FACULTY OF EDUCATION AND HUMANITIES

DEPARTMENT OF ARTS AND LETTERS

USING CONTEXTUALIZATION TO IMPROVE

ENGLISH FOREIGN LANGUAGE LEARNING
PART 1: PROBLEM STATEMENT

Names: Macarena González Mena

Ruben Gonzalez Saez

Pablo Prado Aravena

Professor: Francisco Cisternas

CHILLÁN, JULY 2010

Index
1
Introduction………………………………………………………. P. 03
1. The Research Problem
1.1Background………………………………………………… Page 04
1.2 The problem as such………………………………………. Page 06
1.3Justification…………………………………………………………. Page 07
1.4 Statement of the problem as a question
I Question One…………………………………………………. Page 09
1. General objective…………………………………………….. Page 09
1.1 Specific objective………………………………………. Page 09
To Category………………..……………………………………. Page 09
A.1 Sub-category……………………………………………… Page 09
A.2 Sub-category……………………………………………… Page 10
1.2 Specific objective……………………………………….. Page 10
B Category…………………………………………………………
Page 10
B.1 Sub-category……………………………………………… Page 10
B.2 Sub-category……………………………………………… Page 10
II Question Two………………………………………………… Page 10
1.1 Specific objective……………………………………….. Page 11
To Category……………………………………………………. Page 11
A.1 Sub-category……………………………………………… Page 11
A.2 Sub-category……………………………………………… Page 11
1.2 Specific objective………………………………………. Page 11
B Category…………………………………………………….. Page 11
B.1 Sub-category………………………………………………...
Page 11
B.2 Sub-category……………………………………………….. Page 11
2. Theoretical framework …………………………………………………..
P.
3. Methodological design of the research ………………….. P.
Bibliography……………………………………………………. Page 12

2
Introduction

There is no doubt that in today's interconnected world, the importance of being

able to communicate over great distances has been achieved thanks to the
notable technological development achieved during this last century. However,
to carry out effective communication in this global network, it is essential to
have a basic knowledge of the language that currently predominates: English.

On a global level, after Mandarin Chinese, English is the language most spoken
by people from other cultures. Recent estimates suggest that some 402 million
people currently speak it as their first language, and that it is used by more than
1 billion non-native speakers. Furthermore, according to a recent report by the
British Council, it is estimated that by 2015 some 2 billion people in the world
will speak this language. In this way, the final number of English language
speakers would even exceed other languages such as Arabic and French
combined.

The English language is recognized for being the international language of

diplomacy, science, technology, computing, medicine, armed forces,
engineering, tourism, sports and also business. And it is especially due to this
last area that our country has greatly emphasized the learning of this language
in recent decades. The growing commercial relations between our country and
world powers such as the United States, has undoubtedly created the urgent
need on the part of the government to ensure that Chileans learn English.

However, despite the claims of the authorities, the expected results have not
been achieved in terms of learning this language. Therefore, we believe it is of
utmost importance to work on the creation and implementation of strategies that
help overcome this problem. Our research, therefore, focuses on the area of
language teaching, specifically on the adequate transposition of content, since
we believe that this is where we need to work harder to achieve meaningful
learning in students.

Key concepts: meaningful learning, second language, bilingual nation,

contextualization, foreign language, transposition of content.

3
1 The research problem

1.1 Background

Based on our experience as students in both basic and secondary education, in

conjunction with the preparation we have received as future teachers, we have
been able to determine that the language we learn at school level is not really
transcendent to function in real communicative situations outside of school.
classroom. Furthermore, when we have the opportunity to teach private
classes, we have realized that a purely technical approach still persists on the
part of English teachers, where memorization of grammatical structures and
vocabulary lists predominates, which would ultimately interfere with meaningful
learning. in the students.

During the government of Ricardo Lagos in 2003, the then Minister of

Education, Sergio Bitar, opted in his educational agenda for measures that
would help our country become bilingual in approximately 20 years. These
measures followed the initiative of other countries where they had been
successful, such as Switzerland and South Asian countries such as Malaysia,
which would act as role models for our country.

Along these lines, that same year this government launched the “English Opens
Doors” program. A 10-year plan to raise English standards among secondary
school graduates in our country. The plan began with a certification program for
English teachers, which sought to ensure that all school graduates have English
proficiency equivalent to the Preliminary English Test (PET), the second level of
exams for non-English speakers. , designed by the University of Cambridge in
England. ( Review without barriers , Chile 2008).

