Profile: Issues in Teachers' Professional Development
This article provides a comprehensive qualitative synthesis of EFL writing studies published in C... more This article provides a comprehensive qualitative synthesis of EFL writing studies published in Colombian journals between 1990 and 2020. We synthesised 63 research reports regarding authorship, publication year, focus, methodology (context, participants, research paradigm, design, and data collection methods and analyses), validity, reliability, ethics, findings, limitations, and further research. Our findings reveal that EFL writing is a developing research area in Colombia, characterised as a predominantly qualitative inquiry into adult writing instruction and learning at universities. From the findings, we propose a research agenda and some guidelines for authors and reviewers to enhance and evaluate research reports.
This article presents a description of the proficiency level of a group of English teachers who p... more This article presents a description of the proficiency level of a group of English teachers who participated in the study about the conditions of implementation of the National Bilingual Program in Santiago de Cali. To offer a view of teachers’ proficiency beyond tests results, and in an effort to understand the make-up of this proficiency, focus group interviews and survey data were also used. Findings were analyzed following the models of teacher development of Richards (1998) and Roberts (1998), as well as theory about language proficiency from different authors. The results show that teachers from both public and private sectors are still in the process of building the proficiency levels sought by the Ministry of Education. The study also found that the elementary level, especially in the public sector, provides a frail basis for teaching and learning English at the secondary level.
Este artículo es resultado de una investigación etnográfica que describe la Práctica Docente (PD)... more Este artículo es resultado de una investigación etnográfica que describe la Práctica Docente (PD) 2003-2004 de las últimas cohortes (98 y 99) de la Licenciatura en Lenguas Modernas (LLM) de la Universidad del Valle, antecesora de la actual Licenciatura en Lenguas Extranjeras (LLE). Se identifican fortalezas y debilidades en la formación pedagógica como evaluación retrospectiva de la LLM y se proponen elementos para la evaluación inicial de la LLE, con miras a su acreditación de calidad. Además, esta investigación contribuye a la elaboración de un instrumento de evaluación curricular que puede servir para otros programas de licenciatura similares. Las variables para la caracterización de la PD fueron: bases conceptuales en las propuestas de PD de los estudiantes y la asesoría de los profesores de PD; metas y objetivos; enfoques y estrategias metodológicas; evaluación; recursos; relaciones con el componente curricular deformación pedagógica.
This article presents a description of the proficiency level of a group of English teachers who p... more This article presents a description of the proficiency level of a group of English teachers who participated in the study about the conditions of implementation of the National Bilingual Program in Santiago de Cali. To offer a view of teachers’ proficiency beyond tests results, and in an effort to understand the make-up of this proficiency, focus group interviews and survey data were also used. Findings were analyzed following the models of teacher development of Richards (1998) and Roberts (1998), as well as theory about language proficiency from different authors. The results show that teachers from both public and private sectors are still in the process of building the proficiency levels sought by the Ministry of Education. The study also found that the elementary level, especially in the public sector, provides a frail basis for teaching and learning English at the secondary level.
The complexity and variability of the development of writing in a second language have motivated ... more The complexity and variability of the development of writing in a second language have motivated extensive theoretical and empirical research of relevance for language learning and teaching. Whereas there is abundant evidence about what develops in writing (e.g., linguistic aspects in texts, writing strategies, processes, and motivation) and why it develops (e.g., learner maturation, instruction, feedback), comparatively less is known about how writing development occurs. Understanding how learners of English as a second/foreign language (ESL/EFL) develop their writing skills has grown in interest given the dominance of English as the current leading language for academic and non-academic communication. The present study investigates EFL learners' writing development in a foreign languages pre-service teacher education programme at a Colombian university. Drawing on the extensive body of ESL/EFL writing literature that has examined the complexity of writing development from distinct yet rather isolated angles and theoretical traditions, this study adopted a multi-lensed approach to investigate writing development as a writer-text-context compound. Methodologically, the study responds to calls for counterbalancing the partiality for quantitative cross-sectional studies of academic texts of groups of writers in EFL writing development research. Thus, it adopts a mixed-methods approach that investigated the participants' writing development over a 