TEMA 22

VARIABLES A TENER EN CUENTA EN LA ORGANIZACIÓN DE LA CLASE DE LENGUA EXTRANJERA

INGLESA: AGRUPACIÓN DEL ALUMNADO, DISTRIBUCIÓN DEL ESPACIO Y TIEMPO; SELECCIÓN DE
METODOLOGÍAS, PAPEL DEL PROFESOR, ETC...

INTRODUCTION.
Communication is the basis of understanding among human beings. In this respect, regarding the Decree
89/2014, by which the core of curriculum of Primary Education in the Autonomous Community of the
Canary Islands is established, from an educational point of view, the area of the First Foreign Language in
Primary Education must contribute to the achievement of a communicative competence to allow
speakers to express themselves and understand in a basic way. Thus, in order to acquire that
communicative competence and an effective teaching, based on the previous legislative framework,
mastering various aspects of classroom management are crucial, and those will be analysed throughout
this topic.

According to Michael Doyle, we understand classroom management as “the provisions and procedures
that are necessary to establish and maintain an environment in which instruction and learning can occur,”
and it consists of various aspects including students’ groupings, the space and time management, the
methodology and the role of the teacher. This topic is of prime relevance since class management is one
of the most important tools that teachers have to facilitate their students’ learning because it involves
the efficiency of the teacher and the learning activities and

2 – PUPIL GROUPINGS.
Since the 1970’s, the belief that language is a means of communication has inspired a new approach in
English teaching: the Communicative Approach. Due to its influence, nowadays language is taught and
learnt in a very practical way in the classroom and now our students are provided with tasks that reproduce
the characteristics of communication in real life, which makes indispensable to manage the class using
different groupings.

Now, the different types of groupings and various interaction patterns, such as lockstep, pair work, group
work and individual study will be presented and their pro and cons discussed:

2.1- LOCKSTEP.
Lockstep is the traditional teaching situation. All the students work as a group with the teacher (they are
‘locked’ into the same activity) and the teacher acts as controller and assessor. This type of grouping is
used when the teacher provides feedback or gives instructions.

 Advantages. Lockstep has certain advantages.

- The whole class is concentrating and the learner’s attention is then improved.
- Everyone can hear what is being said.
- The students get a proper language model from the teacher.
- Many students find lockstep very comforting.

 Disadvantages. There are also reasons why the use of lockstep alone is less than satisfactory:
- Students working in lockstep get little chance to practise. Besides, they do not use language in real-
life situations.
- Lockstep usually goes at the wrong pace: either the teacher is too slow for the advanced students or
he/she is too fast for the weak students
-
2.2 PAIR WORK. PROCEDURES FOR PAIRWORK
In order pair work to be successful, certain procedures need to be followed:

1. Make sure the students know exactly what the have to do. Explain the activity and practise as necessary.
2. Divide the students into pairs (Depending on the type of activity, make sure that students take it in
turns to initiate and respond (e. g. ask and answer questions).
3. Carry out selective checking, walking round the class and listening to the pairs from time to time,
especially to those students who are likely to need your help. If you feel that an activity is going badly,
stop it, re-present it to the class and let the students start again.
4. Control noise level by stopping an activity and asking the students to start again more quietly.
5. Gauge the amount of tune an activity should go on for. Stop the activity when most students have had a
reasonable amount of practice.
6. Provide any necessary feedback. Tell the students how well they have done.

 Advantages. Pair work has the following advantages:

- It increases the amount of students’ talking time as they are presented with opportunities for
productive practice.

- It develops socialization skills and attitudinal contents (cooperation, participation, autonomy and
responsibility), which contribute to create a good atmosphere in the classroom.

 Disadvantages. However, pair work has several disadvantages:

- The students will sometimes use their mother tongue. Apart from selecting activities which we can
be reasonably sure are not beyond the level of the students and in preparing them if necessary with
some essential language (especially in the early stages), there is a number of things we can do to help
overcome this problem:

Explain why they are doing activities of this kind: i.e. that this is an opportunity to use
English.

Demonstrate whenever possible how they can ‘get round’ difficulties, i.e. through alternative
expressions.

Encourage the students to consult if they have real difficulties.

Ask them at least from time to time to impose self-discipline, e.g. through a penalty system
which requires them to pay a small fine if they use the mother tongue. This can be done in a
fun-like way so that the students actually enjoy catching one another out.

Incorrectness is another problem as many students think that if they are not corrected, they
do not learn.

