this time adverbial:
Yesterday she opened the door noisily – She opened the door noisily.
However, other types of adverbial like manner adverbials: noisily and use carefully,
silently, etc., when they are replaced by other, the meaning of the sentence would change although
the sentence will continue being grammatically correct. The same happens when we place some
of these adverbials in a sentence with a stative or non-progressive verb:
John is a student noisily (WRONG)
1)
2)
3)
4)
The adverbials can be performed by:
Adverbial locutions with and adverb as nucleus:
He went home slowly.
Nominal syntagma:
We go on holiday every summer.
Prepositional syntagma (nominal clause introduced by a preposition):
We live in a large house.
Clauses with either personal or impersonal forms:
Watching him go she cried / My father took me to the zoo when I was 8.
1.5. Types of sentence structure.
Place Adverbial  John is at home.
Intensive
Subject Comple.  John is a student at Oxford at
the moment.
Subject + stative V.
Extensive and transitive + Direct object  He saw the parcel on his
desk at seven
o'clock.
Intensive + Subject Com.  He got angry little by little at work
yesterday.
Monotran. (Direct Object)  She carefully
opened the
parcel in his office at 7.
Subject + Dynamic V.
 We happily
Transitive
Double (Indirect Object / Direct object)
wrote him a postcard from Paris
during our holiday.
Extensive
Complex (Direct object / Object comple.)
 The prize
suddenly made him rich last
year.
Intransitive
1.6. Discourse elements.
1. Noun.
 He came home slowly last night.
We must make the difference between proper and common nouns.
Within the common ones, apart from any other subdivision, we can take into account
the difference between countable and uncountable nouns and those which can be both
depending on the way they are used. Nouns have no genre indication, but they do
have number indication.
2. Adjective.
The adjective has neither genre nor number. In most cases, it admits
inflexion to form the comparative (-er) and the superlative (-est). Other adjectives
which do not admit inflexion form their comparative and superlative differently:
good, better, best, bad, worse, worst.
Adjectives are placed before the noun. When there is more than one
adjective referred to the same noun the order is as follows:
1) Subjective opinions: careful, naughty,...
2) Size and weight or other subjective opinions: small,
wealthy...
3) Age: old, young...
4) Shape: round, square, oval...
5) Colour: blue, green, red, brown
6) Country or origin: German...
7) Material: glass, leather, woollen...
3. Adverb.
The main characteristic of an adverb is of morphological type: most
adverbs add the –ly suffix. They are formed by adding the –ly suffix to an adjective.
Syntactically, adverbs are characterised by two types of functions:
1) Adverbial function.
There are three different types of adverbial clauses:
a) adjuncts (they are integrated in the sentence):
We usually go there.
b) disjuncts (not integrated and used to express an
opinion about what is being said):
Honestly, I am tired.
c) conjuncts (not integrated and have a connecting
function):
If you go on smoking, them, I am leaving.
2) Adjective and adverb modifier
The adverbs also admit to establish comparison relationship. The inflexion to form the
comparative and superlative has the same characteristics as the ones already stated before:
well, better, best / little, less, least
4. Preposition.
They expresses the existing relation between two entities, being one of
them the one represented by the prepositional complement.
Semantically, they are divided into: place, time, cause, instrument. A
prepositional phrase is composed of a preposition followed by a prepositional
complement:
Preposition
Prep. Complement.
at
home
There are simple, like at, in, for... and compound, like in front of, along with...
5. Pronoun.
They substitute the noun. There are personal, reflexive, reciprocal,
possessive, relative, interrogative, demonstrative universal (each, all, every and its
compounds, partitive and quantifying pronouns.
6. The articles.
We must distinguish between specific reference article and generic
reference article. The reference is specific when we refer to a specific element within
a group:
A man and two women are waiting outside.
When we refer to the group to which the element belongs to, then the
reference is generic:
The monkey is a funny animal.
7. Pro-forms.
We shall refer to two subdivisions:
- Pronouns: they substitute the noun:
We wrote Arthur a letter – We wrote him a letter.
-
Pro-verbs: they also substitute nominal clauses:
Come home – Come here.
8. Question and negation.
1) Question.
a) Wh-questions.
Within the category of substitutes there is a series of words
forming a special class which substitutes certain parts of a sentence
which may need explanation. These substitutes are: which, when,
why, where, who, whose and how.
Who writes her a letter every day?
b) Yes-no questions.
There are questions demanding an affirmative or negative answer with reference to a full
sentence:
Did John write her a letter?
2) Negation.
Its use implies a full predicate negation with the operator and the
negative adverb not, placed between the operator and the verbal
nucleus:
John did not write her a letter.
2. Elementary communicative structures and progressive use of grammatical categories in
oral and written productions.
At the stage of Primary Education, children have not yet
acquired the capacity of abstraction. For them to learn a foreign
language will be to communicate with other people for different
aims. We must take advantage of this conception and give priority
to the content of messages, to the situations and to the activities
where the language is present and the language is used, making
the learning of grammar something hidden.
Interaction will make possible that in particular moments specific needs of certain
structures, either new or more complex ones arise. Then, first of all, the student will be able
to use non linguistic resources and when the latter are not sufficient, the pupils can ask their
teacher so that he can give them the appropriate mechanisms. It is the teacher duty to design a
series of activities progressively demanding more complex linguistic uses.
After that, we may go through the following phases:
- In written production: copying short messages and lists, writing
daily sentences for dictation...
- In oral production: describing family and friends, referring to
age, size, weight, hair colour, etc...
2.1. The place of grammar in language teaching and learning.
These are the aspects of the teaching and learning of grammar categories:
TEACHINGLEARNING
GRAMMAR
CATEGORIES
LISTENING
SPEAKING
READING
WRITING
FORM
Perception and recognition of the
spoken form of the grammar
categories.
Production of well-formed
examples in speech.
Perception and recognition of the
written form.
Production of well-formed
examples in writing.
MEANING
Comprehension of what the
spoken grammar category means
in context.
Use of the grammar categories to
convey meanings in speech.
Comprehension of what the
written grammar categories
means in context
Use of grammar categories to
convey meanings in writing.
2.2. Rule learning: induction and explication.
Grammar rules may be acquired in either of two ways:
1) Through induction.
It is not possible to learn the rules of a language entirely through explication
given the current state of knowledge. The process of induction is one whose essence is
learning through self-discovery. We present our pupils with relevant language data
and they, first, abstract a rule based on the presented data, and secondly, develop a
basis for its application.
2) Through explication.
Learning through explication requires two essentials:
- basic knowledge of the language of the explanation
- advanced cognitive development
The formal learning of grammar is not our objective when teaching
English to our pupils. We want them to use grammar categories to improve
their communicative competence. We can do this using, for example, songs
and stories, which can introduce our pupils to the grammatical patterns of
English in a natural and authentic way.
2.3. The organization of grammar teaching.
We can distinguish three stages:
- presentation: the aim is to get the learners to perceive the grammar
categories in both speech and writing and to take it into short term
memory.
- controlled practice: the aim is to cause the learners to transfer
what they know from short-term to long-term memory preparing
them to use them for communication.
- production stage: production or comprehension of meaning for
some non-linguistic purpose, for some real-life purpose.
There are some principles which definitely contribute to successful grammar learning and
teaching:
1. Prelearning: familiarize learners with the material, not to introduce it.
2. Volume and repetition: Language structures are easily forgotten so our
pupils need initial volume to absorb them and follow-up repetition to
maintain their knowledge.
3. Success-orientation.
4. Heterogeneity: The exercises have different levels of proficiency.
5. Teacher assistance: We must support and assist our pupils in the
production of acceptable responses rather that correct or assess them.
6. Interest: A well-designed activity must be interesting to our pupils.
TEMA-12
1. INTRODUCCIÓN
La morfosintaxis ha sido el componente lingüístico que ha gozado de un
ciera preminencia sobre los demás. A la oración "He go to the bank", que
contiene suficiente información léxica, le falta la morfosintáctica
correspondiente, porque no sabemos si el que la ha pronunciado o escrito
se refiere a algo que va a hacer, o le gustaría hacer, o ha hecho o debe
hacer, o haría, etc. Es decir, le falta la información morfosintáctica que
nos indique las relaciones que existen en la cadena hablada entre las
palabras, es decir, la concordancia, el régimen, la flexión, etc.
Preferimos hablar de morfosintaxis, en vez de gramática, por las
siguientes razones:
1. Los límites del área de estudio que abarca parecen estar más claros.
2. La palabra gramática tradicionalmente también ha incluido otros
sectores (la prosodia, la ortografía, la sintaxis, etc.).
3. En las teorías lingüísticas más recientes (gramática
transformacional-generativa de Chomsky, gramática de los casos de
Fillmore, etc.), la pralabra "gramática" abarca también cuestiones
semánticas.
4. En la lingüística, o en didáctica del inglés, la palabra "gramática"
se emplea para referirse a estructuras sintácticas agrupadas en
repertorios de tipo conceptual, como las llamadas "gramática
funcional o nacional".
1.1. ELEMENTOS ESENCIALES DE MORFOSINTAXIS DE LA LENGUA
INGLESA
La morfosintaxis se mueve entre dos unidades: la mayor, llamada
oración, y la menor, morfema. Entre ellas hay otras intermedias que
ahora citaremos. Pero previamente precisaremos una distinción que se
suele hacer en la lingüística entre oración (sentence) y elocución
(utterance). Se conocen con el nombre de sentences las formas
abstractas que constituyen el conocimiento que el hablante nativo tiene
de su lengua (langue); y utterances son las realizaciones concretas de
esas formas.
Como unidad de expresión es la máxima en sintaxis, y por medio de ella
manifestamos un juicio o pensamiento completo, estando constituida por
un sujeto y un predicado, los cuales pueden ir explícito o tácitos.
a) Las cláusulas o proposiciones son el término que se suele aplicar a las
oraciones constitutivas de una oración compuesta, en especial a las
oraciones subordinadas.
b) Los sintagmas. Toda oración simple consta teóricamente, y, en
principio, de dos sintagmas: el sintagma nominal, que cumple la función
de sujeto, y el sintagma verbal, que realiza la función de predicado. Ahora
bien, el predicado puede, a su vez, tener algún sintagma nominal, que
desempeñe cualquiera de las funciones del nombre (complemento directo,
indirecto, etc.).
c) La frase. Tradicionalmente, las palabras frase y oración han sido
sinónimos. Aquí la empleamos en el sentido próximo a frase adverbial o
secuencia de palabras precedidas por una preposición: in the morning,
with a hat, after lunch, etc.
d) La palabra ha sido definida convencionalmente como sonido o conjunto
de sonidos que expresan una idea o representa una persona, animal o
una cosa.
e) El morfema es la unidad mínima significativa. Cuando el significado es
referencial estamos ante lexemas (boy, cat, house, etc.). Cuando el
significado es gramatical ("s" del plural o del genitivo sajón, etc.),
estamos ante los morfemas llamados gramemas.
1.2. ENFOQUES SOBRE LA MORFOSINTAXIS
En el estudio de la morfosintaxis se pueden detectar tres direcciones
principales: la tradicional, la estructural y la generativa. Esto no quiere
decir que no haya más corrientes. Cada cierto tiempo se acuñan nuevos
términos: gramática estratificacional, gramática sistémica, gramática de
los casos, etc. Para nuestros intereses, nos es suficiente con las tres
citadas.
a) La gramática o morfosintaxis tradicional se basa en el latín como
modelo de descripción, es prescriptiva o normativa y de carácter
mentalista, es decir, la definición de las partes de la oración y sus
relaciones se establecen de acuerdo con criterios semánticos.
b) La gramática estructural es descriptiva en el sentido de que no trata de
legislar sobre lo que se debería decir o sobre cómo se debe usar la
lengua; sólo pretende describir hechos o pautas lingüísticas, las llamadas
patterns. Es antimentalista, ya que huye de criterios semánticos, pero es,
en cambio, taxonómica y distributiva. Estos tres términos (pattern,
taxonomía y distribución) son clave. Con los dos últimos nos referimos a
la tendencia a buscar unidades o constituyentes de la oración, de acuerdo
con el comportamiento distributivo. Así, en inglés, el adjetivo es la
palabra que se coloca entre el artículo y el nombre y no acepta el
morfema "s" de plural. En realidad, en la morfosintaxis estructural no se
habla de nombres, verbos, etc., sino de clase I, clase II, etc.
Las técnicas empleadas son la segmentación y la sustitución. Mediante la
sustitución intentamos reemplazar la unidad que es objeto de nuestro
estudio por otra, en el mismo contexto, y si la sustitución se puede
realizar sin cambios fundamentales en el contexto, entonces decimos que
la nueva unidad y la sustituida pertenecen a la misma clase.
La teoría de los constituyentes inmediatos de una oración es una de las
principales aportaciones del estructuralismo americano. Este análisis
ayudó a revelar los principios por los que se organiza lingüísticamente la
estructura de un mensaje. Para representar los constituyentes inmediatos
se emplearon diversos tipos de cuadros y diagramas. He aquí algunos:
Ejemplo 1:
ORACIÓN
SINTAGMA NOMINAL
ARTÍCUL
O
The
FRASE NOMINAL
ADJETIVO
NOMBRE
Old
Man
Looked
SINTAGMA
VERBAL
VERBO
FRASE
PREPOSICIONAL
PREPOSICIÓ PRONOMBRE
N
at
me
Ejemplo 2:
El concepto de pattern practice se basa, por una parte, en el eje
paradigmático del lenguaje, y por otra, en las cajas de los constituyentes
inmediatos.
c) Pero para la gramática generativa, la morfosintaxis estructural es
bidimensional o estática porque sólo explica las relaciones que existen
entre los constituyentes. Chomsky reconoce que esta gramática tiene
algunos méritos, pero es escasa, insuficiente y con poca altura de miras,
ya que no presta atención a la producción e interpretación de la oración,
que implícitamente lleva a cabo todo hablante nativo. Es la gramática
generativa la que añade la tercera dimensión o proceso de generación de
las oraciones, por medio de las transformaciones.
Aunque son atractivos y originales los puntos aportados por la gramática
transformacional-generativa, el énfasis se ha puesto en los procesos
cognoscitivos del aprendizaje.
1.3. LA DIDÁCTICA DE LA MORFOSINTAXIS
En la gramática tradicional, la presentación de la morfosintaxis se hace de
un modo explícito y cognoscitivo. Se facilita una regla, seguida de
ejemplo y de ejercicios de aplicación. Por ejemplo, "must" expresa la
obligación ineludible; "should", el consejo, etc.
En la estructural se tiende a restar importancia al aspecto teórico, para
centrarse lo antes posible en la creación de hábitos por medio de pattern
practice (práctica con un modelo), que consta de ejercicios llamados
drills, dirigidos a la automatización. No obstante, conviene aclarar que se
aplica este nombre también a ejercicios que no contienen patterns. Los
defensores de los drills manifiestan que con ellos se consigue:
a) Superar las transferencias negativas de la lengua materna.
b) Automatizar la expresión por medio de la generalización analógica.
c) Favorecer la "reorganización cognoscitiva", creando la
abstracción (regla) en el subcons-ciente, mediante las repeticiones
constantes.
2. ESTRUCTURAS COMUNICATIVAS ELEMENTALES
La finalidad curricular de esta área es enseñar a nuestros alumnos a
comunicarse en la lengua inglesa. Esto implica y explica que se adopte un
enfoque basado en la comunicación y orientado a la adquisición de una
competencia comunicativa. Esta competencia, a su vez, incluye diferentes
subcompetencias como la competencia gramatical, o capacidad de poner
en práctica las unidades y reglas de funcionamiento del sistema de la
lengua inglesa, y la competencia discursiva, o capacidad de utilizar
diferentes tipos de discurso y organizarlos en función de la situación
comunicativa y de los interlocutores.
Las estructuras comunicativas elementales que deben dominar los
alumnos de Primaria en lengua inglesa son las siguientes:
2.1. DESDE EL PUNTO DE VISTA GRAMATICAL
Es esencial desde este punto de vista el dominio de los siguientes puntos
gramaticales:
- Presente Simple de los verbos (to be, have got), there's, there're.
- Artículos indefinidos (a, an).
- Nombres plurales.
- Pronombres personales y posesivos.
- Genitivo sajón ('s).
- Proposiciones de lugar (near, by, next to, ...), tiempo y distancia.
- This/that/the.
- Imperativos (sit down, stand up, open the door, etc.).
- Some/any (nombres contables e incontables).
- Adverbios de tiempo, frecuencia y lugar (early, sometimes, there, etc.).
- "-ing" para actividades específicas (reading, swimming, etc.).
- Pasado simple de los verbos.
- Presente continuo con sentido futuro (I'm going to London tomorrow,
etc.)
- Adjetivos comparativos y superlativos (estructuras de comparación).
- Presente Perfecto (I have gone to the doctor, etc.).
- Some/something en ofrecimientos ("Do you like some coffe?", etc.).
- Futuro con "Will" (I'll stay at home tomorrow", etc.).
- Estructuras condicionales ("If I go to London I'll buy a dress", etc.).
- Can y Be able to.
- Posición de los adverbios de frecuencia, etc.
- Secuenciación y unión de palabras (nexos) (and, both, but, etc.).
2.2. DESDE EL PUNTO DE VISTA FUNCIONAL
Desde este punto de vista, los alumnos aprenderán a:
- Saludarse y presentarse.
- Comenzar una conversación con una persona extranjera.
- Participar en conversaciones más largas.
- Decir adios.
- Dar y pedir información (edad, nombre, dirección).
- Identificarse a sí mismos y a otras personas.
- Describir a las personas.
- Solicitar que repitan algo que no se ha entendido bien.
- Preguntar acerca de la salud de las personas.
- Disculparse.
- Expresar arrepentimiento.
- Distinguir distintos niveles de formalidad.
- Deletrear y contar los números.
- Expresar opiniones (gustos y manías).
- Decir la hora.
- Expresar una queja.
- Expresar educación (ser "polite" en una conversación).
- Describir objetos y lugares.
- Preparar información acerca del idioma inglés.
- Ofrecer cosas y responder a ofrecimientos de otras personas.
- Narrar sucesos o eventos.
- Hacer la compra.
- Hacer preguntas en una agencia de viajes o solicitar información sobre
viajes.
- Hacer una reserva en un hotel o un restaurante.
- Cambiar dinero en un banco.
- Comparar personas, cosas, situaciones, etc.
- Especular.
- Hacer invitaciones y responder a invitaciones.
- Describir actividades, planes, hobbies, etc.
- Telefonear a alguien.
- Alquilar una bicicleta, una casa, etc.
- Pedir prestado algo a algien.
- Expresar desacuerdo o acuerdo y negociar con alguien.
- Repetir las palabras de otra persona.
- Dar permiso y no conocederlo a alguien para hacer algo.
- Mostrar interés por algo o alguien.
- Preguntar la opinión de alguien sobre alguien.
- Pedir los platos en un bar, restaurante, etc.
- Hacer predicciones sobre el tiempo, etc.
- Adivinar acontecimientos, opiniones, etc.
- Hacer sugerencias.
- Expresar simpatía hacia algo o alguien.
- Dar instrucciones de uso de algún objeto o de cómo llegar a un sitio.
- Aconsejar a alguien.
- Advertir a alguien.
- Anunciar públicamente una opinión.
- Protestar.
2.3. DESDE EL PUNTO DE VISTA NOCIONAL
Desde este punto de vista, los alumnos al finalizar la etapa Primaria
habrán aprendido:
- Los nombres de las personas, apellidos.
- La edad.
- El estado civil.
- El origen y la nacionalidad.
- Las direcciones (addresses).
- Los empleos (jobs).
- La salud (cuerpo humano).
- La familia (los miembros que la componen y la relación entre éstos).
- La apariencia física de personas, animales y cosas.
- Las relaciones entre las personas.
- Los números y las letras.
- Los lugares.
- Los números de teléfono.
- Los muebles.
- Las casas, edificios, etc.
- El trabajo.
- El tiempo libre.
- La comida y la bebida.
- El precio de algunas cosas.
- Gustos y mamás.
- Preferencias.
- Cosas comunes y diferentes entre ambas culturas.
- Días de la semana.
- Números ordinales.
- El tiempo.
- La posición relativa (cerca, lejos, etc.) de las personas, animales y
cosas.
- Generalizar.
- Cuantificar.
- Graduar.
- Las rutinas.
- Los colores.
- El estado físico y emocional de las personas.
- La ropa.
- Las tallas.
- La historia de algunas personas.
- La pobreza y la riqueza.
- La felicidada y la infelicidad.
- El racismo.
- La infancia.
- La educación.
- Las habilidaes personales y de otras personas.
- Las cualidades de las personas.
- Los pesos y medidas.
- La personalidad propia y ajena.
- Los meses y las estaciones del año.
- El clima.
- Planes futuros.
- Las vacaciones.
- Las similitudes y diferencias.
- Los contrastes.
- El tiempo pasado.
- Los deportes.
- La música.
- El cine y la televisión.
- La lectura.
- Las máquinas.
- Los horóscopos.
- El peligro.
- Los propósitos e intenciones.
- El futuro.
3. USO PROGRESIVO DE LAS CATEGORÍAS GRAMATICALES EN LAS
PRODUCCIONES ORALES Y ESCRITAS PARA MEJORAR LA
COMUNICACIÓN
Una de las técnicas más aplicadas en la enseñanza de una lengua
extranjera es el uso de los denominados "drills" a la hora de practicar la
morfosintaxis y aplicarla directamente tanto en ejercicios orales como de
expresión escrita.
3.1. LOS DRILLS
Algunos de
siguientes:
los
principales
"drills"
utilizados
actualmente
son
los
1. Repetición: es el primer drill, o, al menos, el más conocido.
El profesor enuncia diferentes oraciones o expresiones y los alumnos las
repiten al objeto de asimilar su pronunciación, el orden de las palabras, la
entonación, etc.
2. Sustitución: Dada una estructura gramatical, el alumno se familiariza
con ella sustituyendo, dentro del mismo paradigma, una palabra por otra.
A este ejercicio lo llamamos sustitución simple:
Ejemplo: A book I buy a book
A car I buy a car
A comb I buy a comb, etc.
Cuando cambiamos de paradigma dentro del mismo ejercicio, estamos
ante una sustitución múltiple:
Ejemplo: I I get up at seven
eight I get up at eight
Mary Mary gets up at eight
we We get up at eight
go to bed We go to bed at eight
ten We go to bed at ten, etc.
En las sustituciones múltiples, normalmente hay que decir, cuando se dan
las instrucciones, "introduciendo los cambios necesarios". Por ejemplo, en
el ejercicio anterior hemos tenido que añadir el morfema "s" al presentar
el sujeto "Mary".
Las palabras o elementos que han de ser sustituidos se pueden presentar
oralmente, con realia, es decir, mostrando o señalando los objetos reales,
o con tarjetas, también conocidas con el nombre de "flash cards".
3. Transformación: Es un ejercicio tradicional que consiste en pasar
oraciones activas a pasivas, o de presente a pasado, o de afirmativas a
negativas, o a la inversa, o adjetivos atribuidos en predicativos.
(Ejemplo: "The door is white" Þ "It's a white door"), etc.
¯¯
Adjetivo Adjetivo
atributivo predicativo
Ejemplo: Mary works in a bank Does Mary work in a bank?
Peter is a doctor Is Peter a doctor?
Susan has got a new car Has Susan got a new car?
John arrived last night Did John arrive last night?
Este ejercicio ha empleado distintos tiempos verbales y distintos tipos de
verbos. Como es evidente, se puede hacer con un solo tiempo verbal o
con un solo tipo de verbo.
4. Expansivo: En este ejercicio el alumno va ampliando una oración inicial
con los elementos
que le facilita el profesor. También se le llama a este ejercicio "pirámide".
Ejemplo: always: He reads books
He always reads books
English: He always reads English books
at night: He always reads English books at night.
5. Reducción: Ejercicio opuesto al anterior, también conocido con el
nombre de "pirámide invertida".
Ejemplo: She always gets up at seven and has breakfast has breakfast
Se always gets up at seven at seven
She always get up always
She gets up
6. Reconstrucción: Dados unos elementos desordenados, el alumno debe
darles el orden sintáctico correcto, efectuando los cambios necesarios.
Ejemplo: To come, he, yesterday Þ He came yesterday
7. Contestar preguntas preparadas estructuralmente:
Ejemplo: Why don't you pay? (loose my money)
- I don't pay because I lost my money
Why didn't she come? (forget it)
- She didn't come because she forgot it
8. Formular preguntas a respuestas dadas:
Ejemplo: I visit my grand parents very often
- when did you visit them?
I write to my friends very often
- when did you write to them?
9. Traducción inversa controlada: Este ejercicio es conveniente para
practicar puntos gramaticales que son muy distintos de una lengua a otra.
Ejemplo: Puede que él venga Þ He may come
Puede que llueva Þ It may rain
Puede que (ella) llame por teléfono Þ She may call
Estudio desde hace un mes Þ I've been studying for one month
Estos ejercicios o drills se pueden hacer más complejos combinando
sustituciones, transformaciones, expansiones, etc. Lo importante es dar
las instrucciones bien claras y un ejemplo o modelo antes de cada
práctica. Como es evidente, la mayoría de ellos se pueden hacer tanto
oralmente como por escrito; es el maestro quien debe decidir la
conveniencia de un medio o del otro.
LOS INCONVENIENTES DE LOS DRILLS:
Los drills tienen dos inconvenientes importantes. Si se usan en clase más
de un tiempo prudencial, el interés y la motivación decaen; el otro
inconveniente es la situación absurda en que se encuentran muchos
alumnos, que, cuando se trata de manipular las estructuras en clase, lo
hacen perfectamente, pero al pasar a situaciones reales cometen errores
como "want you a cup of tea?" después de haber practicado
insistentemente la forma interrogativa del presente habitual con todo tipo
de drills.
Poco a poco, los drills se han ido acomodando a una posición más
situacional y cognoscitiva por medio de la contextualización. Y esto es
posible en el aula, ya que en ella hay personas reales, con un presente,
un pasado y un futuro, con posesiones, anhelos, problemas, familia, etc.
Además, el ser humano es un animal curioso: le gusta enterarse de lo que
hacen los demás. Es mucho más provechoso, por tanto, que las prácticas
que se hagan sobre estructuras determinadas se relacionen directamente
con la vida de los miembros de la clase.
3.2. PRÁCTICA CONTEXTUALIZADA DEL PRESENTE CONTINUO
Suponiendo que los alumnos ya hayan visto la estructura a través de una
presentación por diálogo o texto, que se les haya explicado su función y
sus variantes, y que se hayan puesto a su disposición unos cuantos
verbos corrientes, como work, play, cook, drive, eat, drink, write, etc., se
pueden seguir los siguientes pasos a fin de que los alumnos asimilen
totalmente esta categoría gramatical en inglés:
a) El profesor hace un dibujo en la pizarra de su propio padre (o esposa,
madre, novia, etc.). Los alumnos le hacen preguntas:
- Is your father working in his office?
- Is your father playing football?
- Is your father cooking lunch?
- Is your father driving his car?
Antes de contestar, el profesor consulta su reloj. Esto indica claramente a
los alumnos que se trata de ahora mismo. Entonces contestará la verdad:
- Yes, he is.
- No, he isn't.
- Probably.
- Probably not.
- Perhaps.
b) A continuación, se invita a un alumno a dibujar en la pizarra a algún
pariente suyo, y se repite el ejercicio.
La forma afirmativa puede practicarse si cada alumno piensa en un
miembro de su familia y menta lo que probablemente está haciendo,
teniendo en cuenta la hora que es:
- My father is probably working in the factory.
- My mother is probably watching T.V.
- My sister is probably studying in the library.
También se puede decir lo que seguramente no están haciendo los
miembros de su familia:
- I'm sure my father isn't dancing in a disco.
- I'm sure my mother isn't playing cards.
- I'm sure my brother isn't studying.
El único problema que se presenta con este tipo de práctica es el del
vocabulario. ("Es que mi hermana debe estar estudiando en la biblioteca.
¿Cómo se dice "biblioteca"?). No es un problema grave; se le dice
simplemente al alumno que pregunta que biblioteca es library. No es
necesario que toda la clase aprenda la palabra library, aunque muchos lo
harán por simple curiosidad; la necesidad sólo atañe al alumno que quiere
decir lo que está haciendo su hermana, y a los que quieren entenderle.
De todas formas, es un error restringir en este nivel de Primaria el
vocabulario a "lo que poner el libro" porque los alumnos tienen siempre
una curiosidad muy grande por saber palabras sueltas, y porque cada
alumno tiene sus necesidades léxicas, que para él serán vitales, aunque a
otros les parezcan poco importantes. Además, evita el uso constante del
llamado "classroom vocabulary" -la tiza, las sillas, las mesas, los
bolígrafos; o del "textbook vocabulary" -los niños, la nevera, el coche, la
casa, etc.-.
3.3. PRÁCTICA CONTEXTUALIZADA DEL FUTURO SIMPLE
Para practicar el futuro simple se presentan varias situaciones, ilustradas
con dibujos, acompañadas de "promts" o vocabulario de apoyo, etc. Los
ejercicios han sido diseñados para que haya trabajo individual y por
parejas. Tanto en éste como en otros ejercicios que se pueden realizar, el
maestro no debe olvidar que, aunque esté prestando toda la atención al
componente morfosintáctico, no se pueden descuidar ni la fonología ni el
vocabulario.
Suponiendo que los alumnos ya se hayan familiarizado con la estructura
del futuro simple en inglés y que se les hayan explicado las funciones de
éste, se pueden seguir los siguientes pasos:
SITUACIÓN 1:
a) El profesor presentará la situación o contexto.
"A construction company is building a house for Mr. Evans. They promised
him a lot of thing for Christmas."
put the roof/complete the kitchen/etc.
b) Trabajo individual:
- What have the construction company promised they will do by
Christmas?
- They promised they will put the roof, they will complete the kitchen, etc.
c) Trabajo por parejas: You are Mr. Evans, and your friend is the manager
of the construction company. You are impatient, and you are asking him
questions with will you
..... by Christmas?
- Will you put the roof by Christmas? Yes, we will.
- Will you finish the kitchen by Christmas? Yes, we will, of course.
SITUACIÓN 2:
a) El profesro presentará la siguiente situación: "Anthony Jones is a
young writer. He wants to be very famous, he wants to do many things
by the year 2000".
- become internationally famous / win the Nobel prize / write more than
30 novels / etc.
b) Trabajo individual:
- What does Anthony think he will do by the year 2000?
- He thinks he will be famous, he will write many books, etc.
c) Trabajo por parejas: You are a television interviewer asking questions
to Anthony Jones. Ask him questions like:
- Are you optimistic about your future? Yes, I am very optimistic.
- What will you do by the year 2000? I will write many novels, I will win
the Nobel prize, etc.
SITUACIÓN 3:
a) El profesor presentará la situación: "Beatrice Wood is pessimistic about
the ecologial situation. She thinks we will do many terrible things by the
end of the century".
Kill all the whales / destroy the Amazon forest / Kill fish / etc.
b) Trabajo individual:
- What does Beatrice Wood think we will do by the end of the century?
- She thinks we will kill all the whales and fish, etc.
c) Trabajo por parejas: You are talking to Beatrice Wood. Ask her these
questions:
- What will happen to the whales by the end of the century?
- What will happen to the Amazon forest?
- What will happen to the fish?
By the end of the century we will kill the whales, fish and we will destroy
the Amazon forest.
BIBLIOGRAFÍA
ALCARAZ & MOODY. La didáctica del inglés. Ed. Alhambra. Madrid. 1982
M.E.C. Cajas rojas para la Reforma. Área de lenguas extranjeras. Madrid.
1992
BELLO y OTROS. Didáctica de las segundas lenguas. Ed. Santillana (Aula
XXI). Madrid. 1992
SWAM & WALTER. The new Cambridge english course. C.U.P. Cambridge.
1991
TEMA 13
HISTORIA DE LA EVOLUCIÓN DIDÁCTICA DE LAS LENGUAS
EXTRANJERAS: DE LOS MÉTODOS DE GRAMÁTICA-TRADUCCIÓN A LOS
ENFOQUES ACTUALES.
LOS PRINCIPALES MÉTODOS EN LA ENSEÑANZA DE IDIOMAS
1. EL MÉTODO “TRADICIONAL”
En la enseñanza de idiomas, cualquier metodología que se presente o se imponga no debe
entenderse como algo que surge casualmente o como un fenómeno aislado. Toda
metodología responde a una realidad compleja, preexistente o concomitante a un conjunto de
motivaciones diversas, aunque siempre dentro de las coordenadas del pensar de una época.
Antes de empezar a hablar del método tradicional debemos puntualizar que el empleo de
dicho término no es muy apropiado; estudiando la historia de la enseñanza de las lenguas se
constata inmediatamente, y como veremos a continuación, que no ha habido “métodos
tradicionales”sino que más bien los distintos métodos se han ido sucediendo o turnando. En
inglés se ha utilizado una denominación más ajustada a la realidad: “método de gramática y
traducción”, respondiendo así a las prácticas más comunes y características del mencionado
método.
Por método tradicional, esquematizando y simplificando, podríamos reducir el contenido de
esta metodología a los siguientes puntos:
1. Visión normativa y prescriptiva del lenguaje, como base sobre la que se asientan los
contenidos que se enseñan.
2. Predominio de un modelo de lenguaje derivado del legado escrito de autores
“consagrados”, es decir, encontraremos una lengua formal , correcta y relacionada con
las corrientes puristas.
3. Convencimiento y creencia (consciente o no) en el hecho de que los procesos
lingüísticos son procesos fundamentalmente lógicos, adquiridos por deducción. En
consecuencia, se hace necesario aprender primero las reglas gramaticales; después la
aplicación de tales reglas permitirá la formación de frases y oraciones bien hechas,
utilizando léxico variado en combinaciones distintas.
4. El concepto de lengua oral y/o coloquial es sinónimo de “vulgar” de bajo nivel o
calidad. No solamente no se toma como modelo sino que incluso se debe evitar en el
uso y rechazar como incorrecto.
5. La memorización de reglas gramaticales por un lado y de largas listas de vocabulario
por otro, son los objetivos prioritarios en una lección del método tradicional.
6. La técnica de la traducción directa e inversa es la más ampliamente utilizada en clase.
7. El vocabulario utilizado es el que mejor sirva a la aplicación de las reglas gramaticales,
no necesariamente el que más se use en la comunicación interpersonal.
Desde el punto de vista histórico, parece lógico asumir que el método tradicional habría sido
difícil de aplicar cuando la gramática no estaba clara o la conceptualización gramatical no
había alcanzado un grado de desarrollo analítico mínimo. En este sentido las aportaciones de
los griegos, particularmente, Aristóteles y Dionisio Tracio fueron hitos importantes que
permitieron acercarse más al estudio de las lenguas desde un punto de vista analítico. Con
toda seguridad, en aquel entonces, las lenguas se aprendían por contacto lingüístico entre los
hablantes, mediante la práctica en el medio adecuado. Así el latín se aprendia sobre todo
mediante tutores que convivían con el educando, hablando ambos en esa lengua. En siglos no
lejanos, Montaigne todavía nos cuenta cómo él aprendió latín con ese sistema, llegando a
hablarlo con soltura y prontitud.
En el contexto que nos ocupa no podemos dejar de lado el tema de la “gramática
especulativa”. Los gramáticos de esta tendencia hablan de los aspectos lógicos de la lengua
mediante el estudio de la relación lenguaje/mente-intelecto. Trabajan en la búsqueda de
elementos comunes a todas las lenguas, elementos que deben existir -afirman- puesto que la
mente humana también tiene muchos elementos en común y todo ello se debe reflejar en los
lenguajes naturales porque todos se fundamentan en la mente y son creación del hombre. Este
hecho es de gran relevancia para entender el énfasis dado a los aspectos gramaticales y
normativos, énfasis que acaba instalándose por largo tiempo en el pensar lingüístico europeo.
Como consecuencia de este pensar aparece en el campo de la enseñanza de idiomas lo que se
podría llamar “escuela austriaca” con Ollendorf (siglo XIX) primero, y ,Plotz después .
Fue en aquella corte prusiana en la que se desarrolló el método denominado “tradicional”,
dicho método se expandió de forma excepcional por toda Europa. Los libros de Ollendorf
para la enseñanza de lenguas extranjeras alcanzaron gran difusión y se podrían definir
diciendo que en ellos es muy importante que la gramática constituya la parte más importante
de la enseñanza de la lenguas. Pero Ollendorf no descubre nada nuevo; que la enseñanza y
aprendizaje de las reglas gramaticales son el ingrediente fundamental sobre el cual los
alumnos han de cifrar su atención ya había sido centro de polémicas en siglos anteriores. Muy
ilustrativa a este respecto es la discusión protagonizada por Brookes y Webbe en Inglaterra,
en el siglo XVII. Mientras Webbe, buscando la mejor manera de enseñar latín intentaba
prescindir de toda gramática, Brookes, defiende los esquemas de la enseñanza tradicional.
Para el último resultaba escandaloso intenta aprender una lengua sin aprender la gramática.
Webbe, por su parte, trataba de demostrar que también era posible aprender mediante la
experiencia y la repetición de actos.
Volviendo de nuevo a Ollendorf, vale la pena estudiar más a fondo cómo se estructura cada
lección de su método, puesto que durante muchos años no cambió.En el siglo XX ,hubo un
intento de cambio, aparecieron libros de texto con el título de “Ollendorf reformado”, pero
tales reformas fueron siempre mínimas y no sustanciales. Como decía, en una lección típica
ollendorfiana encontraríamos los siguientes apartados:
1. Una lista de palabras en ambas lenguas encabezando la unidad; a veces, en vez de lista de
palabras, se presenta una lista de frases que reflejan lo que posteriormente se va a exponer
en la regla gramatical.
Ejemplo:
El palacio del rey
The king’s palace.
El jardín de la señora
The lady’s garden.
2. Se enuncian a continuación las reglas gramaticales (aunque a veces pueden aparecer antes).
Ejemplo: “Jamás se hace uso de este genitivo con los adjetivos empleados sustantivamente”
Y se añaden ejemplos para ilustrar la regla:
“ La felicidad del malvado es pasajera”.
“The happines of the wicked is but transitory”.
3. Luego, se introducen las prácticas: ejercicios de traducción directa e inversa, siempre
tratando de que la regla
expuesta anteriormente encuentre en la práctica un refuerzo adecuado. El lenguaje
seleccionado por el autor
nunca es arbitrario, de ahí que el lenguaje resulte convencional e irreal, en ningún momento
se preocupan por reproducir un diálogo normal.
Ejemplo: “¿Tiene su hijo, papel para escribir un billete?
No, no lo tiene.
La filosofía de esta orientación metodológica está contenida en los prólogos de diferentes
autores que siguen a Ollendorf: “Siempre el maestro comenzará cada lección llamando la
atención del alumno hacia los vocablos de mayor importancia gramatical, y hacia las reglas
que en cada lección se encuentren”. El mismo autor dice: “Si se sigue este método sin
acortarlo, garantizo formalmente que no habrá discípulo alguno, siempre que no sea imbécil
o idiota, que deje de aprender bien el inglés”.
Sin embargo, es fácil encontrar una notable falta de exactitud en la enunciación de las reglas
gramaticales, y en lo relativo a la pronunciación, las explicaciones curiosas abundan:
Ejemplo: Vocal “e’especial”, que es preciso oír a un inglés.
Por otro lado, los métodos de idiomas no deben estar desconectados de la realidad social en la
que aparecen y se desarrollan. En la actualidad, el método tradicional está fuera de lugar,
desplazado y desfasado. Y es natural que así sea, entre otras razones, porque los estudios
linguísticos apuntan en otra dirección y porque la consideración de qué es necesario en el
aprendizaje de una segunda lengua ha cambiado sustancialmente. Pensemos, por ejemplo, en
la primacía de la lengua oral, favorecida actualmente por los medios de comunicación,
medios que facilitan el contacto entre las gentes y exigen incluso la necesidad de conocer una
segunda lengua para poder entendernos en los frecuentes viajes.
En cuanto al método “Ollendorf reformado”encontramos algunas variantes. BENOT, por
ejemplo, dice: “Dada la lección, y enterado ya el alumno de todo lo más importante, no
deben oirse en la clase más palabras en español que las advertencias que el profesor juzgue
necesario hacer”.
Este tipo de método presenta con frecuencia al inicio de cada lección no listas de palabras
aisladas sino frases o expresiones cortas que se refieren a las reglas gramaticales que se
encuentran a continuación. La palabra se presenta pues, dentro de un contexto (aunque a
veces sigue reflejando un lenguaje artificial y forzado). Salvo este inconveniente, se avanzó
bastante con respecto al empleo del método tradicional que implicaba el uso casi exclusivo
de la lengua materna del alumno. Recordemos también que la ordenación del material por
lecciones y la estructuración de las lecciones, en cuanto tales, tenían una base y un
fundamento gramatical.
En 1850 P.J. Rojas publicó un método para enseñar inglés a españoles, basado en el del
doctor Robertson., Durante mucho tiempo se pretendió enseñar idiomas explanando teorías,
haciendo reglas y dejando la aplicación práctica a la impericia o al capricho del discípulo, sin
embargo, mediante el método de Robertson se comenzaba a leer, a traducir, a escribir, a
hablar, a adquirir conocimientos gramaticales desde la primera lección (decían), pero la
realidad no se ajustaba a tales objetivos; en la primera lección se ofrecía un texto de caracter
histórico y con un vocabulario y sintaxis poco usual en la vida cotidiana.
Basándose en el texto, el autor, señala como se pronuncia cada palabra y cada sonido, se hace
la versión literal y “castiza”, y, una y otra vez, se hacen preguntas en castellano y se
responden en inglés para hacer entender el texto. Luego se hace lo mismo en inglés y
castellano y, más adelante, siguen 17 páginas dedicadas a analizar la pronunciación, la
morfología y la sintaxis.
En este tipo de método encontramos variantes, pero no ruptura real con lo anterior. La
ruptura reside más bien en la organización del material: no sigue ningún orden preestablecido
como se hacía en las gramáticas anteriores, ahora los textos que aparecen además de ficticios
son, generalmente, complejos. Bien es cierto que esa complejidad es analizada en detalle y
organizadamente en las abundantes páginas explicativas que componen cada lección.
NOTA FINAL Y BALANCE
a) El imperio de la gramática.
La insistencia de los aspectos gramaticales no debería, a pesar de todo, cifrarse
exclusivamente en el método tradicional. El “Ars Grammatica “ de Donato, contaba con una
base didáctica importante, fue elaborada a modo de preguntas y respuestas. En el siglo XIII,
Alejandro Villedien escribió también otra gramática con fines didácticos.
Esta insistencia tan pertinaz, ya desde tiempos tan lejanos, nos revela al menos dos cosas:
1. Que la gramática ha sido considerada siempre como básica en el estudio de las lenguas y
del lenguaje.
2. Que si tanta importancia le ha sido dada por lingüístas de todos los tiempos, las razones
deben haber sido serias.
b) Sobre el método tradicional.
Es preciso evaluar un método partiendo de los objetivos que se propone y tratando de
apreciar si los ha obtenido o no. En este sentido, si el objetivo del método tradicional era
fundamentalmente aprender a leer y traducir una lengua extranjera, los resultados obtenidos
con el mismo son considerablemente positivos. El aprendizaje del código gramatical, del
vocabulario y, por otro lado, los ejercicios apuntaban a ello. Criticar este método diciendo
que con él no se aprende a hablar, es distorsionar la realidad: el método tradicional no
pretende enseñar a hablar al alumno. Tampoco tiene como objetivo el aprendizaje de la
lengua coloquial, ya que no lo considera correcto. Es la lengua literaria formal la que se erige
en norma.
En cuanto al vocabulario, diremos que con frecuencia se ofrece sin contexto, aisladamente, y
el aprender vocabulario fuera de contexto es un peligro para el que aprende. La traducción ,
está supeditada a los puntos gramaticales que se trata de aprender. La consecuencia inmediata
es la aparición de frases atípicas. Sin embargo, no está demás decir que los mismos objetivos
podrían lograrse con frases que ofreciesen mayor naturalidad, extrayéndolas de contextos
adecuados.
No olvidemos, tampoco, que la memorización de reglas se exageró excesivamente, llegó a
constituirse en fin, en vez de ser un medio para lograr un fin.
2. EL MÉTODO DIRECTO
En el siglo XVII el gran didacta COMENIO publicaba su “Ianua Linguarum”, complemento
de otro método visual para la enseñanza de las lenguas, “Orbis Sensualium Pictus”. Sin
embargo, no fue una idea original suya, copiaba el título de un manuscrito de un jesuita
irlandés, BATHE, que en sus años de estancia y docencia en la Universidad de Salamanca,
había escrito el primer Inaua Linguarum. En este libro escrito para aprender latín, el autor
habla varias veces de algo equivalente al Método directo:
“ Hasta el presente solamente se han desarrollado dos métodos para el aprendizaje de
idiomas. Son el regular (es decir, indirecto o gramática-traducción) y el irregular (o
directo), ampliamente usado por todos aquellos que aprenden idiomas mediante la práctica
oral y la lectura. El primero de ellos consigue una mayor precisión, mientras que los
segundos consiguen una mayor fluidez lingüística...”
Pero el método que hoy denominamos directo, encontró su máximo exponente, desde el
punto de vista de su divulgación y concretización en un libro de texto, en las obras y labor
docente de M.D. BERLITZ. Su método es una amalgama de elementos de distinta índole,
provenientes en parte de autores tan sobresalientes como Comenio y Pestalozzi, y, en parte,
resultado de una reacción frente al método más extendido hasta entonces, el tradicional.
Berlitz da como principios de su método los siguientes :
1. Asociación directa de la percepción y el pensamiento con la lengua y sonidos de la lengua
que se aprende.
2. Uso constante y exclusivo de la lengua que se está aprendiendo.
Y a partir de estos dos puntos cardinales, llega a conclusiones que definen y condicionan la
metodología a seguir.
Es fundamental la utilización de objetos reales para la enseñanza de una lengua. Este
principio encuentra su origen en los “realia” aludidos en muchas obras de siglos pasados.
Comenio ya decía que las palabras no podían ser aprendidas separadas de las cosas y
Pestalozzi (1746-1872), habla del método natural. Para él, el aprendizaje de una lengua es
uno de los elementos clave de todo aprendizaje humano. En su obra De cómo Gertrudis
enseña a sus hijos, nos lega su filosofía del aprendizaje referido a las lenguas. En primer
lugar, trata del aprendizaje de la lengua materna. El proceso es “natural”, influyendo de
forma decisiva la impresión por los sentidos, y dichas impresiones provienen de experiencias
exteriores, entre las cuales están los objetos. Dice que se debe buscar, en el proceso de
aprendizaje, la aplicación y la búsqueda de estímulos que ofrezcan los objetos y cosas de las
cuales suele estar rodeado el niño, y, utilizar dichos objetos de formas diversas presentando al
niño las sensaciones más variadas.
La utilización de los objetos del mundo real, y la insistencia en el método natural, hacen que
poco después F. Francke trate de explicar tal proceso aplicado a la enseñanza de idiomas.
Intenta dejar claro que el proceso de traducción utilizado en la enseñanza de idiomas es poco
económico, porque sigue la línea [LE-LM-C], es decir, lengua extranjera-lengua maternaconcepto, cosa innecesaria, puesto que basta seguir la trayectoria lengua extranjeraconcepto,[LE-C]. Se puede aprender la palabra de la lengua extranjera relacionándola con el
objeto en cuestión. Es más,lo primero, dificulta el aprendizaje más que facilitarlo.
Cuando Berlitz habla de “leyes naturales” en el proceso de aprendizaje, añade a lo dicho por
Pestalozzi que el niño al aprender la lengua materna, no aprende gramática, ni reglas, ni
nada semejante y es capaz de hablar una lengua . Además, su aprendizaje es más seguro y
eficaz.
Sin embargo hay que tener en cuenta que el aprendizaje de la lengua materna es diferente al
de una lengua extranjera:
1. Al aprender la lengua materna, el niño no dispone de otro medio lingüístico de
comunicación.
2. Aprende una lengua por primera vez.
3. La lengua que aprende le es vital para poder comunicarse con lo que le rodea y con
aquellos con quienes convive a diario.
4. Vive hora tras hora en un contexto lingüístico apropiado para aprender el idioma que usa,
sin nada que se lo impida y con todo a su favor.
Pestalozzi exprime el tema al ampliarlo al mundo de los adultos; dice que no se puede
comparar el aprendizaje del niño y del adulto porque a la hora de aprender una lengua
extranjera, el adulto está mejor equipado al poseer un sistema y estar habituado ya a
establecer relaciones objeto-pensamiento-palabras. Mientras, el niño ha de empezar por lo
más elemental: la captación e identificación del objeto en cuanto a tal (evidentemente se
refiere a niños muy pequeños).
Cercano a Pestalozzi y a sus seguidores, está GOUIN, quien basa su metodología en la
observación de cómo aprende el niño: jugando, comentando, preguntando y relacionando
significado, acción y palabras ( con el consiguiente énfasis en las formas verbales, que el
autor resalta expresamente en el margen derecho de la situación en que se desenvuelven sus
unidades didácticas).
En realidad, este método que nos ocupa está enfocado al aprendizaje de una lengua extranjera
por adultos, y sus defensores lo que quisieron fue encontrar un paralelo con el proceso de
aprendizaje de la lengua materna de un niño. Pero dicho paralelismo era sólo parcial porque:
A- El niño está adquiriendo el lenguaje y una lengua concreta.
B- El adulto tiene una capacidad de lenguaje bien o suficientemente desarrollada. También
posee una primera lengua ya adquirida.
A- El niño tiene muchas horas para aprender, días, meses, años...
B- El adulto busca economía en el tiempo, aprender lo máximo en el mínimo espacio de
tiempo posible.
A- El niño está inmerso en el ambiente lingüístico que aprende.
B- El adulto no, a no ser que esté viviendo en un país extranjero donde se hable la lengua en
cuestión.
A- El niño no está condicionado por otro sistema de comunicación.
B- El adulto sí. Además los habitos lingüísticos pesan y se interfieren.
A- El niño va adquiriendo a lo largo de los años su capacidad de abstracción.
B- El adulto ya ha dado esos pasos. En consecuencia, el sentido que las reglas gramaticales
tienen para el niño y para el adulto es diferente. Para el adulto la abstracción de las reglas
gramaticales no es nada nuevo, generalmente, pueden ayudarle en su aprendizaje y quizá las
exija porque está habituado a ellas. En el otro caso, el del niño, la explicación y presencia de
reglas puede llegar a ser contraproducente si no se aplica un buen criterio y metodología.
Debemos pensar también que la abstracción de las reglas gramaticales ayuda a desarrollar la
capacidad intelectual y abstractora del niño, precisamente dos pilares básicos en el
aprendizaje de un idioma.
Volviendo de nuevo con Berlitz, añadamos algunas de sus palabras, decía que con su método
se aprende “como si se estuviese en el país en que se habla el idioma”. Pero tal comparación
no se da ni en el mejor de los casos, falla la premisa fundamental, el que aprende
permaneciendo en su país de origen, estudia dos, tres, cuatro, seis u ocho horas diarias,
dificilmente más. El resto del día se sumerge de nuevo en el ambiente que le es propio,
escucha la televisión, la radio, lee...en su idioma nativo. En cambio el que reside en el país de
la lengua que está aprendiendo tiene otra composición mucho más favorable. Para empezar
tiene que aprender el nuevo código de comunicación para sobrevivir, integrarse...,aprende la
lengua todo el día, tv, radio, trabajo...
EVALUACIÓN DEL MÉTODO DIRECTO
En líneas generales los defensores del Método directo se oponen a la explicación de las reglas
gramaticales y la traducción en una clase de lengua extranjera. Pretenden la asociación
objeto-palabra. Pero bien pensado el alcance de este resorte es más bien reducido: los objetos
que se pueden llevar al aula no son muchos, en tal momento tenemos el recurso de los
dibujos. Es el recurso ya preconizado por Comenio: “podemos recorrer la selva sin salir de
nuestra aula”, aunque la variante es que se utiliza la imagen, no el objeto real.
Frente a lo ofrecido por los métodos tradicionales, basados en la gramática y traducción, este
método representa una alternativa totalmente opuesta: ausencia de gramática, ausencia- en los
primeros niveles al menos- de textos literarios, ausencia de listas iniciales de palabras a las
cuales se habían de aplicar las reglas gramaticales. En contrapartida se ofrece la lengua “ tal
cual se habla “ en la vida diaria, y el inmediato uso de la misma en situaciones de interacción
comunicativa a nivel oral.
Al alumno se le ofrece la lengua sin analizar, se espera de él un aprendizaje por inducción, de
la misma manera que aprendió su primera lengua, por exposición a la misma y uso de ella.
El profesor del Método Directo suple la traducción mediante el uso de objetos, mímica o
similares. Pero este procedimiento en sí inocuo, encierra muchos peligros. Sobre todo el
peligro de que el alumno no capte el significado correcto y aprenda un error que si no se
soluciona lo repita siempre y pueda ser el origen de una cadena de errores o de acumulación
de deficiencias.
Por otro lado, a medida que avanza el nivel , las frases sencillas de la vida cotidiana van
dejando paso a otras más complejas, que seguramente requerirán un análisis más detallado,
incluyendo las explicaciones gramaticales.
Con el Método Directo se intenta sumergir al alumno desde el principio en el contexto de la
lengua que aprende, pero no cabe esperar que esa inmersión sea del mismo calibre que la del
niño que aprende su primera lengua. El hábito de pensar en el idioma que se aprende es un
objetivo primordial. De hecho una vez logrado eso, ya se puede decir que en verdad se ha
llegado a un pleno dominio de esa lengua. Pero es un objetivo difícil de alcanzar y muy pocos
lo logran. Con este método se supone que al utilizar siempre la lengua que se aprende se
facilita tal objetivo. Contrastando esto con el método tradicional el cambio de énfasis y
direccionalidad es muy notable.
Desde el punto de vista de el profesorado, el profesor del Método Directo ha de tener dos
cualidades sobresalientes:
1. Hablar muy bien la lengua que enseña y desenvolverse en ella con agilidad y facilidad.
2. Ser activo en la clase.
En cuanto a lo primero, uno de los motivos del fracaso inicial de dicho método fue la carencia
de personal docente preparado. Sin el excelente conocimiento de la lengua a enseñar es
imposible llevar la clase, es más, es muy difícil que el profesor transmita al alumno una
creatividad en la lengua que enseña cuando él mismo carece de ella. Referente al segundo
punto, al ser una metodología activa se necesitan profesores con temperamento activo, de lo
contrario no podrían llevar este tipo de clases con desenvoltura.
3. EL MÉTODO AUDIO-ORAL
Esta nueva orientación se debe principalmente a los estudios lingüísticos y al nacimiento
fuerte y pujante de la lingüística como ciencia ampliamente aceptada. Y también a las ya
establecidas críticas contra el empleo excesivo de la gramática en la clase de idiomas. En el
siglo XVI Lubinus ya consideraba esta práctica como contraria al sentido común; en el s.
XIX, también se decía que los “métodos antiguos tenían el inconveniente de atribuir sobrada
importancia a la gramática, sin dejar paso al la práctica, exponiendo al que aprende a que
quede para siempre imposibilitado de hablar y escribir la lengua extrajera con genuinos
giros, con franca propiedad, a trueque de haber logrado escribir o hablar sin faltas
gramaticales.
Con el Método audio-oral, no estamos ante nada realmente nuevo, sigue esta línea, es decir,
fueron profesionales de la enseñanza de idiomas del siglo XIX los que dieron el primer paso.
En nuestros días, tenderíamos a asumir que cualquier método del siglo XIX debería caer
dentro del denominador común de “método tradicional”. Sin embargo, existían métodos
como el del señor LLAUSAS o el señor ROBERTSON que lo criticaban. Pero también en
estos años se dieron reacciones de signo totalmente opuesto a las ideas de Llausas. A él se
opone el método JACOTOT , quien opina que todos esos métodos que estaban invadiendo
Europa y América tienen defectos capitales al desterrar todo estudio gramatical y fiar a la
práctica, hecha sin plan ni gradación, el conocimiento de un idioma extranjero.
La metodología audio-oral, intentará avanzar en el campo de la enseñanza de idiomas. Fue
un método muy circusncrito a los Estados Unidos de América, (audiolingual method),
particularmente desarrollado y extendido por la Universidad de Michigan . Su base principal
se encuentra en la lingüística, en el estructuralismo. A ello se aañaden elementos tomados de
la psicología aplicada, especialmente del conductismo skinneriano.
Los lingüístas estructuralistas, aplicando los criterios de la objetividad científica en boga,
estudiaron la lengua desde un punto de vista descriptivo. No se pretendía acomodar la
realidad de la lengua a moldes o reglas preconcebidas a las cuales el hablante se debería
ajustar. El proceso era inverso: se estudiaba el sistema de una lengua para tratar de describir
su comportamiento; de ahí podían establecerse después estructuras o “comportamientos
lingüísticos”. Se estudiaba la lengua tal cual era en la práctica de los hablantes de cada día.
El cambio de orientación es radical, “ la lengua es como es y no como alguien piense que
debe ser” acostumbran a decir algunos lingüístas. En consecuencia, se aceptan palabras y
estructuras que anteriormente eran consideradas incorrectas y se admiten construcciones que
en años anteriores habrían herido a muchos puristas. Se amplían los horizontes de lo
“aceptable” a todos los niveles: pronunciación, morfología y sintaxis. La norma lingüística
vendrá dada no por grupos selectos o élites, sino por el conjunto de hablantes de cada lengua.
Con ello se admite que no hay norma lingüística inmortal y dogmática; las normas pueden
ser cambiantes si así lo admiten los hablantes en la práctica real de la lengua. Esta nueva
visión dará lugar a nuevos libros de texto en los que no se explicarán o expondrán reglas a las
que se ha de ajustar algo, sino que se expondrá la lengua tal cual se da en la práctica oral y
escrita. Serán muy apreciados los estudios contrastivos para mostrarle al alumno qué se
asemeja o qué es diferente entre la lengua que aprende y su lengua materna. Evidentemente,
estos estudios están realizados a un nivel de estructuras superficiales, fácilmente objetivables,
puesto que en esta época lo objetivo era lo que se admitía como válido desde un punto de
vista científico.
Además si la lengua era uso, no tenía por qué basarse exclusivamente en la gramática o en el
texto literario, había que aprender ( y enseñar) la lengua tal cual era usada, la lengua
hablada. A esto se unía la necesidad o el afán de comunicarse oralmente en otra lengua (afán
que no es gratuito: las confrontaciones bélicas lo habían hecho importante, al igual que los
nuevos medios de comunicación).
La lengua hablada se convierte así en el objetivo prioritario de la enseñanza, objetivo que
coincide plenamente con el de los estudios de los lingüístas. Hay otro elemento que apunta
también en esta dirección: la creencia de que la lengua hablada es la primera modalidad de
lengua que todos aprendemos cuando nacemos y que, en consecuencia, este proceder en el
proceso de aprendizaje, es el mismo que ha de seguirse al adquirir una segunda lengua. De
aquí deriva el eslogan” Primero la lengua hablada, luego la escrita”. Hay que apuntar que de
esta forma se reaccionaba contra la práctica predominante de las escuelas en las que la lengua
escrita era la única protagonista.
En la práctica, y con la ayuda de los poderosos medios de comunicación, surgieron algunos
lemas que acabaron por convertirse en dogmas para muchos profesore. El lingüísta W.
Moulton enunciaba así los principales puntos de la nueva metodología:
1. La lengua es la lengua oral, no la escrita.
2. La lengua es el resultado de un conjunto de hábitos.
3. Hay que enseñar la lengua, no algo sobre la lengua.
4. La lengua es lo que hablan los hablantes nativos de la misma.
5. Las lenguas son diferentes.
El segundo principio, está estrechamente relacionado con los principios skinnerianos de
conductismo o behaviorismo. Según Skinner, la lengua es la consolidación de un conjunto de
hábitos lingüísticos. Opina que la lengua es un hábito porque es un conjunto de destrezas y
habilidades y, en consecuencia, se adquirirá mediante la repetición de aquellos elementos que
constituyan el sistema lingüístico ( en este caso, el vocabulario y las estructuras lingüísticas).
Esa fue precisamente la tarea de los lingüístas estructuralistas. Por otro lado, aceptando que
Skinner tenía razón, solamente era preciso que el alumno repitiese, practicando una y otra
vez, los mismos modelos y las mismas estructuras:
el / hombre/come/pan.
el /niño /da/ limosna.
la/niña/pide/ agua.
Son frases que tienen la misma estructura, y, sus distintos elementos desempeñan la misma
función. Más aún: los elementos que desempeñan la misma función pueden ser sustituidos
por otros equivalentes sin que la estructura cambie. Así, "el hombre”puede ser cambiado por
"la mujer", "la niña"... La conclusión que se va a extraer con relación a la enseñanza es que,
aprendiendo la estructura, el discente será capaz de aplicarla en cualquier otro caso solamente
mediante el cambio de unos elementos por otros funcionalmente iguales, que a su vez,
también serán sustituibles por otros equivalentes. En esta premisa se basan los ejercicios de
repetición mecánica y los ejercicios de laboratorio.
Pero de nuevo, sobre la novedad de este proceder es preciso hacer algunas observaciones: la
repetición de frases y estructuras es un elemento beneficioso para el aprendizaje de idiomas,
este principio ya lo había aplicado anteriormente Erasmo en sus Colloquia; Brookes en la
Inglaterra del siglo XVII..., y por estar más estrechamente relacionado con los
procedimientos del método audio-oral, merece la pena citar a Th. Prendergast y su Mastery
Sistem (1870). Prendergast había observado cómo los niños aprendían repitiendo una y otra
vez estructuras que les llamaban la atención, entreteniéndose con ellas y utilizando cuanto
vocabulario les era posible utilizar. En tales observaciones patentó su método. No había
gramática, pero sí un sistema graduado con el fin de adquirir progresivamente hábitos
linguísticos. Con una tabla en la que aparecen elementos diferentes, conjugados entre ellos de
múltiples y posibles formas, el número de combinaciones es impresionante:
Why did you not ask him to come with two or three of his friends to see my brother's
gardens?
Come to my brother's with/ three of his friends/ to see his gardens.
Come whit/two or three of his friend's/ to my garden.
Ask my three friends /to come to/ my friend's garden.
...
...
...
...
y así sucesivamente.
De todos modos, el supuesto, tanto de Prendergast como de los defensores del audio-oralismo
más tarde, no es plenamente sostenible, aunque a primera vista pueda parecer así. Es verdad
que cuando el niño aprende una lengua repite lo que escucha, pero el hablante además de ser
capaz de repetir lo que escucha, crea constantemente estrucuturas que no había practicado
antes.
Otro punto a analizar es el siguiente: las estructuras lingüísticas a que se refieren los del
método audio-oral han de estar basadas en el uso real de la lengua, sin embargo, topamos de
nuevo con una contradicción metodológica. Nada más reñido con la lengua coloquial que los
ejercicios mecánicos o estructurales del cariz siguiente:
- Dónde están los estudiantes?/los chicos?/ las cerillas?/...
- Están en la clase/ en el armario/ en el suelo...
A pesar de que se diga que este tipo de ejercicio se realiza para consolidar la estructura, dicha
estructura no se consolidará realmente porque el alumno fuera de ese contexto no sabrá o no
será capaz de producir o generar frases diferentes de las que le fueron inculcadas en los
ejercicios de mecanización. Todo lo humano es más complejo y por eso la reducción del
lenguaje a esquemas simples, fijos y manejables de manera mecánica no da resultados
óptimos. La repetición como técnica se torna en arma arrojadiza cuando se convierte en
técnica casi exclusiva. Y esto es así porque la creatividad, que forma parte del uso de la
lengua por cualquier hablante,queda totalmente anulada y excluida.
En general, hemos de partir de la base de que cualquier técnica utilizada debe reunir dos
requisitos básicos: ser eficiente y favorecer la motivación del alumno. Una técnica no será
todo lo eficaz que se desea si no motiva al alumno. De otro lado, un alumno bien motivado,
verá entorpecido su aprendizaje si las técnicas utilizadas no son adecuadas. Y es precisamente
en este sentido en el que el método audio-oral difícilmente podrá motivar a muchos alumnos
debido a los ejercicios de repetición mecánica. Suponían sesiones demasiado largas en las
que se repetían machaconamente determinadas estructuras, se sobrepasaba con frecuencia la
capacidad de retención de la mente humana porque normalmente después de veinte minutos
ya no suele ser biológicamente capaz de mantener una atención intensa. Las sesiones de
laboratorio solían durar una hora.
El primer contacto de una clase con el método audio-oral solía ser muy positivo y hasta
altamente motivador para el alumno: éste entraba en el aula y se veía enfrentado de inmediato
con la lengua que quería aprender; desde el principio se usaban palabras útiles, estructuras
sencillas y relacionadas con la vida diaria; no se empleaba la lengua materna del alumno y la
gramática ni se mencionaba. Pero no era un método milagroso y de hecho era frecuente
comprobar que a partir de las 10 ó 15 primeras horas de clase, algunos alumnos ya no seguían
el ritmo de la clase y se sentían perdidos. Con frecuencia no sabían por qué hacían lo que
hacían y, lo que es más grave, no entendían lo que repetían. Por tanto, la perfecta gradación y
estudio del material que les era ofrecido de poco les servía, ya que no lo asimilaban de forma
eficaz.
Otro de los principios de este método es que se enseñe la lengua y “no algo sobre la
lengua” . Se trata de evitar la insistencia en las explicaciones de tipo gramatical, pero ¿Por
qué ha de existir una contradicción entre enseñar la lengua y dar información analítica de la
misma? Los niños no suelen aprender mediante explicaciones analíticas sobre la lengua -se
dice- y sin embargo, la aprenden. Pero el niño, aunque empieza aprendiendo la lengua en el
entorno familiar, después recibe el complemento y la ayuda proporcionada por la educación
estatal, entre cuyos objetivos se encuentra el perfeccionamiento del lenguaje. Por otro lado, el
conocimiento de las normas gramaticales sirve de gran ayuda a la hora de aprender un
segundo idioma. No hay pues oposición, sino complementariedad.
El cuarto principio “ la lengua es lo que hablan los nativos “, es un principio que deriva, con
toda lógica, de las bases en que se fundamenta el estructuralismo. El sistema lingüístico es
fruto del conjunto de hablantes que lo usan como sistema de comunicación; pero constituye
igualmente, un entramado o código al cual todos los hablantes deben a su vez sujetarse. Sin
este requisito, la arbitrariedad de cada hablante conduciría a un caos, a una carencia total de
comunicación por desconocer el código del otro. El hablante, pues, no es autónomo respecto
a la lengua porque tiene reglas y entre otras, el significante ha de significar lo mismo para el
hablante y el oyente. Los individuos somos sujetos y objeto de un todo coherente que hemos
creado entre todos, y, ese todo es analizable, abstracto, pero sometido a unas normas que hay
que respetar.
Este método aporta una novedad sin precedentes y es que nunca se había dado una ligazón
tan estrecha entre lingüístas y profesores de idiomas . Los primeros se apoyan en los
segundos para llevar a la práctica unos principios determinados; y los profesores ven en las
teorías de los lingüístas la “salvación” a muchos de sus problemas en el aula. Esta fraternidad
no duró mucho tiempo y el lingüísta acabará defendiéndose, cobijándose en su teoría,
aduciendo que él no estudia lo que pasa en la clase o cómo se ha de aplicar su teoría a la
práctica. Chomsky consolidará esta posición en 1968 ante un millar de profesores de idiomas
congregados para oírle.
La la lingüística, sin embargo, con o sin pretensión ha aportado muchos puntos positivos a la
enseñanza de idiomas, entre ellos:
- la insistencia en la necesidad de que el profesor esté mejor preparado profesionalmente;
- la mayor concienciación del mismo en su trabajo;
- la aplicación de nuevas técnicas en la clase;
- una investigación más intensa en torno al tema metodológico;
- la discusión y popularización del tema de la enseñanza de las lenguas extranjeras.
4. LOS MÉTODOS O TÉCNICAS AUDIOVISUALES.
Los métodos audiovisuales tienen como punto de partida más próximo la metodología audiooral. Pero, si nos alejamos en el tiempo, los elementos visuales también aparecen en la
enseñanza de idiomas de hace tiempo. Los chinos los usaron y en Occidente, el Renacimiento
ofrece testimonios consistentes en este sentido. Es Comenio en el siglo XVII, quien ofrece
por vez primera una obra en la que los elementos visuales están presentes lección por lección
y coordinados con los elementos lingüísticos. En su Orbis Sensualium Pictus (1654), cada
lección o sección está encabezada por un dibujo y los términos léxicos van señalados con
números que se corresponden con los objetos, animales o personas presentes en los dibujos.
Así, Comenio ponía en práctica su convencimiento de que en el aprendizaje han de participar
todos los sentidos o tantos cuantos sea posible utilizar. El libro supone una verdadera
innovación. Pero el coste económico de la impresión debía ser todavía un importante
obstáculo para continuar por tal camino. Hoole maestro de inglés de aquel entonces, se
quejaba precisamente de que el libro de Comenio era demasiado caro para ser accesible a la
clase.
Antes de Comenio ya otros habían sugerido la conveniencia de utilizar grabados baratos
(Vossius, gramático holandés del siglo XVI), así los alumnos podrían aprender los nombres
de las cosas sin tener que recurrir a la lengua materna (traducción). Esta idea era uno de los
objetivos fundamentales de la utilización de métodos audiovisuales. Se dice, en efecto, que
con la imagen el alumno podrá prescindir de su lengua nativa porque asociará
inmediatamente el objeto con la palabra correspondiente y evitará pasar por el intermediario
ahorrando tiempo en el aprendizaje.
Sin lugar a dudas, la invención de la imprenta es el principal elemento novedoso que facilita
el uso de elementos visuales en la docencia. Lo que antes tenía que dibujarse en carteles
murales o pizarras, se reproducía fácilmente por medio de la imprenta. Y, aunque en un
principio era en blanco y negro, las facilidades fueron considerables en relación con lo que
existía anteriormente. Que Comenio publicase todo un libro con dibujos para enseñar latín
fue el inicio de lo que ocurriría después y siempre estaría presente hasta nuestros días.
Podríamos decir que los medios audiovisuales se popularizaron por varias razones:el simple
hecho de que intervenga un sentido más, la vista, es positivo por sí mismo; se sustituye el
empleo de la lengua materna por la representación pictórica del objeto, y, no olvidemos que a
través de las imágenes se pueden ofrecer materiales mucho más atractivos, motivantes para
el alumno al reforzar su atención y predisponerlo para que en su conjunto la clase sea más
agradable y apetecible a la vista.
En el siglo XX la utilización de la imagen no sólo se ha enriquecido en razón de las
posibilidades técnicas que están a nuestro alcance,sino que también se ha profundizado en su
uso. En este campo hay que destacar lo realizado en Francia, especialmente en la escuela de
St. Cloud, donde se insistía en la utilización de la imagen como sugeridora de un contexto
global. Cada elemento se considera estrechamente unido a otros elementos, formando
conjuntos o estructuras interrelacionadas. Por un lado, los elementos individuales conducen a
un todo, y por otro, ese todo es analizable y conducente a cada uno de los elementos
individuales. En realidad, lo que se hacía era seguir las pautas del estructuralismo en cuanto
que este movimiento consideraba el lenguaje como un conjunto de estructuras
jerárquicamente interdependientes.
Se parte, por tanto, de un todo concebido globalmente. Se entiende mediante la memorización
y se memoriza mediante la repetición y posterior análisis de las partes. Éste era el método ya
propuesto anteriormente por Jacotot (1770-1840), quien afirmaba: “Il faut apprendre
quelque chose et y rapporter tout le reste” (“Hay que aprender algo relacionándolo con el
resto”). El principio de Jacotot aparecerá reproducido con nuevos elementos en el Método
estructuroglobal, que podría definirse como la más importante aportación, original o no, que
en Francia se ha hecho en relación con la utilización de medios visuales en la clase. Este
método estructuroglobal audiovisual, SGAV, parte de tres supuestos:
1. La lengua está constituida por un conjunto de estructuras, “ un ensemble, un systeme de
rapports”. Esto nos recuerda que la base de partida es la lingüística estructural: cada unidad
no tiene valor por sí misma, aisladamente, sino solamente dentro del todo al cual pertenece.
2. Existe una realidad que no es precisamente lingüística, pero que afecta directamente a la
lengua: la realidad socio-biológica que hace que la persona tienda a rechazar todo nuevo
sistema cuando ya posee uno adecuado a su entorno, sus necesidades, etcétera. Se trata de una
resistencia incosnciente pero real.
3. La lengua oral es prioritaria. La lengua escrita debe ser introducida más tarde. Este sistema
de prioridades deriva del hecho de que -según ellos- la lengua escrita provoca en el alumno la
rememorización de los mecanismos articulatorios propios de su lengua materna, actuando
como interferencia importante en el proceso de aprendizaje de cualquier otro sistema
lingüístico. En consecuencia hay que eliminar ese obstáculo, al menos hasta el momento en
que el alumno ya tenga las defensas básicas necesarias para enfrentarse a tal interferencia.
Una de las técnicas consiste precisamente en eliminar en cada sonido aquellas frecuencias
que puedan recordar al alumno el sistema de sonidos de su lengua materna. El Profesor
Guberina, investigador fundamental, tenido en cuenta por los defensores de esta metodología,
ideó y construyó un aparato (SUVALINGUA) para filtrar los sonidos, haciendo concentrar la
atención en aquellos que interesa que el alumno capte con mayor rapidez, teniendo en cuenta
en todo momento las interferencias previsibles en relación con la lengua materna del alumno.
El Profesor Guberina decía que:
1. El alumno es sordo a los sonidos de la lengua que aprende si éstos no son iguales o
similares a los de su lengua materna. El alumno que aprende una segunda lengua ha de ser,
pues, estimulado para captar esas peculiaridades de los sonidos que no son propias de su
lengua materna. Para ello ha de ser entrenado mediante el estímulo de su capacidad
perceptora, capacidad que depende de complejos mecanismos cerebrales. Así, un japonés
pronunciará calo o lalo, por caro/raro, al aprender español; él, naturalmente piensa que ha
pronunciado “caro/raro”, pero no es consciente de que en realidad él oye en un principio
(hasta que su oído sea entrenado para ello) “calo/lalo”.
2. De lo que antecede se deriva que el condicionamiento auditivo y perceptivo es un factor
clave en el aprendizaje de una lengua. Y de ahí se deduce:
- La necesidad de una continuada e intensa exposición del alumno al idioma que aprende.
- La insistencia en la entonación como método para asimilar el sistema global y configuración
de los sonidos de la lengua cuya adquisición se pretende lograr.
- El trabajo intensivo y regular por parte del alumno.
3. Las técnicas audiovisuales pretenden enfocar la enseñanza de las lenguas a través de la
repetición y la audición. La audición que es el primer estadio, pasa por la exigencia de una
perfecta reproducción; después entrará en juego la ilustración mediante dibujos, así como la
mímica, el movimiento y las actividades de toda índole.
Los elementos audiovisuales tienen también como finalidad expresa el evitar el uso de la
lengua materna, para ello se requiere que cada imagen se ajuste de la mejor manera posible y
con la debida precisión a los contenidos del texto. La imagen, dicen, tiene la función de
sugerir el contexto y no sólo el texto, de acompañar al sonido para asociarlo a la imgen y
evitar el recurso a la lengua materna.
BALANCE
El método SUVAG, en definitiva, aporta como novedad la insistencia razonada en el hecho de
que la percepción de los sonidos está condicionada por el sistema lingüístico que poseemos.
Exige, por otra parte, una especializada preparación del profesor y una enseñanza
practicamente individualizada, difícil de llevar a cabo en nuestras aulas. La insistencia en la
comprensión global es positiva, aunque no nueva. En la práctica, el enfoque basado en
“situaciones” es muy similar al anterior. Con la diferencia de que este se centraba en el
significado del texto y el método estructuroglobal amplía los objetivos insistiendo en la
percpción global del sistema fonológico.
Otro de los inconvenientes que plantea este método es que el hecho de utilizar la imagen para
sugerir un contexto puede llevar a sugerir lo que no deseamos sugerir si los dibujos no están
bien realizados. Además superado el nivel elemental, en que una imagen puede fácilmente
ilustrar una oración, en niveles superiores, lo que se suele hacer es ilustrar una idea, la idea
central del texto o situación. Apenas se podría hacer más. Y el hecho de evitar la traducción
es muy difícil porque la asociación significante-significado es enormemente íntima y nada
fácil de destruir o esquivar.
5. LA METODOLOGÍA NOCIONAL-FUNCIONAL
Los diversos métodos basados en el estructuralismo, abrazados por tantos como soluciones
milagrosas, se dejaron de lado con furia. Este desencanto no fue ocasional sino que llegó de
la mano con la llamada teoría lingüística
transformacional, que hacía hincapié en la creatividad del lenguaje. Supuso una reacción
diametralmente opuesta a la teoría estructuralista y a los métodos audio-orales al observarse
que ambos procederes carecían de creatividad y que la lengua enseñada estaba demasiado
disociada de los aspectos comunicativos que más la caracterizan en su utilización cotidiana.
Con el advenimiento de la lingüística chomskiana, los profesores, cansados de las
repeticiones propias del método audio-oral quieren ver en estos nuevos enfoques una salida
afortunada para solucionar los problemas de la clase de lengua. La constante se repite de
nuevo: por una parte el profesor de idiomas gusta de tachar a los lingüístas de “teóricos” por
hablar de cosas que no interesan o están alejadas de la práctica; de otro lado buscan en sus
teorías explicativas de la realidad del lenguaje, soluciones e ideas que faciliten la docencia y
les orienten en su labor. Así pues, los profesores volvieron sus ojos hacia el
transformacionismo, pero la respuesta de Chomsky fue realmente muy concisa: “ el lingüísta
no tiene por qué solucionar los problemas de la clase; ése es un problema concreto que
compete al profesor. Sin embargo, debemos decir inmediatamente, completando esta
observación, que las explicaciones y análisis de la lengua y del lenguaje son la base más
firme que han de servir al profesor de idiomas en cuanto que a través de ellas accederá a un
mejor conocimiento y entendimiento del fenómeno lingüístico. De ese mejor entendimiento
surgirá un más adecuado manejo y presentación de la lengua concreta que se enseñe.
El hecho de que el transformacionalismo insistiese sobre todo en la creatividad del lenguaje,
en las reglas ( en cuanto que son los motores generadores de nuevas estructuras desde la
estructura profunda a la superficial) implicaba una firme toma de posición frente a la
extendida práctica de los métodos audio-orales que precisamente excluían las reglas e
insistían en la repetición de estructuras y sus correspondientes ejercicios mecánicos.
En realidad, la teoría generativo-funcional no ofreció ni sustento ni cobijo suficiente para que
la metodología de la enseñanza de idiomas encontrase en ella un apoyo definitivo, pero
siempre se da un paso más y la meta en este campo se orientaba cada vez con mayor
insistencia hacia un objetivo muy claro: la lengua como instrumento de comunicación
interpersonal.
JESPERSEN como gran lingüísta y profesor, ya había afirmado que no se debe pensar en un
sólo enfoque o método para la enseñanza de idiomas, también se había adelantado a nuestros
tiempos señalando que las lenguas deben ser aprendidas en contexto y en situaciones
comunicativas. La “lengua es comunicación” era uno de sus lemas. En nuestros días todo
apunta hacia esa meta, los medios de comunicación, a todos los niveles son la realidad
dominante.
La metodología estructuralista no había penetrado con tanta insistencia y fuerza en Europa
como en EEUU. En Europa, en cambio se desarrollaron más las técnicas audiovisuales y,
sobre todo en Inglaterra, la vertiente que se podría llamar situacional. Este término incluye no
solamente el marco lingüístico dentro del cual todo acto de comunicación tiene lugar, sino
también el entorno cultural y social dentro del cual la comunicación lingüística se desarrolla.
En este campo fueron influyentes dos nombres Firth, y después Halliday.
El método situacional es en buena parte ecléctico. En un libro de texto de estas
características, la situación inicial incluye, de manera ordenada y programada, aspectos
gramaticales y léxicos, pero tomando en consideración situaciones normales (usuales) de la
vida diaria, según criterios de frecuencia.
Y todo ello porque se entiende que la lengua es un instrumento de comunicación y el alumno
debe, por tanto, aprender el lenguaje propio de aquellas situaciones en las que se desarrolla
realmente la comunicación interpersonal. En dichas situaciones se introducen también
aspectos tradicionales y gramaticales, elementos audiovisuales para facilitar una comprensión
global de la situación y evitar el recurso a la lengua materna del alumno.
No obstante, los métodos situacionales no alcanzan quizás una autonomía real, a pesar de ser
ampliamente utilizados. Están muy ligados al audiovisualismo en general, a la preocupación
por aspectos gramaticales, a la ordenación e introducción gradada, a aspectos conductistas
relativos al apredizaje, a la introducción del vocabulario en función de listados de
frecuencia..., es decir, intentan reunir todo lo hecho hasta el momento en los métodos de
idiomas. En este contexto nace lo que en inglés se denominó, al principio de los años sesenta,
Notional-functional syllabus (programa nocional-funcional).
Las definiciones de dicho método no coinciden plenamente entre sí, pero todas ellas se
reducen a dos elementos clave: ausencia de aspectos gramaticales e insistencia en los
aspectos comunicativos de la lengua a enseñar.
WILKINS precisa diciendo “ el método nocional-funcional contrasta con el gramatical y el
situacional porque toma como punto de partida la necesidad comunicativa del lenguaje... En
vez de preguntar cómo se expresan los hablantes o cómo y cuándo utilizan la lengua, nos
fijamos más en qué es lo que se comunica mediante la lengua. Así podemos organizar la
enseñanza de la lengua en fución del contenido y no de las formas lingüísticas.”
Analizando por puntos diremos que:
1. El método nocional-funcional parte de la consideración de la lengua que se va a enseñar
como un instrumento de comunicación interpersonal.
2. La elaboración del material docente en un libro de texto, no toma como punto de partida
una organización por temas gramaticales, ni léxicos de frecuencia, ni situaciones de la vida
real, sino aquellas unidades de comunicación (actos de comunicación lingüística) que forman
parte integrante de la comunicación en la vida real.
3. Esas unidades del lenguaje se ordenan adecuadamente de acuerdo con las necesidades de
comunicación de aquellos que aprenden un idioma.
4. Dado que los actos de comunicación lingüística admiten varias formas, se debe proceder
también a una selección de las formas o estructuras lingüísticas, de acuerdo con el grado de
dificultad o complejidad de las mismas y siempre teniendo en cuenta las necesidades y
objetivos de quien aprende.
BALANCE
Es preciso admitir que la sola aceptación de los principios y procedimientos anteriormente
reseñados ya supone un vuelco considerable en relación con los métodos a los cuales se
estaba acostumbrado; e incluso a la larga tradición, siempre subyacente, de considerar la
gramática como punto de partida primordial. En el método nocional-funcional se parte de otra
perspectiva: una selección de los actos de comunicación más pertinentes para cada nivel y
con las formas también más adecuadas a los distintos estadios del aprendizaje.
No quiere ello decir que los problemas gramaticales se eliminen, pero se abordan de manera
distinta: no mediante la programación gramatical previa a la que se estaba habituado, sino
como exposición descriptiva ,a posteriori, de lo que resulta de los actos de comunicación
lingüística, que constituyen el objetivo de cada lección. Así, por ejemplo, si el acto de
comunicación lingüística que queremos enseñar se refiere a saludar, apareceran registros
como el siguiente:
- ¡Hola!, ¿qué tal? ¿Cómo estás?
- Muy bien, gracias, ¿y tú?
Esta simple manera de saludar a un amigo, a nivel coloquial, implica una serie de vocabulario
y de estructuras: flexión del verbo estar; qué, cómo...Pero dichas estructuras se pueden tornar
más complejas, dentro de la misma situación comunicativa a otro nivel ( el formal):
- Este es el Sr. Perez
- Mucho gusto
-Encantado
Y así sucesivamente... De aquí se deduce que el material didáctico se ordena en función de
los actos de comunicación y de acuerdo a criterios de frecuencia y uso, y, teniendo en
cuenta también el grado de complejidad de los elementos lingüísticos implicados en cada
caso.
Si la gramática no es el punto de partida en la ordenación del material docente, tampoco ha de
constituir el objetivo del profesor en la clase. No debe usarse de la misma manera que en un
método audiovisual o estructural. Entiéndase, por otra parte, que si los métodos nocionalesfuncionales parten de fundamentos extremadamente pragmáticos, no significa, sin embargo,
que los elementos de gramática hayan de estar ausentes en la clase de manera total y por
definición. Lo que importa es que no se conviertan en el objetivo prioritario y fundamental de
la clase. Esta metodología no es tan ingénua como para pensar que la gramática, la fonética o
el vocabulario no deben constituir parte integrante de la enseñanza de una lengua.
La presentación del material lingüístico a la clase se hace en términos de globalidad, tal cual
se da en la realidad de los actos de comunicación. Y el profesor no debería actuar de forma
distinta porque los problemas pueden incrementarse y desbordar la situación debido a que en
los actos de comunicación presentados en los textos las implicaciones gramaticales pueden
ser muy heterogéneas. Y su explicación explícita podría dar lugar a sesiones interminables e
incluso complicadas que perderían tanto al alumno como al profesor. De hecho, puede ocurrir
que algunas estructuras gramaticales consideradas como difíciles por los métodos
tradicionales, aparezcan desde las primeras lecciones, simplemente porque aparecen en actos
de comunicación lingüística de importacia básica. Por ejemplo, para pedir un favor a alguien
en español podríamos encontrarnos algo así:
- ¿ Haría usted el favor de decirme donde está correos?
- Sí, coja usted la primera a la derecha. Está a unos 100 metros de aquí.
La estructura Haría usted el favor de..., tanto en la gramática tradicional como en los
métodos audio-orales, aparecería en los libros de texto con toda probabilidad sólo después de
que el alumno hubiese visto ya las formas de presente y quizá también las de futuro. Sin
embargo, el acto de comunicación que implica el uso de estas formas de condicional es
evidentemente de importancia suma y capital en la comunicación interpersonal. Queda pues
justificada su aparición temprana en el material de aprendizaje. Pero que el profesor se
entretenga en explicar las formas del condicional sería imprudente; posiblemente es lo que
haría un profesor inexperto en el uso de esta metodología y acostumbrado a hábitos propios
de otros métodos.
Las explicaciones gramaticales en un método nocional-funcional suelen presentarse como
GRAMÁTICA FUNCIONAL ,al final de cada unidad. Si tomamos como modelo el
ejemplo de pedir un favor veríamos como esta estructura puede servir para contextos
similares (pedir un favor, puede aplicarse para “ir a correos”, “ a la estación”, “pedir fuego”,
etcétera). En tales casos, la estructura no experimenta variaciones; sólo cambian algunos
elementos léxicos. Lo que importa es que el alumno se fije en la funcionalidad de la
estructura y la consolide mediante transferencia a otros contextos similares desde el punto de
vista de la comunicación. Ahora no se pretende que el alumno memorice la estructura
(estrategia que se seguía en los métodos anteriores).
Este método espera que los alumnos aprendan una lengua basándose en actos de
comunicación sin que necesariamente tengan que aprender todas las implicaciones
gramaticales. La idea es óptima para lenguas como el inglés, pero con el francés, el español y
todas aquellas que son más flexionadas, el problema de la morfología es ciertamente menos
ineludible.
Comparando con otros métodos, el método nocional-funcional no está muy lejos del método
situacional. Tanto las nociones lingüísticas como los actos de comunicación lingüística se
dan dentro de un contexto más amplio: la situación. Y también este método tiene elementos
estrucutralistas, en el sentido de que la explotación y transferencia, así como el refuerzo de
las funciones, se logrará mediante la repetición de contextos paralelos y en base a las mismas
estrucuturas funcionales. Tiene igualmente elementos visuales, porque también éstos pueden
ayudar a comprender mejor un acto de comunicación, global o especificamente. Y tiene
elementos de gramática tradicional porque la “gramática funcional” puede también
explicitarse en aquellos casos en los que sea más compleja o, sencillamente porque los
alumnos pidan que se den explicaciones para comprender mejor lo que están aprendiendo..
Evidentemente, aprender y consolidar elementos lingüísticos complejos a través de esta
metodología puede enfrentar al alumno a problemas serios, desde el punto de vista
gramatical, debido a que los actos lingüísticos más necesarios y básicos de la vida real suelen
implicar estructuras frecuentemente complejas. Todo esto supone que a partir de un cierto
nivel elemental, tal vez sea necesario recurrir a técnicas que se aproximen más a los métodos
anteriores, es decir, a la metodología audiovisual, situacional o tradicional.
El método nocional-funcional responde muy bien, sin embargo, a los objetivos que se
propusieron en el Cojnsejo de Europa: una homogeneización de niveles de aprendizaje
mínimos para facilitar la comunicación interpersonal entre quienes, por razones políticas y
comerciales, han de estar en contacto permanente. Y esto ocurre sin lugar a dudas entre los
países que forman la Unión Europea.
De todos modos, y para finalizar, lo que debe quedar muy claro es que la metodología
nocional-funcional requiere un cambio de mentalidad en el profesor y en el alumno, un buen
entrenamiento del profesor para que no fracase en su uso y sobre todo tener en cuenta que
hasta ahora no existen métodos mágicos que permitan aprender o enseñar una lengua
sin esfuerzo y prescindiendo del factor tiempo.
TEMA 14
MÉTODOS Y TÉCNICAS ENFOCADOS A LA ADQUISICIÓN DE COMPETENCIAS
COMUNICATIVAS. FUNDAMENTOS METODOLÓGICOS ESPECÍFICOS DE LA
ENSEÑANZA DEL INGLÉS.
0. INTRODUCTION.
1 . SPECIFIC METHODOLOGICAL FUNDAMENTALS ON ENGLISH LANGUAGE
TEACHING.
1.1. APPROACH, METHOD, AND TECHNIQUE.
1.2. APPROACH.
1.2.1. Theory of language.
1.2.2. Theory of language learning.
1.3. Design.
1.3.1. Objectives.
1.3.2. The syllabus.
1.3.3. Teaching and learning activities.
1.3.4. The roles of the learner.
1.3.5. The roles of the teacher.
1.3.6. The roles of materials.
1.4. Procedure.
1.5. Conclusion.
2. COMMUNICATIVE LANGUAGE TEACHING.
2.1. Approach.
2.1.1. Theory of language.
2.1.2. Theory of language learning.
2.2. Design.
2.2.1. Objectives and syllabus.
2.2.2. Learning and teaching activities.
2.2.3. The roles of the learner and teacher.
2.2.4. The roles of materials.
2.3. Procedure.
3. BIBLIOGRAPHY.
PAG 1
0. INTRODUCTION.
In the long search for the best way of teaching a foreign language, a
proliferation of new
approaches and methods has been devised. Crertain methods are widely
recognized because
of their influential role in the history of ideas surrounding this
subject, for example, the grammar-translation method, the natural method,
the direct method or the audio-lingual method.
During the 1970, however, there was a strong reaction against methods that
stressed the
teaching of grammatical forms and paid little or no attention to the
way language is used
in everyday situations. Aconcern developed to make foreing language
teaching more
communicative.
These methods differ in the way they address fundamental methodological
issues such as:
- What should the goals of language teaching be?
- What is the basic nature of language?
- What are the principles for the selection of language content?
- What are the best principles of organization, sequencing and presentation?
- What should the role of the native language be?
- What processes do learners use in learning a language?
- What are the best teaching techniques?
The answer to these questions will enable us to understand the
fundamental nature of
methods in English language teaching. As the analysis of these
specific methodological
fundamentals is previous to the study of any particular approach, method or
technique we
will discuss first the essentials of English as a foreign language
teaching. Next, we will
thoroughly study communicative language teaching.
1. SPECIFIC METHODOLOGICAL FUNDAMENTALS OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE
TEACHING.
The change from one methold to another or from one set of classroom
techniques and
procedures have reflected responses to a varietiy of historical issues and
circumstances. As
the study of methods and procedures assumed a central role within applied
linguistics from
the 1940s on, various attempts have been made to conceptualize the nature
of methods.
1.1 Approch, method, and technique.
In describing methods, the difference between a philosophy of language
teaching at the theoretical level, and a set of procedures and techniques
for teaching in the classroom, is
PAG 2
Central. The American linguist Edward Anthony proposed a clarifying scheme
in 1963. He
identified three levels of conceptualization and organization:
- Approach
- Method
- Technique
An approach is a set of correlative assumptions which the all with the
nature of language and
its teaching. Therefore, and approach is axiomatic and is formed by a
theory of language and
a theory of language learning.
A method is not axiomatic; it is procedural. A method is a gloval plan for
the presentation
of language material. This presentation is based on a theory of language
and language
learning, and approach, and so a method cannot contradict its approach, but
it is possible to
have more than one method within a certain approach.That is the reason for
the plural in
the title of this topic metodos y tecnicas ; there are many possible methods
within the
communicative approach.
Techniques are implementational, what really occurs in the classroom. They
are consistent
with a method and therefore with and approach as well.
ANTHONY'S MODEL
Approach----------------------------- Theory of language
----------------------------- Theory of language
learning
Method--------------------------------- Theory into practice:
Skills to be taught
Contents to be taught
Order of presentation
Technique----------------------------- Classroom procedures
Richard s and Rodgers (1986) have revised and extented the original model.
They see
approach and method treated at the level of design, that level in which
objectives, syllabus,
and content are determined, and in which the roles or teachers, learners and
materials are.
specified. Anthony'slevel of technique is referred to as procedure. They
see, therefore, that
a method is theoretically related to and approach, organizationally
determined by a desing,
and is practically realized in a procedure.
PAG 3
RICHARDS AND RODGERS´S MODEL
Approach--------------------------------- Theory of language
Theory of
language learning
Design-------------------------------------- Objectives
The syllabus
Teaching and
learning activities
The roles of the
learner
The roles of the
teacher
The roles of the
materials
Procedures--------------------------- Classroom techniques
1.2. Approach
Approach refers to theories about the nature of language and language
learning that serve
as the source of practiques and principles in language teaching.
1.2.1. Theory of language
Three different theories of language and language proficiency underline
current approaches
and methods in language teaching:
- Structural view
- Functional view
- Interactional view
The structural view is the view that language is a system of structurally
related elements
for the coding of meaning. The tarjet of language learning is seen to be the
mastery of the
units of the system ( phonological, grammatical and lexical ). The
audio-lingual method,
Total Physical Response, or the Silent Way embody this particular view of
language.
The funcional view is the view that language is a vehicle for the expression
of functional
meaning. We will see later how the communicative movement in language
teaching
embodies this view of language .
The third view is the interactional view. It sees language as a vehicle for
the realization
of interpersonal relations and for performance of social transactions
between individuals.
Community Language Learning seems to have embodied this point of view
lately.
PAG 4
1.2.2. Theory of language learning.
A learning theory underlying an approach must take account of the
psycholinguistic and
cognitive processes involved in language learning, and the optimal
conditions for these
processes to be activated. Learning theories may emphasize one or both
aspects.
Process-oriented theories build on learning processes, such as habit
formation, induction,
inferencing, hypothesis testing, and generalization. Condition-oriented
theories emphasize
the nature of the environment, both human and physical, in which language
learning takes
place. For example, Krashen´s Monitor Model is an example of a learning
theory on which
a method has been built (the natural method). At the level of process, he
distinguishes
between acquisitions and learnin. He also addresses the conditions necessary
for the process of adquisition to take place: the input must be
comprehensible, roughly - tuned,
relevant, in sufficient quantity, and experience in low - anxiety contexts.
These principles may or may not lead to a method. We may divise our own
teaching
Procedures following a particular approach, and then change this procedures
on the basis
Of the performance of our pupils. Theory does not dictate a particular set
of teaching
procedures. What links approach with procedure is what Richards and Rodgers
call design.
1.3. Design.
Design is the level of method analysis where we consider the
objectives, the syllabus, the
types of learning tasks, the roles of learners and teachers, and the
roles of instructional
materials
1.3.1. Objectives.
At the level of design we must deal with the specification of the general
and specific
Objectives of the method. Some methods may focus on oral skills. Some
methods may focus
On communication skills. Other may place a greater emphasis on accurate
grammar or
Pronunciation.
We may distinguish between these methods whose objectives are expressed in
linguistic
Terms (product-oriented) and those which define their objectives in terms of
learning
Behaviours (process-oriented). However, some methods that claim to be
process-oriented
Show a great concern with accurate grammar and pronunciation.
1.3.2. The syllabus.
As we have to use the target language in order to teach it, we must make
decisions about
The selection of language items we are going to use. These languages items
are to be
PAG 5
Selected not only in linguistic grounds but also according to
subject-matter, i.e.. we must
make decisions about what to talk about and how to talk about it. In
