Analysis about the relation between external exposure to English language and the language competence of students in fifth grade from San Pedro School in Bucaramanga
Janice Lizzette Rondón Franco
Licenciatura en Lengua Extranjera Inglés
Decanatura de Universidad Abierta y a Distancia (DUAD)
Facultad de Educación
Bogotá 2020 1
Analysis about the relation between external exposure to English language and the language competence of students in fifth grade from San Pedro School in Bucaramanga
Janice Lizzette Rondón Franco
Director
Hebelyn Eliana Caro
Licenciatura en Lengua Extranjera Inglés
Decanatura de Universidad Abierta y a Distancia (DUAD)
Facultad de Educación
Bogotá 2020
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Table of Contents
List of tables and Figures 4
Acknowledgements 5
Abstract 6
1. Contextualization 7
2. Research Statement 9
General Objective 10
Specific Objectives 10
3. Literature Review 11
3.1 Language Exposure 11
Media 11
Encouragement 12
3.2 Language Competence 13
4. Design 16
4.1 Connection between the Study and the Epistemological Foundations of the 16
Subproject.
4.2 Context Description 19
4.3 Instruments 21 3
5. Data Analysis 22
5.1 Data collection procedures 22
5.2 Methodology for data analysis 24
5.3 Categorization 26
Identifying language exposure 26
Analyzing language competence of students 29
Relation between language exposure and language competence 33
6. Conclusions, limitations, and implications 37
7. References 40
8. Annexes 44
8.1 Consent form 44
8.2 Samples of instruments 45
Survey 46
Interview 49
8.3 Artefacts 51
8.4 Data Analysis graph 53
8.5 Data Analysis chart 54
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List of tables and Figures
Table 1 27
Table 2 30
Figure 1 15
Figure 2 18
Figure 3 26
Figure 4 31
Figure 5 32
Figure 6 51
Figure 7 52
Figure 8 52
Figure 9 53
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Acknowledgements
I would like to recognize the absolute help and support of many individuals who make this research project a reality. To them I offer my sincere gratitude for guiding me and encouraging me in this significant process. Foremost, I thank God for the opportunity of developing this research and contributing to the improvement of the teaching and learning experiences for a better quality of education in our country. Without his blessing and inspiration, this project would be meaningless.
I extend my thanks to my supervisor teacher Hebelyn Caro Aguilar for her contributions to the progress and enhancement of my work. Her kindness and assertiveness made possible an accurate research process, thus, the successful completion of this paper. Finally, I am deeply grateful to my husband, my family, my friends and my students and their families who have always been a source of love, support, and guidance in my life, and constantly supported me during this process. My heartfelt thanks.
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Abstract
This study emerged out of the researcher’s personal experience of English as a foreign language learner and teacher, and its aim was to comprehend how this process and students’ competence is related to the external exposure to the language they can have. A profound analysis about how these external factors can be determinant for the success of their learning experience in the classroom was addressed, and thanks to the application of some surveys, questionnaires and interviews to a selected group of participants between 10-11 years age from elementary in a local school, it was possible to reflect upon student’s habits, resources, perceptions, family roles and other relevant factors concerning language exposure, identifying its relation with the language competence. By means of a thematic analysis, significant findings emerged regarding self-motivation in terms of confidence, expectations and consciousness; moreover, extrinsic motivation concerning family encouragement were discerned as means of language exposure that can determine the proficiency in the language learning, thus, the competence of students.
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1. Contextualization
With globalization and the rise of technologies and innovative resources at hand, it is becoming increasingly evident that external factors may have a significant role in the learning processes of students, thus, in the learning of a foreign language. However, it is evident the increasing interest of schools to continue contributing to the improvement of this learning process of acquisition of English as a foreign language. Under this premise, a fundamental question about the relevance of the role of family and home environment in this process and the final explicit performance in the classroom emerges. From this interrogative, the researcher developed this investigation which aims at analyzing how experiences promoted at home are related and could contribute to the learning of English as a foreign language in students of fifth grade from San Pedro Claver school, Bucaramanga.
To explore this research idea, the researcher started questioning her own experience in learning English, taking into account she grew up in a family with a few members that could speak the foreign language; also, she had the opportunity to attend public schools where
English was taken once per week and even some of the teachers had a lower level than students. Despite these facts, her family always encouraged her when she started showing interest in the subject, especially because she and her sister enjoyed listening and singing music in this language all the time. They used to participate in every event related to representing schools in music festivals, so their mother always rewarded them with books or cassettes in the foreign language. At the end of high school and without any extra training she could finish school and attend university with a B2 English level (according to the CEFR).
When she decided to become an English teacher, she was always reflecting about these positive factors that inspired her to improve her communicative skills constantly. With that in mind, this research idea emerged to understand the relevance of children's experiences at 8
home and the opportunities they could have to be exposed to the foreign language. Now, after six years working as a teacher the same question arose, especially after identifying the great difference of performance she could meet in the same classroom. This leads the researcher to think that there would be meaningful experiences beyond the resources and methodologies teachers could apply in classes. These personal experiences could be related to the engagement or “detachment” of children with the English learning process, and these facts could take place in the most important setting of social and cultural human behavior: home.
These personal reasons, the issue of English education in our country and the evident lack of studies related to these external factors and the language acquisition of English as a foreign language inspired the researcher to immerse in this inquiry.
With this study, teachers, students and families in the EFL area particularly not only will understand the relationship of family habits and English learning, but they also could identify the factors that can support our goals of becoming a bilingual country like the
Colombia Bilingüe project expects. In this study, the researcher wants to identify the nature and scope of the external factors (at home) and also investigate how these could shape students' EFL performance in class. Through this investigation, it could be possible to identify the different opportunities of exposure to the language at home with positive or negative effects, and at the same time, describe the level of relation that social and cultural factors at home could have in the learning of a foreign language. The main purpose of this research is the comprehension of student’s family habits and attitudes in order to do an analysis that could help to propose the application of language learning strategies at home that could support the learning process of children. At the same time, this research will help pre-service and actual teachers to understand language contexts and factors involved in these processes beyond teaching practices in order to improve school experiences of learning
English as a foreign language, according to the B.A. program. 9
2. Research statement
San Pedro Claver school is part of the international educational community
“Compañia de Jesus” which for many years has been dedicated to improving their educational proposal, having now 6 of their 9 schools in Colombia certified as bilingual institutions. Being the San Pedro School one of the few who has still not received this accreditation, it started recently the process of becoming a bilingual school making a considerable effort to update its teachers payroll and improve the performance of students in this area specially, students from fifth and eleventh grades who are asked to take every year the “Pruebas Saber”, International Cambridge test and Asoclaver test, which measure the level of knowledge and communicative skills in this foreign language. Uncertainly, every year the results of these national tests have shown a remarkable difference in the performance of students from the same groups. As an explanation of this issue, it could be considered the fact that the school receives a great number of students every year, however, most of the students from this institution are old and have been linked to the school from preschool, discarding this as a retaliation.
Regarding this fact, the researcher started to consider that there would be other factors beyond the school that could be related to the language performance of students. Such is the case of students from 5th grade from San Pedro Claver school, who present a great difference in their performance, finding students in the same class that can communicate with a considerable fluency (level B1) while others scarcely can identify and write some words or compose simple phrases with a moderate complex level (A1). It also could be established that despite having the same qualified resources available as a bilingual private school such as a bilingual library, high leveled English teachers and a transversal curriculum for English subjects, it has been evidenced a differentiation on their classes development since some of 10
them seem to be more comfortable and willing when using resources and developing the activities proposed in the English classes; while others seem to feel frightened and demotivated when they get involved in English activities.
From this specific case, as a part of the personal experience of the researcher and as an English teacher of this group, it emerges a need to consider these facts and identify external factors (outside the classroom) related to social and cultural habits that could shape students' EFL context. For all these reasons, the following research question has been considered:
How does the external exposure (out of the classroom) to English language relate to the language competence of students in fifth grade from San Pedro Claver School,
Bucaramanga?
Based on the above, two objectives were established for the development of this research:
General objective
Analyse the relation between the external exposure to the English language (out of the classroom) and the language competence of students in fifth grade from San Pedro Claver school, Bucaramanga.
Specific Objectives
● Identify the types of external exposure to the English language that students in
fifth grade of San Pedro Claver school, Bucaramanga have.