Furthermore, in 2004, the first and only English test at the national level was
administered to students in eighth grade and fourth grade in municipal,
subsidized and private schools to measure how many children are above the
minimum, and how many are below the level of language proficiency. In this
sense, the University of Cambridge, with its two tests, Preliminary English Test
(PET) and Key English Test (KET) was chosen because it is within the
4
international measurement standard. However, the students did not manage to
pass the "litmus test" in English, since an international test revealed that they
only have an elementary command of this language, in addition to very low
levels of comprehension. An example of the above is that 67% of eighth grade
students and 45% of fourth grade students can only read short messages and
simple instructions in this foreign language. At the same time, only 5% of fourth-
grade students have the necessary English proficiency to function adequately in
the work and student environment. (emol.com, June 2005)

In parallel with the above, the University of Chile, since 2005, has applied a
standardized test to measure the level of English of all students entering the
first year of any degree taught by that institution. In this way, remedial programs
are carried out to overcome the students' shortcomings with this language.
Taking as a reference the results of the exam obtained in 2009 and which was
administered to 3,062 students from the three school sectors, it can be
determined that in most of them, the level of English is low, since around 42%
remained assigned to the two most elementary levels, and only 14% reached
the Intermediate level, which implies relative autonomy in the use of the
language. Therefore, based on these results, it can be determined that these
students, who were accepted into one of the most prestigious universities in the
country, are mostly not prepared to face situations that require a level of
linguistic competence associated with the use of the English language in
diverse contexts and in specific situations. (U niversity of CHILE , vice
chancellor of academic affairs, undergraduate department , 2010)

That is to say, almost seven years after Minister Bitar's desire, it is

unquestionable that enormous progress has been made and measures have
been carried out to improve the teaching and learning of the English language
in the classrooms of our country. However, for some reason, the vast majority of
young students who graduate from secondary education do not achieve the
expected learning, nor are they, therefore, capable of communicating
meaningfully in English, so apparently we are very far from reaching to be a
bilingual nation in a couple of years.
5
1.2 The problem as such

Even though the government has dedicated great efforts to improving the
subject of Foreign Language through plans and programs, which provide
methodological suggestions to achieve certain standards and also provide
concrete experiences to achieve the expected learning, the results that the The
only standardized test carried out in our country in this area in 2004, showed
the low level of mastery of the subject by students from all student sectors, a
fact that continues to this day. That is to say, the specific problem is that
students in our country are not learning English, and it would show that to a
certain extent, one of the reasons is that teachers do not teach the content
according to the plans and programs or, if they do, they do not They apply
methodologies such as contextualized learning that would contribute to
meaningful learning in students.

1.3 Justification

It is clear that the problem of the low level of English achieved by students in
our country, especially fourth-grade graduates, has been a problem of great
discussion for those who understand education in recent years. As a result of
these discussions, measures have been carried out to improve teaching work
and renew the way of teaching the contents of the English language, such as
the curricular adjustment of 2008 and the proposal for the first half year of the
curriculum and evaluation unit in the year 2009. In this way, it is inferred that
learning problems do not go through a curricular issue, but rather it is in the
teaching practice or didactic field where efforts must be focused.

According to our preparation as future teachers, we have been able to

determine that the efforts to improve the teaching of English undoubtedly go
through each of the actors involved, such as the Ministry of Education, teachers
and also student teachers. This is why we believe it is important for us to be
informed of what happens periodically in our area of specialty, to see if we can
contribute something to the improvement of teaching work. In this sense, rather
than criticizing the school system and the low results that continue to be
obtained in the English subject, we believe that with our external view of the
6
school system, and above all knowing the way in which the subject is
approached, we can contribute with something concrete to improve student
learning, a desire that finally led us to determine this area as the center of our
research.

The problem of little learning in students in the English subject is not determined
only by the factor of teaching methodology, but other factors are involved such
as the social environment, the interest of each student towards the subject
(FERNÁNDEZ MARCH, 2005 ). However, it seems to be this first area in which
there are the most shortcomings and that has most affected the expected
results in language learning, a fact that we have determined based on our
personal experiences as well as reviewing multiple bibliographic sources. It is
necessary to point out then that in the only standardized test taken in 2004 in
our country to students from different school systems, the results showed that
eighth grade and fourth grade students have a very low command of the
language compared to what is normalized. international level (EMOL.COM,
JUNE 2005) . However, despite the poor results, this measure was a pioneer in
South America, which is why it would be advisable, in our opinion, for it to
continue to be applied to have an element of monitoring learning.

In addition, year after year at the University of Chile, a standardized online test
is administered to first-year students of all the institution's majors. The results of
2008 and 2009 greatly confirm that students who enter higher education did not
achieve effective learning during their years of schooling since in 2009, 42%
were assigned to the two lowest levels, and only 14% % reached the
Intermediate level, which implies relative autonomy in the use of the language. 1

Now, since our problem is the low command of the English language on the part
of basic and secondary education students, we believe that from our
perspective, we can contribute to improving the results and learning of students
by using a teaching methodology that would help to renew the learning of
English: Contextualization.

1
University of Chile, vice chancellor of academic affairs, undergraduate department, 2010

7
This methodology refers to the meaningful use of language with real
communicative purposes, this means that they acquire knowledge through the
association of meanings with objects, people, actions among others within a
certain context, (Rioseco, Marilu, 2006 ) which would help students to
understand how native speakers of that language construct the language
according to a given context. Furthermore, this methodology is used with great
success in countries where it is necessary to learn the English language as a
second language, which is why it is not unreasonable to think that it can have
good results in our country.

It is undoubtedly one of the biggest problems present in learning the language,

is that we are not inserted in an environment where English is spoken most of
the time. Apart from the fact of not being exposed to great stimuli that facilitate
not only learning, but also the acquisition of the language, which is essential to
becoming bilingual.