traditional, grammarbased courses, contents were selected according to the difficulty of the
items. In
communicative courses the sequence of the elements is normally based on our
pupils
communicative needs.
Process-oriented methods (e.g., Counselling Learning) normally have no
language syllabus,
as considerations of language content are secondary. Learners select content
for themselves
by choosing topics they want to talk about.
1.3.3. Learning and teaching activities.
The objectives of a method are attained through the interaction of teachers,
learners and
material in the classroom. The activity types that a method advocates may
serve to
differentiate methods. The Silent Way, for example, uses problem-solving
activities which
involve the use of coloured rods. Communicative language teaching advocates
the use of
tasks that involve an information gap, as this is considered to be one of
the elements of reallife communication.
Differences in activity types may result in different arrangements and
groupings of learners.
drills, for instance, require different groupings than problem-solving
activities. Even if we
use the same activity, differences at the level of approach may determine
different goals for
it in two different methods. For example, interactive games are often use in
audiolingual
courses for motivation and to provide a change of pace from drill; in
communicative
language teaching they are used to practice particular types of interactive
exchanges which
are useful in real communication.
Different assumptions in objectives, syllabuses, and activities result in
different roles to
learners, teachers and instructional materials.
1.3.4. The roles of the learner.
Design is greatly influenced by how learners are regarded. The learner´s
contribution to the
learning process, i.e., his passivity or activity and in which degree, marks
the types of
activities they will carry out, the groupings, the degree to which they will
influence the
learning of others, and their view as processors, performers, initiators or
problem solvers.
Audiolingualism, for example, saw learners as
stimulus-response-reinforcement mechanisms
whose learning was a result of repetitive practice. Newer methodologies
exhibit more
concern for variation among learners´roles. The teacher must create the
conditions for
learning to take place. Learner-centred learning tries to teach languages in
a environment
of quasi-independence form the teacher.
PAG 6
1.3.5. The roles of the teacher.
New methodologies have resulted in a proliferation of teacher roles, such as
informant,
conductor, diagnoser, corrector, consultant, model... All these roles are
related to essential
methodological issues:
- the types of functions the teacher is expected to fulfil
- the degree of control the teacher has over how learning takes place
- the degree of control the teacher has about the content of the course
- the interactional patterns that develop between teachers and learner
We must be aware of the roles we can play in the classroom, as only when we
are sure of
our role and our pupils´concominant one will we depart from the security of
traditional
coursebook-oriented teaching.
1.3.6. The roles of materials.
The role of materials will reflect decisions concerning the primary goals of
the materials (to
present content, to practice content, to facilitate communication,...) the
form of the
materials (textbooks, audiovisuals, supplementary readers,...) the relation
of materials to
other sources of input (whether they are the principal source or not), and
the abilities of the teacher (degree of training and competence).
Therefore, the role of materials will be different in different
methodologies. For example,
within a communicative approach materials will focus on the communicative
abilities of interpretation, expression, and negotiation. On the other hand,
an individualized
instructional system may include as the main role of the materials to allow
the learners to
progress at their own rates of learning. These roles do not need to be seen
as antithetical,
in fact, both roles must be played by our materials according to our
curriculum.
The third and last level of conceptualization is the level of technique
(Anthony:1963) or
procedure (Richards and Rodgers:1986).
1.4. Procedure.
Procedure consists of the techniques, practices, and behaviours that operate
in the real
teaching situation according to a particular method. We are concerned with
the use of
teaching activities to present, practice and produce language, and with the
procedures and
techniques used in giving feedback to our pupils (evaluation techniques). We
also take
account of the resources in terms of time, space, and equipment used by the
teacher and the
interactional patterns observed during the lessons.
PAG 7
1.6. Conclusion.
We have described the specific methodological fundamentels of English
Language Teaching
with reference to approach, design and procedure. It is clear that
methodological
development does not always proceed neatly from approach, through design, to
procedure.
However, national curricula, which draw on the expertise of
interdisciplinary working
committees, usually do. Spanish Foreign Languages curriculum departs from a
constructivist
theory of learning and a view of language as communication towards generally
outlined
procedures to allow for individualization through a design level in which
the syllabus,
activities, learner roles, teacher roles, and role of the instructional
materials are defined not
very strictly to allow for adjustments in particular teaching situations.
One of the basic ingredients of our curriculum is its adaptability. This
adaptability,
however, is limited by a communicative framework as the main aim of teaching
English in
our educational system is to achieve communicative competence. We are now
going to study
the essentials of communicative language teaching.
2.Communicative language teaching.
Communicative language teaching draws on Chomsky´s criticism to structural
theories of
language, which are incapable of accounting for the creativity and
uniqueness of individual
sentences, as well as British applied linguist criticism of current
approaches to language
teaching, which inadequately addressed the functional and communicative
potential of
language.
Another impetus for different approaches came from changing educational
realities in
Europe. The Council of Europe took a great interest in education. As a
result, a group of
experts was set up in 1971 to investigate the possibility of developing
language courses on
a unit-credit system. One of the members of this committee, Wilkins,
proposed a functional
or communicative definition of language that could serve as a basis for
developing
communicative syllabuses. They were based on two types of meanings : notions
(such as
time,sequence, quantity...) and categories of communicative function (such
as requests,
denials, offers, complaints...)
This work was rapidly followed by an almost universal acceptance of the
theoretical
principles of the Communicative Approach, and its rapid application in
textbook,
curriculum development centres and governments. Because of this, the
Communicative
Approach to language teaching is the most extended foreign language teaching
system. Its
aims are to make communicative competence the goal of language teaching and
develop
procedures for the teaching of the four skills. Next we analyze it in
detail, following
Richards and Rodgers division into approach, design and procedure.
PAG 8
2.1. Approach.
2.1.1. Theory of language.
The communicative approach in language teaching starts from at theory of
language as
communication. The main goal is to acquire what Hymes defined as
communicative
competence. Chomsky ( 1957 ) defined language as a set of sentences, each
finite in length
and constructed out of a finite set of elements. An able speaker has a
subconcious
knowledge of the grammar rules of his language which allows him to make
sentences in that
language. However, Dell Hymes thought that Chomsky had missed out some very
important
information: the rules of use. When anative speaker spekas he does not only
utter
gramatically correct forms, he also knows where and when to use this
sentences and to
whom. Hynes, then, said, that competence by itself is not enough to explain
a native
speaker's knowledge, and he replaced it with his own concept of comunicative
competence.
Hymes distinguished four aspects of this competence: systematic potential,
appropriacy,
occurrence and feasibility.
Systematic potential means that the native speaker possesses a system that
has a potential
for creating a lot of language. This is similar to Chomsky's competence.
Appropriacy means that the native speaker knows what language is appropiate
in a given
situation. His choice is based on the following variables, among others:
setting, participants,
purpose, channel, topic...
Occurrence means that the native speaker knows how often something is said
in the
language and act accordingly.
Feasibility means that the native speaker knows whether something is
possible in the
language. Even if there is no grammatical rule to ban 20-adjective pre-head
cosntruction
we know that these constructions are not possible in the language.
These four categories have been adapted for teaching purposes. Thus, Royal
Decree
1006/ 1991, of 14 June ( BOE 25 June), which establishes the teaching
requirements for
Primary Education nationwide sees communicative competence as comprising
five
subcompetences:
- Grammar competence: the ability to put into practice the linguistic units
according to the rules of use established in the linguistic system.
- Discourse competence: the ability to use different types of discourse and
organize them according to the comunicative situation and the speakers
involved in it.
PAG 9
- Sociolinguistic competence: the ability to adequate the utterances to
the specific
context in accordance with the accepted usage of the determined
linguistic
community.
- Strategic competence: the ability to define, correct or in general, make
adjustments in the course of the communicative.
- Sociocultural competence: this competence has to be understood as a
certain
awareness of the social and cultural context in which the foreign language
is
used.
Grammar competence refers to what Chomsky called linguistic competence and
Hymes
systematic potential.It os the domain of grammaticak and lexical capacity.
Discourse competence os the aspect of communicative competence whoch
describes the
ability to produce unified written or spoken discourse that shows coherence
and cohesion
and which conforms to the norms of different genres. Our pupils must be able
to produce
discourse in which successive utterances are linked through rules of
discourse or discourse
competence.
Sociolinguistic competence refers to an understanding of the social context
in which
communication takes place, including role relationships, the shared
information of the
participants,...
Sociolinguistic competence refers to an understanding of the social contexr
in which
describes the ability of speakers to use verbal and non- verbal
communication strategies to
compemsate for breakdowns in cmminication or to improve the effectiveness of
communication.
Sociocultural competence refers to the learner's lnowledge of the cultural
aspects of rhe
target language speaking countries.
All these elements are part of the language as language is not something
abstract but a tool
for effective communication.
2.1.2. Theory of language learning.
Different learning theories may be found in communicative language teaching.
All of them
share the same principles. The communication principle establishes that
activities that
involve communication promote learning. The second element is the task
principle, activities
in which language is used for carrying out meaningful tasks promote
learning. A third
element is the meaningfulness principle, language that is meaningful to the
learner supports
PAG 10
The learning process. Learning activities,as we will see, are consequently
selected according
to how well they engage the learner in meaningful and authentic language
use.
2.2. Design.
2.2.1. Objectives and syllabus.
We have already studied the main objective of communicative language
learning as it is
central to its theory of language: to reach communicative competence.
Different syllabuses
may fulfil this objective. Discussions of the nature of the syllabus have
been central in this
approach. The early notional-functional approach was soon criticised as it
seem only a
replacement of grammatical lists by notional-functional lists. After that
many syllabuses
have been designed, though some linguists even rejected the notion of
syllabus, the most
favoured of which is Brumfit´s model, which has a grammatical core around
which notions,
functions, and communicational activities are grouped. The range of the last
is really
unlimited, but we now try to define and classify them.
2.2.2. Learning and teaching activities.
Communicative activities must fulfil a series of conditions:
- enabling learners to attain the communicative objective of the curriculum
- engage learners in communication
- require the use of communication processes (information sharing,
interaction...)
Most communicative techniques are based in the information gap principle. In
an
information gap activity, one of our pupils knows something that another
pupils needs, to do
the activity. By means of negotiation, interaction and information transfer
techniques the gap
is bridged.
Littlewood (1981) distinguishes between functional communication activities
and social
interaction activities. Functional communication activities include such
tasks as learners
comparing sets of pictures and noting similarities and differences; working
out a likely
sequence of events in a set of pictures; discovering missing features in a
map or drawing;
following directions, etc. Social interaction activities include
conversation and discussion
sessions, dialogues and role plays, simulations, debates,...
Harmer (1983) has defined a set of characteristics that communicative
activities share:
- a desire to communicate
- a communicative purpose
- content not form
PAG 11
- variety of language
- no teacher intervention
- no materials control
He also divided communicative activities into oral and written. Oral
communicative
activities may be studied in seven areas:
- reaching a consensus
- interpersonal exchange
play
- comunication games
- story construction
- problem solving
- simulation and role
In reaching a consensus activities our pupils must agree with each other
after a certain
amount of discussion. Consensus activities are very successful in promoting
free an
spontaneous use of English, e.g. they have to decide what ten objects they
will take with
them if they have to go to a camping site near a mountain range.
In relaying instructions we give the necessary information for the
performance of a task to
a group of pupils. Without showing this information to a different group
they have to enable
this group to perform the same task, e.g.. a dance, a drawing, a model, a
map...
Comunication gap games are based on the principle of the information gap.
Interpersonal
exchange activities are very similar to information gap ones. The only
differece is that the
difference is not in factual knowledge, but rather of opinion so they can be
called "opinion gap" activities, e.g. your favorite food, film, book...
Story construction uses the principle of the information gap and adds the
jigsaw principle.
We give our pupils partial information and then ask them, to use that
information as part
of a story they must complete by asking other pupils who have other items of
information.
Simulation1 and role play2 involve the pretence of a real-life situation in
the classroom. In
simulations our pupils are in the situation as themselves while in a role
play we ask them
to play a role following a role card. E.g. police officer...
Hamer distinguishes six main types of written communicative activities:
1 The idea in simulations is to create a pretence of real life in the
classroom. The
difference simulations have with role plays is simply that in the former,
the students are asked to dramatize the situations with no guide about their
characteres (they, thus, play as
themselves), while in the second their behaviours are guied by means of the
role card
provided. It seems clear, then that role plais are a specific kind of
simulation.
2 A role play is an activity for which the context an the roles of the
students are
Determinated by teacher, but in which students have freedom to produce the
language
Thei feel appropiate to that context and assigned roles
PAG 12
- relaying instructions
- fluency writing
advertisement
- exchanging letters
- story construction
-writing games
- writing reports and
In relaying instructions one group of pupils has information for the
performance of a task,
and they have to get another group to perform the same task by giving them
written
instructions. We may use this activity giving directions, writing messages
which requiere an
answer,...
Exchanging letters is a type of activity in which one of our pupils write a
letter to each
other and then recieve a reply. They may be playing a role, such as writing
to agony
column, to make the letter more interesting. It is important to teach/learn
the special lay-out of English letters.
Writing games
may be used to produce written language in a motivating way,
e.g. our
pupils can write descriptions of famous people or places. Then, they have to
read it aloud.
The first pupil to identify the described person or place wins.
In fluency writing we get our pupils to write as much as possible in a
definite period of
time. Research has suggested that if this is done quite frequently, our
pupils will be able not
only to write greater quantities, but the quality will improve as well. For
example we can
give them a series of pictures, sequence them and tell a story with a time
limit.
In story construction we give individual pupils partial information which
they must pool
together with other pupils to write a narrative.
Finally, in writing reports and advertisements we may use some activities
based on our
pupils´fields of interest. For example we can prepare a smoking
questionnaire. Our pupils
will devise a questionnaire and then write a report based on the results
they obtain.
2.2.3. The roles of the learner and teacher.
Communicative language teaching emphasis on communication, rather than the
mastery of
language forms, leads to different roles for learners and teachers form
those found in
traditional teaching. Successful communication is an accomplishment jointly
achieved an so
the main role of the learner is that of negotiator. By means of cognitive
and social
interaction, i.e. with himself, his classmates, the teacher, and the
materials, he must be able to communicate.
The teacher must assume several roles in communicative language teaching,
such as needs
analyst, counsellor, group process manager, informant,... But all these
roles serve two main
functions. First of all, the teacher must facilitate the communication
process in the
classroom. Secondly, he must be a participant within the learning-teaching
group.
PAG 13
2.2.4. The roles of materials.
Communicative language teaching sees materials as a way of influencing the
quality of
classroom interaction, The primary role of materials is therefore to promote
communicative
language use. We can distinguish three types of materials: text-based;
task-based and realia.
Text-based materials are sometimes no more than structurally organized texts
whih some
interspersed communicative activities. However, there are communicative
texts, which are
very different from traditional organized texts. For example, they may
consist of cues to
initiate communication, or be based in information gap pair work, ...
Task-based materials consist of games, role-plays, simulations,... sometimes
the information
is complementary - the information gap again - and parterns must fit their
parts of the
jigsaw into a composite whole.
Finally, realia may include the use of magazines, newspapers, maps,
pictures, objects...
2.3. Procedure.
Because of the wide range of communicative activities and techniques that we
can use, it
is not possible to describe a typical classroom procedure. We can say,
however, that
traditional procedures are not rejected and that they may be used in the
first stages of
language learning, such as presentation and controlled practice, while
communicative
activities are mainly used in the free production stage. Therefore we can
establish a
sequence of activities as follows;
PROCEDURE
Stages
Presentation
Practice
Production
Production
activities
Strucutural
Pre-communicative
quasi-communicative
Pre-communicative
Functional communication communicative
social interaction
communicative
As a conclusion, we can say that communicative language teaching uses a wide
range of
techniques and activities, which involve different roles for teachers,
learners and material
as well as different syllabuses, to reach its main aim: the attainment of
communicative
competence.
PAG 14
3. BIBLIOGRAPHY.
Brumfit, C, and Johnson, K, The communicative approach to language teaching.
OUP.
Oxford, 1981.
Crystal, D. The Cambridge Encyclopedia of language. CUP. Cambridge, 1987.
Harmer, J. The Practice of English Language Teaching. Longman. London, 1983.
Howatt, A.P.R. A History of English Language Teaching. OUP. Oxford, 1983.
Johnson, K. Communicative Syllabus Design and Methodology. OUP. Oxford,
1982.
Littlewood, W. Communicative Language Teaching. CUP. Cambridge, 1981.
Mathews, A. At the Chalkface. Nelson. Hong Kong, 1991.
Pygmalion, Equipo. La Enseñanza del Inglés. Narcea. Madrid, 1987.
Richards, J.C., Platt, J. And Platt, H. Longman Dictionary of Language
Teaching & Applied
Linguistics, Longman. London, 1992.
Steinberg, D.D. Psycholinguistics. Longman. London, 1982.
Theme 15: Periods, authors and most suitable literary genres to be used in the English class.
Types of texts.
0. Introduction.
Even at the early stages students can in fact do a great deal with the language: identifying
sounds; produce them orally; recognize then in a text. In short, even the very beginners can do
something with the language. We must build from that point by adding input which is neither too
advanced, nor too easy.
Cinema, music and literature are rich and motivating materials. If we manage to know how to
select and to present content in such a way that it will both challenge and motivate them.
Our curriculum establishes two general aims which are related this topic. They read as follows:
Objectives
Assessment
criteria
1. To understand easy written and oral texts...
7. To read with the help
of the teacher...
4. To read short and easy texts...
According to this it is clear that we can and, it is possible, we should use literature in our
classroom. The general aim of our approach to the teaching of literature is to let our pupils derive
the benefits of communicative activities for language improvement within the context of suitable
works of literature.
-
We also have the following specific aims:
Maintain our pupils’ interest and involvement by using a wide range of pupil
centred activities.
Try and bring to life the printed page, exploiting as fully as possible the interest
that well-chosen literature has for our pupils.
We must help our pupils value their own responses to the printed page.
We may find three types of justification for using literary texts. Each one deals with a different
type of content:
 Concepts: literary texts offer genuine samples of a wide range of styles, register
and text-types, they provide a rich context in which individual lexical or
syntactical items are made more memorable.
 Skills or procedures: the opinion gap between one pupil’s interpretation and
another’s can be bridged by genuine interaction.
 Attitudes: the genuine feeling of literary texts is a powerful motivator.
1. Periods, authors and most suitable literary genres to be used in the
English class.
1.1. The literary genres and figures in EFL.
The English language is certainly rich in literary figures and genres; and the literary ages are
full of intriguing aspects that students can find extremely motivating. As long as we know how to
select and to present the content (keeping in mind Krashen’s model of “input + 1) – input just a
little above the students’ level – a great many literary figures can be successfully used in TEFL.
1.2. Well-know tales and rhymes.
The following is a selection of authors, genres and periods that could be used in TEFL.
Well-known tales.
“The elves and the shoemaker”; “The tree little pigs”
“The little red hen”; “The princess and the pea”;
“Chicken Licken”; “The ugly duckling”; “The
emperor’s new clothes”; “Sleeping beauty”; “Puss in
boots”; “Little red riding hood”; “Hansel and
Gretel”; “Cinderella”; Beauty and the beast”;
“Snow white and the seven dwarfs”; “The wizard of
Oz”; “Ladybird”; “Rumpelstiltskin”; “Goldylocks
and the three bears”.
Well-know rhymes.
“One, two, put on your shoe”; “Rain, rain go away”;
“This is the way”; “Old Macdonald had a farm”;
“Hickory, Dickory, Dock”; “Baa, baa, black sheep”;
“Three blind mice”; “Insey Winsey spider”; “Pussy cut,
pussy cat”; “Humpty Dumpty”; “Jack and Jill”; “Eany,
Meeny, Miny, Mo”; “There is a hole in my bucket”;
“The house that Jack built”; “She sells seashells”;
“Thirty days September”; “There was an Old Woman
who swallowed a fly”
When selecting a work of literature we must bear in mind that we want our pupils engage
interactively with the text, with classmates, and with us, the teachers. To reach this we must follow
these guidelines:
a) The text itself, and not information about it, is of central importance.
b) Our pupils must genuinely interact with the text, their classmates and the
teacher and not be mere recipients.
c) Our activities must be designed so as to enable our pupils to share their
personal experiences, perceptions and opinions.
d) Our activities must be varied and interesting.
e) The selection must be based on their potential interest for our pupils and
not in the literary qualities of the works.
1.2. Storybooks.
1. Criteria for selecting storybooks.
We can find many simplified storybooks which have been graded with children learning
English in mind. Most authors, however, consider that the use of authentic materials can be more
fruitful (real language and motivation). We can also find authentic books with high-quality
illustrations which will play an important role in aiding comprehension.
a) Our pupils’ needs and abilities.
The chosen texts should always be appropriate to the age, interests and goals of our pupils. In
order to understand literary texts our pupils need to be able to read at a reasonable speed for an
extended period without fatigue. This speed should, for extensive reading, be at a rate of at least
200 words per minute.
Our youngest pupils, those in the second cycle, will not be able to read at this speed in English
so we must use short, simple texts with illustrations. We can also use reading techniques to
improve our pupils’ reading speed. These are normally divided into technical or practice methods.
 Technical methods: use a device of some kind to cover up the written words as
our pupils read, forcing them to speed up their reading. These methods may be
more useful for the Spanish language classroom.
 Practice methods are more suitable for the English class our oldest pupils, as the
texts they are able to cope with begin to increase in size, e.g. texts followed by
certain tasks, decrease the time allowed for reading.
1. CRITERIA FOR SELECTING STORYBOOKS (Ellis and Brewster).
Needs and abilities.
1. Content/subject matter.
a) Relevant; b) Interesting; c) Amusing; d) Memorable.
2. Visuals.
a) Use of illustrations; b) Attractive/colourful; c) Size; d) Target culture.
3. Encourage participation.
a) Repetition; b) Prediction; c) Develop memory; d) Build confidence.
4. Motivating.
a) Relate to their experiences and characteristics.
5. Arouse curiosity.
a) Interest in getting to know more about English language and culture.
6. Create positive attitudes.
a) Target language, b) Target culture; c) Language learning.
We can see how these first criteria of suitability depend on each particular group of pupils,
their needs and interests.
b) Language difficulty: linguistic and stylistic level.
 Linguistic level:
If we want our pupils to enjoy reading a text we should bear in mind the
following points:
- the vocabulary and syntax of the text should be within our pupils’ grasp
- idiomatic language should be kept at a minimum
It would be absurd to use the masterpieces of children’s literature in our
classes. Unknown words should not occur more frequently than one or two
every hundred. We must also bear in mind complex structure. This may also
hinder comprehension as they will not see how one part of the text relates to
another.
Therefore, if both sentence structure and vocabulary must be at a level
they can understand, we will not be able to use classic children storybooks
masterpieces. In fact the only type of classic children’s literature we can use
will be rhymes and songs. We must use modern storybooks with simple,
short texts and meaningful illustrations.
Given the problems that lexical and structural difficulty pose, we may
need to assess linguistic difficulty in a systematic way. From the point of
view of EFL it would be better, as Hill suggests to use a cloze test:
THE CLOZE TEST
- We prepare a reasonably typical extract from the book and delete words from the passage
on a regular basis (every sixth or seventh word).
- We instruct our pupils to supply the missing vocabulary, so we will need 15 deletions to
have validity. Obviously we assume we cannot really use it with our youngest pupils.
- Average class results are:
a)
More than 57 per cent correct: our pupils can read the
text on their own.
b)
Between 44 – 57 per cent: our pupils can read it with us
or with the dictionary help.
c)
Below 44 per cent: they cannot read the text.
 Stylistic level.
The use of unusual word order, divergent vocabulary, and son will produce instances of
foreground that cannot be appreciated if we do not have a solid knowledge of what
constitutes the linguistic norm.
It is useless therefore to choose texts of great stylistic complexity for the early stages of
language learning. Style analysis should be based on the linguistic features with which our
pupils are already familiar.
As a summary, based on Ellis and Brewster, we have:
2. CRITERIA FOR SELECTING STORYBOOKS.
Linguistic and stylistic level
1. Linguistic level. a) Vocabulary; b) Structures; c) Functions.
2. Stylistic level.
a) Foregrounding of vocabulary and structure.
c) Amount of background information required.
Our pupils’ understanding of a text can also be hindered by their lack of background
knowledge of English speaking countries culture. We must therefore bear in mind the amount
of time we will have to explain background knowledge when choosing the texts.
It is clear that our pupils’ limited knowledge of the world will not allow us to expand on
most of these topics. Once and again we can obviously see that the linguistic, stylistic and
background knowledge which is required for a fully understanding of most classic children’s
literature works is far beyond our pupils’ ken. Modern storybooks are also more suitable
from needed background knowledge point of view.
d) Educational and follow-up potential.
Once we have analyzed the previous aspects, we can finally ask ourselves
about the educational potential of the story in terms of: learning English
language and culture; learning about other subjects; learning about the world;
learning how to learn and also about the follow-up potential.
e) Conclusions.
The study of the previous sections enables us to come to the following
conclusions about the most suitable periods, literary genres and authors.
1. Period.
2. Authors.
3. Genres.
MOST SUITABLE PERIODS, AUTHORS AND LITERARY GENRES.
Mostly nowadays works but we can also use traditional tales with an everlasting
appeal such as “Little Red Riding Hood”.
Traditional storytellers such as Perrault and authors on the Puffin or Early Bird
series such as Jack Kent, Raymond Briggs, John Burningham or Roald Dahl.
We can use small poems but mostly storybooks.
We will now study how to use these storybooks in our classroom.
2. Using story books in the classroom.
Understanding a story in English is hard work for our pupils, so the first
thing we have to pay attention to is how to help our pupils understand the
story.
SUPPORTING CHILDREN’S UNDERSTANDING
1. We must provide a context for the story and introduce the main characters.
2. Provide visual support: drawings on the blackboard, cut-out figures, flash cards,...
3. Explain the context, keywords and ideas in the mother tongue, if necessary.
4. Identify your linguistic objectives.
5. Relate the story or associated activities to work in other subject areas if possible.
6. Decide how long you will spend on the story.
7. Decide in which order to introduce or revise the language necessary for understanding the story.
8. Decide when and how you will read the story.
9. If necessary, modify the story to make it more accessible to your pupils.
10. Find out if there are any rhymes or songs to reinforce the language introduce.
11. Decide follow-up activities to provide opportunities for pupils to use the language in different contexts.
Once we have decided on the previous questions we can begin to plan a story-based lesson:
 Planning story-based lessons.
There are many ways to plan a lesson. However, a predominantly oral lesson normally
follows quite a fixed plan with small variations. We may have for example:
- Warm-up and review: informal chat to maintain rapport with our pupils. We
remind our pupils of what we did during the last lesson.
- Presentation: both of the aims of the lessons and subsequently of the new
language.
- Practice: controlled stage.
- Production: communicative stage.
- Final rounding-up.
2. Types of storybooks.
There is a wide range of texts that we could use for the teaching of English. However, we
consider storybooks as one of the most useful for that purpose, hence, we will mainly focus on this
type.
Ellis and Brewster have classified storybooks under three headings:
Narrative features
- Rhyming words
- Repeating words
- Cumulative content and language
- Interactive
- Humorous
Content
- Everyday life
- Animal stories
- Traditional/folk/fairy tales
- Fantasy
Layout
- Flap
- Cut-away pages
- Minimal text
- No text
- Speech bubbles
We have also made distinctions based on the level of difficulty but it is even more important to
distinguish between authentic and graded or adapted texts. We prefer to use authentic texts if this
is not possible, at least we should use real-simulated texts giving suggestions to adapt too difficult
texts.
2.1. Authentic vs graded texts.
The main aim of all our teaching is to enable our pupils to reach communicative competence.
As the focus will be on assisting our pupils to do in class what they will need to do outside, the
materials to be used will reflect the world outside.
Nunan describes authenticity as follows “authentic materials are usually defined as those which
have been produced for purposes other than to teach language (video clips, recordings of authentic
interactions, extracts for TV…).
Authentic materials are easily justified on the grounds that specially scripted texts are artificial.
Manipulating these texts does not mean that our pupils will comprehend and manipulate language
in real communicative situations.
However, especially with our pupils, who are beginners, it may be necessary to edit authentic
materials in a way. Edited materials can be classified into simulated authentic and artificial.
A non-authentic text, in language teaching terms, is “one that has been designed especially for
learners” (Harmer). We can make a distinction here, however, between texts which have been made
to illustrate particular language points for presentation (artificial) and those which appear to be
authentic.
Manipulating and comprehending simulated authentic texts will help our pupils to acquire the
necessary skills they will need when they come to handle authentic material. So we can conclude
saying that the material designed to foster the acquisition of communicative competence must at
least be simulated authentic.
We will finally see how we can adapt authentic texts which are slightly above our pupils’ level.
2.2. Adapting stories.
When adapting a story we face a dilemma: if we simplify too much our pupils will lose the
flavour of real stories, so, what we can do is to try and adapt stories without losing much of the
original magic following Ellis and Brewster guidelines.
Vocabulary and
general meaning.
Grammar.
Organization of ideas.
Story length.
1.
2.
3.
1.
2.
3.
4.
1.
ADAPTING STORIES
1.
Check unfamiliar content or words.
2.
Check idioms.
3.
Check clarity
Check tenses.
Check use of structures.
Check word order.
Check sentence length and complexity.
Check time references.
Check the way ideas are linked.
Check the way ideas are explained.
Check the number of ideas in the story.
By following the previous criteria of selection and use of storybooks we will intend to make the
most of literature in the classroom.
3. Bibliography.
Children’s literature:
 The Cambridge Guide to English literature. CUP. Cambridge, 1990.
Methodology:
 ELLIS, G. and BREWSTER, J.: The storytelling Handbook for Primary
Teachers. Penguin. London, 1991.
 WELL-LOVED TALES SERIES: Loughborough: Ladybird Books, 1974.
OPOSICIONES AL CUERPO DE MAESTROS
GALICIA
ESPECIALIDAD: INGLÉS
THEME 15
AUTHORS, GENRES, AND LITERARY AGES
SUITABLE FOR TEFL. KINDS OF TEXTS
PART ONE: TABLE OF CONTENTS
1.
INTRODUCTION
If we consider that level is what students can actually do with the language, it will become
obvious that even at the early stages students can in fact do a great deal with the language:
They can identify sounds (vowels. consonants, intonation, stress, rhythm), certain words and
structures. They can produce these orally; recognize them in a text and, at the very least,
underline words, if they can't actually set them down on a separate sheet of paper. In short,
even the very beginners can do something with the language. The teacher then must build
from that point by adding input which is neither too advanced, nor too easy. The input must
be motivating enough for them to want to try to understand, first, and then try to reproduce in
some way.
Cinema, music, and literature are rich in motivating material, if the teacher knows how to
select and to present content in such a way that it will both challenge and motivate them.
2.
CONTENTS
2.1. The literary genres and Figures in EFL
The English language is certainly rich in literary figures and genres; and the literary ages are
full of intriguing aspects that students can find extremely motivating. Chaucer, for example,
is not merely an author who wrote a few famous tales in a strange dialect that nobody uses
today. But rather he tells some very good stories which, if a teacher can get beyond the
purely academic side of the great literary figure, could well be introduced to students in such
a way that suits their particular age group and level. The Canterbury Tales, for example, is
tremendously full of material that will motivate students. As long as the teacher knows how
to select and to present the content (keeping in mind Krashen's model of "input + 1" (input
just a little above the students' level) a great many literary figures can be successfully used in
TEFL.
Without forgetting, of course, that literature must be suitable to the students' level and age
group, and that any text can be adapted to suit the needs and capabilities of EFL students, the
following is a selection of authors. genres, and periods that could be used in TEFL.
2.2. Well-known tales
The following are some of the well known tales which are often published in colourful and
easy-to-read graded readers: "The elves and the shoemaker," "The three little pigs," "The
gingerbread boy," "The little red hen," "The princess and the pea," "The sly fox and the little
red hen," "The three billy-goats gruff," "Chicken licken," "The three bears," "The ugly
duckling," "The emperor's new clothes," "Town mouse and country mouse.,"Sleeping
beauty," "Puss in boots," "Rumpelstiltskin Rapunzel," "The wolf and the seven little kids,"
"Little red riding hood,” The brave tailor," "Jack and the beanstalk," "Hansel and Gretel,"
"Cinderella," "Beauty and the, beast," "Snow White and the seven dwarfs," "Tomb Thumb",
"The little mermaid," and "The Wizard of Oz” ("Well-loved tales" Ladybird: 1966).
o Well-Know Rhymes
Additionally, the following are a few well known rhymes and songs: "One, two, put on your
shoe,“ "Where is thumbkin," "Polly put the kettle on," "Rain, rain, go away,” Two little birds
sitting on a wall,” This is the way,” “Old Mlacdonald had a farm," "Hickory, dickory. Dock,”
“Diddle, diddle, dumpling," "This little pig,” “This old man”, “Baa, bas, black sheep," "Three
blind mice,” “Here is a church,” ”Insey winsey spider," "Pat a cake," "Pussy cat, Pussy cat,"
"Humpty dumpty," "Ride a cock horse,” “Jack and Jill," "Hey diddle, diddle,” “Little miss
muffet," "Little Jack horner,” “Wee Willie Winkie," "One potato, two potatoes,” “Ten green
bottles," "Eeny, meeny, miny, mo," "There was a girl,” “It's raining, it's pouring,” “Fie, fie,
foe, fum,” “The brave old Duke of York," "There's a hole in my bucket”, “There was an old
woman who lived in a shoe." "Hush little baby," "Little bo-peep," "Sing a song of sixpence,"
"Oh dear, what can the matter be?," "Little boy blue The house that Jack built," "She sells
seashells," "Peter piper." "Thirty days has September,” There was an old woman who
swallowed a fly," "Ten green and speckled frogs The owl and the Pussy cat," (Dakin 1968).
2.4.
British Authors and Texts
Beowulf The text, in Old English. is from the 10th-cent. But it was believed written in the
6th-cent. The tale is about the life of the Geatish hero Beowulf who in his youth fights and
kills Grendel, a monster and then kills the monster's mother. Fifty years later he battles a
dragon and both are killed.
Chaucer's The Canterbury tales, in prose and verse, was written in the late 14th-cent. The
story begins when twenty-nine pilgrims on their way to Canterbury agree to tell tales as they
go to make the time pass by quicker. There are twenty-four tales told altogether. They
include the following: "The knight's tale," "The miller's tale," "The reeve's tale The cook's
tale," "The man of law's tale," "The wife of bath's tale," "The friar's Tale," "The summoner's
tale,” “The clerk's tale,” “The merchant's tale," "The squire's tale The Franklin's tale," "The
physician's tale The pardoner's tale," etc.
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is an alliterative poem from the second half of the 14thcent. The story begins at King Arthur's court in Camelot during a new year's feast. A large
green man appears and dares the knights to cut his head off. Young Gawain obliges him,
after accepting the challenge that he will allow his own head to be cut off on the same day the
following year. The Green Knight picks up his severed head and retires. A year later,
Gawain sets out to meet his fate, coming to a castle, where he is invited in as a guest. The
lord of the castle comes to an agreement with him, that whatever comes to pass the young
knight will report it to the lord. When the lord's wife tries to seduce him, he resists. but the
lady insists and he allows her at last to make a present to him of her garter. He does not
report this to the lord of the castle who reveals his true identity: he is the Green Knight. The
Green Knight honors him for his honesty and courage, and pardons Gawain the debt he has
come to pay. Nevertheless, he cuts the young knight's neck with his axe, for not telling him
about his wife's garter.
Piers Plowman, a late 14th-cent. poem in Middle English by William Langland, tells of how
the narrator fell asleep in the forest one day and of the many things that passed in his dream.
Sir Philip Sidney (1554-86) is an attractive figure: He was a romantic poet and a courageous
knight who was killed in Flanders in an attack he led on a Spanish supply convoy. There are
aspects of his life-if not some of his literary work-which students would find interesting.
Edmund Spenser (c. 1552-99) was author of, among other works, The Faerie Queene, which
contains some interesting material about courtiers and knights, dragons and medieval castles.
Spenser's life is of some interest, especially his friendship with Sir Walter Raleigh and his
encounter with the Irish people.
William Shakespeare (1564-1616) has a great many plays which are of particular interest to
the young. His history plays are full of intriguing stories of English kings and queens (Henry
VIII, Richard III). There are parts of some of his tragedies which are particularly motivating,
such as the three witches in Macbeth, or the ghost scene in Hamlet, and of course, Romeo
and Juliet attracts much attention among the young. Seviral of his comedies are appealing to
young students, especially A Midsummer Night's Dream and The Tempest , both of which
have a good many, scenes involving youths about the same age as the students.
Though the “metaphysical” writings of John Donne (1572-1631) are very difficult to
appreciate, the life of the man can be of interest to you and students. The poet sailed with
Essex to sack Cadiz in 1596 and with Raleigh to hunt the Spanish treasure ships off the
Azores in 1597.
Ben Jonson (1572/3-1637) is another intriguing literary figure whose life is of particular
interest to students. Coming from the lower class, he struggled to educate himself and
eventually became one of the known playwrights in England. Parts of his comedies are
motivating: Volpone is about a man who pretends he dying to get money from people who
pretend to be honest but are in fact rogues. He wrote The Masque ofBlackness for Queen
Anne because she had always wanted to appear on stage as a Negress. And The Alchemist is
an hilarious comedy about a servant, Face, who, with a fake alchemist, takes advantage of the
absence of the owner of a house in Blackfriars in London during an epidemic. They use the
house to trick roguish people out of money.
John Milton (1608-74) lived during a very crucial period in the history of Britain. He was a
Puritan who sided with those who favored the execution of King Charles I. The subject of the
civil war is intriguing and full of anecdotes. Milton's Paradise Lost, an epic poem in twelve
books written in blank verse, is the story of Adam and Eve and the Garden of Eden. The
character of Satan was unique in that the demon was presented in very humanlike, and at
times sympathetic, terms. There are scenes in long the poem that are worth summarizing,
such as when Satan, Beezelbub, and the legions of the rebellious angels have an assembly; or
when Satan and Eve first meet.
Aphra Behn (1640?-1689) is a tremendously intriguing figure. She was a spy for King
Charles II and worked under cover in Antwerp during the Dutch war. Her play The Rover is
about the adventures of a band of English cavaliers in Naples and Madrid. And Oroonoko,
or The Royal Slave, one of the first novels ever written, is about Africans who are captured
and sold into slavery in South America. The novel is full of interesting anecdotes.
Animals were used in "Books for boys and girls" and "Country rhymes for children",
published in 1686. The stories had a moral to teach. They were well known not only in
Britain but also in Italy, France, and Spain. Furthermore, some of the verse from "Divine and
moral songs for children" are still heard to this day: "How doth the little busy bee?"
DanielDefoe(1660-1731) is best known fo rhis nove “RobinsonCrusoe” .The time in which
he wrote is particularly interesting, since it coincided with the growth of the colonies in North
America. The novel is based on the experiences of Alexander Selkirk on the island of Juan
Fernandez.
The relationship between the shipwrecked Robinson and an indigenous
inhabitant of a deserted island is of particular interest.
Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) is especially well known for his Gullivers Travels, about a
shipwrecked surgeon on the island of Lilliput, where the inhabitants are a mere six inches
high. In the second part, the surgeon is shipwrecked on an island where the inhabitants are as
tall steeples. In the third part, the surgeon finds himself on a flying island, and in the fourth
part he is in a country ruled by horses with more sense (reason) than most humans.
William Congreve (1 670-1729) is of inter est to young students in that he wrote his satirical
plays during the Restoration period, when the monarchy was restored after twenty years of
exile in France. Congreve, Etherege, Farquhar, Vanbrugh, and Wycherley wrote hilarious
satires in the comedy of manners style. The fashion and the influence of the French court on
English society is an interesting topic to develop; it is something which the comedy of
manners style has preserved.
Perhaps less intriguing for the young than Defoe and Swift, loseph Addison (1672-1719) and
Sir Richard Steele (1672-1729) are of interest in that they wrote for newspapers and
periodicals such as the Tatler, The Spectator, The Guardian. Journalism is a very important
literary style today as it was in Addison and Steele's day. Comparing !he two ages and
making periodicals or newspapers in class can be quite motivating.
The writings of the poet Alexander Pope (1688-1744) typify the Neoclassical style in British
literature. His poem in rhyming couplets The Rape of the Lock is interesting as a story in
itself. At a card game, a young gentleman, enamored with a young lady, brazenly cuts off a
lock of her hair in front of everyone. It is not only an excellent piece for discussing the
manners of that time, but also representative of the kind of encounters of a sexual nature that
young people normally face.
Samuel Johnson (1 709-84) is an example of a writer who was born with few economical
means and became one of the most renowned man of letters in the 18th-cent. His early
friendship with David Garrick, before the latter because a famous actor, is interesting, as
there are many of Boswell’s anecdotes in his biography of Johnson’s life. Rasselas, Prince of
Abysinia is a novel which is full of adventures about a young prince and his sister on a
journey to exotic far away places.
John Newbery (1713-67) was one of the earliest known publishers of children's books. He
published fables, poems, tales and novels. "Goody Two Shoes", considered the first book
created especially for children, may have been written by the playwright Olvier Goldsmith (?
1 730-74) -the author of the uproariously funny play She Stoops to Conquer-for Newbery. In
1753, he published "The Lilliputian Magazine", in 1762, "Tuiii Telesuupe", and "Mother
Goose Fairy Tales" in 1765. Nursery rhymes or "verse for children" were a mixture of
popular folklore, myths and age old songs. Having been created for entertainment more than
for didactic reasons, they tended to be playful and imaginative. It is for this reason that they
often seem strange or absurd.
Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-97) is a tremendously appealing figure whose life was a
continuous adventure. In 1792 she went to Paris to participate in the French Revolution, and
there fell in love with an American writer, by whom she had a daughter who would die soon
afterwards. Mary managed to escape the Reign of Terror in France. Down and out in
London, she tried to take her life, but was nurtured back to health by William Godwin, a
philosopher of anarchical opinions, with whom she later had a daughter, Mary, who would
one day marry the poet Shelley and write the novel Frankenstein. Mary Wollstonecraft is
known for her two books, A Vindication ofthe Rights of men and A Vindication of the Rights
of Women, written two years later. She died shortly after giving birth to her daughter. There
are obviously a great many aspects worthy of attention not only with regard to the author's
life, but also to the messages of her books.
Mary Wollstoneeraft's daughter, Mary Wollstoneeraft Shelley (1797-1851), eloped with the
young Perey Bysshe Shelley at seventeen, and lived with the poet abroad till his premature
death in 1822. She knew Byron and Keats very well, and her life is an example of the young
romantic world view of the early nineteenth century. Her novel Frankenstein is still an often
read classic, and many versions of it have been reenacted.
William Blake (1757-1827) is an alluring figure and his poetry, especially Songs of
innocence and of experience, and is full of material suitable for young people. And as he was
also a painter and an engraver, there are prints available of much of his work. Songs of
Innocence and of Experience contains some very motivating poems, such as "The Chimney
Sweeper" ("When my mother died 1 was very young,/ And my father sold me while yet my
tongue/ could scarcely cry <<'weep! 'weep, 'weep!>>"), or "The Tyger" ("Tyger! Tyger!
burning bright/ In the forests of the night") or "The Little Black Boy" ("My mother bore me
in the southern wild,/ And 1 am black, but Oh! my soul is white"). And an added plus is that
his poems are generally expressed in a very simple language.
Robert Burns (1759-96) was an extravagant figure who wrote poems in Scottish dialect. His
life is of interest: As a young man he greatly believed in the equality of all mankind, and so
he defended the cause of the French Revolution. One of his poems, "Auld Lang Syne",
though in a language which is difficult to understand, is still sung by a great many native
speakers of English the world over on New Years Eve: "Should auld acquaintance be forgot,/
And never brought to min'?/ Should auld acquaintance be forgot,/ And days o' lang syne?/
For auld lang syne, my dear, For auld lang syne,/ We'll take a cup o' kindness yet,/ For auld
lang syne."
William Wordsworth (1770-1850) was a poet who was in favour of the French Revolution
when he was young, but who later spoke out against it. He left a French girl, with child and
returned to England and settled down with his sister Dorothy. His Lyrical Ballads, which he
coauthored with Coleridge is considered a landmark in English Romanticism. Of particular
interest to the young is his long poem The Prelude, in which he spends a great deal of time
speaking about his infancy and school days. The psychological insight into his childhood
experience is remarkable.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834) as a young man was an idealist who favoured the
French Revolution and in 1794, along with Robert Southey, planned to start a Pantisocratic
commune in America, which never came to be. Coleridge became addicted to opium, as did
people in Britain in the early 19th-cent. after doctors prescribed huge quantities of laudanum
(opium dissolved in alcohol) to ease pain. There is a lot to his long poem "The Rime of the
Ancient Mariner" that can be adapted: A ship in the South Pole region runs into a streak of
very bad luck when a madner kills an albatross for no particular reason. The story is told by
the mariner, and the scenes he narrates command attention.
Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832) wrote novels of medieval subjects which were popular
in Britain and America. "lvanhoe" is still widely, read among young people: In it, Wilfred of
Ivanhoe, son of a noble Saxon, joins Richard the Lion Hearted at the Crusade in the Holy
Land. John, Richard's younger brother, tries to overthrow him in his absence. Ivanhoe helps
Richard restore authority. In the novel, Robin Hood and Friar Tuck also appear. Other novels
by Scott include The Monastery, The Abbot, and Tales ofv the Crusades.
George Gordon Byron (1788-1824) belonged to the generation of English Romantic poets
that followed Wordsworth and Coleridge. He gave up a seat in the House of Lords to live in
exile.
His poem "Childe Harold's Pilgrimage" made him famous in 1812.
The poem
describes the poet's travels, among other places, through Portugal and Spain.
Byron's
personal life was the talk of Europe at the time, for he was rich and handsome and notorious
for his escapades of pleasure and "sinful" behaviour. He is said to have swum the Hellespont
with a friend for the fun of it. His "Don Juan" contains parts which young Spaniards may find
interesting, especially the part that describes Juan as a youngster in Seville and, when he gets
older, his mother, "Donna" Inez, sends him away to Cadiz and then abroad. He was also an
idealist who armed a body of troops with his own money in order to help the Greeks in their
filht against the Turks. He died of fever, though, before the "Byron Brigade" saw real action.
The poet Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1922) was a friend of Byron. As a student at Oxford,
he was notorious for his unconventional dress and his eccentricity.
He was a rebel,
denouncing royalty, and a vegetarian. He eloped with Mary Godwin Wollstonecraft when
she was seventeen, and he lived abroad for the remainder of his life. "Prometheus Unbound"
is perhaps the most promising of his poems for the EFL teacher. Prometheus is said to have
disobeyed Zeus by teaching mankind how to use fire. Shelley has him chained to a rock as
punishment for disobeying the supreme god. But Prometheus does not repent his act, and in
the end, Prometheus triumphs over tyrany. Shelley was drowned when, returning from
visiting Byron, his boat capsized near Livomo.
John Keats (1795-1821) was a friend of Shelley.
He didn't write poetry until he was
eighteen, and just in a few years he had earned a name for himself and had a very successful
future ahead of him. But he died of tuberculosis at the age of twenty-six. His poem "The
Eve of St. Agnis" is particularly promising in its treatment of legend that says that if a young
girl performs a certain ritual, she will dream of her future husband on the evening before St.
Agnes' Day (January 21st). Keats writes a breathtaking story of how a young maid is visited
that night by a youn z man who is in love with her, and what betides them.
AlfredTennyson(1809-92) was a popular poet in both England and the UnitedStates. One of
his most often read poems still is "The Charge of the Light Brigade," which he wrote after
reading in The Times about a heroic cavalry charge at Balaclava during the Crimean War in
which three quarters of the six hundred cavalrymen were killed or captured by the Russians
who defended the position.
Another example of expatriate English writers were the poets Robert Browning (1812-89)
and Elizabeth Browning (1806-61) who were married in 1846 and went to live in Italy. The
fact that both were famous poets, married, and expatriates is sufficient enough material to
pursue. Robert's "Soliloquy of the Spanish Cloister" and "Christmas-Eve and Easter-Day"
are alluring titles, but hardly material for young EFL students.
Charles Dickens (1 812-70) is by far one of the most useful authors for EFL teachers.
Especially popular are his novels David Copperfield, Oliver Twist, and Great Expectations,
and his A Christmas Carol is still customat Yuletide reading for the yourth.
The Brontë sisters, Charlotte (1816-55), Emily (1818-48) and Anne (1820-49), are interesting
figures. Their father was an Irishman who was curate of Haworth, Yorkshire. Their mother
died in 1825, leaving them to be cared for by their aunt. They were sent to a Clergy
Daughters' School which, it is believed, proved to be such a harsh place that it impaired their
health and may have hastened the deaths of two elder sisters. The girls grew up reading and
admiring such authors as Byron and Walter Scott, and such exotic tales as The Arabian
Nights. The harshness of schools and schoolmasters at that time is a subject of interest for
young students, as is the story of three girls who eventually became famous authors. Anne's
Agnes Grey was originally published under the pseudonym Acton Bell. Charlotte's Jane
Eyre is especially well known because of the Orson Wells film that was made of it. And
Emily's Wuthering Heights was also made into a film in 1994.
Lewis Carroll, whose real name was Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, (1832-1898) is famous for
two books which he wrote especially for children: Alice in Wonderland and Through the
Looking-Glass. Of the two, perhaps the EFL teacher will find the former more useful:
Certainly many of the scenes, such as the rabbit rushing down the hole after consulting his
watch, are quite well known. The story of how Carrol had made up the tale to entertain the
two daughters –one of whose names was Alice- of a friend on a boat trip offers possibilities
of captivating the attention of the students as well. He apparently later created the second tale
specially for Alice.
Roald Dahl (1926-1991) wrote some of the most popular novels for children in recent years:
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Wiiches, Gremlins, and a many others. As a boy he
was educated in English boarding schools, and many of his novels reflect the many
unpleasant experiences he had there.
2.5. Authors and texts from the United States
Though it did have a few high spots in the early years of the Republic, The United States
had no flourishing literature of its own until the middle of the 19th-cent. It is a good idea for
EFL teachers who are non-native speakers to familiarize themselves with American authors
and their works in order to better understand the culture and the language that Americans use.
Though students can hardly be expected to read these authors themselves, the teacher can
help them to appreciate the literature, in the hope that at some time in the future they will
read the texts on their own. Certainly just talking about any one of the following authors and
the time and place they lived would provide ample motivating material for EFL class
activities.
Washington Irving (1783-1859), a New Yorker, published his well known tale "Rip Van
Winkle" in 1820. Th6 still often told story is about a man who falls asleep on a mountain and
wakes up many years later to find that the colonies have become a republic. The tale offers
many possibilities of comparing life in the U.S. before and after the Declaration of
Independence.
Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864) was a from New England Puritan stock. His stories and
novels depict some of the harshest realities of Puritanism and its effect on people. Aside
from his well known novels The Scarlet Letter and The House of the Seven Gables, he also
wrote some works for children, such as A Wonder Book and Tanglewood Tales. His short
story "Young Goodman Brown" is an intriguing tale of how a man meets a demon in the
forest who invites him to a party.
Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) was from Boston, Massachusetts, but he spent five years in a
primary school in England. His Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque includes one of his
most famous stories, "The Fall of the House of Usher," a Gothic tale in which the narrator
visits a childhood friend in his decayed old mansion. Additionally, his poem "The Raven" is
still popular.
Herman Melville (1819-1891) was friends with Nathaniel Hawthorne. As a boy, Melville
sailed to Liverpool, found work on a whaler bound for the South Seas, jumped ship and
joined the US Navy, serving for three years. From his experience on the high seas he wrote
his famous novel Moby-Dick, about an obsessed captain in relentless pursuit of a great white
whale. Billy Budd, Foretopman is about a sailor who is abused by an officer whom he strikes
dead in a fit of anger and is hanged for it. A well known short story is "Bartleby the
Scrivener", about a law-copyist who decides to move into the office where he works in the
Wall Street district of Manhattan, and his boss's repeated and unsuccessful efforts to get him
to leave. It is a good story for discussing how scriveners used to copy everything by hand,
and what Wall Street was like then and what it is like now.
Mark Twain (1835-1910) was Samuel Langhome Clemens' pseudonym. His years growing
up on the banks of the Mississippi river and later as a pilot on the river were recreated in his
two most famous novels Tom Sawyer-about the antics of Tom in a small town- and
Huckleberry Finn-about the orphan Huck and his excursion down the Mississippi with an
escaped slave. The Prince and Pauper narrates how a prince changes places with a beggar.
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur Court is perhaps one of his most imaginative works,
telling of how a Yankee businessman is clubbed over the head by his factory workers and
comes to in during King Arthur's legendary reign in early medieval England. The novel can
introduce a comparison of medieval life to what life was like in the late 19th-cent. and to
modern life. Mark Twain also wrote some entertaining stories, such as "The Celebrated
Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" and "Baker's Bluejay Yarn".
Bret Harte (1836-1902) wrote a good many stories about life in the American West.
"Tennessee's Partner'. "The Outcasts of Poker Flat," and "The Luck of Roaring Camp"
provide excellent descriptions of what it was like to live in the West. And his poem "Plain
Language from Truthful James," does honour to a culture that respects directness and
unadorned simplicity.
Ambrose Bierce (?1842-1914) also wrote about the American West. He served in the
American Civil war. In “The Boarded Window” he narrates what it was like in the area
around Cincinnatrti, Ohio in the early 1830s, where there is “an inmense and almost
unbroken forest. The whole reghion was sparsely settled by people of the frontier –rstless
souls… (Stegner 1957: 154).”
Henry James (1 843-1916) came from a rich family and was therefore able to travel a great
deal and to study in London, Paris, and Geneva. As a young man he felt more at home
among the European upper class society and thus settled in Europe in 1875. His writings are
a blending of American and European world views: His novel Daisy Miller is a marvelous
example of the impact of American verve on European staidness. Daisy is an energetic and
freespirited young American whom the narrator, an American who has spent most of his life
living on the Continent and, as such, is more European than American, becomes attracted to.
But because he is inhibited by manners and convention, he cannot get close to her. Daisy
scandalizes the members of "respectable society" with her uninhibited language and
behaviour. Other well-known novels of his include Washington Square, The Bostonians, and
Portrait oflady.
O.
Henry (1862-1910), pseudonym of William Sydney, famous for his amusing short
stories which he began writing when he was in prison. "The Ransom of Red Chief' is about
the kidnapping of a child who causes his kidnappers so much trouble that they are willing to
throw away the ransom just to get rid of him. "The Gift of the Magi" narrates how a woman
sells her hair to buy her husband a watch chain and how he sells his watch to buy her a set of
combs for Christmas. "The Last Leaf relates how a young lady, bedridden with pneumonia,
is convinced that she will die when the leaves fall from the trees. Her neighbour paints leaves
on her window, thus keeping her alive.
Edith Wharton (1 862-193 7) was a close friend of Henry James. And like him, she wrote
about. Americans in Europe. "Roman Fever" tells of two elderly American ladies in Rome
recalling an incident that happened to them in, that very city when they were young.
Stephen Crane (1 871-1900) became famous at the age of twenty-four with his novel The Red
Badge of Courage about a young soldier in battle during the American Civil War. He was a
journalist and he wrote about the Spanish-American War of 1899. He had tremendously
promising career ahead of him when, on visit to Germany, he died of tuberculosis.
Sherwood Anderson (1876-1941) was famous for Winesburg, Ohio, a collection of short
stories about life in a small town. Tar: A Midwest Childhood is semi-autobiographical.
James Thurber (1894-1961) his humorous short stories, written for the magazine The New
Yorker of life in "middle" America were very popular. His short story "The Secret Life of
Walter Mitty" is still customary reading.
William Faulker (1897-1962), though a difficult novelist for many, wrote a great deal from
the perspective of a boy: The Sound and the Fury, As I Lay Dying, and "Was" in Go Down
Moses. A southerner from the state of Mississippi, he served with the Canadian Air Force in
the First World War because he was not accepted in the US Air Force. His books narrate life
in the "deep" south. He won the Noble Prize in 1950. J. Blotner's biography of him, as
recently translated and published in Spain. A reading of his childhood would give the teacher
a great deal of information about what growing up in the South was like. Go Down Moses
tells of a boy's friendship with an indian and his hunting a bear for the first time. And "Was"
narrates in humorous terms an incident that occurred when a slave runs off to visit his
girlfriend on a nearby plantation. One of the main characters in As I Lay Dying narrates how
his dead mother is transported in a wagon to a family burial ground in another county.
John Steinbeck was from California. Most of his novels and stories deal with the state. The
Grapes of Wrath is about a family, the Jodes, which has been forced off its land during the
depression and tries to get to reach State Califomia is full of immigrants who had to leave
their Midwestern homes as a result of the Great Depresion. There are children in the family
and parts would certainly interest young people. O fMice and Men is also useful for teahers,
since one of the characters is a very large man who, in reality, is a big kid. "The Pearl" is a
very good short story to consider for EFL. He won the Noble Prize in 1962.
E. Hemingway (1 899-196 1) is particularly useful to the EFL teacher for his close
connection with Spain in the 1930s. The Sun Also Rises, Fiesta, and For Whom the Bell Tolls
are directly about Spain. The Old Man and the Sea is about a Cuban fiisherman who catches
an enormous fish he'll never manage to bring to port, and nobody believes him. He won toe
Nobel Prize in 1954.
J. D. Salinger (1919-) is still popular among young readers for his novel The Catcher in
the rye (1951) about an adolescent who runs from a boarding school in a small town to New
York City. And Franny and Zooey (1961) , who is also about two adolescents, a brother and
a sister, members of an eccentric family.
Two Afro-American writers in particular offer material that can be of interest. Alice
Walker's novel The Color Purple was made into a film. It is an excellent story about the life
of an Afro-American woman in the South. It is specially useful for the many parts it has that
involve children. And Toni Morrison, who just recently won the Novel Prize of Literature,
writes excellent stories about Afro-Americans. Her novel Beloved, which won the Pulitzer
Prize in 1988, has some good scenes involving adolescent girls.
3.-
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ABRAMS, M. H., ed.: (1993). The Norton anthology of English literature. London: W. W.
Norton. CURRENT-GARCFA, E. and P. WALTON, R.: (1 982). American short stories.
4th ed. London: Scott, Foresman and Company.
DAKIN, J.: (1987). Songs and rhymes for the teaching of English. Harlow: Longman.
DRABBLE, M.
and STRINGER, J. eds.: (1990). The Concise Oxford Companion to
English literature. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press.
SAMPSON, G.: (1970). The Concise Cambridge History of Engllish Literature. 3rd ed., rev.
and enl. by R. C. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
WELL-LOVED TALES SERIES. (1974). Loughborough. Ladybird Books.
PART TWO: PRACTICAL DEVELOPMENT
1.
LEVEL
3rd cycle (6th grade)
2.
TIME OF SESSIONS
One week, in April, to be finished by the day dedicated to the children's book.
3.
OBJECTIVES
3.1. General
- To read and comprehend short texts (Narrative form)
- To produce a short written text giving information
3.2. Specific
-
Recognize the importance of reading habits
-
Improve reading skills in the foreign language - Learn about the literature written in the
foreign language.
4.
METHODOLOGY
The methodology used should be suitable to a communicative approach to teaching English
as a foreign language. That is, taking into consideration the age, ability and needs of the
students, as well as the criteria specified in the overall objectives of the course, the EFL
teacher should apply learning strategies which are based on learning by doing, i.e., task
oriented strategies. The tasks required elicit a participative attitude on the part of the learners
and a guiding role on the part of the teacher. Additionally, the teacher should help the
students to learn both to think and to do in the target language.
5.
THE TEACHING UNIT: SPECIFIC CONTENTS
Conceptual:
- vocabulary: words related to literature (author/ different genres etc.)
- phonological aspects: the pronunciation of the names of the authors worked.
- grammar structures: 'Gulliver's Travels by… /It is the story of… /J. Swift was born in…
and died in …
Procedural:
- group work
- note taking
- investigation in the Library.
Sociological aspects.
- cross curricular activities interactiovn
6.
ACTIVITIES AND TASKS
6.1.
The Teacher (T) brings several graded books tc the class and checks, how many
authors are known by students and starts the “Week of Travels around English
Literature " ("Gulliver’s Travels”).
6.2.
(T) divides students in groups of four and gives each group an assignment: a
research project on an author and his or her books.
6.3.
Each group decides on its own class project which is to be finished by the end of
the week
6. 4.
(T) helps students with the, re.search, bringirig all the materials from the resourceroom need (books, magazines, slides, postcards, movies, music, etc.)
6.5.
Each group will be given a big piece of butcher paper where they can stick their
work.
6.6
A class field trip to the local Library, to look for translations of the authors
selected.
6.7.
Guided readings of famous stories so the students will be able to write short
sentences informing about some data (name of the author; place and date of birth;
names of the most well known books: what is the story about and famous
characters).
7.
MATERIALS
The materials have already been mentioned.
8.
FINAL TASK
Each group exposes its work to the rest of the class: they may paste the information (texts,
photocopies, drawings) on the wall paper and perform something about it: Read aloud; sing a
song; read a poem; perform a skit, etc.
9.
EVALUATION
(According to Theme Nº 14.)
TEMA-15
LITERARY PERIODS, AUTHORS AND GENRES SUITABLE FOR DIDACTIC
APPLICATIONS IN ENGLISH CLASS.TYPES OF TEXTS.
1. Introduction
Before analysing the literary periods,authors or genres more
suitable for their application and use in English class it´s necessary to study the
student body´s needs, their preferences and expectations in facing and English
class first.
The pupil of this age always desires inmediate results. It is possible
that they will go out being able to speak something in this language ,being anxious to
show what he has learnt ,without worring about mistakes and he´ll be prepared to
use this language according to his needs,experimenting with sounds and words or
using ,gestures.Therefore it is easier to acquire a language by being expposed to it
than learning a series of rulers which involve a series of complicated mechanisms of
the language.
Other characteristic of this stage is restlessness
We shoould desing activities:
-Which can keep their attention - an overlong activity leads to boredoom
-and understandable to the pupil .They should be near the reality of the pupil
which will facilitate starting mechanisms of expression.
Literature would suppose a good way of approaching these interests and it
would give an inexhaustible soource of resources to satisfy the pupil´s needs of this
stage.
Before analysing periods,authors or genres we have thought about pupils´
underlying needds in the classroom .Now wwe have to decide the linguistic and
extralinguistic characteristics of thr text which will allow us to use it to develop the
basic aims.
The emotional factor plays a main role in everything we do,read think or say ,
and literature transposes us to all kind of real or imaginative situations ,and it close
us to all kinds of characteres -reallistic or fictional- and seeing ourselves reflected in
situation bring us close to literature .If the literature is in a foreing language in a
pleasant form.
The vocabulary should be contextualise and should be a kind of language
easy to imitate:by rhythm or by intonation, it has to have frequent repetitions ,and it
also has to be composed of words which can be used in a natural form in the
organitation of the class, in games ,...which suggests that it has to be presented in
simple sintactic structures.
Lastly , if pupils can anticipate what comes next,they will have more
confidence, because their problems of comprehension will be reduced ,which helps
them to learn with less effort.
2
.PERIODS,AUTHORS AND GENRES.TYPES OF TEXTS.
According to what has been stated above the traditional tales ,fairy
tales,picture stories,nursery rhymes,jokes,modern or traditional songs and limericks
are considered as Literary Genres more ssuitable to the pupilss of this stage.
Normally ,we can take texts (oral or written )from popular tradition so
the text is as important or more than the authors,especially in the case of the
traditional tales,which are -in most cases-compilattions of tales and oral traditions
which have been translated to the different european languages
(Perrault,Andersen,Grimm,..).
The tales
The use of the tale offers an ideal system of introduction to foreing language
and culture and it creates a possitive atmosphere so that the pupil wants to carry on
learning.
In the psychological field ,the tales exercise the imagination and they offer an
inexhaustible source of experiences and emotions and if the tales are related by the
teacher ,they offer a collective experience of feelings,laughter,sadness...,which
makes the pupil feel integrated in the group ,develop self-confidence and mature
emotionally and socially.
One of the characteristics of tales is the natural repetition of certain elements
of vocabulary, if they are narrated in class .the intonation ,the sense of the rhythm
and the possibility that pupils want tohear the whole story again,this allows the
teacher to use these resources to get a larger number of repetitions of certain
elements of interest without the problem of saturation of the student body.
Respecting the narration of the tales we have the dilemma of the teacher as
narrator or the use of the cassette .The latter has some advantages such as
music,however,the teacher can give to his narration the human factor ,and the
pronuntiation and the intonation can be improved through recordings.Teacher as
narrator facilitates the intervention of pupils with questions when they have not
understood something ,the repetition of fragments which they have not understood
or the slowing down of the narration when it is necessary.
Respecting the suitability of adapting tales in class ,for children from eight
years old, we should thinK of the techniques which are used when tales are
narrated for the first time and howthe narration developes slowly.One of the
characteristic of tales is that they can be narrated in a thousand different ways,which
facilitates the adaptation of the same tale to different levels .The tale is a flexible tool
in our hands.
If we think of tales as reading instead of as narration ,there is a wide range of
tales for English -speaking children of these ages,in addition to a series of simplified
versions directed at children who are learninig Engllish as a Second Language.
Normally ,we consider that the former are better than the latter ,especially
because of the ilustrations done by drawers ,which gives a greater degree of
satisfaccion in the reading .A careful selection of the texts for the E-class in relation
to vocabulary ,structures and themes of interest could permit that the tales which are
read in class are the same that Englissh children read at this age .
As for the most suitable works ,there is a great varieety ,from the traditional
tales (Little Red Riding Hood; Puss in Boots or other tales from Perrault) to the most
modern tales,in which their protagonistscan be animals -which are good for snowing
the daily llife of children (The tale of Peter Rabbit,by Beatrix Potter , and whose
contexts are as British as the language itself )-or the heroes can be personages of
daily life (Postman Pat) or familliar elements of our modern civilization (Thomas , the
Tank Engine).Excepting the series by Beatrix Potter ,which needs be adapted ,either
Thomas ,the tank Engine, or Postman Pat in original version,with a suitable
guide woould be easily accesible to children from eight years old.
We should not forget famous authors ,whose novels and short stories
althought not intended for children ,can be adapted .
-Gulliver´s Travels by Jonathan Swift
-Huckleberry Finnby Mark Twain
- A Christmas Carrol by Dickens
-Alice´s adventures in Wonderland and Alice through the looking -glass by
Lewis Carrol.
And even authors who are not British ,such as
-Julies Verne :Journey to they centre of the Earth
-Fairy tales in which the conventions of the same are parodied .Ex.
The Rose and the Ring by Thomas Thackeray .
-School stories ,such a Tom Brown´s Schooldays by Thomas Hughes.
-Family sagas ,such as Little Women by Alcott.
-Of animals : Black Beauty by Sewell.
-Of adventures ,such as Treasure Island and King Salomon´s Minesby
Haggard or the Jungle Books by Kipling .
The concept of children´s Literature as fun wasn´t a cultivated genre until the
end of the XIX century Children´s Literature before was Literature with didactic
end.Books for adults, ex. Ae sop´s fables,were a resource to try to amuse children
through Literature .In the XVIII century with Locke and Rousseau Books for the
entertainment of children appear ,which begin to abandone the didactic intention .
It is in 1883 when the first adventure book without dictatic intention
appears :Treasure Island.
In the first book of a series of ilustrated tales appears :Little Black Sambo by
Helen Banner,who next to Beatrix Potter was a milestone in reference to the
importance of ilustrations in tales for children.
In the beginning of our century there appear various authors and tittles which
today are considered classics of modern children´s Literature and have been
adapted for television, such as:
The Wind in the Willows by Grahame ,The Secret Garden by Burnett,Martin
Pippin in the Apple Orchard by Farjeon ,Winnie-The Pooh by Milne and finally in
1937 the fantastic genre emerges with the aparition of The Hobbit by Tolkien.
From the decade of the 50 ´s, the importance given to Children´s Literature
foments the appaerance of a great industry and the clear definition of concepts such
as Literature for Children and the distintion between Literature for boys and for girls.
Children´s pleasures of today have changed ,however ,the tales of fantastic
or ecologic themes like especially.
Among the authors of oour days ,who have had special aceptation among
the child´s public because of the themes which they treat is ROALD DAHL,,an
authentic master of the short story :
-Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
-The Magic finger
-Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator
-Matilda
-The wonderful story of Henry Sugar and Sisx more.
All these are stories of modernthemes .The narration is quick and attractive
.The cultural variety that they show is atractive .
In our hands is to do the adecquated adaptations for that their application is
succesful.
.
.NURSERY RHYMES
N.R.have some characteristics of the tales :
-Use of exclamations and linguistic elements of dayly use ,which is a very rich
resource in the class .
-They have musicality , too.
-Strong rhythm.
-They introduce -the same as the tales-cultural elements ,such as
foods,timetables ,animals ,..
-Repetitive use of words and structures .But N.R.have adifferent
charactheristic:brevity ,which increases the proportion of repetition.
Classic Examples:Twinkle, Twinkle,Little Star.
The use of this genre in a language class gives the opportunity to learners to
move in class ,because it can include activities such as jumping or dancing .When
there´re problems of space,those ones which involve playing with hands can be
used:”Two little monkeys fighting in bed (use two fingers),one fell out and hurt his
head (the hand on the head),the other called the doctor (telephoning),and said the
doctor (open and close the hand),that´s what you get for fightingin bed”(move a
finger).
Rhymes that accompany games can also be selected aand they can be used
in the school:
“Teddy Bear,touch the ground,
tum around,
walk upstairs,
turn out the light,
say goodnight”.
The reduced vocabulary that they use,the repetition,the rhythm and the
intonation permit learners to learn them quickly.
It is a popular genre ,although it has been cultivated by prestigious writters:in
the early XVIII century Divine songs for children by Watts,was published.In this
time ,the first collections of N.R were also published, and in18O4 appeared original
Poems for Infant Minds by Ann and Jane Taylor ,which includes Twinkle ,Twinkle
,little star.
In 1942 The Pied Piper of Hamelin by Robert Browing was published .
In1846 A book of Nonsense by Edward Lear appears and in 1885 Stevenson
publishes A Child´s Garden of Verses.
In our century A.A Milne,Robert Graves...stand out
RIDDLES
Ridles are an universal genre too .Their characteristic are -as in N.R.the following:
-Brevity and intonation and rhythm very marked .
Ex:”I´m a very big animal
you see at the zoo.
I´ve a very nice trunk
Ican squirt water through”
LIMERICKS
Limercks are funny five -line stanzas whose popular origin had place in
the festive meetings , in which every fellow dinner had to recite or sing a poem
,which are called “nonsense verse” following line :Will you come up
to Limerick?.
The first Limericks collected in a volume appear in the History of Sixteen
Wonderful Women in 1820.
In the book Book of Nonsense by Edward Lear appear examples too.
In the compositions by Lear and Rossety, the first and last line usually use to
finish with the same word ,hoewer ,in more modern examples a third word which
rhymes is added :
“There once was a man who said :” god
Must think it exceedingly odd
If he finds that this tree
continues to be
when there is no-one about in the Quad”.
Most Limericks are anonyms, given their popular origen .
This genre is very useful for the pronunciation of several sounds which
present difficulties such asthe different tiation between/i:/and /i/.
“There once was a man from Darjeeling who travelled from London t Ealing .
When it said on the the door:
“Please don´t spit on the fllor “
”The carefully spat on the ceiling”.
VOCABULARY
antes de - before analysing
alumnado- student body
expectativas-expectations
analizar - previous to analyse
enfrentarse a una clase de inglés por primera vez -In facing an english class
first
ansioso -anxious
preocuparse- worry
gestos-gestures
por esto -there fore
inquietud-restlessness
actitud demasiado larga -an overlong act,
conducir (llevar)-lead
aburrimiento -boredoom
comprensible -understanble
puesta en marcha -starting
acercar-approach
inagotable-inexaustible
subyacente-underlying
emotividad-emotional
papel-role
transportar -transpose
imaginarias-imaginative fictional
realistas-reallstic
acercar-bring close
acceder-acces
agradable-pleasant
contextualizar-contextualise
por último -lastly
a continuación -finally,next
confianza -confidence
de acuerdo conlo expuesto anteriormente-accordingto what has been stated
above
compilaciones-compilations
continuar -carry on
ejercitar -exercise
caudal -source
relatar-relat
colectiva-collective
risa-laughter
tristeza-sadness
confianza en si mismo -self confidence
madurar -mature
narrar -narrate
saturación -saturation
repecto a -respecting
dilema -dilema
el 1_...el 2_ -the former,the latter
fidelidad -fidelity
mejorar-improve
grabación-recording
fragmentos -fragments
ralentización-slowing down
conveniencia-suitability
pensar en -think of
de mil maneras -in a thoousand different ways
dirigir a -direct at
satisfacción-satisfactión
en cuanto a -as for
obras (novelas)-works
obras(teatro)-plays
cotidiana -daily
héroe-hero/es
civilización-civilization
excepto-excepting
accesible-accessible
intencionar-intend
incluso-even
sagas familiares-family sagas
literatura Infantil-Children´s Literature
divertimento -fun
divertir-amuse
abandonar -abandone
junto con-next to
hito-milstone
fábulas de Esopo-Aesop´s fables
al principio-in the beginning
surgir-aparecer-appear
década-decade
fomentar-foment
aparición -appearance
gustos -pleasures
público infantil -Child´s Public
maestro - master(no de escuela ,maestro en su género)
narración corta -short story
musicalidad -musicality
brevedad-brevity
prestigiosos-prestigious
colección-collection
destacar-stand out
quintillas -five line stanzas
origen -origin
reuniones festivas-festive meetings
comensal -fellow diner
recitar -to recite
estribillo- refrain
surgir -come up
recoger-collect
anónimo-anonym
paulatina-slowly
parodiar-parody
emerger-emerge
índice-proportion
a principios de siglo-in the early century ?
Cercano a -near
acercarnos -bring us close ,close us
tanto..como...-neither...or
ni..........ni-neither ...or
UNIT 15: PERIODS, AUTHORS AND MOST SUITABLE GENRES FOR THEIR
DIDACTIC APPLICATION IN THE ENGLISH CLASROOM. TEXT TYPOLOGIES.
OUTLINE :
0. INTRODUCTION
1. PERIODS, AUTHORS AND GENRES
2. TEXT TYPOLOGIES
3. CONCLUSION
4. BIBLIOGRAPHY
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0. INTRODUCTION
This unit will deal with the most popular works in different periods and
differents authors and genres of children literature, and with different types of
story books or children. We will finish with a conclusion and the bibliography
used.
Before the 18th c. Children could read books like Aesop's Fables, romances,
travel books, chapbooks, boardside ballads<, for example, Bunyan's <pilgrim's
Progress (1678 ) , Defoe's Robinson Crusoe (1719) and Swift's Gullivesr's
Travels. They were books written for adults. It was not until the middle or the
18th century That books were specially written for chiuldren . ( Although in
France it was a little better, children had books such as Perrault's Fairy tales, so
popular ( or The Arabian Nights ) translated to English in early 18th c. )
There was a demand for children's books and John Newbery, a book seller of
works illustrated by woodwoodcuts and engravings ), realized it and he published
works such as A little Pretty Pocket-Book and the History of Little Goody two
-shoes.
( There were some of whose books imitations ) but, it was in the letter half of
the 18th c. When works in juvenile literature appeaared. Kwown works like The
History os sandford and Merton by Thomas Day, Fabolous Histories by Sarah
Trimment, Evenings at Home by John Aikin and Mrs Barbauld, The Parents's
Assistant, by Maria Edgeworth ( The novelist ) And in the 19thc. , Charles and
Mary Lamb wrote Tales from Shakespeare.
The history of verse written for children is quite brief. The first identifiable
children's poet was probably Watts, whose memorable jingles, Divine Songs for
Children, were popular from the early 18th c (1715 ) . Also, at about this time,
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collections or nursery rhymes began to appear, highghiting Ann and Jane Taylor,
whose first book, Original Poems for infant Minds ( Twinklem twinkle little star
included ) was very successful .
1. PERIODS, AUTHORS AND GENRES
A) PERIODS AND AUTHORS
Including Literature in the FL teaching contributes to the students' general
knowledge and their intellectual, social and moral development as well as of its
appeal to the emotions. Extensive reading provides the possibility of
internalizing the language and reinforcing points previously learned vocabulary
and structures are registred and learned without conscious attention as well as
concepts are reinforced by their discovery in a different context, and
motivation probably the most important, coming from the students enjoyment
when reading ( it gave pleasure by engaging the emotions)
And Literature is suitable for our pupils because they are familiarized with fairy
tales, songs, rhymes, riddles...(mainly in their first language)
The students have certain characteristics that help them to acquire a L. By the
exposure to it, like in the case of reading . These are the fact that short age
pupils need demand immediate results to see their progress, so activities must
be short and attractive changing often to another one. They express their
feelings or ideas less inhibitidly than adults, they don't mind mistakes, of what
teachers must take advantages; and they always have expectations about the
English class, they like showing what they have learned.
Foreign learners, to internalize the grammar and work out the meaning of words
from their context, must have sufficient authentic and understandable material
to work from ( Krasen - comprehensible input ). Reading most suitable texts for
our pupils. For this, we must bear in mind aspects such as the students' needs
and abilities, that is to say their interest, age, level, rhythm of learning and
their previous expectations about the FL class; the linguistic and stylistic level
of the text, that is vocabulary, about what we must try the language to be clear,
graded and with repetitions and the text must allow the pupils to make
predictions ( about what comes next ) using their background and expectations
Certain our attention on the most popular works and authors we will
destinguish some periods. As well have said, in the 17th century literature was
written for adults (although read by children as well ) being so known works like
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Robison Crusoe, by Daniel Defoe and Gulliver's Travels, by Johnattan Swift. In
the 18th century began to appear some works written for choldren, such as The
History of Sandford and Marter by Thomas Day, or series or short and
attractive books called Gigantic Histories by Thomas Boreman, apart from
rhymes and fairy tales. But it was the 19 th century when Children 's Literature
appeared as a genre. Until then , it didnt's seen necessary to create a literature
specially for children, and it wasn't economically advisable. But, with mass
education appearance a large market was created , permitting the possibility of
distributing books for children.
In this period, we can highlight famous authors like Brothers Grimm, who
wrote German Popular Stories or H.Candersen, who wrote Rairy Tales and
Stories. About adventures books for boys the first one, Steverson. The most
famous writers or children's stories were Lewis Carroll, who wrote Alice's
Adventures in wonderland and It was the Best Butter and Beatrix Potter, who
wrote The Tales of Petter Rabbit and Tailor of Gloucester. Also , we must
mention Oscar Wilde who, althoug h Irish wrote in English his best works are
some like the Happy Prince and the Canterville Ghost. And within non English
literature there are famous writers such as Louisa M Al cott and her Little
Women , Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures or Huckleberry Finn by
Mark Twain, Heidi , by Johanna Spry or Anne of Green Gables by
L.M.Montgomery. Finally, in the 2=th century we find different sorts of works.
We can mention fairy tales that have become classic such as Peter Pan by J.>M
Barries, The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling , The Lord of the Rings, by J.R
Tolkien. In this period many others authors have become popular. That's the
case of the previously named C.S. Lewis , who apart from his sciencies-fiction
novels wrote the Narnia series; Raymond Breggs who wrote Jim and Beantalk ,
Rather Christmas , and The Snowman; Roald Dahl, who dealt with many
interesting topics, specially for children in books like James and the Giant Peach,
Charlie and the chocolate Factory and many others.
Since the middle of 20th c. Literature, specially Children's literature has
become a publishing industry And it has paid attention to aspects like racism
apart from differentiating age groups or attending the sex.
And different prize awards have been created, such as the Newbery Medal.
Traditional books are still popular among children,however children´s likes have
changed. Today they prefer fantastic books, science fiction and ecological ones.
Also, in this century comics have a great relevance. Comics appeared at the end
of the 19th century., like for example “Ally Sloper´s Half Holiday”.
B) GENRES
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There exist many types ( genres ) of literature for children. We will describe
some of them.
Probably, one of the most relevant is tales. They provide the possibility of
repeating words and structures, helping children reinforce aspects of the
language and concepts. They give clues helping them to predict about the content
of the text. Tales use argumentative techniques and language suitable for
children. They normally transmit moral values and approach the pupils to the
culture of the language speaking community.
We can find different types:
- Fairy tales . suitable for children in the age of 9 or 10 like Rapunzel
- Animal´s stories and fables : in which the characters are animals
- Fantanstic literature of Travel´s and adventures : normally from legends
A genre with some characteristic similar to tales, is nursery rhymes. The main
difference is that they are short, what avoid the pupils get bored because they
don´t have to pay attention for a long time.
Rhymes introduce exclamations, many repetitions of words and structures,
helping children to establish vocabulary, intonation, stress, pronunciation, new
structures and also cultural elements and concepts.
This genre of literature permit different ways of explotation. It´s possible to
introduce activities in which pupils move or play games. They are short and
simple., so the pupils learn quickly.
As another genre, riddle is an ancient and universal form of literature, with a
certain and common structure and intonation known by children. It´s a kind of
puzzle question, an enigma. The earliest known English riddles were recorded in
the Exeter book in the 18th century. Short or with many lines of verse, we find
collections of riddles in many differents languages. Together to nursery rhymes,
riddles are short and they have stressed intonation, what make them be useful
to be used in the foreign language class.
Another genre is constituted by limericks, a light verse and with a popular fixed
verse form in English. They are usually conformed by five lines. The name comes
from the old English. The majority of them are anonymous because they have a
popular origin. This form of verse is useful to practise pronunciation.
As a last genre , we will comment on songs. It is an important resource to use in
the foreign language class, because the pupils learn with enjoyment. Songs help
in the learning of vocabulary, pronunciation, structure and sentence patterns,
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specially because of repetitions. Also they give clues about the target language
community. So, the didactic application of songs is very useful, but we must avoid
overusing them. And we must select songs clear, well recorded and easy to sing.
When selecting a work of literature we must bear in mind that we want our pupils
to engage interactively with the text, the classmates, and with us, the teachers.
To reach this we must follow these guidelines:
1. The text itself, and not the information about it , is of central importance.
2. Our pupils must genuinely interact with the text, their classmates and the
teacher and not be mere recipients
3. Our activities must be design so as to enable our pupils to share their
personal experiences, perceptions and opinions.
4. Our activities must be varied and interesting. Duff and Maley give a list of
general procedures that we can use in our classrooms:
- reconstruction
- reduction
- expansion
- replacement
- matching
- media transfer
- selection
- ranking
- comparison
- analyzing
5. The selection of works of literature must be based on their potencial interest
for our pupils and not in the literary qualities of the works.
2.TEXT TYPOLOGIES
We can find authentic books or non-authentic ones.
Among non-authentic storybooks, we can distinguish between artificial,
illustrating particular language points presentation and simulated authentic.
Our pupils aren´t able to handle authentic texts, so they must begin manipulating
and practising with simulated authentic ones, developing the necessary skills to
read authentic texts later.
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According to Ellis and Brewster, storybooks can be classified under three
headings:
-Narrative features
-Content
-layout
Narrative features will allow us to distinguish between storybooks of the
following types
1. rhyming words
2. repeating structures
3. cumulative content and language
4. interactive
5. humorous
According to content they ca be divided into :
1. everyday life
2. animal stories
3. traditional/folk/fairy tales
4. fantasy
From layout point of view we can distinguish between:
1. flab
2. cut-away pages
3. minimal text
4. no text
5. speech bubles
When selecting foreign language texts, we must pay attention to vocabulary,
structures and interesting topics. Apart from that, with this kind of books, the
pupils get in tough with the cultural background of the country in which the
target language is spoken. Ellis and BREwster analize the criteria for selecting
storybooks:
Needs and abilities:
1. Content/subject matter:
 interesting
 amusing
 memorable
 relevant
2. Visual:
 use of illustrations
 size
 target language
 attractive/colourful
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3. Encourage participation