16-week academic semester. The quantitative phase examined writing development differences in groups from three curricular stages of the programme (initial = 31; middle = 29; final = 40; N=100) through a non-academic writing task and a questionnaire. The qualitative phase examined the developmental trajectories and the factors affecting the writing development of six individual learners (three higher scorers and three lower scorers selected from the three curricular stages) using interviews and six texts produced by each participant over the semester. Three independent raters evaluated the texts in the two phases of the study using a rubric developed for this study to reflect the comprehensive view of writing by including text-, writer-, and reader-related writing dimensions. The interviews and questionnaires provided data about writing development that cannot be seen in the texts. Email letters were chosen as a representative non-academic genre used by ESL/EFL learners in the context examined and globally. The findings showed significant differences across the groups. They revealed various developmental trajectories across the various writing dimensions and individual writers, associated with long- and short-term factors influencing EFL writing development. These findings cast light on what develops, why it develops, and how development occurs at both group and individual levels in an EFL situation. It was found that writing progress is limited but significant, nonlinear, and resulting from an interplay between contextual and individual characteristics (e.g., L1, family, instruction, personality, motivation, proficiency, and age). It was also found that writing development is also linked to interactions between writing facets (e.g., content, task, genre, language, authorial voice, audience awareness, language, readability, writing situation) in a way that resembles a self-organising system (Larsen-Freeman & Cameron, 2008a). While the present study was exploratory, the comprehensive view adopted provides a better understanding of writing development to inform EFL writing research, teaching, and assessment. The complexity and variability of writing development remind L2 writing researchers, teachers, and evaluators that, as the writing progress is not linear, having times in which there is no evidence of progress, or and at times, apparent regression, caution is needed in the evaluation of EFL learners' writing proficiency.
This article reports a mixed-method research project aimed at improving the practices of public s... more This article reports a mixed-method research project aimed at improving the practices of public sector English teachers in Cali (Colombia) through a professional development program. At the diagnostic stage surveys, documentary analysis, and a focus group yielded the teachers’ profile and professional needs. The action phase measured the program’s impact via surveys, evaluation formats, a focus group, researchers’ journal, and documentary analysis. Findings revealed that an eclectic approach tailored to the participants’ needs and interests and a practice-reflection-theory cycle improved the teachers’ quality. Key words: English teachers’ profile, professional development, teacher quality.
This article presents an ethnographic research that described the practicum during 2003 and 2004 ... more This article presents an ethnographic research that described the practicum during 2003 and 2004 of the last cohorts (1998 and 1999) of the B.A. in Modern Languages (LLM, in Spanish) at the Universidad del Valle, which preceded the current B.A. in Foreign Languages (LLE, in Spanish). Strengths and weaknesses in pedagogic education were identified as a retrospective evaluation of the LLM, and proposals were made for the initial evaluation of the LLE, necessary for its further Accreditation of Quality. This also might contribute to designing an instrument of curriculum evaluation of LLM / LLE programs. The variables for the characterization of the Practicum (PD) were: conceptual bases in the students' PD proposals and the PD teachers' counseling; aims and objectives; approaches and methodological strategies; evaluation; resources and relations with the pedagogical formation component of the curriculum.
Este artículo es resultado de una investigación etnográfica que describe la Práctica Docente (PD) 2003-2004 de las últimas cohortes (98 y 99) de la Licenciatura en Lenguas Modernas (LLM) de la Universidad del Valle, antecesora de la actual Licenciatura en Lenguas Extranjeras (LLE). Se identifican fortalezas y debilidades en la formación pedagógica como evaluación retrospectiva de la LLM y se proponen elementos para la evaluación inicial de la LLE, con miras a su acreditación de calidad. Además, esta investigación contribuye a la elaboración de un instrumento de evaluación curricular que puede servir para otros programas de licenciatura similares. Las variables para la caracterización de la PD fueron: bases conceptuales en las propuestas de PD de los estudiantes y la asesoría de los profesores de PD; metas y objetivos; enfoques y estrategias metodológicas; evaluación; recursos; relaciones con el componente curricular de formación pedagógica.
Palabras clave: práctica docente, lenguas modernas / extranjeras, evaluación curricular, formación pedagógica, formación docente. * Investigación registrada en la Vicerrectoría de Investigaciones de la Universidad del Valle, bajo el código #4191. Inicio: 12-07-03, Fin: 15-02-05. , 199-240.
