Luận văn, báo cáo, luận án, đồ án, tiểu luận, đề tài khoa học, đề tài nghiên cứu, đề tài báo cáo - Khoa học xã hội - Kinh tế UNIVERSIDAD ESTATAL A DISTANCIA VICERRECTORIA ACADEMICA ESCUELA DE CIENCIAS SOCIALES Y HUMANIDADES ENSEÑANZA DEL INGLES PARA I Y II CICLO Nurturing Literacy Development through Constructivist Strategies in EFL Sixth Graders: The Case of Villarreal School Tesis para optar por el grado académico de Licenciatura en Ciencias de la Educación con Énfasis en Enseñanza del Inglés para I y II Ciclo Authors: Cindy Otárola Duarte Id: 1-1252-0352 Marigen Valverde Soto Id: 1-0715-0024 San José, December 01, 2013 ii Nurturing Literacy Development through Constructivist Strategies in EFL Sixth Graders: The Case of Villarreal School iii EXAMINER COMMITTEE This dissertation was approved by the Examiner Committee of the Major of English Teaching for I and II Cycles at Universidad Estatal a Distancia as a requirement to obtain the Licenciatura en la Enseñanza del Inglés para I y II Ciclos. Mag. Yinnia Mora Ordoñez Coordinator of the Major English Teaching for I II Cycles Mag. Roxy Calderón Mora Coordinator of Final Graduation Projects Lic. Henry Sevilla Morales Thesis Director Lic. Ma. Laura Guillén Saborío Internal Academic Advisor Mag. Jonathan Elizondo Mejías External Academic Advisor iv ACNOWLEDGMENTS It would not have been possible to write this thesis without the help and support of the kind people around us, to only some of whom it is possible to give particular mention here. First of all, we want to thank God for everything He has done for us and His showers of blessings throughout the completion of this research. I would like to thank my son Gabriel who has been my strength; my family Isabel, Massimo, Gabriela, and my parents who have always supported me. I especially thank my friend and mom Giuliana Perini for her constant guidance, cooperation and support. Cindy Otárola I am extremely grateful to my parents for their love, prayers, caring and sacrifices for educating and preparing me for the future. I am very much thankful to my husband Isaías for his love, guidance, personal support and patience at all times; to my daughters Daniela and Sophia for their love, cheerfulness, continuing support and for been there when I needed them the most. I also express my thanks to my family Lubia, Rafael, Stephanie, and Pablo because their support and motivation have deeply inspired me. Marigen Valverde Last, but by no means least, we thank Henry for all his support, patience and professionalism throughout this research project. v ABSTRACT Despite the plethora of publications acknowledging the vitality of reading in the learning of a foreign language, research suggests that we still have a long way to go before we can successfully take the maximum of it in the language classroom. Thus, in an attempt to come across effective ways to use reading as a source of language input for young learners, this paper is aimed at investigating the influence of constructivist strategies as a platform for the teaching of reading comprehension in a group of elementary school students. To that end, twenty sixth grade elementary school students from Villareal School, Tamarindo, Guanacaste, were immersed in a two-month constructivist teaching project where classroom activities were set up based on the principles of constructivist teaching, applied to foreign learning. A mixed approach to research was used in order to cross-check the information, which allowed for analysis triangulation, where quantitative information was complemented and contrasted with qualitative annotations recorded via class observations of the classroom dynamics of the teaching paradigm. Findings suggest that the teaching of reading comprehension through the use of constructivist strategies contributes to the enhancement of motivation, group engagement, and the overall learning environment, making learning a cooperative experience where students take an active role in the construction of knowledge. This investigation aids our understanding of the strategies that best cater to the development of literacy in young learners, as well as the challenges that need to be met if similar projects are to be run. It is our hope that further research on this field is inspired, as well vi as the taking of action on the part of regional authorities of the MEP so that similar projects are brought to practice. Key Words: constructivist strategies, reading comprehension, literacy, MEP, elementary schools, English as a Foreign Language vii RESUMEN EJECUTIVO A pesar de la gama de publicaciones que avalan la inherencia de la lectura al aprendizaje de una lengua extranjera, estudios sugieren que aún queda mucho por lograr si se quiere maximizar este recurso. Por tanto, a fin de descubrir formas eficaces de usar la lectura como insumo lingüístico en niños, el presente estudio investiga la influencia de estrategias constructivistas como plataforma de aprendizaje para abordar la comprensión de lectura en un grupo de sexto año de primaria en Escuela Villareal, Guanacaste. Para ello, veinte estudiantes fueron inmersos en un proyecto de enseñanza de la lectura utilizando estrategias constructivistas por dos meses, donde las actividades de clase se basaron en los principios teóricos de dicha corriente filosófica, aplicada a la educación. Se utilizó un paradigma investigativo mixto, a fin de cotejar la información recolectada. Esto a su vez permitió el proceso de triangulación, donde la información cuantitativa fue complementada y comparada con anotaciones cualitativas derivadas de observaciones de clases del proyecto. Los hallazgos señalan que la enseñanza de la comprensión de lectura mediante el uso de estrategias constructivistas contribuye al fortalecimiento de la motivación, la integración y del ambiente de aprendizaje del estudiante, lo cual fomenta el aprendizaje cooperativo, el cual promueve a su vez la construcción activa de conocimiento. El presente estudio nos permite identificar las estrategias que mejor contribuyen al desarrollo del hábito de la lectura en niños, así como identificar los principales desafíos a la hora de implementar proyectos de enseñanza relacionados. Con este estudio, esperamos inspirar futuras investigaciones, así viii como la toma de acción por parte de las autoridades regionales del MEP para que se puedan implementar proyectos similares en escuelas primarias de la zona. Palabras Clave: estrategias constructivistas, comprensión de lectura, escolarización, MEP, escuelas primarias, inglés como Lengua Extranjera. ix Table of Contents CHAPTER I - INTRODUCTION .................................................................................. 1 1.1 General Background for the Study ...................................................................................... 2 1.2 Purpose and Significance .................................................................................................... 5 1.3 Objectives ........................................................................................................................... 9 1.3.1. General Objective.................................................................................................... 9 1.3.2. Specific Objectives. ................................................................................................. 9 1.4. Delimitation of the Study ................................................................................................. 10 CHAPTER II- THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ..................................................... 11 2.1 Social, cultural and political factors as determiners of English learning worldwide ......... 12 2.1.1 The role of English as a Lingua Franca for Intercultural Communication. ...... 12 2.1.2 Curricular and Political Challenges Brought by the English Learning Worldwide.......................................................................................................................... 15 2.2 A brief history of English in Costa Rica ................................................................... 18 2.2.1 The railway construction in the Atlantic. .............................................................. 18 2.2.2 English as a mandatory subject in public school (1997) as a result of the social, cultural and political transformations brought by globalization. ..................... 20 2.2.3. Challenges faced during the last two decades. ................................................. 21 2.3 Plan Nacional de Inglés Costa Rica Multilingüe ........................................................... 23 2.4 MEP and English Teaching Curriculum in Terms of Primary Education .......................... 31 2.5 Child language learning and teaching ............................................................................... 37 2.5.1 How children learn the language. ......................................................................... 37 2.5.2 How children learn a second language. .............................................................. 41 2.5.3 How to teach English to children. ......................................................................... 44 2.6 The issue of reading in EFL elementary school classrooms .............................................. 46 2.6.1 The lack of reading culture in Costa Rica. .......................................................... 49 2.6.2 Lack of adequate resources. ................................................................................. 50 2.6.3 Lack of teachers’ expertise. .................................................................................. 52 2.7 Constructivism and English TeachingLearning................................................................ 54 2.7.1 Brief History of Constructivism.............................................................................. 55 2.7.2 Recent Research on Constructivism: Empirical Studies. .................................. 59 x 2.7.3 Constructivism and Motivation. ............................................................................. 62 2.7.4 Constructivism and Reading Comprehension. ................................................... 65 2.7.5 Constructivist Theories in the Costa Rican Education System. ....................... 68 CHAPTER III - METHODOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK ........................................ 74 3.1 Research Approach ........................................................................................................... 75 3.2 Selection and description of the site and participants ........................................................ 78 3.2.1 Description of the site. ........................................................................................... 78 3.2.2 Participants and Studied Population. ................................................................... 81 3.3 Data collection strategies .................................................................................................. 81 3.3.1 The Class Observation Checklist. ........................................................................ 82 3.3.2 The Anecdotal Record. .......................................................................................... 83 3.3.3 The Questionnaire. ................................................................................................. 84 3.3.4 Validation of Research Instruments ..................................................................... 85 3.4 Table of categories ............................................................................................................ 86 3.4.1 The Class Observation Checklist. ........................................................................ 86 3.4.2 The Anecdotal Record. .......................................................................................... 88 3.4.3 The Students’ Questionnaire. ............................................................................... 89 3.5 Description of Categories and subcategories ..................................................................... 90 3.5.1 Categories. .............................................................................................................. 90 3.5.2 Subcategories. ........................................................................................................ 92 3.5.3 Codes. ...................................................................................................................... 94 CHAPTER IV – DATA ANALYSIS INTERPRETATION ....................................... 95 4.1 Statistical Procedures Used in the Data Analysis of the Results........................................ 96 4.1.1 Motivation. ............................................................................................................... 97 4.1.2 Class Interaction. .................................................................................................. 106 4.1.3 Learning Environment. ......................................................................................... 113 4.1.4 Performance.......................................................................................................... 121 CHAPTER V – DISCUSSION .................................................................................... 141 5.1 Findings .......................................................................................................................... 135 5.2 Recommendations ........................................................................................................... 139 xi 5.2.1 Recommendations for teachers.......................................................................... 139 5.2.2 Recommendations for Parents: .......................................................................... 140 5.2.3 Recommendation for English authorities. ......................................................... 142 5.2.4 Recommendation for Future Research ............................................................. 142 CHAPTER VI - BIBLIOGRAPHY AND APPENDICES ....................................... 153 6.1 Bibliography ................................................................................................................... 145 6.2 Appendices...................................................................................................................... 159 6.2.1 Appendix 3.4.1. ..................................................................................................... 159 6.2.2 Appendix 3.4.2. ..................................................................................................... 162 6.2.3 Appendix 3.4.3. ..................................................................................................... 165 6.2.4 Tables of Frequency ............................................................................................ 167 CHAPTER I - INTRODUCTION 2 1.1 General Background for the Study Learning a new language allows a person to involve himself into a new culture, a new world, and a new life. Charlemagne once noted: “To have another language is to possess a second soul (in “Global,” 2010, pp. 2).” More specifically, English has become the second most spoken language worldwide, according to UNESCO (2010, pp.6). Thus, English has become the vehicle to communicate in the different fields of society, say, politics, economy, technology, and a number of countless fields within our cultural systems. In this respect, the UNESCO Ad Hoc Expert Group on Endangered Languages released the document “Language Vitality and Endangerment”, which states: The English language is widely accepted as the medium that makes possible what Giddens refers to as ‘the intensification of worldwide social relations’. It is the medium that makes possible the kind of economic and social changes… English is the language of the World Bank… , and it is the language of global consumerism and the celebrity culture… It is the language spoken when diplomats from different linguistic backgrounds gather in the corridors of the United Nations in New York or the European parliament in Brussels. … it is becoming the language of all communication taking place across language borders. (2003, p.17, pp.2) In Costa Rica, English was introduced as a foreign language in public elementary and high schools during José María Figueres Olsen’s administration in 1994 , as a way to meet the challenges brought about by our globalized world and due to agreements with multinational companies which came to the country looking for more specialized labor force with English language proficiency. As a result, Costa Rica has transformed its 3 economy from primary products to manufacturing and services. In this regard, Hernández states that, “At present, many companies, both Costa Rican and international, require bilingual personnel. Therefore, proficiency in a foreign language, especially English, has become an essential tool in securing good employment (2008, p.1, pp.3)." As a result of these concerns, Costa Rica has started to implement several courses of action, such as Costa Rica Multilingual and the National English Plan launched in 2008 during Oscar Arias’ presidency. The program Costa Rica Multilingual was declared of public interest, according to decree No. 34425-MEP-COMEX, in an attempt to improve English learning-teaching in public schools. With this plan, the government wants to keep taking advantage of the good education system that allows the country to graduate high quality labor force, but offering individuals who also speak English to continue attracting FDI (foreign development investments). However, the main goal of the National English Program for I and II cycles is the achievement of oral skills. It is well known that developing oral language is a natural process. It is not the same with learning to read and much less, learning to read in a foreign language. According to Hernández, MEP Adviser, the first three years of school are only for speaking and listening and it is only after 4th grade that reading and some writing are introduced (in Villegas, 2012, pp. 12-13). About this, Togersen, Rashotte and Alexander (2001) specify that the loss of reading opportunities during the first three years of elementary school make it truly difficult for children to acquire average levels of reading fluency in the future. This practice does not help English development at public schools, since children are not motivated to start reading in English according to their knowledge. According to 4 Togersen, the delayed development of reading skills affects not only vocabulary growth(as cited in Cunningham and Stanovich, 1998), but it also affects children’s motivation and attitudes to read (as cited in Oka and Paris, 1986) and takes out children’s opportunities to develop comprehension strategies (as cited in Brown, Palincsar, and Purcell, 1986). 5 1.2 Purpose and Significance The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) views literacy as a human right, and describes it as a tool to create social environments in which individuals of all ages can stand out. Also, UNESCO sees literacy as a tool to eradicate poverty, achieve gender equality and ensure sustainable development. According to Bokova, UNESCO General Director, the next statement provides a concrete definition of the significance of literacy for all the individuals as part of a Globalized society: Education brings sustainability to all the development goals, and literacy is the foundation of all learning. It provides individuals with the skills to understand the world and shape it, to participate in democratic processes and have a voice, and also to strengthen their cultural identity (2012, pp. 2). Since UNESCO is a worldwide organization covering 195 members and eight associate members, the statements aforementioned serve as the grounding for literacy planning and policy of nations worldwide. In the case of Costa Rica, it has been a member of UNESCO since 1950 and has been working on getting support to reach the common literacy objectives stated by the UNESCO. At present, Costa Rican Public Education System has launched action plans to promote the achievement of literacy-related objectives along with the main curriculum goals. For instance, they have included a cross-curriculum program that proposes a cross-curriculum theme called Environmental. This program has four components, and one of them is the Sustainable Human Development which contemplates a series of 6 contents such as good quality of life, civic participation, national identity and cultural diversity. Those contents are developed in all the subjects; for example, teachers in their lessons must integrate recommended readings according to the levels, which must be read obligatory in order to accomplish the dispositions of the educational system. Thus, books such as “Mamita Yunai” Mom Yunai by Carlos Luis Fallas, or “ Única Mirando al Mar” Unica looking to the Sea by Fernando Contreras Castro promote students’ learning through cultural and historical topics about Costa Rica from different perspectives and times. Since reading is the key to nurture the knowledge in every single subject, teachers and students face challenges developing this skill in their classrooms. Many English teachers comment that to teach reading exercises in their classes has become a complex task to achieve because of a matter of time and organization. Likewise, according to Araya and Córdoba (2008), the English Syllabi in 2005 dictated that instructors had to be able to: expose the learner to a considerable amount of meaningful language input…; provide a variety of opportunities for the students, in order to bring about the necessary models or language input…: offer a variety of texts and also remember that students in the same class may read at very different levels of difficulty in English, just as they do in their native language…; be aware of the students’ reading interesting order to design the appropriate reading comprehension exercises… (p.3) In terms of what the English Syllabi demands, English teachers need to prepare their lessons taking into account five steps: preparation, demonstration, time to introduce the language skill (in this case the reading skills), corrections, and follow-up. These steps, 7 along with the cross-curriculum themes, and the responsibility to prepare their 11th graders for the national reading comprehension tests have become the duties that demand special aptitude, attitudes and knowledge from English teachers nowadays. These challenges suggest some of the many considerations teachers need to bear in mind while doing their job. The instructor’s expertise is based on their knowledge and the application of principles, strategies, methodologies and theories. The teaching-learning process of the reading skills as well as the development of speaking, writing and listening follows a series of principles based on theories in order to have successful results in the classes. Those principles put into practice in English classes should work as elaborated systems of thought and social reality. For that reason, reading has been seen as a tool of empowerment for students in their schools; all that is needed is to have teachers, parents and communities that are willing to participate in the promotion and nurturing of the reading practice. In the case of Costa Rican rural institutions, English teachers and students have a limited exposure to materials like books to support their lessons. To worsen the scenario further, it is easy to notice the lack of practice of reading strategies in the classrooms. That means that teachers generally focus their lessons on choral repetition of words or texts. For instance, exercises like asking meaning of a text or predictions are omitted; consequently students develop poor reading skills, which will carry out problems when they have to confront complex literacy levels demanded by an educational institution, jobs, relationship with friends, and communication with people from other countries and the society in general. 8 As a consequence of this lack of reading skills, public schools in Costa Rica need to work with different methodologies in order to enhance and improve students’ reading skills. Taking this into consideration, the constructivist theories propose a focus in which both teachers and students play an active role in the development of activities in the classroom. By promoting constructivism in English classes, learners have the opportunity to learn through experiences, and the construction of knowledge follows cycles where the brain storages new information when it gets into contact with existing data. As Hayes (2006, p.49) says “constructivist theories suggest that pupils learn when thought and experience interact, resulting in the sequential development of the more complex understanding”. Constructivism has been seen as a great contribution to the instruction, since the emphasis of the theorists focus on how the humans create and adjust knowledge in order to adapt themselves to the changing world. By integrating this theory at school, students and teachers will be able to have an active participation, apply different learning theories; such us, discovery learning, experiential, project-based, tasked-based and collaborative learning. Upon having examined the need for literacy in EFL primary education classrooms in light of Costa Rica’s educational context, the question leadin g the research inquire of this project is: To what extent do constructivist teaching strategies have a positive impact on the promotion of motivation to read and reading comprehension in a group of sixth graders from Villarreal School? 9 1.3 Objectives 1.3.1. General Objective. 1.3.1.1 To conduct research on the influence of constructivist teaching strategies and promotion of reading comprehension in a group of sixth graders from Villarreal School. 1.3.2. Specific Objectives. 1.3.2.1 To identify the elements of constructivism that foster Literacy in an EFL classroom. 1.3.2.2 To identify factors that influence reading motivation in young learners’ reading comprehension skills. 1.3.2.3 To implement designed constructivist teaching strategies in the English class. 1.3.2.4 To determine the students’ degree of achievement when using constructivist reading comprehension strategies. 