● Determine the level of language competence that students of fifth grade of San
Pedro Claver school, Bucaramanga have.
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3. Literature Review
Taking into account that the purpose of the investigation hereby has to do with the comprehension of key concepts that comes closer to the objectives of the project which has to do with the comprehension of what is external exposure and language competence, below it will be displayed the theoretical construction of this research where we could deepen these concepts in light of other researches related and also over what authors in this area has stated.
3.1 Language exposure
Media
Learning is a continuous process that occurs with the appropriate stimulus which can be internal and external. In the external motivation for learning a foreign language, students have many opportunities to be encouraged outside of the classroom, especially nowadays, where technologies put at hand a great quantity of media which, combined with the fact of
English upsurge, thanks to globalization, makes learning circumstances more attainable. It is important to consider the great effect these conditions have on the students’ learning performance, as Mercedes Ivars expresses in her research about English learning beyond the classroom:
Hence, technology users certainly encounter the English language whenever
they are in contact with digital media. In such cases, if exposure to media is
constant, it should have an effect on the linguistic development of those users
for whom English is the L2 (Ivars, 2015, p.8).
But when we talk about technology and media, we could consider many factors that
Mac Leod and Larsson (2011) describe clearly as various forms of communication and forums such as television, Digital Video Discs, music, the internet, magazines, and 12
newspapers. From all of these, the internet can be considered the most impressive influence of young people and its uses are boundless. A recent study made by UNICEF (2017) demonstrated that most of the 70% of the young people (between 15 and 24 ages) are connected online, and every year there are more children that have access to ICTs with younger ages each time. Accordingly, we could suggest as Larsson (2011) says that exposure to informal English has increased inside as well as outside the ESL classroom. This can be interpreted as an awareness to teachers and parents to be conscious of the exposure and encouragement our children need to receive in order to steer these experiences to a learning enhancement, which is the purpose of this research. For this reason, it is essential to understand these factors as the way we could exploit them to strengthen language acquisition.
Encouragement
For many years, researchers have worked to demonstrate the powerful relation that motivation has in the learning process. Lamb (2002), for example, suggests that motivation and degree of autonomy are also fundamental aspects in L2 development when learning opportunities are scarce. In his research he could demonstrate that factors like determination, self-awareness and commitment are crucial for an effective learner’s role. To this, Rahman
(2015) adds the fact of social influence, with expectations, contributions, and parents’ involvement, which can be determinant in the attitude and perception students can have towards the learning of a foreign language. Considering the above-mentioned points, we could add some other factors that can determine the level of encouragement to learn a language, some of these are:
★ Previous experiences
★ Financial contributions or support
★ Personal or professional expectations 13
★ Resources accessibility
★ Perception (personal or others)
★ Attitude
★ Parents influence
These factors of encouragement can help us to identify the types of external exposure students can have with the language, thus, their pertinence in the learning process.
3.2 Language competence
The language competence has been defined by many linguists like Chomsky,
Riffaterre and Foucault, who despite having remarkable assumptions of language process, got to differentiate the concepts of linguistic performance and competence. For Chomsky (1965), the first represents the formal and empirical realization of the second, being this an intuitive and reasoning power that gives humans the faculty to learn language through a generative process. Under this premise, John Phillips and Chrissie Tan describes this system as a case where thinking imposes language:
An individual’s competence is defined by the grammar, or set of rules, that is
represented mentally and manifested by their understanding of acceptable usage in a
given linguistic idiom. Grammatical competence thus defines an innate knowledge of
rules rather than knowledge of items or relations. It is said to be innate because one
apparently does not have to be trained to acquire it and it can be applied to an
unlimited number of previously unheard examples (Philips and Tan, 2005, p. 2)
For other theorists and linguists, the description of language competence is not related to rules functions as a part of an innate system but as historical conditions independent of experience that nonetheless help to determine (Foucault, 1972). For example, for MacCabe 14
(2003) there is an important relation between the competence and the performance of language that works as the relation of the body and language which he describes as a source of political forces that is very related to discourse. In a broad term we could say then that the language competence is the discourse competence, a culture-social ability to use the language in different contexts and for different purposes.
In American Sign Language (2011), known by its acronym in English as ASL, this faculty is defined as a linguistic competence, which means the knowledge of the language and the ability to use that knowledge to interpret and produce meaningful texts or speech appropriate to the situation in which they are used. Accordingly, there are some criteria or guidelines that can help us to measure the level of competence of a person in terms of the languages he uses for authentic communications. These are defined in the following list:
★ Lexicon: recognize and use a repertoire of simple sign vocabulary and set phrases in
familiar contexts.
★ Grammatical structures: use, in modelled situations, learning situations where a
model of specific linguistic elements is consistently provided and immediately
available.
★ Register: use register to recognize formal and informal situations.
★ Social conventions: recognize and use important social conventions in everyday
interactions (e.g., turn-taking, calling for attention, interpersonal space)
★ Variations in language: recognize some common variations in signing (e.g., age,
gender, ethnicity)
★ Cohesion/Coherence: link several sentences coherently and use common
conventions to structure texts. 15
★ Text forms: recognize a variety of signed text forms and use some simple signed text
forms in their own productions.
★ Patterns of Social Interaction: use simple conventions to open and close
conversations and to manage turn taking.
All of the criteria mentioned above describe the general learning outcomes for language competence, and are also mentioned in the Common European Framework based on each one of the communicative skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing) contemplated as a guideline to measure and assess the language learning process in most of the educational institutes in the world, which also it is the case of the San Pedro school which guidelines for the English language learning process is monitored under this criteria:
Figure 1
San Pedro School English Curriculum
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Note. This picture represents the primary learning goals corresponding for each one of
the communicative skills as the main approach of the English Area in the San Pedro
School.
In view of the above and the objective of this research we can determine the level of language competence that students have through their productions in the foreign language given the different activities developed in class. To these productions we will call the
Artefacts, a set of samples like evaluations, workshops, guides, expositions and other activities that can report evidence of the faculties of the students by using the language in different situations proposed, thus, their language learning performance.
4. Design
4.1 Connection between the study and the epistemological foundations of the Subproject
This research was conducted under the qualitative research design which we can be defined as:
A form of social inquiry that tends to adopt a flexible and data-driven
research design, to use relatively unstructured data, to emphasize the essential role of
subjectivity in the research process to study a small number of naturally occurring
cases in detail and to use verbal rather than statistical forms of analysis. (Hammersley,
2013, p.12).
As a qualitative research, this investigation was designed over a process of observation and description of reality in EFL contexts as an opportunity to listen and understand students’ experiences and perspectives with the language in external settings outside the classroom. As a case-study, the purpose of this research is to explore, through different sources of information, these realities in order to understand and report a case 17
description of the relation between the exposure to English language and the competence in the English classes on a small population of students in fifth grade from San Pedro School.
For the completion of this purpose a set of steps were implemented as a characterized procedure of this design which according to Yin (1994) has five components:
• a research question
• propositions
• a unit of analysis
• a determination of how the data are linked to the propositions
• the criteria to interpret the findings.
In accordance with these components for the development of this research was determined to follow a case-study design taking to account the research population was specific and related to the researcher context, it was raised a research question, a proposition and an analysis unit that corresponds to the description of the exposure an language competence of this population.
Considering the qualitative research design and the need to describe these language learning experiences, the hermeneutic paradigm that is conceived as a theory of practice and interpretation, was implemented. Through this strategy the researcher could distinguish and interpret the phenomenon of investigation through dialogue to produce shared understandings and meanings (Paterson & Higgs, 2015) of the English language learning.
Figure 2
Research Fields at the LLEI 18
Note. This picture represents the understanding of the relationship between subprojects
and research designs.
In accordance with the above research approach and paradigm, this investigation was developed under the guidelines of the Research Field 2: The Study of the English Language and its contexts whose main purpose is the comprehension of English language learning backgrounds. To this research field 2 belongs the Research Macro Project 2: Understanding and characterizing EFL in the LLEI: experiences and phenomena in the pre-service teachers’ educational contexts, that in this case, helps to explain the correlation between the external exposure of students to the language and their level of competence.