In this article we aim at showing partial results of a study about the profiles of English as a F... more In this article we aim at showing partial results of a study about the profiles of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers in both public and private primary and secondary strata 1-4 schools in Cali, Colombia. Teachers’ methodological approaches and practices are described and analyzed from a sample of 220 teachers. Information was gathered from surveys, interviews and institutional documents. The quantitative information was processed with the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences and Excel while the qualitative information (from a survey and focal interviews) was analyzed hermeneutically. An analysis grid was used for the examination of institutional documents (area planning, syllabi, and didactic materials). Teachers’ methodology (approaches/methods), lessons, activities, objectives, curricula, syllabi and evaluation are analyzed in the light of literature in the field. Finally, we discuss the implications of methodological approaches.
Key words: English as a foreign language (EFL), teaching methods, teacher profile, teaching practices.
This article presents a description of the proficiency level of a group of English teachers who p... more This article presents a description of the proficiency level of a group of English teachers who participated in the study about the conditions of implementation of the National Bilingual Program in Santiago de Cali. To offer a view of teachers' proficiency beyond tests results, and in an effort to understand the make-up of this proficiency, focus group interviews and survey data were also used. Findings were analyzed following the models of teacher development of Richards (1998) and Roberts (1998), as well as theory about language proficiency from different authors. The results show that teachers from both public and private sectors are still in the process of building the proficiency levels sought by the Ministry of Education. The study also found that the elementary level, especially in the public sector, provides a frail basis for teaching and learning English at the secondary level.
This article reports an action-research project aimed at designing, applying, and assessing a did... more This article reports an action-research project aimed at designing, applying, and assessing a didactic sequence for teaching English as a foreign language in the first grade of a public school in Cali. The article comprises the context, reasons that justified the research, theoretical support, methodology, and results, analyzed through descriptive statistics and a data matrix. The findings suggest that the didactic proposal was easy to use for the teacher, understandable for the students, and appropriate for the students' proficiency level due to its emphasis on the oral skills. It was concluded that didactic material should follow the pacing of the teachers' academic work and has to be closely linked to the reality of teachers and students., English as foreign language, primary school. Este artículo reporta una investigación-acción cuyo objetivo fue el diseño, aplicación y evaluación de una secuencia didáctica para enseñanza de inglés en grado primero de una escuela pública de Cali. Se presentan el contexto, las razones que originaron el estudio, el soporte teórico, la metodología y los re-sultados obtenidos. Los hallazgos sugieren que la propuesta didáctica fue de fácil uso para la docente, comprensible y acorde con el nivel de proficiencia de los estudiantes, dado su énfasis en las habilidades
This book presents partial results of a mixed/methods QUALI-quanti study (Dörnyei, 2007; Hernánde... more This book presents partial results of a mixed/methods QUALI-quanti study (Dörnyei, 2007; Hernández, Fernández & Baptista, 2006) evaluating the implementation conditions of bilingualism (English) policies in Colombia. In particular, this book presents the demographic, socio-economic, academic and linguistic profiles of the teachers of English as a foreign language (EFL) in Cali, one of the biggest cities in Colombia, a mejoritary Spanish-speaking country. The study was carried out during 2010 and 2011 with 220 participant teachers from 56 non-bilingual primary and secondary schools both state and private. The data were collected through surveys, interviews, focal groups, language (English) proficiency tests, and documentary analysis of curruclum plans, syllabi and class materials. The results depict the overall salient demographic, socio-economic, academic and proficiency features of the teachers that participated in the study and the weigh they have on the success or failure of the bilingualism (English) policy implementation; special attention deserve here the various needs that affect the EFL teaching and the EFL teachers' professional development. A separate book presents the results concerning students profiles and intitutional conditions in relation to the implementation of the National Bilingualism (English) Program (NBP) in Cali, Colombia.
This article reports a mixed-method research project aimed at improving the practices of public s... more This article reports a mixed-method research project aimed at improving the practices of public sector English teachers in Cali (Colombia) through a professional development program. At the diagnostic stage surveys, documentary analysis, and a focus group yielded the teachers' profile and professional needs. The action phase measured the program's impact via surveys, evaluation formats, a focus group, researchers' journal, and documentary analysis. Findings revealed that an eclectic approach tailored to the participants' needs and interests and a practice-reflection-theory cycle improved the teachers' quality.
This article reports an action-research project aimed at designing, applying, and assessing a did... more This article reports an action-research project aimed at designing, applying, and assessing a didactic sequence for teaching English as a foreign language in the first grade of a public school in Cali. The article comprises the context, reasons that justified the research, theoretical support, methodology, and results, analyzed through descriptive statistics and a data matrix. The findings suggest that the didactic proposal was easy to use for the teacher, understandable for the students, and appropriate for the students' proficiency level due to its emphasis on the oral skills. It was concluded that didactic material should follow the pacing of the teachers' academic work and has to be closely linked to the reality of teachers and students.