Teachers sometimes worry about noise when pair work is used.

2.3. GROUP WORK. ORGANIZING GROUP WORK.

To analyze this aspect, we will follow Jeremy Harmer´s work and the Decree 89/2014, which states the
need to develop the ability to work, not only individually, but also in groups as one of the goals of Primary
Education.
The technique of working in groups is very useful in large classes, where students have few opportunities
to participate. These techniques involve the whole class working separately, in pairs or small groups, at the
same time. Some activities in which students can work in groups are Project Works, making surveys and
games like Chinese Whispers or guessing games.

1. Forming groups. The size of the groups should be worked out in relation to the total number of
students in the class. As a general rule, we could say that there should be 5-8 students in each group and
not more than 5-6 groups in the class. The teacher should normally form the groups, usually on the
basis of mixed ability to attend diversity (i.e. strong and weak students together) since as rule learners
help one another.
2. Group leader. Each group should have its own ‘leader’. The function of the group leader is not to
dominate the group but to coordinate their activities and to serve as a link between the group and the
teacher.
3. The role of the teacher. These are some of the things the teacher must do:
- Select activities carefully. The teacher should ensure that the activities can be done reasonably well
with the language the students have at their disposal.
- Work out the instructions for an activity carefully. Keep instructions simple, and if necessary use the
mother tongue.
- Present the activity to the class. Give plenty of examples and give the students a ‘trial run’.
- Monitor the students’ performance. While the activities are in progress, the teacher’s main task is to
move around the class and to ‘listen in’ discreetly in order to find out how the students are getting
on. The teacher should not, as a rule, correct mistakes of language during a group activity but make a
note of them and use them as the basis of feedback.
- Provide feedback.
 Advantages: Group work offers the following advantages, according to Donn Byrne:
- It increases the amount of student’s talking time.
- It enables students to practise the four skills of language in an integrated way.
- It gives the students the opportunity of using language to communicate with each other.
- It develops socialization skills and attitudinal contents.
- It has advantages for the teacher since they save time and introduce variation to the lesson.
 Disadvantages: Group work has the same disadvantages as pair work:
- According to Douglas Brown, in order to avoid chaotic situations, the most important aspect is that
the activities must be set up carefully. This means that learners must have very clear instructions on
how to do the activity.
- Another disadvantage is that students may use their mother tongue. Normally, this happens because
the activity is too difficult, too easy or just boring. Therefore, the tasks selected must be relevant and
interesting for the students. If students don’t understand the instructions of the activity, they are
likely to use the mother tongue too; hence the importance of clear instructions.
- Other problems with this kind of groupings are that students may feel they are not learning if they
are not being corrected all the time and some noise problems.
- Use of the first language, incorrectness and noise.
- The size of the groups depends on the activity type, whether it is a dialogue, a debate, a game, etc.
When the class is divided into two groups, we speak of team work.

2.4. INDIVIDUAL STUDY

In some activities, students need to work at their own pace. Individual study respects the learning pace of
each child and it is normally used in reading and writing tasks, which requires concentration and silence.

 The advantages of individual study are that students relax and can rely on themselves; it constitutes a
break from oral work at the same time as it allows to internalize what was learnt orally. We must try
and let students work on their own and at their own pace at some stage during the class. This type of
grouping can be used for reading and writing work.
 Some of the advantages are that students don´t use a great amount of speaking; from the social point of
view, they don´t get opportunities to interact/communicate with their classmates and attitudes of
respect, collaboration, solidarity cannot be put into practise.
3- SPACE AND TIME MANAGEMENT
Our current educational system is based on an open and flexible conception of the curriculum. Teachers
elaborate a Teaching Planning in which they adapt the prescriptive curriculum to their particular group of
students. In this Teaching Planning, the starting point will be the Evaluation Criteria which in turn are
related to a series of contents, evaluation criteria and Key Competences which must be developed by all
our students. In order to ensure that, teachers must consider carefully two aspects of classroom
management: space and timing.
After having explained the main aspects of space organisation in the classroom, we will concentrate on
space and time management.