As a descriptive research which main objective is to describe a phenomenon and its characteristics without any intervention or manipulation of variables (Nassaji, 2015), the main focus of this project relies on the Research Subproject 4: Understanding English 19
learning/teaching contexts and their importance in EFL education. This subproject along the hermeneutic paradigm would help us to describe and understand students' practices and experiences outside the classroom that foster language acquisition as an integral process supported by the families and society, which are one of the most relevant and encouraging culture promoters of their learning process. Through this study it will be possible to promote a more feasible English learning environment for pre-service and actual teachers in order to improve the home and school learning process of English as a foreign language, according to the B.A. program.
4.2 Context description
Bucaramanga is a city in the northeast of Colombia of only 162 sq. km. with a population of a half million, but in its metropolitan area is complemented by the municipalities of Girón, Floridablanca and Piedecuesta to cover an area of 1.479 km2 constituted by a million of people. It is considered the fifth most important and conglomerated city in the country with one of the highest levels of growth and living in the last ten years. Here in the city known as the City of parks we can find the school San Pedro
Claver, a private institution renowned for being one of the o ldest educational institutions in the city and the country and belonging to the prestigious Catholic congregation Compañía de Jesus. The institution, as a private school with a high economic status, provides its educational services to more than 1.400 students, from which 96 are in the fifth grade, which is the target population this research is focused on. The students from this grade are between the age of 9 and 10, and their economic status is between medium and high. Most of the students have been studying in this school for the last 5 years so they have been exposed to a set of changes in terms of infrastructure as in pedagogical fundamentals. Taking into account that the school is implementing a new pedagogical framework from last year based on the 20
modern pedagogy approach called Project based Learning that aims at integrating all the child development areas in different activities planned in a transversal way. The school started to implement a bilingual project three years ago in order to become an official bilingual school in 2024. The most evident changes were that students from preschool to eleventh grade have a minimum weekly degree of hours of 8 for English classes. In addition, the English staff have been moved, changed, or trained every year to guarantee a high level of proficiency and the syllabus has been aligned to the Common European Framework. In addition, the school is working in collaboration with the prestigious and international
Editorial Cambridge which provides all the academic material for English classes.
Despite this, in fifth grade we can find students with different levels of competence in this language who then became the focus of attention for this research, thus, the population on whom this investigation is applied. Notwithstanding the big number of students, the sample population taken for this research was only 9 students due to the low involvement of parents since the classes and communication have been a challenge and sometimes a boundary since the circumstances of COVID-19 which have led us to assume education virtually. For this reason, the students that participated in this research were self-selected and participated intentionally with the corresponding permission of their parents. These students are characterized for being active, collaborative, and participative, even through their limitations to communicate in the foreign language. However, most of them show difficulties to express coherently in writing and speaking productions, and some others have a very limited lexicon. However, there are certain cases where we can find the opposite situation, having students with a great level of proficiency even higher than the required for their grade.
On the basis of the above, it was determined to study this population to develop this important research that gives light to the comprehension of external factors in relation to the language learning process. 21
The procedure for selecting the research population was made taking into account the characteristics of some students who agree to participate with the variables selected for this study which are experiences abroad, use of English at home, parents involvement, etc. in relation to their marked level of competence with the language.
4.3 Instruments
The instruments used for this research were selected taking into account the population faculties and the current situation of the COVID-19 which made to consider the use of digital media to collect data. In this process, an initial survey was applied considering this instrument of data collection and it allows to gather the opinions, beliefs, and feelings of selected groups of individuals, often chosen for demographic sampling (Margaret Rouse,
2017). In this case, the instrument was suitable to find out and contextualize with the students in order to identify the possible subjects of study considering their social and cultural background.
After the volunteer selection of participants, the second instrument chosen for data collection was an interview, considering this one allows the compilation of the information in a detailed way since the person expresses orally their feelings and insights about the topic while the researcher can observe and transcribe the data to then analyze it. Above this data collection instrument, it was important to consider the fact that the stream and selection of the topics with this instrument, could vary and change according to what the interviewee knows or feels (Vargas, 2012). This fact made the interview the most important instrument in the investigation since it enabled the inquiry on students’ experiences related to English learning in terms of the exposure, encouragement, and perception, to then describe them.
As a counterpart of the preceding instruments, and keeping the qualitative and descriptive shape of this research, the observation of written evidence or artefacts was used 22
since they have the potential to be ‘insightful into cultural features’(Yin, 1994, p. 78-90).
Through these elements it was possible to provide a broader perspective of the topic as well as describe the correlation between language exposure and language competence, conceiving this last as a faculty to communicate in different ways with the foreign language, written or oral.
Through these diverse instruments it was possible to gather specific and reliable information that then was organized and analyzed to accomplish the main goals of this research.
5. Data Analysis
5.1 Data collection procedures
To start the process of data collection, the principal of the Primary section of the school sent a circular note to the families explaining the main objectives of the research and the procedures to gather information, and then shared a consent form (See Annex 8.1). After parents filled in that form, all the students in fifth grade received an email invitation to answer an initial survey (see Annex 8.2) with the purpose of getting a close approach to the participants, and could start with the selection of the sample population. This survey was designed via a specialized software called Survey Monkey which allowed us to send the test by e-mail and gather all the answers automatically. The survey consisted of 10 questions that inquired about the media, resources and materials to which students are exposed in their immediate context: the children's use of English out of the classroom, extracurricular classes, stays abroad, information about their family (namely, their knowledge of English, the use of the FL –at work, during English classes, and with family, friends, on holidays and languages spoken at home), persons involved in their homework assessment, the most common resources used in English (movies, computer, TV., books, digital library, video games, etc.) 23
and their perception about the relevance of these experiences in the learning process. Most of the questions were closed-ended and multiple-option, although a few open-ended questions were added to ask for specifications (e.g. age, activities that children are involved in, further comments, etc.).
In the second part of the process of data collection, an interview (see Annex 8.2) was applied to the volunteer participants that served as a reference to know some of their context and experiences related to external factors which students are exposed to English as a foreign language outside the classroom. This interview was designed as a questionnaire with open- ended questions organized in three categories: a) English exposure, b) Encouragement and c)
English perception. All these questions were focused on inquiring about the frequency of the use of English outside the classroom (through films or TV series, writing or reading, listening to music, playing computer games, and speaking to other people friends, relatives or tourists, etc.) and the strategies used when they are exposed to English, stays abroad, language camps, extracurricular classes, their parents' knowledge and use of English, and personal experiences as perceptions towards the learning process of this language. The interview was conducted via Microsoft Teams, a virtual platform of communication where it was possible to schedule and record a meeting with various students at the same time that were participating by rotation giving their insights about their experiences and perception of English language in their learning process.
For the last part, the revision of some evidence or artefacts (See Annex 8.3) from students was done. They were selected from the outcomes emerged in the speaking and writing activities where they could demonstrate their level of faculty to express and communicate in the foreign language. These artefacts were taken eventually for a manual analysis in order to understand students’ language competence as their encouragement and 24
guidance that they get during the classes in school, in relation to their exposure to the language outside this academic environment.
5.2 Methodology for data analysis
As this is a case-study and descriptive research, the priority was to let data speak for itself, so that the analysis of the data collected was made through a thematic analysis of results since this is a flexible method that could be easily adapted to the thematic of the investigation. For this type of analysis, it was important to consider first the research approaches in terms of the role and interpretation of data. For the first term, Jack Caulfield
(2019), MA in Comparative Literature, proposes an inductive approach if we want to allow data to determine the themes, or a deductive approach if data comes over some preconceived themes expected to find which is the case of this research that aim to reflect on data, based on the theoretical framework stated earlier. In terms of the way to interpret data through a thematic analysis, it was important to consider a latent approach which involves reading into the subtext and assumptions underlying the data, since we were interested on what people’s statements reveal about their assumptions and social context in opposition to the semantic approach that involves analyzing the explicit content of the data. Once the analysis approach was clearly defined, it was also necessary to consider the six-step process suggested by
Caulfield, in order to have an efficient thematic analysis of data:
1. Familiarization
2. Coding
3. Generating themes
4. Reviewing themes
5. Defining and naming themes
6. Writing up 25
In accordance with the above, this thematic analysis was developed through an initial extensive examination of information to identify patterns of meaning, topics and ideas that become relevant to understand the research problem and explain it. It is important to point out that the analysis of data of this investigation was done in three phases making in the first one an identification of the language exposure that students have in terms of the types and quantity, and also what the participants thought around this topic; in the second phase an analysis of the students language competence was made; and in the last phase an analysis towards the relation between these two aspects was done.