10 1.4. Delimitation of the Study The study will be narrowed down to the English classes at Villarreal School, Tamarindo, Guanacaste. The researchers will observe the English teaching-learning of students in the group of Sixth grade B, and they will take into consideration all students attending classes in order to observe the English teaching-learning process to study the influence of constructivist teaching strategies by promoting reading motivation and reading comprehension. The collection of data will take place from July to August, 2013, to the group B of sixth graders and just the English teacher in charge of this group. Researchers will apply surveys to students; and they will observe closely the teaching- learning process while applying constructivist strategies to reinforce the reading skill. As aforementioned, this research is aimed at orienting the teaching-learning process, namely reading comprehension, under the tenets of constructivist theories, strategies, and perspectives. Overall, it is expected that this research contributes to assist our understanding of the impact of constructivist teaching-learning in sixth grade elementary school learners. Likewise, results of this study will strengthen the current body of literature regarding constructivist instruction, as it will inspire future research not only in elementary school but also in high schools of Costa Rica and, eventually, in other institutions outside the country. Lastly, because reading-comprehension becomes the main activity in the development of the contents established in the MEP’s curriculum, the researchers’ goal is also to reinforce students’ reading skills by following pedagogical practices informed by constructivist perspectives to language learning. CHAPTER II- THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK 12 2.1 Social, cultural and political factors as determiners of English learning worldwide There are social, political and cultural factors that act as determiners of English learning worldwide. This chapter aims at providing information about the role of English as a lingua franca, and the curricular and political challenges brought by the English learning worldwide. Due to globalization, business relations, connections, and transactions with other countries, the English Language has become the global lingua franca used by many people around the world to communicate with others. According to Abdullah and Latif (2012), “At present, English, undoubtedly, is a lingua franca of our planet. Nowadays, it is used by people in almost every nook and corner of the world” (p.128). Besides, the importance of knowing about the curricular and political challenges English learning faces to contribute to the progress of the society. 2.1.1 The role of English as a Lingua Franca for Intercultural Communication. The term Lingua Franca (LF) is defined by Samarin as “any lingual medium of communication between people of different mother tongues, and for whom it is a second language” (as cited in Cummins and Davison, 2007, p. 138). Ghim-Lian (2009, pag.2 ) explains that “in the past, Greek was the lingua franca of huge areas in the Mediterranean and the Middle East to extend that the New Testament was written in Greek ”. In other words, the LF functions as a tool of contact and social interaction in 13 order to facilitate the communication between individuals from different parts of the globe who do not share linguistic or cultural backgrounds. Nowadays, many languages play the role of lingua franca for international communication. English has become the most important of them, and it has emerged and spread as a global language for many reasons. Such reasons can be attributed to the combination of many historical, political, economic, cultural, technological and communication factors. Stevenson argued that "if trade and tourism around the world are going to operate and a global economy function and a global culture flourish, a widely shared, reasonably accessible language is requisite" (as cited in Wheaton. H, n.d, p.1); in other words, there must be a common language in order to have a truly global world. Through history, the emergence of English as a global language has been influenced by politic and economic structures. Rhode claims that “English dominates international business, politics, and culture more than any other language in human history" (in Wheaton. H, p.1); it has occurred due to a number of reasons. For example, as Wheaton asserts that, in the 17th and 18th centuries, English was the main language of the leading colonial nation- Britain; it was the leader language during the industrial revolution in the 18th and 19th centuries, and in the late 19th and early 20th century, it became the language of leading economic power in United States. Guardian (n.d) asserted "a language becomes an international language for one chief reason: the political power of its people - especially their military power" (in Wheaton. H, p.1), it means that the emergence of the United States as world superpower has had as a result the rapid spread of English as a lingua franca to connect people around the world for different purposes. 14 In terms on what has been state d before, David Graddol (2007) in his book “The Future of English?” highlights different aspects related to the development of English as a global language. On first place, he relates the increasing of English with the international economy, this because of the globalization, the trade and new working practices which demand the use of this language as a tool to accomplish the tasks required in jobs. Second, he associates English to a global culture; it means the cross cultural communication between native speakers and second language speakers; that has been influenced by technological advances such as the expansion of the Internet as a huge mean of communication. The Internet grew in use and popularity has established English as a global language to communicate in some common ways. According to the Internet World Stats (2013,p.1) English is the number one language of the top ten languages used in the web; they point that calculating the number of speakers of the world’s languages is an increasingly complex task; more specifically to tale the number of English speakers, the estimations have to take into consideration the use of it as a first, second and foreign language, since many countries have promoted the teaching of English in their public schools under those focuses depending on the policies of the educational programs in each country. Also, the knowledge of English has become a requirement in a great number of fields, occupations and professions such as computing, medicine or electronic in order to understand a serious of technical terms expressed in the English language. A working knowledge of this language has opened a variety of opportunities to people around the world; it brings better job offers, it allows people to communicate with others around the 15 world, it is a great complement for academic issues and it opens the doors to new cultures. 2.1.2 Curricular and Political Challenges Brought by the English Learning Worldwide. The last four decades, governments increasingly have recognized the importance of English in the political, economic and social fields. Based on that, English has become a powerful tool for individuals to succeed in the changing environments. Although English continues to grow because of global demands, it brings complex issues and challenging scenarios in the integration and development of this language as a lingua franca in the different countries. Coleman (2011) summarizes a range of aspects that give an overall overview of the challenges that those governments and individuals around the world face in this process, among those issues, the way how communities and individuals perceive the English language in their lives, the introduction of it in education systems and the contribution of this language to national and international development are the most relevant. The first issue refers to the perceptions of individuals and communities of the role of English as a lingua franca. Edwards (1994) asserts that “language is a social institution of enormous importance, and one over which we have a great deal of control” (in Tonkin, n.d, p.1). Nowadays, the learning of a second language of non-native speakers emerges as a need and desire to participate in a global and advanced community. Along the same lines, Graddol (1997) states that “speakers of English as a second language 16 may now exceed the number of speakers of English as a first language.” This means that most of individuals and communities, even though have different cultural and linguistic backgrounds; they have made the decision to integrate English as second language as a result of the processes of globalization. The second aspect lays on the introduction of English as an effective change in education systems. The integration of English as core subject at schools aims to enable students to face different challenges brought by the expansion of the knowledge of English as a requirement in many areas. Taking into consideration the integration of English in the education systems, Kirkpatrick ( 2012, p.40) proposes a series of points that must be considered in the development of the language teaching curriculum in Asian contexts, but some of those points can be implemented in many other countries. For example, he hesitates that the purpose of teaching English in schools focuses on allowing learners to use the target language successfully through the exposition to English contexts, as a result, students will develop intercultural competence by including cultural topics relevant for the lingua franca users. Besides, the curriculum must allow students to be able to engage in critical discussions about their own culture and the target language culture; and finally, in order to familiarize students with the speech and pronunciation of the target language, the curriculum should integrate listening materials. In other words, the purpose of English as a core subject at schools emerged as a need to prepare individuals to fulfill the demands of a growing society. Since English has been put at the forefront of global concerns of 21st century societies, the education systems have had to adjust their policies to respond to this movement. Seargeant and Earling (n.d, p. 2) note that “the increased status of English 17 within a global economy has meant that English language education has also begun to be promoted as an important factor in international development programs”. Similarly, Bruthiaux (2002, p. 289) affirms that the countries development have become “inextricably linked in governmental and academic circles as well as the media with English language education” (in Seargeant and Earling, n.d). At this point, it is important to recognize the strong relationship between development and English language education. Seargeant and Earling (p. 3) asserted that “language education can help people to gain resources to lift themselves out of poverty and increase their ability to participate in world economic system.” Likewise, between 1997 and 2008 the United Kingdom governments’ Department for International Development funded “The English Language Teaching Improvement Project”, in attempt to contribute to the economic progress of this country by using English as tool for a better integration of the economy worldwide. In the case of Costa Rica, programs like Foreign Language Program (PROLED) and Costa Rica Multilingual were created on1994 and 2008 respectively, with the purpose of improving elementary education quality (Navarro and Piñeiro, 2011). The integration of the teaching and learning process of English as a foreign or second language in the education systems has been analyzed under different perspectives. Zhang argues that “teaching and learning of English in today’s world is driven by pragmatic values because English has been an instrument of access to social prestige, wealth and international job market” (cited in Sharma, 2008, p.125). Needless to say, a system that disregards the importance of English in education is a system that deprives itself from opportunities at cultural, economic, and academic domains. 18 To conclude, English has emerged as a lingua franca to fulfill the ideology of “English as a language for international development” (Seargeant and Earling, n.d). In Costa Rica, the promotion of English language is fundamental in the development of the country in general; there are many activities that depend on the knowledge of this language like the tourism activities that are so unquestionably important for the country’s economy. It is not surprising, then, that the government has placed high priority on teaching English to students since they are in primary school as a way to: a) acquire English as a tool to confront globalization, b) equip citizens to succeed in a competitive society, c) attract foreign investments, and d) have better access to education, culture, communication, and technology. 2.2 A brief history of English in Costa Rica This chapter is the result of the research made about the history of English in Costa Rica. It aims to show an historical overview of how English came to Costa Rica, starting with the railway construction in the Atlantic, and how it developed to become a mandatory subject in public schools as a result of globalization and the challenges English learning has faced after the government made that decision in 1997. 2.2.1 The railway construction in the Atlantic. The History of English in Costa Rica can be traced back to the construction of the railway to the Atlantic back in 1870, when General Tomás Guardia and coffee growers of the time devised the need for foreign labor (Italians, Chinese, and Jamaicans). The construction of the railroad faced many difficulties; about it, Whitten and Torres (1998, 19 p.120) stated, “Of all the immigrant peoples, however, only the West Indian Blacks came to tolerate the rigid labor discipline and to suffer exposure to the yellow fever, malaria and poisonous snakes which abounded in the swampy lowlands of Limón.” After finishing the railroad to Limón, many Italians and Chinese people moved to work to Puntarenas to construct the new railroad. However, most of the Jamaicans stayed on the Atlantic Coast to work for the banana plantation or at the port. After the banana blight in 1913, many plantations were moved to the Pacific coast but black people were forced to stay in Limón. Whitten and Torres state, “…they Jamaicans were not allowed to migrate to the Pacific coast of the country where new farms were being opened up and where experienced banana workers were in high demand” (2009, p.122). Banana business turned into a multinational company: the United Fruit Company which established a close enclave economy that lead to a complete control over the workers. The language spoken in the plantations was the American English spoken by managers and the Jamaican Creole, spoken by the workers. This is how English language is introduced to Costa Rica and according to Holm (1983, p.133) “From among the various kinds of West Indian creole English spoken in Limón, the most widely spoken variety of Jamaican Creole emerged as the dominant language and became identified with that locality, developing its separate course as Limonese Creole.” Limon Creole English has many variations and now, it has borrowed many words and idioms from Costa Rican Spanish and vice versa. Most of people in Limón speak Limón Creole English and Spanish as Holm (1983, p.134) explains, “For the youngest generation, 20 which identifies with Costa Rica, Spanish is the language of prestige but the mother tongue continues to be Limonese Creole.” 2.2.2 English as a mandatory subject in public school (1997) as a result of the social, cultural and political transformations brought by globalization. Since the independence in 1821, Costa Rica has adopted different decisions which have lead it to be recognized as one of the most accepting, and peaceful nations in the world: first, abolishing their army in 1948 and investing that money in education, security, health care, culture, social and political stability; secondly, developing the Import Substitution Industrialization Strategy (replacing foreign imports with domestic production) between 1960 and 1970; and finally, adopting a serial of structural adjustments imposed by the International Monetary Fund and other international organisms. Over the next years, the structural adjustments continue being followed and applied by the different governments. During Arias Sánchez’s administration, the decline in student performance, dropout increase and the shortage of qualified teachers was extremely worrying. The government launched various educational reforms, such as the national testing system (6th, 9th and 11th grades), and the introduction of computer literacy in the classroom, among others. All these social, cultural and political transformations brought by globalization contributed to attract foreign investments (in Nelson, 2009, p. 35). As development strategies, Figueres’ government adopted the following actions: 21 a. The program PROLED (Foreign Languages Program) was introduced to integrate the teaching and learning of English in public schools in 1994 to give better career opportunities to children of rural and marginal areas. (Córdoba, Coto, Ramírez, 2005, p. 7). b. After Intel’s decision to invest in Costa Rica, the World Bank stated that Costa Rica’s educated labor force was the crucial factor (Worldbank.org, 1998, p.5), so Costa Rica introduced English as a mandatory subject in 1997. MEP statistics show that in 2012, 1886 (53 of total) primary schools received English classes (Calderón Mora, pp.6). c. The Training for English Teachers MEP-CONARE focuses on best teaching practices and maintains a continuing education plan for the public sector. Intel’s experience has served to call the attention of more multinational corporations as the country has focused their development in high-tech manufacturing and services taking advantage of their stable economic and political system as well as their educated labor force. 2.2.3. Challenges faced during the last two decades. Like many other countries around the world, Costa Rica has strived for competent education levels that allow its citizens perform in the many areas that today’s globalized society opens. Costa Rica has improved social indicators and according to the CIA World Fact book, Costa Rica has a literacy rate of almost 95, making it one of the most literate countries in Latin America (2013). According to UNESCO, Costa Rica has 22 shown great records regarding investment on education as a way to overcome the challenges aforementioned. Figure 2.1 depicts low and middle income Latin American countries’ investment on education. Nowadays, more multinational corporations come to Costa Rica, situation that demands more professionals who handle the English language. In 2008, Costa Rica realized that only a 62 of English teachers had the necessary level and that meant that “one in 10 high schools students had achieved an intermediate level or higher” (Leff, 2010, pp.5). To counteract these results, government launched a program to improve English proficiency: Costa Rica Multilingual. According to Calderón and Mora (2012) in 2008 more teachers got an A1, A2 and B1 in the TOEIC test. After training with Costa Rica Multilingual, these grades dramatically changed: 23 Costa Rica’s needs for English proficiency are not only focused on multinational companies coming to the country but also because tourism grows every day and the information revolution uses English as a mean to communicate in different fields. Therefore, the English language is a mandatory subject in the education of Costa Rica. Also, in order to improve English learning and teaching by implementing the English National Plan to provide Costa Ricans with the linguistic skills needed to increase their competitiveness. 2.3 Plan Nacional de Inglés Costa Rica Multilingüe As discussed elsewhere in this paper, Costa Rica is immersed in the tendencies of globalization as a response of the introduction of the technological advances in diverse areas that has increased the complexity of daily-life transactions. This whole innovation period has brought more employment opportunities that demand better trained personnel, and the knowledge of English language has become one of the main requirements needed to complete the ideal profiles in different job’s positions. 24 The responsibility of preparing these individuals to accomplish the requests that many national and international companies demand, falls on the education system. The “Educative Policies Toward the XXI Century” , created on November 8th of 1994, were approved with “ t he purpose to achieve an integral development of the competitive human resources, preparing them to attack with success the challenges that imposes the new world order of the globalization in the new millennium” (National Inform: The Development of Education Costa Rica, n.d, p.18). In other words, the education system must give citizens the appropriate preparation and tools to allow them to grow and fit within the globalized market of today’s society. In order to place Costa Rica in a competitive position within the international markets, the National Plan of Development saw the need to come up with the English National Plan. This proposal is led by el Ministry of Foreign Commerce (COMEX), the Ministry of Economy, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce (MEIC), the Ministry of Public Education (MEP), the National Learning Institute (INA), CINDE and the Project of Strategies for XXI Century. The objective of the English National Plan focus on improving the quality of human resources; in this specific case, to make language users capable of developing and applying a second language in the different activities of their daily lives. The English National Plan clearly specifies in its general objective that the aim is to (2007, p.3): Provide the national population language skills in English that allows greater personal and professional development, increasing their access to higher- paying jobs According to this Plan, the progress and success of its implementation should achieve the following specific objectives: 25 1. Short Term (2007 – 2009): To train to 45.000 individuals to reach the following levels: - At least 10.000 Costa Rican citizens achieve the C1 level according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Modern Languages. - At least 15.000 Costa Rican citizens achieved the B2 level according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Modern Languages. - At least 20.000 Costa Rican citizens achieve B1 level according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Modern Languages. 2. Medium Term (2009 – 2012): To train to 36.000 individuals to reach the following levels: - At least 6.000 Costa Rican citizens achieve the C1 level according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Modern Languages, annually. - At least 20.000 Costa Rican citizens achieve, annually, achieve the B2 level according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Modern Languages. - At least 10.000 Costa Rican citizens, annually, achieve the B1 level according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Modern Languages. 3. Long Term (to 2017): to implement a program of English formation for primary and secondary levels, that have as result the following achievements: - 50 of the graduated students of high school achieve the C1 level according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Modern Languages. - 50 of the graduated students of high school achieve the B2 level according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Modern Languages. 26 In order to have a better understanding of the scale defined in the Common European Framework (CEF) of Reference for Modern Languages to measure the linguistic competences, the Teachers’ Guide to the Common European Framework (n.d, p.5), presents the common reference levels to place the English users according to their second language abilities. On the top, the levels C2 and C1 are defined as proficient users of the English language; individuals that can understand almost everything related to listening and reading skills (C2 level), and understand wide variety of demanding, longer texts and recognize implicit meaning (C1). Then, the B2 and B1 levels define the English users as independent; they can comprehend main ideas of complex texts (B1) or main points of familiar matters like work, school and leisure activities (B2). Finally, the basic levels are represented by the A2 and A1 scores; in which users can understand basic personal and family information (A2) or use and understand familiar every daily expressions (A1). It is important to bear in mind that the CEF (2001, p.3) provides as a common basis for the elaboration of language syllabi, curriculum guidelines, examinations, textbooks, etc. Hence, the importance of reference tests to measure the English linguistic competences of teachers, students and workers. The use of English in Costa Rica has made the country an attractive destination for the FDI (Foreign Development Investment) of countries such as the United States, the 64 of the foreign capital comes from this country (ENP, 2007). Halliday once said “If you want to resist the exploitative power of English, you have to use English to do it” (in Sharma, 2008, p.125). Nowadays, Costa Rican’s interest to learn English as foreign 27 language has been conceived as an instrument to succeed in many fields. To illustrate that, The English National Plan (2007, p.4) states: Being able to communicate in English means, for those already located in the labor market and who are the professionals in different areas of knowledge, an added bonus of assessment, in addition, those wishing to enter this market are facing a lawsuit that also requires the knowledge of this language besides their education. Considering the latter quote, new projects were proposed to face the growing requests of bilingual people to work in international companies. In this project, private and public institutions work together to plan and execute programs directed to people who work, mainly. Among the organizations, the National Learning Institute can be mentioned, which in 2004 designed a program called Inglés Técnico para Centros de Servicios Technical English for Service Center. Then, in 2005, the Department of Public Education of the MEP decided to implement new specialties in the vocational high schools with English orientations, like bilingual computer science. Furthermore, institutions like CONAPE, CINDE, MEP and Universities contributed to the improvement of teaching-learning process of English by offering monetary funding to students, by proposing standardization of the levels of English depending on the demands; and the implementation of scholarships in universities, like in the case of University of Costa Rica, which provided students with an opportunity to take an English program divided into 10 modules conversational modules. Along with the efforts made by the government, public and private institutions worked on new projects to make the English language a national priority for the Costa Rican citizens; and this is how the Program Costa Rica Multilingual is decreed as a 28 program of public and national interest on March 11th, 2008 during Oscar Arias Sánchez’ administration. The same as the English National P lan, Costa Rica Multilingual is headed by the Presidency of the Republic, the Ministry of Public Education, the Ministry of Foreign Commerce, the National Learning Institute, the Coalition for Development Initiatives, and the Project of Strategies for the XXI Century; besides the Industry and Commerce’s Direction for the Technical and Regulation Improvement forms part of this important National program. In an attempt to come across solutions to demands of the globalization, the Program Costa Rica Multilingual is aimed at, Providing the country with a population with communication skills that enable greater personal and professional development, increasing their access to universal knowledge and higher-paying jobs (2008-2017, p.3) According to the CINDE’s Department of Research (2012, p.4), the most important actions of this program are:...
