Approaches
This page provides the theoretical conceptions that underlie the activities of this website.
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Language Approach
Language is a means of communication that expresses meaning in use. It can be manifested through verbal forms (oral, written) and non-verbal forms (gestures, facial expressions, posture, pictures). In this site, language embraces verbal and non-verbal forms of communication in activities that require the students to comprehend, produce and negotiate meanings in the English language for a communicative and pedagogical purpose.
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Teaching approach
All the themes are initiated with a conversation with the students about the topic. Questions in English are suggested to maximize learning opportunities in the classroom. This conversation aims to encourage the students to:
1) listen and understand what is asked/ said by the teacher, who is expected to tune his/her English to the students’ level of proficiency. If the students are beginners, calibrated and negotiated language is required; 2) share their previous knowledge with the classmates about the topic no matter the language the students use (mother or foreign). If the students’ answers are given in the native language, the teacher should convert them into English and write them on the board in the form of an outline. This is another form of maximizing English learning opportunities in the classroom; 3) learn new language and content knowledge, considering that an outline is expected to be constructed by the teacher on the board with the most relevant answers given by the students.
The themes available on this site are developed through activities in different formats, objectives and modalities (listening, reading, speaking, and writing). The activities are mostly meaning-oriented. Although grammar is not the focus of the activities, some can be found in the repertoire. There is not a pre-established sequence of activities to follow. It is up to you to select those that fit your sense of pedagogical coherence. We suggest, however, that the initial conversation about the topic be the starting point.
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Learning Approach
The goal of the activities is to exploit the themes and to promote implicit learning mainly. Implicit learning is the process through which we are not aware of the knowledge that was acquired. The knowledge resulting from this process is tacit, intuitive and available through automatic processing (ELLIS, 2009). One way to promote implicit learning is though meaning-oriented activities within a context of language use. Some activities provided on this site are also form-focused, in the sense that:
1) they require the use of a particular linguistic form in a communicative context (task-naturalness, task-utility, task-essentialness – Loschy & Bley-Vroman, 1993); 2) they attract the students’ attention to a particular linguistic form that becomes salient in the input through flooding or enhancement, so that the students can notice the structure in a context of language use, and eventually internalize it. 3) they enable the teacher and/or the students to shift their attention to linguistic code features –“triggered by perceived problems with comprehension or production. This is similar to what happens when native speakers who are good writers pause to consider the appropriate form of address to use when composing a letter to a stranger […]." (Long & Robinson, 1998, p.23). "The usual and fundamental orientation is to meaning and communication, but factors arise that lead even the fluent language user temporarily to attend to the language itself." (Long & Robinson, 1998, p.24).
References: ELLIS, R. Implicit and explicit learning, knowledge and instruction. In: ELLIS, R.; LOEWEN, S.; ELDER, C.; ERLAM, R.; PHILP, J.; REINDERS, H. (Orgs.) Implicit and explicit knowledge in second language learning, testing and teaching. Bristol: Multilingual Matters, 2009, p. 3-25. LONG, M. H.; ROBINSON, P. Focus on form. Theory, research, and practice. In: DOUGHTY, C.; WILLIAMS, J. (Orgs.) Focus on Form in Classroom Second Language Acquisition. Cambridge: CUP, 1998, p. 15-41. LOSCHY, L.; BLEY-VROMAN, R. Grammar and task-based methodology. In: CROOKES, G.; GASS, S. M. (Orgs.) Tasks and language learning - Integrating theory and practice. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters Ltd. 1993, p. 123-167.
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Evaluation approach
Formative evaluation can be used (1) to assess the activities during their implementation to provide information about how to revise and modify it for improvement, and (2) to monitor the students’ progress. It permits the teacher to diagnose learning deficiencies/ difficulties and treat them. This form of evaluation focuses on the process, and concentrates on the students’ performance in the activities. There is no specific linguistic knowledge to be assessed, but the main skill(s) that is involved in the activity (listening, speaking, reading, writing). In this sense, it is up the teacher to reflect on the activities that are necessary for the students to improve/ develop the target skills. Some ways of assessing “process” in language learning are:
- to give the students the opportunity to repeat the same activity twice or even three times so that the teacher can compare the learners’ performance in different moments (Bygate, 2001; Xavier & Camargo, 2014). This strategy enables the learners to improve their skills, and also to notice language items that were not perceived in previous moments of the activity performance.
- to provide the students with the same type of activity (Bygate, 2001; Matsumura et al, 2008) so that the students can familiarize themselves with the activity format, objective and text genre.
- to propose activities with simpler and familiar text genres before introducing more complex texts.