4. Motivating
repetition
develop memory
prediction
build confidence
 relate
to
their
characteristics
5. Arouse curiosity
experiences
and
 interest in to know more about English
language and culture
6. Create positive attitudes
 target language
 language training
 target culture
To introduce books in the foreign language classroom, a small library may be
created. The books would be classified according to difficulty level or other
aspects. The teacher or the pupils themselves would choose the same or
different books according to the level, interests...
Even a listening corner could be created, to listen to stories by cassettes or told
by the teacher.
Also it is interesting teachers adapt tales for different purpose, giving way to
many possibilities of explotation.
But when adapting a story we can´t simplified too much because our pupils could
lose the flavour of real stories, so Ellis and Brewster give a guidelines to follow:
Aspects to consider
* Vocabulary and general meaning
1. Check unfamiliar content or words
5. Check idioms
6. Check clarity
* Grammar
1. Check tenses
2. Check use of structures
3. Check word order
* Organization of ideas
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1.
2.
3.
4.
Check
Check
Check
Check
sentences length and complexity
time references
the way ideas are linked
the way the ideas are explained
* Story length
1. Check the number of ideas in the story.
By following the previous criteria of selection and use of storybooks we will
intend to make the most of literature on the classroom
5. CONCLUSION
As we have seen, books and stories have existed for centuries. The most
characteristic aspect of them is their special way of enjoyment; also we can
learn different sorts of concepts and knowledge though reading books. So
literature is a useful resource to learn a foreign language, to acquire it without
paying conscious attention to the learning other the language.
We can use different genres of literature in the foreign language class, since a
nursery rhyme or a riddle to a song or books narrating longer stories. But, what
is really important is to bear in mind aspects such as the vocabulary used,
sentence pattern, the topic..., to select a book or story. They must be suitable
for our pupils.
6. BIBLIOGRAPHY
HILL: Using literature in language teaching. MacMillan .London. 1986
Ellis,G. And Brewster,J. : The storytelling handbook for
teachers.Penguin.London, 1991
Duff,A. And Maley,A. : literature.OUP.Oxford, 1990
primary
UNIT 16
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LA LITERATURA INFANTIL EN LENGUA INGLESA
TÉCNICAS DE APLICACIÓN DIDÁCTICA PARA ACCEDER A LA
COMPRENSIÓN ORAL, INICIAR Y POTENCIAR LOS HÁBITOS
LECTORES Y SENSIBILIZAR EN LA FUNCIÓN POÉTICA DEL
LENGUAJE.
1.- Children’s literature in the English language.
1.1. Literacy language.
1.2. Children’s literature in the English language.
1.3. Analysis of literary language through relevant works.
2.- Didactic application techniques for listening comprehension; introducing
and encouraging reading habits and appreciating the poetic function of
language.
INTRODUCTION
Children’s literature has certain particular features which, apart from the
author’s inspiration, are what make it more attractive and interesting for children,
namely: it is a free and happy activity, contains imaginative elements, reflects inner
grievances suffered by the child, uses argumentative techniques and language suited
to children, has a most intuitive presentation, appeals to feelings, affectivity, transmits
moral values, conveys serenity and balance on the part of the author, has expository
clarity and is interesting.
In children’s literature, children’s folklore can also be included, which is a form
of literature that has been passed on by word of mouth. Carmen BravoVillasante
states that an aesthetic education using folklore enhances sensitivity. Children who
are not taught by means of songs, stories or poetry are children with poorness of
spirit. Children’s literature is an inexhaustible fountain of resources for programming
all sorts of language activities.
1.- CHILDREN’S LITERATURE IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE.
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1.1.LITERARY LANGUAGE.
A) LITERARY AND FAMILIAR LANGUAGE.
The language used in literature differs from the language we ordinarily speak. By
and large, literature and speech use the same language with identical sounds and
grammatical procedures, and however, there is a clear separation between them, a
difference in level. In writing there is always an urge to improve which makes the
writer avoid words, sentences or turns of phrases that are used unscrupulously in
informal speech.
The difference begins from the moment that literature acquires enough
development and prestige to impose a select taste for its language. In certain areas,
the literary inflow raises the tone of average speech; in others, while literary language
barely changes, common speech quickly changes, as it occurred with vulgar Latin.
Literary language broadens and enriches vocabulary and refines subtleties of
meaning with its incessant creative process. It chooses between certain forms of
expression and others, thus contributing to the lastingness of a language; and it
serves to halt tendencies that hasten the development of a language.
B) QUALITIES OF LITERARY LANGUAGE.
- Clarity is achieved by presenting an idea in such a way that it cannot be
interpreted erroneously; it denotes exactly what the author means to say. The
opposite of clarity is ambiguity or amphibology, a sentence, expression, etc., capable
of double meaning. When amphibology is used intentionally, it is called an
equivocation.
- The quality of propriety occurs when the words that are used are those that are
suitable for what is being expressed. Words are not interchangeable, for there are no
true synonyms.
- Language has expressive vigour when it expresses with representative force
what the writer or speaker means. If the expressive power is so great that what is
stated appears in our imagination, with features of sensitive reality, it is said that
language contains plasticity.
- Decorum eliminates all that is deemed uncouth, impolite or indecent.
- Concreteness requires complying with the language rules in force. The violation
of syntactic rules is called a solecism.
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- Harmony is achieved by, when choosing words, attending to their sound quality
and arranging sentences in such a way that the musical elements of the language are
enhanced. The opposite of euphony or pleasant sound is cacophony.
- Abundance lies in the richness and variety of the vocabulary.
- Language is pure when words and constructions are used in accordance with
the particular nature of that language, without the use of unnecessary foreign
elements.
- Barbarisms or superfluous foreignisms must be repudiated.
The reaction against foreign influences may lead to the extremes of purism and correction,
which insist upon absolute purity in language, based on the servile imitation of the classics and on
strict correctness, which often sacrifices naturalness and liveliness.
1.2.CHILDREN’S LITERATURE IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE.
Children’s literature is a branch of the science of books which has been so useful
and charming as any other type of literature.
Children’s literature includes many books that adults enjoy reading even when
they do not read them to or with children. The most famous children’s book is “Alice’s
Adventures in Wonderland”, and it is read more by adults than children. The same
occurs with “Peter Rabbit”, one of the books best-known for its humanity.
In the past years, the study of children’s literature has regained popularity.
a) FAIRY TALES.
It is one of the most important divisions of children’s literature. It contains a similar
proportion of wishes and fears, which creates a balance that keeps the attention of
readers and listeners. It can tell lots of meaningful stories in many different ways.
Elliot says that fairy tales are best as bedtime stories for young children, but they
are also valuable for older children.
Bottelheim specifies that they are good for children between the ages of nine and
ten, which is when children are maturing in processes that they are afraid of.
b) ANIMALS
They are the strongest bond between fairy tales and modern children’s literature.
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Animals are creatures that speak and act like human beings. They are present in
most old and modern children’s stories and are the most important source of power in
the best children’s literature, a source which other types of literature had abandoned
before the 19th century.
Animals in fairy tales are enchanted and live in a world of human beings, and
human beings play a minor role. Any animal can be used as the enchanted beast in a
fairy tale: a bird in “The Juniper Tree”, a fox in “The Golden Bird”, a prince frog, a cat,
a snake in “Countess d’Aulnoy”. These animals do not wish to be animals and while
they are under a spell, they are the kindest, most patient and civilized of beings.
Modern children’s literature contains animal fables and fairy tales. “The Three
Little Pigs” and “The Little Red Hen” are examples of stories that young children read.
English children’s literature shows signs of persistence in writing and reading. In
England, childhood was considered the only stage in life in which it was good to
believe in a world of magic and imagination and talking animals. Children were seen
as beings that were capable of enjoying instinctive sympathy for animals and of
establishing an alliance with them against adult human beings.
c) GREAT ENGLISH STORY WRITERS.
There are many famous English writers of children’s stories, but the two most
famous ones were Lewis Carroll and Beatrix Potter.
Lewis Carroll, an English writer, was born in 1832 and died in 1898. He is the
best-known author of story books, which are read by children and adults.
His main works are “Alice’s Books” (the most famous one), “There’s Glory for you” and “It
was the best butter”.
Beatrix Potter wrote stories as popular as “Peter Rabbit”, which everybody has
heard of and which became a film. Others are “Taylor of Gloucester” and “The little
mice star: down to spin”. In the latter, the mice were not humanized, although they did
weave men’s coats. Another popular story is “Jemina Puddle”.
Oscar Wilde was an Irish author who wrote all his works in English and became
one of the best renowned writers in English literature. He is famous for his plays and
his popular theory of beauty. His best collection of stories are “The Shellfish Giant”
and “The Canterville Ghost”, which is one of the short stories included in his book
“Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime”.
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Kenneth Grahame understood children’s tastes very well and invited them to the
enchanted circus he created. His books “The Golden Age” and “Dream Days” were
immensely popular among children. The ideal world of this writer seems more
percectible and desirable than the world of Peter Pan.
Rudyard Kipling is known as the writer from India, although he never was an
ardent apologist of the presence of the English there. His main works are “The Jungle
Book” (1894-95) and “Stories” (1902). “The Jungle Book” and “Kim” are blithe books
about the world of ideas. His most important book is “The Jungle Book”: it is the most
accomplished expression of Kipling’s quality of work.
B. Frank Baum, a German-North American novelist, was born in Vienna in 1896 and
died in 1960. He wanted American children’s literature to be free of unpleasant incidents. He
wrote many children’s books: “A New Wonderland”, “The Book of the Hambergs”, “His
Book”, etc.
d) FANTASTIC LITERATURE OF TRAVELS AND ADVENTURES.
The fantastic aspect lies within transcendence and imminence, in other word,
between the truth of facts, the correspondence between discourse and reality, and
internal evidence, which makes a story appeals in its own right to the receptive
reader.
The term “fantastic” means more than reality; it means strangeness or admiration
and it has replaced the terms “formidable” and “sensational” in common speech. The
“fantastic” aspect is not inferred by understanding, but perceived with sensibility in the
same way as what is funny or tragic and is more similar to the cerebral notion of the
supernatural, with affective notions of brightness and sacredness, and also
appreciates what is rejected by science, moral, religion or good taste.
In fantastic literature, any adventure story aims to plunge the reader into
uncertainty; the most dramatic episode is generally saved for the end, thus giving the
enigma its own charm.
Fantastic works are usually stories: a ballad, novel, tale or short story. The short
story is the literary form that is best adapted to fantastic literature, chiefly due to its
origins; it deals with extremely interesting “extraordinary stories” and their episodes
predispose the reader to sense that fatality that is inherent in every fantastic
adventure. These adventures do not occur at random and come to nothing, for the
entire intrigue is conceived on the basis of the denouement; the victim-hero of a
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fantastic adventure generally finds himself alone under some kind of spell of which he
is very well aware.
The classic fantastic story derives not from stories but from popular legends. The
difference between a story and a legend is owed to the Grimm brothers; in their
opinion, a story is more poetic and a legend is more historical. A story tells
adventures that take place in an indefinite past, in an unspecified place; a legend
relates notable events that took place on a given date, in a given place, to a given
person. A difference in function determines these differences in structure: a story
aims to amuse, a legend aims to express and transmit beliefs. The title of a story is
often the hero’s name; the presence of this character alone guarantees the unity of
an account consisting of several episodes: the hero sets off on an adventure with an
open mind and a light heart, facing all sorts of dangers without fear.
Louis Vax states that “a fantastic story” generally deals with men who are faced
with the inexplicable.
The story always begins with a stable situation and certain features remain intact throughout the
development of the action. Every story, therefore, contains two types of episodes:
- Those that describe a stage of balance or imbalance.
-
Those that describe the passage from one to another.
The former are contrary to the latter. Sometimes the reader identifies with the
character; then, in turn, he withdraws from reality.
A misadventure of some kind is the main type of plot. These misadventures can
be of different sorts; by and large, towards the end, evil is transformed into good. The
hero continually feels the contradiction between both worlds: the world of reality and
the world of fantasy; and he is overwhelmed by the extraordinary things that surround
him.
As a general rule, a new person is introduced and the action enters a new phase.
Vladimir Propp sees it as an operation of relative rationalization of a myth and the
struggle against it, and its deep unity and great appeal lie beyond its generalized use
as children’s stories.
Important writers, in the English language, of fantastic literature of travels and
adventure:
In the Tudor era:
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Sir Philip Sydney. He was born in 1554 and died in 1586. He wrote “The Arcadia”, a
long fantastic story about aristocrats castaways on an island; it contains the grandest
principles, the most chivalrous manners and the most beautiful ladies.
Nashe, with his “The Unfortunate Traveller”, tells a horrifying story full of dialogues,
amazing descriptions and the strangest adventures.
In the Elizabethan era:
Daniel Defoe. He is one of the most important authors of this era in English literature.
His most famous book (“Robinson Crusoe”) is known all around the world and has
been translated into many languages. Many studies have been done on it: man’s
isolation, self-sufficiency, utopia,...
Tobias Smollet was born in 1721 and died in 1771. His main adventure and fantastic
stories are “Roderick Random” and “Humphrey Clinker”.
Laurence Steine is a contemporary of the aforementioned author. He was born in
1713 and died in 1768; his most important adventure story is “Sentimental Journey”.
All the works of this era are not about fantastic stories but about adventures, save
for the work of Jonathan Swift (with “Gulliver’s Travels”). This book hides satire in
such a deft manner that children still read it as a fairy tale. The book starts off
laughing about mankind; when Gulliver finds himself in Lilliput, he is a giant compared
to inhabitants there. In the second part of the book, he goes to a land inhabited by
giants and the author criticizes all men thinkers. He then goes to Laputa, which is a
flying island, and Swift examines and criticizes human institutions. At the end there
are horses with rational minds. This book still today is a masterpiece, a children’s
fairy tale and a serious book for adults, and it has never lost its attractive nor allusive
value.
1.3.ANALYSIS OF LITERARY LANGUAGE THROUGH RELEVANT WORKS.
The work of Walter de la Mare is one of the best works of short fantastic stories.
“Out of the Deep” is perhaps his most original and exciting short story. Here is a
passage from it:
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“All that I have to say, he muttered, is just this: I have Mrs. Thripps. I haven’t
absolutely out of the wire. I wish to be alone. But I’m not asking, do you see? In time I
may able to know what I want. But what is important now is that no more than that
accused Pig were your primrose “real”, my dear. You see, things must be real”.
The title of the novel means a number of things: the depths of the house in
which the servants live, the depths of memory, from which remembrances ascend,
and the depths of the misfortunes of the wretch who is seeking help.
The literary language of the above text is bright and eloquent, neither dull nor
slow.
The protagonist is Jimmie, who is characterized by his desire to surprise and
his liking for black humour. This passage contains his regards for a girl. He is a
timorous boy who shows Soame’s cautious sadism and plays bad jokes on the
lackeys.
When he is talking to the girl, he realizes that he was forbidden to talk to the
lackeys (“...you might pull real bells: to pull dubiously genuine pigtails seemed now a
feele jest”). The word “pigtail” here may infer “pig”, which corresponds to the beast
that appears on the stairs. The gesture of pulling a rope is similar to that of pulling
from a pig.
The word “primrose” (spring) naturally suggests the line from a famous verse
by Wordsworth: “A primrose by a river’s brimm”. The thought of spring may have
suggested Lord Beaconsfield, whom Jimmie refers to: “All of which is only to say,
dear madam, as Beaconsfield remarked to Old Vic, that I’m thanking you now”.
In the text he refers to what the girl says, but then he gives it less importance
and highlights what it is really important. The style is loose and clear, with lots of
imagination. The vocabulary is simple, although some words have several meanings,
like “primrose”. The verb “to ask” means to call on someone; the author uses it to
mean “Do you understand?”. The same occurs with “in time” which means sooner or
later.
We will now look at some texts by the writer Beatrix Potter:
“Peter was dreadfully frightened; he rushed all over the garden, for he had forgotten
the way back to the gate. He lost one of his shoes among the cabbages, and the
other shoes amongst the potatoes”.
This text is from the book “Peter Rabbit”.
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“As there was no money, Ginger and Pickles were obliged to eat their own goods.
Pickles ate biscuits and Ginger ate a dried haddock. They ate them by candlelight
after the shop was closed”.
This other text is from “Ginger Pickles”.
“Moppet and Pittens have found up into very good ratcatchers. They go out catcatching in the village, and they find plenty of employment. They charge so much a
dozen and earn their living very comfortably”.
This last text belongs to “The Poly-Poly Pudding”.
The style is clear and bright. Repetition is avoided, which es why in the first
text, in the last line, “amongst” is used instead of “among”, which was used in the
previous line. The language is simple, easy to read, so the words need not be
explained. The author avoids allipsis, by writing “He had forgotten” instead of “He’d
forgotten”, so that children can clearly understand the text. Another characteristic of
this writer, which is more clearly seen in the first two texts, is her use of many verbs in
the past tense. She does not use description very much.
2.- DIDACTIC APPLICATION TECHNIQUES FOR
LISTENING COMPREHENSION, INTRODUCING AND
ENCOURAGING
READING
HABITS
AND
APPRECIATING
THE
POETIC
FUNCTION
OF
LANGUAGE.
All of us need stories for our minds in the same way that we all need food for
our bodies; we watch television, go to the theatre and the cinema, read books and
exchange stories with our friends.
Stories are especially important in the lives of our children; they help them to
understand the world and to share it with others. Their craving for stories is constant.
Every time children enter a classroom, they have a yearning for stories.
a) WHY USE STORIES?
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Stories that rely heavily on words are a constant and great source of experiences
for the students.
Stories are motivating, rich in language experiences.
Stories should be the main part of the work of Primary teachers, when teaching a
first and a second language.
Reasons:
Motivation. Children have a constant need for stories; that is why they are always
willing to listen or read at the right moment.
Meaning. Children want to find something in a story (meaning) and they listen for that
purpose. If they find what they are looking for, it will be thanks to their ability to
understand the foreign language. If they do not find that meaning, they are motivated
to improve their listening comprehension ability and then find meaning.
Listening and fluency when reading. In a conversation with native speakers, the most
important ability is understanding a substantial flow of the foreign language which
contains new words for the receiver. This ability is only achieved by constant and
ample practice. The child must develop a positive attitude to comprehending
everything and accomplish the ability to search for meaning, predict and “guess” (they
are experts at this in their native language).
Knowledge of the language. Stories help children to become aware of the general
knowledge and sounds of the foreign language. Stories also introduce students to
several language models and sentence structures which they have not yet used in
oral or written production. This makes up their language stockpile. When the time
comes, those language models will flow within the productive language without any
problems, because the language is not new to them. An obvious example of this is
the use of the simple past.
An incentive for speaking and writing. Experiencing a story can give rise to the
production of written or spoken answers. It is natural to express our likes and dislikes,
exchange ideas and associations about the stories we have just heard. In this
manner, stories should be a part of a set related activities.
Communication. Reading, writing and aswering questions about stories through
writing, speaking, acting and making art develop certain feelings for listening, sharing
and collaborating. Learning a language is useless if we are not able to communicate,
in other words, to use language skills. A story serves to share the construction of a
crucial sense of attention for others.
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General curriculum. Most stories can be used to develop attention, analysis and
expression, and to relate them to other subjects in the curriculum, such as
geography, history, social and cultural aspects, mathematics and science.
b) COMPREHENSION TECHNIQUES.
Helping children to predict the contents of a story by telling them beforehand in
their native language, by showing them pictures, or by introducing key vocabulary
from that story.
While they are being told a story, show them pictures, draw on the board, act and
mime, use words that are similar in meaning in both the first and second languages.
Tell the story more than once. Interrupt the story often and repeat the idea in a
differente manner to make sure that the children do not get lost.
Study the story beforehand and simplify some of the vocabulary, if necessary:
words, expressions, verb tenses, word order and complex sentences.
c) HOW SHOULD READING HABITS BE INTRODUCED AND CHILDREN BE
TAUGHT TO APPRECIATE THE POETIC FUNCTION OF LANGUAGE?
First of all, the stories, in other words, the literary language at this level with
children, must essentially be a source of joy and must meet their interests. If the
teacher uses stories or literary texts merely to teach, the children may reject this and
lose their good, natural disposition for stories, which is an enormous potential.
Reading habits can be developed and the poetic function of language can be
taught by telling and reading the children stories that are suitable for them. This
implies a set of advantages:
Advantages of reading stories to the children:
1. If the teacher’s language foreign language competence is low.
2. Showing the children pictures that go with the stories.
3. Letting the children read what the teachers have read to them previously.
4. Allowing the children to realize that books are a source of pleasure and
interest.
Advantages of telling stories to the children:
1. It can help the children to understand by repeating the story, pointing out
important features, miming, acting, drawing pictures on the board.
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2. By having the children in front of him, the teacher can make any special
adaptations at any time.
3. Allowing the children to discover through their experience the magic sense of
listening to a story being told by someone.
d) WHICH CHILDREN’S LITERATURE BOOKS TO CHOOSE?
When choosing them, we must ask ourselves the following:
1. Is the first impression about a book valid for us and for our pupils?
2. Does the book meet the pupil’s interests and hold their attention?
3. Do we accept the values expressed in the book?
4. Can the children understand the story enough to gain something
valuable outside of it?
5. Is the story easy to understand irrespective of their knowledge of its
vocabulary?
6. The story should be the source of activities, such as drama, story
writing, letter writing from one protagonist to another, or activities
relating to a theme.
e) WHERE CAN THESE BOOKS BE OBTAINED FOR OUR STUDENTS?
There are many types of story books. Each one has its advantages and
disadvantages.
1. Readers.
Advantages: the language has been simplified to make the reading easier. Easily
obtainable.
Disadavantages: they are not authentic books, original works by their author. They do
not introduce the language used by present-day native English-speaking children.
2. Books published by native English-speaking children.
Advantages: the stories may be more interesting. The language is authentic.
Disadvantages: the children might find it difficult to understand most of the language
on their own.
3. Books in the pupil’s native language.
Advantages: within everybody’s reach.
Disadvantages: it is up to the teacher to translate them.
4. Traditional and personal stories in the native language.
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Advantages: the children are probably familiar with them and enjoy recognizing them
when they are read to them in English.
Disadvantages: the teacher may feel that his English is not good enough to translate
them.
5. Stories invented by the teacher and the pupils.
Advantages: the pupils identify with one of them.
Disadvantages: incorrect English.
f) ACTIVITIES THE TEACHER MUST PLAN. ACTIVITIES FOR CHILDREN
BEFORE, DURING AND LISTENING COMPREHENSION OF BOOKS.
1. Activities prior to the story.
Prepare the students to focus the theme of the book and the language that they will
need to understand it.
2. Activities during the story.
Above all, the children must enjoy the story. Ask them what they think is going to
happen and how they feel about what has happened. They can join the teacher in
repeating, miming or drama exercises, among others. They can be told to put
sentences or pictures in the correct order.
3. Activities after the story.
Traditional comprehension exercises; careful not to spoil the experience that the story
has caused in the child.
4. Other more creative activities.
Drawing a picture and writing a key sentence.
Making a mural or writing a book with other children with illustrations and key
sentences.
Acting out the story.
Writing a letter from one protagonist to another.
Changing the end.
Changing the characters.
BIBLIOGRAFÍA
ELLIS AND BREWSTER: The Story telling handbook for Primary Teachers. Penguin.
451
GARVIE: Story as a vehicle. Multilingual matters.
PERRY: Into books: 101 literature activities for the classroom. Oxford University
Press. Madrid.
MORGAN and RINVOLUCRI: Once upon a time. Cambridge University Press.
ROSEN: Shapers and Polishers. Teachers as Storytellers. Mary Glasgow.
WRIGHT: Why stories. Oxford University Press. Madrid.
Tema 16. La literatura infantil en lengua inglesa. Técnicas de aplicación didáctica para
acceder a la comprensión oral, iniciar y potenciar los hábitos lectores y sensibilizar en la
función poética del lenguaje.
16. ENGLISH CHILDREN’S LITERATURE.
1. Introduction.
There is literary work that has been created with the aim of being used by children and there are
some works that, although they were not created with that aim, they have been used for children for
such a long time and have become part of “children’s literature”.
Even if it is children’s literature of not, we as teachers, should develop the interest in
reading of our students. Encourage them to read stories of any kind…
To help students to conquer the written kingdom is one of the most important aims of all
the educative systems.
The reading practice needs two requisites to be fully developed:
- To recognize many diverse forms within the text (paragraphs, letters…)
- To understand the meaning these forms have.
2. Children’s literature in the UK.
Children’s literature in English has been the first literature of this kind studied and
classified. It is a very important type of literature and it is included in the Cambridge History
of English Literature.
Some famous authors of this kind of literature are:
- Daniel Defoe (1660?-1731): “Robinson Crusoe”
- Jonathan Swift (1667-1745): “Guliver’s Travel’s”
- Charles Dickens (1812-1870): “David Copperfield”
- Lewis Carroll (1832-1898): “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”
- Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936): “The Jungle Book”
- Mary Norton: “The Borrowers”
- Pamela Travers: “Mary Poppins”
3. Children’s literature in the USA.
Literature for children in America is the result of the culture, the life and the believes of
this country.
Some famous authors of this kind of literature are:
- Peter Parley: “Tales of Peter Parley about America”
- J. Fennimore Cooper: “The last of the Mohicans”
- Herman Melville: “Moby dick”
- Louise M. Alcott: “Little women”
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-
Clement Moore: “Night before Christmas”
Mark Twain: “The adventures of Tom Sawyer”
4. Children’s literature in other English-speaking countries.
Both in New Zealand and in Australia, literature for children has been recently created.
They usually used the British and American work.
Some famous authors of this kind of literature are:
- Ethel Turner: “Seven Little Australians”
- Norman Lindsay: “The Magic Pudding”
- Nan Chauncy: “Tangara”
- Ivan Southhall: “Ash Road”
5. Reasons to use literature for children.
Children enjoy listening to stories in their mother tongue. For this reason books provide an ideal
introduction to the foreign language presented in a context that is familiar to the child.
It is not the same to use a story for adults than a story for children. Children need books with a
suitable language for them.
The reasons to use literature in class may be summarised as follows:
a) Motivation: Stories are motivating and fun and that develops positive attitudes towards
the foreign language.
b) Imagination: Stories exercise the imagination. That involve children with the story,
they try to interpret the narrative…
c) The meaning: They also wish to find a meaning. If they find it, they know they are
able to understand the foreign language.
d) Linking tool: stories are useful in linking fantasy and the imagination with the child’s
real world.
e) Vocabulary: Listening to stories allows the teacher to introduce or revise new
vocabulary and sentence structures.
f) Linguistic accuracy: Develop the ability of understanding new words from the
context.
g) Linguistic knowledge: Contributes to introduce new linguistic structures.
h) One more time: Repetition allows certain language items to be acquired.
i)
Communication: Listening, reading and giving an answer to the stories are good ways
to develop communication.
j)
Cross-Curricular subjects: Reading stories help to teach them other aspects as social or
cultural aspects.
6. Techniques to develop listening comprehension.
a) Use mother tongue with beginner pupils from time to time.
b) Provide a context for the story and introduce the main characters.
c) Prediction of the contents.
d) Use the help of pictures, draws, cards, etc, while we are telling the story.
e) Follow-up activities.
f) Repetitions of the story: we can tell the story more than once to avoid that the
children get lost.
g) Simplification of the story.
h) Rhymes and songs to reinforce the language introduced.
6.1. Techniques to understand the poetic function of language.
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First of all, we need to bear in mind that literature must be a source of amusement and
pleasure for the children.
We can encourage the reading habit of our students at the same time they understand
the poetic function of language.
One of the best methods to achieve these aims is to read and to tell stories in class.
7. Activities to do with a Literary text.
1. Pre-reading activities.
These are the tasks to do before telling the story that helps students to predict what is
going to happen, to predict the vocabulary, the characters, etc.
2. Activities to do while telling the story: while reading.
The most important objective is that children enjoy the story. Some activities we can
do are:
- Ask them what they think is going to happen next or before.
- Use mime, performances, etc.
- Put some pictures we give them in the correct order.
- Repeat words or sentences.
- Sing a song, etc.
3. Post-reading activities: after telling the story.
These tasks are called “follow-up activities”. They allow children to use what they have learned.
Some activities we could do are:
- Draw part of the story.
- Make mask, puppets…
- Make a poster of the story.
- Invent a similar story.
- Perform the story, etc.
8. Conclusion.
There are many activities that we can do with the children in our classes. They just should be
creative and they should encourage comprehension and communication in the foreign language. If
they fulfil all these requisites they would be motivating for our students and in a step-by-step
process they would love literature.
UNIT 17: THE SONG AS A POETIC VEHICLE AND AS A LITERARY
CREATION IN THE ENGLISH CLASS. TIPPOLOGY OF SONGS. TECHNIQUES
OF USING SONGS IN THE PHONETIC, LEXICAL AND CULTURAL
LEARNING.
1.INTRODUCTION
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In the pedagogy of second language acquisition, the introduction of
authentic documents, such as songs, was introduced as a key to something
alive, as the indication of a developing reality.
The great advantage of songs is the possibility of “being remembered”.
But it is necessary the use of carefully selected songs or composed
especially for the class, in order to avoid those containing lexical mistakes
that students would fix irremediably in their minds.
Advantages:
-
Apart from being a very relaxing activity for the vast majority of students,
singing a song contributes to encourage their interest to study in depth
that language.
-
The activity of singing establishes a warm atmosphere and a sense of
Cupertino among students. The feeling of making a fool of themselves can
be overcome easily if we succeed in enthusiasting them with the activity of
singing songs in that language. On the whole, what completely justifies
the use of songs in the foreign language classroom is the possibility of
practices that language.
1.1
The song as a poetic vehicle and as a literary creation in the English
class.
The song constitutes an element that belongs to the daily environment of
the students.
Unlike the textbook or other resources means from which it is presumed
that the student had a major knowledge, the song, the video and the
television allow the creation, in the class, of a different pedagogic relation,
egalitarian and constructive.
Sometimes the song is transformed into a vehicle to transmit knowledge
from the teacher to the student.
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1.2
The socialisation of songs.
Songs should respect these rules:
-
Accurate grammatical contents, and without going beyond the limitation
of the knowledge already acquired for the students.
-
Lexical contents useful and easily memorise, without excess of new
elements for the student.
-
Rhythmic guidelines, which need to be “normal” so the musical rhythm
matches the natural one of the lyrics: there should not be tonic stress on
the syllables that would not normally have them.
There are songs already graded. Socialisation is, without any doubt, the
main function of songs in the English class.
From a psychological point of view, the song is a resource that should be
used in any moment where we perceive a fall in the interest or attention of
our students.
Before introducing a song in the classroom, the teacher should introduce a
brief explanation about the song in order to facilitate a better and general
comprehension of what it will be heard.
It is a mistake to expect students to understand perfectly the meaning of all
the words and expressions appearing in the song. What it really appeals to
them from a song is, not necessarily the lyrics, but the melody. Above all,
children enjoy immensely singing songs, although in many cases they do not
have a clear idea of he meaning of some words used in them.
1.3
The song as a starting point.
An activity considered highly enriching from the human and linguistic point
of view is the exploitation of play back, or the preparation of a show in which
the students perform the vision of English music. This is an activity where the
students, on one hand, have the possibility to work harmoniously the oral
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and non oral aspects (gestures) of communication and, therefore, the
opportunity to choose singers or characters they want to represent, as well as
the way adopted by this recreation.
1.3.1 The material, a problem
The most serious problem in this field are, on one hand, the lack of
information sources which could allow the teacher to be up to date in the
evolution of he music in the country whose language s/he teaches; and on
the other hand the need of sonorous and audio-visual materials such as
cassettes, videos, etc.
2. AWARENESS OF ANOTHER CULTURE: THE IMMERSION
In an “authentic” listening situation, the person leaves the music flow
through him/her. However, usually, when a song appeals to us, we feel the
necessity to understand the message. Consequently, the access to the
meaning constitutes an objective that the student will attempt to reach. To
this “learning objective” responds our pedagogical objective to provide an
easy approach.
2.1 Type of songs.
 From the point of view of the student’s awareness, it is important to
select:
a- Songs that represent, either a rhythm in harmony with the one to which
he student feels attracted (Bob Marley and his reggae music).
b- A lyric able to involve the student, to make him react (“Lucka”, by Susan
Vega).
 From the point of view of the approach to meaning, it is interesting:
a- To make good use of songs whose initial sound introduces elements
capable of put the student in situation (“Back in he URSS”, by The
Beatles).
b- Another type of approachable songs is he one in which he narrative
structure is lineal (“The River”, by Bruce Springsteen).
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2.2 Acquisition of an oral and written competence.
We can arrange a range of different activities conducted to develop the
oral and written comprehension competence. It is important to take into
account a series of principles or basic strategies:

Make the students to be aware of he importance of investing actively the
linguistic elements stored so as to facilitate their memorisation.

Propose activities integrating the creativity and the sensibility of he
students.

Prepare, taking the linguistic baggage from he songs, a range of linguistic
patterns that allow the student to materialise what s/he wants to express
through these activities.
A. Base strategy:
When the object is the acquisition of an oral comprehension competence, it
is essential to consider a series of elements that determine if a listening
situation is suitable or not.
On one hand, the student. It is necessary that the song and the activities
proposed raise a degree of motivation able to become the purpose of
learning.
On the other hand, the transmission. Material elements and psychological
elements should be taking into account the action of the teacher.
Another element to be considered is the assimilation. The treatment of the
information is the following stage to perception. We have to avoid the
requirement of an oral production immediately after the hearing.
It is very important to diagnose the possible problems that impede the
conclusion of the process in order to stabilise the suitable therapy.
B. Specific strategies:

Preparation of the listening. In case that he song presents elements that
can interfere the approach to meaning from the students, we must start by
undertaking those problems. We must make a previous inventory with the
students about the subject of the song that will allow them recognise
some elements at the time of listening.
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
First listening, first contacts. In order to guide he students in he first
listening, they will be asked to fill a chart in where there are places,
characters and actions.

Approximation to the text. Some activities allow us to help our students
make a selective structure, guiding them to the important part of the
message.
-
Propose a series of staments and ask them to answer if the assertions included are true or
false.
When the plot in the narration is linear and chronological, it will be used
as a connecting theme. We can supply them with an incomplete text,
asking them to discover the elements that are not included.
In many of the current songs the author/singer proposes problems. The
technique of brainstorming may be applied to the solution of these problems.
Dramatising techniques such as the role-playing may also develop
communicative situations elicited by the song.
3. TECHNIQUES IN THE USE OF THE SONG FOR
PHONETIC, LEXICAL AND CULTURAL LEARNING.
3.1 Techniques in the use of phonetic learning.
The majority of teachers, when introduce a song in their English class, do it
with he idea that students would try to imitate as closely as possible the
melody and he lyrics they heard. He attainment of this purpose is, without
any doubts, something very important for he learning of pronunciation
(sound, stress and rhythm).
Pronunciation must be he aspect in which we should insist on when we
teach a song. The first contact of students with he song needs to be always
oral, through he sense of hearing. In he first audition of a song he teacher
indicates he rhythm of each sentence so that he students realise, from he
beginning, of which words or syllables are bearing stress. It is only after this
previous training that he class will be in condition to start singing a song they
have listened to before.
459
Nevertheless, it is clear that not all the songs are equally useful to practice
pronunciation. The teacher should be sure that the students would not have
many difficulties to catch the sounds and the rhythm of the song.
There are songs composed to be accompanied with actions or movements of
the body while they are sung. They are called action songs.
These songs are particularly useful for small children as they allow practising
orally different formal aspects of the language and, at the same time, they
teach the meaning of the words or the sentences of the text used in the song
through different gestures. (Head, and shoulders...).
3.2 Techniques for lexical and cultural learning.
a) Oral answer to questions about the text of the song.
This is one of the easiest ways to check he comprehensive capacity of the
student before any text.
The teacher should prepare a number of questions about the text of the
song. Before listening to the song, the teacher delivers a list with he
questions s/the has prepared. After the students have analysed those
questions during a couple of minutes, the teacher plays the cassette twice or
three times. While they listen to he song, they should try to find out the
answer to the questions delivered before.
b) Arranging words.
Before listening to certain song, we should deliver a sheet of paper with a
list of words situated in a different order from where they appear in the song.
The students have to arrange the words according to the order in the song.
c) Complete the text of a song.
The teacher hands a copy of the song to each student; there are gaps in
some places that correspond to certain words or phrases. While the listening
takes place, each student attempts to write the words or sentences that were
omitted in he copy. They also practice the written expression.
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d) Reconstruction of a song.
The teacher cuts off all the lines from a song and places them in an
envelope. Then the groups open their envelopes with he corresponding lines
from he song they are going to rebuild among the whole class. The different
groups should place the sentences in the same order they appear in he song.
It could be repeated twice or three times.
e) Finding stress in the sentence.
The teacher invites the students to listen carefully to certain song and pay
attention to the words pronounced with major intensity. After that, he gives a
copy of the song that has already listened to.
While they listen to the song for he second time, they have to mark over
the copy of the song those words or syllable which stand out before the
others.
f) Correction of an inaccurate version of a song.
The teacher hands to each student a copy of a song where some of the
original words or sentences have been changed for others that are not the
ones appearing in the song but have some likeness.
As they listen to the song, the students will have to find out where are the
mistakes and correct them in he handed copy.
g) Identifying phrases.
The teacher delivers to each student from the class one, two or three lines
that have been cut from the song. Each student when hearing the text
corresponding to the lines s/he has should rise his/her hand.
h) Classifications of words.
While listening to a song, the students should make a list in which collect a
certain kind of grammatical elements (verbs, prepositions, colours...)
introduced in the song.
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i) Words with opposite meaning.
Children have a list with some words; they will have to provide one or two
antonyms for each word. After a few minutes of discussion in the groups,
the teacher will play the cassette and encourage the students to guess if in
the text of the song there are any of the antonym words they have found
previously.
j) Searching words that rhyme.
In this case the attention of the students is focused mainly on the phonetic
element.
Before listening to the song, a copy, with some blanks, is handed to the
students. They have to fill them with words that rhyme with the
corresponding verse. After that, the teacher plays the cassette so they can
check if he words they have found are really in he song.
k) Translating a song.
Once the song is learned by heart, a song may be exploited through
translation into the student’s mother tongue. Even though this is difficult
task for the students, the effort requires its compensation in a deep study of
the meaning of the song.
TEMA 17. LA CANCIÓN COMO VEHICULO POÉTICO Y COMO CREACIÓN
LITERARIA EN LA CLASSE DE INGLÉS. TIPOLOGÍA DE CANCIONES.
TÉCNICAS DEL USO DE LA CANCIÓN PARA EL APRENDIZAJE FONÉTICO,
LEXICAL I CULTURAL.
Unit 17. Songs as Literary and Poetic creations.
1. Introduction.
As way of introduction we can say that children enjoy singing very much. Songs and
rhymes provide an enjoyable change of the routine in the classroom.
Songs and Rhymes provide relaxation and variety, but we have to be careful because an
excessive use of them can make children to get bored.
Taking this fact into account, we can say that songs are a good resource to teach vocabulary,
practise the language orally, improve pronunciation and intonation and also help children to know
the culture of the foreign language.
2. Songs as Literary and Poetic creations.
2.1.
The importance of music in the language teaching.
Many of us know how quick students are at learning songs. For a variety of reasons, songs
stick in our minds and become part of us.
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1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
It is easier to sing a language than to speak it.
Music is around us: radio, television, theatre, etc.
Songs work in our short and long-term memory.
Songs use simple, conversational language and repetitions.
Children enjoy hearing themselves (Piaget: egocentric language).
Songs are relaxing, fun, etc.
In practical terms, for language teachers, songs are short, repetitive, and easily to
handle in a lesson.
2.2.
Characteristics of songs and rhymes.
Their main characteristics are:
1. They provide a link with home and school life.
2. Help children to develop positive attitude towards language learning.
3. They provide an enjoyable alternative in presentation of the language.
4. They reinforce lexical items and structures.
5. They play an important role in pronunciation, intonation and rhythm.
6. They are used to reinforce listening that leads to speaking, reading and writing
tasks.
7. They are used to reinforce other subjects.
8. They reflect customs and traditions associated with Anglo-Saxon culture.
2.3.
Reasons to use songs in the classroom.
The main reasons to use songs are:
1. Motivation: songs easily motivate children to use the foreign language.
2. Change in the routine.
3. Cultural importance: they reflect the foreign culture.
4. Reinforcement: they provide a meaningful way to repeat different items in order to
reinforce the learning (pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, etc.).
3. Types of songs.
It is essential to select carefully the songs we are going to work with in class.
What we must bear in mind are the features of the students we are working with at that
specific moment: their age, interests, likes and dislikes, and of course, their knowledge of the
foreign language.
We already know that the foreign language is introduced in the second cycle of
Primary Education, that is, children from 8 years to 12.
- 2nd Cycle of Primary (8 to 10).
It is the first time the foreign language is introduced in class. It is one of the best
didactic moments because children are very receptive and interested in everything.
- 3rd Cycle of Primary (10 to 12).
At this age their interests begin to change. So that, teachers have to take these changes
into account and adjust the teaching practice to the new needs and interests of the students.
The majority of the students think that songs are childish; they feel shy singing and so
that, it is difficult to make them sing aloud in class.
However, they enjoy music very much but their interests are different. So that, we have
to find songs that they enjoy and are suitable for our purposes too.
We as teachers must select the most suitable songs depending on the level of our
students, on their interests and their needs.
The following are some examples of types of songs we can use in class at these stages.
3.1.
Songs for occasions.
Songs that make reference to anything that happens to them in daily life: “Happy
birthday” or “Auld Lang Syne” (New Year’s Eve).
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3.2.
Topic songs.
Songs that deal with a specific topic. We must bear in mind that the topic the song
deals with must be interesting for the children. For example: Colours- “The colours” or
animals- “Old Mc Donald”
3.3.
Songs with actions.
Songs that are related to the old technique of representing what we are saying: “total
physical response” (James Asher): “If you’re happy” or “These is the way”.
3.4.
Round songs.
A round is a circular song. One group begins singing, then the second group begins the
song when the first group gets to the end of the first line. The third group begins when the
second group gets to the end of the first line and so on. When the singers get to the end of the
last line they continue singing from the beginning again, so the song becomes circular. For
example: “Three blind mice” or “I hear thunder”.
3.5.
Dialogues songs.
This type of songs is very useful. They are very easy to sing and at the same time they
require more attention on the part of the children. For example: “I spy” or “I am a music
man”.
3.6.
Traditional songs.
These songs will not probably known by the students, but they must learn them
because they belong to the new culture they are studying. For example: “Oh, Susanna”,
“London Bridge” or “Yankee Doodle”.
Furthermore, there are songs that we sing at a specific time of the year like Christmas
Carols: “Merry Christmas” or “Jingle Bells”.
3.7.
Other songs.
There are other songs for children which are more difficult but which are also good to
work with them in class. For example songs in all Walt Disney’s films. A good idea to
develop them is to watch the film at the same time we sing the song. For example: “Hakuna
Matata” or “Fly, fly” (Peter Pann).
3.8.
Traditional rhymes.
Rhymes can be used in the same way as songs. This could be easier for those students
that are a bit shy. Some traditional rhymes to be mentioned are: “One Potato” or “Spring,
Summer, Autumn, Winter”.
4. Techniques: Types of activities.
There are many different activities that we can do working with songs, depending on
what we want the students to practise and to learn. These can be summarized as follows:
- Activities to communicate new information.
- Activities to understand the social meaning of a song.
- Activities to learn the way language works without paying attention to the
meaning.
As we have mentioned before, the activities with songs we can do in class are very
varied. The following are some examples of these activities, which may be done with different
songs, according to the interests and needs of our students:
a) Invention: the children invent a new song with some music they all know and with
some vocabulary that we may give to them.
b) Stories: the students tell the story of the song.
c) Discussions: use songs to introduced a topic that may be discussed afterwards.
d) Fill in the Gaps: fill in the gaps they find in the lyrics of a song with the words
previously given.
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e) Write in Order: write in the correct order the sentences of a song as they listen to it.
f) Singing Competitions: divide the class into groups. Each group chooses a song or
rhyme from the songs worked in previous lessons and perform it to the rest. After all
the performances, the class votes their favourite.
g) What’s the missing word: divide the class into groups. Each group chooses a song
and performs it for the rest of the class. However they miss out the last word in each
line. The rest of the class has to call out the missing word.
h) Rounds: (point 3.4)
i) Videos: to watch musical videos. The images help the students to understand what
the song is about.
j) Song dictation: to do what the song says. Colour, write, etc.
k) The Picture song: the children try to make up a new song, taking some pictures as
the basis.
l) Fill and draw: two different sheets of paper. One has some draws explaining what
is happening in the song; the other has the lyrics. They must try to fill in.
5. Conclusion.
There are many activities that we can do in class with songs. However, it is going to
depend on our students’ interests, needs and, of course, linguistic level. It is up to us to select
the work and ht songs we are going to work with.
The possibilities of the songs are directed to develop the four linguistic skills: oral and
written comprehension and oral and written expression. But, we may say that the most basic
ability to use songs in class is oral comprehension.
TEMA 18: FUNCIONES DEL JUEGO Y DE LA CREATIVIDAD EN EL
APRENDIZAJE DE LAS LENGUAS EXTRANJERAS. DEFINICIÓN Y TIPOLOGÍA
DE
JUEGOS
PARA
EL
APRENIZAJE
Y
EL
PERFECCIONAMIENTO
LINGÜÍSTICO. EL JUEGO COMO TÉCNICA LÚDICO-CREATIVA DE ACCESO A
LA COMPETENCIA COMUNICATIVA EN LENGUA EXTRANJERA.
1. - FUNCIONES DEL JUEGO Y LA CREATIVIDAD EN EL APRENDIZAJE DE LAS
LENGUAS EXTRANJERAS.
1.1. - Introducción.
1.2. - El planteamiento del juego.
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1.2.1. - Actividad individual.
1.2.1.1. - Cada alumno con el profesor.
1.2.1.2. - Cada alumno con el resto del grupo.
1.2.2. - Actividades por parejas.
1.2.3. - Actividad en grupos.
1.3. - El material.
1.4. - El lenguaje.
1.4.1. - Para empezar el juego.
1.4.2. - Para mantener el juego.
1.4.3. - Para terminar el juego.
2. - DEFINICIÓN Y TIPOLOGÍA DE JUEGOS PARA EL APRENDIZAJE Y EL
PERFECCIONAMIENTO LINGÜÍSTICO.
2.1. - Juegos de vocabulario.
2.1.1. - El juego de los números.
2.1.2. - El bingo.
2.1.3. - Cadena de palabras.
2.1.4. - El alfabeto viviente.
2.1.5. - Busca la palabra.
2.1.6. - Policías y ladrones.
2.1.7. - Encuentra la palabra que no corresponde.
2.1.8. - Falta una palabra, ¿cuál?
2.1.9. - Palabras y dibujos.
2.2. - Juegos de estructuras gramaticales.
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2.2.1. - Juego de trotamundos.
2.2.2. - Adivina mi oficio.
2.2.3. - Juego del mimo.
2.2.4. - Juego de las asociaciones.
2.2.5. - Juego de las adivinanzas.
2.2.6. - La ruta de Ana.
2.3. - Juegos de creatividad.
2.3.1. - La historia tonta.
2.3.2. - Un poco de memoria.
2.3.3. - ¿Quién debe sobrevivir?
3. - EL JUEGO COMO TÉCNICA LÚDICO-CREATIVO DE ACCESO A LA
COMPETENCIA COMUNICATIVA DE LA LENGUA.
3.1. - Dibuja la frase.
3.2. - Parejas de dibujos.
3.3. - Historia desordenada.
3.4. - Dar direcciones.
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1. - FUNCIONES DEL JUEGO Y LA CREATIVIDAD EN EL APRENDIZAJE DE LAS
LENGUAS EXTRANJERAS.
1.1. - Introducción.
La preocupación de todo profesor es poder dar una clase atractiva, que consiga captar
la atención y el interés del alumno hacia su materia.
A los problemas que plantea la enseñanza de cualquier asignatura viene a sumarse el
desconocimiento de la lengua en la clase de idioma moderno, cuya finalidad es conseguir que
los alumnos alcancen un nivel de comunicación oral y escrita con personas de otros países.
Pero esta motivación es prácticamente nula en nuestros centros debido a las escasas
posibilidades que existen de visitar el país de origen para poner en práctica lo aprendido en
clase. Una manera de paliar esta ausencia de motivación real y de interesar a los alumnos en el
uso de lo aprendido es, sin duda, la práctica de juegos.
El juego relaja, desinhibe y favorece la participación creativa del alumno, ya que le
presenta un contexto real y una razón inmediata para utilizar el idioma, que se convierte en
vehículo de comunicación con un propósito lúdico.
Pero para que este interés se mantenga a través del curso, tenemos que presentar los
juegos como auténticas actividades dentro de la programación de una lengua segunda. Si el
alumno intuye que improvisamos, que utilizamos el juego para rellenar huecos de cinco
minutos o para mantenerlos dentro de la clase, en vísperas de vacaciones, la función
pedagógica de esta actividad quedará rota.
Para evitar su utilización indiscriminada de deben tener en cuenta los siguientes aspectos:

El planteamiento del juego.
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
El material.

El lenguaje.