In view of the above, we consider that the most effective way to achieve
significant or appreciable learning in students who are not inserted in the
English culture is the use of contextualized content by teachers, which ideally
makes students Students learn the Integrated Language as a whole and in
situations as close as possible to everyday life, leaving aside the technical
approach of the mere use of grammatical structures that until now
predominates.

1.4 Statement of the problem as a question

I Do English teachers use methodologies such as contextualization to

approach English classes?

1. General objective: To demonstrate the ways in which most English teachers

currently approach their classes and perceive whether or not they include
elements such as contextualized learning to promote meaningful learning in
students.

8
1.1 Specific objective: Characterize the main teaching practices that have
been carried out by English teachers in recent years to carry out English
classes.

TO. Category: Way of approaching classes and preparation of classes .

Conceptual definition : It refers to the analysis of teaching practices by teachers

that have become evident in our country when teaching the English language.

A.1 Subcategory: Way of approaching English classes

Conceptual definition : It refers to the analysis of the classes developed by

English teachers to check whether new methodologies are used to address the
different contents.

A.2 Subcategory: Preparation of English classes

Conceptual definition: It refers to the way in which teachers plan the teaching of
content in the subject of English, and check whether this planning presents
elements of the contextualization methodology.

1.2 Specific objective: Identify the main factors related to the use of
contextualized learning in the classroom and determine the causes of the little
use of it by English teachers when addressing the contents.

b. Category: Examples of contextualized learning and use of new

methodologies by teachers.

Conceptual definition: Refers to the elements that allow us to recognize the use
of contextualized learning in the teaching of the English language and identify
the possible causes of its low use.

B.1 Subcategory: Exemplification of contextualized learning

Conceptual definition: It refers to the different activities related to this type of

learning that can be used in the classroom.
9
B.2 Subcategory: Use of new methodology by teachers.

Conceptual definition: It refers to the fact of identifying the main problems that
are related to the scarce use of methodologies such as contextualization by
teachers to improve student learning.

II Why should the new English teaching methods be adopted as a way to

improve language skills in the students of the second half I of the Darío
Salas Technological School, in the commune of Chillan Viejo?

1. General objective: To show that one of the causes of the low

communicative competence in a foreign language of the students of the second
half I of the Darío Salas Technological School is mainly due to didactic factors
in the teaching process and the little or no use of new strategies that make
students generate meaningful learning and thus acquire the language.

1.1 Specific objective: Characterize what is understood as learning in a real

context of a communicative situation in the English teaching process.

TO. Category : Learning

Learning is the process through which new abilities, skills, knowledge,

behaviors or values are acquired as a result of study, experience, instruction
and observation.

A.1 Subcategory: Meaningful learning

Meaningful learning: The central idea of Ausubel's theory is the notion of

"meaningful learning." According to him, there is significant learning when new
information is incorporated into the learner's cognitive structure, that is, when
this information (idea, relationship, etc.) has meaning in light of the organized
and hierarchical network of concepts that the individual already has. has.

A.2 Subcategory: Rote-Mechanical Learning

It is understood as learning that is carried out through repetitive and mechanical

behaviors that cause retention. In this case, the retained information becomes
stored information without connection to prior knowledge.

10
1.2 Specific objective: Reveal new teaching methods that emphasize the
communicative skills of the English language as a foreign language.

b. Category: New teaching methods

Currently there are certain methods that have evolved from others previously
used in teaching a second language. These methods emerged after the
appearance of communicative methodologies in the 80s.

B.1 Subcategory: Contextualization

Contextualized learning:
Contextualization is the meaningful use of language for real communicative
purposes. This helps students understand how native speakers of that language
construct the language according to a given context. Teachers can
contextualize language teaching, organizing the contents of the curriculum
according to themes and topics. These themes or topics work best when
developed together throughout the course of study.

B.2 Subcategory CLT- Communicative Language Teaching

A set of principles that reflect a communicative perspective on language and

language learning and that can be used to support a wide range of classroom
procedures.

2. Theoretical Framework

Introduction:
During the '90s, a revalidation of education emerged worldwide that is
closely related to the historical changes of this end of the century. In this
context, the intensification of English, proposed by former Minister Bitar,
constitutes one of the great educational challenges of the Ministry of Education.
However, we encounter some problems: in general, the Chilean population has

