what should and what should not el teachers consider when establishing the standards for eil in our...

What should and what should not EL teachers consider when establishing the standards for

EIL in our local Colombian state schools?

YENY JUDITH MALAVER ROJAS – LANGUAGE & GLOBALIZATION –

-ELT AUTONOMOUS LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS – DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES & CULTURES –

-UNIVERSIDAD DE LA SABANA – COLOMBIA – 2010

What should and what should not EL Teachers consider when establishing the standards for EIL in our local

Colombian state schools?

Contents:

1. Theoretical framework on the topic for standardisation of the EL2. Awareness regarding EFL and ESL3. Differences between state and private schools in Colombia 4. English language standards for both academic and communicative

purposes5. Preparing our students for higher proficiency levels and EIL exams6. Students’ viewpoints as FL learners7. Implications for the teachers in the EL classrooms in the Colombian state

schools8. Mass media and ELL9. Conclusions. 10.References.

YENY JUDITH MALAVER ROJAS – LANGUAGE & GLOBALIZATION - ELT AUTONOMOUS LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS – DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES & CULTURES – UNIVERSIDAD DE LA SABANA – COLOMBIA – 2010

What should and what should not EL Teachers consider when establishing the standards for EIL in our local Colombian state schools?

1. Theoretical framework on the topic for standardisation of the EL

a. Estándares Básicos de Competencias en Lenguas Extranjeras

b. The domain of an international language as a requirement to

guarantee employment -intellectual labour competencies- (SED, 2003

No. 23).

c. Estándares, evaluación y Planes de mejoramiento (SED, 2003 No. 19).

d. Main objective of the National Educational Law in teaching another

language

“The acquisition of elements of conversation and the ability to be able

to express oneself in at least one foreign language”. (Law 115: 1994).

e. Policy to reach the main goal: Bilingual Colombia Programme


What should and what should not EL Teachers consider when Establishing the standards for EIL in our local Colombian state schools?

Main Goals regarding EL proficiency… The Ministry of Education adopted the Common European Framework…to introduce international measurement and alignment parameters to local contexts.

1. To develop the communicative competence at levels which are classified as intermediate and sufficient at international standards.

2. To optimize the teaching-learning processes and to reduce the digital gap, media and ICTs are required. They will also provide connectivity and opportunity to new forms of literacy.

3. To establish a common base to design standards, instruments of evaluation, teaching methodologies and didactic materials, among others,

4. To make adequate use of platforms for virtual environments. 5. To assume the new roles as teachers and students, stimulating

autonomous learning. Bases for a Bilingual and Competitive Nation

Revolución Educativa Al Tablero 2005, No. 37 (Pp. 3A-3B)



Government Policies to Reach Goals and Standards 1. Approaches and new methodologies, since 1980.

2. Design of a specific curriculum for teaching a foreign language, since 1990.

3. Supplying Pedagogical aids (text and technology), 1980 – 1990.

4. Training teachers in primary and secondary levels.

5. Giving more hours to learning the language in the school schedules and

from earlier ages.

6. Establishing the Basic standards for English teaching and learning, and

proficiency exams (from the 1990s up to present)

7. Suggesting CLIL (the use of English as a teaching language of other

subjects).



Benefits of ELT in the Globalized World

Key Competencies for Permanent Learnig (Competencias Claves para el

Aprendizaje permanente: Educación pertinente para el ciudadano del siglo

XXI).

Intellectual Labour Competencies.

Communication in at least one International Language (Comunicación en

Lenguas Extranjeras)



Particular considerations and imagery around Bilingual Colombia Programme:

1. What are the differences between L1, L2 and FL?

2. What do we teach in Colombia, EFL or ESL?

3. What is the real status of the English language in Colombia?

4. Being bilingual differs from being proficient.

5. Being bilingual and proficient in L2 and FL does not imply having a perfect

pronunciation (which one?) or knowing all the vocabulary belonging to a

language (how?).