Las clases de juegos, que describiremos en un epígrafe aparte y que agruparemos de
acuerdo con la finalidad a la que sirven:
a) Juegos de vocabulario.
b) Juegos de estructuras gramaticales.
c) Juegos de creatividad.
d) Juegos de comunicación, que también veremos, por su importancia, en otro epígrafe
aparte.
1.2. - El planteamiento del juego.
Cada profesor en su clase debe saber cómo agrupar a los alumnos para que éstos se
encuentren con posibilidades reales de comunicación y con un material auténtico. Así, los
juegos pueden ser planteados como:
1.2.1. - Actividad individual.
1.2.1.1. - Cada alumno con el profesor. Esto sólo es aconsejable en
grupos reducidos. El profesor dirige y controla la actividad. Tiene sus ventajas, ya que éste
puede asegurarse de que cada alumno escucha lo que se dice, y recibe, en general, un buen
modelo de lengua; pero en grupos numerosos, en los que la participación sería más espaciada,
la mayoría se quedaría sin intervenir por falta de tiempo y el aburrimiento haría acto de
presencia.
1.2.1.2. - Cada alumno con el resto del grupo. Se necesita un gran
espacio libre para que el grupo pueda moverse con facilidad. El profesor actúa como monitor
y el peso de la actividad recaen en los alumnos. Pueden ser actividades de comprensión y/o
expresión oral. Por ejemplo, un alumno describe una situación preparada de antemano en
lengua extranjera, y el resto tiene que expresar a través de la pantomima lo que va diciendo.
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Pueden ser historias inventadas por los propios alumnos o sacadas de cuentos, de libros de
aventuras, etc.
1.2.2. - Actividades por parejas.
Los alumnos trabajan de dos en dos formando un tándem frente al resto de las otras
parejas, o haciéndose preguntas uno a otro sobre su vida, trabajo, familia, actividad,
descripción de un documento visual, etc. La finalidad de esta actividad es obtener la
información más completa en un tiempo fijado de antemano. El profesor actúa de monitor y
supervisa la expresión, pronunciación, etc., de las parejas.
1.2.3. - Actividad en grupos.
Se divide la clase en grupos de trabajo de cuatro o cinco alumnos. Suelen ser los
juegos más atractivos, pues, al igual que en las parejas, se incrementa el número de alumnos
hablando al mismo tiempo y dinamizan mucho más la clase, desarrollando el sentido de
cooperación entre ellos.
Se corre el riesgo de que hablen español, si el profesor no supervisa todos los grupos,
pero una forma de resolverlo es nombrar un moderador en cada grupo que se encargue de
evitarlo.
Dentro de este apartado podemos incluir la división de la clase en dos o más equipos
contrincantes. Esto daría más emoción al juego o actividad, al introducir el sentido de
competición.
1.3. - El material.
Entramos en un campo interminable. Todo depende de la dedicación, imaginación o
conocimiento práctico de cada profesor.
Existen muchísimos juegos que no necesitan material especial para su puesta en
práctica. No obstante, se suele aconsejar, por ser muy socorrido, fabricarse juegos de cartas
plastificadas, con dibujos alusivos a varios temas, tales como: alimentos, bebidas, ropa,
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animales, plantas, objetos, mobiliario, medios de comunicación, días de la semana, meses del
año, estaciones, las grandes ciudades (Nueva York, Londres, Sydney,...), los oficios y sus
correspondientes herramientas, cartas con dibujos y otras con los nombres que corresponden a
cada dibujo, etc.
Pero no todos los profesores tienen la habilidad o el tiempo para hacerse sus propias
cartas. Para esto podemos recurrir a los alumnos, o solicitar la ayuda del profesor de dibujo.
Las cartas serán hechas en cartulina del mismo color y tendrán todas el mismo tamaño.
Si se cuenta con un retroproyector en clase, el profesor puede llevar dibujos
esquemáticos, tarjetas postales, fotografías, etc. Entonces la mitad de los alumnos se sientan
mirando a la proyección y la otra mitad de espaldas. Se juega por parejas: un alumno describe
lo que ve, mientras el otro va dibujando a partir de la información que recibe. Cuanto más rico
sea el vocabulario y las expresiones gramaticales del que describe, más completo será el
dibujo del compañero. En este caso un solo dibujo sirve para toda la clase.
Insistimos, sin embargo, en que es muy práctico contar con un buen número de cartas
plastificadas, pues sirven para muchos juegos. En la formación de familias puede haber
muchas variantes.
1.4. - El lenguaje.
Antes de lanzarse a organizar juegos, el profesor debe familiarizar a los alumnos con
una serie de estructuras básicas que permiten agilizar el comienzo y el final de los juegos.
Estas estructuras pueden ser:
1.4.1. - Para empezar el juego.
Listen! These are the rules.
Be quiet. Stay on your seat.
Form a circle / groups of four /pairs.
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Sit down. Stand up.
Do the same as myself.
Give the cards, one each.
Ready? Go ahead!
Close your eyes.
Count up to four ...
You win.
You start.
Look at your partner.
1.4.2. - Para mantener el juego.
It's my/your turn.
Who's going on?
Look at your card. It's your card.
Take a card.
Here are your cards. Take them.
Show your cards. Tell them what to do.
1.4.3. - Para terminar el juego.
Stop. It's time to finish.
Have you finished?
Count your cards. How many have you got?
You're the winner. Here is the winner.
Who are the winners? We are.
A point for your team.
I'm sorry, You've lost a point. You can't go on playing.
2. - DEFINICIÓN Y TIPOLOGÍA DE JUEGOS PARA EL APRENDIZAJE Y EL
PERFECCIONAMIENTO LINGÜÍSTICO.
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Algunos de los juegos que vamos a presentar son una recopilación de varios autores
citados en la bibliografía. Otros han sido recogidos de forma oral, entre los docentes, o son
simples adaptaciones de juegos infantiles tradicionales. Estos juegos se pueden dividir en
cuatro categorías:
- Juegos de vocabulario.
- Juegos de estructuras gramaticales.
- Juegos de creatividad.
- Juegos de comunicación, que estudiaremos en un epígrafe aparte.
2.1. - Juegos de vocabulario.
Para responder a estos juegos casi siempre hay que buscar y encontrar la palabra que
falta o la palabra justa de acuerdo con una consigna dada. El objetivo de estos juegos es
desarrollar la escritura y la lectura, aunque muchos de ellos pueden ser orales.
2.1.1. - El juego de los números.
Objetivo: Práctica de los números.
Destrezas: Desarrollar la comprensión y expresión orales.
Nivel: Elemental e intermedio.
Material: Una pelota, o una simple bola de papel, un cronómetro (opcional).
Agrupación: Dos grandes equipos.
Organización: Se divide la clase en dos grandes grupos. El profesor tira la bola a un
alumno del equipo 1 diciendo un número: "twelve". El alumno debe encontrar rápidamente un
número que empiece por la última cifra del número escuchado: "twenty-three". Este alumno
pasa la bola al equipo contrario diciendo "twenty-three". A su vez el que recibe la bola tendrá
que encontrar un número que empiece por 3 y devolver la bola de papel al equipo 1, etc. Se
trata de pasar la pelota lo más rápidamente posible al equipo contrario, pues el que tenga la
pelota en la mano cuando suene el timbre del cronómetro pierde. Si un alumno elige un
número que termina en =, por ejemplo, "twenty", el que recibe dirá "zero", y luego añadirá
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otro cualquiera: "fifteen". Cuando alguien se equivoca, su equipo pierde un punto. Puede
jugarse en tres partidas de dos minutos cada una.
2.1.2. - El bingo.
Objetivo: Práctica de los números.
Destreza: Comprensión oral.
Nivel: Elemental, intermedio y avanzado.
Material: Cartones de bingo.
Agrupación: Individual o en parejas.
Organización: Se hacen cartones con números que vayan del 1 al 100, del 100 al 500,
del 500 al 1000 (dependiendo del nivel de los alumnos). Los números pueden estar escritos en
cifras o en letras. Puede jugarse individualmente o en parejas. El profesor dice números de
forma aleatoria; se premia la línea y el bingo.
2.1.3. - Cadena de palabras.
Objetivo: Práctica del vocabulario.
Destrezas: Comprensión y expresión orales.
Nivel: Elemental e intermedio.
Material: Bola de papel, cronómetro (opcional).
Agrupación: Dos grandes equipos.
Organización: Se procede de la misma forma que en el juego de los números. Se divide la
clase en dos equipos, el profesor dice una palabra y tira la bola a un alumno, que tendrá que
decir otra que empiece por la última letra o sonido de la palabra escuchada, y así
sucesivamente. Cualquier alumno que repita palabra ya dicha o que no pueda seguir con la
cadena, pierde un punto. El equipo que tenga la bola cuando suene el timbre pierde un punto.
Gana el que más puntos tenga.
Alternativas: Se puede jugar con la última sílaba de cada palabra. De esta forma resulta más
difícil. Otra variante es jugar con el vocabulario específico de un tema y no sobre la última
letra. Por ejemplo, el profesor dice "bread" y cada alumno tendrá que decir nombres
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relacionados con la comida. El que repita, diga mal una palabra o no siga, pierde. Esta
variante es más adecuada para los primeros niveles.
2.1.4. - El alfabeto viviente.
Objetivo: Práctica del alfabeto.
Destrezas: Desarrollo de la comprensión oral.
Nivel: Elemental e intermedio.
Material: Ninguno.
Agrupación: Individual o dos grandes equipos.
Organización: Los alumnos deben conocer previamente el alfabeto del inglés (hacer varios
ejercicios para comprobarlo, haciéndoles deletrear sus nombres, por ejemplo). El profesor
asigna una letra a cada alumno. Si son pequeños, deberán pintarla bien grande en una hoja. El
profesor dice una palabra. Rápidamente, los alumnos deberán levantarse por orden diciendo la
letra correspondiente hasta formar la palabra. Si una letra se repite, el representante de ella se
levantará y dirá dicha letra cada vez que ésta aparezca en la palabra. Por ejemplo, "window":
el representante de la "w" se levantará en primer y último lugar, pronunciando el nombre de la
letra. Puede jugarse en dos equipos. Se reparte la primera mitad del alfabeto a un equipo y la
segunda mitad al otro. Los equipos parten con 10 puntos. Los alumnos se levantarán a medida
que aparezca su letra. Si alguno se equivoca, resta un punto a su equipo, y así, el que menos
puntos tenga al final, pierde.
2.1.5. - Busca la palabra.
Objetivo: Práctica escrita de vocabulario.
Destreza: Desarrollo de la escritura de palabras.
Nivel: Elemental e intermedio.
Material: Un dibujo.
Agrupación: Individual, parejas o grupos.
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Organización: El profesor reparte un mismo dibujo de una habitación con algunas
personas y animales a toda la clase. Los alumnos deben escribir nombres de objetos, de
animales o de personas que empiecen por la misma letra. Al cabo de dos minutos el juego se
para y ganan los alumnos que hayan encontrado más nombres.
2.1.6. - Policías y ladrones.
Objetivos: Práctica del alfabeto y repaso de la ortografía de las palabras.
Destrezas: Comprensión y expresión orales.
Nivel: Elemental e intermedio.
Agrupación: Grupos de cuatro o cinco alumnos.
Organización: Se forman grupos de cuatro o cinco alumnos, que se sentarán en
círculos, bien separados unos de otros. Cada grupo escribe una lista de diez palabras. Se echa
a suertes para ver qué grupo empieza primero y se seguirá el orden de las agujas del reloj.
Un representante de un equipo, el "policía", visita cualquier otro grupo y pide a un
alumno determinado que deletree una palabra. Si éste no sabe o se equivoca, pasa a ser su
prisionero.
2.1.7. - Encuentra la palabra que no corresponde.
Objetivo: Revisión de vocabulario.
Destrezas: Comprensión escrita, comprensión y expresión orales.
Nivel: Elemental.
Material: Fotocopias de series de palabras.
Agrupación: Individual o en parejas.
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Organización: Los alumnos, de forma individual o en parejas, leen la primera de las
series de palabras que aparecen en su hoja. El primero o la primera pareja que encuentra la
palabra que no pertenece a la serie levanta la mano, lee la palabra en voz alta y explica por
qué ha elegido ésa precisamente; si está bien, gana; si no, se pasa el turno al otro.
2.1.8. - Falta una palabra, ¿cuál?
Objetivo: Revisión del vocabulario.
Destrezas: Comprensión y expresión escritas.
Nivel: Elemental e intermedio (dependiendo de la cadena de oposiciones).
Material: Encerado.
Agrupación: Individual o en parejas.
Organización: El profesor escribe en la pizarra una lista de cinco o siete palabras en la
que existe una cadena de oposiciones. El alumno, individualmente o en parejas, debe adivinar
la que falta y explicar por qué la ha elegido.
Ejemplos:
- black, white; true, false; big......
- father, mother; man, woman; brother......
- on, off; upstairs, downstairs; in......
Alternativa: Cada pareja puede hacer su propia lista y leerla en voz alta, para que otra
pareja encuentre la oposición. Si la palabra es adivinada, el acertante gana un punto. Si la
palabra no es adivinada, o se da una respuesta incorrecta, el que ha hecho la lista, gana.
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2.1.9. - Palabras y dibujos.
Objetivos: Revisión y fijación de vocabulario.
Destrezas: Comprensión y expresión escritas.
Nivel: Elemental.
Agrupación: Individual o en parejas.
Organización: el profesor reparte una fotocopia a cada alumno o pareja donde aparece
un dibujo. En un tiempo dado (tres minutos) los alumnos tienen que escribir los nombres de
los dibujos que están numerados. Por ejemplo:
Number 1: A hen.
Number 2: A knife.
Number 3: A fork.
Así hasta que terminen. Luego tendrán que agruparlos por categorías, de tres en tres. Por
ejemplo:
The dog, the cat, the hen are animals.
Podemos ayudar a los alumnos dándoles las siguientes frases:
- ............................................................... are things to eat.
- .............................................................. are used to travel.
- .............................................................. are clothes.
La pareja que termine antes y cuyas respuestas sean correctas, gana.
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2.2. - Juegos de estructuras gramaticales.
Estos juegos pueden ser orales o escritos y ayudan a fijar unas estructuras gramaticales
específicas, ya conocidas por el alumno. Hay que tener la habilidad de presentárselos como
una actividad recreativa, sin hacer alusión a la estructura. Si el alumno se equivoca, debemos
animarle a que encuentre la alternativa correcta, sin corregirle formalmente, pues ya hemos
indicado que lo más importante del juego es la comunicación.
2.2.1.- Juego de trotamundos.
Objetivo: Práctica del presente.
Destrezas: Comprensión y expresión orales.
Nivel: Elemental e intermedio.
Material: Tarjetas postales, recortes de revistas, banderas y un cronómetro.
Agrupación: Grupos de cuatro o cinco alumnos.
Organización: Se divide la clase en grupos de cuatro o cinco alumnos. Un
representante de cada grupo recibe un documento visual (tarjeta, foto, recorte,...) de un país,
de una ciudad o de un lugar conocido por la mayoría, donde se supone se está realizando un
viaje. Utilizando el presente, tiene que explicar a sus compañeros de equipo dónde está, pero
no puede emplear nombres propios. Los compañeros tienen que adivinar el lugar en que se
encuentra:
- I am in a beautiful town.
- It is the capital city of the country.
- I am visiting a big palace where a famous queen lives.
Se cronometra el tiempo, y el equipo que haya tardado menos en adivinar, gana.
Alternativa: Este mismo juego se puede utilizar para la práctica del futuro si en la tarjeta o la
foto que se entrega aparecen las características del país de donde procede, y se pide a los
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alumnos que imaginen que ése es el lugar al que irán de vacaciones ese verano y lo que harán
allí.
2.2.2. - Adivina mi oficio.
Objetivo: Práctica de las estructuras interrogativas básicas.
Destrezas: Comprensión y expresión orales.
Nivel: Elemental e intermedio.
Material: Cartas con dibujos que representen una profesión, ocupación u oficio, y el
nombre escrito debajo. En su defecto, trozos de papel con el nombre de una profesión.
Agrupación: Grupos de cuatro o cinco alumnos.
Organización: Se divide la clase en grupos (cuatro o cinco alumnos) que trabajarán
independientemente. Se entrega una carta de una profesión a un alumno de cada grupo, que se
dirigirá a sus compañeros diciendo: "Guess my job". Los miembros del equipo le harán un
máximo de diez preguntas hasta adivinar qué hace. Si agotan las preguntas, el que presenta la
profesión gana, y el profesor entrega otra carta a otro miembro del grupo. El alumno responde
siempre exclusivamente "Yes" o "No".
Alternativas: Se pide un voluntario y se le ordena salir de la clase. Los demás se ponen
de acuerdo para elegir el nombre de un personaje histórico o actual, de un animal, de una
planta, de un objeto... Entra el voluntario y se le coloca en la espalda un papel con el nombre
elegido. Tendrá que hacer a sus compañeros un máximo de diez preguntas con el fin de
adivinar su identidad. Cuando lo consigue o ha agotado el número de preguntas, cede el
puesto a otro compañero. Gana el que lo haya adivinado con menos preguntas.
2.2.3. - Juego del mimo.
Objetivos: Práctica del presente continuo.
Destrezas: Comprensión y expresión orales.
Nivel: Elemental e intermedio.
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Material: Ninguno.
Agrupación: Tres grandes grupos.
Organización: Se divide la clase en tres grupos: A, B y C. El profesor propone al equipo A
que prepare cómo representar mediante mímica una acción: comer un huevo, vender leche, ....
A una señal del profesor, todo el equipo A representa con mímica la acción, y los equipos B y
C hacen preguntas a las que el equipo A sólo puede contestar "Yes/No". Si al cabo de cinco
preguntas la acción no ha sido adivinada, el equipo A gana un punto. En caso contrario, no
gana nada. Coge el turno el equipo que ha acertado, o en su defecto el B, y así sucesivamente.
Gana el equipo que tenga más puntos al final del juego.
2.2.4. - Juego de las asociaciones.
Objetivos: Práctica de "some, any, an, a" con nombres contables e incontables.
Destrezas: Comprensión y expresión orales.
Nivel: Elemental e intermedio.
Material: Cartas o recortes de revistas con dibujos de alimentos, objetos personales, ropas,
etc. En su defecto, trozos de papel con el nombre de estas cosas.
Agrupación: Gran grupo.
Organización: Formar un círculo con todos los alumnos y colocar un pupitre en el
centro. Si el grupo es muy numeroso, puede jugarse en dos turnos. Distribuir dos cartas (o dos
trozos de papel con los nombres) a cada alumno. Mostrando una a los demás, el primer
alumno dice: "I have got some flour, and you?". El alumno que tenga un nombre o dibujo que
pueda ser asociado con "harina" saldrá corriendo del círculo y dirá, por ejemplo: "I haven't got
any flour, but I have got some bread". Y coloca la carta al lado de "harina". Luego añade
(dejando la carta en el pupitre): "And I have got some cigarrettes too", parque otro alumno
venga y diga: "I haven't got any cigarrettes, but I have got a lighter, and some milk, too". Y así
sucesivamente. Los alumnos deberán reaccionar muy deprisa, porque puede haber varias
asociaciones. El jugador que se quede con las cartas en la mano, pierde.
2.2.5. - Juego de las adivinanzas.
Objetivos: Práctica del presente simple, de la interrogación y de los adjetivos.
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Destrezas: Comprensión y expresión orales.
Nivel: Intermedio.
Material: Cartas con dibujos, o papel con el nombre de objetos fáciles de describir.
Agrupación: Dos grandes grupos.
Organización: Se divide la clase en dos equipos, y el profesor designa el mismo
número de cartas para cada uno. El tiempo de participación de cada equipo es de dos minutos.
Un alumno del equipo A sale a "escena". El profesor le da una carta del montón que le
corresponde y el alumno tiene que describir el objeto para que sus compañeros lo adivinen.
Tiene que haber una pausa entre frase y frase para que los compañeros tengan tiempo de
pensarlo. Si un grupo se "atasca" en un objeto, puede dejarlo y pasar a otro. Entonces el que
describe entrega la carta al profesor y otro compañero sale a intentar describir un objeto
nuevo. Gana el equipo que en los dos minutos haya conseguido adivinar más objetos.
2.2.6. - La ruta de Ana.
Objetivos: Práctica de las instrucciones y la descripción de lugares.
Destreza: Comprensión oral.
Nivel: Intermedio y avanzado.
Material: Un dibujo o plano.
Agrupación: Individual o en parejas.
Organización: El profesor entrega un dibujo a cada alumno o pareja, representando un
plano con una ruta que va a coger Ana. Luego lee un texto y explica el vocabulario
desconocido, hasta estar seguro de que los alumnos lo han entendido. Los alumnos han de
marcar en el dibujo el camino seguido por Ana y hacer una cruz en los sitios donde se detiene.
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Alternativa (sin dibujo): Para complicar el juego, en niveles avanzados, el profesor lee
un texto descriptivo de un lugar, y los alumnos tienen que imaginarlo y dibujarlo. Luego se
comparan los dibujos y se discuten las diferencias hasta conseguir e que parezca más correcto
a todos.
2.3. - Juegos de creatividad.
Son más abiertos que los del apartado anterior. Los llamamos así porque el alumno puede
crear un lenguaje más imaginativo, más amplio. Son eminentemente comunicativos, por lo
que el profesor deberá vigilar un uso "adecuado" de la lengua sin insistir demasiado en la
perfección de la forma.
2.3.1. - La historia tonta.
Objetivo: Práctica del pasado.
Destrezas: Comprensión y expresión escritas.
Nivel: Elemental, intermedio y avanzado.
Material: Hojas de papel.
Agrupación: Grupos de ocho alumnos.
Organización: El profesor explica que la finalidad del juego es encontrar las
consecuencias de una serie de acciones. Se divide la clase en grupos de ocho alumnos. Cada
grupo empieza a escribir una historia respondiendo a las siguientes preguntas:
- Who? : el nombre de un hombre o de una mujer célebres.
- Where?: se desarrolla la acción.
- When? : fecha, época, estación del año.
- What are they wearing?
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- What did they do?
- What did X say?
- What did Z say?
- What happened later?
El primer alumno de cada grupo escribe el nombre de un hombre famoso o célebre y dobla la
hoja para que sus compañeros no lo lean; el segundo alumno escribe el nombre de una mujer
célebre y dobla la hoja; el tercero escribe dónde se desarrolla la acción y dobla también la
hoja. Así hasta que hayan terminado todas las preguntas. Siempre que la contestación lo
permita, se harán frases completas. Luego un alumno de cada grupo lee en voz alta la historia
completa. Gana la historia más divertida y que tenga menos fallos gramaticales.
2.3.2. - Un poco de memoria.
Objetivos: Construcción de una frase muy larga y memorización.
Destrezas: Comprensión y expresión orales.
Nivel: Intermedio y avanzado.
Material. Ninguno.
Agrupación: Dos grandes grupos.
Organización: El profesor explica que se trata de hacer correctamente una frase muy
larga, escucharla dos veces y repetirla. Se divide la clase en dos equipos. Cada uno se encarga
de hacer un par de frases largas, supervisadas por el profesor. Un alumno de un equipo lee una
de las frases para que la repitan alumnos del otro equipo. La lectura debe ser correcta y
pausada. Si alguno duda o se equivoca, hace perder un punto a su equipo. Gana el equipo que
tenga menos puntos negativos.
2.3.3. - ¿Quién debe sobrevivir?
Objetivo: Práctica de las oraciones condicionales.
Destrezas: Comprensión y expresión orales.
Nivel: Intermedio y avanzado.
Material: Ninguno.
Agrupación: Grupos de ocho alumnos.
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Organización: Los alumnos se dividen en grupos de ocho. El profesor explica la
dramática situación: "Eight people travel in a globe which is relieving air very quickly. The
pilot says that at least one of them must jump out to make the globe lighter, or otherwise the
globe will crash and everybody will die". Los ocho personajes, que son los mejores en sus
profesiones, tienen que justificar su derecho a la vida. Pueden elegirse varias profesiones:
médico, arquitecto, abogado, poeta, enfermero, policía, político, profesor,... Los alumnos
tendrán que utilizar las condicionales: If I die, "there won't be buildings any longer".
3. - EL JUEGO COMO TÉCNICA LÚDICO-CREATIVA DE ACCESO A LA
COMPETENCIA COMUNICATIVA DE LA LENGUA.
El cuarto tipo de juegos son aquellos conocidos como juegos de comunicación. En ellos, el
énfasis no se pone en la corrección absoluta del lenguaje utilizado por el alumno, sino en el
mensaje general que el alumno emite, en la eficacia comunicativa del lenguaje. Ello no
significa que esta clase de juegos no mejore la corrección y la competencia lingüística, pues
un lenguaje que esté plagado de errores no podrá servir de medio de comunicación efectivo y
además la gama lingüística que se usa en este tipo de juegos es limitada y los alumnos repiten
las mismas estructuras muchas veces.
3.1. - Dibuja la frase.
Objetivo: Práctica de formas interrogativas.
Destrezas: Expresión y comprensión orales.
Nivel: Elemental, intermedio y avanzado.
Material: El encerado y papeles en los que vaya escrito el título de un libro, o de una
película, o de un programa de TV o expresiones en la lengua extranjera, refranes, etc.
Agrupación: Dos grandes grupos.
Organización: Se divide la clase en dos grupos. En sesiones anteriores se habrá
estudiado el vocabulario no conocido, relativo a los títulos o expresiones en inglés. Para
iniciar el juego se barajan los papeles y el profesor entrega uno, sin que lo vean los demás, a
un alumno del grupo A, que deberá salir al encerado. Este alumno tiene que representar a
través de los dibujos en el encerado, o por medio de mímica, la frase o título para que sus
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compañeros adivinen de qué se trata.
Los compañeros hacen preguntas a las que se
contesta "Yes/No". El tiempo para cada frase es de un minuto. Si lo adivinan, ganan un punto.
A continuación participa el equipo B. El juego se repite varias veces, y gana el equipo que
tenga más puntos.
3.2. - Parejas de dibujos.
Objetivo: Práctica de la descripción.
Destrezas. Comprensión y expresión orales.
Nivel: Elemental, intermedio y avanzado (dependiendo del dibujo).
Material: Parejas de dibujos, fotos, etc., con alguna diferencia.
Agrupación: Parejas.
Organización: Se juega en parejas. Cada una recibe un par de dibujos similares, pero
con alguna diferencia. Cada alumno esconde su dibujo para que no lo vea su compañero.
Luego lo describen y se hacen preguntas para tratar de averiguar las diferencias.
3.3. - Historia desordenada.
Objetivo: Práctica de la narración.
Destrezas: Comprensión y expresión orales.
Nivel: Elemental, intermedio y avanzado.
Material: Fotocopia de una historia contada en viñetas y otra igual recortada en trozos.
Agrupación: Parejas.
Organización: Los alumnos se sientan en parejas. El alumno A recibe la fotocopia
entera y el alumno B la versión recortada en trozos y en desorden. El alumno B tiene que
rehacer la historia, colocando los trozos en orden, a partir de las explicaciones del alumno A.
3.4. - Dar direcciones.
Objetivo: Práctica de las direcciones.
Destrezas: Comprensión y expresión orales.
Nivel: Elemental, intermedio y avanzado.
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Material: Una fotocopia de un plano completo y otra con el esquema de las calles sin
ningún nombre o dato.
Agrupación: Parejas.
Organización: Se distribuye toda la clase por parejas. El alumno A recibe la fotocopia
con toda la información. El alumno B recibe el plano sin nombres. Es nuevo en la ciudad,
acaba de llegar a la estación y tiene que ir: primero a, por ejemplo "the post office", después a
"the town hall", luego a "the Hotel Ritz", y finalmente a "the Opera theatre". El alumno A
tiene que dar las explicaciones suficientes para que el alumno B localice en su plano los
lugares a los cuales debe dirigirse, el nombre de las calles, etc. Este juego permite que los dos
alumnos intervengan activamente en la conversación, pues deben preguntar, responder y
clarificar instrucciones.
UNIT 19: DRAMA TECHNIQUES AS MEANS FOR THE LEARNING OF FOREIGN
LANGUAGES. THE DRAMATIZATION OF DAILY LIFE SITUATIONS AND THE
REPRESENTATION OF TALES, JOKES. ETC. WORK GROUP FOR CREATIVE
ACTIVITIES. THE ROLE OF THE TEACHER.
1.
INTRODUCTION
The characteristics of the language used in an act of communication in real life are different from the
language produced in the English class.
The limited field of real experiences in the use of the language that is offered by the small context of the
classroom obstructs to imprint on the language there produced the characteristics related to the natural
and spontaneous use in real life.
All those activities developed by the teacher in order to reproduce aspects that characterise the real use
of the language should be always positively valued. As regards this, one of the activities that helps best the
student in the practice of these characteristics peculiar to the communicative language is dramatisation.
In the foreign language class, dramatisation has got the objective of getting the student to develop a
creative production of the language.
We want that the language in the class would reproduce as accurately as is possible, the naturally and
spontaneity that characterise any normal act of communication.
2.
2.1
DRAMA TECHNIQUES AS MEANS FOR THE LEARNING OF FOREIGN
LANGUAGES.
Techniques of awakening and expression.
The dramatisation as a technique of awakening and expression can be carry out through any activity in
that artificial or imaginary situations are created to encourage the student to act representing his/her own
role or the one representing another person. The interaction established among the participants provokes
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a number of reactions not only of linguistic nature, but also emotional, close to the ones typical in an act of
communication in real life.
Dramatisation in the sense dealt here is not far from the certain games of imitation so characteristic in
childhood. In both cases we deal with activities that consist on assuming or simulating certain roles in
imaginary situations. On the other hand, also the players, as they pursue the enjoyment and the individual
entertainment unconsciously. Also propose to experiment the communicative efficacy of the language.
Besides, these two activities are not radically different from the drama as genre or literary art. In the
three cases we deal with the expression of an inherent desire, to imitate behaviours that attract our
attention by means of artificial reproduction or events in human life that have developed in those.
2.2
From the game to dramatisation.
What is the difference between games and dramatisation?
Firstly, the practice of language games is usually characterised by the desire of competition and
overcoming the other players in the achievement of the objectives proposed for each game. This desire to
compete nevertheless, is not an essential characteristic of dramatisation, where what it really matters is “to
participate”. Secondly, the language used in this kind of games is normally very organised and controlled
by the teacher. In dramatisation, on the contrary, the freedom of the student to choose the language to be
used in each moment is nearly complete. Finally, we should say that the role performed by the students in
the games is not always the living image of the behaviour of any individual in the different real life
situations. In the dramatic activity, however, the players, although they have to deal with imaginary or
artificial situations, represent roles that correspond to the ones from the real life. What is pursuing
demonstrated is, precisely, the interpretative ability of the individual.
It is easy to turn a game of language into dramatisation. The only thing needed for this is to give the
student a grater linguistic independence during the developing of the game itself, inviting him/her to
exchange points of view with his/her classmates freely, so that he/she can gather the specific information to
achieve the objectives of the game. This makes possible to stabilise an interaction between two or more
students, in which each one as well as using the language he/she thinks most appropriated he/she also takes
similar roles to those in human and social relationship. In this way, the students perform with the
language many different functions such as identifying, asking, enquiring, agreeing, disagreeing etc., by
means of that the game becomes an authentic communication act.
2.3 Drama techniques used in teaching a foreign language.
The communicative practice of a language will only be complete if we succeed in dealing with all the
aspects, linguistic and non-linguistic, that defines the real use of the target language. It is drama itself that
set up as one of the most effective activities to introduce the student to the communicative practice of a
language.
2.3.1 Warming up activities
At the beginning of a foreign language lesson not all the students are motivated to the same extent,
neither are they in the same mood. That is why it is necessary to create an atmosphere of Cupertino
previously and estimulate in each the desire of working together.
There is a series of exercises whose main objective is to prepare the students psychologically, creating in
them a favourable disposition to participate in the following language activities.
 The imaginary ball: In pairs. The students are asked to pretend to be throwing an imaginary ball at
each other. It would be interesting that the teacher first tell the students what kind of ball they are
going to throw: a tennis ball, a balloon, a football...
 Physical representation of words: Groups of five or six students. The task of each group consists on
finding a word whose number of letters corresponds with the number of members forming the group.
Once the word has been chosen, each of the members from the different groups make, either with the
hands or with the fingers, one of the letters from the established word, the rest of the groups will try to
guess the word.
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 The talking blackboard: In pairs. A student is back to back with the other, and this draws with his/her

finger the letters of any word. The student who represents the blackboard has to guess the word.
Introducing oneself and being introduced to others: Circles of six or seven pupils. A student starts
saying his/her name and an imaginary occupation. The student who is on his/her right repeats this
information and, then, says his/her own name and the imaginary occupation, and so on until all the
members of the group have taken part in the game. This practice is very useful when exercising the
capacity of remembering.
3.
3.1
THE DRAMATIZATION OF DAILY LIFE SITUATIONS AND THE
REPRESENTATION OF TALES, JOKES. ETC.
Watching exercises.
With this we pretend to exploit the observation capacity of the student as a means to achieve the
communicative use of the language.
3.1.1
Exploring the classroom
The teacher invites the students to pay attention, during a couple of minutes, to the things in the
classroom. Once the time is up, the teacher asks the pupils to close the eyes and listen, without answering,
to a series of questions about the wall, the door, the blackboard... Made the questions, the teacher asks
the students to open the eyes and comment with the rest of the pupils the things that are able to remember.
The most important thing about this exercise is the interest the student has to discover his/her nearest
environment and this is transformed into a real production of language that is not always easy to reach in
the classroom and it is also important to get the students used to observe the details.
3.1.2
Discovering objects hidden on the hand
Standing up and with the hands behind their backs, the students make circles of four or five. The
teacher, covertly, places a small object on the hands of one pupil from each group, trying not to disclose it,
not even to the student who receives it. This, using the sense of touch, can easily know the name of the
object.
The activity of the rest of the members from the team involves guessing, by questioning him/her, which
the object is. The only clues given are the questions made by the different members of the group.
This activity requires a great effort of concentration, in which intelligence and memory play an
important role.
3.1.3
The invisible fruit
Groups of four or five students. Each group thinks about a fruit and decides which gestures are suitable to
imitate the action of eating the fruit.
At a signal given by the teacher, the groups disperse and each pupil goes to a classmate from another
group and interchanges the gestures agreed in their respective groups and makes some comments about
their performances.
What it is sought with this activity is the opportunity to exercise certain functions of language such as
praising or criticism other’s people performance.
3.2
Exercises of creation and interpretation.
These exercises are created to bring in operation the fantasy of the student as a means to carry him/her
from the situation or immediate reality of the classroom to imaginary situations in the non-academic
world.
Besides stimulating the creative and interpretative capacity of the students, we intend the pupils to achieve
a suitable production in accordance with new situations created by their imagination.
3.2.1
Unexpected use of the objects from the classroom.
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In pairs. Each pair must find for certain object from the classroom a different use from the one it usually
has. (A chair may be used as an umbrella). After this, each pair must reach an agreement about the way of
imitating the action that may be performed with that object.
After a brief break, each pair shows the stabilised action before the other pairs or the whole class.
From this activity is easy to achieve a creative and spontaneous use of the language: “I think it is an
umbrella”.
3.2.2
Commentaries about a photograph.
In order to carry out this activity, it is essential to have a set of photographs of different characters. The
pupils are distributed into groups of three or four. Each group is given a photograph of a different
character, along with a sheet containing the following questions: How old is this person? What does s/he
do?, Do you like this person?, What is s/he doing now? ...
With the photograph in front of them, the members of each group answer the different questions and try
to agree in the most interesting interpretations. It is advisable that somebody from the group takes notes
of the conclusions. Once the task is finished, the groups interchange the photographs and make
comments about the new character.
What is expected with this activity is exploiting linguistically the first impression that instinctively has
any human being when pays attention to somebody.
3.2.3
Representation of a joke.
In pairs. Each pair decides to represent a joke in front of the rest of the English class. In this way we
foster the creative use of the language by all the students because they use it in a personal manner so as to
represent a comical situation in front of the other pupils.
By turns, all the pairs represent the jokes or funny situations previously chosen. The teacher undertakes
the responsibility for the jokes not being repeated. This activity may be carried out with the characters of
a tale known by all the students, although this kind of representation may require a previous rehearsal.
3.2.4
My favourite object.
The teacher asks the students to bring into the classroom any object from their house that feel
particularly keen on. At the same time, s/he will also indicate the necessity of wrapping the object so the
rest of the pupils cannot see it until the activity starts.
The teacher asks the students to distribute themselves into groups of four. Then, they are informed they
have a few minutes to, before opening their respective parcels in front of the classmates, guess the content.
Once the objects are exposed, each student explains to his/her group some details about the object (who
gave it to him/her, when, etc.). Meantime, the rest of the pupils can ask about any detail about the object.
They are very interested in the objects they bring into the classroom, so all the activities about them will
be accomplished with equal interest.
4.
WORK GROUP
TEACHER.
FOR
CREATIVE
ACTIVITIES.
THE
ROLE
OF
THE
Advantages of working in groups:
 The students who work in-groups apparently experience less “fear” in class. As a result, they would
rarely confine into themselves and maintain a more receptive attitude towards study. Besides, the cooperation in-group activities produces a sense of success that the student does not normally experience
when working alone.
 The students get used to learning applying the knowledge instead of memorising it. The skills acquired
in this way become easily part of the permanent linguistic competence.
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 The students learn sharing and joining their efforts, checking their work reciprocally and helping one
another in natural, dynamic and communicative situations.
 The fact of joining their efforts, perceptions and knowledge helps the student to make up for the
individual deficiencies.
 Working in-groups multiplies the opportunities for oral communication in the classroom.
4.1
Advantages for the teacher.
When the teacher has succeed in having each group of students working as a team, s/he also achieves
they pay more attention to the task undertaken.
It is necessary to emphasise that the responsibility of the teacher for dividing the class into groups
changes, and, at the same time the traditional relation teacher/student is transformed into a responsibility
shared with the students and developed in different modalities.
Keeping a lively rate in the activities usually helps to diminish the discipline problems, as it is unlikely
that students get bored.
Besides, the mischievous student cannot disrupt the class so often if everybody is busy. The traditional
opposition teacher/student is reduced when the students, instead of establishing an exclusive relation with
the teacher, relate to their classmates.
4.2
Criteria for the classification of activities.
Several criteria are useful when classifying group activities:
 The degree of the students`s familiarity with the task. The tasks accomplished in previous lessons are


carried out without difficulties due to the knowledge of their structure.
The complexity of the task. Generally the more steps it has, the more capacity to follow the
instructions and co-ordinating the interaction is requested from the students.
The degree of creativity required. The tasks based mainly in the manipulation of linguistic elements
are apparently easier than the ones that require the use of the language in a creative way.
Analysing an activity taking in consideration these three criteria helps to foresee the reaction of the
group. Provided that each activity normally requires more than a skill, the classification by skills (oral,
written, comprehension,etc.) indicates its main approach.
The activities must be selected depending on the objectives of the class, the level of knowledge in the
target language, the students and their interest. It is obvious the flexibility offered by working in-groups
and the utility within the language class.
4.3
The role of the teacher.
Perhaps, the role of the teacher is deciding when work group can improve the learning of a language by
means of creative activities.
While the work group takes place, the teacher performs several roles:
 Organiser: decides the size of the group and the way to select its members. Defines the activity and its
result.
 Manager: observes the dynamic of the group and suggests improvements. Co-ordinates the different
groups to avoid unnecessary repetitions. Checks that the tasks are carried out according to the given
specifications.
 Resource: gives information or materials when asked. Proposes several and variable alternatives.
 Assessor: gives explanations depending on the necessities of each group. Clarifies grammatical
difficulties, organises sessions to practice pronunciation. Provides positive feedback about the
development of the activity.
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 Evaluator: evaluates the work or performance of the group; propose criteria so the groups can
evaluate themselves.
 Problem detector: observes the difficulties appeared in the performance of the group, clarifies the
problems and suggests solutions. While the group is working, the teacher can perceive a wide variety
of problems.
During any session of group work, the teacher will have to move from a role to other, applying the
techniques required in each situation, and will adopt the role of pronunciation connector in a group,
source of resources or manager in others. In each case the teacher individualises his/her help depending on
the group, offering his/her presence in a diplomatic manner, and not imposing it to the group. Thanks to
these roles, the teacher is able to monitor the progression of the students, to follow closely the difficulties
they encounter, the personal relations and the dynamic of the group which help him to select successfully
the activities in the future.
THEME 20.
THE FOREIGN LANGUAGE AREA IN THE CURRICULUM. CRITERIA TO BE
REFLECTED IN THE EDUCATIONAL PROJECT AND THE CURRICULAR PROJECT.
1. INTRODUCTION:
The Organic Act 1/1990 of General Organisation of the Educational System introduced some
important changes, aimed at improving the quality of education in Spain. Among these changes
we can mention:
- The extension of compulsory education to the age of 16 years old
- The establishment of new educational stages such as: Infant Education, Primary Education,
and Compulsory Secondary Education.
- These stages are organised in cycles, which is the period that should be considered for
teaching programs and promotion.
- The establishment of a curriculum which, in spite of having certain aspects which are
compulsory for all the country, is also open and flexible, as the different autonomous
educational services could adapt it to their real context. Then, each school should adapt the
official curriculum to their real environment by means of the design and development of the
Curricular Project.
- Besides, the Centres have the right to define their educational options, their objectives and
their organisational structure that will make possible the attainment of such objectives.
These aspects must be included in a document called the Educational Project.
Then, taking into account these basic aspects of the educational reform, we are going to deal
with:
- The Foreign Language area, as it is reflected in the official curriculum.
-
The criteria to be reflected in the Educational Project and the Curricular Project, in relation
to this area.
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2. THE FOREIGN LANGUAGE AREA IN THE OFFICIAL CURRICULUM:
The teaching of a foreign language is included among the areas of Primary education, as we can
see in the articles number 14 of the Organic Act 1/1990, and also in the article number 5 of the
Royal Decree 1344/91, which established the national curriculum for Primary Education.
According to these legal documents, the teaching of that foreign language starts in the second
cycle. However, in most autonomous regions of Spain, the teaching of a foreign language has
been brought forward to the first cycle.
In Extremadura, this introduction came into force from the beginning of the last academic year,
according to an Order of the 30th of August, 2000.
The importance given to the learning of a foreign language in current society has to do with
certain social, educational and psychological demands, which Brewster, Ellis and Girard, in
their book “The Primary English teacher’s guide’ summarised as follows:
-
Social demands: derive from the need of communicating with people from other countries
in a world, which is becoming a ‘global village’. The success in business and international
relations is closely linked to the learning of foreign languages, especially in the context of
the European Union, where goods and people can move freely through the member states.
Besides, the ability of communicating in a foreign language (especially in English) is quite
useful to travel abroad, and for the transmission of news and knowledge.
-
The Educational demands have to do with the development of cognitive and social
abilities by means of the learning of a new language and its culture. This knowledge help
children to overcome their natural egocentrism, as they realise that there are other ways of
living and seeing reality different from their own. At the same time, this contact will help
them to develop tolerance and respect as well as a better understanding and appreciation of
their own language and culture.
-
Finally, the psychological demands refer to the need of introducing them to the learning
of a foreign language, as young as possible, because they are less distanced from the age
in which they learn their first language than teenagers or adults, and they are still good at
understanding and imitating what they hear. Besides, they realise that the same functions
and notions they have just learn in their native language, can be expressed, equally well,
using a different language.
Once we have seen the importance of teaching a foreign language in Primary education, we are
going to see how the foreign language area is reflected in the official curriculum through the
analysis of its different elements.
We are going to start with the analysis of the methodological principles:
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1.
First of all, we should consider that the foreign language area curricular purpose is not to
teach a foreign language but rather to teach how to communicate using it. Therefore Royal
Decree 1006/1991 of the 14th June, which establishes the teaching requirements for Primary
education, sees communicative competence as comprising five sub-competencies:
Grammar competence: the ability to implement rules and lexical items
from the language system.
Discourse competence: which refers to the ability to produce different
types of discourse organising them according to the communicative situation and the
interlocutors.
Sociolinguistic competence: refers to the ability to adapt statements to
different contexts observing the usage of a given linguistic community.
Strategic competence: implies being able to use verbal and non-verbal
strategies to compensate for breakdowns in communication.
Sociocultural competence: refers to the student’s knowledge of the
cultural aspects of the countries where the foreign language is spoken.
All these elements are part of the language, as language is not something abstract, but a tool
for effective communication.
2. Communicative competence acquisition is seen as a creative construction process. Our
pupils using their general cognitive strategies and linguistic input they receive establish
hypothesis to form the new rules about the foreign language system.
3. This new system is gradually contrasted and improved as new input is presented. Therefore
error is seen as an integral part of the learning process, as it is the manifestation of the effort
our pupils are making to acquire the new system.
4. This acquisition process may be fostered, especially at first, in ways that do not require a
linguistic response by using Total Physical Response techniques.
5. Receptive skills (listening and reading) are very important at this stage, specially listening,
since oral communication is the most direct form of communication among human beings.
6. We will try to familiarise the children not only with the target language from a functional
point of view, but also as a means of cultural and social transmission.
7. We should organise contents around topics connected to the students’ interest.
8. The four linguistic skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing) should be integrated
through meaningful communicative activities.
Then, the General objectives of the foreign language area are designed according to the
principles we have just mentioned. As we will see, these objectives refer to the
development of the four linguistic skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing), and also
to the use of linguistic and extralinguistic strategies and the knowledge of sociocultural
aspects, in order to get communicative competence in the foreign language.
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There are nine general objectives, expressed in form of interrelated abilities:
1. To understand simple and oral written texts about known objects, situations and events,
using general and specific information taken from those texts for specific purposes.
2. To use the foreign language orally to communicate with the teacher and students in
common class activities and in communicative situations created for this purpose, observing
the basic rules of interpersonal communication, and adopting a respectful attitude towards
the contribution of others.
3. To produce short simple texts about topics that the students are familiar with observing the
basic writing rules.
4. To read and understand short simple texts related to class activities, to their knowledge of
the world and to their experiences and interests, with the purpose of obtaining general and
specific information as desired.
5. To recognise and appreciate the communicative value of foreign languages and their ability
to learn them, showing understanding and respectful attitude towards other languages, their
speakers and their culture.
6. To understand and use the linguistic and non-linguistic conventions used by the foreign
language speakers in common situations (greetings, farewells, introductions,
congratulations...) in order to make communication easier.
7. To use in foreign language learning, previous knowledge and experience with other
languages, developing autonomous learning strategies.
8. To establish relationships between meaning, pronunciation and graphic representation of
simple words and sentences in the foreign language, as well as recognising the
characteristic aspects of sound, rhythm and intonation in that foreign language.
9. To use non-linguistic expressive resources (gestures, body language, sounds, pictures) to
understand and be understood when using a foreign language.
In order to develop the abilities expressed in these objectives, we should work on
CONTENTS that in our curriculum are classified into:
-
Concepts
Procedures
Attitudes
Conceptual contents refer to facts, events, rules and principles.
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Procedural contents refer to the strategies, abilities, techniques and skills necessary in the
learning process.
Attitudinal contents are concerned with behaviour and values.
These three kinds of contents are set in blocks:
-
Oral communication uses and forms.
Written communication uses and forms.
Sociocultural aspects.
The CONTENTS OF THE FOREIGN LANGUAGE AREA are also designed around
communicative needs and situations. We have summarised the three blocks of contents, which
appear in the RD 1344/91 of the 6th of September, as follows:
A.
ORAL COMMUNICATION USES AND FORMS:
a.1)
Concepts:

Basic communicative needs and situations in the spoken form: greeting, identifying oneself,
giving and asking for information expressing needs and requests...

Characteristics of communicative situations:
Number and type of interlocutors.
Moment and place.
Formal or informal communication.

Vocabulary and structures needed to express basic communicative needs in the spoken form.

Topics related to the interests of the students and wide notions:
Colours, numbers, time, daily life, food, animals, time, sports…
a.2)
Procedures.:

Recognising sounds, rhythm and intonation patterns of the foreign language.

General comprehension of spoken messages (face to face or recorded) about familiar topics.

Specific comprehension of spoken messages (face to face or recorded) in contextualised
situations.

Producing oral messages to satisfy common communicative needs.

Participating in linguistic exchanges for specific play purposes (simulations, role-play).

Recognising and using basic common strategies (linguistic and non-linguistic) to overcome
communicative difficulties.

Recognising grammatical forms to ask questions, state, deny, express possession, gender and
number, quantify, express facts in present, past, future… and using them effectively for
communication.
a.3)
Attitudes:

Awareness of the importance of oral communication in a foreign languages

Willingness to speak a foreign language by participating in group activities (games, group
work, role, play…).
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B.
WRITTEN COMMUNICATION
b.1)
Concepts:

Basic communicative needs and situations in the written form.

Characteristics of communicative situations.

Topics of general use and wide notions…

The names of the letters in the foreign language and their correspondence with their written
form.

Relationship between meaning, of the vocabulary studied its pronunciation and its graphic
representation.
b.2)
Procedures:

General comprehension of written messages related to class activities, and common
communicative needs.

Specific comprehension of simple authentic material.

Recognising in written texts grammatical structures used to request, state, deny, express
possession, gender and number, state, deny…, using them effectively for communication.

Producing short simple written texts in response to oral or written stimulus aimed at different
readers.
b.3)
Attitudes:

C.
USES AND FORMS:
Appreciating the importance of knowing how to read and write in the foreign language.
SOCIOCULTURAL ASPECTS:
c.1)
Concepts:

Social and cultural aspects of the countries where the foreign language is spoken which may
be interesting for our pupils such as:
Expression and gestures that go with speaking, such as: polite gestures, tone of voice,
symbols…
Aspects of every-day life: schedules, habits of children of this age, food.
Games, popular songs, favourite meeting places and sports in the countries whose language
is studied…
 Presence in Spain of the foreign language studied by means of: products,
labels, songs, films, TV programs...
c.2)
c.3)
Procedures:

Using rules of behaviour and habits of the foreign language speakers in context.

Comparing the most relevant aspects of everyday life in those countries with the
corresponding aspects of the students’ native country.

Using authentic materials from different sources close to the learners’ in order to obtain
specific information.
Attitudes:
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
Curiosity and respect for the most relevant aspects of everyday life in theses countries.

Appreciation of the sociolinguistic behaviour as a means to improve communication.

Interest in getting to know people from other countries.
After the contents which should be taken into account to develop the abilities expressed in the
general objectives, the Royal Decree 1344/1991, presents nine ASSESSMENT CRITERIA,
which should be understood as a tool to check if students have got the abilities expressed in the
General Objectives. These assessment criteria refer to abilities, but also make a little reference
to contents as well as a brief explanation.
According to the R.D. 1344/91, the attainment of the general objectives of the foreign language
area, will be assessed in relation to the following criteria:
1.- To recognise and reproduce characteristic phonemes of the foreign language as well as
rhythm and intonation patterns in words and sentences used in real language situations.
This criterion tries to check if students are familiar with the sounds, rhythm and intonation of the
foreign language in listening and speaking. The texts they should listen to or produce must make sense and
be in context.
2.- .-To grasp the overall meaning of oral texts emitted in face to face communicative situations
supported by gestures, and miming and any necessary repetitions in which combinations of
previously studied elements appears and which deal with topics that the learners are familiar
with.
This criterion considers the ability of students to understand the global meaning of oral text in the
best conditions, which imply: direct communication, contextual support and topics related to their
previous knowledge.
3.- To extract specific information, which has been previously studied, from oral texts with a
simple structure and vocabulary, which deal with topics that, are interesting and familiar to
the students.
This criterion checks the student’s ability to understand, not only
the global message, but also specific details from simple oral texts,
which deal with topics that are familiar to them.
4.- To participate in short oral exchanges related to common classroom activities, producing
comprehensible discourse adapted to the characteristics of the situation and to the
communicative aim.
This criterion refers to the student’s ability to express basic communicative needs in the context of
the class such as: asking something, asking for something, asking for permission to do something,
asking for help, greeting... These messages should be expressed correctly enough to be understood.
(for example, they should use the correct expression to ask for permission such as: “Can I go to the
toilet, please?, or Can I open the window/door?, Can I borrow your pen, please?
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5.- To participate in simulated communicative situations, which have been previously studied in
class using common social formulas correctly in the foreign language.
This criterion checks the student’s ability to communicate orally in the most basic situations of daily
life using social relation formulas, especially those which are typical of children of this age, such as:
“How are you? Fine, thanks”.
“Happy birthday!”
.
“Many happy returns”...
“Hello!”/“Hi!“
5.- To grasp the general meaning and extract specific information from short written texts,
with a linear layout, and simple structures and vocabulary, which deal with topics that are
interesting and familiar to the student
This criterion refers to the student’s ability to understand short written texts from the teacher or
other students, such as: informal letters or instructions, public advertisements, charts and other
written texts with visual support such as simple comics for children.
.
6.- To read, with the help of the teacher or a dictionary simple books for children with
redundant visual support and written in foreign language, and showing the level of
comprehension attained by performing specific tasks.
With this criterion, we assess if the student is able to read simple books written in the foreign
language, but with pictures that help them to understand. Then they have to show us what they have
understood by means of verbal on non verbal task, which could be done even in the student’s native
language, as we want to check comprehension, not expression.
7.- To produce short comprehensible written texts that are adapted to the characteristics of the
situation and to the communicative aim and reflect to the subject matter studied in class.
This criterion means that students should be able to write short simple messages, related to their
interests and needs, such as: the list of things they need for an excursion, a short letter giving basic
personal information about themselves, or an invitation to a birthday party.
8.- To recognise some sociocultural features of the communities of foreign language speakers
that are contained in the language samples studied in class.
Finally, this criterion is designed to check if students are able to recognise some sociocultural elements
of the countries where the foreign language is spoken, especially those related to the daily life of
children such as: schedules, habits, subjects at school, games, greetings, favourite meeting places,
popular songs, festivals, food...
3.-CRITERIA TO BE REFLECTED IN THE EDUCATIONAL AND IN THE CURRICULAR
PROJECT:
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Once we have analysed the elements of the official curriculum, which corresponds to the first
level of concretion, we must deal with the documents that each center should design in order to:
-
Define their educational options and structure through the Educational Project.
-
Adapt the different curricular elements to their context by means of the Curricular Project.
3.1.- The Educational Project:
First, we will deal with the Educational Project, which is a document that must be designed and
approved by the entire School Community, through their representatives in the School Board.
According to the Royal Decree 82/1996 of the 26th January, which establishes the organic
regulations of the Infant and Primary Schools, the Educational Project consist of:
1.- The analysis of the sociocultural context of the center, which is the first step to establish the
following elements.(identity signs and educational objectives)
2.- The identity signs refer to those educational options that agree with the educational ideas
of the school community.
3.- Taking into account these identity signs, the school community should establish the
educational objectives as well as reviewing the general objectives of every stage established in
the official curriculum to adapt them to their context, and to the identity signs of the centre.
4.- To get these aims, the school community has to define the organisational structure they are
going to adopt including:
- A general guideline about the relations of collaboration among the different members of the
school community, and also the relations with other institutions.
-The organisational structure of the school, that should be reflected in a document about the
distribution of tasks among the different organs of the school community and also the internal
rules of the center.
3.1.1.- Criteria to be reflected in the Educational Project in relation to
the foreign language area:
Now, we are going to see how the foreign language area could be reflected in the design of the
Educational Project, by means of a practical example.
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1.- Regarding the school identity signs the teaching of a foreign language could be considered
by the School community as a means to promote:
-
Respect for all the cultures
-
Development of democratical habits.
Autonomous learning.
2.- Taking into account the identity signs we have expressed, we could include the following
educational objectives:
-
Promote the learning of a foreign language as a tool for social
development.
-
Learning a foreign language as a tool for social development.
-
Learning a foreign language and its culture to increase tolerance and being
open-minded.
-
Enlarging the psychological development of children learning a new
language and its culture.
3.- After establishing the identity signs and the educational objectives, we have to take some
practical decisions about the organisational aspects that will make possible the attainment of
our objectives. Following with our example we can adopt the following decisions:
-
Establishment of interchanges with an English speaking country
-
Establishment of relations with different institutions, such as the British Council
in order to obtain material.
-
Contact with parents or relatives of students that have visited English-speaking
countries.
-
Participation in official programs related to Foreign language learning, such as
the experimental teaching of English in Primary Education.
3.2.- The Curricular Project:
According to the R.D. 82/1996, the Curricular Project should include the following elements:
-
The general objectives of the stage adapted to the socio-cultural context of the school.
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-
The sequence of objectives, contents and evaluation criteria of the different areas per
cycle.
-
General methodological decisions that affect the following aspects: Methodological
principles, groupings, space, time and materials.
-
General decisions about the attention to pupils with special needs.
3.2.1. - Criteria to be reflected in the Curricular Project in relation to the foreign language
area:
Now, we are going to analyse how the foreign language area
could be reflected in the Curricular Project of the Stage. We are
going to resort to an example, as we did when talking about the
Educational Project.
Once the general objectives of the stage have been adapted to the socio-cultural context of the
school, the teaching staff should take decisions about the sequence of objectives, contents, and
evaluation criteria of each area along the different cycles. Since the establishment of this
sequence is a difficult task, the Ministry of Education published a Resolution of the 5th of
March 1992, that offered some criteria to establish such sequence.
In relation to the foreign language area, this Resolution says
that:
1. We must establish the sequence of objectives, contents and
assessment criteria, according to the principles of the
communicative approach. This means, that we should
develop the four linguistic skills in an interrelated way as
they are in real communication., and also connect the
different skills with our student’s interests and needs.
2.- To establish the sequence of objectives for the second and
third cycles, we should consider:
 The psychological stage of development of children
 Their previous knowledge
 Their communicative needs
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
The degree in which the abilities expressed in the
general
objectives are going to be developed in each
cycle, For instance, starting from the objective number
one of the foreign language area:
‘To understand simple and oral written texts about known objects, situations and events, using
general and specific information taken from those texts for specific purposes.’
We can sequence the abilities expressed in this objective, for
the second cycle of Primary education, as follows:
‘At the end of the second cycle pupils will be able to understand the general meaning of simple oral texts
emitted by the teacher with a simple structure and vocabulary, in familiar contexts, and with the help of
gestures, mime and any necessary repetition’
1. Regarding the SEQUENCE OF CONTENTS, the best way
to promote the development of communicative abilities is
organising them around procedures. If we decide to do it in
this way, we should consider several criteria, to follow a
logical progression in the difficulty of such procedures.
These criteria are defined according to:
- The type of oral or written texts
- The channel
- The type of comprehension
- The interlocutor
- The level of correction
Now, we are going to explain these criteria in detail.:
-
The type of oral or written texts
Here we must consider the length, vocabulary, the linguistic structures, and organisation of the oral
or written texts that we are going to use in class. Obviously, we must go from short simple texts to
more complex ones.
-
The channel
503
As far as channel is concerned we should consider if the oral or written messages that our students
should understand or produce are going to be transmitted in a face to face communicative situation, or
by means of a cassette recording or a written text. In this sense, we should start from face to face
communication, because mime, gestures and expressions help pupils to understand.
-
The type of comprehension
The type of comprehension refers to the information we ask them to extract from an oral or written
message. This comprehension may be global ( if they should get the general sense of the message) or
specific (if they have to extract specific details). The most logical progression goes from global to
specific comprehension.
-
The interlocutor
Regarding the interlocutor we should take into account if he/she is known or unknown for the student, if
he/she belongs to the school context or not. At the beginning we should work with close interlocutors
such as the teacher and the classmates.
- The level of correction
The level of correction deals with the demands about
correction in the oral and written production of students.
Obviously such demands increase along the cycles. At the
beginning, they should produce language correctly enough to
be understood.
3 .- Then, if we have decided to organise contents around
procedures, we should not forget that the three types of contents
(concepts, procedures and attitudes) must be considered in an
interrelated way. Then we should relate them as in the
following example:
“Recognising the characteristic sounds, rhythm and intonation
patterns of the foreign language, realising the importance of
being able to communicate in a foreign language
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To see this relation more clear, the Resolution of the 5 th of
March suggests that we can display them in a chart, as follows
EXAMPLE OF SEQUENCE OF CONTENTS FOR THE
SECOND CYCLE
Procedures
Concepts
-Characteristic
Recognising sounds
-Rhythm
and
intonation
patterns.
-Words
and
sentences in texts
Identifying
related
to
the
context of the
classroom
and
daily life
- of messages
with
the
following
communica
tive
intentions:
Global
*Greeting
comprehension
(hello!,good
morning...)
*Identifying
oneself
(I
am. ,My name
Attitudes
Realising the
importance of oral
communication in a
foreign language.
Showing
an
optimistic attitude
towards their own
ability
to
understand
the
foreign language
Showing
a
receptive attitude
towards
people
who
speak
a
different language.
505
is...)
*Giving
and
asking
for
basic personal
information
(using
expressions
such as: What
´s your name,
How old are
you?...)
- These
communicati
ve functions
should
be
related
to
topics
of
general use
and
wide
notions,
which
are
interesting
for children,
such as:
*The school,
family,
friends,
animals,
body, home,
numbers,
colours...
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- Of
information
previously
required in
contextualis
ed
situations*
Specific
comprehension
Showing
a
receptive attitude
towards
people
who
speak
a
foreign language.
*For instance, we ask children to fill a chart about the favourite sports of different characters from the textbook. First, we tell them what they are
going to listen to a conversation where the characters talk about things they like and dislike and what information they should pay attention to.
Then, we play the cassette or read the text aloud and they should complete the chart, with the specific information we have asked them for
(sports, in this case)
TENNIS
BASKETBALL
FOOTBALL
STEVIE
yes
yes
no
LUCY
yes
no
yes
ANNIE
no
yes
no
As we can see this task ask them to extract specific information (about favourite sports), previously
required by the teacher, in a contextualised situation,( as they already recognise the characters voices,
and know what they are talking about).
If we do this with all the general objectives we will have a list
of the contents of each cycle including concepts procedures and
attitudes.
These orientations are quite useful to establish the sequence of
objectives, contents and assessment criteria, in the second and
third cycle, but we must not forget that English has been
introduced in the 1st cycle in our Autonomous Community.
Then the Order of 30th of August published by the Department
of Education, Science and Technology of our Autonomous
Government says in its article number 3 that:
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“The centers must change and adapt their Curricular Project
partially as the objectives, contents and evaluation criteria of
the foreign language area, should be sequenced for three
cycles, instead of two”
Obviously, as we haven’t got our own curriculum yet, we must
take as reference the objectives, contents and evaluation criteria
of the R.D. 1344/91 of the 6th of September, which establishes
the national curriculum for primary Education.
However, the Department of Education, Science and
Technology of our Autonomous Government, has published a
document, made by foreign language teachers co-ordinated by
the Technical Inspection Service called “English in the first
cycle of Primary Education”. This document is not a law, it has
been published just to help teachers. Regarding the abilities,
skills and contents which should be worked in this cycle this
document says that:
In the FIRST CYCLE:
- The most important skill in the first cycle should be
listening.
- We must not force children to speak until they are ready to
do it. Then at the beginning they can show what they have
understood by means of non-verbal actions such as
movements, gestures, drawing, cutting, pointing, colouring...
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- Total Physical Response ( TPR) activities and songs are a
good way to help them link words and actions, and express
themselves in English in a funny and meaningful way.
- Written language should be avoided, especially in the first
year of the cycle, because they are learning to read and write
in their native language and the complex English spelling
could be confusing for them.
- Contents should be taught by means of didactic units,
organised around meaningful topics as: Family, Friends,
Christmas, Things of the classroom, The house, Food, Toys,
Clothes...
- Children must be already familiar with such topics in their
native language. Then, the co-ordination with the tutorteacher is very important to establish the sequence of the
different didactic units along the cycle.
SECOND CYCLE:
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According to the Resolution of the 5th of March, which
establishes some principles for the sequence of objectives,
contents and evaluation criteria, during the 2nd cycle we must
consider that:
Listening is still the most important skill, and we must help
children to:
Understand the global meaning of simple oral messages and
extract specific information previously required in
contextualised situations.
- The oral messages they have to understand should
present a simple structure and vocabulary and deal with
topics related to children’s interests and needs (such as
school, home, family, games, sports...)
As far as the development of speaking is concerned, pupils in
the 2nd cycle must learn simple linguistic structures, which can
be applied to a great number of communicative situations.
These situations could be:
*Habitual communicative situations in the classroom
such as: greeting, identifying oneself, asking for
permission, and asking for help.
* Situations created by the teacher to promote learning,
such as: Identifying and placing objects, people or
places, expressing quantity, expressing likes and
dislikes, giving simple instructions... In these situations
teachers should promote pupils interest in oral
communication by means of group activities
510
(simulations, games, and role-plays) where language is
used with a communicative aim
In spite of the importance given to oral language, the
written code is also present in the 2nd cycle from the first day.
As far as reading is concerned, we should help students to
develop their reading abilities in the foreign language, working
on words, short sentences, class instructions, simple
descriptions and very short stories, supported by pictures.
Children must start just identifying the written form of words
and sentences that they already know in the oral form. Then,
matching written words and sentences with pictures is the
typical reading activity at the beginning of the second cycle.
As far as writing is concerned, we must consider that at this
age ( 8 to 10 years old) the communicative needs related to
writing are still very limited, even in their native language. This
implies that written texts in this cycle should consist of:


Very short descriptions
Lists to perform tasks ( such as the list of things they
need for a party, or a shopping list)
Short messages between classmates (for example short
orders in games: go to the door, dance, stand on your
chair, go to the left/right...)