3.1. SPACE MANAGEMENT.

Space bears a direct relationship to the activities to be done, and an indirect relationship to the
methodology. There are different ways of organising the classroom:

1. Traditional seating arrangement. The students sit in rows facing the teaching. It is up-front teaching:
the teacher is at the front of the class as the focus.
There is not a close relationship between teacher and students and the position of the teacher is of
distance and difference with respect to the pupils. Therefore this seating arrangement does not foster
communication. It is suitable for the beginning/end of the lesson, (representation stage), and individual
work: exams, written tests, compositions, silent reading
2. Circle, teacher out. This kind of arrangement favours communication, since the pupils can see each
other. As the teacher is out, the pupils feel more comfortable. This type of arrangement is suitable for
debates, discussions, games. It is typical of the methods Community Language Learning, Total Physical
Response and The Silent Way.
3. Circle, teacher inside. The role of the teacher is to provide help when necessary. It is suitable for every
kind of communication activity.
4. Horse shoe. The students are seated in a semicircle and the teacher is in the middle. It is suitable for
every kind of activity: drills, games, debates... and favours communication.
5. Boarding meetings. It is used for activities involving a lot of material (reports, project work...). The
desks are placed together and the pupils sit around.
6. Streams. The pupils are seated in two parallel rows facing the blackboard or facing each other. The
most suitable activity to use this type of arrangement is the debate.
7. Mix and mingle. Every student is in a different position, all looking at the teacher. This type of
arrangement is suitable for many oral games.
8. Learning stations. The class is divided into groups of 4, 6 or 8 students, each group like a station in
which different activities are done and where the pupils can change positions.
-As far as decoration is concerned, it is recommended to put visual aids on the walls such as posters or
calendars and include some areas to display children’s work like notice-boards, screens or a big table.
In connection with the Plan of Linguistic Communication existing in the Primary Education Schools, the
FL area can contribute to it by creating a book corner in the classroom which enables students to borrow
books of their own choice. Likewise, a listening or computer corner can also be incorporated, so that
students can listen to stories and songs or work on a computer activity.
3.2. TIME MANAGEMENT
We must anticipate the length of the learning situation and the activities, but this will be just an
orientation since the time devoted to each unit will depend on several factors, such as learners’ age and
previous knowledge, time available for FL and the type of contents. Anyway, time is relevant when
planning activities, offering varied and short ones, as learners’ concentration span is short. In addition, we
should plan realistic timings for the completion of certain activities (games, discussions) and design
activities for the end of the lesson, in case we run out of material.
When planning the activities of a lesson, we must bear in mind that each activity should have 4 phases, if
we base on the Instructional Principles of Merrill: activation, demonstration, application and integration.
Sometimes the lesson is shorter than planned or some students may finish before others. When this
happens, it is useful to have a set of activities ready to be used such as songs, short stories or language
games.
Finally, it is important to remember that there are different types of timetables and that we must choose
the one that suits best for the lesson:
1. Open timetable. It allows the students to plan the activities of the day, and requires careful activity:
planning and material organization.
2. Flexible timetable. Lessons can be shorter or longer. The advantage of this type of timetable is that it is
adapted to the needs of the syllabus.
3. Traditional timetable. There is a fixed number of fifty-minute lessons given by the same teacher in the
same classroom.
4. Modular timetable. The school day is divided into modules of 20 minutes. The English lesson may
cover two successive modules one day, three the next day, two the next day. There are certain activities
that can be done in one module, like conversation in small groups.

4- THE ROLES OF THE TEACHER AND LEARNER

4.1. THE TEACHER’S ROLE.
In recent years the teacher’s role has changed greatly and it is very far from the authoritarian figure of
traditional teaching. This is due to the influence of humanistic and communicative theories, which give
emphasis to learner-centred teaching. As a consequence, the teacher takes a less dominant role in the
classroom and learners are encouraged to speak to a partner, to walk freely in the class, to use their
imagination or to solve problems. The teacher’s role may change from one activity to another or from one
stage of an activity to another.
According to the Decree 89/2014, dated 9 February, the didactic methodology used in the design and
implementation of learning situations should encourage students to be the agent of their own learning
process by functionally contextualizing cognitive, affective and psychomotor processes. For this, the most
appropriate teaching role is that of a guide or facilitator, which allows students to build knowledge from
their own learning, achieve the objectives of the stage and acquire skills in an integrated and meaningful
way. But, sometimes, the role of the teacher, will depend to a large extent on the activity type.
4.1.1. Controller/ Conductor
The teacher acts as a controller at the presentation and practice stages and in lockstep activities.
At the presentation stage, the teacher checks that all the students have understood the form and meaning
of the new language item. At the practice stage, the teacher elicits responses, provides cues in drills, works
out the instructions for the activities and check that the pupils are doing the activity in the proper way.