For this analysis, the organization of the data collected was important, which, in the case of the first instrument, the survey, the software where it was designed facilitated the organization of results automatically, however it was necessary to analyze and compare this info with the other obtained from the interview, which was compiled and transcribed individually, in order to select the relevant topics. The information gathered in both instruments was organized in a chart (see Table 1) where it was possible to codify data by colors in order to determine the common topic patterns. Subsequently, two additional columns were included in the chart where it could be referenced the analysis of students’ competence through the observations and artefacts gathered. For this analysis it was important to consider the responses of students from the learning objectives proposed in the school curriculum (see Figure 1) in accordance to their expected level of language competence. Finally, a last column at the center of the chart was included in order to compare and analyze the results between all the instruments and determine the relation between the language exposure and language competence of participants, since it is the research target.
From this analysis could be drawn the categories of this research. 26
In terms of validity and reliability of this study, a triangulation was taken as a means to compare and correlate the research objectives and findings through the implementation of the distinct instruments of collection, as figure 3 below shows:
Figure 3
Data analysis triangulation
Note. This picture represents the triangulation between the instruments that correlate
objectives and findings of the research.
5.3 Categorization
Identifying language exposure
Based in the information gathered in the two initial instruments, and its process of organization in the analysis chart, it was concluded the following insights (See Table 1), in order to answer to the first research objective which is the identification of the language exposure:
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Table 1
English language exposure analysis chart.
ENGLISH LANGUAGE EXPOSURE
Common Patterns Percentage Student’s Quotes External of population exposure reflecting factors exposure
Video games "Las experiencias con el inglés por Music 88% fuera del colegio son importantes Specialized Movies porque tengo más contactos con resources Internet pages personas de otros países en los juegos, videojuegos en inglés y puedo escuchar más música a través de mi celular"
United States 88% “Solo una vez hace un año fuimos a Travel abroad Canada Disneyland y allí pude escuchar opportunities England gente que hablaba inglés.”
Parents 77% “ella (mi mamá) es la que me ayuda Task support Tutors en las tareas. Si tengo que contar con alguien para el inglés es ella.”
Social Family 33% “A veces practico el inglés porque interaction with Friends yo tengo muchos familiares que English viven en Estados Unidos y cuando speakers vienen hablamos…”
Rarely 23% “"son pocas las experiencias porque Practice of the no me relaciono con personas que language at manejen el idioma.” home
Not enrolled 11% “Si se participa en actividades en actividades extracurriculares de Courses or fortalecimiento de inglés pueden ser extra classes de gran utilidad dado que complementarían lo que recibimos en el colegio.”
Previous formal Bilingual schools 77% “Siempre he estudiado en colegios education bilingües…”
Studying abroad 33% “En mi casa mi mamá sabe bastante Listening to music inglés, ella fue a vivir a Estados Parents Unidos como después de la 28
modeling Universidad, así que ella es muy buena.”
Enjoying 88% “Me gusta mucho el inglés porque Positive Teachers opinions los profesores son muy chéveres y a perceptions cada rato hacen actividades diferentes.”
Professional 88% “Yo considero que el inglés es muy Personal importante porque es el idioma Expectations mundial. Puedo viajar e ir a estudiar a otros países donde hay mejores universidades.”
Evaluations 33% “la experiencia con mis Reading evaluaciones no es buena, en los Listening textos encuentro palabras que no Difficulties entiendo y entonces la verdad el texto no lo entiendo para nada. Me parece que aprender inglés es difícil porque tiene muchas reglas”
None Never 11% "No tengo experiencias con el inglés experience por fuera del colegio.”
Note. This chart shows the organization of the data obtained from the two instruments of collection: the survey and the interview, to proceed to their corresponding analysis.
In the process of data collection, a survey was initially applied that allowed to identify the frequency and the quantity of language exposure that students had on the basis of certain criteria like the family relation, travel opportunities, the frequency of some activities and accessibility to some resources, etc. Based on this tool, it has been found that the majority of students have favorable social and economic conditions that allow them to access to specialized resources like music, movies, videogames and audios in English; they have had travel abroad opportunities and a constant support from their parents on the tasks, noticing that, indeed, they have a huge language exposure in these aspects. However, in other aspects like interaction, it turns out that most of the students don’t have a relationship with English speakers and there is not any practice of this language at home; they are not enrolled in courses or extra classes of English and don’t have a specialized tutor. This also becomes 29
evident in the information collected in the interview in which it is noticeable that most of the students have the habit of listening to music or watch the movies in English with subtitles, and even some of their parents, too; they also have studied in bilingual schools and a few of their parents have lived or studied in English speaking countries. Only one of the participants mentioned to have family that lives abroad and practice the language with them when they come over. Other insights found in the interview was that all the students have positive perceptions and expectations towards the language and the subject signaling they enjoy it; however, some of them pointed out to have difficulties with the language since they don’t have the enough vocabulary to understand all the teachers’ instructions in the class or in the evaluations, besides, this language has a lot of rules to learn.
Analyzing language competence of students
On the other hand, the analysis of observations and artefacts of students demonstrated in general a good attitude and performance of the students in the class, especially in the team works, where they seem to feel more confident. However, it was found that there are some cases of students with difficulties in the speaking activities since they do not feel confident because they don't have the enough lexicon to express with fluency or even because of their shy personality. To this respect, the researcher Hendra Heriansyah (2012) found and established this issues related to the speaking competence according to five aspects: (1) students often have no ideas about what to say, so they tend to keep silent, (2) they are also shy and uncomfortable as well as not confident if they make mistakes., (3) the students are afraid of making errors in class as they will be laughed at by their friends, and (4) the students are not used to talking in class since their pronunciation and vocabulary are poor and confined. As an evidence of this fact, we have the case of the Student F who presented some difficulties to talk about the activities he did last weekend, forgetting to use the past simple 30
and the vocabulary worked, and displaying some signs of anxiety like sweat and broken voice, which results in unfavorable results. (see Table 2).
Table 2
Speaking evaluation rubric
Note. This chart shows the criteria as the results of a speaking evaluation applied to a
research participant.
The same is the case of a few students who find the writing activities as a challenge due to the low vocabulary they have or the misunderstanding they face over the grammar structures. This can be a consequence of the low input they have in their reading skills in terms of the discrimination of vocabulary and linguistic patterns; such is the case of the
Student E who manifest these difficulties when she says: “la experiencia con mis evaluaciones no son buenas, en los textos encuentro palabras que no entiendo y entonces la verdad el texto no lo entiendo para nada.” And we could see this relation in some of her writing production where there is an evidence of mixed up tenses and an inaccurate use of some prepositions and conditionals that makes the text incoherent and disconnected. (See 31
Figure 2). This could be evidence of the strong relation between the reading and writing skills which, for some educators, activate schemata about the language, content and form of the topic which consequently influence what is produced or understood in a text (e. g., Hays and Tierney 1981, Tierney and Pearson 1983).
Figure 4
Student E writing evaluation artifact
Note. This picture shows a sample of a writing exercise artifact applied to a student
who shows some difficulties to use simple past tense clearly.
During this process of analysis there was found the case of students that hardly achieved the level expected in the listening skill, having some difficulties to follow instructions or even understand and connect with the teacher's voice in the class. To this respect, the Student F claims: “Me gustan las clases, pero a veces no entiendo todo lo que la profesora dice.” In these cases, the fact of miscommunication can produce anxiety and even demotivation which is reflected on the moment of the evaluation where they take time in excess to develop the exercises and even, they can misunderstand the instructions there. Such is the case of the Student D which besides having a fragile level of concentration, shows a 32
hesitant and dependent attitude in these types of tests. In opposition to this, there is the case of the student C who has a level of lexicon and fluency higher than the expected which is demonstrated during the test applied in this skill, where she gets to catch the main information and even write it with great accuracy (See Figure 3).
Figure 5
Student C listening evaluation artifact
Note. This picture shows a sample of a listening exercise artifact applied to a student
with great abilities to retell what he listened to from the audio.