Birthday cards, and invitations, Christmas cards...
511
Finally, socio-cultural contents in the 2nd cycle should refer to
the daily life of children in the English-speaking countries,
including aspects such as: schedules, celebrations and festivals,
shops, traditional tales and songs.
IN THE THIRD CYCLE:
We must help students to go from comprehension to
production. The development of oral language is still the
main objective. The oral texts they must understand in this
cycle will be more complex and longer than in the previous
one, as children are already familiar with the sounds of the
foreign language, and they are able to use communicative
strategies to understand such as: listening for specific
information or just to get the general meaning of an oral text,
predicting what they think may come next, inferring opinion
and attitude from the intonation of the speakers or deducing the
meaning of new words from context
The oral texts we must offer them must be also related to their
interests and needs. For example:



Descriptions of places or people.
Conversations between children about their daily life,
hobbies, or opinions.
Fantastic situations based on traditional tales.
Regarding the oral productive skill (speaking) pupils in the
third cycle are able to:
512
Use verbal and non verbal strategies to be understood
(Verbal strategies could be: using a word instead of
another, replacing an specific word they don´t know for
a more general one or explaining the meaning of a word
they don´t know;
Non verbal strategies are: making gestures or sounds,
drawing, or pointing to objects, to solve communicative
problems)
 Use social relation formulas and expressions, which are
used to satisfy basic communicative needs such as
greeting, congratulating, thanking, apologising,
introducing oneself.... In this cycle most children know
what expression they should use according to the
communicative situation.
Then, by means to these abilities, they are able to participate in
oral exchanges to express their basic communicative needs in
the context of the classroom or in real or simulated contexts
related to their daily life (dealing with topics such as: home,
food, animals, sports, holidays...) correctly enough to be
understood.

Regarding WRITTEN COMMUNICATION, in the third
cycle we must consider:

The development of intensive and extensive reading:
Intensive reading refers to understand every word of short
texts (short descriptions or stories, personal letters,
advertisements or labels). Extensive reading refers to get
the global sense of longer texts, such as: tales, comics or
simple books for children with redundant visual support.
To read this kind of texts children can resort to the help of
513
the teacher or the dictionary. The most important thing in
extensive reading is enjoying the texts.

Writing in this cycle will focus on the production of
short simple texts in response to oral or written stimulus,
aimed at different readers and adapted to the different
communicative situations. These written texts will
include: short personal letters, descriptions and stories.
Finally socio- cultural contents in this cycle will deal with
aspects related to daily life in the English-speaking countries
and also with other socio-cultural aspects of those countries
related to the student´s interests, for instance: cars, sport,
famous people on pop stars, cinema, environment, cities,
famous buildings, sports...
514
Now, we are going to deal with the last decisions we must take
in the curricular project: the sequence of assessment criteria
and the methodological options.
2. - The sequence of assessment criteria, depends on the
sequence of objectives and contents, since they establish the
abilities that children should acquire at the end of the
Primary stage related to the contents they need to develop
such abilities. Then, according to the principles established
for the sequence of objectives and contents, an example of
sequence of an evaluation criterion, taken from the curricular
materials known as Red Boxes ( Lenguas Extranjeras. Mec.
1992)
SECOND CYCLE
3.- To identify
simple
details,
previously required
from oral texts
related to topics
which have been
studied in class,
and perform simple
instructions given
by the teacher in
the context of the
classroom.
THIRD CYCLE
3.-- To extract
specific
information
previously required
from oral texts,
with
a
simple
structure
and
vocabulary, which
deal with topics
which
are
interesting
and
familiar
for
students ( daily life,
likes and dislikes,
515
opinions
and
personal
experiences...)
Finally, THE LAST ELEMENT OF THE CURRICULAR
PROJECT, that we are going to consider, is the definition of
the General Methodological Options we are going to take
into account . To define such options we must follow the
recommendations of the Royal decree 1344/1991, 6 th
September, which establishes the basic requirements for
Primary Education, and also the methodological principles
established for the Primary Stage in general, and particularly
those principles established for the foreign language area . As
we have seen when talking about the different curricular
elements, the main aim of teaching a foreign language in
Primary Education will be getting students to communicate in
such foreign language.




Then, grouping, space and time must be understood in
a flexible way to allow students to participate in real
communicative interactions.
As far as materials is concerned, they should promote
activity on the part of students as well as being visual,
attractive and as authentic as possible.
We also should pay attention to diversity, designing
activities in which everyone could participate according
to his/her abilities.
And finally, according to this kind of methodology,
assessment should be used as a tool to improve the
learning–teaching process.
516
BIBLIOGRAPHY.
-
Ley Orgánica 1/1990, de 3 de octubre de Ordenación General del Sistema Educativo.
-
RD 1344/1991 de 6 de septiembre, por el que se establece el currículo de la Educación
Primaria.
-
RD 82/1996, de 26 de enero que establece el Reglamento Orgánico de las Escuelas de
Educación infantil y colegios de Educación primaria.
-
Resolución de 5 de marzo de 1992, de la Secretaria de Estado para la Educación, que regula la
elaboración de proyectos curriculares y establece orientaciones para la distribución de
objetivos, contenidos y criterios de evaluación.
-
Orden del 30 de agosto de 2000, por la que se establece y regula la impartición de la lengua
extranjera en el primer ciclo de Educación primaria, en el ámbito de la Comunidad Autónoma
de Extremadura.
-
MEC: Materiales para la Reforma, area de lengua extranjera. Madrid. Servicio de
publicaciones del MEC. 1991.
-
MEC. Proyecto Curricular. Materiales para la reforma. Madrid. Servicio de publicaciones del
MEC, 1991.
-
Brewster, Ellis and Girard. The primary English Teacher’s Guide. London. Penguin. 1992.
TEMA 20
EL ÁREA DE LENGUAS EXTRANJERAS EN EL CURRÍCULO. CRITERIOS A
REFLEJAR EN EL PROYECTO EDUCATIVO DEL CENTRO Y EN EL PROYECTO
CURRICULAR
0. INTRODUCTION
1. FOREIGN LANGUAGES AREA IN THE CURRICULUM
517
1.1.
GENERAL OBJECTIVES
1.2.
CONTENTS
1.3.
EVALUATION CRITERIA
2. THE EDUCATIVE PROJECT OF THE CENTRE AND THE CURRICULAR
PROJECT
2.1.
THE CURRICULAR PROJECT
2.1.1. BASES OF THE CURRICULAR PROJECT
2.2.2. OBJECTIVES OF STAGE AND OBJECTIVES OF CYCLE
2.2.3. EVALUATION
2.2.4. OTHER DECISIONS
3. BIBLIOGRAPHY
0. INTRODUCTION
+Language is a complex human activity that fulfils many functions,among them
we can name two basic functions: communication and representation. These
functions do not exclude each other, but they are interrelated within the linguistic
activity. Representing, either linguistically or not, is the most important aim of
communication. Communication at the same time contributes to represent the
physical and social reality. Learning and education must serve this double function of
communicating and representing.
Human beings communicate through different means and systems: gestures, music ,
symbols, numbers, etc. Verbal language, the most universal means of communication ,
Iet us receive and transmit different types of information and influence other people ,
as welI as they may exert their influence on us. Therefore, communication plays an
essential role within society.
518
+But language is not only an instrument of communication amongst persons. It
is also a means to represent the world , although the representation of the world
around us may be done through other non-linguistic means.
+In this topic, we will analize the general objectives of the foreign language
area, the contents and the evaluation criteria. Finally, we will analyze the School
Educational Project and the School Curricular Project.
1. FOREIGN LANGUAGES AREA IN THE CURRICULUM
+The ability to communicate in a foreign language is an actual need
nowadays. It is something fundamental wtthin the frame of the European Union not
only because of the comings and goings of people throughout Europe , either to work
abroad or to visit different countries, but also because of the world of
telecommunications and technique etc.
+However, the aims and functions of this area in compulsory education are not
exclusvely determined by these social expectancies. There are also deeply educative
reasons, derived from the importance of this area in the general educative objectives.
+The ability to communicate in a foreign language and the knowledge of the
same provide a great help to understand and control our own language and
behaviour. To contact other cultures through the channel of the language favours
comprehension and respect towards other ways of thinking and acting. In a
multilingual country as Spain is, learning a foreign language is highly interesting since
languages are not competitive amongst them , but they fulfil the same functions and
contribute to the same cognitive development.
Communicating and representing through language are simoultaneous and
interrelated functions within the linguistic activity. In the social exchange , language
helps us to transmit and receive information of very diverse nature , and therefore, to
influence other people, controlling and directing their activity, at the same time they
are influencing ours.
+But, language is a priviledged instrument of communication , thanks to its
capacity to represent reality in a way that is shared by all the members of the
519
community. Hence, when we learn a language we are learning a system of signs , but
also the cultural meaning these signs have, that is, dlfferent ways to interpret reality.
Together with these functional considerations , we must take into account the
structural features of language. From this point of view , language is defined as a
system of interrelated signs. When we describe the units of language we say that all
of them have a meaning, because they are in relation to the whole system. For that
reason, we must forget that the discourse is the concretion of language , since the use
of the rules in the three levels (phonetic- phonological, morphosyntactic and semantic)
depends on the communicative function we want to fulfill, and on the concrete
situation of production and reception of the message. Therefore, a study of the
language must comprise not only the sentence but the whole text and the context as
well.
+It is important to say tnat the aim of this curricular area is not to teach a
language, but to teach how to communicate through the use of it. This requires an
approach based upon communication and aimed to acquire communicative
competence. At the same time, communicative competence comprises:
-Grammatical competence or ability to put into practice the units and rules of
the system of the language.
-Discursive competence, or ability to use different types of discourse and to
organize them according to the communicative functions.
-Sociolinguistic competence or ability to make language suitable in a concrete
context.
-Strategic competence or ability to define, correct, or make adjustments
according to the communicative situation.
-Socio-cultural competence or the ability to attain a certain degree of familiarity
with the social and cultural context in which language is used.
+Summarizing, the development of the communicative competence implies to
be able to use a certain amount of "subcompetences " of different nature. "To say
something" and "To use language for something" are key elements in the teaching of
foreign languages. That is, communicative competence is taught through practice.
520
+The process of acquisition of a foreign language may be considered as a
creative construction in which the student makes hypotheses to conform the rules,
which constitute the new system. This process Iet him organize language
comprehensively, with the aim of producing messages in the different communicative
situations.
Although this process is common to all languages , we must underline some special
features in the case of a foreign language.
+The learning of a foreign language is not linear, but global. The chiId
progressively enriches the global idea of the new system. Therefore, the mistakes he
does, cannot be treated as mistakes, but as the evidence of the progressive control
over this new communicative system that he is acquiring.
We must say that the ways to process information also work when the student is not
buiIding messages. The usual periods of silence that exist , when the student is
beginning to Iearn a foreign Ianguage, must not be understood as "siIence", but as
periods in which an intense activity that cannot be observed is being carried out.
Through the receptive activities we may contribute to develop the concrete
competences of comprehension, but also the general communicative competence.
+The development of the linguistic skiIls (reading , writing, Iistening and
speaking) must be understood as, a process of integration. In real life, the majority of
activities contribute to develop different skiIIs. Threfore, they must not be studied
separately. However, students must be taught to create and consolidate these skiIIs in
order to be able to produce written and spoken messages.
+But, the Iearning of a foreign language, must go beyond a functional
approach. The members of a linguistic community share, by means of the language ,
some specific cultural meanings. Therefore, the teaching of a language must
introduce, the students into the most relevant features of the social and cultural
context.
521
In this way, the educative function of the foreign language becomes meaningful,
because it allows students to understand reality, to enrich their cultural world and to
favour the development of tolerant attitudes.
+AIthough the idea that children learn languages faster than adults cannot be
proved, there is enough evidence to show that Iearning must be done as soon as
possible, because, in no way this Iearning interferes the Iearning of the own mother
tongue, but it consolidates it.
Learning a foreign language in primary school contributes to overcome the typical
egocentrism and localism of the children.
+We must take into account that this stage is a period in which we make the
student "feel" this foreign language. The first contact must be carefully done, because
it is the warranty for a positive Iearning. It is important to use the most interesting
fields for these children, as well as the games as the maximum expression of what
they already control in their own mother tongue.
In the second cycle of primary education the students already have a fundamental
basis: the knowledge of their own language and of many expressions and words of
the foreign one, especiaIly learnt from the mass media. Besides, they have a vague
idea of the country where this language is spoken.
+If, as we have already said, the Iearning of a foreign language is a process of
creative construction from the received language, the receptive activities become
considerably important in this stage. Messages will fundamentally refer to contents
that are very close to the students to stimulate them. Besides, they must include the
aspects of the new language that are subject to be used in a wide variety of
situations. However, we must not forget written language. Students already know the
importance of the written code and its graphic representation. The fact that they are
Iearning to read and write at the same time is a good way of integrating the written
and oral skills in primary education.
1.1. GENERAL OBJECTIVES
522
+The teaching of the English language in Primary Education wiII have as main
objectives the following ones:
1. To understand oral and written texts. To understand simple oral and
written texts related to known objects, situations and events close to the
students, using the general and specific information transmitted by these
texts with specific purposes.
2. To use the foreign language oralIy. To use the foreign language orally to
communicate with the teacher and the other students in the usual
classroom activities and in the communication situations created to lead to
that aim, paying attention to the basic rules of interpersonal communication
and adopting a respectful attitude towards the others' views.
3. To produce short and simple written texts. To produce short and simple
written texts about topics which are familiar to the students, respecting the
basic rules of the written code.
4. To read in a comprehensive way short and simple texts. Read in a
comprehensive way short and simple text related to classroom activities ,
using their knowledge of the world, and their experiences and interests with
the aim of obtaining the necessary and specific information.
5. To recognize the value of foreign languages. To recognize and to
appreciate the communicative value of foreign languages and the ability to
learn to use them, showing an understanding and respectful attitude
towards other languages, their speakers, and their culture.
6. To understand and to use linguistic and non-linguistic conventions.
To understand and to use the linguistic and non-linguistic conventions used
by the foreign language speakers in everyday situations (greetings ,
523
farewells, introductions, congratulations, etc.) with the aim of making
conversation easier and more fluent.
7. To use the previous knowledge and experiences with other
languages. To use, in the foreign language learning process , the previous
knowledge and experiences with other languages and to develop
progressively learning strategies.
8. To establish relations among the meaning, the pronunciation, and the
graphic representation of words and sentences. To establish relations
among the meaning, the pronunciation and the graphic representation of
some words and simple sentences in the foreign language , apart from
recognizing phonetic, rhythm and intonation aspects of the foreign
language.
9. To use non-linguistic and expressive devices . To use the non-linguistic
expressive devices (gestures, body position , diverse sounds, drawings, etc)
to try to understand and be understood by using the foreign language.
1.2. CONTENTS
a) USES AND FORMS OF THE ORAL LANGUAGE
CONCEPTS
- Most habitual needs and situations to use the spoken language. Communicative
functions and characteristics of these situations:
*Communicative intentions: Greetings, identifications, asking and giving
information, identification and location of objects, descriptions, narrations ,
expressing needs and wishes, etc.
524
*Characteristics of the communicative situation: number and type of listeners ,
moment and place of communication, more or less formal situation, etc.
-
Vocabulary and linguistic structures required to express, orally, the basic needs of
communication
*Communicative intentions: greetings, identification, giving and asking for
information, identification and location of objects , descriptions, narrations,
needs and wishes, etc.
*General topics: Colours, numbers, weather, time, house, family, friends, class,
food, likes and dislikes, daily routine, animals, human body, sports, spare time ,
holidays, health, etc.
PROCEDURES
- To recognize and make familiar the sounds of the foreign language and its rythm
and intonation.
- To understand oral messages of different nature and from different sources
(teacher, other students, video, tapes):
*Global comprehension of oral messages about familiar topics.
*Specific comprehension of concrete simple messages in contextualized
situations.
-To react either linguistically and non-linguistically to different oral messages and
communicative situations:
*Production of common expressions aimed to satisfy simple needs of
communication (greetings, identification, asking and giving information ,
identification of objects, decriptions, etc).
*Use of basic messages previously learnt (polite expressions , etc.) adjusting
them to the specific features of the situation.
525
*Active participation in oral exchanges in order to express the most immediate
communicative needs within the class and in contexts closer to the student.
*Participation in the linguistic exchanges with the aim of having fun
(simulations, performances, etc.).
*Non-linguistic answers to oral messages (follow instructions , etc.).
-To recognize the grammatical formulas that help them to make questions, to assert,
to reject, to express possession, to quantify , to describe, to narrate, etc... and to use
them in order to achieve efficient communication.
-To recognize and use the basic strategies of communication, both linguistic (use one
word instead of another, etc.) or extralinguistic (gestures, drawings, etc.) which help to
overcome communicative problems.
- To use the native language's strategies of communication, which let us take
advantage of the limited knowledge of the foreign language.
ATTITUDES
-Awareness of the importance of oral communication in a foreign language.
-Awareness of the reality of a different culture , reflected in the language.
-Receptive and respectful attitude towards the persons who speak a foreign language
- Wish to express themselves in a foreign language , participating in the activities
(games, songs, etc.).
-Awareness of the corrections done when they interprete or produce a text.
- Positive and optimist attitude towards their own ability to speak in a foreign
language.
526
-Tendency to use imaginatively and creatively, oral messages previously learnt , in
different communicative situations.
b) USES AND FORMS OF THE WRITTEN LANGUAGE
CONCEPTS
- Most habitual needs and communicative situations to use the written language.
Communicative intentions and characteristics of these situations.
*Communicative intentions: greetings, identification and location of objects ,
expressing needs and wishes, etc.
*Characteristics of the communicative situation: type of Iisteners, more or less
formal situation, etc.
- Vocabulary and Iinguistic structures required to express the basic communicative
needs by writing.
*Communicative intentions: greetings, identification , giving and asking for
information, identification and location of objects, descriptions, narrations , etc.
*General topics: colours, numbers, time, house, family, class, food, likes and
dislikes, sports, etc.
527
- Names of the letters in a foreign language and their
correspondence within the writing system.
- Relations between the meaning of the words , their
pronunciation and graphical representation.
PROCEDURES
- Production of written texts adjusted to the features
of the reader and of the communicative situation.
- Understanding of the written messages of different
nature.
*Global comprehension of written messages
related the activities done in class.
*Global
comprehension
of
brief
written
messages related to the most immediate needs of
communication and to the interests of the
speakers.
*Global
comprehension
of
easy
authentic
materials, with visual backing about daily-life
topics.
528
*Awareness of the specific elements, previously
learnt, in texts which have unkown words and
expressions, such as invitations for a birthday
party, cards, magazines, etc.
- Use of the grapho-phonic correspondences to spell,
for instance, the name and the surname, etc.
- Production of written texts directed to different
readers, answering oral and written stimuli.
- Solution of games which require the knowledge of
the vocabulary and the ortography used in class.
- Awareness of grammatical structures in written
texts.
- Awareness of some sociocultural aspects which
differentiate the foreign language from the
mother tongue.
ATTITUDES
- lnterest and curiosity towards the written texts and
appraisal of the role they play in order to satisfy
communicatlve needs.
529
-Awareness and appraisal of the importance of
reading and writing in a foreign language.
- Appraisal for the correct interpretation of easy
written texts.
- Interest to know the vocabulary and the basic
linguistic structures required to express the
essential communicative needs in different
situations.
- Disposition to overcome the difficulties that the use
of a foreign language creates, by paying attention
to the communicative strategies of the mother
tongue.
c) SOCIOCULTURAL ASPECTS
CONCEPTS
- Social and cultural aspects of the countries where
the foreign language studied is spoken.
*Expressions and gestures which go together
with the oral expressions: tone, gestures, etc.
*Daily-life aspects: Timetables, habits, images of
that culture, etc.
530
*Spare time: games, songs, sports, places, etc.
d)Presence in Spain of the foreign language learnt:
labels, songs, films, etc.
PROCEDURES
-Awareness of some aspects of the countries where
the foreign language is spoken.
- Contextualized use in habitual situations of some
rules and habits of the countries where this
language is spoken.
- Comparison of the most relevant aspects of daily
life in the countries where the foreign language is
spoken, and our own country.
- Use of authentic materials with the aim of getting
the desired information.
A TTITUDES
- Curiosity and respect for the most relevant aspects
of daily life and for other sociocultural aspects of
the countries where this language is spoken.
- Appraisal of the sociolinguistic behaviours which
help cohabitation.
531
- Interest to know people from other countries.
532
1.3. EVALUATION CRITERIA
1. To recognize and reproduce the characteristic
phonemes of the foreign language. To recognize
and reproduce the characteristic phonemes of
the foreign language as well as the basic models
of rhythm and intonation, in words and
sentences which appear in the context of real use
of the language.
2. To grasp the general meaning of oral texts . To grasp
the general meaning of oral texts uttered in face
to face communication situations, with the help
of gestures and mime and the necessary
repetitions,
in
which
there
will
appear
combinations of elements previously learnt and
which deal with familiar topics, known by the
student.
533
3. To extract specific information. To extract specific
information, previous required, from oral texts
with a simple structure and vocabulary which
deal with familiar topics that interest the student
(daily life, likes, preferences, opinions and
personal experiences).
4. To participate in short oral exchanges . To participate
in short oral exchanges related to usual
classroom
understandable
characteristics
activities
discourse
of
the
producing
adapted
situation
an
to
the
and
the
communicative purpose.
5.To participate in simulated communication situations .
To participate in simulated communication
situations which have been previously practised
in the classroom, using properly the most usual
social interaction formulae in the foreign
language.
534
6.To extract the general meaning and some specific
information. To extract the general meaning and
some specific information from short written
texts with a lineal development, simple structures
and vocabulary, which deal with familiar topics
that interest the student.
7.To read simple children's books. To read with the
help of the teacher or, the dictionary simple
children's books written in the foreign language
with visual backup and show comprehension by
means of a specific task.
8.To produce short written texts. To produce short
written texts, comprehensible and adapted to the
characteristics
of
the
situation
and
the
communicative purpose, in which those contents
that have been worked in the class can be seen.
535
9.To
recognize,
some
sociocultural
aspects.
To
recognize, some sociocultural aspects typical of
the foreign language speaking community which
are implicit in the linguistic samples worked on
in the classroom.
2. THE EDUCATIVE PROJECT OF THE CENTRE AND THE CURRICULAR
PROJECT
+One of the aspects that the Educative Reform has put more emphasis on, is
the need to give more independence to the centres, since they are the key of the
educative system. This autonomy is extremely necessary, because the educative
process cannot be the same in all the centres, since it has to answer the cultural and
socioeconomic context in which centres are placed, as well as students and their
families.
The reflection about all these specific needs must give the lines to establish the
specific features that make the centre have its own educative style. It is good that all
the centres have their own choices.
+The LODE ("Ley Orgánica del Derecho a Ia Educación ”) provides that the
centres will have autonomy to establish the optional subjects, to adapt the
programmes and to adopt the teaching methods they wish, whenever they do not
discriminate any member of the educative community, and always under the law.
+The Educative Project of a Centre is the document that comprises the
decisions or ideas taken by the whole educative community with respect to the basic
educative options and to the general organization of the centre.
In the Educative Project of a Centre and according to the sociocultural and economic
context of the same, we must establish the decisions taken regarding questions such
as who we are, what we want, etc., for instance:
536
- The signs of identity.
- The objectives or aims of the centre in which these signs are
concreted.
- The revision of the general objectives of the Curriculum.
- The relations of cooperation amongst all the persons in charge of
putting the objectives into practice.
The organization that will make these objectives possible, which is
-
specified in the "Reglamento de Régimen Interior".
2.1. THE CURRICULAR PROJECT
+The decisions established in the Educative Project must be specified in the
Curricular Project where these principles are explained in order to answer questions
like what, when and how to evaluate and teach.
+The most important idea of the Curricular project is that is a process and
therefore, it is never ended and it has to be revised very often, because the quality of
the teaching can always be improved.
+There are some steps that must be followed to elaborate the Curricular
Project:
- Elaboration:
Body of teachers of the Staqe
- Coordination:
Committee of Pedagogic Coordination
- Approval:
Teaching Staff of the centre
- Report:
Educative Council
- Supervision:
Technical inspection
+The aims of the curricular project are:
1.
To increase the coherence of the educative practice through the
decisions taken by the whole body of teachers of a stage.
537
2.
To increase the competence of the teachers through the
evaluation of their work.
3.
To adjust the ideas of the M.E.C. to the context.
+In order to achieve these aims, the Reform has created a more opened
curricular model. This model is characterized by the fact that the educative
administrators, that is, the M.E.C., establish a lower level of prescription, and
therefore they favour the autonomy of the teaching bodies.
+In the curricular project the prescriptions of the M.E.C. are specified
according to the peculiarities of the Comunidades Autónomas and , then, of every
centre. The objectives that the educative process tries to achieve in every stage, are
explained in the "Reales Decretos de Currículo". The internal decisions taken for
every stage are specified in the Curricular Project. Therefore, a centre in which there
are students from 3 to 12 years old, will have a single educative project, but two
curricular projects: one for the first stage (Infantil) and another for the second
(Primaria).
+Once the curricular project has been established, the Programmes of Class
will be made. This third level of concretion will comprise the decisions taken for every
specific group of students.
2.1.1. BASES OF THE CURRICULAR PROJECT
+We have four great sources to elaborate the Curricular project:
-
The educative project.
-
The analysis of the background.
- The basic curriculum that the M.E.C. and the Comunidades Autónomas have
established.
-
The experience derived from the teaching practice of the centre.
538
+The Educative Project will be a guide as long as the identity signs of the centre and
its aims are specified in it.
+The analysis of the context is fundamental, since the aim of the curricular
project is to concrete and adapt the decisions that the M.E.C. has taken
regarding education in all schools, to the specific needs of every centre.
+In the curricular project, the context is analyzed according to the students of every
stage, which usually have very difterent features. It also comprises the
methodological options, the evaluation or the best way to organize the sequence of
the abilities and contents in the cycle.
+Another source from which the curricular project is specified, and one of the
most important, is the previous experience of the centre that will be more or
Iess explicitly explained in its programmes.
2.2.2. OBJECTIVES OF STAGE AND OBJECTIVES OF CYCLE
+ As we have seen in the first section, the general objectives of stage have
the following characteristics:
-
They are defined in terms of abilities and not of behaviours.
-
These abilities must regard all the fields of development (motility,
intellectuality, personal balance, interpersonal relations, social attitude
and relations).
-
They must try to comprise the abilities within the different fields, with the
aim of underlining the relations that they have amongst them.
+ But apart from these objectives, The Real Decreto de Curriculo provides
that:
"The cycle is the temporal curricular unit of programme and evaluation in the Primary
Education(...)."According to what has been previously established, the same
teachers wiII work with the same group of students throughout the whole cycle, if
they are working in the same centre"(...)."The projects wilI comprise at least, the
contents provided for an educative cycle, and they wilI have to be related to the
general plan of the corresponding stage".
539
+It is necessary to establish some previsions about the internal sequences of
the cycle, according to the following criteria:
- Coherence of the evolutive development and the previous learning of the
student.
- Coherence of the learning.
- Contents as the basis of the sequence.
- Limited basic ideas.
- Continuity and proggression.
- Balance (the abilities developed in the objectives must be balanced).
- Interrelation (the different types of contents, concepts, procedures and
attitudes must be conveniently related amongst them).
- Cross-curricular/Transversal themes (very important in Primary education).
- Didactic strategies that will be used throughout the stage
2.2.3.EVALUATION
+We wiII evaluate.
-
The students' Iearning,
- The process of teaching and our own teaching practice , with relation to the
achievement of the educative objectives of the curriculum.
- We will also evaluate the curricular project itself , the teaching programme and
the actual development of the curriculum.
+In order to evaluate the Iearning process we have to take some decisions
regarding the situations, strategies and instruments of evaluation. The requisites that
the procedures of evaluation must fulfill are:
-
To be varied.
-
To give concrete information.
-
To use different codes.
-
To be applicable to more or Iess structured situations of the
learning activity.
540
-
To evaluale the transference of the Iearning to different
contexts.
+The evaluation is determined in the Curricular Project and, therefore, it must
also be decided how to communicate its contents to parents, students, and the rest of
the teachers.
+In conclusion ,in the Curricular Project we must also concrete when, how
and what we have to evaluate.These aspects must follow three basic lines:
-Initial evaluation: Through this, the teacher knows the actual and previous
knowledge his students have in order to develop the didactic unit with the best
results. Previous knowledge is what the students already know both regarding
the conceptual aspects, and the procedures and the attitudes that are going to
be involved in the development of the unit. However, through the activities, the
knowledge of the students in these three aspects must be checked. This helps
the teacher to readjust his teaching to the reality of his students in order to
make them capable to relate the new information with that they already have
and therefore, to achieve a significant learning.
-Formative evaluation: The different activities the unit has, constitute by
themselves a procedure of formative evaluation. Throughout the whole
didactic unit the students have the chance of analyzing their own progress ,
since every activity includes a moment to reflect, comment or contrast,
their achievements and learning problems. The teacher also readjusts the
following settings depending on the results they get.
-Summative evaluation: It is the evaluation of the learning that the students
have achieved throughout the unit. The activities designed to evaluate, follow
the same patterns of the activities done throughout the whole unit. This make
possible that the teacher judges their work according to the same criteria
established to achieve the objectives proposed in the development of the unit.
+In the Curricular Project, we must as weIl include the criteria to promote the
students to the next cycle:
541
"In the context of the process of continuous evaluation when the progress of a
student does not globally respond to the programmed objectives, the teachers
wiIl adopt the suitable measures of educative reinforcement and of curricular
adjustment".
2.2.4. OTHER DECISIONS
+In addition we have to take many other decisions:
1. Groups:
- Level of learning.
- Groups which favour a better interaction.
-Groups with different or special needs
2.
Time and spaces:
-
Use of the common spaces.
-
Distribution of the space within the class.
-
General timetable of the centre.
-
Excursions and common activities of the whole centre or of the groups.
+That is to say, the distribution of time within the class must be organized
according to the Project. There must be enough time to develop global units, to make
some activities that require a specific sequence of time to be done, time to make
activities with other groups outside the class, etc.
3. Materials and didactic recourses
+The materials and didactic recourses are another fundamental factor of the
educative practice. For that reason, it is important to select those that are going to be
used and to establish the criteria for their use in the curricular project since they are
decisions that the whole teaching body must share.
542
+Regarding the latter, that is, the materials directed to the students, we must
identify the kind of materials we need: texts, workbooks, exercises, tapes, plastic
materials, etc. We must also differentiate which materials will be used in every cycle.
+The selection of materials the centres do , must take into account the following
criteria:
- They must not be discriminatory.
- They must be used by all the students.
- They must not spoil the environment.
- They must not be excesively sophisticated.
- They must be suitable for the age of the students , whom they are
directed to.
- They must include the norms for the security that their use requires, as
well as their components and other features (size, weight, etc.).
+In the case of printed curricular materials, we must take into account the
following criteria for their selection:
1) To know the educative objectives that these texts have and to
check to what extent they are corresponding to those established
in the centre for a certain group.
2) To analyze the contents worked in order to check if there is a
correspondence between the objectives and the contents. We
must develop the different types of contents (concepts,
procedures and attitudes), as well as the transversal themes.
3) To revise the sequences of learning that are proposed for the
different contents. It is important to analyze the progression that
the objectives and the contents follow, both in their distribution
throughout the different cycles and in their internal organization.
4) To analyze the suitability of the criteria of evaluation proposed
by the curricular project of stage.
543
5) To analyze the activities proposed in order to see if they fulfil
the conditions for a significant learning. In this point, it is specially
important to pay attention to the activities that must be done in
the different moments of the process of learning and teaching.
6) To adapt these materials and didactic recourses to the
educative context in which they are used.
+From a communicative point of view, in our area, language teaching sees
materials as a way of influencing the quality of classroom interaction. The primary
role of materials is therefore to promote communicative language use.
4.
Methodological principles:
+In the case of our area, as explained in the first part of this theme we will have
to take into account the guidelines given in the introduction of our Primary Curriculum,
Royal Decree 14/9/ 91, which establishes the minimum teaching requirements in
Primary Education.
1.English teaching does not involve teaching a language , but teaching to
communicate in English. This means that we will adopt a communicative
approach which aims at the acquisition of a communicative competence.
2.We should favour functional learning. This means that the students should be
able to use the language in communicative situations.
3.We should promote meaningful learning. This entails that the learners will build
up their own linguistic competence by using learning strategies and by making
hypotheses about me way in which language works starting from the linguistic
input.
4.English teaching should provide students with both a new linguistic experience
544
and a human/social experience. In this light, we will develop attitudes such as
cooperation and respect to the others and contribute to develop the learners’
socialization skills by promoting social relations through pair work and group
work.
5.The four linguistic skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing) must be
developed in an interrelated way ,, since in real life we cope with communicative
situations which require different skills.
However, at this stage receptive skills (especially listening) are more important
than productive skills.
6.Variety.Variety involves using a wide range of materials and activities In the
classroom.
We should introduce variety for three reasons:
The students motivation will be better.
Our pupils’ attention span is short and they thus need to do different things.
Lessons will be more enjoyable.
7.The language items should be presented in context. Give that any language
is a system of interrelated signs, the linguistic elements should appear in
discourse where their meaning depends on the communicative function and
communicative situation.
Besides, the new language must be sensitive to being used in a wide range of
communicative situations.
8.Foreign language teaching must introduce the most relevant sociocultural
features of the foreign culture, since any language reflects a way of
understanding and constructing reality.
9.It is important to teach contents and plan activities which meet the students'
interests and needs in order to develop a positive attitude towards English
learning. In this way the pupils will be more likely to succeed.
545
10.We should take into account the students' previous knowledge about the
foreign language (foreign sounds and words) and the foreign culture (famous
people, films, songs,...).This will reinforce the meaningful character of learning
contents, since the pupils will be able to link what they already know with what
they are learning, thus increasing their motivation to learn English.
3. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Materiales para la Reforma. Primaria. MEC. Madrid, 1992.
M.E.C. : L.O.G.S.E. Madrid. 1991.
Pozuelo, M.L. & Rodriguez, M.A. Proyecto curricular del área de ingles. Escuela
Española. Madrid. 1994.
Propuesta de Secuencia. Lenguas Extranjeras. MEC-Escuela Española. Madrid,
1992.
EVALUATION
+We wiII evaluate.
-
The students' Iearning,
-
The process of teaching and our own teaching practice, with relation to the
achievement of the educative objectives of the curriculum.
546
-
We will also evaluate the curricular project itself, the teaching programme and
the actual development of the curriculum.
+In order to evaluate the Iearning process we have to take some decisions
regarding the situations, strategies and instruments of evaluation. The requisites that
the procedures of evaluation must fulfill are:
-
To be varied.
-
To give concrete information.
-
To use different codes.
-
To be applicable to more or Iess structured situations of the
learning activity.
-
To evaluale the transference of the Iearning to different contexts.
+The evaluation is determined in the Curricular Project and, therefore, it must
also be decided how to communicate its contents to parents, students, and the rest of
Ihe teachers.
Finally, it is convenient to use the Curricular Project to establish the function of the
tutor, as the last responsible of the evaluation. The role of the psychopedagogic
counsellor of the centre must also be determined here. From the resulís of Ihe
evaluation, Ihe teachers wiil adopí Ihe necessary measures, as indicated in Ihe Real
Decreto de Currículo:
1
'AI Ihe end of every cycle and as a consecuence of Ihe process of evaluation, Ihe
tutor of Ihe studenís wiII dec¡de if lhey can promote lo Ihe next cyclelaking mío
account Ihe other teachers' reporís".
'When Ihe evaluation ¡5 continuous, and Ihe progress of a studení does nol globaIly
respond lo Ihe programmed objectives, Ihe teachers wiIl ado pl Ihe necessary
measures of educative reinforcemení or of curricular adjustment".
547
In conclusion ,in the Curricular Project we must also concrete when, how and what
we have to evaluate:
-Initial evaluation: Trough this, the teacher knows the actual and previous
knowledge his students have in order to develop the didactic unit with the
best results. Previous knowledge is what the students already know both
regarding the conceptual aspects, and the procedures and the attitudes
that are going to be involved in the development of the unit. However,
through the activities, the knowledge of the students in these three aspects
must be checked. This helps the teacher to readjust his teaching to the
reality of his students in order to make them capable to relate the new
information with that they already have and therefore, to achieve a
significant learning.
-Formative evaluation: The different activities the unit has, constitute by
themselves a procedure of formative evaluation. Throughout the whole
didactic unit the students have the chance of analyzing their own progress ,
since every activity includes a moment to reflect, comment or contrast,
their achievements and learning problems. The teacher also readjusts the
following settings depending on the results they get.
-Summative evaluation: It is the evaluation of the learning that the
students have achieved throughout the unit. The activities designed to
evaluate, follow the same patterns of the activities done throughout the
whole unit. This make possible that the teacher judges their work
according to the same criteria established to achieve the objectives
proposed in the development of the unit.
+In the Curricular Project, we must as weIl include the criteria to promote the
students to the next cycle:
548
"In the context of the process of continuous evaluation when the progress of a
student does not globally respond to the programmed objectives, the teachers wiIl
adopt the suitable measures of educative reinforcement and of curricular adjustment ".
(initial, formalive and summative evalualion). of course, initial evalualion musí be
done al Ihe beginning of every cyc;le in order lo determine Ihe level of Ihe students.
However, ¡lis also very profitable lo do Ihis evaluation al Ihe beginning of eve~ unit, in
order lo specifv Ihe previous knowiedge of Ihe students about Ihe contenis.