11
a poor command of the English language; according to an employment
survey2 , the percentage of people who have a fluent command of English
increases from zero to 3% when going from basic education to complete
secondary education, to 8% in technical education and to 30% in complete
university education. One of the reasons for these results would be due to the
shortcomings in education, increased, according to the Instituto Libertad y
Desarrollo, by the deficient training that English teachers receive, which does
not match the capabilities required by the ministerial initiatives in this matter. .
Another affecting element is the deficit of English teachers at the level of
private, subsidized and municipal schools. According to figures from the
MINEDUC itself, in 2004 there were only 7,000 English teachers in all of Chile,
of which only 4,176 teachers had a degree. Another two thousand were not
specialists and corresponded to basic teachers who taught the language, but
without mastering it. What is even worse, the diagnosis made by the ministerial
authority of the time is that, despite the traditional five-year duration that many
universities establish for the Pedagogy degree in English, the graduates still do
not manage to communicate well in said field. foreign language. Furthermore, a
recent voluntary study showed that 69% of teachers are below the expected
standard3 . There is also not much interest among the students themselves in
learning and most educational establishments lack language laboratories and
good dictionaries. As can be seen, the goal of learning English as a foreign
language, at the level of Basic and Secondary Education, established by the
MINEDUC is vast in scope. For example, it was established that starting in
2004, all students from fifth grade to fourth grade would have their own study
texts, while teachers would have guides and cassettes delivered by the
MINEDUC. In addition, schools and high schools would have the support of
interactive software and e-learning technology.4 . These initiatives show,
consequently, that there is great concern among government authorities about
the issue of English learning in the country. As an illustration, there is the PET

2
Survey carried out in Greater Santiago, in December 2003, by the University of Chile, in conjunction
with MINEDUC and CORFO.
3
At least a First Certificate in English (FCE) level is expected.
4
E - learning is distance or blended education
12
(Primary English Test) exam for students, whose reference for fourth grade is
equivalent to about 570 points on the TOEFL 5 (Vera, 2008). Finally, there is
another didactic factor that corresponds to the little use of new teaching
methodologies that help students learn in a meaningful way.

2.1.1 How to approach English classes today

According to what was reviewed, it can be deduced that the current way
of approaching classes lacks teaching facilitating elements that help students
achieve significant learning.

In recent publications (Vera, 2008) it is suggested that Traditionally, the

training of English teachers did not prepare the Pedagogy graduate to
successfully face the modernization of education: The curriculum was oriented
towards teaching to the detriment of learning; Expository classes with little
student work were emphasized; little bond was established between teachers
and their students; There was little or no intervention that would improve the
quality of the curricular proposals, with a generation of English teachers capable
enough to successfully face the diversity and complexity of the contemporary
world.

According to this, the MINEDUC, in the area of English, develops

measures that aim to improve this form of teaching. However, and although the
reformist proposals promote meaningful learning (contextualized knowledge)
and metacognition (learning to learn), the predominant type of English in the
Chilean context is of the frontal or “digestive” type. Furthermore, many of the
criticisms of the current educational system are that it is very decontextualized
and focused on theory (Rodríguez, 2004). In most cases, the process is
reduced to rote teaching, which makes use of traditional support resources,
such as blackboard, chalk or marker, cassette tapes and/or video, and study
texts, with the consequent low performance results, high rates of demotivation,
and growing lack of interest in learning (Vera, 2008).

2.1.2 English teaching planning.

5
This exam is an admission requirement in many North American universities.
13
 In this area, Vera (2008) refers to the limitation of the different materials
delivered at the national level to plan teaching. According to this, Vera (2008)
also suggests the following: “let us add that in the Chilean educational system,
the study text is commonly used as a basal text, which considerably restricts the
possibilities that the teacher has to develop creative curricular proposals. “Most
teachers are not creators of teaching materials but merely providers of good
materials” (Richards, 2001). The bet is, then, to become good adapters to, in
this way, energize and enhance the competencies in curricular design that
today English teachers require for the success of a foreign language project.

In addition to this, there is an urgent need for teachers to use new ways
of teaching to improve both planning as well as the way of conducting classes.

In the midst of the Internet Age, curricular proposals around the English
language must include CALL ( computer assisted language learning )
resources.6 Let us not forget that for children and young people the computer
and its associated resources are a natural part of their lives. In this sense,
technology offers us unsuspected opportunities to face various challenges in
the TEFL ( teaching of English as a foreign language ) field. However, to
incorporate computer-based learning situations and consequently promote self-
directed learning, the teacher must have knowledge about technology,
curricular integration and teaching planning (Dede, 1998). Pedagogical
innovations demand English teachers with skills to use various technological
resources. If we link new technologies with language learning, we observe that
students become very motivated, managing to get involved individually and
collectively in the planned activities. These activities enable the implementation
of a constructivist pedagogy, in line with the qualitative change promoted by the
Chilean Educational Reform, since the use of computers and their associated
resources allow the extension and strengthening of students' cognitive
processes. Technological resources have positive consequences, turning the
teaching and learning process into a dynamic, playful, pleasant, agile,
motivating, and, above all, productive activity. The Ministry of Education raises

6
CALL includes the use of productivity software, interactive multimedia, and customer-oriented Web sites.
foreign language learning.
14
the need to intensify the learning of English in the country, but this is not
possible if we continue anchored in obsolete ways of conceiving and doing
things. According to some authors, the constructivist approach, by which
independent, interactive and exploratory learning opportunities are provided, is
appropriate for learning in a playful and computer-assisted way (Dede, 1998). It
is, therefore, urgent for English teachers to update themselves, improving not
only their pedagogical practices but also incorporating new technologies in the
foreign language curriculum (Vera, 2008).

2.2.1 Exemplification of contextualized learning

It is important to note the elements presented above for the significant

improvement of English language learning, such as the use of different didactic
and technological resources, which are mostly concentrated in the methodology
known as contextualized learning. Now, this methodology (which is expanded
upon later) encompasses various activities that help better learning.

