Tema 25. El proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje centrado en el alumno: fundamentos teóricos y aplicaciones. La identificación de las motivaciones y actitudes ante la lengua inglesa. plicaciones did!cticas. •
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Traditionally, teac"ing has teac"ing has been the central issue in FLT. It was thought that, if teaching was efficient, learning would automatically occur. Consequently learning #as seen as a passive process. Since the 19!"s, the belief that language is a means of commu communic nicati ation on has has ins#ir ins#ired ed a new a##ro a##roach ach in $ngli $nglish sh teachi teaching% ng% the $ommunicative pproac".. &ue to its influence, nowadays language is taught and learnt in a 'ery pproac" #rac #racti tica call way way in the the clas classr sroo oom. m. In this this sens sense, e, our our stud studen ents ts ha'e ha'e be beco come me the the #rotag #rotagoni onists sts of the teachi teaching ng and and learni learning ng #roces #rocesss and t"eir individual differences "ave started to %e considered. (oreo'er, considered. (oreo'er, this answer to indi'idual differences is one of the main #rinci#les established by L&'$E ()2*+, ecem%er / t" )ased on this this 'iew, 'iew, the #resent essay aims aims to study the learner-centred approac". For this #ur#ose, this to#ic will be di'ided into three main sections. In the first #art, we will will anal analys ysee its its t"eoretical foundations and t"e #ay to apply it to t"e 0L classroom. classroom. In the second #art, we will e*amine the main factors that factors that influence FLL as well as the identification of motivation and attitude of our students towards $nglish.. Finally in the third #art, we will establish some practical applications. +e deal with an essential to#ic since t"e teac"ing of a 0L must %e personalised to t"e c"aracteristics of our students. students . In addition, L&'$E ()2*+, ecem%er / t" em#hasies the significance of this to#ic by providing sc"ools and teac"ers #it" autonomy to adapt t"e prescriptive curriculum and t"e met"odology t"at t"ey use to t"eir particular group of students. FI-ST Traditio Traditional nal models models focuse focused d on teachi teaching ng items items of langu language age in in isolatio isolation. n. In these meth me thod ods, s, amon amongg whic which h we may may #oin #ointt out out the the 1rammar-Translation 1rammar-Translation 'et"od the teac teache herr was was the the auth author orit ityy in the the clas classr sroo oom m and and lear learne ners rs we were re seen seen as #ass #assi' i'ee reci#ients of nowledge.
Later on, these traditional methods were questioned by $"omsy $"omsy who who claimed that languag languagee acquisiti acquisition on should not be a #assi'e #rocess since learners learners are able to use their own thining #rocesses to disco'er the rules of the language they are acquiring . /fterwards 3iaget 3iaget who who wored on the #rinci#les of T"e $ognitive pproac" pproac" stated that learners should ado#t an acti'e role and be more res#onsible in their own learning #rocess . These ideas deri'ed from cogniti'e theories and, along with some others, consti constitut tutee the basis basis of the learner-centred approac" whose approac" whose main #rinci#le is that teac"ers must tae learners into account #"en planning t"e o%jectives contents
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activities and materials in order to suit t"e learners4 needs and interests . This means that the #"ole learning process must %e %uilt up around t"e c"aracteristics of our students and t"at t"ey need to develop learning strategies to %ecome autonomous learners, which is reflected in 1 of the ( ey $ompetences established by the 6oyal ecree +27)2*+8 the 0learning to learn ey com#etence, in'ol'ing the de'elo#ment of some strategies in order to be an efficient learner. +e can classify these learning strategies into four main ty#es which are metacogniti'e, cogniti'e, socio2affecti'e and communication strategies% 2 Firstly, metacognitive strategies are mainly used to regulate learning . +e may #oint out #lanning learning, hy#othesising, com#aring, self2questioning, self2 assessment, self2correction and re'iewing. 2Secondly, cognitive strategies are more s#ecific and in'ol'e mani#ulating the sub3ect . They include memoriing, matching, #redicting, using a class library, a dictionary, ris2taing and organiing wor. 2 Thirdly, socio-affective strategies in'ol'e children in social acti'ities to e*#ose them to language. They tae on res#onsibility for their own learning by woring inde#endently from the teacher. 