4.1.2. Assessor
The teacher will correct the students’ mistakes at the practice stage and assess how well they are
performing. On the other hand, the teacher will encourage self-assessment. In this way pupils will become
more responsible, autonomous and independent, and they will get more involved in the learning process:
as the centre of the learning process and a point of reference. The teacher must also assess his/her own
work as teacher.

4.1.3. Organiser
The success of many activities depends on good organization and on the students knowing exactly what
they have to do. The main aim of the teacher when organising an activity is to give clear instructions and
get the activity going.

4.1.4. Prompter
The teacher will encourage the students to participate or make suggestions about how to carry out an
activity when there is a silence or when do not know what to do next.
 4.1.5. Participant
The teacher will sometimes act as a participant. This will contribute to create a pleasant atmosphere in the
class, and will also give the students the opportunity of practising English with someone who speaks it
better than they do.

4.1.6. Resource
The teacher should always be willing to offer help if necessary.

4.2. THE LEARNER’S ROLE

One of the major changes in foreign language teaching refers to the learner’s role.
Due to the learner-centred teaching, the student´s role has changed within the last years. In traditional
teaching, learners were seen as stimulus-response mechanisms whose learning depended upon repetitive
practice. Today, this passive role has become an active one, in the sense that the learner is more involved in
his/her own learning process and that his opinion, feelings and motivation are taking into account.

4.3 CLASSROOM CONTROL AND DISCIPLINE

The last part of the topic will be focused on classroom control and discipline. This is a key factor of
classroom management and has an important effect on the amount of learning that takes place and on the
classroom atmosphere. Thus, In order to avoid some discipline problems we can establish a code of
conduct cooperatively. This may involve a discussion on the first day with a new class in which we will
show students that the main reason for the code is to have effective learning.

5. METHODOLOGY SELECTION
5.1. SELECTION OF ACTIVITIES
The learning and assessment activities will aim to develop the students’ communicative competence and to
practise the four language skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing) taking into account that
following the Foreign Language Area Curriculum in Primary Education, aural/oral skills will be stressed
over written skills.
The activities will be selected according to the stage of the lesson:
*At the practice stage, we will design pre-communicative activities, which will prepare the students for
using the new language in real communication. The activities will be oral guided: drills, short dialogues,
exercises…
*At the production stage, the pupils will do free speaking and written activities which engage them in real
communication: simulations, role-plays, discussions, information gap activities, problem solving activities,
compositions, games, etc.
With regard to assessment, there are many ways of assessing the students’ progress from class observation
to objective test. Evaluation should be continuous and global.

5.2. PLANNING PRINCIPLES IN METHODOLOGY SELECTION.

Following the Decree 89/2014, dated 9 February, teachers should adopt varied methodologies, open and
consonant with the basic and favourable principles to the assimilation of a foreign language in the
educational context and, therefore, with the curriculum of FL in Primary Education.
Methodology includes the techniques, procedures and strategies used to carry out activities. All these should
aim to develop the students´ communicative competence, which favours the integration of the four skills.
However, oral skills over written skills should be emphasised in Primary Education since speech is the
most natural way of interaction. Moreover, in order to achieve a proper learning, it is convenient to take
into account some principles, so that children learn in a natural way: not speaking before listening, not
reading before speaking and not writing before reading. Apart from that, children’s minds are not mature
enough to deal with abstract concepts. Consequently, visual aids must be used to help them in
comprehending the reality that they are dealing with.
Firth stated ‘language is interaction; it is interpersonal activity and has a clear relationship with society’.
The classroom is not the best place to develop communication; consequently, teachers must create an
atmosphere which is as similar as possible to a real communicative situation by organising activities with
varied interactions to suit students’ needs, expectations and linked to their prior knowledge.
It is extremely difficult to come to conclusions about which methods are most suitable for every teaching
situation. A method which is appropriate with one class on one occasion will not necessarily suit the same
class at another time. Sometimes, teachers will use an expository method, where learners’ role is more
passive while in other moments learners will be more active by elaborating their tasks and becoming the
centre of the teaching-learning process.
Some teachers prefer to select one of the methods to the exclusion of others. Other teachers choose many
different methods creating a combination to work with. Both options are right, as long as teachers consider
the following teaching models: Direct or indirect methods, role play, guided research, role plays,
simulations... But no matter the methods they use, learning must be meaningful so that students can
learn by relating new language to their previous knowledge. As Stephen Krashen explains, it must
progress from the simplest to the most complex, so that students learn in a natural way; errors must be
seen as something natural and logical since, as Chomsky stated, they are positive evidence of the learning
process.
Teachers must also take into account in the design and planning the different teaching models (direct, or
directive, role plays, research ...), varied groupings (individual, tandem, small group, large group ...), as
well as the different learning styles (visual, auditory, sensorial) or the multiple intelligences of the
students, ways of accessing information or facing activities, needs, interests, motivation, and previous
knowledge.
Lastly, we must not forget that assessment is a very important part of the learning process because it
establishes a relation between the teaching practice and the learning process. Continuous assessment will
be the best method when evaluating language learning and it includes essays, projects, observation and
sometimes, exams (instruments)
Also, our teaching practice must be constantly assessed to see if it is working or not. That is why action
research is so important. If we constantly monitor our classes and change what it may not work, it is likely
that the methods and techniques that we use are the best for the classes we teach.
Apart from this, two principles must also be taken into consideration in methodology selection:

a) Variety which mainly means using a wide range of materials and activities in the classroom. There are
many ways of introducing variety within a lesson:
- We can use a wide range of activities and materials.
- We can change the seating arrangements for different activities.
- We can use the coursebook in different ways.

We should introduce variety for three reasons:

- The students’ motivation will be better.
- Our pupils’ attention span is short and they thus need to do different things.
- Lessons will be more enjoyable.

b) Flexibility means the ability to use different techniques, activities and materials depending on the
students’ level.

7 - SYNOPSIS
To conclude, many factors lay beyond a good teaching of FL. It is not just about being able to manage the
students´ learning process but also to manage the classroom in many different aspects in order to obtain the
best setting possible. To achieve this, we have to decide how we are going to group our students when
doing a task, how time and space should be arranged, which methodology suits our particular group of
students best, how we are going to monitor and assess their progress, what is our role going to be and
what rules are going to operate in our classroom.
In this topic, the different aspects of class management when dealing with FLT have been studied:
various student groupings, space and time management, selection of the methodology and the roles
of the teacher and the learner following Jeremy Harmer´s work and classroom control and discipline.
8- BIBLIOGRAPHY
 BURT, K.M. & DUKAY, H.C., New Directions in Second Language Learning: A Guidebook for ESL/EFL
Teachers. MacGraw Hill International Book Company.

 CRYSTAL, D. Lenguaje infantil. Aprendizaje y Lingüística. Medico-técnica. Barcelona, 1981.

 CHOMSKY, N. Reflections on Language. Barcelona, Ariel, 1979.

 DIXON, R.J. Practical Guide to the Teaching of English. Regent Publishing Co., New York, 1975.

 DOYLE, W. (1986). Classroom organization and management. In M. Wittrock (Ed.), Handbook of

Research on Teaching (3rd ed., pp. 392–431). New York: Macmillan

 HARMER, JEREMY., The Practice of English Language Teaching. Longman Handbooks for Language
Teachers. Longman 1983.

 HONEY & MUNFORD, Manual of Learning Styles. Cambridge, 1992.

 KRASHEN, S.D. (1982). Principles and Practice in Second Language Acquisition. Oxford: Pergamon

 NUNAD, DAVID., Designing Tasks for the Communicative Classroom. Cambridge, 1989.

 VANK, E. K.,The Threshold Level. Council of Europe, 1975.

 WIDOSH, H. J., Teaching English as Communication. Oxford U. P., 1978.

 BREWSTER, J. et al. (2003): The Primary English Teacher’s Guide. Penguin English.

 LARSEN-FREEMAN, D. (2003): Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching. Oxford University

Press

 VARELA, R. et al. (2003): All About Teaching English. Centro de Estudios Ramón Areces.

LEGISLATION

 The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (2001) which describes in a
comprehensive way the competences necessary for communication, the related knowledge and skills
and the situations and domains of communication.

 The Organic Law for improvement of Quality in Education 8/2013 of 9th December, which is the
current education law in Spain.

 The Royal Decree 126/2014 of 28th of February which establishes the basic curriculum of Primary
Education in Spain.

 The Decree 89/2014, which establishes the core of the curriculum of Primary Education in the
Autonomous Region of Canarias.

 Order of April 21, 2015, which regulates the evaluation and promotion of the student in the primary
education stage in Canarias.

 Decree 81/2010, 8th July, by which the Organic By-law of public non-university educational centres is
regulated in the Autonomous Community of Canarias.

 Decree 25/2018, dated 26th February, which rules the attention to students with specific needs of
educational support among the non-university students in the Autonomous Community of Canarias