2.1.1.1 Examples of contextualized learning and topics that can be used in the
classroom7

 Interactive games and activities such as bingo, high school, Who Wants
to Be a Millionaire or other television contest format.

 Telling stories orally or in writing, dramatization, representation of

language through singing or reciting.

 Presentation of topics by students that involve research by themselves.

 Reading or listening to authentic texts on topics such as fiction,

documentaries, films, newspapers, magazines, radio broadcasts, talks.

 Problem/solution tasks, riddles, performances.

 Projects such as creating a wall diary, holding a community event,

performance.

7
Shaping the Way We Teach English: Successful Practices Around the World, 2006.
15
  Use of realia8 and authentic materials.

2.2.2 Use of this methodology by teachers.

This area frames the problem of insufficient use of new technologies to

address English classes by most of the teachers of the English subject. In this
sense, the causes that lead to this form of language teaching are multiple and
varied, however we can distinguish two among the most important, teacher
training and the low level of graduates from pedagogy courses.

2.2.2.1 Deficit in teacher training

Alluding to the above, Vera (2008) points out that The conventional
model of teacher training has begun to clearly show its inefficiency and
ineffectiveness both from the teacher's point of view, in relation to their growth
and professional development, and in the impact that such training has on
processes and results at the classroom level. In light of the reformist
movements, this translates into the following deviations:

a) The conventional approach to teacher training is characterized by

various problems: unidirectional training decontextualized from the socio-
cultural and economic reality of the country and the world, as well as the
challenges that it demands of educational centers and teachers; lack of
connection with reality and teaching knowledge; overlapping of knowledge,
without interdisciplinary understanding of educational processes; reproduction
of the traditional teaching model; poor preparation of teacher educators
themselves; inadequate teaching modalities.

b) The model that supports teacher training places emphasis on a type of

training (development of skills and abilities, management of methods and
techniques), rather than on comprehensive training (development of a
theoretical and practical understanding of the learning problems of a foreign
language, beyond what is strictly operational and immediate).
8
It consists of specific objects or ideas that are used in the classroom to illustrate and teach vocabulary,
which help to facilitate language acquisition and production.
16
In general, teacher training can be characterized by the following aspects:

 It assumes that the need for teacher training is inversely proportional to

the level at which it is taught, thereby ignoring the importance and
complexity of learning styles and rhythms.

 It is inconsistent with the pedagogical model that is proposed to teachers

for their classroom practice. They are asked to promote active teaching,
participation, critical thinking and creativity, which they do not
experience in the training process.

In particular, teacher training in the specialty has the following shortcomings:

 It dissociates linguistic competence from communicative competence,

with the teacher focusing on an evident structural approach to teaching,
with subjects that deal with grammar and phonetics in an isolated and
decontextualized manner.

 It trains English teachers with a strong orientation towards the frontal

class, which does not allow the student to discover and construct,
transforming the student into a passive actor in the teaching and
learning process.

 Lacks solid training in the management of information and

communication technologies (ICTs)9 , which is evident in the limited use,
in general, that English teachers make of the computer, productivity
programs, linguistic links on the Internet, and management of CALL
systems ( computer assisted language learning ).

 It focuses more on teaching than on learning, which makes it very

difficult for the English teacher to creatively use various teaching and
learning strategies, almost nullifying his role as facilitator who provides
the instrument (language) so that the student work.

2.2.2.2 Level of pedagogy graduates

9
The technologies of the information and communication
17
 There is no doubt that due to problems in the teacher training of
pedagogy students, especially in the didactic field, the results obtained broadly
in their theoretical base and mastery of new methodologies present in the
teaching of English, will be irregular. .

Now, according to a diagnosis carried out in 2004 by the authorities of the

Ministry of Education and by professionals from the academic and economic
field10 , it was determined that despite the traditional five-year duration that
many universities establish for the Pedagogy degree in English, graduates still
do not manage to communicate well in said foreign language (Vera, 2008).
Now, within the framework of curricular requirements, the teaching of English
must be in the hands of highly qualified professionals. However, and due to
various reasons, the reality of the country is far from fully satisfying this
requirement. Statistics reveal a worrying level of English teachers in the
country. Furthermore, most English Pedagogy programs do not fully meet the
needs of a modern EFL (English as a Foreign Language) curriculum, and
although some universities have undertaken improvements to their curricula,
change is still slow.

CLT method

Communicative Language Teaching in language teaching begins with a theory

of language as communication. The main goal of language teaching is to
develop what Hymes11 called “communicative competence”. Hymes coined this
term as a way to contrast a communicative view of language and Chomsky's
communicative theory.