2 Lastly, communication strategies refer to the use of as#ects lie gestures, mime, synonyms or #ara#hrases in order to maintain communication e.g. 0Can you re#eat #lease4 /fter ha'ing considered its origins and main #rinci#les, we will concentrate now on the most important aspects of a learner-centred curriculum . To do so, we will e*amine the methodology, the materials, the assessment and the role of the teacher in this a##roach. -egarding met"odology, all the elements must be in interaction and influence each other. /lso, a learner2centred curriculum de'elo#s the 5 sills of language in an integrated way since this #romotes the learning of real content and is highly moti'ating for students. (oreo'er acti'ities are 'aried and lined to real life situations. /s far as the materials are concerned, most of them are #roduced by the learners in the classroom and these should reflect the outside world. For this #ur#ose, the materials should be authentic whene'er it is #ossible. They should also meet the students6 interests and #re'ious nowledge and foster inde#endent learning. +e must not forget that assessment is a 'ery im#ortant #art of the learning #rocess because it establishes a relation between the teaching #ractice and the learning #rocess. In a learner2centred a##roach curriculum we can assess our students by daily obser'ation and ob3ecti'e tests among others. 7owe'er, what is really im#ortant in this a##roach is that students learn "o# to assess t"eir o#n progress in order to %ecome a#are of %ot" t"eir ac"ievements and t"e areas t"at need
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improvement. In order to assess themsel'es, students can com#lete a grid e'ery wee which may include items lie 0 This wee I ha'e learnt8 or 0I ha'e used $nglish to8 among others. Lastly, it is im#ortant to consider the role of t"e teac"er. +ithin this a##roach, we ha'e to modify the curriculum content in order to adequate it to our students6 characteristics, ee# the moti'ation of our students, attend their indi'idual differences and organise the learning e*#erience carefully and in ad'anced. In addition, we act as #artici#ants, monitors and resource in the classroom. /fter ha'ing considered the most im#ortant as#ects of a learner2centred curriculum, we will now e*amine some concrete #ossibilities for hel#ing students to learn more effecti'ely. To do so, we will consider some areas in which we can apply learner2centred ideas. /s we now, this a##roach considers that e'ery acti'ity can be based on the nowledge and e*#erience of the students. ne way of doing so is through what is nown as 9ylla%us negotiation in which the main idea is to involve t"e students in decisions on t"eir study programme . :egotiation can affect the whole structure of the syllabus or 3ust s#ecific sub2#arts of it such as the choice of to#ics for certain acti'ities, the selection of some or the decision whether a #articular acti'ity will materials, be #erformed in grou#s, #airs or indi'idually . /nother way to a##ly learner2centred ideas is grou#ing students into #airs and grou#s. /ccording to onn yrne, pair and group #or #resent many ad'antages since it increases t"e amount of speaing time of t"e students and ena%les t"em to practice t"e four sills of language in an integrated #ay. It also im#ro'es #ersonal relationshi#s because children ha'e the o##ortunity to hel# each other and they can learn from one another too. /s we may now, in'ol'ing students acti'ely in the learning #rocess also in'ol'es encouraging students to understand t"e learning goals and activities . /lthough children in ;rimary $ducation cannot co#e with abstract conce#ts we must train them in language a#areness through acti'ities lie classifying, matching or sequencing which will hel# them to achie'e this #ur#ose. Finally, project #or is a 'ery useful acti'ity for integrating sills since it in'ol'es some research and some grou# discussion about the to#ic until e'entually, the students write the final #roduct. )ecause of this, #ro3ect wor has a great learning #otential as it in'ol'es different learning strategies such as researching, grou# discussion, recycling 'ocabulary and woring autonomously all of which meet both the Communicati'e /##roach and Learner2Centred /##roach requirements.
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S$C9:& nce ha'ing considered the main as#ects of the learner2centred a##roach and the way to a##ly it to the FL classroom, we shall concentrate on the second #art of this to#ic, that is, the identification of motivation and attitude of our students to#ards Englis".