INTRODUCTION
General Background for the Study
Learning a new language allows a person to involve himself into a new culture, a new world, and a new life Charlemagne once noted: “To have another language is to possess a second soul (in “Global,” 2010, pp 2).”More specifically, English has become the second most spoken language worldwide, according to UNESCO (2010, pp.6) Thus, English has become the vehicle to communicate in the different fields of society, say, politics, economy, technology, and a number of countless fields within our cultural systems In this respect, the UNESCO Ad Hoc Expert Group on Endangered Languages released the document “Language Vitality and Endangerment”, which states:
The English language is widely accepted as the medium that makes possible what
Giddens refers to as ‘the intensification of worldwide social relations’ It is the medium that makes possible the kind of economic and social changes…English is the language of the World Bank…, and it is the language of global consumerism and the celebrity culture… It is the language spoken when diplomats from different linguistic backgrounds gather in the corridors of the United Nations in New York or the European parliament in Brussels …it is becoming the language of all communication taking place across language borders (2003, p.17, pp.2)
In Costa Rica, English was introduced as a foreign language in public elementary and high schools during José María Figueres Olsen’s administration in 1994, as a way to meet the challenges brought about by our globalized world and due to agreements with multinational companies which came to the country looking for more specialized labor force with English language proficiency As a result, Costa Rica has transformed its economy from primary products to manufacturing and services In this regard,
Hernández states that, “At present, many companies, both Costa Rican and international, require bilingual personnel Therefore, proficiency in a foreign language, especially English, has become an essential tool in securing good employment (2008, p.1, pp.3)."
As a result of these concerns, Costa Rica has started to implement several courses of action, such as Costa Rica Multilingual and the National English Plan launched in 2008 during Oscar Arias’ presidency The program Costa Rica Multilingual was declared of public interest, according to decree No 34425-MEP-COMEX, in an attempt to improve English learning-teaching in public schools With this plan, the government wants to keep taking advantage of the good education system that allows the country to graduate high quality labor force, but offering individuals who also speak English to continue attracting FDI (foreign development investments)
However, the main goal of the National English Program for I and II cycles is the achievement of oral skills It is well known that developing oral language is a natural process It is not the same with learning to read and much less, learning to read in a foreign language According to Hernández, MEP Adviser, the first three years of school are only for speaking and listening and it is only after 4 th grade that reading and some writing are introduced (in Villegas, 2012, pp 12-13) About this, Togersen, Rashotte and Alexander (2001) specify that the loss of reading opportunities during the first three years of elementary school make it truly difficult for children to acquire average levels of reading fluency in the future
This practice does not help English development at public schools, since children are not motivated to start reading in English according to their knowledge According to
Togersen, the delayed development of reading skills affects not only vocabulary growth(as cited in Cunningham and Stanovich, 1998), but it also affects children’s motivation and attitudes to read (as cited in Oka and Paris, 1986) and takes out children’s opportunities to develop comprehension strategies (as cited in Brown,
Purpose and Significance
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) views literacy as a human right, and describes it as a tool to create social environments in which individuals of all ages can stand out Also, UNESCO sees literacy as a tool to eradicate poverty, achieve gender equality and ensure sustainable development
According to Bokova, UNESCO General Director, the next statement provides a concrete definition of the significance of literacy for all the individuals as part of a Globalized society:
Education brings sustainability to all the development goals, and literacy is the foundation of all learning It provides individuals with the skills to understand the world and shape it, to participate in democratic processes and have a voice, and also to strengthen their cultural identity (2012, pp 2)
Since UNESCO is a worldwide organization covering 195 members and eight associate members, the statements aforementioned serve as the grounding for literacy planning and policy of nations worldwide In the case of Costa Rica, it has been a member of UNESCO since 1950 and has been working on getting support to reach the common literacy objectives stated by the UNESCO
At present, Costa Rican Public Education System has launched action plans to promote the achievement of literacy-related objectives along with the main curriculum goals For instance, they have included a cross-curriculum program that proposes a cross-curriculum theme called Environmental This program has four components, and one of them is the Sustainable Human Development which contemplates a series of contents such as good quality of life, civic participation, national identity and cultural diversity Those contents are developed in all the subjects; for example, teachers in their lessons must integrate recommended readings according to the levels, which must be read obligatory in order to accomplish the dispositions of the educational system Thus, books such as “Mamita Yunai” [Mom Yunai] by Carlos Luis Fallas, or “Única Mirando al Mar” [Unica looking to the Sea] by Fernando Contreras Castro promote students’ learning through cultural and historical topics about Costa Rica from different perspectives and times
Since reading is the key to nurture the knowledge in every single subject, teachers and students face challenges developing this skill in their classrooms Many English teachers comment that to teach reading exercises in their classes has become a complex task to achieve because of a matter of time and organization Likewise, according to Araya and Córdoba (2008), the English Syllabi in 2005 dictated that instructors had to be able to: expose the learner to a considerable amount of meaningful language input…; provide a variety of opportunities for the students, in order to bring about the necessary models or language input…: offer a variety of texts and also remember that students in the same class may read at very different levels of difficulty in English, just as they do in their native language…; be aware of the students’ reading interesting order to design the appropriate reading comprehension exercises… (p.3)
In terms of what the English Syllabi demands, English teachers need to prepare their lessons taking into account five steps: preparation, demonstration, time to introduce the language skill (in this case the reading skills), corrections, and follow-up These steps, along with the cross-curriculum themes, and the responsibility to prepare their 11 th graders for the national reading comprehension tests have become the duties that demand special aptitude, attitudes and knowledge from English teachers nowadays These challenges suggest some of the many considerations teachers need to bear in mind while doing their job The instructor’s expertise is based on their knowledge and the application of principles, strategies, methodologies and theories The teaching-learning process of the reading skills as well as the development of speaking, writing and listening follows a series of principles based on theories in order to have successful results in the classes Those principles put into practice in English classes should work as elaborated systems of thought and social reality For that reason, reading has been seen as a tool of empowerment for students in their schools; all that is needed is to have teachers, parents and communities that are willing to participate in the promotion and nurturing of the reading practice
In the case of Costa Rican rural institutions, English teachers and students have a limited exposure to materials like books to support their lessons To worsen the scenario further, it is easy to notice the lack of practice of reading strategies in the classrooms That means that teachers generally focus their lessons on choral repetition of words or texts For instance, exercises like asking meaning of a text or predictions are omitted; consequently students develop poor reading skills, which will carry out problems when they have to confront complex literacy levels demanded by an educational institution, jobs, relationship with friends, and communication with people from other countries and the society in general
As a consequence of this lack of reading skills, public schools in Costa Rica need to work with different methodologies in order to enhance and improve students’ reading skills Taking this into consideration, the constructivist theories propose a focus in which both teachers and students play an active role in the development of activities in the classroom By promoting constructivism in English classes, learners have the opportunity to learn through experiences, and the construction of knowledge follows cycles where the brain storages new information when it gets into contact with existing data As Hayes (2006, p.49) says “constructivist theories suggest that pupils learn when thought and experience interact, resulting in the sequential development of the more complex understanding” Constructivism has been seen as a great contribution to the instruction, since the emphasis of the theorists focus on how the humans create and adjust knowledge in order to adapt themselves to the changing world By integrating this theory at school, students and teachers will be able to have an active participation, apply different learning theories; such us, discovery learning, experiential, project-based, tasked-based and collaborative learning
Upon having examined the need for literacy in EFL primary education classrooms in light of Costa Rica’s educational context, the question leading the research inquire of this project is: To what extent do constructivist teaching strategies have a positive impact on the promotion of motivation to read and reading comprehension in a group of sixth graders from Villarreal School?
Objectives
1.3.1.1 To conduct research on the influence of constructivist teaching strategies and promotion of reading comprehension in a group of sixth graders from Villarreal School
1.3.2.1 To identify the elements of constructivism that foster Literacy in an EFL classroom
1.3.2.2 To identify factors that influence reading motivation in young learners’ reading comprehension skills
1.3.2.3 To implement designed constructivist teaching strategies in the English class
1.3.2.4 To determine the students’ degree of achievement when using constructivist reading comprehension strategies.
Delimitation of the Study
The study will be narrowed down to the English classes at Villarreal School, Tamarindo, Guanacaste The researchers will observe the English teaching-learning of students in the group of Sixth grade B, and they will take into consideration all students attending classes in order to observe the English teaching-learning process to study the influence of constructivist teaching strategies by promoting reading motivation and reading comprehension The collection of data will take place from July to August,
2013, to the group B of sixth graders and just the English teacher in charge of this group Researchers will apply surveys to students; and they will observe closely the teaching- learning process while applying constructivist strategies to reinforce the reading skill
As aforementioned, this research is aimed at orienting the teaching-learning process, namely reading comprehension, under the tenets of constructivist theories, strategies, and perspectives Overall, it is expected that this research contributes to assist our understanding of the impact of constructivist teaching-learning in sixth grade elementary school learners Likewise, results of this study will strengthen the current body of literature regarding constructivist instruction, as it will inspire future research not only in elementary school but also in high schools of Costa Rica and, eventually, in other institutions outside the country Lastly, because reading-comprehension becomes the main activity in the development of the contents established in the MEP’s curriculum, the researchers’ goal is also to reinforce students’ reading skills by following pedagogical practices informed by constructivist perspectives to language learning.
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
Social, cultural and political factors as determiners of English learning worldwide
There are social, political and cultural factors that act as determiners of English learning worldwide This chapter aims at providing information about the role of
English as a lingua franca, and the curricular and political challenges brought by the English learning worldwide Due to globalization, business relations, connections, and transactions with other countries, the English Language has become the global lingua franca used by many people around the world to communicate with others According to Abdullah and Latif (2012), “At present, English, undoubtedly, is a lingua franca of our planet Nowadays, it is used by people in almost every nook and corner of the world” (p.128) Besides, the importance of knowing about the curricular and political challenges English learning faces to contribute to the progress of the society.
2.1.1 The role of English as a Lingua Franca for Intercultural
The term Lingua Franca (LF) is defined by Samarin as “any lingual medium of communication between people of different mother tongues, and for whom it is a second language” (as cited in Cummins and Davison, 2007, p 138) Ghim-Lian (2009, pag.2 ) explains that “in the past, Greek was the lingua franca of huge areas in the
Mediterranean and the Middle East to extend that the New Testament was written in Greek ” In other words, the LF functions as a tool of contact and social interaction in order to facilitate the communication between individuals from different parts of the globe who do not share linguistic or cultural backgrounds
Nowadays, many languages play the role of lingua franca for international communication English has become the most important of them, and it has emerged and spread as a global language for many reasons Such reasons can be attributed to the combination of many historical, political, economic, cultural, technological and communication factors Stevenson argued that "if trade and tourism around the world are going to operate and a global economy function and a global culture flourish, a widely shared, reasonably accessible language is requisite" (as cited in Wheaton H, n.d, p.1); in other words, there must be a common language in order to have a truly global world Through history, the emergence of English as a global language has been influenced by politic and economic structures Rhode claims that “English dominates international business, politics, and culture more than any other language in human history" (in
Wheaton H, p.1); it has occurred due to a number of reasons For example, as Wheaton asserts that, in the 17 th and 18 th centuries, English was the main language of the leading colonial nation- Britain; it was the leader language during the industrial revolution in the
18 th and 19 th centuries, and in the late 19 th and early 20 th century, it became the language of leading economic power in United States Guardian (n.d) asserted "a language becomes an international language for one chief reason: the political power of its people
- especially their military power" (in Wheaton H, p.1), it means that the emergence of the United States as world superpower has had as a result the rapid spread of English as a lingua franca to connect people around the world for different purposes
In terms on what has been stated before, David Graddol (2007) in his book “The Future of English?” highlights different aspects related to the development of English as a global language On first place, he relates the increasing of English with the international economy, this because of the globalization, the trade and new working practices which demand the use of this language as a tool to accomplish the tasks required in jobs Second, he associates English to a global culture; it means the cross cultural communication between native speakers and second language speakers; that has been influenced by technological advances such as the expansion of the Internet as a huge mean of communication
The Internet grew in use and popularity has established English as a global language to communicate in some common ways According to the Internet World Stats
(2013,p.1) English is the number one language of the top ten languages used in the web; they point that calculating the number of speakers of the world’s languages is an increasingly complex task; more specifically to tale the number of English speakers, the estimations have to take into consideration the use of it as a first, second and foreign language, since many countries have promoted the teaching of English in their public schools under those focuses depending on the policies of the educational programs in each country
Also, the knowledge of English has become a requirement in a great number of fields, occupations and professions such as computing, medicine or electronic in order to understand a serious of technical terms expressed in the English language A working knowledge of this language has opened a variety of opportunities to people around the world; it brings better job offers, it allows people to communicate with others around the world, it is a great complement for academic issues and it opens the doors to new cultures
2.1.2 Curricular and Political Challenges Brought by the English Learning Worldwide
The last four decades, governments increasingly have recognized the importance of English in the political, economic and social fields Based on that, English has become a powerful tool for individuals to succeed in the changing environments Although
English continues to grow because of global demands, it brings complex issues and challenging scenarios in the integration and development of this language as a lingua franca in the different countries Coleman (2011) summarizes a range of aspects that give an overall overview of the challenges that those governments and individuals around the world face in this process, among those issues, the way how communities and individuals perceive the English language in their lives, the introduction of it in education systems and the contribution of this language to national and international development are the most relevant
The first issue refers to the perceptions of individuals and communities of the role of English as a lingua franca Edwards (1994) asserts that “language is a social institution of enormous importance, and one over which we have a great deal of control” (in
Tonkin, n.d, p.1) Nowadays, the learning of a second language of non-native speakers emerges as a need and desire to participate in a global and advanced community Along the same lines, Graddol (1997) states that “speakers of English as a second language may now exceed the number of speakers of English as a first language.” This means that most of individuals and communities, even though have different cultural and linguistic backgrounds; they have made the decision to integrate English as second language as a result of the processes of globalization
The second aspect lays on the introduction of English as an effective change in education systems The integration of English as core subject at schools aims to enable students to face different challenges brought by the expansion of the knowledge of English as a requirement in many areas Taking into consideration the integration of English in the education systems, Kirkpatrick ( 2012, p.40) proposes a series of points that must be considered in the development of the language teaching curriculum in Asian contexts, but some of those points can be implemented in many other countries For example, he hesitates that the purpose of teaching English in schools focuses on allowing learners to use the target language successfully through the exposition to
A brief history of English in Costa Rica
This chapter is the result of the research made about the history of English in Costa Rica It aims to show an historical overview of how English came to Costa Rica, starting with the railway construction in the Atlantic, and how it developed to become a mandatory subject in public schools as a result of globalization and the challenges
English learning has faced after the government made that decision in 1997
2.2.1 The railway construction in the Atlantic
The History of English in Costa Rica can be traced back to the construction of the railway to the Atlantic back in 1870, when General Tomás Guardia and coffee growers of the time devised the need for foreign labor (Italians, Chinese, and Jamaicans) The construction of the railroad faced many difficulties; about it, Whitten and Torres (1998, p.120) stated, “Of all the immigrant peoples, however, only the West Indian Blacks came to tolerate the rigid labor discipline and to suffer exposure to the yellow fever, malaria and poisonous snakes which abounded in the swampy lowlands of Limón.” After finishing the railroad to Limón, many Italians and Chinese people moved to work to Puntarenas to construct the new railroad However, most of the Jamaicans stayed on the Atlantic Coast to work for the banana plantation or at the port After the banana blight in 1913, many plantations were moved to the Pacific coast but black people were forced to stay in Limón Whitten and Torres state, “…they [Jamaicans] were not allowed to migrate to the Pacific coast of the country where new farms were being opened up and where experienced banana workers were in high demand” (2009, p.122) Banana business turned into a multinational company: the United Fruit Company which established a close enclave economy that lead to a complete control over the workers
The language spoken in the plantations was the American English spoken by managers and the Jamaican Creole, spoken by the workers This is how English language is introduced to Costa Rica and according to Holm (1983, p.133) “From among the various kinds of West Indian creole English spoken in Limón, the most widely spoken variety of Jamaican Creole emerged as the dominant language and became identified with that locality, developing its separate course as Limonese Creole.” Limon Creole English has many variations and now, it has borrowed many words and idioms from Costa Rican Spanish and vice versa Most of people in Limón speak Limón Creole English and Spanish as Holm (1983, p.134) explains, “For the youngest generation, which identifies with Costa Rica, Spanish is the language of prestige but the mother tongue continues to be Limonese Creole.”