YENY JUDITH MALAVER ROJAS – LANGUAGE & GLOBALIZATION - ELT AUTONOMOUS LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS – DEPARTMENT

OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES & CULTURES – UNIVERSIDAD DE LA SABANA – COLOMBIA – 2010


2. Awareness regarding EFL and ESL

“English can be taught in the same level of the mother language at national schools, which opens the room to consider it in a bilingual sense” De Mejía, A. (2009).

Is English teaching a real language practice in our classrooms? Have our students taken part in a real or natural English contextualized

situation?

In consequence: Make our students understand the real conditions and factors

surrounding the English language learning process.

Teach EFL and English for specific purposes.

Use CLIL in most possible contexts. If possible, integrate it to most

subjects.



3. Differences between state and private schools in Colombia affect institutional curricula

Low Socio cultural and economic backgrounds

Students skipping and dropping out of schools

Lack of interest for academic learning, including English

Heterogeneous and numerous groups sharing the same syllabus

Three hours of English per week

Lack of ICTs to favour better learning methodological practices

Difficulty to satisfy several and varied learning styles

Lack of economic resources to invest in English labs (CRIEs and VLRCs)

Basic English as a never endless or an unfinished process

Fallacies and imageries in and out of school hinder the relevance of learning English

Wide gaps between private and state schools promote inequality among young

graduates

Proficiency tests results are the wider gap between highly reputed private schools and

state schools



4. English language standards for both academic and communicative purposesEnglish language learners must achieve language proficiency levels that

In the Academic Aspect Comprise adequate use of all basic grammar rules of the language, including common

use of collocations, adverbial forms and phrasal verbs,

Foster their ability to use the language for transactional purposes,

Allow them to clearly state ideas orally, regardless outcomes favouring fluency more

than accuracy, or the opposite,

Make them clever enough to move in both formal and informal situations with

appropriate registers of language,

Do not hinder learner’s communication when dealing with or conveying slangs or

idiomatic expressions

Deal with Audio registers from both EN and ENN speakers, so that they can identify

and comprehend the differences in both pronunciations and cultural backgrounds of

different types of discourse.



In the Communicative Aspect

Prevent learners from using slangs and idioms in the wrong contexts,

Promote the expression of the own culture and identity,

Provide tools to interact with members of other cultures and languages whenever

possible,

Foster their ability to use language for specific purposes, according to their personal

and professional needs,

Contextualize EL teaching in the field of ICTs,

Incorporate all naturalized resources (artefacts and realia) into the everyday

classroom practice.

Encourage CLIL to integrate EIL with meaningful contents for both short term

application and life learning,

Foster students’ critical thinking skills by supplying EIL authentic reading and audio

visual materials.



5. Preparing our students for higher proficiency levels and EIL exams

An EIL program for state schools should

Promote a SE grammatical system and not legitimate errors (Prodromou,

2007).

Prioritize listening and reading practice before initiating the learner into the

productive skills.

Avoid correctness stereotypes and false imagery.

Focus on the users’ real linguistic needs.

Consider slangs and idioms from a critical and analytical view point, always

identifying their cultural contexts as restricted in real communication.

Consider ENSs at the same levels of ENNSs to foster learners’ listening

comprehension.

Help learners distinguish and become familiar with several but appropriate

utterances in the target language. YENY JUDITH MALAVER ROJAS – LANGUAGE & GLOBALIZATION - ELT AUTONOMOUS LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS – DEPARTMENT



6. Regarding Students’ needs and viewpoints as EFL learners

It is not surprising that classroom language based on “native” norms is irrelevant to what students regard as more socially significant needs in their everyday lives.

Canagarajah S. (2006)Most students would ‘object being taught by ELTs who deliberately distance themselves from ‘native speaker models’

(Gnutzmann, cited by Prodromou: 41)

Identify and favour appropriate learning conditions. Do not be condescending with errors. Work on trying to guarantee real language possibilities to access the

globalized world. Make profit of the ELT purpose of promoting personal identity (Prodromou,

2007). Give your learners authentic materials that catch their attention (songs,

movies, television programs, adverts, video games). Provide opportunities for students to learn about idiomatic expressions, but

foster their ability to reflect upon their adequate and restricted use in real conversational situations.

Be a model of an EL speaker.