/s we now, the learner2centred a##roach #laces em#hasis on the learner because a FL is not learnt by grou#s, but by indi'iduals. $'ery class is made u# of indi'iduals, and each of them has different ages, a#titudes, learning styles, #ersonalities, moti'ation and attitudes. ll t"ese factors #ill influence 0LL as #ell as our planning decisions and t"at is #"y t"ey must %e considered. In what follows, we will e*#lain what these factors consist of and their consequences in the teaching2learning #rocess% ne of the main factors to consider when teaching a FL is our students6 age. (ost linguists agree that children are better #re#ared to learn a language than adults at an auditory and #honological le'el, because their brain has a natural ca#acity that diminishes as the years go by. /lso, their natural s#ontaneity comes in handy when learning a FL because, generally, they ha'e less inhibiting factors. /t the same time, our students; age #ill affect t"e c"oice of topics and types of activities #"ic" must %e adapted to t"eir age and interests. /nother factor is our students6 aptitude. It is #o#ularly belie'ed that some #eo#le ha'e more a#titude for learning a FL than others. Considering this #ill mae us plan different activities for students #it" different types of aptitude and respect c"ildren4s learning r"yt"ms. /s we now #eo#le learn in different #ays, since they ha'e different #ersonalities, #references and abilities. In this light,
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Lastly, some other factors that might influence FLL are the students" previous no#ledge, a lo# self-esteem, learning difficulties, family pro%lems and their culture. T"e teac"er can analyse t"e cause s"o# more interest to#ards t"e learners and plan activities t"at are as interesting as possi%le. /fter ha'ing considered these factors, we must not forget that motivation is a 'ariable that influences FLL too. /ccording to >eremy
eremy . - Find $nglish2s#eaing countries on a ma#. - )e ased to loo for $nglish words in the en'ironment. - )rainstorm all the words they already now in $nglish. Secondly, we should try to create an Englis" speaing environment in t"e classroom. In order to do so, the following dis#lays can hel# to create an interesting and moti'ating en'ironment% - ;osters of )ritain, ?S/ or other $nglish2s#eaing countries. - ;ictures of famous $nglish2s#eaing #eo#le. - ;hotogra#hs of )ritish or /merican cities, ty#ical houses... - $nglish signs. 5
Students" wors. / boo corner. Thirdly, we should try to mae lessons enjoya%le. In order to do so we can% - Choose to#ics close to students" interests and li'es. - &esign moti'ating acti'ities, which are success2orientated, familiar and 'aried. - /dd 'ariety to the learning situations using different techniques. - Introduce students" choice whene'er #ossible. - ?se 'aried materials. - Let students #ersonalise the tass. Lastly, we should no# "o# to attend to diversity. In order to do so, se'eral measures can be taen% when it is necessary, tass must be graded so that students wor on the same basic acti'ity but with different le'els of difficulty. /lso when questions are ased, they will be ada#ted to students" le'el of com#etence. In this sense, stronger students may be ased difficult questions, while weaer #u#ils will be gi'en se'eral o#tions to choose from. (oreo'er in order to deal with different learning s#eeds, fast finishers can chec their own wor, read or #lay language games while the rest of students finish. Finally, woring in #airs and grou#s will contribute to encourage coo#eration and socialiation. -
$onclusion To conclude, we would lie to remar that, as #ro'en in this to#ic, the learner2 centred a##roach #uts the em#hasis on the active role of the students and their involvement in the learning #rocess. For this #ur#ose, we must tae into account different factors such as their age, learning styles, motivation and attitudes since in this way, students will be more moti'ated and we will ensure their #artici#ation in the acti'ities /long this to#ic we ha'e dealt with the learner-centred approac". To do so, we ha'e first analysed its t"eoretical foundations and t"e #ay to apply it to t"e 0L classroom. Then, we ha'e e*amined the main factors that influence FLL as well as the identification of motivation and attitude of our students towards $nglish. Finally, we ha'e established some practical applications. In order to de'elo# this to#ic, the following %i%liograp"y has been used% )-$+ST$-, @. et al. =A!!B>% The ;rimary $nglish Teacher"s uide . ;enguin $nglish. 7/-($-, @. =A!!B>% The ;ractice of $nglish Language Teaching . Longman. L/-S$:2F-$$(/:, &. =A!!B>% Techniques and ;rinci#les in Language Teaching . *ford ?ni'ersity ;ress. D/-$L/, -. et al. =A!!B>% /ll /bout Teaching $nglish . Centro de $studios -amEn /reces. •
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