Regardless these points, during the observations taken in this research, it was evident that students are committed to the class and to activities proposed demonstrating enjoyment 33
during these times, as the Student A expresses when he says: “Me gusta mucho el inglés porque los profesores son muy chéveres y a cada rato hacen actividades diferentes, nos sacan del salón y hacen las clases en otros lugares.” Also, their parents get involved, constantly supporting students in their learning process by for example, providing an effective accompaniment during the homework time, and also by demonstrating concerns about the quality of this education. This is evident in some statements that students gave in the interview, where, for example, the Student D claims: “realmente mi inglés ahorita es muy malo porque en mi anterior colegio las clases en inglés eran muy pocas. No aprendí mucho en ese colegio realmente. Mis papás se preocuparon porque no sabía inglés y por eso me metieron a este colegio porque aquí sí vemos bastante inglés.” To this respect the Student A also affirms that he has always been enrolled in bilingual schools, where, in some cases, get to attend all the subjects in English; and the Student C declared that her mother is an important source of support for her English tasks since she had the opportunity to study and live abroad when she was young, so the student can find a significant point for support and guidance. To this relevance we can deepen in the process of analysis of the relation between the exposure and competence of the language which is described hereafter.
Relation between language exposure and language competence
After accomplishing the research specific objectives 1 and 2 which were about the identification of language exposure and the analysis of the language competence of students, it was carried out a final analysis of relation between these two aspects, leading to some important categories in this regard:
The more exposure the more Confidence?
One of the outcomes related to the relation between the language exposure and
the language competence has to do with the level of confidence students demonstrate 34
regarding their participation, easiness and enjoyment in the different activities proposed during the English classes, which, according to the analysis, it is closely linked to the amount and the type of experiences they have outside the classroom.
This relation comes out from the communicative skills that are being promoted with these activities and their reflection on the performance of students in the activities inside the class. For example, it will be valid to say that a student that has more opportunities to practice English in conversations outside the classroom, with family, parents and friends, is a student that has more confidence at the time of performing a speaking activity. This becomes evident in the case of the student A who has had a previous formal education in English and currently handles a close relation with persons that speak English, as he confirms in the survey assuring that learning
English allows him to establish more relationships with people from other countries in video games and chats (see Table 1). The same is valid for the student C who has had the opportunity to interact constantly with relatives that speak English, as she claims in the interview: tengo muchos familiares que viven en Estados Unidos y cuando vienen hablamos y entonces yo aprendo palabras nuevas. Accordingly, these students have an active social exposure with the language which is reflected in the fact of being confident when giving oral presentations, showing enjoyment with these activities in class as demonstrating easiness to express and communicate spontaneously. In the same vein, and opposite to the students mentioned before, the student F presents a scarce social interaction with the language which is limited only to the school, thus, demonstrates a low level of lexicon that makes it difficult for him to understand and give information in an extensive way, via speaking or writing
(See Figure 4). This strong connection between the confidence and student’s achievement has been studied and supported by many psychologists who state that 35
success in the performance of students i n English activities is closely linked with their self-perception and their level of confidence. Such is the case of Professor Gurler
(2015) who in his research Correlation between self-confidence and speaking skill of
English language teaching and literature preparatory students defines confidence as an individual’s recognition of his own abilities, loving himself and being aware of his own emotions. According to this, the knowledge acquired in the different external experiences with the foreign language could result in a rise of confidence that children demonstrate in class during the activities proposed, especially if they are related to the oral expression. But this assertion could be unambiguous in other cases like for example, reading activities performance, since it is evident in this research that even though students don’t have at hand books, comics and didactical materials like this, most of them demonstrate a considerable level of competence in this ability. This implies that the fact of having accessibility to specialized resources is not an assurance for a significant competence with the language, even though the student has a high level of confidence, it can also depend on other facts like student’s perceptions, expectations, self-assessment and motivations, that can be affected by their family interaction and encouragement, as it is explained in more detail below.
Awakening of consciousness and expectations about English.
During the first part of the analysis process there were students identified with certain difficulties or necessities in the foreign language competence, and one of the most remarkable meeting points they had was a level of consciousness and expectations about the advantages of English in their life. Despite finding difficult experiences during the reading and writing exercises, as in the case of the students D, 36
E and F; or in the speaking practices, as in the case of the student B, these students declare to have a strong interest in overcoming these difficulties considering the advantages of managing English language. Not only are they going have better experiences in the classes and better development in the evaluations, but they also will have better job and studying opportunities in the future as student D declares: Yo considero que el inglés es muy importante porque es el idioma mundial. Puedo viajar e ir a estudiar a otros países donde hay mejores universidades. This can be interpreted as a faculty of consciousness demonstrated in the fact that although they still don’t have a competent level of language competence, they are committed with their own learning process for personal and professional reasons, which could be assumed as a level of self-motivation and engagement that could be decisive in their improvement in the class performance. To this respect, Lamb (2002) claims that motivation and degree of autonomy are fundamental aspects in second language development when learning opportunities are scarce. In his research about Successful language learning in difficult circumstances he demonstrated that self-motivated students were more willing to seek and benefit from the resources available in their learning environment, likewise it is evident in these students. This willingness interpreted as self-motivation comes out of their extrinsic motivation which is associated with some external factors such as parental involvement and expectations as it is explained in our following category detected.
Reflecting Outside Encouragement in my language learning.
Another crucial and evident relation that emerged in this study is the effect of the interaction between family involvement has in the language competence of students giving as a result an encouragement in them to improve their English skills. 37
This fact has been demonstrated by many researchers like Zhan (2006) who found that when children perceive the high expectation of their parents about their educational goals, they have more interest in school, greater self-regulation, and higher goal pursuits. Also, in the study of Bartram (2006) it was found that, when it is about student’s motivations, the most important factor is the way parents' perspectives influence their children's awareness of the language relevance, utility, and status. In this research we found similar cases like the student B and the student C, whose parents become role models that motivate them to involve with the foreign language, not only by providing them with significant resources like books, music, video games and movies, but using these materials themselves, this is evident when the student C claims: La verdad no escucho música en inglés, pero mi papá sí, le encanta. Also, the fact that some parents have been living or travelled abroad, or even also have dominated the second language (or are in the process) lead students to visualize their futures with high personal and professional expectations; this transmits them a conception of significance towards the English language, which disposes them greater for the learning process, thus, their performance in class. Such is the case of the student B who acknowledge this: en mi casa mi mamá sabe bastante inglés, ella fue a vivir a Estados Unidos para estudiar la Universidad, así que ella es muy buena, sí yo le pregunto algo, ella me ayuda …Si tengo que contar con alguien para el inglés es ella. The same student points out therefore how significant is for her the fact of learning English: Yo considero que el inglés es muy importante porque es el idioma mundial. Puedo viajar e ir a estudiar a otros países donde hay mejores universidades.
6. Conclusions, limitations, and implications 38
The current research draws the attention of the relevance of external experiences promoted to children regarding exposure to the English language which can be evident in different sets of the context like:
✓ Media (music, TV, internet)
✓ Resources (books, videos, videogames, etc.)
✓ Social interaction (chat, meeting groups, etc.)
✓ Home involvement
These external types of exposure can become supporters of motivation in the learning process for a successful performance inside the classroom. But beyond that language exposure, there are other crucial factors that can be decisive in the performance of students like previous experiences, confidence, expectations and encouragement in students which are determinant for a good or bad experience with the language in different circumstances. For example, inside the classroom, where they can have opportunities to get familiar and comfortable with the language, therefore, more willing to the English class activities proposed, demonstrating a high level of competence interpreted as:
✓ The ability to follow simple indications without difficulty.
✓ The ability to comprehend different types of texts of familiar topics.
✓ The ability to express their feelings and opinions clearly and coherently.
✓ The ability to communicate orally or written their immediate needs.
Nevertheless, having a close access to different resources and materials of the language is not a guarantee for their success in the English class development since students are also affected by other features in their environment that can raise or by the contrary decrease their engagement and enthusiasm about the language. Many of these factors have to do with the intrinsic and extrinsic motivation they have as a result of their consciousness and also the 39
level of expectation from their families towards the learning of the language for personal or professional purposes. These insights allow to realize the impact that external conditions and environment have on the student’s competence of English skills; moreover, inviting families to analyze and reflect on their role in the learning process of children which could be determinant for its success or failure. It could be said then, that somehow, despite that it is not a condition, the more external exposure, the better the approach to language learning and therefore the students' competence.