2.2.2 English as a mandatory subject in public school (1997) as a result of the social, cultural and political transformations brought by globalization
Since the independence in 1821, Costa Rica has adopted different decisions which have lead it to be recognized as one of the most accepting, and peaceful nations in the world: first, abolishing their army in 1948 and investing that money in education, security, health care, culture, social and political stability; secondly, developing the Import Substitution Industrialization Strategy (replacing foreign imports with domestic production) between 1960 and 1970; and finally, adopting a serial of structural adjustments imposed by the International Monetary Fund and other international organisms
Over the next years, the structural adjustments continue being followed and applied by the different governments During Arias Sánchez’s administration, the decline in student performance, dropout increase and the shortage of qualified teachers was extremely worrying The government launched various educational reforms, such as the national testing system (6 th , 9 th and 11 th grades), and the introduction of computer literacy in the classroom, among others
All these social, cultural and political transformations brought by globalization contributed to attract foreign investments (in Nelson, 2009, p 35) As development strategies, Figueres’ government adopted the following actions: a The program PROLED (Foreign Languages Program) was introduced to integrate the teaching and learning of English in public schools in 1994 to give better career opportunities to children of rural and marginal areas (Córdoba, Coto, & Ramírez, 2005, p 7) b After Intel’s decision to invest in Costa Rica, the World Bank stated that Costa Rica’s educated labor force was the crucial factor (Worldbank.org, 1998, p.5), so Costa Rica introduced English as a mandatory subject in 1997 MEP statistics show that in 2012, 1886 (53% of total) primary schools received English classes (Calderón& Mora, pp.6) c The Training for English Teachers MEP-CONARE focuses on best teaching practices and maintains a continuing education plan for the public sector
Intel’s experience has served to call the attention of more multinational corporations as the country has focused their development in high-tech manufacturing and services taking advantage of their stable economic and political system as well as their educated labor force
2.2.3 Challenges faced during the last two decades
Like many other countries around the world, Costa Rica has strived for competent education levels that allow its citizens perform in the many areas that today’s globalized society opens Costa Rica has improved social indicators and according to the CIA World Fact book, Costa Rica has a literacy rate of almost 95%, making it one of the most literate countries in Latin America (2013) According to UNESCO, Costa Rica has shown great records regarding investment on education as a way to overcome the challenges aforementioned Figure 2.1 depicts low and middle income Latin American countries’ investment on education
Nowadays, more multinational corporations come to Costa Rica, situation that demands more professionals who handle the English language In 2008, Costa Rica realized that only a 62% of English teachers had the necessary level and that meant that
“one in 10 high schools students had achieved an intermediate level or higher” (Leff,
2010, pp.5) To counteract these results, government launched a program to improve English proficiency: Costa Rica Multilingual According to Calderón and Mora (2012) in 2008 more teachers got an A1, A2 and B1 in the TOEIC test After training with Costa Rica Multilingual, these grades dramatically changed:
Costa Rica’s needs for English proficiency are not only focused on multinational companies coming to the country but also because tourism grows every day and the information revolution uses English as a mean to communicate in different fields
Therefore, the English language is a mandatory subject in the education of Costa Rica Also, in order to improve English learning and teaching by implementing the English National Plan to provide Costa Ricans with the linguistic skills needed to increase their competitiveness.
Plan Nacional de Inglés & Costa Rica Multilingüe
As discussed elsewhere in this paper, Costa Rica is immersed in the tendencies of globalization as a response of the introduction of the technological advances in diverse areas that has increased the complexity of daily-life transactions This whole innovation period has brought more employment opportunities that demand better trained personnel, and the knowledge of English language has become one of the main requirements needed to complete the ideal profiles in different job’s positions
The responsibility of preparing these individuals to accomplish the requests that many national and international companies demand, falls on the education system The
“Educative Policies Toward the XXI Century” , created on November 8 th of 1994, were approved with “ the purpose to achieve an integral development of the competitive human resources, preparing them to attack with success the challenges that imposes the new world order of the globalization in the new millennium” (National Inform: The Development of Education Costa Rica, n.d, p.18) In other words, the education system must give citizens the appropriate preparation and tools to allow them to grow and fit within the globalized market of today’s society
In order to place Costa Rica in a competitive position within the international markets, the National Plan of Development saw the need to come up with the English National Plan This proposal is led by el Ministry of Foreign Commerce (COMEX), the Ministry of Economy, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce (MEIC), the Ministry of Public Education (MEP), the National Learning Institute (INA), CINDE and the Project of Strategies for XXI Century The objective of the English National Plan focus on improving the quality of human resources; in this specific case, to make language users capable of developing and applying a second language in the different activities of their daily lives The English National Plan clearly specifies in its general objective that the aim is to (2007, p.3): [Provide the national population language skills in English that allows greater personal and professional development, increasing their access to higher- paying jobs]
According to this Plan, the progress and success of its implementation should achieve the following specific objectives:
1 Short Term (2007 – 2009): To train to 45.000 individuals to reach the following levels:
- At least 10.000 Costa Rican citizens achieve the C1 level according to the
Common European Framework of Reference for Modern Languages
- At least 15.000 Costa Rican citizens achieved the B2 level according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Modern Languages
- At least 20.000 Costa Rican citizens achieve B1 level according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Modern Languages
2 Medium Term (2009 – 2012): To train to 36.000 individuals to reach the following levels:
- At least 6.000 Costa Rican citizens achieve the C1 level according to the
Common European Framework of Reference for Modern Languages, annually
- At least 20.000 Costa Rican citizens achieve, annually, achieve the B2 level according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Modern
- At least 10.000 Costa Rican citizens, annually, achieve the B1 level according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Modern Languages
3 Long Term (to 2017): to implement a program of English formation for primary and secondary levels, that have as result the following achievements:
- 50% of the graduated students of high school achieve the C1 level according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Modern Languages
- 50% of the graduated students of high school achieve the B2 level according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Modern Languages
In order to have a better understanding of the scale defined in the Common European Framework (CEF) of Reference for Modern Languages to measure the linguistic competences, the Teachers’ Guide to the Common European Framework (n.d, p.5), presents the common reference levels to place the English users according to their second language abilities On the top, the levels C2 and C1 are defined as proficient users of the English language; individuals that can understand almost everything related to listening and reading skills (C2 level), and understand wide variety of demanding, longer texts and recognize implicit meaning (C1) Then, the B2 and B1 levels define the English users as independent; they can comprehend main ideas of complex texts (B1) or main points of familiar matters like work, school and leisure activities (B2) Finally, the basic levels are represented by the A2 and A1 scores; in which users can understand basic personal and family information (A2) or use and understand familiar every daily expressions (A1)
It is important to bear in mind that the CEF (2001, p.3) provides as a common basis for the elaboration of language syllabi, curriculum guidelines, examinations, textbooks, etc Hence, the importance of reference tests to measure the English linguistic competences of teachers, students and workers
The use of English in Costa Rica has made the country an attractive destination for the FDI (Foreign Development Investment) of countries such as the United States, the
64 % of the foreign capital comes from this country (ENP, 2007) Halliday once said “If you want to resist the exploitative power of English, you have to use English to do it” (in Sharma, 2008, p.125) Nowadays, Costa Rican’s interest to learn English as foreign language has been conceived as an instrument to succeed in many fields To illustrate that, The English National Plan (2007, p.4) states:
[Being able to communicate in English means, for those already located in the labor market and who are the professionals in different areas of knowledge, an added bonus of assessment, in addition, those wishing to enter this market are facing a lawsuit that also requires the knowledge of this language besides their education.]
Considering the latter quote, new projects were proposed to face the growing requests of bilingual people to work in international companies In this project, private and public institutions work together to plan and execute programs directed to people who work, mainly Among the organizations, the National Learning Institute can be mentioned, which in 2004 designed a program called Inglés Técnico para Centros de Servicios [Technical English for Service Center] Then, in 2005, the Department of Public
Education of the MEP decided to implement new specialties in the vocational high schools with English orientations, like bilingual computer science Furthermore, institutions like CONAPE, CINDE, MEP and Universities contributed to the improvement of teaching-learning process of English by offering monetary funding to students, by proposing standardization of the levels of English depending on the demands; and the implementation of scholarships in universities, like in the case of University of Costa Rica, which provided students with an opportunity to take an
English program divided into 10 modules conversational modules
Along with the efforts made by the government, public and private institutions worked on new projects to make the English language a national priority for the Costa Rican citizens; and this is how the Program Costa Rica Multilingual is decreed as a program of public and national interest on March 11 th , 2008 during Oscar Arias
Sánchez’ administration The same as the English National Plan, Costa Rica
Multilingual is headed by the Presidency of the Republic, the Ministry of Public
Education, the Ministry of Foreign Commerce, the National Learning Institute, the Coalition for Development Initiatives, and the Project of Strategies for the XXI Century; besides the Industry and Commerce’s Direction for the Technical and Regulation
Improvement forms part of this important National program
In an attempt to come across solutions to demands of the globalization, the Program Costa Rica Multilingual is aimed at, [Providing the country with a population with communication skills that enable greater personal and professional development, increasing their access to universal knowledge and higher-paying jobs] (2008-2017, p.3) According to the CINDE’s Department of Research (2012, p.4), the most important actions of this program are:
1 Review and implementation programs and educational methodologies
3 Training programs at all levels for students and professionals
To carry out those actions, within the collaborating efforts made by the institutions involved, Greer (2012) points out the contributions of the Ministry of Public Education in the 2010-2014 term, in which established “the strategic educational policies for primary and secondary schools to include the development of students’ entrepreneurial capacity by improving students’ foreign language competency” Additionally, the MEP implemented the Project of “Teaching of English as a Foreign Language”, in which the computer program for English language acquisition for primary and secondary learners is also comprised; following this initiative, the training of the teachers to administer the English computer program effectively was under the MEP’s supervision In summary, the goal of this project relies on the students’ acquisition and development of foreign language skills by the performance of exercises in the computer program
In order to fulfill the needs demanded by the private sector, the educational program has recently undergone a modification process aimed at coping with all the challenges aforementioned As a result of this, amid the private school sector, there are world-class institutions with a cultural emphasis on the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Israel (CINDE, 2012) This diversity of the educational frameworks brings with it a lot of benefit for the country, since Costa Rica has become the third country of destination for outsourcing practices of foreign companies Greer (2012) affirms that Costa Rica Multilingual has “received funding from the Inter-American Development Bank and international corporations such as Intel in its ambitious objective of improving Costa Ricans’ foreign language skills” Particularly, the program’s objective focuses on the development of English; however, depending on the program’s success, the idea is to incorporate other foreign languages; therefore the programs’ name, Multilingual (Greer, 2012)
Although the English National Plan and the Program Costa Rica Multilingual respond to the specific need to improve the English mastery, they both aim to improve the teaching process of English in primary and secondary schools’ level As the English National Plan (2007, p 28) states:
MEP and English Teaching Curriculum in Terms of Primary Education
Language emerges as a human need for communication By using a language, humans can express from the simplest to the most abstract feelings, thoughts, opinions, needs, and etcetera The syllabus of English for I and II cycle (2013, p 16) defines the importance of the language as a means that allow;
…people to socialize and stimulate the creation, transmission and enrichment of culture In their personal environment, individuals share their concerns, experiences, and opinions and build the world in which they live and try to improve their quality of life, as well as the life of others
This definition implies that language is a fundamental part of individuals’ lives, as well as a crucial aspect of their identity, and as something that characterizes them as unique members of the different societies around the world
Thus, in 1997, the President of the Republic at that time, José María Figueres Olsen integrates the teaching and learning of English as a foreign language as a formal subject of the Costa Rican Educational System The purpose of the English syllabus I and II cycle relates to the theories that viewed childhood as the best time in which humans can acquire a foreign language De Bot, Lowie and Verspoor (2005, p 3) state that “ children may learn two or more languages at school, and later in life they may even learn and use another language to such an extent that the first foreign language is no longer used and fades away” Singleton and Ryan (2004, p.84) argue that researchers have proved that L2 younger learners are better than older learners in some very specific aspects, like: phonology acquisition (age-related); younger students are more efficient at acquiring basic communication skills while older students take under an academic domain perspective; and another notion are more efficient at acquiring native-like accent of the foreign language Then, the encouragement of second language acquisition in early ages helps students to develop the target language skills, while the development of critical thinking, broader knowledge of the world, the integration of a new way of communication and the exposure to a new culture integrates into the students’ life
As it is stated in the Educational Policy for XXI Century, its main purpose is to
“encourage Costa Rican students to be positive leaders with a critical mind that will help them to strength not only their own identity as independent and interdependent learners, but also the democratic system as well” (cited in Programa de Estudio de Inglés I y II Ciclo, 2013, p.14) In other words, through the learning of English, schools prepare individuals who in the future will become competitive and productive members that will increasingly contribute with the development and progress of the country
The integration of English as an object of study has been conceived as “linguistic and cultural tool for communication, which complements education as a whole” (Programa de Estudio de Inglés I y II Ciclo, 2013, p 19) In other words, the acquisition of English as a foreign language provide students an instrument that will allow them to know about linguistic codes, and at the same time will open learners’ minds towards Costa Rican culture, and expand even further their knowledge about other cultures and the global in general The English Teaching Program for I and II cycle proposes three important components of English as an object of study; it refers to the formal, the functional and the cultural components The first one comprises form, lexis and morphology; and the teaching process should integrate them into a context The second, the functional component, makes reference to the communicative purpose of using the language in teaching activities associated to real life situations And the last component, the cultural, focuses on the comprehension of the socio cultural contexts of Costa Rica and the countries where English is spoken as a native language In the development of this component, teachers should consider values, attitudes and beliefs in order to enhance students’ awareness of the cultural differences and to reinforce their identity
The main focus of the educational curriculum is based on the frequent exposure and use of the English in the classrooms; it is expected that learners develop communicative competence in the oral and aural skills mainly In the I cycle, as it is stated in the MEP’s English syllabus (2013, p 20), students acquire communicative competence by integrating speaking and listening skills only, and they take place in activities based on real meaningful language situations Reading and writing skills are not directly developed in this cycle, because according to theories of the Natural Approach, children at that age are not cognitively prepare to process complex grammatical structures In the natural approach, “there is an emphasis on exposure, or input rather than practice
Practices include optimizing emotional preparedness for learning; a prolonged period of attention to what the language learners hear before they try to produce language.”
(Programa de Estudio de Inglés I Ciclo, 2013, p.26)
The above assertion has engendered great discrepancies among both teachers and researchers; they think that those abilities should be enhanced since early ages in order to have students with successful literacy skills Sulzby and Teale (1991) suggest some points about the theories that support the teaching of writing and reading skills in early ages The argument idea underlies on the innate predisposition that a child has to learn a language, and reading and writing are natural extension of language acquisition Then, they agree that literacy should be sensitive to other aspects of childhood development; thus, strategies such as the use of poems in the classes become appropriate for teaching reading in early ages; children like poems because of the rhythm, humor and familiar narrative structures (cited in Manzo and Manzo, 1995, p 60) In other words, the application of reading activities in early ages follows a process in which the materials and teaching strategies should be planned according to the child’s age and schooling level
The MEP’ syllabus for I and II cycle is composed by an eclectic methodological approach; that is, it is integrated by the Communicative approach, Total Physical
Response (TPR), Cooperative Learning, Natural Approach, Multiple Intelligence Theory and Learning Styles (Programa de Estudio de Inglés para I y II Ciclo, 2013, p 23) The syllabus’ objectives of the English teaching-learning process are (English Syllabus for I and II Cycle, 2013, p.37):
- To help Costa Rican children become sensitive to other cultures and broaden their knowledge of the world;
- To provide children with opportunities to discover new linguistic, social, and cultural options that will allow them to communicate facts and feelings about themselves and people from other cultures;
- To further the Costa Rican general curriculum with a view forming an integrated Costa Rican citizens who will be able to cope with challenges of the XXI century;
- To encourage students to be creative, independent, and critical thinkers so that they help in the construction of modern Costa Rican society;
- To promote the acquisition of a foreign language as a tool to enhance the development of the country;
- To promote positive attitudes towards the study of foreign languages by means of high-quality education;
- To offer students an innovative perspective for learning a foreign language with emphasis on the development of listening and speaking abilities;
- To promote students’ understanding of the cultural and linguistic differences between Costa Rican and other countries;
- To encourage the use of English to communicate cultural, social, economic, and personal aspects in order to grow with citizens committed to the development of the country
Additionally, the English syllabus establishes a profile for the English teachers in elementary schools; it defines specific characteristics that they might accomplish Some of those features are related to the use the English; it takes into consideration the communicative skills and the wide knowledge of the target language that instructors must have; without disregarding the importance of a good command of it in the classroom English teachers are responsible of keeping updated about the innovating teaching methodologies and communication techniques; and to be willing to make necessary changes to improve their teaching practices Moreover, in the development of their classes, teachers should promote team work, good communication skills, and meaningful and creative experiences for children
On the other hand, the students’ profile is associated to their attitudes towards the language and the cultural awareness In I cycle, learners are expected to appreciate Costa Rican culture; meanwhile, they should also show interest towards the learning of cultures in order to reinforce their identity Furthermore, they should demonstrate their creativity and enjoyment in the learning process of the target language while develop communicative competences by the development of the speaking and listening skills at a basic level In II cycle, the syllabus states that by this period students should apply principles of cultural awareness in order to respect individuals from other countries
Then, by this level learners have to demonstrate a working knowledge of the target language, in this II cycle the four language skills are developed and put into practice in the classroom; students should be able to communicate in the target language
In summary, the MEP’s syllabus takes into consideration four main study blocks: Myself, My surroundings, Costa Rica-my extended world, and the World-a common village These blocks lead the students from knowing themselves as individuals, to become active members of a community, enabling them to develop a positive relationship with themselves and in interaction with their natural and social environment.