Profile: Issues in Teachers' Professional Development
This article provides a comprehensive qualitative synthesis of EFL writing studies published in C... more This article provides a comprehensive qualitative synthesis of EFL writing studies published in Colombian journals between 1990 and 2020. We synthesised 63 research reports regarding authorship, publication year, focus, methodology (context, participants, research paradigm, design, and data collection methods and analyses), validity, reliability, ethics, findings, limitations, and further research. Our findings reveal that EFL writing is a developing research area in Colombia, characterised as a predominantly qualitative inquiry into adult writing instruction and learning at universities. From the findings, we propose a research agenda and some guidelines for authors and reviewers to enhance and evaluate research reports.
This article presents a description of the proficiency level of a group of English teachers who p... more This article presents a description of the proficiency level of a group of English teachers who participated in the study about the conditions of implementation of the National Bilingual Program in Santiago de Cali. To offer a view of teachers’ proficiency beyond tests results, and in an effort to understand the make-up of this proficiency, focus group interviews and survey data were also used. Findings were analyzed following the models of teacher development of Richards (1998) and Roberts (1998), as well as theory about language proficiency from different authors. The results show that teachers from both public and private sectors are still in the process of building the proficiency levels sought by the Ministry of Education. The study also found that the elementary level, especially in the public sector, provides a frail basis for teaching and learning English at the secondary level.
Este artículo es resultado de una investigación etnográfica que describe la Práctica Docente (PD)... more Este artículo es resultado de una investigación etnográfica que describe la Práctica Docente (PD) 2003-2004 de las últimas cohortes (98 y 99) de la Licenciatura en Lenguas Modernas (LLM) de la Universidad del Valle, antecesora de la actual Licenciatura en Lenguas Extranjeras (LLE). Se identifican fortalezas y debilidades en la formación pedagógica como evaluación retrospectiva de la LLM y se proponen elementos para la evaluación inicial de la LLE, con miras a su acreditación de calidad. Además, esta investigación contribuye a la elaboración de un instrumento de evaluación curricular que puede servir para otros programas de licenciatura similares. Las variables para la caracterización de la PD fueron: bases conceptuales en las propuestas de PD de los estudiantes y la asesoría de los profesores de PD; metas y objetivos; enfoques y estrategias metodológicas; evaluación; recursos; relaciones con el componente curricular deformación pedagógica.
This article presents a description of the proficiency level of a group of English teachers who p... more This article presents a description of the proficiency level of a group of English teachers who participated in the study about the conditions of implementation of the National Bilingual Program in Santiago de Cali. To offer a view of teachers’ proficiency beyond tests results, and in an effort to understand the make-up of this proficiency, focus group interviews and survey data were also used. Findings were analyzed following the models of teacher development of Richards (1998) and Roberts (1998), as well as theory about language proficiency from different authors. The results show that teachers from both public and private sectors are still in the process of building the proficiency levels sought by the Ministry of Education. The study also found that the elementary level, especially in the public sector, provides a frail basis for teaching and learning English at the secondary level.