Realizing that neither the extreme method of exclusive grammatical analysis,

nor the other method based solely on open communication can teach
fully a language in all its aspects, the teacher has to

10
Tokman, Andrea, Diagnosis and proposal for Chilean education , VOLUME 8 - Nº1 / April 2005
11
Hymes (1972) Communicative competence and Communicative Language Teacher
18
face the problem of how to find a balance between these two opposing teaching
trends. The solution that Larsen-Freeman 12 proposes is something she calls
grammaring . Activities in the classroom must be
communicative, giving students the opportunity to use the language for their
own purposes. But such activities must be carried out in a way in which
that students are aware of the correct use of grammar, the special use of
certain forms and the reasons why these uses occur in terms of form, meaning
and socio-communicative use. However, Larsen-Freeman emphasizes that
many of the details of how this teaching style can be implemented depend on
the characteristics and context in which they are taught.

Although it may not always seem like it immediately, everything that is done in
class is based on beliefs about the nature of language, the nature of the
learning process, and the nature of the act of teaching. It is now generally
accepted that language is more than just a set of grammatical rules and
attention to sets of vocabulary to memorize. It is a dynamic resource to create
relationships of meaning. Learning is no longer simply seen as a habit-forming
process. Students and the cognitive processes in which they engage while
learning are seen as fundamentally important to the teaching-learning process.
Additionally, in recent years, learning as a social process has been increasing
and sociocultural theories have appeared as a contribution to cognitive theories.

Another difference that has existed in general philosophy and epistemology for
many years is that between “knowing that” and “knowing how”, that is, between
knowing and being able to regurgitate groups of grammatical rules, and being
able to detach this grammatical knowledge. to communicate effectively. In the
times of the “Audiolingual Method” “knowing that” was avoided in favor of
“knowing how.” In any case, now, the pursuit of both forms of knowledge are
considered valid purposes in pedagogy.

These views cement the term “communicative language teaching”. A great deal
has been said and written about CLT over the last 30 years, it is sometimes
assumed to be a single method, but in reality it consists of a family of methods.

12
Diane Larsen-Freeman(2003) From Grammar to Grammaring
19
And as is the case with most families, not all members live harmoniously
together all the time, there are disputes and disagreements from time to time
however no one would have the will to claim that they do not belong to the
family.

Students' beliefs about the learning process can affect their motivation, their
receptiveness to classroom activities, their study strategies, and, ultimately,
their performance. 13

Furthermore, there is evidence that there can often be serious differences

between teachers' and students' opinions about what activities support learning.
14

Principles of Communicative Language Teaching 15

- The meaning is the main thing

- Dialogues, if used, focus on the functions of communication and are not

normally memorized (contextualization is a basic premise)

- Language learning is learning to communicate

- Effective communication is seen

- Drills can be used but peripherally

- Comprehensible pronunciation is seen

- Any device that helps the student is accepted, varying according to age,
interests, etc.

- Attempts to establish communication are expected from the beginning

13
Arredando and Rucinski, 1996
14
Block, 1994; Nunan, 1986
15
Finocchiaro and Brumfit 1983

20
 - Translation can be used where students need it or benefit from it

- If desired, reading and writing can begin from day one if desired

- The desired linguistic system is learned through the process of difficulty

in communication

- The desired goal is to achieve communicative competence

- Linguistic variation is a central concept in materials and methods

- Sequencing is determined by any consideration of content function or

meaning that maintains interest

- Teachers help students in all ways to motivate them to work with the
language

- Language is created by the individual through trial and error

- The primary goals are fluency and acceptable language; accuracy is

judged not in the abstract but in context.

- Students are expected to interact with other people, in person, through

pair and group work, or in their writing.

- The teacher cannot know exactly what language the students will use.

- Intrinsic motivation will spring from an interest in what is being

communicated by the language

Contextualization16

Contextualizing instruction in language is an effective ELT method especially

for young learners. This method consists of teaching a foreign language
through specific situations, a specific purpose or subject content from the
regular curriculum. Its effectiveness comes from the meaningful use of the
L2, in a given context, communication becomes more meaningful and the
16
Resources Online Resources: Digests April 1995 EDO-FL-95-07
21
 use of language is connected to a real communication situation, especially in
EFL (English as a foreign language) classes. This method is a good
demonstration of Krashen's Second Language Acquisition Theory, since
teaching through language contextualization provides similar conditions to
those used in learning the first language. This is why contextualized second
language teaching provides a real environment that gives students the
opportunity to use the new language with a real communicative purpose.

Contextualized learning17
Contextualization is the meaningful use of language for real communicative
purposes. This helps students understand how native speakers of that
language construct the language according to a given context. In this sense,
language learning in context can be expressed in the following way

 Working with real or simulated situations

 Paying attention to the physical language exchange environment

 Knowing the real purpose of interaction with the language

 Using acceptable social norms of interaction.

 Pay special attention to medium, tone, genre, and register

Teachers can contextualize language teaching, organizing the contents of the

curriculum according to themes and topics. These themes or topics work best
when developed together throughout the course of study.

Reasons for using contextualized learning18

 Language is built through a mixture of purpose, situations and social

needs. And it has been determined that better results are obtained in the
final learning, when all these dimensions are incorporated within the
classroom.

17
Shaping the Way We Teach English: Successful Practices Around the World, 2006.
18
Shaping the Way We Teach English: Successful Practices Around the World, 2006.
22
  The contextualized learning approach to instruction also supports the use
of integrated skills, group and pair work.