Child language learning and teaching
This chapter describes the theories about how children learn the language, how they acquire a second language and the different conditions that affect their learning as well as how English teachers teach the language to children taking into consideration factors like age, personality and learning style that condition their learning
2.5.1 How children learn the language
In many cases, adults note that when learning a new language, it becomes difficult to get good pronunciation or listening skills However, when adults have the opportunity to experience how children achieve the language so quickly and with complete naturalness, they cannot stop thinking about why it is so easy and simple for children to learn a language But, most of adults have heard children forming sentences using words that do not fit well in context, for example;verbs used in the wrong way (breaked for broke, goed for went) or Daddy going…(instead of Daddy is going to work) About this mystery of language acquisition, O’Grady states, “children can make and hear contrasts among dozens of speech sounds, they have learned thousands of words without having heard a single definition, and they are able to build and understand sentence of impressive complexity” (2005, p.2)
Most children start speaking or repeating words at the age of eight until twelve or eighteen months old Some have more vocabulary than others who only learn one or two words per day By the age of three, children are able to form sentences with some correct grammar and sense Notwithstanding, it is still a mystery for researchers
(O’Grady, 2005, p.4) to understand how children learn a language; they only have important findings which have been collected by the experimental (experiments with children) or naturalistic way (observing children in everyday situations)
According to Boysson-Bardies, by 1950, Anglo-American psychologists held that the acquisition of language was the result of learning and imitation (2001, p.6) In 1960, Lenneberg argued that animals move and feed by instinct implying that in the same way, language for human beings is innate Children learn the mother tongue by instinct: most of children begin to speak around the same age, and following a sequence of steps For him, “…learning to speak is akin to learning to walk” which means that the ability children have to learn a language is a genetic predisposition for language learning which cannot be never avoided (Gordon, 2007, p 45)
Chomsky demonstrated how impossible it was to acquire language by repetition (in
De Boysson-Bardies, 1999) He affirmed that “newborns possess a powerful genetic endowment that includes an implicit knowledge of the universal principles that structure languages (p.6).” For him, babies are born with linguistic knowledge as any other animal species, but humans have a genetic program for acquiring the universal principles that structure language Along the same lines, Chomsky hypothesized that children master grammar because of a grammatical structure they biologically keep in their brains and
“because of the universality of this congenital grammatical blueprint, all the world’s languages share some universal properties: for instance, a sentence is composed of a noun phrase and a verb phrase” (Gordon, 2007 p.47)
Along with that, Yang claims that “babies quietly register many specific features of their language in the beginning of language learning” (2001 p.5) For him, when children say or form sentences in the wrong way, they are not only imitating adults, they are innovating new ways of speech
However, scientists have also proved that language is a “gift”, but they have also warned that speakers must interact with others to develop it Evidence shows that children may never acquire a language if they have not been exposed to a language before they reach the age of 6 or 7 (Clark, n.d, pp.2).Human beings are born with this gift the same way other species have ancient neural mechanisms to survive On this line, Lenneberg(in Grimshawet al., 1967, pp 237) proposed that there is a critical period for language acquisition that goes from infancy until puberty For example, in 1920, two children, who had been raised by wolves, were found in India The youngest was one and a half years old and died soon His sister was eight and after five years trying to teach her the language, she only learned thirty words (Elorza et al, 2012, p 557-560) Recently, in 2005, a seven-year old girl was found living in squalor She could not speak nor make eye contact One year later and after making many gains, she wasn’t able to speak (Mulkerrins, 2011, pp.27) About this lack of interaction with others, Yang states: “no experience, no language And the experience has to come early enough (2006, p.7)”, meaning that to develop language, it is necessary to experience language If children are not exposed to language, they will not develop it Chomsky called it LAD, Language Acquisition Device, which turns on when children are in contact with language He “inferred that human beings everywhere must have built into their organisms a device, he reasoned, makes it possible for children to acquire the local variant of language quickly and rather effortlessly (in Stewart, 1998, p.47)
However, according to Boysson-Barbies, there are major initial conditions to develop language The first is the organization of sensory information How do babies know what is language and what is not? What is the difference between a dog barking and the mother asking to open their mouths to be fed? How do they distinguish and extract the different sounds that people produce? Secondly, how do children know where to separate the words and where the pauses are? “Children therefore must subsequently segment it, categorize it, and organize its variations according to their sematic value (1999, p.8).” Third, meaning How can a child be able to make his or herself understood? Children have to recognize that the adult has an intention to produce sounds with a specific meaning, with a specific message Finally, O’Grady added another condition; speech sounds How does a child distinguish among many different speech sounds? How is the baby able to make or repeat these sounds? “…how does she go about figuring out how to make those sounds and then assemble them into fluent melodies of syllables and words (2005, p.3)?”
With regard to the above, Boysson-Bardies states that all these capacities are a continuous series of biological stages which started before birth Children start with basic patterns which become more complex as they continue acquiring more vocabulary Thus, children become able to produce phrases and sentences as they grow up Language acquisition and cognitive development have a relative independence among them, but children have used language after starting to understand what is inside and around them, do's and don'ts of people, and feelings Kids need an amount of this knowledge but their use of language is not independent of the rest of cognition (1999, p.8)
Knowing about the acquisition of the mother tongue, the question now is how kids learn a second language, and what conditions affect second language learning
2.5.2 How children learn a second language
Parents and relatives usually comment how quickly and ease children learn to speak their language but it becomes very frustrating for second language learners to verify that they have studied the language for so long and they hear children forming utterances, pronouncing words, and managing grammar structures that for them were or are really difficult to master
Do Lenneberg and Chomsky’s theories about language instinct and Universal
Grammar have a relation with learning a second language? Does it depend on age? Do they distinguish among different languages and structures? Howatt says about natural language teaching,
Men learn languages for the ordinary intercourse of Society and Communication thoughts in common life without any further design in their use of them And for this purpose, the Original way of Learning a Language by Conversation is to be preferred as the most Expedite, Proper and Natural (in Madrid & García, 2001, 118) For him, children learn a second language immersed in the context of naturalistic input, they acquire it naturally, similar as the way they learn their mother tongue According to Nicholas and Lightbown (2008), “… all processes of second language development are shaped by the contexts in which they occur and, therefore, by the relationships between the people who are involved” (p 34) Researches have also found that as young learners have already acquired cognitive concepts and semantic relations in the first language, they need to acquire the necessary words to express these concepts in the second language, so Nicholas and Lightbown add, “Even when their second language knowledge is very limited, they find ways to express them, creatively using the words, syntax and communicative strategies they already know” (p 34)
Young second language learners also repeat selected features or structures to manage conversations or topics of conversations but it also depends on the interlocutors’ age and status and if their interaction is controlled or not by the teacher or tutor Experience and interaction with others give children the background to relate language to sounds, meaning relationships and the purposes children have or look to reach Children learn from speaking which is a result of interacting with others
Many children around the world are able to speak two languages and the process of learning a second language follows the same pattern as when learning the mother tongue Pérez and Torres-Guzmán affirm that “Children who develop proficiency in using their native language to communicate, to gain information, to solve problems, and to think can easily learn to use a second language in similar ways” (1996, p 96) When learning a second language, children are not trying to discover language; they are trying to discover what this new language is, how they can relate what they already know with what they are now knowing, encountering, and discovering
However, there are many different theories about why or how children acquire a second language quickly and easy, why good pronunciation is difficult for adults, and whether there are biological restrictions or not The truth is that there are many variables that affect second language acquisition: attitude, age, personality, education, social variables, motivation and experiential interaction In order to develop second language acquisition, children and speakers of the target language need to have opportunities to practice the second language but also they must have a desire to communicate with others in the target language In regards to this, Cummins says, “Students must have opportunities to communicate powerfully in the target language if they are going to integrate their language and cognitive development with their growing personal identities (2000, p.13)”
The issue of reading in EFL elementary school classrooms
It is not the same to teach English in a school in China, in Miami or in a suburban New York school Many textbooks, lesson plans, and online resources serve to teach English as a Second Language and English as a Foreign Language as well However, there are very important differences between ESL and EFL classrooms While an ESL classroom is in a country where English is the dominant language, the EFL classroom is in a country where English is not the dominant language and students have very few opportunities to use English
To speak about reading in an EFL elementary school classroom, it is necessary to use the principles of SLA because they have been taken as the foundations for EFL too Generally speaking, teachers of English as a Foreign Language express that teaching reading is not an easy task There are many reasons why teachers find it very difficult to teach reading to English as Foreign Language students: the level of the materials is too complex, the books do not motivate children or they are only text books
Even though reading does not necessarily imply being able to speak English, it is something that the learners can do to broaden their vocabulary and help improve fluency, listening and writing skills When reading, the student gets familiarized with the English language, its rhythm, pronunciation, expressions and many other elements that will flow naturally helping the learner to be able to recognize his or her own mistakes It is very important to keep in mind that language acquisition occurs when the student really understands the message and this happens when the learner does not have a defensive position Krashen (1981, p 6) goes on to add that:
Real language acquisition develops slowly, and speaking skills emerge significantly later than listening skills, even when conditions are perfect The best methods are therefore those that supply 'comprehensible input' in low anxiety situations, containing messages that students really want to hear These methods do not force early production in the second language, but allow students to produce when they are 'ready', recognizing that improvement comes from supplying communicative and comprehensible input, and not from forcing and correcting production
Krashen’s theory about second language acquisition consists of five main hypotheses:
The Acquisition-Learning hypothesis has two independent systems of second language performance: the acquired system and the learned system The acquired system is a subconscious process, very similar as the way children acquire their first language Krashen insists that the “Acquisition requires meaningful interaction in the target language - natural communication – in which speakers are concentrated not in the form of their utterances, but with the messages they are conveying and understanding” (in Young and Hadaway, 2006, p 186)
The Monitor hypothesis calls Monitor to the conscious editor When language is acquired subconsciously it starts to form utterances in a second language and is the responsible for the fluency The language acquired consciously edits speech, forms utterances, and applies the rule All this is done when the learner has the time to do it
The Natural Order hypothesis states that there is a predictable order to acquire grammatical structures regardless of the speaker’s mother tongue About it, Nunan explains, “learners appear to acquire key grammatical features of a target language in a particular order regardless of their first language and regardless of the order in which these features have been presented through formal instruction” (1989, p 78)
The Input hypothesis states that learners acquire language when receive understandable messages which have to be “at a slightly higher level than what we already understand” (García, 2003, p 156) This way, learners are able to improve their language acquisition This hypothesis corresponds to Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development
Affective Filter hypothesis It says that the affective filter works as a screen that influences language acquisition Emotional variables affect learning: motivation, anxiety, rage, depression and more This screen prompts, delays or stops comprehensible input to reach the acquisition part of the brain Knibbeler states,
“Performers with certain types of motivation and with good self-images do better in second language acquisition” (1989, p 17)
These five hypotheses are related to the issue of using reading as a mean to acquire a second language According to Davis (in Chio, 2009), extensive reading bears several implications for language acquisition (both L1 and L2),
An extensive reading program is a supplementary class library scheme, attached to an English course, in which pupils are given the time, encouragement, and materials to read pleasurably, at their own level, as many books as they can, without the pressures of testing or marks… The watchwords are quantity and variety, rather than quality, so that books are selected for their attractiveness and relevance to the pupils’ lives rather than for literary merit (p 329)
Chio (2009) shows nine different researches done about how the implementation of reading in the classroom has supported the effectiveness of second language development (p.154) However, Costa Rica’s lack of reading culture does not help English teachers in applying this reading program in the classroom
2.6.1 The lack of reading culture in Costa Rica
It is common for teachers to hear students refusing to read a book, a story, or even a paragraph Costa Rica’s culture does not encourage children to read A survey about cultural practices made by the Youth and Culture Ministry shows that (EFE, 2012, pp 1) 51% of people in Costa Rica did not read a book during year 2011 These numbers are shocking since, paradoxically Costa Rica’s literacy rate is 98.5%
According to Ulloa (2012, pp 2), [We have learned to read but not to love reading] Among all benefits that reading brings to improve knowledge, this survey also showed that 48% of people read newspapers daily, but only the sports, entertainment and featured articles sections Furthermore, reading average per person is only 1.7 books read per year Only 20% of people read because they like it and only a 15% read for learning
Nowadays, it is more difficult that young people become interested in reading Search engines in Internet facilitates students the finding of sites with precise data They do not have to read more than two or three pages to find or summarize the information they need Technology poses a profound new challenge to focusing and learning Sparrow, Liu and Wegner (2011) state the internet’s effect on cognition because they found that people were much less likely to remember particular facts if they believed that the information would be accessible to them in the future (p.2) Along with that, Carr (2010) says, “People who read text studded with links, the studies show, comprehend less than those who read traditional linear text (pp 2) Besides, students prefer finding a quick summary of a book than reading a book, “you can get a whole story in six minutes,” a seventeen-year-old student said “A book takes so long I prefer the immediate gratification” (Richtel, 2010, pp.4) They are not using the technology in the appropriate way People are not taking advantage of it Therefore, the question should be: Do they know how to use it?
Constructivism and English Teaching/Learning
The chapter depicts the research made about the constructivist theories and the English teaching and learning strategies to develop an active role in the classroom The researchers introduce the chapter with a brief history of constructivism; describe recent research and empirical studies about it and the relation among constructivism and motivation, constructivism and reading comprehension and finally, how constructivism has developed in Costa Rica
Constructivism, although it has been developed and studied as a new theory in its recent form, has deep historical roots At their core, the constructivist theories and perspectives focus on how learners construct their own knowledge Naylor and Keogh (1999) asserted that “the central principles of this approach are that learners can only make sense of new situations in terms of their existing understanding Learning involves an active process in which learners construct meaning by linking new ideas with their existing knowledge" (cited in Jones, n.d, pag.2)
Through history, constructivism theory has been supported by some philosophies, like the one proposed by the ancient Greek philosopher Socrates, in his famous quote “I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think”, it reflects his ideology on helping learners to construct their knowledge by their own, instead of having authority figures that transmit and explain the information to them Similar to Socrates, Immanuel Kant’s (1724-1804) idealism focuses on the concept of space and time as structures in the human mind (cited in Fraser, Tobin and McRobbie, 2012, p.67); in other words, the stimuli that learners perceive from the environment help them to shape their understanding of the world Equally, John Dewey (1859-1952) once said “education is not an affair of tell and being told, but an active and constructive process” (cited in Beck and Kosnick, 2006, p.7) Dewey noted that students must learn and make sense of new knowledge together, based on individual and collective experiences (cited in Lambert et al., 2002, p 28) How does all this relate to the need to use constructivism in your reading classes?