Furthermore, some of the limitations found during the process of this research were related to the line of communication with the participants and their families which was virtual due to the rise of the COVID-19 pandemic this year. The circular notes, questionnaires, surveys, and interviews were taken through different virtual sources like e-mail, video chat and questionnaire designer platforms. As a consequence of these conditions there was a low number of answers from the families, thus the number of participants was not the expected.
This also implied the delay in the reception of the student’s answers from the questionnaires and surveys provided to them. Likewise, the interview had to be done in different times according to the family’s availability and willingness which required more time than the expected. Moreover, as the purpose of this study was to inquire about family habits regarding language learning, it was expected to get a closer observation to the students’ home habits and give a closer description of these facts; however, this could not be possible due to the same conditions of confinement. Therefore, under regular circumstances this case study could be carried through a exhaustive observation of students on-site classes where we could evidence clearer their interaction and behavior during the different activities carried out, as well as in their home environment where through some visits and observations we could get closer to the families determining their habits, relevant resources, family involvement and practices related to the process of the language learning. This circumstances surely would had 40
gave us a more accurate insight of the correlation between the two factors (exposure and competence) which are the core of this research as an attempt to comprehend and improve the process learning of English as a foreign language.
Besides, under the current circumstances the analysis of the language exposure results to be very qualitative, therefore it was necessary to isolate, classify and carefully analyze the data found disconnecting from the preconceived ideas from the theory to make a more feasible and reliable study that reflects students’ realities. However, these realities are outlined by certain economic conditions since the participants from this research are exposed to some prestigious resources that, in different circumstances, would not be the same, providing possibly different results from the research. For this reason, if we could give continuity to this research in the future it would be interesting to develop this study to students from different social and economic conditions to find out other implications over external exposure to the language like for example family expectation changes. Other possible further research that could be included is the relation of this external exposure to particular skills of production or reception (writing/speaking/reading and listening).
Moreover, it would be profitable to state a quantitative approach, otherwise a mixed frame design, that allows to draw near to other prominent variables that are affiliated to the language exposure and which allow us to come closer to English language learning realities, as it is state by the shared reality theory: “The stability of the language system produces the stability of a shared reality.”
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8. Annexes
8.1 Consent form
FORMATO DE CONSENTIMIENTO PARA PADRES DE FAMILIA PARA LA
PARTICIPACIÓN EN INVESTIGACIÓN
TÍTULO DEL ESTUDIO: Análisis sobre la relación entre la exposición externa al inglés y el desempeño en clase de los estudiantes de quinto grado del colegio San Pedro Claver de Bucaramanga.
INVESTIGADOR: Janice Lizzette Rondón Franco
PROPÓSITO: Por medio de la presente se solicita su participación en este estudio investigativo, que está siendo llevado a cabo como docente en formación de la Licenciatura en lengua Extranjera Inglés de la Universidad Santo Tomás. El propósito de este estudio es el de obtener información con respecto a los hechos y las situaciones concretas inherentes al factor sociocultural en la cotidianidad de los estudiantes por fuera del colegio en relación con el aprendizaje del inglés, e indagar cómo la exposición al idioma se relaciona con el desempeño de los estudiantes en la asignatura de inglés como lengua extranjera en la institución.
PROCEDIMIENTOS: Para este estudio se llevará a cabo la aplicación inicial de una encuesta mixta con preguntas cerradas y abiertas que respondan al contexto social y cultural del estudiante en relación con la exposición al inglés como lengua extranjera. Posteriormente se aplicará una entrevista a los estudiantes en la cual se harán preguntas relacionadas con los medios a los que se exponen, la intervención de los padres y familiares, así como las percepciones hacia el aprendizaje de la lengua. Eventualmente, durante el proceso de investigación, se llevarán a cabo algunas observaciones de clase y el análisis algunas producciones de la lengua (artefacts) con el fin de analizar el desempeño del estudiante y su relación con la exposición al idioma extranjero en contextos externos. La recolección de datos puede ir acompañada de video o audio grabaciones para posterior organización y análisis de la información.
CONFIDENCIALIDAD: Los datos personales, voces, imágenes y producciones de los participantes serán confidenciales y no serán publicados a menos que ellos mismos así lo requiriese. Por ende, la identidad de los participantes no se verá en riesgo ni se hará mal uso de sus nombres. Por favor, recuerde que usted no está obligado a contestar ninguna pregunta que considere incómoda. 45
DIMISIÓN DE PARTICIPACIÓN: Usted puede comunicar en cualquier momento su decisión de no continuar como participante del estudio y esta decisión será aceptada sin ningún prejuicio o consecuencia.
COSTOS Y BENEFICIOS PARA EL PARTICIPANTE: La participación en este estudio no tiene ningún costo, el único requerimiento es la disposición de tiempo de parte de los participantes para responder a las preguntas planteadas en la encuesta y la entrevista. Así como su consentimiento como padres de familia para realizar algunas observaciones en clase y el análisis de algunas evidencias que nos permitirán tener una mayor comprensión de los factores relativos al aprendizaje del idioma.
La decisión de participar en esta investigación es voluntaria y no les significa ninguna retribución monetaria, así como tampoco presentará repercusiones en las actividades académicas de los estudiantes.
Recuerde que su participación contribuye no solo al desarrollo del estudio llevado a cabo, sino también a proponer y aplicar actividades por fuera del aula que fomenten una actitud propositiva hacia el desarrollo de las competencias del inglés y contribuya a mejorar los hábitos de estudio.
MAYOR INFORMACIÓN: Si usted requiere más información con respecto a este estudio, puede contactar en cualquier momento a la persona ejecutora de esta investigación cuyos datos se refieren a continuación:
Janice Lizzette Rondón Franco
C.C. 1.098.663.999 B/manga [email protected]
FIRMA: Confirme que el propósito del estudio, sus procedimientos, confidencialidad, riesgos y costos así como sus beneficios, han sido claramente explicados por el investigador. Todas sus preguntas han sido respondidas y acepta participar en el estudio.
Confirmo que el (la) investigador(a) ha explicado los contenidos de este consentimiento y reconozco que mi participación es voluntaria y hasta el punto donde yo considere suficiente. Así mismo, conozco los costos, beneficios y confidencialidad del estudio al igual que sus procedimientos y propósito.
______Firma y nombre del acudiente:
C.C. ______de ______
NOTA: En este caso la participación es de personas menores de edad, por lo cual el acudiente diligencia la siguiente información:
Acudiente de ______Edad: ______
TI o REGISTRO CIVIL: ______Fecha: ______
8.2 Samples of Instruments 46
Survey
Encuesta sobre el Análisis sobre la relación entre la exposición externa al inglés y el
desempeño en clase de los estudiantes de quinto grado del colegio San Pedro Claver de
Bucaramanga
Apreciados estudiantes.
La siguiente encuesta hace parte de una investigación académica de la Universidad Santo
Tomás, la cual tiene como objetivo indagar acerca de las diversas formas de exposición que los estudiantes tienen al Inglés por fuera del aula, y cómo estos factores se relacionan con su desempeño y el desarrollo de las competencias lingüísticas de este idioma. La misma cuenta con 10 preguntas y tiene una duración aproximada de 15 minutos. Toda la información proporcionada se tratará de forma CONFIDENCIAL y sólo se utilizará para fines de investigación.
Agradecemos responder con la mayor exactitud posible. En caso de requerir apoyo, por favor solicite el soporte de un adulto cercano.
¡Muchas gracias por su participación!
1. ¿Con qué frecuencia tiene la oportunidad de relacionarse con familiares o personas cercanas que dominen o hablen moderadamente el idioma inglés?
Siempre Casi Siempre Algunas Veces Poco Nunca
2. ¿Alguna vez ha tenido la oportunidad de estar en algún país de habla inglesa sea por estancia temporal o por turismo?
SI NO 47
Cuál? ______
3. ¿Ha estado anteriormente o se encuentra actualmente inscrito a algún curso o clases privadas (tutorías) de inglés fuera del colegio?
Sí No
4. ¿En casa, qué tan frecuente hablan o practican el inglés?