 Furthermore, a contextualized approach can encourage a deep level of

language use, especially when the topics or topics are of high interest
and motivate students.

Various authors have also examined the effect of affective variables on

learning and school achievement. TOBIAS (1994) 19 , for example, points out
that the use of interesting material stimulates students' visual imagination to a
greater extent. According to the author, the stimulation of pleasant emotions
increases the memory of personal experiences and increases the use of visual
images, which could facilitate learning through the memory of interesting
content. It is possible that processes such as this make the material more vivid
and distinct and lead to both more frequent as well as deeper cognitive
processing of instruction, thus making more explicit the mechanisms by which
interest facilitates learning. (p.47).

Acquisition and learning processes20

Acquisition is an unconscious process, through which the student

spontaneously develops knowledge while learning is a conscious process. Both
processes take place in the classroom; However, in primary education,
acquisition should be especially respected since a maturational development
that allows reflection on the foreign language has not yet been achieved, as will
occur later in the secondary stage. This circumstance makes all immersion
situations in the foreign language that facilitate the exposure of students to
understandable information, even if the level of production is lower than that of
comprehension, favorable. Progressively, progress will be observed in the
students that will allow them to participate more actively in the use of the
language.

19
TOBIAS, Sigmund (1994) "Interest, Prior Knowledge, and Learning" Review of Educational Research
Vol. 64, no.1, 37-64
20
Sagrario Salaberri, 1993 Use of English in the classroom
23
 The use of English in the classroom offers many and varied opportunities to
promote acquisition, since messages are transmitted with the help of
extralinguistic contexts and are based on students' previous experiences.
These will only begin to induce rules when their level of thought
development allows it and after periods of exposure to messages that
contain them.

In the early stages of acquiring or learning the foreign language, it is

important not to force students to produce verbal responses since they do
not yet have sufficient linguistic resources. This process of respecting the
period of silence and showing understanding through non-verbal responses
is parallel to that which takes place in the acquisition of the mother tongue.

With the use of English in the classroom, students must give non-verbal
responses most of the time (preparing the material, organizing themselves
at work, etc.), since the language is largely receptive and the objective is
developing understanding in a context. As a consequence of the above, the
language provided by the teacher will be higher in the primary education
stage to favor the period of silence, and will decrease in the secondary stage
when the students can already communicate more and better orally.

Comprehensible input21

In the classroom, students must be provided with understandable

information and this takes on special value when students have a low or
practically zero level of linguistic competence, as is the case of introduction
to the foreign language.

By using English in the classroom, students are exposed to communicative

data that is significant to them for the following reasons:

• The information provided is close to the immediate interests of the

students, since it is largely based on the performance of activities or tasks in
class, that is, it has an instrumental value.
21
Sagrario Salaberri, 1993 Use of English in the classroom
24
 • The language used is very functional, in the sense that it is applicable to
various everyday situations.

• The degree of contextualization is high, incorporating non-verbal elements,

which facilitates understanding by students.

Learning by doing

From a cognitive point of view, knowledge is created through a process of

meaning construction. Until approximately twelve years of age, children
have not yet reached the stage of abstract thinking; and this means that they
acquire knowledge by associating meanings with objects, people, actions,
etc. within a context. Only after periods of practice with these associations
will students be able to make abstractions and use the language
independently of the context.

This approach, according to which the first learning in both the mother
tongue and the foreign language takes place through the direct presence of
the things to which we are referring, must be taken into account when we
select didactic activities and is favored by the systematic use of English in
the classroom since the language presented is highly contextualized. It is
also important to incorporate what we could call routines, that is,
expressions related to everyday situations, which offer students the
opportunity to use the appropriate language in a given context and which are
usually learned by repetition without the need to understand the linguistic
elements that configure them.

In the primary education stage, activities and work contexts must be

carefully selected, since they must have operating structures (rules of games,
parts of stories, etc.), with which students are already familiar. . We must not
forget the global context that constitutes the classroom and its components,
since it is the place where the activities, relationships, behaviors, etc., that the
students already have incorporated into their school experience, take place.

This approach is based on the psychopedagogical theories of Vygotsky, Bruner,

Dewey, Stenhouse, etc. connecting with Krashen and Terrell's NaturalApproach

25
since comprehensive listening and the communicative use of language are
considered essential, and more directly with Asher's Total Physical Response
method since the interaction is based on the students initially giving non-verbal
responses in oral communication situations.

3. METHODOLOGICAL DESIGN OF THE RESEARCH

3.1 Foundation of the type of research

The type of research carried out in this project is above all qualitative, that is,
the use of a holistic perspective will be privileged, since the aim will be to
understand the set of interrelated qualities that characterize a certain
phenomenon. As explained above, we will use the descriptive method, in order
to interpret the information that can be collected through the instruments. This
entire process will be carried out in a minimum of 3 sessions in order to rule out
all the influences that the researcher's presence may produce.

3.2 The study unit

To carry out our research we have chosen the Darío Salas Technological
College, which is a subsidized private institution that provides secondary
education of the professional-technical type. The socioeconomic level of the
students who attend this school is medium-low, where a low-cost monthly
payment is paid, which is why the establishment has an approximate universe
26
 of 1,500 students. Each level is made up of 9 courses which on average have
45 enrolled students.