Nowadays, Jean Piaget’s work has received almost all the credit of the constructivism theory Watts, Cockcroft and Duncan (2009, p.325) asserted that most of Piaget’s work focused on the role that individuals play in their own development Papalia and Olds claimed that “Piaget’s theory is essentially a constructivist one which assumes the active building up of knowledge and cognitive processes from a very basic starting point and those children at different developmental levels construct different realities (cited in Watts, Cockcroft and Duncan, 2009, p 326) Piaget’s proposal emphasized the construction of knowledge as an active process rather than a passive body of information Lambert et al (2002, p 29) stated that Piaget viewed this process as one of continual construction and reorganization of knowledge, with the learner taking responsibility of constructing and reorganizing
Piaget’s theory underlines three basic concepts: schemes, operations and adaptation
He used the term schemes to make reference to mental structures Watts, Cockcroft and Duncan (2009, p.326) define schemes as ways of processing information that change as we develop, they can be classified into sensorimotor schemes, also known as action schemes; and cognitive schemes, they make reference to concepts According to Watts, Cockcroft and Duncan (2009, p.326) during the first two years of life, the sensorimotor schemes are reflected in the infant’s actions such as sucking, grasping and looking; and it is after the two years old that the child shows abilities of problem solving and thinking about objects and events without having acted on them Then, those schemes are organized into operations, which are referred to mental actions; Papalia and Olds argued that the operations form qualitative different stages of cognitive development (cited in Watts, Cockcroft and Duncan, 2009, p 326)
Piaget’s adaptation concept is composed by other two important notions of his theory: assimilation and accommodation Before that, Piaget believed that cognition has its origins in two inborn intellectual processes named by him as organization and adaptation Shaffer defines organization as “the process whereby children combine existing schemes or ways of understanding, into new and more complex intellectual structures” (cited in Watts, Cockcroft and Duncan, p.327) On the other hand, according to Watts, Cockcroft and Duncan (2009, p.327) the goal of the organization process is adaptation; which can be defined as the ability to adjust to the demands of the environment The adaptation process is composed by the assimilation and accommodation processes aforementioned Piaget asserts that assimilation refers to transforming new information so that it fits to exiting ways of thinking; on the contrary, the accommodation term refers to the process in which the structures themselves are changed (Watts, Cockcroft and Duncan, 2009, p.327) On these same lines, Jones (2002, p.3) states that, “for Piaget, knowledge construction takes place when new knowledge is actively assimilated and accommodated into existing knowledge”
As well as Piaget, the Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky had an important role in the creation of the social constructivism’s theory In his theory, he persuaded that the learning context play a significant part in the process, and it takes into consideration historical and cultural influences as determiners in the learners’ construction of knowledge Lambert et al (2002, p.30) defines learning, under Vygotsky constructivist perspective, as a “cumulative experience derived and informed by an individual’s and a group’s cultural and historical experiences.” Likewise, Martin (2012, p.171) argues that in the Vygotsky theory learning is defined as a social and collaborative activity, in which learners must utilize the input of others; by “others” he refers to peers, parents, friends, and many other people, besides it includes sources of information such as the Internet, movies, videos, newspapers, etc; furthermore, he describes the teachers’ role as a facilitator
In addition, the concept Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) can be attributed to Vygotsky’s theory; he defined it as the region of activity that learners can navigate but with some assistance from the teacher, other people, and other sources (Martin, 2012, p.172) According to Martin (2012, p.172) the lower zone of the ZPD represents the tasks that learners can do independently; on the other side, the upper zone represents the tasks that assistance is required in order to be completed Schütz states that the ZPD represents the difference between a learner’s capacity to solve problems on his or her own and the learner’s capacity to solve them with assistance (cited in Martin, 2012, p.172) The theory’s purpose is to have students who construct their own knowledge by using their own resources and capacities together with the input of others; therefore the theory refers to social constructivism
To summarize, the theory of constructivism has had a great influence in the education area in the last decades Lately, teachers and researchers have been interested in doing research on aspects such as how students learn, and how they can base teaching practices according to what is observed from the student’s process of learning Dewey argued that, best teaching must support student engagement, and promote students’ increasing complexity and integration of subject matter at the time as it promotes their growth in respect for self and others, in self-control, and in responsibility (cited in Richardson, n.d, p 5) In other words, through constructivism, classrooms become creative, learners and teachers are involved in a flexible process in which the construction of knowledge takes place; it is a theory that allows students to show the fullest of their potential in the subject under study Finally, constructivism creates learners with critical thoughts, who in the future will contribute to their society with own and revolutionary ideas
2.7.2 Recent Research on Constructivism: Empirical Studies
The definition of constructivism can be seen under different perspectives This theory has contributed to a variety of fields, especially to education, and it has been considered as a guide for the educational practice Jones (2002) asserts that within educational contexts there are philosophical meanings of constructivism; he cites the personal constructivism described by Piaget in 1967, the social constructivism drawn by
Vigostsky in 1978, the radical constructivism proposed by von Glasersfeld in 1995 and the educational constructivism advocated by Mathews in 1998 Lambert et al
(2002,p.24) state that “during the last years of the twentieth century, brain research established principles in counterpoint to much of what had been accepted as the way teachers teach and students learn.”
As it can be noticed, the constructivist theories of learning and pedagogy have had a great impact on instruction and curriculum designed Jones (2002, p.2) collected a variety of definitions provided by different authors about constructivism in education; for example, Lock (1947)’s explanation of constructivism bases on the idea that “the mind can put ideas together and make new complex ones” (p.65) His proposal reflects the process of construction of knowledge, the way the brain storage new information taking into account the existing data In order to support this, Davis, Maher and
Noddings (1990) claim that "It is assumed that learners have to construct their own knowledge individually and collectively Each learner has a tool kit of concepts and skills with which he or she must construct knowledge to solve problems presented by the environment” (p.3) That tool kit, allow learners to build knowledge from experiences supported by different sources, the information can be presented in texts, or in TV, or just by talking to someone; the fact of being exposed to sources of data, allow individuals to find out about new things that they did not know, and share that new knowledge with someone else Von Glasersfeld (1995) asserts that “Knowledge, no matter how it be defined, is in the heads of persons, and that the thinking subject has no alternative but to construct what he or she knows on the basis of his or her own experience.” Notice that individuals’ experiences are strong foundations for learners’ construction of knowledge, thus, the exposition to challenges and experiences, allow learners to put into practice what they already know to assimilate the new information There is a lot of what has been said about constructivism theory Some researchers support it, like the case of Mathew (p.1) who argues that, constructivism ideology constitutes the “grand unified theory for educational field as such, doing service as a theory of learning, a theory of teaching, a theory of knowledge and more.” Contrary to his ideas, Gela argues that constructivism is firstly an epistemological theory (a theory of what knowledge is) and not a pedagogic theory Also, Gela holds that constructivism offers no direct prescriptions for how students should be taught (cited in Coetzee, 2010, p.1)
One of the key assumptions of the current teaching practices focuses on the development of classes in which the orientation is leaner-centered rather than teacher- centered According to Piaget’s stages of cognitive development, children go through four stages: sensorimotor (0-2 years, motoric knowledge), preoperational (2-7 years, symbolic representation), concrete operation (7-11, logic used), operational (11 years and beyond, logic applied) (cited in Martin and Fabes, 2009, p.41) Taking into consideration that assumption, Matthews (2003, p.57) assumes that “constructivist teachers need to adapt their teaching style, approach, and content to the specific developmental stage of the child.” Also, Waite-Stupiansky states that “children need to progress through levels of representation at a rate that fit their levels of understanding If highly abstract symbols are represented too quickly, such as flashcards with words printed on them, children may achieve only a surface level of memorization without deeper understanding” (cited in Matthews, 2003, p.57)
Another important assumption of constructivism relates to context and social interactions in order for learning to occur New and Cochran (2007, p.744) assert that, according to social constructivist theory, “cognition and learning exists in a dialectical relationship with the social world”, and by dialectical process, constructivists meant to describe how children resolve cognitive conflicts to produce higher levels of mental functioning It means that, context, environment, and people influence the child’s process of solving cognitive problems, and through all those elements he/she understand how things work
METHODOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK
Research Approach
The methodology of this research project was based on a mixed approach The instruments designed have qualitative and quantitative characteristics According to Gail, Mills &Eurasian (2009, p.7) the quantitative research collects and analyzes numerical data to describe, explain, predict or control phenomena of interest Besides, it examined and specified research procedures that were used to support the study On the other hand, the qualitative research permitted the collection, analysis and interpretation of the particular phenomenon of interest
Gail et al (2009, p.462) state that, “the purpose of mixed methods research is to build on the synergy and strength that exists between quantitative and qualitative research methods to understand a phenomenon more fully than is possible using either quantitative or qualitative methods alone.” However, the difference between the two methods relies in that the qualitative research takes an extended period of time in naturalistic settings while quantitative research is often conducted in environments controlled by the researcher Even more specifically, the qualitative method requires the understanding of the processes, relationships and events involved in the context of social and cultural situations to answer the research question It is concerned with the nature and quality of human experiences and their meaning to individuals
On the contrary, theory about the quantitative method generates numerical data that supports or refutes hypotheses It is conclusive in the purpose of the investigation trying to quantify the problem and understanding it through the search of results focusing on getting breadth and not on depth as it is in qualitative research Quantitative relies on statistics and data analysis Creswell (2003, p.18) states that quantitative research,
“employ strategies of inquiry such as experimental and surveys, and collect data on predetermined instruments that yield statistical data” so findings can be predictive, explanatory, and confirming
These methods are different in far more than their methods and data but also in their premises and how data is generated However, they are not rivals nor are in contraposition They complement each other since they enable the researcher to access different types of knowledge and are expected to generate a better understanding and interpretation of data, but are not added to provide a better picture of what really happens (oxford journals, n.d, p.196) The mixture of these methods looked to integrate their strengths looking forward to achieving creativity and adaptability through the study
Cassell and Symon (1994, p.7) define the following differences between these methods where first definition refers to qualitative vs quantitative:
…a focus on interpretation rather than quantification; an emphasis on subjectivity rather than objectivity; flexibility in the process of conducting research; an orientation towards process rather than outcome; a concern with context—regarding behavior and situation as inextricably linked in forming experience; and finally, an explicit recognition of the impact of the research process on the research situation The investigation was carried out directly at the regular English classes where the researcher participated implementing the constructive strategies, applied the questionnaires and observed “the phenomenon in its natural state or in situ” (Trochim, n.d, p.9) Through observations and questionnaires, the researchers collected very useful information by taking part in the everyday activities during the English classes and taking notes about the factors that influence reading motivation in the students’ reading comprehension skills and the degree of achievement of reading comprehension strategies
To summarize, in order to accomplish the research objectives, the mixed methods paradigm guided the investigation The objectives included the identification of elements and factors that foster and influence the development of reading comprehension skill in young learners Moreover, the research had as goals to implement constructivism teaching strategies in English classes and determine students’ degree of achievement based on the results obtained from the implementation of those strategies As Gail et al (2009, p.469) explains “mixed methods research is a style of research that uses procedures for conducting research that are typically applied in both quantitative and qualitative studies to understand a research problem more fully” The research objectives needed the implementation of procedures to collect information through instruments like observations and a questionnaire that have characteristics of both methods.
Selection and description of the site and participants
The research was conducted at Villarreal School; this institution has approximately
368 students registered from preschool up to sixth grade This school belongs to the Site
03 of the canton of Santa Cruz in the province of Guanacaste Even though there was not much information about its foundation, this school was founded over one hundred years ago On December 2012, the members of the “Centros Educativos Circuito 03, Santa Cruz, Guanacaste”, expressed their congratulation through their Facebook site by saying: [Congratulations to the students and the community of Villarreal in general Today, they have the opportunity and happiness to celebrate 100 years of the foundation of their elementary school Congratulations to the organizing committee, teachers, parents, and other organizers]
Villarreal School was characterized for being a rural institution that had shown progress through the years The building had seven classrooms, a computer lab, the principal’s office, restrooms, and a dining room where students and teachers ate lunch which was a service provided by the Ministry of Education They also had a small snack store that provided the entire population with juices, cookies and chips The institution also had a court which was a place where learners spent their free time during the breaks and was used to celebrate holidays, meetings, and parties, among other activities as well The principal and the teachers had a photocopy machine available to provide learners with materials, make copies of exams, etc The staff of the institution had increased in the last years as well and they were now 27 teachers, 2 janitors, a gatekeeper and a lady who cooked in the school kitchen In addition, they had teachers to help learners to improve their academic performance, as a form of support service
This institution sat in Villarreal town It was located near Tamarindo, a very touristic area of Guanacaste because of its beautiful beaches This place attracted many people from all around the world who were interested in the surfing sport People from many places of Costa Rica as well as many other places in the world live in this town
However, there were still many people who had their roots there As a consequence of that, the student population of the Villarreal School was characterized for being multicultural According to the principal of the institution, they had students who came from countries like Argentina, Colombia, Nicaragua, Mexico, Dominican Republic, France and the United States In the past, they also had learners from Italy Learners from communities such as Tamarindo, Villarreal, Santa Rosa and Villa Margarita attended this school
Actually, the economy of this zone depends on the activities related to tourism The members of the community included housewives, lawyers, mechanics, doctors, teachers, cashiers, people who worked in real states, owners of businesses, among others
Villarreal had a heterogeneous community with middle and low class neighborhoods Most children who attended to this public school came from the low class neighborhoods, from families with low income, and in some cases, children lived situations related to social and family issues that affected their performance at school Although it was a small institution with a few resources, the members of the school and the community in general made efforts to improve the physical structure and incorporate new and necessary equipment like the computer lab, which was managed by the computer science teacher Moreover, under the administration of the principal, equipment such as TV, video beam, and music player were available for teachers to support their lessons That aside, the principal and teachers were always open to accepting cooperation of people from other countries who wanted to share experiences and knowledge with the children They considered the context important since, as aforementioned, it was a multicultural institution and culture’s exchanges strengthen the Costa Rican identity and it helped learners to open their minds to new cultures and aspects of them that they did not know; it allowed them to be more tolerant and respectful towards the customs and traditions of others Furthermore, the principal and the teachers were always available to help students from universities who needed to carry out academic tasks in an institution
In conclusion, the principal and teachers worked to prepare individuals to fulfill the demands of the diverse society that surround them As Venegas (2008, p.57) says
[“Nowadays, it is required a higher level of education in order to have graduate learners capable of facing the challenges that today’s society imposes The companies have becoming increasingly demanding to hire their staff, and they are seeking for employees with the best knowledge”] That assertion reflects the reality of many companies in the touristic areas around Villarreal town, every day the progress in the towns like
Tamarindo and Flamingo require people with high qualities to perform a job
The investigation was conducted in the Villarreal School with 20 students of the group of Sixth B In order to obtain enough information, the researcher worked with students and the English teacher The studied population includes the 20 students, all in ages between 12 and 13 years old These students were recommended by the English teacher of the institution because they are characterized by being high achiever students in the school The population represents a purposive sampling, which according to Gail, Mills and Airasian (2009, p.135), this type of sampling relies on experience and insight to select a sample For this research, the researchers asked advice to the English teacher of the institution as aforementioned, and then attended to two classes to observe their performance in the development of the lessons
According to what was observed and by recommendation of the English teacher and the teacher in charge of the group, these learners work well in every subject The selected group enjoys participating actively and accomplishing the tasks assigned in the class They are described as very responsible learners who attend classes every day, from different communities, economic background and customs Taking into consideration this variety, learners show a tolerant and respectful attitude towards their classmates.
Data collection strategies
The data collection strategies referred to the design and implementation of research instruments used, like an observation check list, an anecdotal record and a students’ attitudes questionnaire These instruments gathered information pertaining to the four categories integrating this research, namely motivation, class interaction, learning environment, and performance
According to the Business Dictionary (2013, pp.1), a checklist is a “Comprehensive list of important relevant actions, or steps to be taken in a specific order.” Moreover, Your Dictionary (2013, pp.1) states that a checklist is a “list of things that can be checked off as they are completed or noted.”
The procedure followed to apply this instrument consisted in the participant-observer technique According to Kluckhohn (p 331) asserts that “its purpose is to obtain data about behavior through direct contact and in terms of specific situations in which the distortion that results from the investigator’s being an outside agent is reduced to a minimum.” The researchers carry out a total of fifteen classroom observation for this instrument They attended to English lesson following the students’ regular schedule of five lessons per week; which are distributed into two lessons of 40 minutes on Mondays and the same time on Tuesdays, and one lesson of 40 minutes on Thursday During those fifteen lessons, one of the researchers had the role of the English teacher of the group; however, both researchers planned lessons and materials The topics developed during the lessons were the ones postulated by the English syllabus and the text book proposed by the Ministry of Education
The class observation checklist sought to gather quantitative information as of the five categories of the research, and it measured the students’ degree of achievement of these categories The category of class interaction, on the other hand, gauged the students’ responses in terms of their interactions with their peers Along the same lines, the category of learning environment looked at the different features that characterized the learning atmosphere and context of the class The last category related to learners’ performance, looked at the way in which students performed during the completion of the tasks (See appendix 1)
According to the American Association of School Administrators (in Espiquea, F.P., Bentadanb, A.F.D., Espinob, A.K.S., Ganob, R.D., Samuelb, M.B., & Zordilla, M.C.S.,
2009, p 227) anecdotal records are “written records that keep tract of a child’s progress based on milestones particular to that child’s social, emotional, physical, aesthetic, and cognitive development.” The researcher is in charge of observing and taking notes about the actions, work and behavior of the children during the class
The implementation of the anecdotal record had the same procedure followed by the class observation check list The same as in the instrument described above, the researchers participated by taking notes of important details of the classroom development to support the aspects listed in the observation checklist Dewalt and
Dewalt (2011, p.1) claim that “the participant observation is a method in which a researcher takes part in the daily activities, rituals, interactions, and events of a group of people as one of the means of learning the explicit and tacit aspects of life routines and culture” The anecdotal record was administered for a period of fifteen lessons following the same schedule of the observation checklist since both instruments complement each other
The anecdotal record gathered qualitative information regarding the five categories of the research, and it provided a more complete, detailed picture of the achievement of the categories measured through the class observation checklist Thus, this instrument helps to robust the quantitative data recorded in the class observation checklist It is important to explain that although the instrument gathered deeper, more detailed aspects of each category, it looked at the classroom dynamics in a more holistic fashion, that is to say, information was collected for the achievement of the categories and subcategories as a whole, not the specific indicators that integrated them (see appendix 2)
According to Key, a questionnaire is “most frequently a very concise, preplanned set of questions designed to yield specific information to meet a particular need for research information about a pertinent topic (1997, pp.2)
The questionnaire sought to complement the information obtained through the two instruments described above This instrument looked at how students perceived their own achievement in terms of the five categories inquired in this research In order to obtain accurate information, this instrument was designed in Spanish (see appendix 3.)
In order to administer the questionnaire to the students, the researchers explained the purpose of it They delivered a questionnaire to each learner and read it aloud Then, students filled it out and returned them back It was administered on the last day that the researchers attended to teach lessons
With the purpose of validating the instruments, the researchers asked the permission of the principal and the English teacher of the institution to conduct reading comprehension activities following the principles of the constructivist approaches Validity of measuring instruments is an important process for this research; Gail, Mills
& Airasian (2009, p.154) refer to it as “the degree to which a test measures what is it supposed to measure and, consequently, permits appropriate interpretation of scores.” In this specific case, the validation of instruments followed mainly three procedures
Firstly, before administrating the instruments, the congruence between the research questions, the general goal of the paper, and the instruments were checked Secondly, the elements included in the instruments were the result of careful review of the constructivist theories that have contributed to the education field Lastly, the implementation of the constructivist teaching strategies were applied to the sixth graders of the group A of the Villarreal School, they were also implemented by the English teacher of the institution and the researchers This group of students provided important data to what is intended to be measured in the research instruments Through this pilot-testing process the researchers could detect and correct errors and add and delete aspects prior to data collection At the same time, this procedure allowed to prove the reliability of the instruments, this term is defined by Gail, Mills & Airasian (2009, p.158) as the degree in which a test consistently measures whatever it is measuring In other words, a reliable instrument provides confidence that the results obtained from it could be the same or similar results obtained if the instrument is applied to other group or by other person.