We musí also evaluale the teaching process lhroughout Ihe academic vcar.
The besí momení lo do so~ ¡5 al Ihe end of a cycle, and s~eciaIly, Ihe momení in
which a group finishes a síage, because Ihe leachers may evaluale Ihe Curricular
Projecl.qlobally, as ¡1 ¡s provided in Ihe "Real Decreto de Régimen Orgánico de los
Centros de Infantil y Primaria".
+In the Curricular Project, we must as weIl include the criteria to promote the
students to the next cycle:
"In the context of the process of continuous evaluation when the progress of a
student does not globally respond to the programmed objectives, the teachers wiIl
adopt the suitable measures of educative reinforcement and of curricular adjustment ".
T .THE EDUCATIVE PROJECT OF THE CENTRE AND TH-E
549
CURRICULAR PROJECT
2.1. THE EDUCATIVE PROJECT OF THE CENTRE
@ One of-the aspects that the Educative Reform has put more emphasis on, is the
need
- . ......
-- .-to give more independent S, Since they are the key Of the educative system. This
autonomy is ëktremely necessary, because the educ-liL--lve process cannot be the
same in all the
centres, since it has to answer the cultural and socioeconomic context in which
centres are
placed, as well as students and their families.
The reflection about all these specific Meeds must give the lines to establish the
species
features that make the centre have its own educative style. It is good that all the
centres have
their own choices.
* The LODE (''Le-v Oroénica del Derecho a Ia Educaciön'') provides that the centres
will
have autono ' e o tional sub'ects, to adapt the programmes and to adopt the
teaching methods th ye wish. whenever they do not discriminate any member of the
educative
community, and always under the law.
* The Educative Pro'ect of a Centre is the documentthat comprises the decisions or
ideas
taken b the whole educative commune with respect to the basic educative options
and to the
general organi/qtion of the centre.
In-the Ed-ucative Project of a Centre and according to the sociocultural and economic
context of the same, Fe must es-tablish the decisions taken regarding questions such
as w-ho
we are, what we want, etc., for instance:
+
550
- The signs of identity.
- The objectives or aims of the centre in which these signs are concreted.
- The revision of the general objectives of the Curriculum.
- The relations of-cooperation amen st all the arsons in charge of putting the
objectives into practice.
- The organization that will make these objectives possible, which is specified in the
''Reglamento de Regimen Interior''.
* The decisions establishe ' - 've Pro'ect must be s edified in the Curricular
Project inci les are explained in order to answer questions like what, how, when 4
and how to evalua and-leach.
-7L- .
:.2. THE GENERAL PROGRAMME OF THE CENTRE
* The General Pro-gramme of the centre is done according to two types of
information:
- -- - - . .
' a) The decisions that due to their nature, will change every ear.
b) The decisions taken from the revision of the educative project ànd of the curricular
. ''- . - . - - - . . . . - - . .- - .
project.
k In this sense, the general annual programme will include the following elements:
- The complementafy-ac-tivities that the centre is going to develop.
- T% of the centre.
- The administrative records. .
- The new decisionsthat must be included in the educative project and in the
curricular
Vr j e c t . - ln this way, the centres will not have to do these projects every year, and they will
only
be those aspects of the same that the evaluation of the centre requires.
Z..A THE CURRICULAR PROJECT OF THE CENTRE
. - -0
%:h )
551
e,1A tone
7.3.1. Aims of the curricular project (e-,i
1. To increase the coherence of the educative tactile throw h the decisions taken by
the whole body of te-achers o-f a stage.
2. To increase the competence of the teachers through the evaluation of their work.
3. To adjust the ideas of the M.E.C. to the context.
k41 In order to achieve these aims, th-a -Reform has-created-a more ope-nod
curricular model.
This model is characterized by the fact that the educative administrators, that is, the
M.E.C.,
establish a lower Iqvel of prescription, and therefore they favour the autonomy of the
teaching
bodies.
1 In the curricular project the prescriptions of the M.E.C. are specified according to
the
e
peculiarities of eve centre. The ob'ectives that the educative recess tries to achieve in
every
sta e are ex gained in the ''Reales Decretos de Currfculo''. The internal decisions
taken for eve
stage are specified in the Curricular Project. Therefore, a centre in which there are
students from
3 to 12 years old, will have a sing e educative project, but two curricular projects: one
for t e
552
first stage (lnfantil) and another for the second (Primaria).
a/ Once the curricular reject has been established, the Pro ramies of Class will be
made. This third level of concretion will comprise the decisions taken for every
specific group Uf
Qf students.
-'v....
2.3.t7.Bases of the curricular Project: -.- .
- w ... j s jyyyy.... . Wxm
xxx.
We have four great sources to elaborate the Curricular p Jro'ect: -'
,'
- The educative proles.
- The analysis of the background.
- The basic curriculum that the M.E.C. has established.
- The experience derived from the teaching practice of the centre.
The Educative Pro-ect will be a uide as long as the identity signs of the centre and
its aims are specified in it.
T-he analysis of the context is fundamental, s-ince the aim of the curricular project is
to
concrete and adapt the decisions that the M.E.C. has taken regarding education in all
schools,
to the specific needs of every centre. '
In the curricular project, the context is analyzed according to the students of every
stage, which usually have very different features. It also comprises the
methodological options,
the evaluation or the best way to organize the sequence of the abilities and contents
in the
cycle.
A-nother-source-from which the curricular project is specified, and one of the most
553
important, is the precious experience o-f the centre that will be more or less explicitly
explained
.. -.- -- .. .. . . ... . irl its ;rOQ rzrlll'l'l OS .
- * '- .>
,2 3..7:: objectives of stage:
*
- They are defined in terms of abilities and not of behaviours.
- These' abilities must regard all the fiends of development (motility, intellectuality,
ersonal balance, interpersonal relations, social attitude and relations).
P
i the abilities within the different fiends, with the aim of
- They must try to comer se
underlining the relations that they have amongst them.
a. Sequences of objectives according to the cycles:
The Real Decreto de Curricula provides that:
''The cycle is the temporal curricular unit of programme and evaluation in the
Primary Educat--.qpi ''(...).''According to what has been previously established, the
same teachers will work with me same group of students throughout the whole
cycle, if they are working in the same centre''(...).''The projects will comprise at
least, the contents provided for an educative cycle, and they will have to be related
to the general plan of the corresponding stage''. '
It is necessa to establish some revisions about the internal sequences of the cycle,
according to the follow-i-ng oriterig-.- Co-herence of-the evolutîve development and the previous learning of the student.
554
--- Coherence Of the learning. -- Contents as the basis of the sequence.
- Limited basic ideas.
- Contin'uity and progrqAnînm.
- Balance. (the abilities developed in the objectives must be balanced).
- Ir-trf-.l--?t el ti n (the different types of contents, concepts, procedures and attitudes
must
be conveniently related amongst them).
- Transversal themes (very important in Primary education).
b. Didactic strategies that will be used throughout the stage, must be determined
..... '''' '' ..... -M
when we elaborate the Curricular Project.
T.3. .q. M-eth-o-dologjca-l de-cisions:--.G
1 . Methodological principles.
2. Groups.
3. Time.
4. Spaces.
5. Materials.
1. Metho-dological prin-ciplestto achie-ve a significant Iearning:lg-yAdwt//xoy Cc
.t
- To start from the level of development of the students and, therefore, according
to their previous learning.
- To make sure that they achieve a significant learning, using their previous
knowledge and a comprehensive memorization.
- To make possible that the students significantly learn by themselves.
- To create situations in which they must put their knowledge up-to-date.
- To motivate l-p>tr l-e-a-r-rl.-i..-nq.. - .. ... . . .... . ...- .. . .
- To create learning situations that require an intense mental activity from the
student.
- To encourage interaction within the class as the basis of the learning.
2. Criteria to group the students-:
- Level of learn-ing.
555
- G- roues which -favour a better.interac-tio-n-. e?
- Groups with different needs must be separated. .
..-.--- mw.
N..x
3. & 4. Organization of span.-es and .times: '--w...
Nu.
. X'X'
- Use of the common spaces.
- Distribution of the space within the class.
- Ge-ne-ral timetable --of the centre.
- Excursions and common activities of the whole centre or of the groups.
The distribution of time within the class must be organized according to the Project.
There must be enough time to develop global units, to make some activities that
require
a specific sequence of time to be done, time to make activities with other groups
outside the class, etc.
5. Materials and didactic recourses:
. The materials and identic recourses are another fundamental factor of edu ' e
practice. For that reason, it is important to select-those that are going to be used and
' to establish the criteria for their use in the curricular pro'ect since the are decisio s
that the whole teacher bod must share. ' '
We must distinguish between the curricular materials and those materials directed to
the students. The former must serve to guide the teaching process. Théy may be
used
in two main situations: in the elaboration and realization of the curricular project of
556
stage, and' in the elaboration of the programmes, because they will concrete the
didactic objectives, the activities, etc.
. Regarding the latter, that is, the materials directed to--sludents- we must identify thy
kind
of materials we need'. te-'- s, wor-kb-ooks, exercises, tapes, plastic materials, etc. We
must
also differentiate which materials will be used in every cycle.
''< .
z ' 'NNN. ..
. The selection of materials the centres do, must take into account the following
criteria:
- They must no-! be discriminatory.
- They must be used by all the students. . '
- They must not s oil the environment.
- The.y must not be excesively sophisticated.
- T e must be suitable for the age of the students, whom they are directed to.
- They must include the norms for the security that their use re wires, as Well as
their components and other features (sipe, weight, etc.).
xx-a
. ''W
. .=
* In the case of printed curricular material we must take into account the following
557
i - ctibncriteria or .
To know the educative objectives that these texts have and to check to what extent
they are corresponding to those established in the centre for a certain group.
z To analyze the contents worked in order to check if there is a correspondenc-e
between the objectives and the contents. We must develop the different types of
contents (concepts, procedures and attitudes), as well as the transversal themes.
p To revise the sequences of learning that are proposed for the different contents. It
is
important to analyze the progression that the objectives and the contents follow, b0th
in their distribution throughout the different cycles and in their internal organization.
L1 To anal ze the suitabili of the criteria of evaluation ro used b the curricular ro'ect
of stage.
S T-o analyze the activities proposed. in -order to see if they fulfill the conditions for a
significant learning.. In this point, it is specially important to pay attention to the
activities
that must be done in the different moments of the process of learning and teaching.
The
same activity may help the student to learn and the teacher to have information about
the previous knowledge. The following activities must appear in every didactic unit:
. Activities-of introdu-ction-motivatio--n: They must motivate the students to learn the
reality they are going to be taught.
. Activities of previous knowledge: They are done in order to know the ideas and
opinions of the students about the contents they are studying.
wActivities of development: They help to know the concepts, the procedures or the
new attitudes.
1 -w- ..-..
eActivities of synthesis-summary: They are those which make the relation between
the different contents already learnt easier.
. Activities of consolidation: They are programmed for the students who have not
achieved a significant knowledge.
558
. Activities of extension: They let the students go on learning! after doing the
activities of development and those which are not essential for the learning
process.
. Activities of evaluation: They will include the activities directed to the initial,
formative and summating evaluation, which were not covered by the previous
.
.
activities.
6 To adapt these materials and didactic recourses to the educative context in which
they
..
.. . .. . . -----. . ...
559
. Evaluation within the curricular project
az
@ Teachers will evaluate be-th the s-tud-ents' learning, th-a process of teaching and
their own
teaching practice, with relation to the achievement-of the educative objectives of the
cu. rriculum.
*---*--- .. . ----.----.. . --' .. .- ---. ---.
560
The will also evaluate the curricular ro'ect itself, the teaching programme and the
actual
development of the curriculum. 3
There are two main aspects, to be considered to establish the criteria of evaluation:
- The peculia-rities of the pwn context of the centre. - The criteria of evaluation of
every centre.
The function of the criteria is mainly formative. It is essential to have criteria of
evaluation
for every cycle.
* In order to evaluate the learning process we have to take some decisions regarding:
the situations, strategies and instruments of evaluation. The req-uisites that the
procedures of
evaluation must fulfill are:
- To be varied..
- To give concrete information.
- To apse diff. event codes.
- To be a likable to more or I caused situated s of the learning activity.
- To evaluate the transference of the learning to different contexts.
561
''xx.
The evaluation is determined in the Curricular Project and, therefore, it must also be
decided how to communicate its conte agents students, and the rest of the teachers.
Finally, it is convenient to use the Curricular Project to establish the function of the
tutor, as the last responsible of the evaluation. The role of the psychopedagogic
counsellor of the centre must also be determined here. From the results of the
evaluation, the teachers will adopt the necessary measures, as indicated in the Real
Decreto de Currfculo:
''At the end of eve? cycle and as a consequence of the process of evaluation, the
tutor
of the students will decide if they can promote io the next cycle, taking into account
the
other teachers' reports''
'When the evaluation is continuous, and the progress of a student does not globally
respond to the programmed objedives, the teachers will adopt the necessary
measures
of educative reinforcement or of curricular adjustment''.
l articular Pro'ed we must also concrete when we have to evaluate (initial,
formative and summarize evaluation). Of course, initial evaluation must be done at
the beginning
. - -.
562
of every cycle in order to determine the level of the students. However, it is also very
profitable
to do this evaluation at the beginning of every unit, in order to specify the previous
knowledge
of the students about the contents.
C>
@ We must also evaluate the teaching grocer. s thro-u-ghout the a-cademic year.
The best
moment to do s-ot is at the end of a cycle, and s eciall , the moment in which a roup
knishes
a stage! because the teachers may evaluate the Curricular Pro'ed. Ioball , as it is
provided in
the ''Real Decreto be Regimen Organics de Ios Centros de Infantry y Primaria''.
In the Curricular Project,.we must as well include the criteria to promo-te-the students
to the next cycle. As it is provided in Section 1 1.4 of the ''Real Decreto de Currfculol',
a student
can only re eét the same stage once during the Primary Education'.
''lo the context of the process of continuous evaluation. When the progress of a
student
does not globally respond to the programmed objectives, the teachers will adopt the
suitable measures of educative reinforcement and of curricular adjustment''.
563
''Within the framework of these measures, at the end of the cycle, they will decide if
the student is promoted or not''. (...) ''These decisions require the previous audience
of the parents or legal tutors of the student, in case he does not promote to the next c
ole''.
œ3miElabor#lipn of th: curricplarprolvp.t
There are some steps that must be followed to elaborate the Curricular Project:
- Elaboration . . . . .
- Coordination
- Approval
- Report . . . . . . . . .
- Supervision . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . Body of teache-rs of the Stan-aCommittee of Pedagogic Coordinati-on
Teaching Sta-! of the centre
lenitive Councile . . . . Technical inspection
The most im octant idea of the Curricular pro'ect is that it is a recess and therefore,
it is never ended d it has to vised ve often, because the quality of the teaching can
always be improved.
It is also very important to analyze the different Curricular Projects that have been
done
564
before, in order to see the changes produced in them. Therefore, the Curricular
Project must
be written, in order to be able to analyse the necessary changes and the ones that
have been
already done. In this sense the project is the ''report of the centre''.
eve It can be elaborated ''upside-down'' (from the pedagogic committee to the cycles)
or ''downside-up'' (the pedagogic committee will revise it), but whichever the strategy,
it will have ' to be done in both senses.
ç25
The second strategy of elaboration is inductive-dedudivek
7.8.A Decisions taken in the curricular project
- What to teach?
. Suitability with the context of the general objectives of stage of the official
curriculum, taking into account the educative reality and the choices established
in the educative Project of the centre.
. Suitability of the general objectives and the contents of every area of the optical
curriculum, taking into account the educative reality of the centre.
- When to teach?
565
. Sequence per cycles of the objectives and contents of every area (intercycle
sequence), according to the adjustment of the general objectives and the
contents.
. General precisions about the organization and the temporalization of the greatest
focus of contents of every area selected for every cycle (intercycle sequence).
- How to teach?
. Criteria and basic options of didactic methodology that may affect either all the
areas of the cycle or some of them.
. Decisions about the groups of students.
. Decisions about the organization of .times and spaces.
. Curricular criteria and basic didactic recourses that are going to be used to
teach the contents of every area in the different cycles.
- What, when and how to evaluate?
--. ElaboratiUn of the criteria of evaluation per cycle according to the criteria of
evaluation of the stage that are explained in the official curriculum and to the
decisions taken about every cycle in the rest of sections of the Project.
. Procedures, instruments and dates of the evaluation of the learning throughout
the cycle.
. Example of a report of evaluation throughout the cycle, specifying the procedure
for its elaboration, the dates and the wqy to communicate the results to parents
and students.
. Procedures, instruments and dates to evaluate the teaching practice, to revise
the programmes and to introduce the suitable corrections.
. Criteria to decide the promotion of the students from a cycle to another (or from
a stage to another).
566
. Pedagogic actions taken in the case of students that do not achieve the level
established in the criteria of evaluation per cycles, either if they promote or not.
(zb
Measures of attention to diversity:
Tutors-a-es: Organization-and function-inn.
@
- '' (culture'' Whenever this is a distinctive feature of the
. Specific treatment of the mutt
centre. v
--- diustment: for stMdents With special educatiye..-q#.#--.-Fd u Organization Of times,
.A
materials and backings.
k
l.g.tstages of elaboration of the curricular project
To elaborate all these elements is a work which re i e s to be done and it must
567
be understood Ilke that the whole teaching body. For-that reason it is a work which
must be
divided ' ' . eve centre are res onsible of or anilin this
work. However, the M.E.C. must also determine when the basic decisions must be
taken. From
this point of view, the following stages of elaboration are established, for instance:
- n Se temper 199 e teaching bodies elaborate, at least, the basic aspects of the
following elements of the Curricular Project:
1 . The objectives of the cycle within the general objectives of stage, adjusting them
to the context.
2. The distribution of the contents per cycle, with special attention to those
referring to the first cycle. .
3. Curricular materials and didactic recourses that are going to be used in the
areas of the first cycle.
4. Procedures to evaluate the progress of the learning of the students during the
first cycle.
5. Criteria of evaluation and promotion of the students.
6. Organization and functioning of the tutorages with special attention to the
treatment of the ''multiculture'' (whenever it is a distinctive feature of the centre).
- In - - the teaching bodies' develop these elements,
completing the following aspects:
568
1. Pedagogic actions for the students who do not achieve the level established in the
criteria of evaluation.
2. Adjustments for the students with special educative needs.
3. Procedures to evaluate the teaching practice.
- September 19+
1. To incorporate the elements worked and developed during the year as well as the
modifications derived from the evaluation done.
k1C
z 2. To establish for the rest of the cycles the elements that were elaborated for the
/
/' first cycle in September 1992.
.,/
569
- e end of the Introduction of Primary Education:
After the evaluation of the different cycles, and at the end of the introduction of the
Primary Education, the Curricular Project will be completed including all the aspects
explained before, paying special attention to those referring to the whole stage, with
the
aim of securing the general coherence of the established agreements, with
themselves
and with the educative project of the centre. N'xx.
www-.- . vp..x
. -- U a-xx
.- y gjgkjgggàgyy
X
R.D. 134411991 'dei 6 de Septiembre por el que se establece el curricula de Ia
Education
Primaria.
B.O.E. Suplemento namers 220.
M.LC. PRIMARIA. PROYECTO CURRICULAR. LIBROS MULES, 1992.
RESOLUCIGN 5,3.92 POR 1-A QUE SE REGULA LA EMBOMCIUN DE
PROYECTOS CURRICULARES PARA LA EDUCACIUN PRIMARIA Y SE ESTABLECEN ORIENTACIONES PARA LA DISTRIBUCIUN DE OBJETIVOS, CONTENIDOS Y
CRITERIOS DE EVALUACIUN PAM CADA UNO DE LOS CICLOS (B.O.E., '
570
24 de Marzo de 1992).
LT9
571
2.1.3.1.2.
procedures:
- To recognize and make familiar the sounds of the foreign language and its rythm
and intonation.
- To understand oral messages of different nature and from different sources
(teacher, other students, video, tapes):
*Global comprehension of oral messages about familiar topics.
*Specific comprehension of concrete simple messages in contextualized situations.
-To react either linguistically and non-linguistically to different oral messages ana
communicative situations:
*Production of oommon expressions aimed to satisfy simple needs of communication
(greetings, identification, asking and giving information , identification of objects,
decriptions, etc).
*Use of basic messages previously learnt (polite expressions , etc.) adjusting them to
the specific features of the situation.
*Active participation in oral exchanges in order to express the most immediate
communicative needs within the class and in contexts closer to the student.
*Participation in the linguistic exchanges with the aim of having fun (simulations ,
performances, etc.).
*Non-linguistic answers to oral messages (follow instructions , etc.).
-
To recognize the grammatical formulas that help them to make questions , to
assert, to reject, to express possession. to quantify , to describe, to narrate, etc... and
to use them in order to achieve efficient communication.
-To recognize and use the basic strategies of communication, both linguistic (use
one word instead of another , etc.) or extralinguistic (gestures, drawings, etc.) which
help to overcome communicative problems.
- To use the native language's strategies of communication, which let us take
advantage of the limited knowledge of the foreign language.
Attitudes:
572
-Awareness of the importance of oral communication in a foreign language.
-Awareness of the reality of a different culture , reflected in the language.
-Receptive and respectful attitude towards the persons who speak a foreign
language
- Wish to express themselves in a foreign language , participating in the activities
(games, songs, etc.).
-Awareness of the corrections done when they interprete or produce a text.
- Positive and optimist attitude towards their own ability to speak in a foreign
language.
-Tendency to use imaginatively and creatively, oral messages previously learnt , in
different communicative situations.
2.1.3.2.
Uses and fomis of the wrltten language:
2.1.3.2.1.
Concepts:
- Most habitual needs and communicative situations to use the written language.
Communicative intentions and characteristics of these situations.
*Communicative intentions: greetings , identificatIon and location of objects ,
expressing needs and wishes, etc.
*Characteristics of the communicative situation: type of Iisteners , more or less formal
situation, etc.
- Vocabulary and Iinguistic structures required to express the basic communicative
needs by writing.
*Communlcative intentions: greetings, identification , giving and asking for information,
identification and location of objects, descriptions, narrations , etc.
*General topics: colours, numbers, time, house, family, class, food, likes and dislikes,
sports, etc.
573
e) Names of the letters in a foreign language and
their correspondence within the writing system.
f) Relations between the meaning of the words , their
pronunciation and graphical representation.
2.1.3.2.2.
-
Procedures:
Production of written texts adjusted to the
features of the reader and of the communicative
sltuation.
-
Understanding of the written messages of
different nature.
*Global comprehension of written messages related
the activities done in class.
*Global comprehension of brief written messages
related to the most immediate needs of
communication and to the interests of the
speakers.
*Global comprehension of easy authentic materials ,
with visual backing about daily-life topics.
574
-Awareness of the specific elements, previously
learnt, in texts which have unkown words and
expressions, such as invtations for a birthday
party, cards, magazines, etc.
- Use of the grapho-phonic correspondences to spell,
for instance, the name and the surname, etc.
- Production of written texts directed to different
readers, answering oral and written stimuli.
- Solution of games which require the knowledge of
the vocabulary and the ortography used in class.
- Awareness of grammatical structures in written
texts.
- Awareness of some sociocultural aspects which
differentiate the foreign language from the
mother tongue.
2.1.3.2.3.
Attltudes:
- lnterest and curiosity towards the written texts and
appraisal of the role they play in order to satisfy
communicatlve needs.
575
-Awareness and appraisal of the importance of
reading and writing in a foreign language.
- Appraisal for the correct interpretation of easy
written texts.
g)Interest to know the vocabulary and the basic
linguistic structures required to express the
essential
communicatlve
needs
in
different
situations.
h)Disposition to overcome the difficulties that the
use of a foreign language creates, by paying
attention to the communicative strategies fo the
mother tongue.
2.1.3.3. SocIo cultura! aspects:
Concepts:
-
Social and cultural aspects of the countries
where the foreign language studied is spoken.
*expressions and gestures which go together with the
oral expressions: tone, gestures, etc.
576
*Daily-life aspects: Timetables, habits, images of that
culture, etc.
*Spare time: games, songs, sports, places, etc.
i) Presence in Spain of the foreign language learnt:
labels, songs, films, etc.
j) 2.1.3.3.2. Procedures:
-Awareness of some aspects of the countries where
the foreign language is spoken.
-
Contextualized use in habitual situations of
some rules and habits of the countrles where this
language is spoken.
-
Comparison of the most relevant aspects of daily
life in the countries where the foreign language
is spoken, and our own country.
-
Use of authentic materials with the aim of
getting the desired information.
2.1.3.3.3. Attltudes:
577
-
Curiosity and respect for the most relevant
aspects of daily life and for other sociocultural
aspects of the countries where this language is
spoken.
-
Appraisal of the sociolinguistic behaviours
which help cohabitation.
-
lnterest to know people from other countries.
578
-
Appraisal of the sociolinguistic behaviours which
help cohabitation.
-
lnterest to know people from other countries.
2.3 Evaluation criteria.
1.To recognize and reproduce the characteristic
phonemes of the foreign language. To recognize
and reproduce the characteristic phonemes of
the foreign language as well as the basic models
of rhythm and intonation, in words and
sentences which appear in the context of real use
of the language.
2. To grasp the general meaning of oral texts. To
grasp the general meaning of oral texts uttered
in face to face communication situations, with
the help of gestures and mime and the necessary
repetitions,
in
which
there
will
appear
combinations of elements previously learnt and
which deal with familiar topics, known by the
student.
579
3.To extract specific information. To extract specific
information, previous required, from oral texts
with a simple structure and vocabulary which
deal with familiar topics that interest the student
(daily life, likes, preferences, opinions and
personal experiences).
4. To participate in short oral exchanges. To
participate in short oral exchanges related to
usual
classroom
understandable
characteristics
activities
discourse
of
the
producing
adapted
situation
an
to
the
and
the
communicative purpose.
5.To
participate
situations.
To
in
simulated
participate
communicatlon
in
simulated
communication situations which have been
previously practised in the classroom, using
properly the most usual social interaction
formulae in the foreign language.
580
6.To extract the general meaning and some speciflc
information. To extract the general meaning and
some specific information from short written
texts with a lineal development, simple structures
and vocabulary, which deal with familiar topics
that interest the student.
7.To read simple children's books. To read with the
help of the teacher or, the dictionary simple
children's books written in the foreign language
with visual backup and show comprehension by
means of a specific task.
8.To produce short written texts. To produce short
written texts, comprehensible and adapted to the
characteristics
of
the
situation
and
the
communicative purpose, in which those contents
that have been worked in the class can be seen.
581
9.To recognize, sorne sociocultural aspects. To
recognize, some sociocultural aspects typical of
the foreign language speaking community which
are implicit. in the linguistic samples worked on
in the classroom.
582
2.3 Evaluation criteria.
1.To recognize and reproduce the characteristic
phonemes of the foreign language. To recognize
and reproduce the characteristic phonemes of
the foreign language as well as the basic models
of rhythm and intonation, in words and
sentences which appear in the context of real use
of the language.
2. To grasp the general meaning of oral texts. To
grasp the general meaning of oral texts uttered
in face to face communication situations, with
the help of gestures and mime and the necessary
repetitions,
in
which
there
will
appear
combinations of elements previously learnt and
which deal with familiar topics, known by the
student.
583
3.To extract specific information. To extract specific
information, previous required, from oral texts
with a simple structure and vocabulary which
deal with familiar topics that interest the student
(daily life, likes, preferences, opinions and
personal experiences).
4. To participate in short oral exchanges. To
participate in short oral exchanges related to
usual
classroom
understandable
characteristics
activities
discourse
of
the
producing
adapted
situation
an
to
the
and
the
communicative purpose.
5.To
participate
situations.
To
in
simulated
participate
communicatlon
in
simulated
communication situations which have been
previously practised in the classroom, using
properly the most usual social interaction
formulae in the foreign language.
584
6.To extract the general meaning and some speciflc
information. To extract the general meaning and
some specific information from short written
texts with a lineal development, simple structures
and vocabulary, which deal with familiar topics
that interest the student.
7.To read simple children's books. To read with the
help of the teacher or, the dictionary simple
children's books written in the foreign language
with visual backup and show comprehension by
means of a specific task.
8.To produce short written texts. To produce short
written texts, comprehensible and adapted to the
characteristics
of
the
situation
and
the
communicative purpose, in which those contents
that have been worked in the class can be seen.
585
9.To recognize, sorne sociocultural aspects. To
recognize, some sociocultural aspects typical of
the foreign language speaking community which
are implicit. in the linguistic samples worked on
in the classroom.
586
2.1.3.1.2.
procedures:
- To recognize and make familiar the sounds of the foreign language and its rythm
and intonation.
- To understand oral messages of different nature and from different sources
(teacher, other students, video, tapes):
*Global comprehension of oral messages about familiar topics.
*Specific comprehension of concrete simple messages in contextualized situations.
-To react either linguistically and non-linguistically to different oral messages ana
communicative situations:
*Production of oommon expressions aimed to satisfy simple needs of communication
(greetings, identification, asking and giving information , identification of objects,
decriptions, etc).
*Use of basic messages previously learnt (polite expressions , etc.) adjusting them to
the specific features of the situation.
*Active participation in oral exchanges in order to express the most immediate
communicative needs within the class and in contexts closer to the student.
*Participation in the linguistic exchanges with the aim of having fun (simulations ,
performances, etc.).
*Non-linguistic answers to oral messages (follow instructions , etc.).
-
To recognize the grammatical formulas that help them to make questions , to
assert, to reject, to express possession. to quantify , to describe, to narrate, etc... and
to use them in order to achieve efficient communication.
-To recognize and use the basic strategies of communication, both linguistic (use
one word instead of another , etc.) or extralinguistic (gestures, drawings, etc.) which
help to overcome communicative problems.
- To use the native language's strategies of communication, which let us take
advantage of the limited knowledge of the foreign language.
Attitudes:
587
-Awareness of the importance of oral communication in a foreign language.
-Awareness of the reality of a different culture , reflected in the language.
-Receptive and respectful attitude towards the persons who speak a foreign
language
- Wish to express themselves in a foreign language , participating in the activities
(games, songs, etc.).
-Awareness of the corrections done when they interprete or produce a text.
- Positive and optimist attitude towards their own ability to speak in a foreign
language.
-Tendency to use imaginatively and creatively, oral messages previously learnt , in
different communicative situations.
2.1.3.2.
Uses and fomis of the wrltten language:
2.1.3.2.1.
Concepts:
- Most habitual needs and communicative situations to use the written language.
Communicative intentions and characteristics of these situations.
*Communicative intentions: greetings , identificatIon and location of objects ,
expressing needs and wishes, etc.
*Characteristics of the communicative situation: type of Iisteners , more or less formal
situation, etc.
- Vocabulary and Iinguistic structures required to express the basic communicative
needs by writing.
*Communlcative intentions: greetings, identification , giving and asking for information,
identification and location of objects, descriptions, narrations , etc.
*General topics: colours, numbers, time, house, family, class, food, likes and dislikes,
sports, etc.
588
k)Names of the letters in a foreign language and
their correspondence within the writing system.
l) Relations between the meaning of the words , their
pronunciation and graphical representation.
2.1.3.2.2.
-
Procedures:
Production of written texts adjusted to the
features of the reader and of the communicative
sltuation.
-
Understanding of the written messages of
different nature.
*Global comprehension of written messages related
the activities done in class.
*Global comprehension of brief written messages
related to the most immediate needs of
communication and to the interests of the
speakers.
*Global comprehension of easy authentic materials ,
with visual backing about daily-life topics.
589
-Awareness of the specific elements, previously
learnt, in texts which have unkown words and
expressions, such as invtations for a birthday
party, cards, magazines, etc.
- Use of the grapho-phonic correspondences to spell,
for instance, the name and the surname, etc.
- Production of written texts directed to different
readers, answering oral and written stimuli.
- Solution of games which require the knowledge of
the vocabulary and the ortography used in class.
- Awareness of grammatical structures in written
texts.
- Awareness of some sociocultural aspects which
differentiate the foreign language from the
mother tongue.
2.1.3.2.3.
Attltudes:
- lnterest and curiosity towards the written texts and
appraisal of the role they play in order to satisfy
communicatlve needs.
590
-Awareness and appraisal of the importance of
reading and writing in a foreign language.
- Appraisal for the correct interpretation of easy
written texts.
m) Interest to know the vocabulary and the basic
linguistic structures required to express the
essential
communicatlve
needs
in
different
situations.
n)Disposition to overcome the difficulties that the
use of a foreign language creates, by paying
attention to the communicative strategies fo the
mother tongue.
2.1.3.3. SocIo cultura! aspects:
Concepts:
-
Social and cultural aspects of the countries
where the foreign language studied is spoken.
*expressions and gestures which go together with the
oral expressions: tone, gestures, etc.
591
*Daily-life aspects: Timetables, habits, images of that
culture, etc.
*Spare time: games, songs, sports, places, etc.
o)Presence in Spain of the foreign language learnt:
labels, songs, films, etc.
p) 2.1.3.3.2. Procedures:
-Awareness of some aspects of the countries where
the foreign language is spoken.
-
Contextualized use in habitual situations of
some rules and habits of the countrles where this
language is spoken.
-
Comparison of the most relevant aspects of daily
life in the countries where the foreign language
is spoken, and our own country.
-
Use of authentic materials with the aim of
getting the desired information.
2.1.3.3.3. Attltudes:
592
-
Curiosity and respect for the most relevant
aspects of daily life and for other sociocultural
aspects of the countries where this language is
spoken.
-
Appraisal of the sociolinguistic behaviours
which help cohabitation.
-
lnterest to know people from other countries.
593
-
Appraisal of the sociolinguistic behaviours
which help cohabitation.
-
lnterest to know people from other countries.
594
2.3 Evaluation criteria.
1.To recognize and reproduce the characteristic
phonemes of the foreign language. To recognize
and reproduce the characteristic phonemes of
the foreign language as well as the basic models
of rhythm and intonation, in words and
sentences which appear in the context of real use
of the language.
2. To grasp the general meaning of oral texts. To
grasp the general meaning of oral texts uttered
in face to face communication situations, with
the help of gestures and mime and the necessary
repetitions,
in
which
there
will
appear
combinations of elements previously learnt and
which deal with familiar topics, known by the
student.
595
3.To extract specific information. To extract specific
information, previous required, from oral texts
with a simple structure and vocabulary which
deal with familiar topics that interest the student
(daily life, likes, preferences, opinions and
personal experiences).
4. To participate in short oral exchanges. To
participate in short oral exchanges related to
usual
classroom
understandable
characteristics
activities
discourse
of
the
producing
adapted
situation
an
to
the
and
the
communicative purpose.
5.To
participate
situations.
To
in
simulated
communicatlon
participate
in
simulated
communication situations which have been
previously practised in the classroom, using
properly the most usual social interaction
formulae in the foreign language.
596
6.To extract the general meaning and some speciflc
information. To extract the general meaning and
some specific information from short written
texts
with
a
lineal
development ,
simple
structures and vocabulary, which deal with
familiar topics that interest the student.
7.To read simple children's books. To read with the
help of the teacher or, the dictionary simple
children's books written in the foreign language
with visual backup and show comprehension by
means of a specific task.
8.To produce short written texts. To produce short
written texts, comprehensible and adapted to the
characteristics
of
the
situation
and
the
communicative purpose, in which those contents
that have been worked in the class can be seen.
597
9.To recognize, sorne sociocultural aspects. To
recognize, some sociocultural aspects typical of
the foreign language speaking community which
are implicit. in the linguistic samples worked on
in the classroom.
598
599
2.3 Evaluation criteria.
1.To recognize and reproduce the characteristic
phonemes of the foreign language. To recognize
and reproduce the characteristic phonemes of
the foreign language as well as the basic models
of rhythm and intonation, in words and
sentences which appear in the context of real use
of the language.
2. To grasp the general meaning of oral texts. To
grasp the general meaning of oral texts uttered
in face to face communication situations, with
the help of gestures and mime and the necessary
repetitions,
in
which
there
will
appear
combinations of elements previously learnt and
which deal with familiar topics, known by the
student.
600
3.To extract specific information. To extract specific
information, previous required, from oral texts
with a simple structure and vocabulary which
deal with familiar topics that interest the student
(daily life, likes, preferences, opinions and
personal experiences).
4. To participate in short oral exchanges. To
participate in short oral exchanges related to
usual
classroom
understandable
characteristics
activities
discourse
of
the
producing
adapted
situation
an
to
the
and
the
communicative purpose.
5.To
participate
situations.
To
in
simulated
participate
communicatlon
in
simulated
communication situations which have been
previously practised in the classroom, using
properly the most usual social interaction
formulae in the foreign language.
601
6.To extract the general meaning and some speciflc
information. To extract the general meaning and
some specific information from short written
texts with a lineal development, simple structures
and vocabulary, which deal with familiar topics
that interest the student.
7.To read simple children's books. To read with the
help of the teacher or, the dictionary simple
children's books written in the foreign language
with visual backup and show comprehension by
means of a specific task.
8.To produce short written texts. To produce short
written texts, comprehensible and adapted to the
characteristics
of
the
situation
and
the
communicative purpose, in which those contents
that have been worked in the class can be seen.
602
9.To recognize, sorne sociocultural aspects. To
recognize, some sociocultural aspects typical of
the foreign language speaking community which
are implicit. in the linguistic samples worked on
in the classroom.
603
2.1.3.1.2.
procedures:
- To recognize and make familiar the sounds of the foreign language and its rythm
and intonation.
- To understand oral messages of different nature and from different sources
(teacher, other students, video, tapes):
*Global comprehension of oral messages about familiar topics.
*Specific comprehension of concrete simple messages in contextualized situations.
-To react either linguistically and non-linguistically to different oral messages ana
communicative situations:
*Production of oommon expressions aimed to satisfy simple needs of communication
(greetings, identification, asking and giving information , identification of objects,
decriptions, etc).
*Use of basic messages previously learnt (polite expressions , etc.) adjusting them to
the specific features of the situation.
*Active participation in oral exchanges in order to express the most immediate
communicative needs within the class and in contexts closer to the student.
*Participation in the linguistic exchanges with the aim of having fun (simulations ,
performances, etc.).
*Non-linguistic answers to oral messages (follow instructions , etc.).
-
To recognize the grammatical formulas that help them to make questions , to
assert, to reject, to express possession. to quantify , to describe, to narrate, etc... and
to use them in order to achieve efficient communication.
-To recognize and use the basic strategies of communication, both linguistic (use
one word instead of another , etc.) or extralinguistic (gestures, drawings, etc.) which
help to overcome communicative problems.
- To use the native language's strategies of communication, which let us take
advantage of the limited knowledge of the foreign language.
Attitudes:
604
-Awareness of the importance of oral communication in a foreign language.
-Awareness of the reality of a different culture , reflected in the language.
-Receptive and respectful attitude towards the persons who speak a foreign
language
- Wish to express themselves in a foreign language , participating in the activities
(games, songs, etc.).
-Awareness of the corrections done when they interprete or produce a text.
- Positive and optimist attitude towards their own ability to speak in a foreign
language.
-Tendency to use imaginatively and creatively, oral messages previously learnt , in
different communicative situations.
2.1.3.2.
Uses and fomis of the wrltten language:
2.1.3.2.1.
Concepts:
- Most habitual needs and communicative situations to use the written language.
Communicative intentions and characteristics of these situations.
*Communicative intentions: greetings , identificatIon and location of objects ,
expressing needs and wishes, etc.
*Characteristics of the communicative situation: type of Iisteners , more or less formal
situation, etc.
- Vocabulary and Iinguistic structures required to express the basic communicative
needs by writing.
*Communlcative intentions: greetings, identification , giving and asking for information,
identification and location of objects, descriptions, narrations , etc.
*General topics: colours, numbers, time, house, family, class, food, likes and dislikes,
sports, etc.
605
q)Names of the letters in a foreign language and
their correspondence within the writing system.
r) Relations between the meaning of the words , their
pronunciation and graphical representation.
2.1.3.2.2.
-
Procedures:
Production of written texts adjusted to the
features of the reader and of the communicative
sltuation.
-
Understanding of the written messages of
different nature.
*Global comprehension of written messages related
the activities done in class.
*Global comprehension of brief written messages
related to the most immediate needs of
communication and to the interests of the
speakers.
*Global comprehension of easy authentic materials ,
with visual backing about daily-life topics.
606
-Awareness of the specific elements, previously
learnt, in texts which have unkown words and
expressions, such as invtations for a birthday
party, cards, magazines, etc.
- Use of the grapho-phonic correspondences to spell,
for instance, the name and the surname, etc.
- Production of written texts directed to different
readers, answering oral and written stimuli.
- Solution of games which require the knowledge of
the vocabulary and the ortography used in class.
- Awareness of grammatical structures in written
texts.
- Awareness of some sociocultural aspects which
differentiate the foreign language from the
mother tongue.
2.1.3.2.3.
Attltudes:
- lnterest and curiosity towards the written texts and
appraisal of the role they play in order to satisfy
communicatlve needs.
607
-Awareness and appraisal of the importance of
reading and writing in a foreign language.
- Appraisal for the correct interpretation of easy
written texts.
s) Interest to know the vocabulary and the basic
linguistic structures required to express the
essential
communicatlve
needs
in
different
situations.
t) Disposition to overcome the difficulties that the
use of a foreign language creates, by paying
attention to the communicative strategies fo the
mother tongue.
2.1.3.3. SocIo cultura! aspects:
Concepts:
-
Social and cultural aspects of the countries
where the foreign language studied is spoken.
*expressions and gestures which go together with the
oral expressions: tone, gestures, etc.
608
*Daily-life aspects: Timetables, habits, images of that
culture, etc.
*Spare time: games, songs, sports, places, etc.
u)Presence in Spain of the foreign language learnt:
labels, songs, films, etc.
v) 2.1.3.3.2. Procedures:
-Awareness of some aspects of the countries where
the foreign language is spoken.
-
Contextualized use in habitual situations of
some rules and habits of the countrles where this
language is spoken.
-
Comparison of the most relevant aspects of daily
life in the countries where the foreign language
is spoken, and our own country.
-
Use of authentic materials with the aim of
getting the desired information.
2.1.3.3.3. Attltudes:
609
-
Curiosity and respect for the most relevant
aspects of daily life and for other sociocultural
aspects of the countries where this language is
spoken.
-
Appraisal of the sociolinguistic behaviours
which help cohabitation.
-
lnterest to know people from other countries.
610
-
Appraisal of the sociolinguistic behaviours
which help cohabitation.
-
lnterest to know people from other countries.
611
2.3 Evaluation criteria.
1.To recognize and reproduce the characteristic
phonemes of the foreign
language. To
recognize and reproduce the characteristic
phonemes of the foreign language as well as the
basic models of rhythm and intonation, in
words and sentences which appear in the
context of real use of the language.
2. To grasp the general meaning of oral texts. To
grasp the general meaning of oral texts uttered
in face to face communication situations, with
the help of gestures and mime and the
necessary repetitions, in which there will
appear combinations of elements previously
learnt and which deal with familiar topics,
known by the student.
612
3.To extract specific information. To extract
specific information, previous required, from
oral texts with a simple structure and
vocabulary which deal with familiar topics that
interest
the
preferences,
student
(daily
opinions
life,
and
likes,
personal
experiences).
4. To participate in short oral exchanges. To
participate in short oral exchanges related to
usual
classroom
understandable
characteristics
activities
discourse
of
the
producing
adapted
situation
an
to
the
and
the
communicative purpose.
613
5.To participate in simulated communicatlon
situations.
To
participate
in
simulated
communication situations which have been
previously practised in the classroom, using
properly the most usual social interaction
formulae in the foreign language.
6.To extract the general meaning and some speciflc
information. To extract the general meaning
and some specific information from short
written texts with a lineal development , simple
structures and vocabulary, which deal with
familiar topics that interest the student.
7.To read simple children's books. To read with the
help of the teacher or, the dictionary simple
children's
language
books
with
written
visual
in
backup
the
and
foreign
show
comprehension by means of a specific task.
614
8.To produce short written texts. To produce short
written texts, comprehensible and adapted to
the characteristics of the situation and the
communicative
purpose,
in
which
those
contents that have been worked in the class can
be seen.
9.To recognize, sorne sociocultural aspects. To
recognize, some sociocultural aspects typical of
the foreign language speaking community
which are implicit. in the linguistic samples
worked on in the classroom.
TEMA 21.- LA PROGRAMACIÓN DEL ÁREA DE LENGUAS EXTRANJERAS:
UNIDADES DE PROGRAMACIÓN. CRITERIOS PARA LA SECUENCIACIÓN Y
TEMPORALIZACIÓN DE CONTENIDOS Y OBJETIVOS. SELECCIÓN DE LA
METODOLOGÍA A EMPLEAR EN LAS ACTIVIDADES DE APRENDIZAJE Y DE
EVALUACIÓN
1.
INTRODUCCIÓN
1.1.
EL
PROYECTO
CURRICULAR
DE
CENTRO
.............................................................................................................................................
2
1.2 EL PROYECTO CURRICULAR DE ETAPA Y DE CICLO.
.............................................................................................................................................
3
615
2. LA PROGRAMACIÓN DEL ÁREA DE LENGUAS EXTRANJERAS: UNIDADES
DE
PROGRAMACIÓN.
.............................................................................................................................................
3
2.1.
La
programación
anual
.............................................................................................................................................
3
2.2
La
programación
de
unidades
didácticas.
.............................................................................................................................................
4
2.3
La
programación
de
las
sesiones
de
clase.
.............................................................................................................................................
6
3 CRITERIOS PARA LA SECUENCIACIÓN Y TEMPORALIZACIÓN DE
CONTENIDOS
Y
OBJETIVOS
.............................................................................................................................................
9
3.1
Los
objetivos
.............................................................................................................................................
9
3.2
Los
contenidos
.............................................................................................................................................
12
4. SELECCIÓN DE LA METODOLOGÍA A EMPLEAR EN LAS ACTIVIDADES DE
APRENDIZAJE
Y
DE
EVALUACIÓN
.............................................................................................................................................
18
5. RELACIÓN DEL TEMA CON LOS DISEÑOS CURRICULARES DE LA JUNTA
DE
ANDALUCÍA
.............................................................................................................................................
24
6.
PROPUESTA
DIDÁCTICA
.............................................................................................................................................
25
616
7.
BIBLIOGRAFÍA
.............................................................................................................................................
37
8.
ANEXOS
.............................................................................................................................................
39
617
1. INTRODUCCIÓN
El artículo 13 del Decreto de Educación Primaria establece que “los profesores
programarán su actividad docente de acuerdo con el currículum de la Educación Primaria
y en consonancia con los respectivos proyectos curriculares de etapa y ciclo”. Por
“currículum de la Educación Primaria” se entiende el conjunto de objetivos, contenidos,
orientaciones metodológicas y criterios de evaluación que regulan la práctica docente en
dicha etapa. Se encuentra en los Anexos del citado Decreto. “Los proyectos curriculares de
etapa y ciclo” están incluidos en el Proyecto Curricular de Centro y éste, a su vez, en el
Proyecto de Centro.
"El Proyecto de Centro es el instrumento para la planificación que enumera y
define las notas de identidad del centro, establece el marco de referencia global y los
planteamientos educativos de carácter general que definen y distinguen al centro,
formula las finalidades educativas que pretende conseguir, adapta el currículo
establecido en propuestas globales de intervención didáctica, adecuadas a su
contexto específico, y expresa la estructura organizativa del centro. Su finalidad es
dotar de coherencia y personalidad propia a los centros." (BOJA de 25/6/1992,
punto III, 2 de 23 de julio de 1992).
El Proyecto de Centro debe ser una exposición clara, concisa y breve de las
intenciones educativas, estructuras, reglamentos y diseño curricular de una comunidad
escolar. Debe adaptar aquellos principios y estructuras educativas que se consideran
adecuados para una comunidad. Debe ser un documento dinámico y modificable en función
de la práctica educativa, a la cual debe servir como guía. Es necesario que sea una creación
colectiva de la comunidad educativa, que expresa equilibradamente sus intenciones,
sirviendo como marco de las actividades educativas y, por lo tanto, como facilitador del
trabajo docente.
El Proyecto de Centro consta de varios instrumentos para la planificación a medio
plazo, que garantizan la estabilidad de la acción educativa: finalidades educativas, proyecto
curricular y reglamento de organización y funcionamiento. A corto plazo, en el
transcurso de un curso escolar, incluye otros instrumentos que concretan la acción
educativa: plan anual de centro y la memoria final.
EL PROYECTO CURRICULAR DE CENTRO
Por (PCC) se entiende un conjunto de actuaciones articuladas entre sí y
compartidas por un equipo docente de un centro educativo mediante el cual se concretan y
desarrollan las intenciones y prescripciones generales contenidas en los decretos de
enseñanza para las distintas etapas educativas de Andalucía. Constituye el instrumento que
hace explícito el proyecto educativo de un centro docente de una realidad concreta, dándole
coherencia y continuidad (Guía para la elaboración del PCC. Consejería de Educación y
Ciencia de la Junta de Andalucía).
Por lo tanto, el PCC tiene en cuenta no sólo los Decretos de Enseñanza para
Andalucía, sino también las Finalidades Educativas del Centro, el otro elemento del
Proyecto de Centro, que recoge el contexto al que hay que adaptar los citados Decretos:
perfil del alumnado, características del Centro, la comunidad en la que se inserta.
El PCC no debe ser un mero trámite burocrático desconocido por la comunidad
escolar, sino que debe ser un instrumento colectivo que exprese los criterios compartidos
618
por el profesorado de un centro y favorezca la mejora de la calidad educativa del centro,
mediante la reflexión y la renovación pedagógica de la práctica docente.
El Proyecto Curricular de Centro consta fundamentalmente de los Proyectos
Curriculares de Etapa o Etapas y sus correspondientes ciclos, que contextualizan el Decreto
de Enseñanza a la realidad del centro, sirviendo de guía para realizar la programación de
aula. Sin embargo, el PCC quedaría incompleto si no contara con otros elementos o planes:
* Plan de Organización del PCC, que contextualiza la legislación general a las
características de la comunidad escolar.
* Plan de Orientación para lograr una mayor adaptación de los procesos de
enseñanza a las características del alumnado.
* Plan de Formación del Profesorado o relación organizada de necesidades de
autoperfeccionamiento detectado por el profesorado a partir del análisis crítico sobre
su práctica docente.
* Plan de Evaluación del PCC: análisis de los aspectos prioritarios para introducir
cambios y ajustes en orden a conseguir un Proyecto de Centro más coherente.
EL PROYECTO CURRICULAR DE ETAPA Y DE CICLO
Uno de los elementos del PCC es el Proyecto Curricular de Etapa, que "constituye
un conjunto de decisiones curriculares articuladas entre sí y compartidas por el equipo
docente de una etapa educativa. Su objetivo principal es concretar las intenciones y
prescripciones generales contenidas en los Anexos correspondientes a los diseños
curriculares de cada una de las etapas educativa contenidos en los Decretos de Enseñanza
de Andalucía y expresar, así, el Proyecto Curricular de un determinado equipo docente. La
principal finalidad es dotar de coherencia la actuación didáctica en cada uno de los ciclos.
Para elaborarlo hay que responder a una serie de preguntas:
*¿Qué enseñar? Concreción e interrelación de los objetivos generales de la etapa con
los de cada área. Distribución por ciclos. Priorización y secuenciación de los
objetivos.
*¿Cuándo enseñar? Orientaciones para la selección, organización y secuenciación de los
contenidos de la etapa, distribuyéndolos por ciclos y cursos.
*¿Cómo enseñar? Concreción de los principios metodológicos de la etapa y de las áreas
curriculares.
*¿Qué, cuándo, cómo evaluar? Concreción de los criterios de evaluación por ciclos y
criterios de promoción.
2.
LA PROGRAMACIÓN DEL ÁREA DE LENGUAS EXTRANJERAS:
UNIDADES DE PROGRAMACIÓN
El Proyecto Curricular de Etapa es un instrumento de planificación a medio plazo,
en el que está implicado el equipo docente. A corto plazo, el equipo docente realizará una
programación de cada uno de los ciclos y cursos de la etapa en el área de Lengua Inglesa,
que partirá del estudio de la situación en que se encuentra el alumnado, teniendo en cuenta
que “la unidad de programación y evaluación de la Educación Primaria es el ciclo”
(artículo 3,4 del Decreto).
Antes de continuar, es necesario decir que en el área anglosajona se hace una
distinción entre syllabus design, que se refiere a los criterios para decidir la selección y
619
secuenciación de los contenidos, y course design o language program design, que dice
cómo se llevará a cabo el syllabus teniendo en cuenta los objetivos, la metodología, las
actividades, los recursos y la evaluación.
PROGRAMACIÓN ANUAL
La programación anual de un curso, llamada “larga”, constará de todos los
elementos de la planificación:
1. Cabecera con el nombre del centro, del profesor responsable, el ciclo, área y curso
académico.
2. Selección de los contenidos estructurados unidades didácticas quincenales que
contemplen todos los contenidos: conceptuales (funciones, vocabulario, gramática,
pronunciación, aspectos socioculturales), procedimentales (las habilidades
comunicativas) y actitudinales. Los temas de las unidades didácticas tendrán en cuenta
los intereses y necesidades del alumnado, una vez analizados en el diagnóstico inicial.
3. Actividades generales como diagnóstico inicial, repaso, evaluación final...
4. Objetivos generales del área teniendo en cuenta el Proyecto Curricular del Ciclo.
5. Repertorio de recursos didácticos cuya utilización se prevé a lo largo del curso.
Previamente se habrá estudiado la operatividad del material existente en el centro.
6. Temporalización: fechas de comienzo y fin de las unidades didácticas, teniendo en
cuenta los días hábiles y las festividades.
7. Consideraciones generales sobre el alumnado y metodología más adecuada.
Normalmente, en la práctica docente, las programaciones largas se limitan al punto 6, es
decir, a la temporalización de las unidades didácticas, dando por entendido que los otros
elementos están incluidos en el Proyecto Curricular de Ciclo.
PROGRAMACIÓN DE LAS UNIDADES DIDÁCTICAS
Se pueden hacer otras programaciones intermedias, por ejemplo, trimestrales, aunque lo
normal es pasar de la anual a las unidades didácticas (lesson plan) con una duración
aproximada de una quincena.
Antes de planificar la unidad didáctica hay tener en cuenta algunas consideraciones:
1. La más importante es el libro de texto y el “syllabus” (organización de los contenidos)
que propone. Los libros de texto son útiles, ya que ofrecen materiales vivos e
interesantes, progresión sensata de los contenidos lingüísticos. Los buenos libros
aportan resúmenes, especialmente los gramaticales, que permiten revisar fácilmente;
son sistemáticos en cuanto a la cantidad de vocabulario y permiten al alumno aprender
por sí mismo.
Sin embargo, el profesor no debe ser un esclavo del libro, sino que debe omitir,
recombinar o complementarlo. Para ello debe conocer todo el libro muy bien. Por otra
parte hay que tener presente que los libros pueden producir efectos contrarios
(aburrimiento del alumnado) cuando se utilizan abusivamente. Normalmente los libros
suelen concentrarse en actividades para presentar el nuevo lenguaje y en la práctica
controlada del mismo. En cada unidad nos encontramos con el mismo esquema y
formato, por lo que no se adaptan a las características de cada clase, que son únicas.
Algunos libros incluso no están equilibrados en cuanto a las habilidades que desarrollan
o a las actividades, que suelen carecer de variedad.
1. En otro orden, los profesores deben conocer su oficio: el idioma que quieren enseñar,
las estrategias didácticas específicas para el nivel, las ayudas de las que puede disponer,
620
el amplio repertorio de actividades para llevar a cabo, que deben estar interrelacionadas
de modo que unas refuercen a otras. Es importante conocer las fases de una unidad
(presentación, práctica y producción), así como las técnicas adecuadas en cada fase.
Debe dominar las habilidades para dirigir la clase: agrupamientos, disciplina...
2. Para que la programación sea realista, es importante que el profesorado conozca la
institución o el centro en que trabaja: horarios, condiciones físicas de la clase y del
centro, material disponible, el proyecto curricular de etapa y ciclo, restricciones...
3. Por supuesto debe conocer a sus alumnos: edad, sexo, clase social, ocupación de los
padres, así como los factores sociales, políticos y religiosos que puedan influir en las
relaciones personales. Es necesario que conozca sus antecedentes académicos
(motivación, intereses, conocimientos previos...) y especialmente sus necesidades
lingüísticas.
4. El profesor debe realizar una preparación cuidadosa de la unidad didáctica. Por ejemplo,
debe tener en cuenta si el material es autónomo respecto a aspectos previos o posteriores
o si debe corregir los deberes de casa. Es fundamental tener preparado todo antes de
comenzar las clases, haciendo especial hincapié en los materiales: libros de texto,
fotocopias, reproductor de cintas, etc., así como en los ejercicios y actividades, que
deben ser variados y motivadores, especialmente para los diez últimos minutos: juegos,
crucigramas, adivinanzas...
Es aconsejable que el profesor ensaye en casa y anticipe los posibles problemas de
conceptos, formas o pronunciación que puedan surgir.
También hay que tener en cuenta que hay muchos factores que influyen en la
planificación y, por lo tanto, imponen restricciones al profesor al elegir unas determinadas
técnicas o materiales.
 Restricciones prácticas: duración de la unidad didáctica, número de clases a la
semana, momento del día (por la mañana, por la tarde, a primera hora, a última
hora...), el número de alumnos, el mobiliario, disponibilidad de materiales.
 La personalidad del profesor, entrenamiento previo, actitud...
 El alumnado: las diferentes necesidades de cada uno de ellos, su nivel de inglés (a
veces hay enormes diferencias en cuanto al dominio de las destrezas, por lo se
recomienda el aprendizaje autónomo con materiales adecuados), sus intereses, su
edad, antecedentes educativos (¿están acostumbrados a trabajar en grupo?),
actitudes, personalidad.
 Motivación y mantenimiento del interés. Aumentará en la medida que el alumnado
conoce los objetivos y su importancia para aprender inglés. Es fundamentar
organizar actividades significativas, relevantes y variadas.
La programación de la unidad didáctica debe contener los siguientes elementos:
1. Datos del diagnóstico inicial o de los resultados de la evaluación en las anteriores
unidades didácticas. Identificación de los intereses y conocimientos previos del
alumnado. Descripción de la clase (nivel o curso, condiciones físicas de la clase,
tiempo disponible...).
2. Determinación del tema y los consiguientes contenidos. Relación con los temas
transversales.
3. Formulación de los objetivos didácticos o de aprendizaje.
621
4. Selección y organización de los contenidos, distinguiendo conceptos,
procedimientos y actitudes y relacionándolos con los objetivos. Conexión con otras
áreas de conocimiento.
5. Secuenciación y organización de las actividades del alumnado: de
introducción/motivación, sobre los conocimientos previos, de desarrollo, de
revisión/ampliación y de evaluación. Valoración de la autonomía.
6. Temporalización en sesiones.
7. Metodología: enfoque y teorías de aprendizaje, estrategias de enseñanza y
aprendizaje, agrupamientos, espacios. Papel del profesor.
8. Recursos y apoyos
9. Tipo de evaluación (inicial, formativa o sumativa, autoevaluación y
heteroevaluación), instrumentos y técnicas. Criterios de evaluación.
10. Orientación y tutoría.
11. Medidas de atención a la diversidad. Optatividad. Diversificación curricular.
Organización de los recursos personales y materiales dirigidos a los alumnos con
necesidades educativas especiales. Programas específicos.
12. Recuperación. Proacción.
13. Valoración de la ejecución de la unidad didáctica.
PROGRAMACIÓN DE LAS SESIONES O CLASES
En cada sesión o clase, hay que concretar estos elementos. El número de sesiones
variará en razón de las horas semanales asignadas (dos horas para el ciclo segundo y tres
para el tercero) y la duración de las mismas, que normalmente son de una hora, de tres
cuartos de hora o de media hora. Son posibles sesiones de menos de 20 minutos.
Es conveniente escribir la planificación en una tarjeta o bien llevar un diario de clase,
indicando el tiempo dedicado a cada fase. Por detrás se incluirán notas y comentarios que
puedan servir para futuras clases.
En Fun Boat! de la colección materiales curriculares para la Educación Primaria, hay
varios ejemplos de programación de unidades didácticas especificando la temporalización de
las sesiones. Hemos extraído la correspondiente a MY NEW HOUSE.
1ª sesión.
El profesor o la profesora presenta la unidad, haciendo un trabajo de Gran Grupo
donde se comente la historia del cómic THIS IS MY NEW HOUSE (Sheet 1). Como siempre
la lectura se hará al final de la unidad. Se reparten revistas a los diferentes grupos y se les
pide que busquen habitaciones de casas y que las peguen en cartulinas. Cada grupo enseña
sus cartulinas y el profesor o la profesora presenta las partes de la casa: “This is the
bathroom”; en los grupos más alejados usa: “That is the kitchen”. Luego este mismo
ejercicio se hace por los miembros de cada grupo. Con el mural de la casa 6 se repasa y
afianza de una forma directa el vocabulario (sólo habitaciones).
2ª sesión.
Se comienza con la canción 10 de la unidad mientras la clase se acomoda. Con el
mural 6, se repasan las partes de la casa y se muestra la grafía correspondiente. Se reparte la
Sheet 2 donde se deben recortar las habitaciones de la casa y pegarlas en donde
corresponde. Una vez corregida, hacemos la Sheet 3, que es un crossword con las
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habitaciones de la casa. Cuando se conozcan las partes de la casa, se presentarán la mitad
de las palabras del vocabulario, haciendo hincapié en las de uso más común.
3ª sesión.
Se comienza con la canción 10 y un repaso oral de lo aprendido. Se hacen dibujos de
las partes de la casa con sus grafías y conforme vayan aprendiendo muebles se van
colocando los carteles en la clase. Se pasa a hacer la Sheet 4. En ella se deben colocar los
nombres correctos en cada casillero. El profesor o la profesora señala un dibujo y pregunta:
“What is this?”, para contestar seguidamente: “This is...”. Repite el ejercicio en grupa e
individualmente hasta cerciorarse de que ha sido comprendido. Se hace la Sheet 5, los
alumnos y alumnas deben completar las palabras contestando a las preguntas. Una vez
terminada la ficha se pregunta individualmente de forma oral.
4ª sesión.
Se comienza la clase con la canción 10. Se repasa el vocabulario dado con preguntas
de “What’s this?” para que la clase responda “This is...”. Se presenta de modo directo y
usando el mural 6 el resto de los muebles y cosas de la casa. Cuando se aprendan, se
presenta la grafía. Se pasa la Sheet 6, que tiene dos partes: la primera los niños y niñas
deben poner el nombre de cada habitación en el dibujo; la segunda, deben mirar el dibujo y
completar las cosas que hay en él. Se reparte el material de explotación de la canción y se
comienza a trabajar por partes, intentando averiguar qué palabras faltan.
5ª sesión.
Se comienza trabajando con la canción 10. No importa que muchas estructuras no se
comprendan, lo importante es que identifiquen palabras. Se hace la Sheet 7, siguiendo las
líneas y escribiendo el nombre de cada cosa. Pasamos a hacer la Sheet 8, donde se debe
seguir a la pista por toda la casa para averiguar dónde se encuentra el chocolate. Se canta la
canción 10.
6ª sesión.
Se comienza cantando la canción 10. Se repasa preguntando: “Where is the TV?”,
para que los alumnos y las alumnas contesten: “It’s in the sitting-room” o “In the sittingroom”. Pasa a hacer la Sheet 9, donde tienen que elegir entre He, She o It. Se repasa
aquellos aspectos de la programación que hayan quedado “flojos”.
7ª sesión.
Se comienza con la canción 10. Se repasa todo el vocabulario. Se pasan la Sheets 10a
y 10b para hacer un pair work. Un alumno o alumna de cada pareja sólo pueden ver la casa
A o la B. Después, el alumno o alumna A dice: “This room is number 1”; y enumera todos
los muebles de la habitación. El B debe colocar en su ficha y en el lugar correcto el nombre
de la habitación. El proceso se continúa hasta que la alumna o el alumno B tiene los cuatro
nombres puestos, y se repite al revés. Después la pareja comprueba si todo está correcto.