Constantemente Raras veces Nunca
5. De las siguientes actividades, marque todas las que lleva a cabo en casa. Si no hace algunas de estas actividades, escoja "no aplica para mí".
Escuchar música en inglés
Ver películas en inglés (con o sin subtítulos)
Navegar páginas de internet en inglés
Leer libros, artículos o historietas en inglés.
Jugar videojuegos en inglés.
Hablar en inglés con un amigo o familiar.
No aplica para mí.
Otro (especifique) ______
6. ¿En casa, de quiénes recibe acompañamiento la hora de hacer tareas o actividades de inglés?
Mis padres Un familiar Un tutor Yo trabajo solo 48
7. Por favor indique los recursos de los cuales dispone en su hogar (puede escoger varias opciones):
Televisión internacional Biblioteca digital en inglés
Computador, tablet o Ipad Smartphone o celular (propio)
Videojuegos en inglés Películas o series en inglés
Música y audios en inglés Libros, cómics o novelas en inglés
Cursos Virtuales Pagos de Inglés Material didáctico
(Ej: juegos, rompecabezas en inglés)
Otros (indique cuáles) ______
8. De los recursos anteriores, por favor indique cuales utiliza con más frecuencia.
9. ¿Cómo crees que las experiencias vividas por fuera del colegio contribuyen a que aprendas
Inglés? 49
10. Al llenar y entregar este cuestionario, ¿das tu consentimiento para participar en este estudio y permitir que las respuestas sean utilizadas con fines de investigación?
Sí No
¡Muchas gracias por su participación!
Interview
Entrevista sobre el Análisis sobre la relación entre la exposición al inglés como lengua extranjera y el desempeño de los estudiantes de quinto grado del colegio San Pedro Claver
de Bucaramanga
La siguiente entrevista hace parte de una investigación académica la cual tiene como objetivo indagar en el contexto social y cultural, específicamente acerca de la relación entre la exposición de los estudiantes del grado quinto del colegio San Pedro Claver Bucaramanga al inglés como lengua extranjera, y cómo estos factores pueden incidir en su desempeño en la escuela. De ninguna manera tiene repercusión en la asignatura ni en el criterio del docente de esta área.
Agradecemos responder con la mayor claridad y exactitud posible.
Nombre del estudiante: ______
Fecha: ______
English exposure
1. ¿Conoces o te relacionas con personas que hablen inglés?
¿Quienes?
2. ¿En donde vives alguien te habla en inglés?¿Con qué frecuencia? 50
3. ¿Practicas el inglés por fuera del colegio? ¿Cómo?
4. ¿Quienes te acompañan cuando trabajas en tareas o actividades de
inglés?
5. ¿Has estudiado anteriormente en colegios bilingües o con alta
intensidad horaria de clases en inglés?
Encouragement
6. ¿Escuchas música o ves series en inglés? ¿Con qué frecuencia?
7. ¿En tu casa tienes acceso a libros o material didáctico en inglés?
¿Cuáles?
8. ¿Has visto películas o series en inglés y subtituladas? ¿Cómo te
parece esta experiencia?
9. ¿Alguna vez has tenido la oportunidad de viajar o vivir en un país
donde hablen inglés? ¿Cómo te sentiste?
10. ¿Alguna vez has hecho algún curso o participado de algún
programa para el aprendizaje del inglés? ¿Cómo fue esa
experiencia?
English Perception
11. ¿Qué es lo que más te gusta y menos te gusta de aprender inglés?
12. ¿Crees que aprender inglés es fácil o difícil? ¿Por qué? 51
13. ¿Cómo consideras tu desempeño en las clases de inglés? ¿En qué
crees que debes mejorar?
14. ¿Cómo crees que lo que vives en casa y por fuera del colegio te
ayuda en tu desempeño en las clases de inglés del colegio?
15. ¿Crees que es importante aprender inglés? ¿Por qué?
Muchas gracias por el tiempo dedicado a esta entrevista. Que
tenga un excelente día.
8.3 Artefacts
Figure 6
Student F writing evaluation artifact
Note. This picture shows a sample of a writing exercise artifact applied in class.
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Figure 7
Student C writing evaluation artifact
Note. This picture shows a sample of a writing evaluation artifact applied in class.
Figure 8
Student B writing evaluation artifact
Note. This picture shows a sample of a writing exercise artifact applied in class.
53
Figure 9
Student E writing evaluation artifact
Note. This picture shows a sample of a writing exercise artifact applied in class.
8.4 Data Analysis graph
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8.5 Data Analysis chart
DATA ANALYSIS
INTERVIEW SURVEY RELATION OBSERVATIONS ARTIFACTS EXTRACTS RESULTS
Siempre he estudiado Casi siempre se There is Is an active and In the writing en colegios bilingües, relaciona con evidence that outgoing student and speaking en el primer colegio familiares o this student has that enjoys activities this recuerdo que veía amigos de otro had a previous participating in the student casi todas las país. Fue a formal education class and achieves materias en inglés, Estados Unidos. in English and demonstrate certain teníamos ciencias en No está inscrito a currently, commitment with objectives like inglés y esa era muy cursos o tutorías handles a close the different to complicada para mí, de inglés fuera del relation with activities communicate me parecía colegio. Raras persons that proposed, coherently his innecesaria aprender veces hablan speak English, especially when opinions and biología en inglés. El inglés en casa. which means he they are about ideas using a inglés era muy fuerte Juega has an active teamwork. This wide range of en ese colegio, pero videojuegos y ve social exposure student performs vocabulary. no me gustaba películas en with the well in speaking Also, he is porque no tenía casi inglés. El solo se language, activities, showing able to create
tiempo libre, tenía apoya en las demonstrating confidence. Is texts using demasiadas tareas en tareas. "Las confidence in very autonomous grammar tools inglés. Me gusta experiencias con the speaking and rarely he and mucho el inglés el inglés por fuera tasks, and also needs intervention connectors to porque los profesores del colegio son enjoyment with of his family. He is describe son muy chéveres y a importantes the activities in a new student this experiences
STUDENTA cada rato hacen porque tengo más class, which year in the school, and feelings actividades contactos con reflects on his but he has fit in with details. diferentes, nos sacan personas de otros easiness to the group without However, del salón y hacen las países en los express and difficulty. shows slightly clases en otros juegos, communicate difficult to give lugares. La verdad videojuegos en spontaneously. and follow antes escuchaba inglés y puedo However, shows directions música en inglés, escuchar más difficulty on the using pero ahora casi no. música a través application of prepositions de mi celular" some formal of place, and concepts like sometimes directions, can get maybe because confused with his involvement the use of the with the verb to be in language have plural and been in non- singular structures cases. circumstances. 55
No recuerdo haber Pocas veces se The student has Is a quiet and For the level estudiado en ningún relaciona con a great attentive student expected is colegio bilingüe, es familiares o expectation and that in the class evident that decir que de pequeña amigos de otro perspective participate rarely the student no tuve mucho país. Fue a about the but demonstrate accomplishes contacto con el Estados Unidos. language, being engagement with the learning idioma. Pero en mi No está inscrito a conscious of its the class and her goals in terms casa mi mamá sabe cursos o tutorías advantages and own learning of bastante inglés, ella de ingles fuera del disadvantages in process, asking communicatio fue a vivir a Estados colegio. Nunca the professional when she have n giving ideas Unidos como después hablan inglés en field. This fact questions or with de la Universidad, así casa. Ve películas makes her doesn’t coherence que ella es muy o series en inglés thoughtful about understand and cohesion buena, así que yo le de vez en cuando. her own learning anything, and also using correct pregunto algo y ella "Si se participa en process, being submitting the verb tenses me ayuda, o cuando actividades en encouraged by assignments and no entiendo algo ella actividades herself and her punctually. grammatical es la que me ayuda. extracurriculares mom, as a However, she can structures Si tengo que contar de fortalecimiento model figure, to have some appropriately, con alguien para el de inglés pueden continue difficulties with the however, inglés es ella. Yo ser de gran improving her management of needs to considero que el utilidad dado que communicative time in the improve the inglés es muy complementarían skills. She is evaluations. Som use of
STUDENTB importante porque es lo que reciben en very conscious etimes can be shy connectors to el idioma mundial. el colegio. that because of when participating give a better Puedo viajar e ir a Adicionalmente her calm and in oral and public sequence of estudiar a otros puede ser shy personality activities. Is very the ideas. In países donde hay interesante el she can have thoughtful and can the speaking mejores profundizar en some difficulties be expressive tasks universidades. speaking por qué with the when she feels develops well, es lo que les va a speaking tasks, comfortable with a but have ir dando mayor therefore she topic or activity for some difficult fluidez y needs the example with to express apropiación en practice outside personal work, spontaneously gramática, the classroom to especially in , so she vocabulario y improve this reading activities, needs to demás." skill. which she enjoys. improve her Her family is very verbal fluency mindful to her as her self- learning process. confidence.