Table of categories
The information required from the research instruments, based on the research objectives, was analyzed within four categories: motivation, class interaction, learning environment, and performance This allowed a proposal of important aspects to enhance and promote the constructivist teaching strategies in English classrooms, in this specific case, to nurture the development of the students’ reading skills As subcategories, the researchers observed in the motivation category learners’ participation and emotional involvement; in class interaction were group engagement and group discussion; meaningful learning and meaningful context under learning environment; and performance comprises construction of knowledge and immediate comprehension of the text as subcategories Further the observations, the researchers applied a questionnaire addressed to the students in order to collect information about their perception of the constructivist teaching strategies; the questions of this questionnaire are based on the categories and subcategories aforementioned
This table represents the distributions of the categories, subcategories and indicators according to the design of the class observation check list The subcategory of students’ reaction has only one indicator, and the emotional involvement has two Those three indicators seek to observe students’ willingness, feelings, and commitment to develop the reading tasks prepared for the class The purpose of the indicators for the group engagement (B4, B5, B6, B8) and group discussion (B7, B9) subcategories was to see the interaction of the students while working in groups, in other words, the way they constructed their knowledge by working as a community In the category of learning environment, both subcategories seek to describe the atmosphere or context in which the teaching-learning process takes place (C10, C11, C12, C13, C15) and how learners perceived it in their classrooms (C14) In the category of performance, the researchers observed the procedures or techniques followed by learners in order to construct their knowledge from the reading activities (D16, D17, D18, D19, D20, D26) and how learners showed the information obtained, in order words, the indicators D21, D22, D23,
D24, D25 looked to describe the common techniques used by students to demonstrate what they comprehend from the readings
This table of categories, subcategories and indicators of the anecdotal record consisted in collecting qualitative information of aspects listed and not listed in the observation check list In this instrument, each subcategory has blank spaces in which the researchers wrote the daily reports of the observations The information collected from this instrument work as indicators to support the statements of the observation check list
Group engagement Bi Group discussion Bii Learning Environment Meaningful Learning Cii
Meaningful Context Ciii Performance Construction of knowledge Di
In this table are distributed the indicators of each category and subcategory taken into account to design the questionnaire for the students All the indicators as a whole sought to obtain data about the perception that learners had about their performance in the development of the reading activities based on the constructivist approach The indicator
1 and 2 evaluates the category of motivation and its subcategories about reaction and
Group engagement 3, 9 Group discussion 4, 5, 6 Learning Environment Meaningful Learning 10
Meaningful Context 7 Performance Construction of knowledge 8, 11, 12, 15
Immediate comprehension 13, 14 emotional involvement The group engagement and group discussion involves indicators
3 and 9, 4 and 6 respectively to obtain information about their perception of themselves as individuals who work collaboratively in a community to construct their knowledge The indicators of meaningful learning (10) and meaningful context (7) described the point of view that learners have about the learning process and the environment in which it is developed Finally, the indicators for constructions of knowledge (8, 11, 12, 15) and immediate comprehension (13, 14) evaluated the effectiveness of the constructivist reading activities according to the learners’ view; that is, how they considered effective the learning process.
Description of Categories and subcategories
This section describes the topics and subtopics that guided the creation of the research instruments, the collection of the information and the representation and analysis of it
Research categories can be defined as a finite list of all the different factors observed in a specific topic; they answer the question "What is this item?" and are used to classify the content in the research
In order to determine those categories, the researchers analyses thoughtfully the purpose of the research since the beginning, and the theory related to the target object provide insights to establish the categories In this specific research there are four categories to observe through the research instruments, which are: Motivation, Class Interaction, Learning Environment, and Performance
Motivation is an essential element for teachers and learners to carry out their tasks in the classrooms As is has been already mentioned previously in this thesis, Dửrnyei (1998, p.117), states that “ without sufficient motivation, even individuals with the most remarkable abilities cannot accomplish long-term goals, and neither are appropriate curricula and good teaching enough on their own to ensure student achievement.” The methodology that teachers use in their lessons influence learners’ motivation, the constructivist teaching strategies applied should point to prepare students who will be capable of mastering reading skills in their classrooms for academic purposes and also to succeed as a lifelong readers, which is exactly the aim of this research, to provide the society individuals who keep informed through reading, enrich their knowledge, share that knowledge, and contribute with new advances During the development of the reading classes, there are many aspects that can increase learners’ motivation like: teacher’s motivation and interest, collaborative learning, sincere compliment, using students’ interests, allowing autonomy, appropriate error correction and feedback, among many others
The second category in this research is class interaction, which provided the researchers with information about students’ interaction among them and the teacher It describes the relationship between learners while working individually, in peers or groups It takes into consideration values like respect and support, and it facilitates information about students’ exchange of information, opinions, ideas, etc
The third category observed was learning environment, it allowed the researchers to observe aspects related to the atmosphere in which the learning process took place It takes into consideration the context and the learning process as meaningful elements to observe since, as aforementioned, Vygotsky constructivist perspective defines learning, as a growing experience consequent and informed by an individual’s and a group’s cultural and historical experiences (Lambert et al, 2002, p.30) The constructivist teaching strategies proposed in this specific research looked for promoting the collaborative activities in which learners must use the input of their classmates, teacher, friends, parents, and resources like internet, newspapers, etc
The last category refers to the students’ performance in the development of constructivist activities The researchers observed learners’ reaction towards the constructivist activities, and their behavior in a learner-centered classroom The application of constructivist strategies provided information about the role that students play in their own development According to Piaget’s theory, individuals assume an active building up knowledge and cognitive processes from a very starting point and children at different developmental levels construct different realities (Watts, Cockcroft and Duncan, 2009, p 326)
The four categories were divided into subcategories, which are all the elements that made up each category In the motivation category, the subcategories are students’ reaction and emotional involvement They have the objective of examining the willingness that students have to participate in the activities developed in the reading classes Similarly, in the class interaction category, the researchers observed and analyzed the relation among students under the subcategories of group engagement and group discussion Besides, during the observations, aspects like meaningful context and meaningful learning were taken into consideration to analyze the category about learning environment Finally, through the observation check list, anecdotal record and students’ responses of the questionnaire, the researchers will collect information related to the effectiveness of the constructivist teaching strategies to improve learners’ reading skills, the subcategories observed construction of knowledge and immediate comprehension
To summarize, the methodology used achieve the research purpose focused on a mixed approach The categories that guided the construction and design of the instrument consist in four: Motivation, Class Interaction, Learning Environment and Performance The subcategories derived from those categories were students’ reaction, emotional involvement (motivation), group engagement and group discussion (class interaction), meaningful learning and meaningful context (learning environment), and construction of knowledge and immediate comprehension (performance) The data collection strategies are based on three research instruments: a class observation check list, an anecdotal record, and a questionnaire addressed to the sixth graders B of the Villarreal School In this stage of the investigation, the researchers applied the data collection strategies designed and gathered information about the implementation of constructivist teaching strategies to nurture the development of reading skills focusing on the comprehension part
The codes were created to symbolize the number of observations made during the fieldwork and the number of students that participated in the questionnaire In order to guide the reader to understand the data collected and keep the participants’ confidentiality, the following codes have been used:
Student No 1 to Student No 20
DATA ANALYSIS INTERPRETATION
Statistical Procedures Used in the Data Analysis of the Results
The percentages in the classroom observation checklist and the students’ questionnaire were calculated by counting ratings In the case of the observation checklist, the results were obtained by counting the ratings of all the fifteen observations made regarding the degree of achievement of each subcategory inquired Along the same lines, the percentages in the students’ questionnaire were obtained by adding the scores of all the students according to their own perceptions of their performance during the implementation of constructivist teaching strategies in reading comprehension classes Researchers found different results between their points of view and that of the students’ when analyzing each sub-category separately However, when putting the results of all sub-categories together, researchers and students obtained very similar grand final percent (80% recorded by researchers against an 81% reported reached by the students) The researchers’ result was calculated after averaging out the total degree of accomplishment of the desired behaviors coming from the fifteen observations done in this study The students’ percentage was obtained by averaging the questionnaires filled out by the twenty students of the class The table below shows a complete picture of those results:
Finale grand scores from the students and the researchers
The data gathered in this research is presented in the subsequent:
This subcategory looks into the ways in which students reacted towards the teaching methodology implemented
Broadly, results show positive outcomes regarding the achievement of this subcategory In relation to the numerical outcome for this subcategory, a total of 87% of degree of achievement was recorded (see graph 1 below) Similarly, data recorded through the anecdotal record reinforces this percentage As evidenced in TO2-002, students were motivated because of the use of supportive materials Along the same lines, the students showed commitment towards completing tasks assigned They have worked enthusiastically and have showed a general positive attitude in class (TO2-006) Lastly, data obtained from the questionnaire administered to students depicts that 60% (strongly agree) and 10% (agree), making up a total of 70% for the students who reacted positively to the classroom dynamics of the teaching paradigm of the study Graph 1 below represents the degree of achievement that learners showed during the fifteen class observations made regarding their reaction towards the teaching methodology implemented (refer to Table 6, p 167)
As an overall result, in 87% of the observations students reacted positively, 13% partially and 0% did not reply at all In most of the observations learners showed willingness to participate, displayed positive feelings and were committed in the development of the different tasks assigned Thirteen percent of the partial degree of achievement referred to the occasions in which learners expressed negative feelings to the use of English in the class or because they were distracted; however, they almost always participated actively in the activities; this can be evidenced in the anecdotal where the researchers recorded, that during that day learners displayed negative feelings towards the English lesson, some of them were distracted and ran around the classroom, disturbing the rest of the classmates; though there was a group that always worked on
Goal Achieved Goal not Achieved Goal Partially
D eg re e of A chi ev em ent %
Distribution of Students’ Reaction towards Constructivist Teaching
Activities in a Group of Sixth Graders at Escuela Villarreal, 2013,
Circuito 03, Regional Santa Cruz, Guanacaste the tasks (TO2-010) Graph 2 bellow illustrates learners’ perspectives about this subcategory (refer to Table 7, p 167)
This graph exemplifies the evaluations that students gave to their reaction regarding the constructivist teaching strategies implemented The scores went from “Strongly Disagree” to “Strongly Agree”; being the latter the highest score and the other, the lowest score As it can be noticed, 60% (Strongly Agree) and 10% (Agree) of the students’ evaluations submit that most of them considered that they participated actively in the development of the reading activities “Partially Agree” estimated with a 25%
D e gr e e of A ch ie ve m e n t %
Students' Perspective about the Development of Reading Activities
Distribution of Students’ Perspectives about the Participation in the Development of Reading Activities in a Group of Sixth Graders at Escuela Villarreal, 2013, Circuito 03, Regional Santa Cruz,
Guanacaste represents the evaluations that provided an average score of the reading activities according to students’ perceptions Five percent of the evaluations gave a low score in regard to learners´ point of view The “Neither agree or disagree and Strongly Disagree” levels did not show results
Nonetheless, while data show promising results regarding the achievement of this subcategory, some prevalence of negative reactions on the part of the students has also been recorded This has been evidenced particularly in the questionnaire administered at the end of the study, where one of the participants (SQ1-0013) reported to have perceived her reactions to the classroom dynamics as negative The reasons for this, however, may be attributed to personality factors particular to her As noted by the observer in the eleventh class observation, the student SQ1-0013 worked very collaboratively, she was one of the leaders of group, and this student had the influence on the organization of the rest in a positive or negative way She was one of the students who always made complains about the use of English class, and many other learners follow her This issue may have influenced the student’s self-perception of her performance in the reading lessons
To conclude, students’ reaction subcategory exhibited optimistic results During the implementation of reading activities focused on the constructivist approach learners displayed positive feelings, showed commitment and participated actively; however, low scores were obtained in regards to this subcategory; this could be as a consequence of some students’ attitude and self-perception as mentioned previously b Emotional Involvement
This subcategory examines the ways in which students’ positive or negative emotional attitudes interfered with the teaching methodology implemented
Predominantly, the study showed that a majority of students got emotionally involved during the implementation of the constructivist strategies This subcategory presents an 83% degree of achievement and these results are supported by the anecdotal record which equivalently evidences the students’ willingness, desire and commitment to comply the tasks requested in the classroom as researchers commented in TO2-004 that during that day learners changed attitude, they wanted to learn new things in English, such popular phrases and words not precisely related to the reading topic under study Similarly, other comments are found in the anecdotal record, such as that learners felt motivated to share their class work (TO2-009), learners showed a responsible attitude to develop their work (TO2-014), in general, in the class atmosphere it was easy to notice that students liked to work in groups or pairs, they seemed to be more confident and secure by working collectively than individually (TO2-006) which demonstrated that students became more emotionally involved in the class Graph 3 shows the results regarding this subcategory (refer to Table 8, p 168)
This graph shows the outcomes of the class observation checklists made during 15 classes applying constructivist teaching strategies to students Broadly, students show an 83% of positive achievement, and a 17% of partial involvement which lead the researchers to interpret that in most of the classes, students showed enthusiasm, excitement, happiness and commitment to complete the tasks assigned and participate in class However, a 17% also shows the students’ rejection, frustration or negative attitude towards English learning or working in class; as evidenced in the anecdotal record, this might be a consequence of the only use of the English language during the lessons, students most of the time complained about that, since they argued that they did not understand the language; however, they still worked on the tasks (TO2-003)
Finally, the questionnaire administered to students exhibits that an 80% of the students (60% evaluated with a “Strongly Agree” and a 20% evaluated with an
Goal Achieved Goal not Achieved Goal Partially
Emotional Involvement According to Researchers
Distribution of Emotional Involvement towards Constructivist Teaching
Activities in a Group of Sixth Graders at Escuela Villarreal, 2013, Circuito
“Agree”), got emotionally involved with the constructivist strategies Graph 4 below demonstrates the results obtained in this instrument regarding this subcategory (refer to Table 9, p 168)
This graph depicts students’ self-evaluations about their feelings regarding how they got emotionally involved with the constructivist strategies implemented by the researchers The scores went from “Strongly Disagree” to “Strongly Agree”; in which
“Strongly Agree” represents the highest score and “Strongly Disagree” the lowest score
As it can be noticed, 60% (Strongly Agree) and 20% (Agree) of the students’ evaluations show that most of them considered that they were emotional involved in the development of the reading activities Ten percent (levels “Partially Agree” and “Neither agree or disagree”) represents the evaluations that provided an average score of the
D e gr e e of A ch ie ve m e n t %
Students' Perspective about the Emotional Involvement in Reading Tasks
Distribution of Students’ Perspectives about their Emotional Involvement in the Resolution of Reading Tasks in a Group of Sixth Graders at Escuela Villarreal, 2013, Circuito 03, Regional Santa Cruz, Guanacaste reading activities according to students’ perceptions Finally, 10% of the evaluations gave low scores in regard to learners´ point of view; this can be attributed to some learners’ attitude issues Level “Disagree” and “Strongly Disagree” did not show results
Emotional involvement shows favorable results regarding the achievement of this goal; however, 20% of students considered they felt a low emotional involvement during the classes This can be shown in the questionnaire administered, where four students SQ1-001, SQ1-007, SQ1-0018 and SQ1-0019 reported to have perceived a low emotional involvement during the classroom’s activities The reason for this, however, may be attributed to personality factors That is true in the anecdotal record in which, learners demonstrated a negative attitude towards English language Some students showed bad attitudes towards the lesson; for example, one of the students left the classroom (SQ1-0018), another one was listening to music in his phone (SQ1-0019) However, there were groups in the classroom that kept working in the activities
As a general overview, this subcategory displays promising results according to the information collected through the observations and questionnaire During the implementation of constructivist teaching strategies to reinforce the reading skill, learners felt enthusiastic and committed; nonetheless, feelings like rejection and frustration were shown as a result of some students’ personality issues
This subcategory addresses the ways in which students reacted towards the teaching methodology implemented by making an effort not only to learn the subject matter but internalizing and sharing it with their classmates
DISCUSSION
Findings
Researchers arrived at four findings after analyzing the categories of motivation, class interaction, learning environment and performance
The first major finding relates to the category of motivation In spite of the different results found between researchers and students’ points of view in the analysis made by sub-category, outcomes were very similar when the analysis was made putting together all the subcategories The researchers experienced that the strategies and activities applied to the students during class evidently suggest that they perceived a change, an interest and motivation in achieving the goal A recent argument made by Eggen & Kauchak offers an insight regarding the similarity of these results, “Many constructivists believe that classrooms should become ‘communities of learners’ where teachers and children are motivated to learn together” (in Westwood, 2004, p.22) Teachers and students shared the same objectives and there was a cooperative environment built to create knowledge by organizing classroom into small heterogeneous communities of learners In other words, students and teachers increased in social cohesion so the final results show up how both parts are looking and working to achieve the same goals See Table 05 (p 97) for a complete picture of this similarity
The second major finding also relates to motivation Researchers experienced that applying constructivist strategies to promote the reading comprehension in the English class motivated students to make an effort in developing the task or activity as it was considered valuable for them According to McCormack (2008), “with the constructivist approach, children can see the story unfold in their minds as well as right in front of them, by working with peers, groups, or the teacher on learning activities, applied technology, writing, and reading challenges” (p 73) Students never considered they were not able to improve these areas or achieve the objectives proposed; on the contrary, they were motivated towards the target content On the researchers’ side, a global result from the class observation checklist and the Anecdotal Record shows students improved in an 85% their reaction and emotional involvement during reading activities See Table
The third finding relates to the class interaction category which looks into the group engagement and the group discussion Researchers considered students reached the goal in a 73% against a 74% perceived by the students when analyzing together the results of both sub-categories Researchers acknowledged having reached the group engagement goal in an 85% by teaching students to work cooperatively to complete the tasks assigned, maintaining an interactive atmosphere and helping each other About this,
Westwood states that teachers, “…explore possible reasons or forces behind an individual’s choice of activity, the persistence with which the person will engage in the activity, their reactions when faced with difficulties, and their thoughts about themselves as learners” (2008, p.31) However, students gave their lowest rating to the subcategory of Group Engagement (65%) which might be attributed to the students’ necessity to continue working in improving this sub-category because of their sense of deserving a high-quality relationship with teachers, staff and peers See Table No 23 (p 175) for details the results of this category
Another main finding relates to the learning environment and performance categories Both categories got the highest scores from the students, 85% and 90% respectively, and got very high scores from the researchers about the level of accomplishment (85% and 78% appropriately) This can be seen as an interpersonal collaborative effort from the students and a change in their attitude about the English class The constructivist approach not only promotes learner’s language and communication skills, but fosters students’ autonomy to develop their confidence, responsibility and pro-activeness Teachers have to teach students to take responsibility of their own learning but their autonomy goes along with content and it means that students will be in charge of working autonomously in the subject matter being coaching by teachers Besides, by gaining content knowledge and by becoming more mature, students will develop self-teaching skills; students will become life-long learners which is at any moment, the goal of the educational process
Along the same lines, Waite-Stupiansky (in Westwood, 2004, p.22) states, “the constructivist viewpoint on human learning suggests that true understanding cannot be directly passed from one individual to another; but rather has to be constructed anew by each learner in his or her own mind as a result of experience and reflection.” In other words, students understood and shared the learning goals and took into their hands the construction of their own knowledge by building a climate of cooperation and support in the classroom, an acceptance environment and friendly communication among their peers, and an atmosphere of safety to free their creativity to develop and perform the tasks Refer to Table 24 and Table 25(p 176) that show a summary of the final rates of the Learning Environment category and the Performance category respectively
Finally, the last finding is in relation to the performance category since taking into account the finale grand score from the students and the researchers, it leads the researchers to confirm that applying constructivist strategies enhance students learning
As previous knowledge fits with the new one, students developed their ability to construct new meaning through the use of presentations, brainstorming ideas, allowing experimentation, working cooperatively, showing respect toward each other, and many other constructivist strategies, where learners engaged and applied them in real-life Teachers have to continue applying these strategies in order for students to continue increasing their confidence, develop their creativity and leadership skills during the English class.