8ª sesión.
Hemos llegado casi al final de la unidad, es la hora de realizar y explotar la lectura
del cómic THIS IS MY NEW HOUSE. Se comienza presentando el juego The House Game
(Puedes fotocopiar la Sheet 11 en transparencia de acetato para el retroproyector). Por
parejas se coge una copia de The House Game (Sheet 11). Se comienza en START HERE y
sale la persona que saque la mayor puntuación en el dado. Siguiendo las flechas debe decir
correctamente el nombre de los muebles que aparecen en cada casilla; si acierta, vuelve a
tirar; si falla le toca a la otra. El decir alguna puntuación del dado en español equivale a
perder el turno. Cuando se dé la vuelta completa a su sección y llegue de nuevo a START
HERE, debe decir al menos 4 muebles de la habitación que elija el compañero o la
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compañera. Si acierta la habitación, pasa a su propiedad. El juego lo gana quien consiga las
cuatro habitaciones. Se puede arrebatar una habitación diciendo más muebles que los que el
compañero o compañera dijo (¡ojo! es conveniente apuntar el número de muebles que cada
uno dice). Si caes en un STOP, pierdes el turno. Si caes en un GOOD LUCK!, avanzas dos
puestos.
9ª sesión.
En esta sesión se realizarán las autoevaluaciones EL ESPEJITO y YO OPINO. Se
presenta la FICHA DE VOCABULARIO, para repasar y colorear.
Este modelo de programación propuesto por la Consejería de Educación y Ciencia de la
Junta de Andalucía tiene el inconveniente de que los objetivos, contenidos y criterios de
evaluación sólo se hacen explícitos una vez para toda la unidad didáctica. Sin embargo,
consideramos necesario tenerlos en cuenta, aunque sea mentalmente para no perderse.
Hammer ofrece un modelo de programación por sesiones (no es necesario reflejar
por escrito), que incluye una descripción de la clase (alumnado, condiciones físicas...) y el
trabajo realizado recientemente: el tema, el contenido, destrezas desarrolladas...Además se
explicitan:
 OBJETIVOS: especificaremos los objetivos de la clase, las capacidades que
intentamos desarrollar: identificar, usar, entender, expresar... (to read to confirm
expectations).
 CONTENIDOS: es la parte de la programación que más tiempo le dedicaremos:
conceptos (funciones, estructuras, situaciones, vocabulario, pronunciación y
cultura), procedimientos (destrezas) y actitudes. En la medida de lo posible todos
ellos deben aprenderse integradamente, pero en las distintas clases se puede dar
prioridad a uno de ellos: lectura, conversación, aspectos culturales,
pronunciación...
 DESARROLLO DE LA CLASE
- PRECALENTAMIENTO – motivación (0WARM-UP): el objetivo es
contextualizar la escena cultural situacional, lingüística y semánticamente.
0Revisión de los contenidos de las lecciones anteriores.
- PRESENTACIÓN de los contenidos y de las actividades siguiendo el libro o
no. Determinaremos el contexto o situación (en casa, en la tienda...).
Indicaremos la posible utilización de apoyos didácticos y con cursos superiores
utilizaremos la explicación gramatical, si fuera necesario. Cada sesión suele
desarrollar más intensamente alguna destreza comunicativa o contenido:
vocabulario, función, reading, listening, pronunciación...
- PRÁCTICA mediante ejercicios y actividades en grupo, por parejas e
individualmente. En los primeros niveles estará muy controlada, dejando
libertad progresivamente. Hay que determinar cómo, cuándo y dónde hacer las
correcciones de los errores. Hay que prever los posibles problemas que puedan
surgir y las actividades alternativas.
- 0PRODUCCIÓN (actividades “follow-up”) en clase y en casa, si fuera
necesario.
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3. CRITERIOS PARA LA SECUENCIACIÓN Y TEMPORALIZACIÓN DE
CONTENIDOS Y OBJETIVOS
Los contenidos y los objetivos están tan interrelacionados que es imposible definir o
explicitar uno sin mencionar el otro. La diferencia estriba en que el objetivo enfatiza la
capacidad que hay que desarrollar (captar información, comprender), mientras que el
contenido especifica el objeto sobre el que se ejerce la capacidad (un cuento):
Objetivo: captar información general y específica en un cuento.
Contenido precedimental: comprensión de un cuento.
Casi todos los objetivos vienen expresados mediante un verbo y un complemento
directo. El verbo se refiere a la destreza o habilidad intelectual (reconocer, comprender,
aplicar, analizar, sintetizar, valorar). Es el aspecto formal. El complemento directo es el
contenido propiamente. Estos dos objetivos del área de Lengua Inglesa tratan de desarrollar
la misma habilidad, pero difieren en cuanto a los contenidos, destacando en el primer caso
el significado o el mensaje de un texto, mientras en el segundo los elementos
comunicativos que se utilizan para transmitir la información (funciones, vocabulario,
gramática, pronunciación...).
1.- Comprender informaciones generales y específicas en textos orales y escritos
sencillos...
5.- Comprender ( y usar) los elementos lingüísticos y no lingüísticos...
De ahí que se incluyan en el mismo epígrafe ambos elementos de la programación.
No obstante, para un mejor estudio los trataremos aisladamente.
LOS OBJETIVOS
En el Decreto de Educación Primaria, lo importante es lograr los objetivos,
convirtiéndose los contenidos en instrumentos para alcanzarlos. Pero ¿cómo se entienden
estos objetivos?
Hay dos clases de objetivos: los propios de procesos formativos finalizados que se
oponen a los de procesos abiertos, como los experienciales o expresivos, en los que las
metas no están claramente definidas. En el primer grupo se incluyen los denostados
objetivos operativos, pero también los objetivos por capacidades tal como lo plantearon
Gagné-Briggs en 1974, quienes distinguen la acción que hay que realizar, el objeto o
producto final, las circunstancias o condiciones en que se considera alcanzado el objetivo,
así como los instrumentos y limitaciones. Sin embargo, lo más importante es determinar la
capacidad o habilidad mental que se va a desarrollar con la acción.
En este sentido se entienden los objetivos del Decreto de Enseñanzas, que se
diferencian claramente de los objetivos operativos en el sentido clásico y de los expresivos.
Se trata de desarrollar una capacidad, que consideraremos desarrollada si se alcanzan los
criterios de evaluación establecidos previamente.
Así los objetivos operativos utilizan verbos que indican acciones observables
objetivamente como escribir, recitar, hacer, comparar: mientras que los objetivos
expresivos usan verbos de acción como "realizar ejercicios, trabajar, investigar, descubrir,
practicar. Estos últimos verbos indican más la actividad que se va a realizar que los
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objetivos que se van a conseguir, pues los que realmente se consigan al final diferirán de un
alumno a otro.
Los verbos de los objetivos por capacidades del Decreto aluden, como hemos
mencionados anteriormente, a las habilidades que hay que desarrollar (cognitivas,
actitudinales e incluso psicomotrices): comprender, producir, leer comprensivamente,
establecer relaciones, mostrar actitudes abiertas, transferir conocimientos y experiencias...
En este sentido, los objetivos son considerados como intenciones que sustentan el
diseño y la realización de las actividades necesarias para la consecución de las grandes
finalidades educativas, promover el desarrollo integral del individuo y facilitar la
construcción de una sociedad más justa y solidaria. Son metas que guían los procesos de
enseñanza y aprendizaje ayudando al profesorado en la organización de su labor.
Constituyen un marco para decidir las posibles direcciones a seguir.
En función de los contextos y necesidades particulares de los individuos, los equipos
de profesores podrán establecer criterios de ordenación de los objetivos a desarrollar en
cada etapa educativa. También es importante analizar las relaciones entre distintas
capacidades, matizar algunos objetivos, priorizar unos respecto a otros e incluso incorporar
algunos nuevos teniendo en cuenta la realidad a la que se van a adaptar.
Por su carácter referencial y orientador, los objetivos tienen varios niveles de
concreción en el centro, yendo desde las Finalidades Educativas, los más generales, hasta la
programación en unidades didácticas, la más cercana al alumnado. Los objetivos generales
de etapa del Decreto de Primaria se concretan en los de área en los diferentes ciclos, en un
intento de adecuarse a cada realidad escolar, con las condiciones propias de cada contexto y
de cada persona.
Cada objetivo general de la etapa está muy directamente relacionado con los
objetivos generales de un área. En el caso del área de Lengua Inglesa,
OBJETIVO GENERAL DE LA ETAPA RELACIONADO CON LA LENGUA
INGLESA
i) Comprender y expresar mensajes orales y escritos sencillos y contextualizados en
una lengua extranjera.
OBJETIVOS GENERALES DEL ÁREA DE LENGUA INGLESA
RELACIONADOS DIRECTAMENTE CON EL OBJETIVO GENERAL DE LA
ETAPA.
1.- Comprender informaciones generales y específicas en textos orales y escritos
sencillos producidos en situaciones de comunicación conocidas y habituales, con una
intención de comunicación concreta.
2.- Producir textos orales y escritos en lengua extranjera que sean breves y sencillos,
en situaciones de comunicación reales o simuladas y que conecten con el mundo
experiencial de los alumnos.
Otros objetivos generales de la etapa también tienen relación con esta área o, de otra
forma, el área de Lengua Extranjera puede contribuir a conseguir los otros objetivos
generales. Sirva como ejemplo el siguiente objetivo general de etapa:
j) Comunicarse a través de medios de expresión verbal, corporal, visual, plástica,
musical y matemática, desarrollando la sensibilidad estética, la creatividad y la
capacidad para disfrutar de las obras y manifestaciones artísticas.
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Este objetivo está relacionado con el siguiente objetivo general del área, al menos en
lo que respecta a la comunicación no lingüística.
5.- Comprender y usar los elementos lingüísticos y no lingüísticos que intervienen en
situaciones habituales de interacción social y comunicación para conseguir que ésta
sea más fácil y fluida.
Los objetivos generales de área se distribuyen en los dos ciclos, teniendo en cuenta
que los resultados concretos y los plazos de tiempo que necesita cada alumno para
conseguirlos son diferentes. Por este motivo, los objetivos de ciclo no deben convertirse en
barreras que seleccione al alumnado. Por otra parte, hay que tener en cuenta que el grado de
desarrollo de un objetivo en un determinado ciclo está determinado por la complejidad o
dificultad del contenido al que se aplique más que a la capacidad en sí.
Puesto que los nuevos objetivos pretenden desarrollar las habilidades humanas, será
necesario conocerlas bien. Las taxonomías de objetivos como las de Bloom, Guildford,
Gagné, Sullivan, Merril y De Block, entre otros, pretenden señalar todas las habilidades y
graduarlas desde las más simples (saber un dato que hay que recordar, reconocer o repetir)
hasta las más complejas (la síntesis creativa o valorativa de una producción literaria). El fin
de las taxonomías es conseguir una educación integral de forma que se incida en todas las
habilidades, graduando la dificultad según el proceso madurativo del educando.
A continuación relacionamos las habilidades intelectuales (indicadas en negrita)
propuestas en las taxonomías citadas, especialmente la de Bloom, junto con los verbos
usados habitualmente, así como los contenidos con los que trabajan.
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A. CONCEPTOS
1. RECONOCIMIENTO (reconocer, conocer, definir términos, dar el significado,
identificar, dominar el vocabulario).
1.1. Datos: terminología y hechos
1.2. Metodología: convencionalismos, tendencias diacrónicas, clasificaciones,
criterios, métodos.
1.3. Conceptos universales.
B. PROCEDIMIENTOS
1. COMPRENSIÓN:
1.1. Traducción o traslación (decir con palabras propias, dar ejemplos,
explicar, representar)
1.2. Interpretación (resumir, explicar, dar ejemplos, elaborar una
interpretación científica, comprender mensajes)
1.3. Extrapolación (deducir, comparar, concluir)
2. APLICACIÓN:
2.1. Selección de principios, métodos, criterios (aplicar reglas de conversión,
aplicar estrategias)
2.2. Utilización de convencionalismos y normas ( aplicar reglas
correctamente, utilizar conceptos básicos o información, hacer un uso
reflexivo, incorporar)
2.3. Producción de textos específicos (escribir, redactar, expresar)
3. ANÁLISIS:
3.1. Selección y clasificación de elementos aislados (clasificar, distinguir
clases, analizar, diferenciar)
3.2. Análisis (analizar, relacionar sus partes, reflexionar, procesar)
4. SÍNTESIS:
4.1. Diseño de un proyecto (diseñar, planificar)
4.2. Producción de textos creativos (escribir, producir, construir, modificar,
expresar, transmitir, comentar)
4.3. Formulación de métodos, principios y teoría (formular)
5. VALORACIÓN objetiva y subjetiva (valorar, comparar, apreciar, juzgar,
descubrir la importancia)
C. ACTITUDES
1. ACEPTACIÓN Y APRECIACIÓN (apreciar, valorar, aceptar la necesidad,
tomar conciencia, desarrollar actitudes críticas)
2. PARTICIPACIÓN: interés, gusto y disfrute (disfrutar, generar el gusto,
profundizar).
En esta taxonomía se puede apreciar aún más la interrelación de objetivos y
contenidos. Por ello, algunos (Halliwell, 1993) distinguen entre objetivos de conceptos,
objetivos de procedimiento y objetivos de actitud. Para esta autora, en Primaria debe haber
un equilibrio entre los de conceptos y de actitud, que se tienen que estudiar con más
profundidad.
LOS CONTENIDOS
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Son objetos de enseñanza útiles y necesarios para desarrollar los objetivos de cada
área. Son instrumentos que permiten analizar la realidad de una manera objetiva, rigurosa y
contrastada para posteriormente interactuar con ella llegando a predecir fenómenos
naturales o sociales e intervenir, si es preciso.
En toda tarea didáctica hay un contenido, aquello sobre lo que se trabaja, y un
aspecto formal, el trabajo u operación que se realiza sobre ese contenido para desarrollar
una capacidad y lograr el objetivo propuesto.
A la hora de programar, se convierten en el centro alrededor de los cuales giran las
actividades y los objetivos. Estudios realizados en Estados Unidos por Peterson, Marx y
Clark (citados por Zabalza) sostienen que los profesores dedican más tiempo a los
contenidos que a la programación de las actividades o a la formulación de los objetivos.
La función que tengan los contenidos da lugar a distintos modelos de "escuela".
Hay que optar entre dos extremos: los contenidos como representación de la realidad
objetiva tal como la ven los científicos deben ser conocidos por el alumno para insertarse
con éxito en la sociedad; o por el contrario, el alumnado debe estudiar aquellos contenidos
que tengan en cuenta sus exigencias, su forma de aprender, sus condicionantes
psicopedagógicos, sus intereses, sus necesidades.
Por otra parte, los contenidos pueden convertirse en un fin en sí mismos o, por el
contrario, deben ser un instrumento para alcanzar unos objetivos, para desarrollar unas
capacidades y para conocer la realidad.
Entre ambos extremos hay posturas intermedias más moderadas. El Decreto de
Primaria y la LOGSE en general han optado por un modelo en que los contenidos son un
instrumento, sin que esto quiera decir que no tengan ningún valor. De hecho se prescriben
unos determinados bloques temáticos. En cuanto a la otra decisión, interesan los contenidos
que sean significativos y que tengan en cuenta las necesidades e intereses del alumnado.
CLASES DE CONTENIDOS
Respecto a las clases de contenidos, los desarrollos legales de la LOGSE han
reducido las varias clases de contenidos a tres tipos: conceptos (incluyen datos,
definiciones, hechos, principios), procedimientos y actitudes.
1) Los conceptos son los contenidos más elementales que los alumnos deben saber.
Designan a un conjunto de objetos, sucesos, situaciones o símbolos que tienen ciertas
características comunes, así como los principios o reglas que relacionan sus cambios.
Para explicitarlos se pueden utilizar verbos como: conocer, definir términos, dar el
significado, identificar, dominar el vocabulario... Estas palabras están relacionadas con
los objetivos y las operaciones formales más elementales de las taxonomías.
Normalmente se suelen omitir los verbos (conocer) o sustantivos verbales
(conocimiento) dejando sólo el objeto directo, por ejemplo: "El conocimiento del
vocabulario y las estructuras básicas de la lengua extranjera”. Son contenidos
conceptuales:
a) Las situaciones de comunicación en lengua inglesa.
b) Funciones habituales de comunicación (entablar relaciones, dar y pedir
información...)
c) Vocabulario relativo al tema de la unidad didáctica: la casa, los alimentos, el
cuerpo...
d) Estructuras gramaticales
e) Rutinas (expresiones idiomáticas) y fórmulas básicas (mostrar acuerdo).
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f) Reglas que rigen la comprensión y la producción de un discurso coherente.
2) Los procedimientos son aquellos contenidos que nuestros alumnos sabrán hacer. Son
un conjunto de acciones ordenadas y finalizadas dirigidas a la consecución de un
objetivo. Cada disciplina y área de conocimientos incluye un cuerpo propio de
procedimientos. Son muy rentables, porque ahorran tiempo y evitan almacenamiento
excesivo de datos. Por otra parte, pueden dar significatividad a los conceptos. Se
aprenden por repetición, imitación (las técnicas son fáciles de adquirir y memorizables)
o por descubrimiento (las estrategias son más complejas, permitiendo resolver diversos
problemas). Deben ser funcionales y transferibles a otras situaciones.
Son procedimientos la comprensión global de historias sencillas, la producción de
mensajes, el uso de estrategias no lingüísticas, realización de murales, la participación
en intercambios verbales, la resolución de pasatiempos, la localización en un plano, las
simulaciones...Los verbos más frecuentes son: manejar, manipular, utilizar, construir,
aplicar, observar, experimentar, elaborar, simular, demostrar, confeccionar, ordenar,
coleccionar, formular...; aunque es más frecuente el uso de los sustantivos verbales
correspondientes: manipulación, utilización, construcción...
3) Las actitudes provocan que el alumno sepa para qué hacer las cosas. No olvidemos
que la actitud está constituida por tres componentes: el cognitivo (lo que el sujeto sabe
sobre el objeto de la actitud), el emotivo (sentimientos agradables o desagradables que
despierta el objeto) y el reactivo o conductual (inclinación a actuar de una manera
determinada). Por lo tanto, no podemos limitarnos a informar sobre el respeto a las
diferencias culturales; sino que hay que prever actividades, basadas en la dinámica de
grupos, que incidan sobre los componentes emotivos y conductuales.
Los verbos son del siguiente tipo: respetar, tolerar, aceptar, sentir, valorar, apreciar,
interesarse, colaborar, participar, cooperar, inclinarse por... Alternativamente, al igual
que los procedimientos, se utilizan los sustantivos verbales correspondientes: actitud,
respeto, aceptación, valoración, aprecio, interés... Ejemplos: reconocimiento de la
importancia de ser capaz de comunicarse en inglés, atención y respeto a los mensajes en
inglés, reconocimiento del error como normal en el proceso de aprendizaje...
Los tres tipos de contenidos están relacionados con las dimensiones del sujeto
sobre las que se puede intervenir. Por poner un ejemplo, Gagné establece cinco
dimensiones: los contenidos conceptuales están relacionados con la dimensión de la
información; los procedimentales con las dimensiones de las habilidades intelectuales, las
estrategias cognitivas y las habilidades psicomotrices; los actitudinales, con la dimensión de
las actitudes.
Las estrategias cognitivas son la forma en que los sujetos utilizan las habilidades
que poseen y se refieren a las técnicas de trabajo y a los modos de pensamiento (inductivo,
deductivo, científico, fantástico...). Las habilidades psicomotrices tienen especial
incidencia en las destrezas o conductas en su aspecto motor del alumnado de primer ciclo.
En cuanto a las habilidades intelectuales, están muy relacionadas con los objetivos
o capacidades, a las que hicimos referencia al hablar de los objetivos.
La enorme cantidad de ellos dificulta su selección, por lo que se hace necesario
realizar un esfuerzo importante de síntesis y contar con criterios racionales y objetivos para
elegir los más relevantes y con mayor incidencia en la vida diaria, teniendo en cuenta que
un contenido interesante para el alumnado no garantiza su relevancia desde el punto de
vista educativo (Del Carmen, 1997).
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LA SELECCIÓN
La selección de los contenidos que realice el profesor debe tener en cuenta el
Decreto de Educación Primaria así como la literatura especializada del área e incluso de las
programaciones que han sido implementadas en el centro. Posteriormente se identificarán
sus contenidos axiales o nudos. En esta fase puede ser necesaria la ayuda del experto en el
área que dé una visión amplia y clarificadora de la misma.
En cada ciclo el profesorado tendrá que seleccionar, adaptar, priorizar aquellos que
permitan alcanzar los objetivos más fácilmente e incluso incluir aquellos contenidos que
consideren necesarios teniendo en cuenta el contexto de su centro y las Finalidades
Educativas. Será importante delimitar qué contenidos se incluyen en cada uno de los ciclos
con el fin de evitar lagunas importantes o por el contrario repeticiones innecesarias.
En cualquier caso, es necesario contar con unos criterios que nos ayuden a
seleccionar los contenidos:
* Representatividad: los contenidos deben ser seleccionados por procedimientos de
muestreo, que reflejen bien el conjunto o población de donde han sido extraídos.
* Ejemplaridad: aquellos considerados fundamentales, básicos o elementales y las
ideas estratégicas con gran alcance lógico dentro de una disciplina. Es lo que
denominados ideas-eje o conceptos básicos que adquieren gran relevancia por su
sentido instrumental o por su sentido lógico.
* Significación desde el punto de vista de la epistemología, es decir, los contenidos
deben respetar la estructura de cada disciplina. Son los conceptos clave o "nudos"
estructurales que actúan de conexión de la estructura temática.
* Transferibilidad: son aplicables a otras situaciones distintas a aquella en la que se
aprendieron.
* Durabilidad.
* Consenso: contenidos sobre cuya importancia y validez hay acuerdo en la
comunidad escolar.
* Adecuación al desarrollo cognitivo y a otras características de los alumnos como la
afectividad o el estilo cognitivo.
SECUENCIACIÓN
Respecto a la secuenciación de los contenidos, está claro que no hay una única
secuenciación con validez general, sino que variará atendiendo a las distintas realidades.
Por otra parte, hay que tener en cuenta dos criterios que hemos mencionado anteriormente:
la lógica de cada disciplina y las características psicosociológicas del alumnado. El primer
criterio será preferente al elaborar el Proyecto Curricular, aunque no debe ser absoluto, ya
que si sometemos la secuenciación de los contenidos de muchos manuales a un mínimo
análisis, podremos comprobar que en algunos casos el orden establecido tradicionalmente
no tiene una fundamentación suficientemente justificada.
El criterio psicológico será prioritario al elaborar la programación de la unidad
didáctica. Es importante porque permite una más fácil asimilación por parte del alumno.
Las teorías de Piaget plantearon la necesidad de secuenciar de acuerdo con el nivel de
desarrollo operatorio de los educandos. Según el aprendizaje significativo de Ausubel los
contenidos deben ordenarse teniendo en cuenta simultáneamente su significatividad lógica
(la presentación de los contenidos debe facilitar la comprensión de sus relaciones y
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relevancia) y psicológica (relacionar los nuevos contenidos con los que el educando tiene
previamente).
Las Orientaciones para la Secuenciación de los Contenidos en lenguas extranjeras de
la Colección de Materiales Curriculares para la Educación Primaria, plantea los siguientes
presupuestos pedagógicos y lingüísticos en los que se fundamentarán los criterios de
selección y secuenciación de contenidos:
 Desde una perspectiva constructivista, se destaca la noción de aprendizaje
significativo, creando situaciones de comunicación que impliquen conexiones con los
conocimientos previos de los alumnos y con el entorno en el que se desenvuelven. En el
campo concreto de la enseñanza de lenguas extranjeras, el concepto de aprendizaje
significativo se traduce en las sugerencias sobre actividades previas a la introducción
de nuevos contenidos, que funcionen como puente entre los conocimientos previos y los
nuevos, en las alusiones a la necesidad de transferir estrategias de comunicación
entre lengua materna y lengua extranjera, y finalmente en la necesidad de conectar las
actividades con el entorno próximo de los alumnos o con sus centros de interés.
 En esta etapa, los procesos de adquisición tendrán gran importancia y, por lo tanto, la
interacción con otras personas resultará indispensable. La cooperación, como
requisito necesario para aprender hace que el profesor/a y los compañeros/as sean
imprescindibles como mediadores entre las informaciones puestas en juego y los
objetos, personas o acciones cuyos significados los alumnos/ as han de percibir.
 Desde la perspectiva lingüística, para esta selección y secuenciación de contenidos se
han extraído criterios basados en el enfoque funcional y en las investigaciones
realizadas sobre adquisición de segundas lenguas. Una consecuencia de este
planteamiento es el respeto y aceptación de los errores que cometen los alumnos/as y
su consideración como elementos necesarios e inevitables en los procesos de
adquisición-aprendizaje de una lengua extranjera.
 Todas las investigaciones en adquisición de segundas lenguas inciden en la
importancia de los factores afectivos en el proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje de la
lengua extranjera. Esto supone que factores tan diversos como la motivación, la
ansiedad o la autoestima han de tenerse en cuenta y ser tratados en consecuencia.
 Esta propuesta se basa en la necesidad de combinar procesos de aprendizaje
organizados y procesos donde se fomente el uso de la lengua extranjera de manera
natural y significativa, aprovechando la naturalidad y realismo de las situaciones que
se creen dentro del aula.
 Los factores psico-cognoscitivos y socioafectivos que caracterizan a los alumnos de
este ciclo. En general, los alumnos en la etapa de Primaria se caracterizan por un gran
desarrollo de la memoria a corto plazo y de la capacidad de percibir. Esto hace
necesario volver de forma sistemática y cíclica a contenidos tratados previamente con
el fin de incorporarlos a la memoria a largo plazo. Los alumnos/as en esta etapa no
son aún capaces de abstraer, sin embargo han de propiciarse procesos que faciliten la
reflexión posterior en la etapa siguiente. El hecho de que el alumno en esta etapa tenga
deseos de integrarse socialmente en un grupo y de imitar modelos adultos tendrá
repercusión en la selección de temas y actividades. El aprendizaje se considera como
una habilidad cognoscitiva compleja caracterizada por la automatización de las
habilidades y su incorporación en la memoria a largo plazo. El enfoque didáctico más
asociado con la teoría cognoscitiva en esta etapa es el basado en la actividad, según el
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cual, el aprendizaje de la lengua es un proceso activo, producto de su utilización para
dotar de significado a los objetos, personas, acciones, etc. En una planificación basada
en las actividades, éstas constituyen el eje central y generan el lenguaje necesario para
su realización. El punto de partida para la propuesta de contenidos será la
determinación de temas o centros de interés para los alumnos, que conecten
globalmente con los campos de trabajo en otras áreas.
Los criterios utilizados para la organización y secuenciación de contenidos se pueden
concretar en los siguientes puntos:
1.- Partir siempre de lo que el alumno/a ya conoce en el ámbito conceptual,
procedimental y actitudinal con el fin de que pueda comprender las informaciones
nuevas y enlazar los nuevos contenidos con los conocimientos adquiridos previamente.
Es importante en esta Etapa trabajar conceptos nuevos, aunque los contenidos
prioritarios serán los procedimientos.
2.- Los procedimientos son el núcleo alrededor del cual se articulan todos los demás
contenidos.
3.- Los contenidos propuestos exigen la presencia de objetos, personas o acciones con
el fin de facilitar que el alumno establezca relaciones entre significantes y significados
para apropiarse así de los valores simbólicos transmitidos por la lengua extranjera.
4.- La exposición del alumno a datos es previa a cualquier adquisición de nuevos
conocimientos. Por ello, los procesos receptivos tendrán gran importancia, aunque
también será necesaria la producción con el fin de poder comprobar la validez de los
aprendizajes realizados.
5.- Los elementos contextuales puestos en juego en las situaciones de aprendizaje
serán claves para la interpretación y expresión de mensajes y significados. En esta
Etapa tendrán prioridad los de tipo no lingüístico, tales como mímica, imágenes,
gestos, etc.
6.- El lenguaje que se utiliza dentro del aula proporciona permanentemente
informaciones cargadas de contenidos.
7.- Cualquiera de los contenidos presentados debe ser tratado de forma sistemática en
contextos diferentes con el fin de garantizar que los nuevos conocimientos se
incorporen en la memoria a largo plazo.
Si tenemos en cuenta la distinción de los tres tipos de contenidos, la secuenciación
variará ligeramente:
*Los conceptos: se presentarán primero los más representativos progresando hacia un
mayor detalle. Los principios deben ser inicialmente muy simples y explicativos,
haciéndose más complejos progresivamente. Los conceptos, en el ámbito léxico,
funcional y fonológico, vendrán determinados, pues, por los temas y los tipos de
actividades. Las situaciones de comunicación favorecerán usos del lenguaje
organizados en torno a funciones y sus correspondientes exponentes lingüísticos. Los
contenidos léxicos se agruparán en tres grandes secciones: fórmulas y expresiones
rutinarias, centros de interés y lenguaje de aula. Los conceptos fonológicos atenderán
a los aspectos de entonación, ritmo, acentuación y sonidos.
*Los procedimientos son en este modelo el núcleo organizativo predominante. Estarán
estrechamente vinculados a las actividades y los tipos de textos. Deben empezar por
los más simples según el número de pasos a seguir, número de decisiones que hay
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que tomar, grado de novedad... Hay que iniciarse con las técnicas ya conocidas y con
las estrategias-eje de carácter general.
*Las actitudes no presentan grandes problemas en cuanto a su secuenciación. Sin
embargo, partimos de aquellas actitudes, valores y normas más generales y
elementales para ir progresando hacia las que ofrecen particularidades o se conectan
con procesos afectivos y de socialización más específicos. Evolucionar desde la
aceptación y cumplimiento de normas hasta la comprensión de su necesidad y la
participación en su elaboración.
Actualmente, nos encontramos con tres formas de secuenciar los contenidos (syllabus):
 El gramatical: esta secuenciación se preocupa de cómo se expresan los
hablantes. La lengua es un sistema que hay que aprender gradualmente desde los
elementos lingüísticos más fáciles a los más difíciles, excluyendo otros elementos
de la lengua.
 El situacional se preocupa de cuándo y dónde el estudiante usará el inglés. Por
lo tanto se ordenan los elementos lingüísticos independientemente del lugar que
ocupan en la gramática, atendiendo a la probabilidad de que se necesiten usar en
unas determinadas situaciones sociales. En realidad, no existe ninguna
secuenciación situacional, sino gramatical, que usa las situaciones sociales para
presentar y practicar las formas lingüísticas.
 El nocional intenta averiguar qué significados (funciones) necesita comunicar el
alumnado. Entiende la lengua como un sistema semántico.
En realidad los tres trabajan con formas, significados y usos. La diferencia es el
orden y la prioridad: el gramatical se mueve desde la forma hacia el significado y el uso, el
situacional se movería desde el uso hasta el significado y la forma, el nocional desde el
significado hacia la forma y el uso. Lo ideal sería combinar lo mejor de los tres, pero aún
está por hacer. Actualmente en Primaria, las unidades didácticas se organizan alrededor de
tópicos o situaciones cercanas a los intereses y necesidades de los alumnos, pero los
contenidos gramaticales se gradúan según su dificultad, relacionándolos con las funciones.
En cuanto a la organización de los contenidos, los equipos de profesores tendrán en
cuenta dos aspectos importantes: la necesidad de mantener una continuidad coherente en el
proceso de aprendizaje a lo largo de los ciclos y cursos y, por otra parte, la atención a los
planteamientos globalizados.
Hay que considerar las posibilidades globalizadoras de los contenidos transversales:
Educación para la Paz y la Convivencia, Educación Moral y Cívica, Educación para la
Salud, Educación del Consumidor y Usuario, Educación Medioambiental, Educación Vial y
Educación para la igualdad de sexos.
Respecto a la temporalización, ya se ha hablado en el apartado anterior al hablar de
las distintas unidades de programación.
4. SELECCIÓN DE LA METODOLOGÍA A EMPLEAR EN LAS ACTIVIDADES
DE APRENDIZAJE Y DE EVALUACIÓN.
Las actividades son las unidades estructurales básicas de programación y acción
dentro de la clase. Así lo reconoce el Decreto de Primaria al hablar de las Orientaciones
Metodológicas:
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Las actividades o tareas a realizar constituyen el centro de la planificación didáctica,
integrándose en ellas los objetivos, contenidos y evaluación.
Las actividades y tareas se generarán a partir de temas o centros de interés
pertenecientes al mundo experiencial de los alumnos y alumnas y se adaptarán a los
intereses y edades de los mismos. Se trata de usar la lengua para hacer cosas con ella
y, por lo tanto serán las actividades y situaciones de comunicación diseñadas las que
generen la lengua a usar y no al contrario.
Hay un enfoque basado en las tareas, que surgió en India con el proyecto Bangalore,
que se basa en el supuesto de que se aprende mejor el idioma extranjero cuando el alumno
se centra en el significado o en la tarea, lo que conlleva su deseo de comunicarse. Las
formas no se aprenden, sino que se adquieren a partir del input lingüístico. El syllabus,
llamado procedimental, consiste en unas secuencias de tareas.
En toda actividad didáctica (según Yinger, citado por Zabalza) podemos distinguir los
siguientes componentes:
a) Localización o lugar físico donde se realizarán.
b) Estructura o fases secuenciales de la actividad.
c) Duración.
d) Participantes: número y agrupamientos
e) Condiciones o conductas aceptables de los sujetos
f) Acciones instructivas o pasos dados por el profesor para llevar a cabo la actividad.
g) Contenidos y materiales.
a) Las actividades se realizarán normalmente en el aula. Excepcionalmente, se
podrán realizar en el laboratorio de idiomas, en el aula de informática, en el salón de
medios audiovisuales o en el patio.
Se considera que el aula es el contexto general, común y auténtico en el que se
establecen las relaciones de comunicación en lengua extranjera.
En el aula se deben simular situaciones reales con la ayuda de materiales
audiovisuales, pósters, realia... Las diferentes actividades elegidas (juegos variados,
representaciones, cuentos, canciones, etc.) determinarán los contextos, que contribuyen a
dar significado a los datos lingüísticos.
La construcción de los nuevos significados en lengua extranjera requiere que los
alumnos tengan experiencias lingüísticas y no lingüísticas en las que estén presentes
simultáneamente las acciones, personas u objetos, junto con las unidades
lingüísticas y los significados.
La elaboración de significados simbólicos, es decir, que no dependa su comprensión
del contexto en el que aparecen, se producirá posteriormente a partir de la
ampliación y diversificación de los contextos.
b) Las actividades “deben tener una estructura de funcionamiento accesible a los
alumnos y alumnas, o con la que ya estén familiarizados”.
c) La duración de las actividades será variable y dependerá de muchos factores,
siendo el más destacable el tipo de actividad. No se debe mantener demasiado tiempo en
una actividad, incluso cuando parece que los alumnos están a gusto para prevenir el
cansancio y el aburrimiento. Tampoco es conveniente estar variando continuamente.
Relacionado con la duración de las actividades está la de las clases: podemos optar en
el segundo ciclo de Primaria entre dos clases de una hora, cuatro de media hora o cualquier
otro periodo de tiempo. Todas las opciones tienen sus ventajas e inconvenientes.
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d) A la hora de realizar una actividad hay que determinar el número de participantes
y la forma de agrupamiento. Los espacios donde tengan lugar se organizarán de forma
flexible para facilitar diversos agrupamientos y “para que el trabajo cooperativo sea
práctica habitual en el aula”. “El aprendizaje cooperativo y el lenguaje interactivo entre
los compañeros favorecerán la ampliación de situaciones de comunicación y de relaciones
sociales dentro del aula”.
e) El profesor determinará las conductas permisibles o apropiadas para realizar las
actividades (libertad de movimientos, nivel de voz...)
f) Respecto al profesor/a, debe planificar las acciones instructivas o pasos para llevar
a cabo la actividad. Una actividad muy frecuente es la práctica de los nuevos contenidos
repitiendo un diálogo en coro. De esta forma los errores no son apreciables y el alumno
tiene la oportunidad de practicar la pronunciación, el vocabulario o la estructura gramatical
sin miedo a equivocarse o a hacer el ridículo, al mismo tiempo que se va autocorrigiendo y
ganando confianza en sí mismo. Más tarde, trabajará en grupo o por parejas para la práctica
oral y asumiendo diferentes papeles en el role play. Finalmente trabajará individualmente
en actividades escritas.
El papel del profesor es esencial en el aspecto afectivo y para dar” autenticidad a las
situaciones de comunicación, usando la lengua extranjera como vehículo de comunicación
en las interacciones que ocurran en el aula”.
Su lenguaje debe resultar comprensible a los alumnos; para ello hará uso de
recursos variados que faciliten el procesamiento de información y planteará la
realización de tareas con suficiente apoyo contextual para facilitar que sean los
propios alumnos quienes las interpreten y resuelvan de forma autónoma.
En el proceso didáctico e interactivo con los alumnos, el profesor/a incorporará de
forma intencionada ciertas estrategias comunicativas semejantes a las que se
utilizan en los procesos naturales de adquisición de lenguas y que los alumnos y
alumnas ya han experimentado en su lengua materna parafrasear, usar elementos
redundantes, repetir de forma natural, etc. Sin embargo, no debe ser objetivo
primordial el que los alumnos y alumnas asimilen todos los datos que se les ofrecen.
g) En cuanto a los contenidos, debemos distinguir por una parte a los datos
comunicativos que integran el mensaje y las unidades lingüísticas (vocabulario, funciones,
estructuras gramaticales, pronunciación...) y por otra parte a las destrezas comunicativas. El
Decreto de Primaria se decanta por las teorías de Krashen y del enfoque natural en cuanto a
la recepción de datos.
En esta etapa educativa el objetivo fundamental será potenciar los mecanismos de
adquisición, como proceso inconsciente y espontáneo que lleva a la construcción
interna de conocimientos, junto con los mecanismos de aprendizaje, que tiene una
finalidad educativa adicional y que requiere un esfuerzo consciente.
Será necesario poner en contacto al alumnado con datos comunicativos que les
resulten significativos y comprensibles, con las siguientes características: a los
intereses del alumno, aplicables a un amplio número de situaciones, con un nivel de
complejidad sólo un poco más avanzado del conocimiento que poseen los alumnos, y
con apoyo contextual suficiente para facilitar su comprensión.
En el aula se deben de proporcionar datos comunicativos variados, con el fin de
estimular el proceso de aprendizaje natural en los alumnos y alumnas; datos tales
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como: el lenguaje del profesor u otras personas, el lenguaje de los compañeros,
grabaciones contextualizadas tipo audio o vídeo, información escrita, etc.
Las destrezas de comprensión y expresión, tanto oral como escrita, se trabajarán de
forma integrada desde el principio; sin embargo, la comprensión de informaciones
no debe implicar la producción inmediata de las mismas, ya que es necesario
propiciar períodos que permitan la interiorización de la nueva lengua. Así pues, se
debe respetar lo que se conoce como períodos silenciosos, sin forzar la producción
oral o escrita más allá de lo que la competencia comunicativa de los alumnos
permite.
Las destrezas receptivas y orales son muy importantes en los primeros momentos, en
que la competencia lingüística y comunicativa de los alumnos es baja, y se pueden
acompañar de tareas que demanden respuestas no verbales, tales como dibujar,
construir, asociar, señalar, secuenciar, responder físicamente, etc. El exceso de
producción verbal puede suponer una limitación del tiempo dedicado a que los
alumnos y alumnos reciban informaciones y datos enriquecedores para desarrollar
su competencia comunicativa.
No obstante, en esta etapa también es necesario utilizar la lengua extranjera de
forma productiva, como condición indispensable para su adquisición y aprendizaje.
La producción es posible gracias al contexto cooperativo de las actividades que se
desarrollen (entre compañeros, entre profesor y alumnos, etc.) , y permite contrastar
la validez de los mensajes elaborados dentro del contexto de la actividad.
Especialmente en esta etapa, es importante desarrollar estrategias de comunicación
que compensen los niveles de competencia de los alumnos y alumnas en lengua
extranjera, que serán aún bajos. Algunas de estas estrategias pueden aparecer de
forma natural: decir sólo lo que es necesario o relevante, ser breve y claro, utilizar
gestos o mímica, etc. Sin embargo, hay otras estrategias que formarán parte de la
actuación didáctica: hacer predicciones, inferir significados, anticipar contenidos,
etc.
Los contenidos del área de Lengua Inglesa se pueden relacionar con los de otras áreas y
con los temas transversales con una perspectiva globalizadora.
Desde la perspectiva del conocimiento global que el alumno tiene en esta etapa, es
importante la iniciación de tareas o proyectos de trabajo centrados
fundamentalmente en el aula y el entorno próximo. Esto posibilitará la relación
entre la lengua extranjera y otras áreas de conocimiento e implicando a los
alumnos y alumnas en tareas de búsqueda y participación personal, en parejas,
pequeño grupo o de toda la clase.
El carácter globalizador que tiene el proceso de enseñanza aprendizaje en esta etapa
implica que necesariamente el profesor/a especialista en lengua extranjera organice
el trabajo junto con los profesores tutores con el fin de garantizar un enfoque
globalizado.
La integración de la enseñanza del inglés con otras áreas está empezando a tener sus
adeptos, pero sigue siendo una experiencia muy minoritaria. Sin embargo, es muy positiva
porque el alumnado percibe el inglés como algo natural, que adquiere, más que aprende;
por lo que es un aprendizaje más significativo y duradero.
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La integración se puede realizar casi con todas las áreas y de muy variadas formas. La
más conocida en España es la integración total con el área de Ciencias de la Naturaleza, que
se imparte totalmente en inglés. Esto implica un buen dominio del inglés oral por parte del
profesor.
Sin embargo, hay otras alternativas menos ambiciosas: podemos repasar operaciones
matemáticas en inglés, utilizar tablas de doble entrada para resumir los datos de una
investigación (How many students come to school by bus, by car or on foot?) o tomar las
medidas (my foot is 18 centimeters, I’m 160 centimeters tall); se puede hacer un
experimento de Ciencias de la Naturaleza, diciendo en inglés los pasos que se van dando
(here’s a jar, I’m going to open it, I can’t open it...); se puede responder con acciones en
clase de educación física (throw the ball, stop, pass me the ball, jump, turn around...).
Según Wheeler, citado por Zabalza, hay que establecer unos criterios para que el
profesor pueda decidir a la hora de seleccionar las actividades:
 Validez: la actividad debe posibilitar mejorar el aprendizaje, el cambio de
conducta, la mejora del alumnado, en definitiva, la consecución del objetivo
propuesto.
 Comprensividad: se trata de seleccionar actividades que consigan desarrollar el
máximo de habilidades de todo tipo: intelectuales, sociales, motoras,
actitudinales...
 Variedad para satisfacer los distintos estilos cognitivos del alumnado y para
lograr la comprensividad mencionada anteriormente.
 Conveniencia a la edad y nivel madurativo del alumnado.
 Estructura, es decir, que las actividades tengan un carácter organizado.
 Relevancia para la vida: las actividades debe ser significativas y útiles.
 Participación activa del alumno en la planificación de las actividades.
Otros criterios pueden ser que las actividades sean interesantes y motivadoras, así
como que el alumnado use el máximo de lenguaje, en una situación que le suponga un reto
dentro de las posibilidades del nivel. Al final de la actividad debe quedar la sensación de
tener algún producto o de haber finalizado.
Cada clase debe ser única, impredecible. No se debe seguir siempre el mismo
esquema o provocará aburrimiento. El profesor debe prever realizar en clase actividades
que no se puedan realizar fuera de la clase: comunicación oral.
Asimismo, debe conocer de antemano qué actividades son estimulantes y cuáles son
tranquilizantes. Son estimulantes los concursos, el trabajo por parejas y el trabajo oral en
general, porque “despiertan” al alumnado, pero en grado extremo pueden excitar, lo cual es
negativo. Del mismo modo, las actividades tranquilizantes como las auditivas, el copiar o el
colorear son buenas en sí, pero pueden llegar a producir aburrimiento.
También podemos dividirlas en actividades que implican al alumnado mental o
físicamente. En el primer apartado, se pueden incluir los juegos, los puzzles o los
concursos. El alumnado tiene que recordar, reflexionar, deducir, inducir... Implican
actividad física los TPR, dibujar, escribir, leer en voz alta...
Las actividades se pueden clasificar según otro criterio: el tipo de capacidad que
desarrollan: orales o escritas, receptivas o productivas. Normalmente se suelen y se deben
integrar varias destrezas, pero tomando como central una de ellas.
 Escuchar y hacer. Se trata de reforzar la comprensión auditiva mediante una
respuesta activa que sirve para mantener atentos y motivados a los alumnos, al
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mismo tiempo que se consigue memorización a más largo plazo: TPR, symbol
dictation, escribe lo que oigas, escucha y busca, escucha y ordena, escucha y
adivina el orden, representar el cuento narrado por el profesor.
 Adivina. Sirven para practicar el hacer preguntas: qué tengo en mi tarjeta, cuántas
cartas puedes acertar, jugar a los barcos.
 Levántate y averigua. Implican una interacción activa y real entre alumnos que
se tienen que desplazar para realizar la actividad: cuadro de entrevistas, pon a
prueba a tus compañeros, descubre quién tiene la misma tarjeta, busca
información en el mural.
 ¿Recuerdas? Se utiliza la memoria par provocar comunicación oral: tarjetas que
desaparecen, encontrar la carta pareja, dictado silencioso recordando.
 Piensa por ti mismo. Se le da oportunidad al alumnado para que genere y
organice sus ideas: confecciona una lista por categorías, imagina y busca las
palabras correspondientes, escribe un minilibro, diseña tu propia pegatina.
Otras clases de actividades son:
 Hacer gráficas en clase sobre la altura, el peso, la edad, el cumpleaños, el tiempo,
la comida, etc.
 Canciones y rimas.
 Historias y cuentos.
 Rompecabezas y problemas: matemáticos, económicos, señalar diferencias,
adivinar el más largo, adivinanzas, tests de memoria, crucigramas, etc.
 Juegos: se pueden adaptar a nuestros propósitos juegos que habitualmente juegan
como la silla. Son muy adecuados los juegos de tablero y de cartas. Otros juegos:
bingo, dominó de imágenes, juegos de patio, etc.
 Actuar diálogos cortos con escenas o situaciones de la vida diaria.
 Hacer cosas siguiendo instrucciones orales o escritas.
 Dar o seguir las instrucciones dadas a partir de un mapa para llegar a algún lugar.
 Usar horarios y otras gráficas.
 Actividades artísticas: dibujar, pintar...
Teniendo estas clasificaciones, es más fácil planificar según los condicionantes que
surjan. A veces el alumnado está inquieto después de una clase de educación física o del
recreo. Otras están aparentemente muy tranquilos, pero realmente inquietos después de
trabajar con un profesor, normalmente el tutor, que los ha mantenido en sumo silencio casi
todo el tiempo. No es igual dar la clase al principio de la jornada lectiva que al final o por la
tarde. No se puede seguir el mismo esquema en todos los casos.
Respecto a las guías y ayudas que debe prestar el profesor, el alumnado debe saber
exactamente qué y cómo hacer la actividad. La cantidad de ayuda prestada tiene un
componente técnico-objetivo y otro actitudinal-afectivo. En procesos por descubrimiento es
bueno que el alumno tenga poca ayuda para que “se busque la vida”. Se intenta promover la
creatividad y la tenacidad hasta encontrar la solución. El problema del profesor es saber
hasta qué punto el alumno concreto es capaz de soportar la presión y la no-ayuda. En caso
de decaimiento o frustración, es necesario ayudar. Siempre será válido el principio de dar la
mínima ayuda, aunque nunca menos de la necesaria.
Por otra parte el profesor dispone de tres tipos de estrategias para ayudar al
alumnado:
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 Por descubrimiento (discovery) procediendo inductivamente a partir de ejemplos
o de un problema, a partir del cual se genera una hipótesis de trabajo que se
intenta comprobar mediante unas actividades investigativas.
 Por organización superior (advanced-organized), se realiza deductivamente
analizando un modelo o regla.
 Por conceptos fundamentales (basic concept) mezclando lo inductivo y lo
inductivo.
Respecto a la evaluación, a parte del Decreto de Primaria, disponemos de las normas
que lo desarrollan
· Orden de 1 de febrero de 1993, sobre Evaluación en Educación Primaria en la
Comunidad Autónoma de Andalucía.
· Orden de 18 de noviembre de 1996, por la que se complementan y modifican las
Órdenes de la Consejería de Educación y Ciencia sobre Evaluación en las Enseñanzas
de Régimen General establecidas por la Ley Orgánica 1/1990, de 3 de octubre, de
Ordenación General del Sistema Educativo en la Comunidad Autónoma de
Andalucía.
En la primera Orden, se establece en su artículo dos que la evaluación debe ser:
- Continua, es decir, de manera permanente acerca del proceso de enseñanza y
aprendizaje.
- Global por cuanto deberá referirse al conjunto de capacidades expresadas en los
objetivos generales de la etapa y a los criterios de evaluación de las diferentes
áreas.
- Formativa
- Cualitativa
- Contextualizada (referida a su entorno y a un proceso concreto de enseñanza y
aprendizaje).
Establecer unos controles de comprobación para que el alumno sepa si está en el buen
camino es imprescindible. Esto tiene un componente cognitivo y otro afectivo. Por una
parte, el alumnado necesita conocer el resultado que se pretende lograr; por otra, si el
alumno sabe que está aprendiendo y haciendo realmente lo que se le pide, consigue
aumentar la seguridad en sí mismo. El profesor puede realizar estos controles mediante
preguntas al alumno e incluso con gestos o con la mirada. Otra forma es la autoevaluación
de una forma sencilla e intuitiva, que permita al alumnado reflexionar sobre la adecuación
del proceso seguido para alcanzar los objetivos.
Los controles se enmarcan en la evaluación formativa, que permite tomar conciencia
del error, pudiendo el profesor proporcionar la ayuda necesaria para realizar bien la tarea.
De esa forma la retroalimentación que recibe el profesor le permite rectificar a tiempo y
reconducir el proceso. La evaluación formativa no sólo controla el proceso del aprendizaje,
sino también los resultados esperados. También está relacionado con la autoevaluación,
que permite al alumnado tomar parte activa en el proceso de aprendizaje, reflexionando y
rectificando, si es necesario.
La reconducción variará según las dimensiones afectadas. Si los aspectos deficitarios
son las capacidades (análisis, síntesis, aplicación, valoración...), no es necesario volver atrás
en el proceso, sino prestar más atención a tales habilidades en las siguientes unidades, ya
que estas habilidades se volverán a ejercitar con otros contenidos diferentes. Más
problemático resulta solucionar la carencia de algunos contenidos. Normalmente hay que
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volver atrás y volver a trabajarlos, ya que las lagunas, especialmente en contenidos básicos,
que actúan como prerrequisitos, pueden dificultar el proceso de aprendizaje.
6.
RELACIÓN DEL TEMA CON LOS DISEÑOS CURRICULARES DE LA
JUNTA DE ANDALUCÍA
El tema está totalmente relacionado con el Decreto de Educación Primaria y con las
guías de la colección de Materiales Curriculares para esta etapa. La programación es la
concreción del Anexo del Decreto para el área de Lengua Inglesa a un determinado
momento y a un determinado grupo de alumnos: objetivos, contenidos, metodología de las
actividades...Al haberse mencionado y citado expresamente en muchas ocasiones, no
consideramos necesario volver a incidir en ello.
7. PROPUESTA DIDÁCTICA
Pueden plantearse varias propuestas didácticas: programación larga o de una unidad
didáctica. Para la primera, podemos encontrar muchos ejemplos en los libros de texto para
esta etapa. Para la unidad didáctica, creemos que el mejor ejemplo es uno de los modelos
presentados por la Consejería de Educación y Ciencia en la Colección de Materiales
Curriculares para la Educación Primaria, concretamente el planificado para el tercer curso.
UNIDAD DIDÁCTICA DE INGLÉS
PARA TERCER CURSO DE EDUCACIÓN PRIMARIA
Colección de Materiales Curriculares para la Educación Primaria
CARACTERÍSTICAS DEL CENTRO
Es importante señalar que la unidad que se presenta ha sido desarrollada en un
Colegio Publico del centro de la ciudad, en el que se ha llevado a la práctica la
experimentación de la reforma.
Esta experiencia ha contado con la colaboración de las profesoras tutoras. Desde el
inicio se mantuvieron con ellas reuniones para determinar cuáles eran las ideas-eje que iban
a dar sentido al primer curso del segundo ciclo de primaria. Nuestro objetivo era
aproximamos al máximo, a través del área de lengua extranjera, a las finalidades educativas
reflejadas en su proyecto curricular de centro.
Los alumnos/as que asisten a este centro pertenecen a una clase media y sus familias
están preocupadas por el hecho de que la educación de sus hijos sea lo más completa
posible. Por todo ello, fue muy bien recibida la idea de iniciar la enseñanza de la lengua
extranjera a la edad de ocho años.
Este centro dispone de los medios con los que habitualmente cuentan todos los
colegios: cassette, vídeo, fotocopiadora, etc. Durante el desarrollo de esta unidad se ha
utilizado material fotocopiado, “wallpictures”, un cuento, la pizarra, cassette, materiales
que sirven de apoyo a las tareas propuestas.
Las clases se han realizado en las mismas aulas en las que los alumnos/as se
encuentran en el resto de la jornada escolar. En cada una de estas aulas se ha destinado un
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espacio para ir creando un ambiente relacionado con la lengua extranjera y en el que los
alumnos puedan contemplar sus propios trabajos.
El tiempo dedicado a su desarrollo ha sido de períodos de treinta minutos diarios. Se
considera que estos períodos de tiempo han sido adecuados y, en cualquier caso, no se
recomienda que sean superiores a cuarenta y cinco minutos. En cada una de las sesiones ha
habido tiempo suficiente para terminar actividades con sentido en sí mismas sin provocar
falta de motivación o cansancio trabajando en lengua extranjera.
OBJETIVOS
• Captar información general y específica en un cuento.
• Comprender instrucciones para realizar una casa y diferenciar sus partes.
• Leer de forma comprensiva palabras e instrucciones cortas sobre la casa y elementos que
en ella puedes encontrar.
• Establecer relaciones entre los significados, la pronunciación y representación gráfica de
las palabras relacionadas con las partes de la casa y los mueblas que puedes encontrar en
ella.
• Mostrar actitudes abiertas de comprensión hacia las diferencias culturales que se
manifiestan en la concepción de las viviendas.
• Transferir a la lengua extranjera los conocimientos que los alumnos/as tengan sobre la
organización de su propio hogar.
CONOCIMIENTOS PREVIOS
En el tercer nivel de la etapa de Educación Primaria, los alumnos/as tienen por
primera vez contacto institucional con la lengua extranjera. Por ello, los conocimientos
previos en los que se basan las primeras unidades del curso se relacionan
fundamentalmente con las experiencias y aprendizajes ya realizados en lengua materna.
Esta unidad, que se trabajó en el aula después de que los alumnos/ as hubiesen estado
durante 5 meses en contacto con el inglés, incluye por lo tanto contenidos previos propios
de la lengua extranjera así como de la lengua materna.
Los conocimientos previos se explicitan en la unidad por dos razones:
a) Aclarar cómo se organizan los datos que ayudan a crear situaciones de aprendizaje
significativo.
b) Presentar los elementos que se reciclan y han formado parte de aprendizajes
anteriores.
Los conocimientos previos en los que se basa esta Unidad son los siguientes:
Bloque de Comunicación Oral y Escrita:
• Participación en situaciones de comunicación relativas a: colours, animals, objects.
• Ejecución de instrucciones simples, derivadas del uso del inglés en el aula: close/open the
door/ window. Listen. Look., etc.
• Inferencias de significados de sustantivos a partir de la información no verbal.
• Relaciones entre significados de palabras y su forma oral y escrita.
• Imitación de modelos de entonación y ritmo.
• Participación en intercambios comunicativos muy sencillos.
• Contestación a preguntas de si/no.
• Uso del inglés como medio de comunicación en el aula, sobre todo en la compresión de
mensajes emitidos por el profesor/a.
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Bloque de Aspectos Socioculturales:
• Observación de diferencias entre nuestra forma de vida y las de otros países.
• Reconocimiento de fórmulas básicas de cortesía: please.
• Identificación de personajes de los cuentos en inglés que tienen equivalentes en lengua
materna: The Three Bears, Goldilocks, Cinderella.
• Respeto e interés por las personas que hablan otra lengua.
CONTENIDOS
Los contenidos nuevos que se introducen en esta unidad didáctica se agrupan en torno
a los mismos bloques mencionados anteriormente en el apartado de Conocimientos Previos.
No se especifican por separado los conceptos, procedimientos y actitudes ya que se
producen interrelaciones entre los mismos en las situaciones de enseñanza-aprendizaje.
El punto de partida para la propuesta de contenidos es el tema o centro de interés, del
cual se desprende una serie de situaciones de comunicación que se concretan en las
actividades que, a su vez, generan el lenguaje a utilizar. Por todo ello, los procedimientos
constituyen el eje alrededor del cual se organizan los demás contenidos. Puesto que se parte
de un “Enfoque Basado en la Actividad”, es necesario hacer una lectura paralela del Anexo
I en el que se clasifican todas las actividades para comprender mejor la programación de
esta unidad.
Esta Unidad Didáctica incluye los siguientes contenidos:
1) Centro de interés: House and Home, que incluye lo siguiente:
- Making a house.
- Rooms in a house. - Furniture. - Playing in a house.
1.a. Funciones:
Following instructions:
- Draw the door/the windows.
- Cut out the bedroom/bathroom/table...
- Show me the armchair/wardrobe.
- Stick them up.
- Point to the bathroom/kitchen...
Understanding a sequence of instructions:
- First..., now..., then..., finally...
Finding/locating people:
- Where am I?
- Are you in the bathroom/ kitchen? Yes, I am/No, I’m not
- Where’s Spot?
- Is he under the bed? No
- Is he in the wardrobe? No.
Locating rooms:
- It’s up/down on the left/right
1.b. Léxico:
- house, fridge, flat, table, home, chair, door, sofa, window, rug, bathroom,
armchair, bedroom, televisión, kitchen, bed, living room, wardrobe, bath
1.c. Aspectos fonológicos
- Resaltar el acento de palabra, sobre todo cuando se trata de palabras similares en la lengua
extranjera y en la lengua materna: sofá, televisión. Marcar el acento con palmadas.
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- Entonación de frases interrogativas: Is he in the wardrobe? Is he under the bed? Where
am I?
2) Bloque de Comunicación Oral y escrita.
- Reconocimiento en un contexto distinto de elementos de vocabulario ya conocidos a
través del lenguaje del aula.
- Captación del orden en que se da una secuencia de informaciones y mostrarlo a través de
respuestas no verbales.
- Imitación de aspectos entonativos y rítmicos a partir de los modelos emitidos por el
profesor/a otros medios.
- Interpretación de mensajes a partir de gestos y acciones: Where am I? I’m not in the
bathroom, etc.
- Colocación de dibujos a partir de los mensajes orales percibidos.
- Asociación de significados nuevos con sus formas orales y escritas: rooms, furniture.
- Identificación de elementos de un cuento manipulativo, apoyándose en las ilustraciones,
título, formato, etc.
- Comprensión de un cuento, participando en la construcción del mismo con respuestas de
Yes/ No.
- Asociación de dibujos con las palabras inglesas correspondientes.
- Desarrollo de actitudes y habilidades creativas como formas de expresión.
- Participación en juegos y trabajos de grupo, aceptando las reglas y colaborando con los
demás.
3) Bloque de Aspectos Socioculturales.
- Reconocimiento de palabras similares en nuestra lengua y cultura y las transmitidas por la
lengua extranjera: sofá, televisión.
- Observación de las diferencias existentes entre nuestras viviendas comunes y las más
características del Reino Unido, valorando lo que hay en común y lo distintivo.
- Identificación de relaciones entre los tipos de vivienda y la forma de vida: clima, horarios,
etc.
- Diferenciación de los significados de palabras que se relacionan: house, flat, home.
- Identificación del personaje del cuento -Spot- en los conocidos por los alumnos/as,
buscando su equivalente.
- Valoración de rasgos lingüísticos y de cortesía propios de la lengua extranjera.
MATERIAL DEL ALUMNO/A: HOUSE AND HOME
1 . - MAKE A HOUSE: Follow the instructions
2. - DRAW AND COLOUR: Finish the house.
3. - LOOK AND LISTEN: Look at the plan and listen to the teacher.
4. - LISTEN AND SING: Sing a song.
5. - PLAY A GAME: Hide in a room and guess.
6. - LISTEN AND DO: Cut out the rooms in the right order.
7. - LISTEN AND SET: Set the rooms in the right order.
8. – DRAW: Draw a plan of your house.
9. - LISTEN TO THE STORY: Say Yes or No.
10. - PLAY A GAME: Listen and take the picture.
11. - CUT OUT AND SHOW: Listen and follow the instructions.
12. - PLAY DOMINOES: Match the pictures and the words.
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13. - LOOK AND DO: Place the furniture in the right room...
14. - WORK IN GROUPS: Draw a room and make a house with your group.
GUÍA DIDÁCTICA: HOUSE AND HOME
WARM-UPS:
Estas actividades tienen como finalidad centrar la atención de los alumnos/as en la
lengua extranjera al comienzo de cada sesión de trabajo, por lo tanto, su duración no tiene
que ser superior o dos o tres minutos. La selección de una de estas actividades para cada
sesión queda a criterio del profesor/ a, considerando que debe relacionarse con algo que se
haya trabajado previamente en el aula o con la sesión del momento. Se dan a continuación
sugerencias sobre los Warm-ups que se pueden realizar en esta unidad didáctica:
- Cantar la canción “Where am I?”
- Hacer el juego “Hide and seek”.
- Contar el cuento “Where’s Spot?”, escondiéndolo cada vez en un sitio diferente. Los
alumnos muestran los carteles Yes/No, según crean.
1. MAKE A HOUSE
Pedir a los alumnos/as que miren atentamente el dibujo que corresponde a esta
primera actividad y que piensen de qué se puede tratar. El profesor/a pregunta: What is it?
Why? Los alumnos/as dan respuestas en lengua materna y el profesor/a parafrasea en inglés
las respuestas dadas:
- Yes, it’s a house.
- This is the door.
- These are the windows.
- This is
the roof.
El profesor muestra sobre un plano cada una de las instrucciones que va dando a los
alumnos/as y hace una casa junto con ellos. Es conveniente ayudarse de objetos reales
(scissors), de mímica y acciones (Cut the line, Don’t cut the dotted line, etc.) y señalar las
partes necesarias del dibujo para aclarar el significado de las instrucciones. Las
instrucciones son las siguientes:
- Take the scissors. Cut the line... Don’t cut the dotted line. Join these two squares. Now,
join the other two parts in this way. Do the same in the other side. Stick like this. Write
your name on the house.
Si en esta sesión no se hacen más actividades, es conveniente que todas las casas se
queden guardadas juntas en algún armario o rincón del aula.
Classroom language
- Look at the picture. What is it? No, it isn’t a box. Yes, it’s a house. This is a door/roof...
These are the windows. Look at me. In this way. Try again. Right. Very good. Put the
houses over there.
2. DRAW AND COLOUR
Cada alumno/a trabaja de nuevo con la casa que ha hecho para terminar de dibujarla y
colorearla. Si esta actividad se realiza en la sesión siguiente, el profesor puede ir cogiendo
las casas que estarán colocadas todas juntas en algún lugar de la clase y preguntar a los
alumnos/as: Whose is this house? Pablo/Lola, this is yours. This is your house.
A continuación, el profesor/a va indicando las partes de la casa que deben dibujar:
- Draw the door/the four windows. Follow the dotted lines.
Al mismo tiempo que da las instrucciones, el profesor/a debe ir señalando la parte
correspondiente en la casa que ha hecho y terminar de dibujarla. Todo ello ayudará a
aclarar el significado de cada instrucción, aunque los alumnos/as pueden estar ya
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familiarizados con el vocabulario básico por el uso previo del inglés en el aula en
expresiones tales como: Open/close the door/the window.
Finalmente, cada alumno/a colorea su casa, después de escuchar la instrucción:
Colour your house. Cuando todos/as han terminado, contestan individualmente a las
preguntas que hace el profesor/a:
- What colour is the door/roof? What colour are the windows?
Classroom language
- Can you take your house, please. Whose is this? Pablo/María, this is your house. Draw
the door/the four windows. Colour the house. What colour is the door/roof? What colour
are the windows? Show me your house, please. Very nice.
3. LOOK AND LISTEN
El profesor/a muestra una ampliación del mismo plano que tienen los alumnos/as y
que presenta un corte de una casa. Señalando cada una de las habitaciones, va diciendo los
nombres: This is the bedroom/ bathroom kitchen/ living room...
A continuación el profesor/a va señalando las diferentes habitaciones, diciendo el
nombre unas veces correctamente y otras no. A la pregunta: Is it right? Los alumnos/as
contestan Yes/No, según sea adecuado. Por ejemplo, el profesor señala el dormitorio y dice:
This is the bathroom. Is it right? Los alumnos/as responden: No.
Finalmente, los alumnos/as señalan sobre su plano las habitaciones que va indicando
el profesor/a, atendiendo al orden en que se nombran.
Classroom language
- Look at the plan. This is the bedroom/bathroom/kitchen/living room... This is the
bathroom/bedroom... Is it right? Point to the bedroom/bathroom...
4. LISTEN AND SING
Esta canción incluye frases que van a ser de utilidad para el juego de la actividad
siguiente.
Primero el profesor/a pone la grabación o canta la canción una vez, al mismo tiempo
que representa con gestos y acciones los significados fundamentales, que se relacionan a
continuación:
Where am I? - gesto indicando la pregunta, señalándose a sí mismo/a.
I’m not in the kitchen - acción negativa que se indica con movimiento de la cabeza o
del dedo. Igual para el resto de las frases negativas.
Si es necesario, se puede utilizar la fotocopia ampliada del plano para indicar la
habitación que corresponde a cada pregunta. Los alumnos/as escuchan de nuevo la canción
y esta vez imitan las acciones y gestos del profesor/a en el momento adecuado.
Finalmente todos intentan cantar la canción acompañándola de nuevo con acciones y
gestos y repitiendo cada frase después del profesor/a de la grabación si es necesario. Se
puede dividir la clase en dos grandes grupos, de forma que un grupo cante la primera parte
y el segundo grupo sólo la parte que dice: Yes. Yes. You’re in the living room. Yes. Yes.
You’re in the living-room. Después se cambian los papeles entre los dos grupos.
Classroom language
- Listen to the song. Look at me. Mime the actions. Let’s sing the song. Repeat after me.
Let’s sing in groups. New, change over.
5. PLAY A GAME
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Se trata de un juego de adivinación con el que los alumnos/as ya están familiarizados
en lengua materna- “el escondite” (Hide and Seek). Hacer esta aclaración a los alumnos/as
les ayudará a entender la mecánica del juego y a entender el significado de las expresiones
básicas.
En primer lugar es el profesor/a quien se esconde imaginariamente en una de las
habitaciones del plano (living room.) y pregunta a los alumnos: Where am I? Los
alumnos/as le hacen preguntas individualmente o en grupo, para ello pueden practicar
preguntas, que incluso pueden cantar previamente siguiendo el orden de la canción que ya
conocen: Are you in the kitchen/ the bathroom/ the bedroom? A estas preguntas, va
contestando: NO, I’m not y finalmente Yes, I am.
A continuación sale un alumno/a delante de la clase y decide en qué habitación se va
a esconder sin decírselo a los demás. La clase le hace preguntas del mismo tipo: Are you in
the bathroom/ kitchen...? hasta que lo adivinan.
Se puede repetir lo mismo con varios/as alumnos/as hasta que se compruebe que han
captado la dinámica del juego y las expresiones a utilizar.
Finalmente, pueden hacer el mismo juego en parejas, cambiando los papeles en cada
partida.
Classroom language
- Let’s play “Hide and Seek”. Pablo, come here please. Ana, hide in a room. Ask questions.
Play in pairs.
6. LISTEN AND DO
El profesor/a comienza presentando el mobiliario fundamental que corresponde a
cada habitación para que los alumnos/as se empiecen a familiarizar con el mismo: This is
the bedroom. There is a bed/ a chair/ a picture... in the bedroom. This is the bathroom.
There is a bath/... etc.
El profesor/a va dando instrucciones para recortar cada una de las habitaciones en
orden:
- Cut the rooms in the right order.
- First, cut out the bathroom. Put it on the table.
- Now, cut out the kitchen. Put it on the table.
- Then, cut out the bedroom. Put it on the table.
- Finally, cut out the living room. Put it on the table.
Para comprobar si los alumnos/as son capaces de reconocer los nombres de las
distintas habitaciones, se pueden dar las siguientes instrucciones: Can you show me the
bathroom/ kitchen....please?
Estos recortes hay que guardarlos para la actividad siguiente. Si se realiza en otra
sesión, es conveniente que se queden todos recogidos en sobres individuales
Classroom language
- Listen to my instructions. Cut out the pictures of the rooms. That’s not the bathroom. It’s
the kitchen. That’s right. Keep them in an envelope.
7. LISTEN AND SET
Si esta actividad se hace en otra sesión, los alumnos/as deben sacar los dibujos
recortados que estarán guardados: Take the envelope. Take the pictures out.
El objetivo de esta actividad es colocar cada habitación en la parte correspondiente de
la casa. Para ello, se trabaja con los conceptos de Up/Down y Right/Left. En unidades
anteriores ya se ha practicado con left/right en relación con partes del cuerpo.
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Es conveniente hacer alguna actividad previa de Respuesta Física Total o algún juego
corno “Simon says... “ con el fin de que los alumnos/as recuerden lo que ya saben, por
ejemplo: Stand up, sit down, show me your left/right hand/leg, etc.
El profesor/a señala el plano y va indicando: Up, down, left, right, up on the left, up
on the right, down on the left, down on the right. A continuación los alumnos/as señalan la
parte que va nombrando el profesor/a.
Finalmente, el profesor/a va dando las indicaciones para colocar cada habitación en
su sitio:
- The bedroom is up on the left. The bathroom is up on the right. The living room is down
on the left. The kitchen is down on the right.
Se pueden ir combinando las instrucciones para practicar más. Cuando se haga la
distribución definitiva, los alumnos/as pueden comprobar el resultado con su compañero/a
y pegan cada habitación en su lugar. A continuación recortan las palabras correspondientes
a los nombres de las habitaciones y las pegan debajo de la habitación adecuada.
Classroom language
- Set the rooms in the right order. Listen to the instructions. Check with your partner. Use
glue to stick up the rooms. Cut out the words. Throw the papers to the bin! Match the
words with the rooms. Good.
8. DRAW
Los alumnos/as deben dibujar un plano sencillo de su casa, en el que figuren las
habitaciones principales: Draw a plan of your house/flat. Es especialmente importante que
dibujen su habitación: Draw your bedroom. También deben dibujar algunos muebles en
cada una de las habitaciones. Finalmente deben escribir en inglés el nombre de las
habitaciones principales, mirando la actividad anterior si necesitan ayuda.
Mientras los alumnos/as realizan la actividad, el profesor/a circula por la clase y va
haciendo algunas preguntas individualmente: What is it? o va diciendo en inglés los
nombres de algunos de los muebles dibujados al mismo tiempo que los va señalando: This
is a sofa/bed/ bath...
Una vez que hayan terminado todos los planos, se fomentará un diálogo que permita
contrastar en términos generales la vivienda típica británica con las nuestras, diferenciando
flat/house, la vida en el interior de la casa más que en la calle (por el clima), los rasgos de
una casa típica británica, el nivel de confort, el jardí