56
A veces practico el Algunas veces se The student C Is a student with a The student inglés porque yo relaciona con has a great high level of shows a high tengo muchos familiares o quantity of proficiency in level of familiares que viven amigos de otro experiences with English, that proficiency in en Estados Unidos y país. Fue a the language demonstrates the language, cuando vienen Estados Unidos. outside the interest and being able to hablamos y entonces No está inscrito a classroom, and enthusiasm with communicate yo aprendo palabras cursos o tutorías also counts with the class, with fluency nuevas. Me parece de inglés fuera del a wide variety of participating and importante porque colegio. resources like constantly in the argumentation cuando uno va a otros Constantemente music, class. Enjoys the her ideas and países como el inglés hablan inglés en videogames, speaking activities insights about es el idioma principal casa. Ve películas and movie. Also, where she personal and uno no tiene que en inglés (con o she is supported demonstrates general topics hablar por ejemplo si sin subtítulos) by her family great confidence of common uno va a China no Juega which involves and domain. She interest using necesita hablar videojuegos en actively in the tries to use the a wide range mandarín sino saber inglés. De vez en learning English language of vocabulary inglés. Yo veo las cuando habla en process. Based even outside the and frequently películas subtituladas, inglés con un on that, she classroom. The occurring me gusta porque así amigo o familiar. feels student is very connectors to puedo practicar. La Recibe apoyo de comfortable with committed and link simple verdad no escucho sus padres en las the language responsible with sentences STUDENTC música en inglés, tareas. "lo que and finds the the assignments and phrases. pero mi papá sí. hago fuera del classes and her parents She can colegio es enjoyable and are very attentive interact with importante porque easy. to her learning reasonable puedo practicar lo process. ease in que veo en clase y structured desarrollar mi situations and oído" short conversations spontaneously , using the present and past simple, and also the past continuous to talk about past experiences. 57
Me gustaría pulir mi Pocas veces se The student has Is a quiet and From the Ingles porque relaciona con had a low level timid student that learning realmente mi inglés familiares o of exposure to rarely participates objectives ahorita es muy malo amigos de otro the language in class. Usually proposed in porque en mi anterior país. Nunca ha since her family ask many the colegio las clases en estado fuera del never practice it questions before curriculum, ingles eran muy país. No está at home and developing an the student pocas. No aprendí inscrito en un there are not activity and achieves to mucho en ese colegio curso de inglés previous requires communicate realmente. Mis papas fuera del colegio. meaningful constantly support with simple se preocuparon Nunca hablan experiences that and phrases and porque no sabía inglés en casa. support her approval. Shows sentences inglés y por eso me Escucha música learning difficulty to about every metieron a este en inglés. Ve foundations. develop listening day and colegio porque aquí si películas en inglés Sometimes she activities since personal vemos bastante (con o sin can feel she has a fragile matters, inglés. A veces subtítulos). confused and level of giving basic cuando la profesora Navega páginas uncomfortable concentration and descriptions of nos habla en las de internet en with the also can be past activities clases yo no le inglés. Un tutor lo language since hesitant. In the and personal
entiendo y la verdad apoyan en tareas. there are many evaluation experiences. me gustaría reforzar "son pocas las concepts, she activities In the writing esa parte. A veces experiencias doesn’t domain. sometimes can tasks she veo las películas con porque no me However, she feel anxiety and uses some subtítulos. relaciono con receives support get trouble with simple personas que form an expert the time structures
STUDENTD manejen el which can help management. Her correctly, but idioma, solamente her to overcome family involves too still, en las horas de the difficulties to little in the systematically estudios only just learning process. make basic extracurriculares communicate in mistakes, e.g., practico el terms of the tend to mix up idioma". most immediate tenses and needs. forget to mark agreement. Besides, the student demonstrates difficulties to understand and extract the essential information from short, recorded passages and texts, having a limited lexicon. 58
A mí me gusta No se relaciona The student has Is a student with The student bastante el inglés sin con familiares o only exposure to great skills in gets to embargo a veces amigos de otro the language reading and express his tengo algunas país. Fue a through the writing activities. ideas with a dificultades por Estados Unidos. resources he He sometimes basic lexicon ejemplo en las No está inscrito a has on hand and participates in the and simple evaluaciones me va cursos o tutorías had an class, but can grammar bien, pero lo que me de inglés fuera del experience one have some structures, califican ahí no es colegio. Raras time when he difficulties to being able to todo lo que yo veces hablan had the concentrate, describe necesito a veces la inglés en casa. opportunity to which causes that personal experiencia con mis Navega páginas travel abroad. a few times he experiences evaluaciones no son de internet en There is a very could feel and buenas, en los textos inglés Juega poor confused and a perceptions. encuentro palabras videojuegos en involvement of little bit anxious. However, in que no entiendo y inglés. El solo se the family in the However, is a the speaking entonces la verdad el apoya en las process. Howev student that really tasks shows texto no lo entiendo tareas. "Puedo er, his social enjoys the difficulties to para nada. Me aprender más interaction with activities, communicate
parece que aprender estando en the language is especially when with fluency, inglés es difícil porque contacto con limited only to they are in teams. showing only tiene muchas reglas personas que the school. Shows difficulties limited control entonces a veces dominan el There is a low in the listening of a few sabe una palabra y la idioma" level on his and speaking simple aplica en una oración lexicon that activities, being grammatical
STUDENTE y le cambia el orden. difficult to not familiar with structures and Solo una vez hace un understand and the British accent. sentence año fuimos a give information Is very patterns in a Disneyland y allí pude in an extensive autonomous but learned escuchar gente que way. sometimes can repertoire hablaba inglés y a need monitoring in needing to veces alguien se me order to finish the ask for acercaba y me activities repetition from preguntaba cosas proposed. His time to time. básicas en inglés y yo family rarely Also, in some trataba de responder, involves in the listening como para pedir las learning process. exercises the gaseosas o pedir student permiso en las filas. demonstrates a poor understanding of the main points, requiring for clarification of some specific vocabulary. 59
La verdad yo casi no No se relaciona The student Is a very The student is practico ingles en mi con familiares o doesn’t have thoughtful student able to casa. A veces amigos de otro experiences that that participates a describe escucho música en país. Nunca ha evidence few in the classes activities inglés porque me viajado a otro país exposure to the but is very people and gusta. Me gustan las de habla inglesa. language. attentive to the places, using clases pero a veces No está inscrito a However, the process and basic, no entiendo todo lo cursos o tutorías students get to activities. He concrete que la profesora dice. de inglés fuera del accomplish the develops well in vocabulary En las evaluaciones colegio. Raras basic learning individual activities and simple me va bien, pero veces hablan goals of the being very phrases and algunas veces no inglés en casa. class. Despite autonomous and sentences entiendo algunas Escucha música this, the student committed. with basic palabras. Me gustaría en inglés. El solo have a However, can be grammar aprender más inglés, se apoya en las perception of the uncomfortable in structures like pero me parece un tareas. "No tengo language the speaking past simple poco difícil porque experiencias con learning process activities where he and past tiene muchas reglas el inglés por fuera as demanding has to participate continuous; que toca aprenderse. del colegio”. task where he in public, because however, he need to work by is very shy. He have some himself to enjoys difficulties to overcome to the participating in the understand STUDENTF difficulties he listening activities key have in some where he is very information cases like in the skillful but from listening listening and demonstrates a and written reading activities poor level of messages where he needs lexicon which and a deep makes, he could sometimes understanding of have some forgets to use words and difficulties to simple topics. compose long connectives texts. like ‘and,’ ‘but’ and ‘because’ to make connections and draw conclusions on written texts.