The complexity and variability of the development of writing in a second language have motivated ... more The complexity and variability of the development of writing in a second language have motivated extensive theoretical and empirical research of relevance for language learning and teaching. Whereas there is abundant evidence about what develops in writing (e.g., linguistic aspects in texts, writing strategies, processes, and motivation) and why it develops (e.g., learner maturation, instruction, feedback), comparatively less is known about how writing development occurs. Understanding how learners of English as a second/foreign language (ESL/EFL) develop their writing skills has grown in interest given the dominance of English as the current leading language for academic and non-academic communication. The present study investigates EFL learners' writing development in a foreign languages pre-service teacher education programme at a Colombian university. Drawing on the extensive body of ESL/EFL writing literature that has examined the complexity of writing development from distinct yet rather isolated angles and theoretical traditions, this study adopted a multi-lensed approach to investigate writing development as a writer-text-context compound. Methodologically, the study responds to calls for counterbalancing the partiality for quantitative cross-sectional studies of academic texts of groups of writers in EFL writing development research. Thus, it adopts a mixed-methods approach that investigated the participants' writing development over a 16-week academic semester. The quantitative phase examined writing development differences in groups from three curricular stages of the programme (initial = 31; middle = 29; final = 40; N=100) through a non-academic writing task and a questionnaire. The qualitative phase examined the developmental trajectories and the factors affecting the writing development of six individual learners (three higher scorers and three lower scorers selected from the three curricular stages) using interviews and six texts produced by each participant over the semester. Three independent raters evaluated the texts in the two phases of the study using a rubric developed for this study to reflect the comprehensive view of writing by including text-, writer-, and reader-related writing dimensions. The interviews and questionnaires provided data about writing development that cannot be seen in the texts. Email letters were chosen as a representative non-academic genre used by ESL/EFL learners in the context examined and globally. The findings showed significant differences across the groups. They revealed various developmental trajectories across the various writing dimensions and individual writers, associated with long- and short-term factors influencing EFL writing development. These findings cast light on what develops, why it develops, and how development occurs at both group and individual levels in an EFL situation. It was found that writing progress is limited but significant, nonlinear, and resulting from an interplay between contextual and individual characteristics (e.g., L1, family, instruction, personality, motivation, proficiency, and age). It was also found that writing development is also linked to interactions between writing facets (e.g., content, task, genre, language, authorial voice, audience awareness, language, readability, writing situation) in a way that resembles a self-organising system (Larsen-Freeman & Cameron, 2008a). While the present study was exploratory, the comprehensive view adopted provides a better understanding of writing development to inform EFL writing research, teaching, and assessment. The complexity and variability of writing development remind L2 writing researchers, teachers, and evaluators that, as the writing progress is not linear, having times in which there is no evidence of progress, or and at times, apparent regression, caution is needed in the evaluation of EFL learners' writing proficiency.
This article reports a mixed-method research project aimed at improving the practices of public s... more This article reports a mixed-method research project aimed at improving the practices of public sector English teachers in Cali (Colombia) through a professional development program. At the diagnostic stage surveys, documentary analysis, and a focus group yielded the teachers’ profile and professional needs. The action phase measured the program’s impact via surveys, evaluation formats, a focus group, researchers’ journal, and documentary analysis. Findings revealed that an eclectic approach tailored to the participants’ needs and interests and a practice-reflection-theory cycle improved the teachers’ quality. Key words: English teachers’ profile, professional development, teacher quality.
This article presents an ethnographic research that described the practicum during 2003 and 2004 ... more This article presents an ethnographic research that described the practicum during 2003 and 2004 of the last cohorts (1998 and 1999) of the B.A. in Modern Languages (LLM, in Spanish) at the Universidad del Valle, which preceded the current B.A. in Foreign Languages (LLE, in Spanish). Strengths and weaknesses in pedagogic education were identified as a retrospective evaluation of the LLM, and proposals were made for the initial evaluation of the LLE, necessary for its further Accreditation of Quality. This also might contribute to designing an instrument of curriculum evaluation of LLM / LLE programs. The variables for the characterization of the Practicum (PD) were: conceptual bases in the students' PD proposals and the PD teachers' counseling; aims and objectives; approaches and methodological strategies; evaluation; resources and relations with the pedagogical formation component of the curriculum.
Este artículo es resultado de una investigación etnográfica que describe la Práctica Docente (PD) 2003-2004 de las últimas cohortes (98 y 99) de la Licenciatura en Lenguas Modernas (LLM) de la Universidad del Valle, antecesora de la actual Licenciatura en Lenguas Extranjeras (LLE). Se identifican fortalezas y debilidades en la formación pedagógica como evaluación retrospectiva de la LLM y se proponen elementos para la evaluación inicial de la LLE, con miras a su acreditación de calidad. Además, esta investigación contribuye a la elaboración de un instrumento de evaluación curricular que puede servir para otros programas de licenciatura similares. Las variables para la caracterización de la PD fueron: bases conceptuales en las propuestas de PD de los estudiantes y la asesoría de los profesores de PD; metas y objetivos; enfoques y estrategias metodológicas; evaluación; recursos; relaciones con el componente curricular de formación pedagógica.
Palabras clave: práctica docente, lenguas modernas / extranjeras, evaluación curricular, formación pedagógica, formación docente. * Investigación registrada en la Vicerrectoría de Investigaciones de la Universidad del Valle, bajo el código #4191. Inicio: 12-07-03, Fin: 15-02-05. , 199-240.