7. Implications for the teacher in the EL classrooms in the Colombian state schools

The classroom core language should consist of “a set of strategies and processes of language negotiation”

(Canagarajah, 2006: 210, Cited by Prodromou, 2007)

Teachers in any staff may not all agree about a core SE grammar. Even so... we should Avoid ‘linguicism’ by exposing ‘less proficient learners to a range of ELF

varieties’, Beware of students’ mistakes and incorrections which should lead them to

fossilisations. Use ‘unproblematic forms’ strategically, to encourage students reflection

upon the need for SIE. Do not promote them. Teach students to speak and write adequately, both formally and informally. Not denigrate NESs’ language before students! This provides the ‘linguistic

capital’ that we teach. Design lesson plans that promote the intercultural competence. Provide

sources to foster students’ critical thinking. Empower learners with adequate tools to deal with the diversity beyond the

classroom. (Prodromou: 2007 41-43)



8. Mass media and ELL

Students learn more language from the models they watch in television and

listen on the radio.

Be trendy! Most students listen to English songs, even though they do not

understand their contents. Make profit of them!

Catch your students’ worldwide models and try to get authentic EL

resources about them. Encourage their critical thinking skills to analyse

what they promote.

When dealing with web 2.0 tools and social virtual communities, lead your

learners to prestigious pages that promote cultural values and global

issues.

Whenever possible, suggest topics that foster your students’ cultural skills,

personal identity and appreciation for diversity and difference.YENY JUDITH MALAVER ROJAS – LANGUAGE & GLOBALIZATION - ELT AUTONOMOUS LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS – DEPARTMENT



Conclusions

Standards mean convention and agreement.

Arbitrary language is not global language, does not solve communicative

needs neither promotes understanding.

From diversity, promote communication and understanding.

Provide models of both proficient N and NN users of the language. Ignoring

NSs does not improve standardisation.

Be aware that for your students you are their nearest model. The one they

aspire.


What should and what should not EL Teachers consider when Establishing the standards for EIL in our local Colombian state

schools?

References:

Canagarajah S. (2006). The Place of World Englishes in Composition: Pluralization Continued. CCC 57 : 4 / JUNE 2006Retrieved from: http://nnest-evo2009.pbworks.com/f/suresh.pdf

De Mejía, A. (2009). Más Allá de los Imaginarios sobre el Bilingüismo. Palabra Abierta, Fundación Compartir, Sept. 2009. Ferrer, G. (2003). Los Estándares del Currículo en América Latina. Revolución Educativa Al Tablero SED, 2003 No. 23. Prodromou, L. (2007). Is ELF a variety of English? In: English Today. 90, Vol. 23, No. 2 (April 2007). United Kingdom:

Cambridge University Press. Matsuda, A. (2003) Incorporating World Englishes in Teaching English as an International Language. In: The Forum, TESOL

Quarterly (2003) Retrieved from:http://www.jstor.org/pss/3588220

http://www.tesol.org/s_tesol/sec_document.asp?CID=209&DID=3150&rcss=print&print=yes Secretaría de Educación den Distrito. Revolución Educativa Al Tablero 2003, No. 19 Ministerio de Educación Nacional. --- Revolución Educativa Al Tablero 2003, No. 23 --- Revolución Educativa Al Tablero 2005, No. 37 --- Revolución Educativa Al Tablero Competencias Clave para el Aprendizaje permanente: Educación pertinente para el

ciudadano del siglo XXI. 2009, No. 52


http://nnest-evo2009.pbworks.com/f/suresh.pdf

http://www.jstor.org/pss/3588220

http://www.tesol.org/s_tesol/sec_document.asp?CID=209&DID=3150&rcss=print&print=yes

Credits:

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MUSIC

The Music of Billy Joel – Instrumental Hits – London, Ganton Street. Hits & Hits.

YENY JUDITH MALAVER ROJAS – LANGUAGE & GLOBALIZATION - ELT AUTONOMOUS LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS – DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES & CULTURES - UNIVERSIDAD DE LA SABANA – COLOMBIA – 2010

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what should and what should not el teachers consider when establishing the standards for eil in our...

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