3.3 Study subjects

Regarding the study subjects involved in the research project, we have two
groups to study. On the one hand, the class of students, which in our case are
two courses, both 2nd year of the telecommunications specialty. The first, 2nd
H, with an enrollment of 44 students, of which 25 are women and 19 men. The
second course, 2nd I, is made up of 43 students, 22 of them women and 21
men. On the other hand, the status corresponding to the classroom teachers
will be reflected in the only teacher to be studied, who teaches the subject of
English in both courses.

3.4 Justification of the information collection instruments

3.4.1 Focus group

We will use this instrument instead of interviews, since both courses to be

analyzed have a large number of students. The fact that it is more flexible and
in a group helps to achieve a greater degree of trust among the participants
who can even generate new information.

Guidelines for collecting information in the group made up of students. The

course will be divided into groups of 7 which must answer the following
questions.

Responses (interventions) of participating

Subcategory Ask subjects
Subject 1:
Do they relate the new
A.1 Meaningful content of the subject with Subject 2:
Learning what they have previously
seen? Subject 3:

Subject 4:

Subject 5:

Subject 6:

Subject 7:

Do they often use Subject 1:

27
A.2 Memoristic- memorizing information to
Mechanical take tests? Subject 2:
Learning
Subject 3:

Subject 4:

Subject 5:

Subject 6:

Subject 7:

Subject 1:
B.1 Do they use the English
Contextualization language in situations that Subject 2:
can be related to everyday
life? Subject 3:

Subject 4:

Subject 5:

Subject 6:

Subject 7:

B.2 Subject 1:
CLT
Communicative Do they use the English Subject 2:
Language language as the main
Teaching communication tool in the Subject 3:
classroom?
Subject 4:

Subject 5:

Subject 6:

Subject 7:

3.4.2 Interview

The in-depth interview will be developed between the group represented by the
professor of both courses and the researcher, who will try to collect the greatest
amount of information through the structured interview presented below. We

28
chose this Instrument because of the degree of depth that can be reached with
it.

Teacher interview questions:

Subcategory A.1.1 Way of approaching English classes

1- How would you describe your way of making the contents of the subject
known to your students?

2- Does this way of delivering content vary from one class to another?

Subcategory A.1.2 Preparation of English classes

1- What is the basis for developing teaching planning?

2- Do you use elements of new English teaching methodologies? which is

it?

Subcategory B.1 Exemplification of contextualized learning

1- Can you characterize the instances for student participation in class?

As?

2- What type of activities do you carry out to develop your class?

Subcategory B.2 Use of new methodology by teachers.

1. Do you think teachers use new teaching methodologies to approach

English classes today?

2. In general, what are the main problems related to the limited use of new
methodologies to approach classes by English teachers?

29
3.5 Tables of terms of reference in which they intersect: sub-categories,
statuses, information gathering instruments

Collecting
Instrument Status: Darío Technological School students Rooms: 2° H and 2° I
Focus Group

Categories
TO. Learning A.1 Meaningful Learning

b.
A.2 Memoristic-Mechanical Learning
New
Teaching
Methods B.1 Contextualization

B.2 CLT Communicative Language Teaching

Collecting
Instrument Status: Classroom Teacher at the Darío Salas Technological School
Interview 2nd year teacher H and I

Categories
A.1 Way of approaching English classes
TO. Way of
approaching
classes and
preparing 30
them.

b.

Examples of
 A.2 Preparation of English classes

B.1 Exemplification of contextualized learning

B.2 Little use of this methodology by teachers

3.6 Explanation of how the information will be analyzed

The information collected through the different instruments will constitute the corpus
with which our object of study will be analyzed. Once the information has been
collected, the hermeneutic triangulation corresponding to each level will be carried out,
to then give way to the selection of relevant information which will be done under
certain parameters.

The conclusions will be analyzed taking into account both levels investigated, which will
lead us to new conclusions which will later also be compared with the curricular
framework that supports our research. Thus, we will already have the necessary
elements for the subsequent interpretation of the information.

31
Bibliography:

EMOL.COM (2005) “ Chilean schoolchildren achieve mediocre results in

English tests”, Santiago, Chile.
JACK C. RICHARDS & THEODERE S. RODGERS. Approaches and
Methods in Language Teaching , Cambridge University Press
FERNANDEZ MARCH (2005) New teaching methodologies , Universidad
polivalente Valencia, Spain.
SIN BARRERAS MAGAZINE (2008) English, The language that knows no
limits or borders, Chile.
RIOSECO, MARILU (2006 ) The contextualization of teaching as a
facilitator of meaningful learning , University of Concepción, Chile.
VICE-RECTOR'S OFFICE OF ACADEMIC AFFAIRS, UNIVERSITY OF CHILE (2008),
Report on results of the English diagnostic exam applied to students ,
Santiago Chile.
VICE-RECTOR'S OFFICE OF ACADEMIC AFFAIRS, UNIVERSITY OF CHILE (2009),
Report on results of the English diagnostic exam applied to students ,
Santiago, Chile.

32