Recommendations
Upon completion of this study, the researchers offer the following recommendations addressed to teachers, parents, English authorities and future researchers to enhance the application of constructivist strategies in EFL elementary schools in Costa Rica:
Even though the concept of constructivism and its multiple strategies are taught at universities, nowadays it is difficult to find teachers whose daily plans are based on constructivist strategies That is why it is vital that teachers re-design their classroom plans and create environments in order students can be actively involved in their new learning, foster critical thinking and be more active and motivated to reach the subject matter
Firstly, school staff has to implement a plan for assisting learners in becoming lifelong students through improving silent reading or reading aloud Students should be allowed to choose their favorite texts during class and encourage continuing their reading outside the class Teachers have to model the reading habits and good attitudes readers develop when they become sustained readers In order to achieve this, the teachers should be careful of choosing the appropriate text according to the learners’ age, and make sure that each reading can be used as a tool to reinforce the academic subjects under study, organize reading workshop or assessment activities (like Internet- based projects, webquests), take advantage of the last 5 or 10 minutes at the end of classes to read a short story or article from a book or magazine Besides, in order to meet the 200 days proposed by the MEP, during December, teachers can take advantage of that time to design and implement reading workshops focused on free topics, not related to the subject matter, to learn about the introduction and implementation of constructivist teaching methodology
Secondly, teachers have to encourage students to read freely and voluntarily This can be reached by teaching them that “practice makes the master” (Rothfuss, 2007) as it happens with any professional player By doing this, students will be able to know new vocabulary, different use of words, different structures of sentences, and develop a new and broader conception of the world
Furthermore, teachers have to guide students before, during, and after reading activities By guiding them before the reading, teachers will activate students’ background knowledge and will engage them in making questions and predict what is about to happen Activities during reading may include reading aloud or reading silently What is important is that the teacher is there to answer questions or give information that the student may need to comprehend the reading or avoid confusions When reading is done, teachers can discuss the material on a cognitive and effective level and provide opportunities to collaborate and construct meaning and understanding (Kesper, 2008, p.3)
The first recommendation for parents is to pay special attention to develop reading literacy during the early years in order to stimulate them to read texts according to their level According to Pretorious, “the relationship between reading and learning begins even earlier in the pre-primary school years - children who are exposed to storybook reading before they go to school tend to have larger vocabularies, greater general knowledge and better conceptual development than their peers, and in addition, they learn to read and write more easily and quickly” (in Pe, 2008)
Second, parents need to create environments where children can have opportunities to build their own knowledge and well-reasoned meanings for what they observe and experience
Third, parents make a difference when they talk to their children, so it is important to make time to talk about any problems, special situations or issues they experienced during the day When children interact and discuss about anything at home, they also
“…apply their existing knowledge and real-world experiences promotes constructive learning” (Lipoff, 2012)
Fourth, students learn by interacting with real life situations, so parents, at home, have to encourage their children to prioritize activities that nurture learning over entertainment and leisure As Lipoff recommends, “Taking students into the real world to test their ideas and knowledge benefits constructive learning and understanding.” Fifth, the child's development is at the center of instruction According to Lipoff,
“Not only is the child developing his brain in amazing ways, he is pushing his senses to the limits, learning more about his strengths and weaknesses and then making adjustments.” Parents can help their children to develop their senses and understanding of the world by directing open-ended questions When parents let the child know that they are focused on their child’s learning instead of on their grades, it will increase their self-confidence
Research findings have shown strong relation between reading proficiency and academic success During the investigation, researchers experienced that students changed their attitudes towards reading texts After introducing them to the text, they showed interest and exciting about the reading Saying that, it is suggested that a reading awareness culture be promoted among the English teachers and students of all grades at the Villarreal School so it is crucial that English authorities provide the school with English books to improve reading, writing, speaking, listening, and areas like pronunciation and vocabulary As a starting point, researchers obtained from a private institution a donation of several books and magazines addressed to students from primary school from first to sixth grade from a private institution
Firstly, it is of great importance to research about the effects of teaching students to read and its impact on literacy achievements Along these lines, Moore, Bean,
Adolescents entering the adult world in the 21st century will read and write more than at any other time in human history They will need advanced levels of literacy to perform their jobs, run their households, act as citizens, and conduct their personal lives They will need literacy to cope with the flood of information they will find everywhere they turn They will need literacy to feed their imaginations so they can create the world of the future In a complex and sometimes even dangerous world, their ability to read can be crucial (1999, p 3)
Through reading, teachers and parents help students to develop self-confidence, self- esteem, and personal pride as well as good attitudes toward learning Besides, it develops the language skills, the mind and the imagination, improves discipline and memory, and introduces students into the different customs, lifestyles and diversity of ethnicity of people
Secondly, it is vital to explore the correlation between the constructivist paradigm and the development of critical thinking skills Constructivist teaching fosters critical thinking where students are actively involved in their learning, and immersed in authentic tasks that will help them arouse their curiosity and challenge their assumptions making them rethink about the way they interpret the world Critical thinkers learn the content, take possession of the new knowledge, and create new thoughts and beliefs
Finally, in a world that moves towards diversity, tolerance and critical thinking, and overall literacy, changes in teaching paradigms prove one of the best ways to achieve such objectives Upon having concluded this study, one could assert that only innovative teaching, together with institutional willpower and commitment, will finally aid literacy become a reality in the Costa Rican education system In the meantime, the least one can do is continue to discover the ways in which these great goals can be attained
Constructivism, together with appropriate reading strategies, has in this case proven to be one of those ways The way has been found, what we need now is more travelers.
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Appendices
Escuela de Ciencias Sociales y Humanidades
Licenciatura Enseủanza del Inglộs para I y II Ciclos
Researchers: Cindy Otárola Duarte and Marigen Valverde Soto Tutor: Henry Sevilla Morales
Otárola & Valverde, 2013—Nurturing Literacy Development through Constructivist
Strategies in EFL Sixth Graders: The Case of Villarreal School
1 Do students show willingness and desire to participate in the different classroom tasks?
2 Do students display positive feelings while completing the tasks?
3 Do students show commitment in the development of the tasks?
4 Do learners work cooperatively in the completion of the tasks?
5 While working in groups, do students define roles such as the leader, the information seeker, reporter, etc?
6 Is there a predominantly interactive atmosphere during the task?
7 Do learners exchange information and knowledge among them?
8 Do students help each other to carry out the tasks?
9 Do learners agree or disagree whenever necessary?
10 Is the classroom characterized by a climate of cooperation and support?
11 Is there a high level of acceptance among the students?
12 Do learners show respect toward each other while working on the tasks?
13 Do learners keep an easy and friendly communication while carrying out the tasks?
14 Is the classroom conceived as a knowledge-building community?
15 Does the learning process take place in a collaborative manner?
16 Do learners “brainstorm” ideas about the topics?
17 Do students answer questions about the topic?
18 Do the students construct their knowledge by using techniques like summaries, explanations, asking- answering questions, etc
19 Do learners relate what they read to their own experiences?
20 Do students use their creativity to develop and perform the tasks?
21 Do students get familiar with unknown vocabulary words and remember definitions when reading?
22 Are students able to retell the story in their own words?
23 Are students able to summarize the main idea of the story, sequences, or cause-effect?
24 Are students able to deduce events, making generalizations, interpreting facts from information implicit in the text?
25 Are students able to use analysis or make value judgments about what was read?
26 Do students research about topics and show findings to the class?
Modified from: Sevilla & Méndez, 2001—Reading in the EFL Classroom: A Model to Promoting Critical Thinking Student-centeredness, and Self-confidence in Oral
Escuela de Ciencias Sociales y Humanidades
Licenciatura Enseủanza del Inglộs para I y II Ciclos
Researchers: Cindy Otárola Duarte & Marigen Valverde Soto
Otárola & Valverde, 2013—Nurturing Literacy Development through Constructivist
Strategies in EFL Sixth Graders: The Case of Villarreal School
Auto percepciún de los Estudiantes sobre su Desempeủo en las Actividades Basadas en el Proyecto de Aprendizaje Constructivista
Muestre su nivel de acuerdo o desacuerdo eligiendo la respuesta apropiada para cada uno de los aspectos descritos abajo La información que proporcione será utilizada solamente para fines educativos y será administrada de forma confidencial
1 Participé activamente en el desarrollo de las actividades de lectura
2 Me sentí comprometido y responsable con la resolución de las tareas de lectura Strongly agree
3 Colaborộ con mis compaủeros para resolver las tareas cuando realizo trabajos en grupo o en pareja
4 Compartớ ideas y sugerencias con mis compaủeros
5 Compartí mi conocimiento cuando la maestra lo requiere en las actividades Strongly agree
6 Intercambiộ conocimiento e informaciún con mis compaủeros y maestra
7 Consideré mi aula como un ambiente cómodo que permite la cooperación y apoyo entre los miembros
8 Usé mi creatividad e imaginación para demostrar lo aprendido
9 Brindộ ayuda al compaủero que lo necesitú para resolver ejercicios en la clase Strongly agree
10 Consideré significativo el aprendizaje obtenido por medio de las actividades de lectura
11 Para comprender las lecturas usé técnicas como resúmenes, traducción, entre otros
12 Tuve la oportunidad de relacionar mis experiencias con las lecturas propuestas en clase.
13 Después de realizar las lecturas, pude contestar preguntas referentes a ésta.
14 Aprendí nuevo vocabulario por medio de las lecturas
15 Al concluir las actividades de lectura, considero haber adquirido conocimiento nuevo por medio de ellas
Adaptado de: Sevilla, Henry & Méndez, Geiner (2013) Proceedings of the 11th Hawaii
International Conference on Education January 06-11, Honolulu, Hawaii
Escuela de Ciencias Sociales y Humanidades
Licenciatura Enseủanza del Inglộs para I y II Ciclos
Researchers: Cindy Otárola Duarte and Marigen Valverde Soto
Otárola & Valverde, 2013—Nurturing Literacy Development through Constructivist
Strategies in EFL Sixth Graders: The Case of Villarreal School
Modified from: Sevilla & Méndez, 2001—Reading in the EFL Classroom: A Model to Promoting Critical Thinking Student-centeredness, and Self-confidence in Oral
Communication Course ii Group Discussion
_ _ _ i Immediate Comprehension of the text
Modified from: Sevilla & Méndez, 2001—Reading in the EFL Classroom: A Model to Promoting Critical Thinking Student-centeredness, and Self-confidence in Oral
Table of Frequencies about the Students' Reaction towards Constructivist Teaching Activities in a Group of Sixth Graders at Escuela Villarreal, 2013, Circuito 03,
Absolute Relative Absolute Relative fi ni fi ni
Table of Frequencies about Students’ Perspectives about the Participation in the
Development of Reading Activities in a group of Sixth Graders at Escuela Villarreal, 2013, Circuito 03, Regional Santa Cruz, Guanacaste
Frequencies Frequencies % Absolute Relative Absolute Relative fi ni fi ni
Table of Frequencies about the Emotional Involvement towards Constructivist
Teaching Activities in a Group of Sixth Graders at Escuela Villarreal, 2013, Circuito
Frequencies Frequencies % Absolute Relative Absolute Relative f i n i f i n i
Table of Frequencies about the Emotional Involvement in the Resolution of Reading Tasks according to the Students’ Perspectives in a Group of Sixth Graders at Escuela Villarreal, Circuito 03, Regional Santa Cruz, Guanacaste
Frequencies Frequencies % Absolute Relative Absolute Relative fi ni fi ni
Table of Frequencies about the Group Engagement towards the Constructivist
Teaching Methodology Implemented in a group of Sixth Graders at Escuela
Villarreal, 2013, Circuito 03, Regional Santa Cruz, Guanacaste
Frequencies Frequencies % Absolute Relative Absolute Relative fi ni fi ni
Table of Frequencies about the Group Engagement towards the Constructivist
Teaching Methodology Implemented according to the Students’ Perspectives in a group of Sixth Graders at Escuela Villarreal, 2013, Circuito 03, Regional Santa Cruz, Guanacaste
Frequencies Frequencies % Absolute Relative Absolute Relative f i n i f i n i
Table of Frequencies about the Group Discussion towards the Constructivist Teaching Activities Implemented in a Group of Sixth Graders at Escuela
Villarreal, 2013, Circuito 03, Regional Santa Cruz, Guanacaste
Frequencies Frequencies % Absolute Relative Absolute Relative f i n i f i n i
Table of Frequencies about the Group Discussion towards the Constructivist Teaching
Activities Implemented according to the Students’ Perspectives in a group of Sixth
Graders at Escuela Villarreal, 2013, Circuito 03, Regional Santa Cruz, Guanacaste
Frequencies Frequencies % Absolute Relative Absolute Relative f i n i f i n i
Table of Frequencies about the Meaningful Learning Sub-category in regard to the Classroom Conceived as a Knowledge-Building Community in a
Group of Sixth Graders at Escuela Villarreal, 2013, Circuito 03, Regional
Frequencies Frequencies % Absolute Relative Absolute Relative f i n i f i n i
Table of Frequencies about the Meaningful Learning Sub-category in regard to the Classroom Conceived as a Knowledge-Building Community according to the Students’ Perspectives in a group of Sixth Graders at Escuela
Villarreal, 2013, Circuito 03, Regional Santa Cruz, Guanacaste
Frequencies Frequencies % Absolute Relative Absolute Relative fi ni fi ni
Table of Frequencies about the Meaningful Context Strategy Developed in the
Classroom in a Group of Sixth Graders at Escuela Villarreal, 2013, Circuito 03, Regional Santa Cruz, Guanacaste
Frequencies Frequencies % Absolute Relative Absolute Relative fi ni fi ni
Table of Frequencies about the Meaningful Context Sub-category in regard to the
Classroom Conceived as a Knowledge-Building Community according to the Students’
Perspectives in a group of Sixth Graders at Escuela Villarreal, 2013, Circuito 03, Regional Santa Cruz, Guanacaste
Frequencies Frequencies % Absolute Relative Absolute Relative fi ni fi ni
Table of Frequencies about the Building-Knowledge Process in the Classroom in a Group of Sixth Graders at Escuela Villarreal, 2013, Circuito 03, Regional
Frequencies Frequencies % Absolute Relative Absolute Relative fi ni fi ni
Table of Frequencies about the Building-Knowledge Process in the Classroom according to the Students’ Perspectives in a group of Sixth Graders at Escuela Villarreal, 2013, Circuito
Frequencies Frequencies % Absolute Relative Absolute Relative fi ni fi ni
Table of Frequencies about the Immediate Comprehension Strategy Obtained by Students through the Reading Activities Implemented in a Group of Sixth
Graders at Escuela Villarreal, 2013, Circuito 03, Regional Santa Cruz,
Frequencies Frequencies % Absolute Relative Absolute Relative fi ni fi ni
Table of Frequencies about the Immediate Comprehension Strategy Obtained through the Reading Activities Implemented in Class according to the Students’ Perspectives in a group of Sixth Graders at Escuela Villarreal, 2013, Circuito 03, Regional Santa Cruz,
Frequencies Frequencies % Absolute Relative Absolute Relative f i n i f i n i
Researchers and Students Perceived Emotional Improvement
Researcher–Observer Students Goal achieved
Researchers and Students Perceived Class Interaction
Partially Achieved Class Interaction: Group