In this article we aim at showing partial results of a study about the profiles of English as a F... more In this article we aim at showing partial results of a study about the profiles of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers in both public and private primary and secondary strata 1-4 schools in Cali, Colombia. Teachers’ methodological approaches and practices are described and analyzed from a sample of 220 teachers. Information was gathered from surveys, interviews and institutional documents. The quantitative information was processed with the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences and Excel while the qualitative information (from a survey and focal interviews) was analyzed hermeneutically. An analysis grid was used for the examination of institutional documents (area planning, syllabi, and didactic materials). Teachers’ methodology (approaches/methods), lessons, activities, objectives, curricula, syllabi and evaluation are analyzed in the light of literature in the field. Finally, we discuss the implications of methodological approaches.
Key words: English as a foreign language (EFL), teaching methods, teacher profile, teaching practices.
This article presents a description of the proficiency level of a group of English teachers who p... more This article presents a description of the proficiency level of a group of English teachers who participated in the study about the conditions of implementation of the National Bilingual Program in Santiago de Cali. To offer a view of teachers' proficiency beyond tests results, and in an effort to understand the make-up of this proficiency, focus group interviews and survey data were also used. Findings were analyzed following the models of teacher development of Richards (1998) and Roberts (1998), as well as theory about language proficiency from different authors. The results show that teachers from both public and private sectors are still in the process of building the proficiency levels sought by the Ministry of Education. The study also found that the elementary level, especially in the public sector, provides a frail basis for teaching and learning English at the secondary level.
This article reports an action-research project aimed at designing, applying, and assessing a did... more This article reports an action-research project aimed at designing, applying, and assessing a didactic sequence for teaching English as a foreign language in the first grade of a public school in Cali. The article comprises the context, reasons that justified the research, theoretical support, methodology, and results, analyzed through descriptive statistics and a data matrix. The findings suggest that the didactic proposal was easy to use for the teacher, understandable for the students, and appropriate for the students' proficiency level due to its emphasis on the oral skills. It was concluded that didactic material should follow the pacing of the teachers' academic work and has to be closely linked to the reality of teachers and students., English as foreign language, primary school. Este artículo reporta una investigación-acción cuyo objetivo fue el diseño, aplicación y evaluación de una secuencia didáctica para enseñanza de inglés en grado primero de una escuela pública de Cali. Se presentan el contexto, las razones que originaron el estudio, el soporte teórico, la metodología y los re-sultados obtenidos. Los hallazgos sugieren que la propuesta didáctica fue de fácil uso para la docente, comprensible y acorde con el nivel de proficiencia de los estudiantes, dado su énfasis en las habilidades
This book presents partial results of a mixed/methods QUALI-quanti study (Dörnyei, 2007; Hernánde... more This book presents partial results of a mixed/methods QUALI-quanti study (Dörnyei, 2007; Hernández, Fernández & Baptista, 2006) evaluating the implementation conditions of bilingualism (English) policies in Colombia. In particular, this book presents the demographic, socio-economic, academic and linguistic profiles of the teachers of English as a foreign language (EFL) in Cali, one of the biggest cities in Colombia, a mejoritary Spanish-speaking country. The study was carried out during 2010 and 2011 with 220 participant teachers from 56 non-bilingual primary and secondary schools both state and private. The data were collected through surveys, interviews, focal groups, language (English) proficiency tests, and documentary analysis of curruclum plans, syllabi and class materials. The results depict the overall salient demographic, socio-economic, academic and proficiency features of the teachers that participated in the study and the weigh they have on the success or failure of the bilingualism (English) policy implementation; special attention deserve here the various needs that affect the EFL teaching and the EFL teachers' professional development. A separate book presents the results concerning students profiles and intitutional conditions in relation to the implementation of the National Bilingualism (English) Program (NBP) in Cali, Colombia.
This article reports a mixed-method research project aimed at improving the practices of public s... more This article reports a mixed-method research project aimed at improving the practices of public sector English teachers in Cali (Colombia) through a professional development program. At the diagnostic stage surveys, documentary analysis, and a focus group yielded the teachers' profile and professional needs. The action phase measured the program's impact via surveys, evaluation formats, a focus group, researchers' journal, and documentary analysis. Findings revealed that an eclectic approach tailored to the participants' needs and interests and a practice-reflection-theory cycle improved the teachers' quality.
This article reports an action-research project aimed at designing, applying, and assessing a did... more This article reports an action-research project aimed at designing, applying, and assessing a didactic sequence for teaching English as a foreign language in the first grade of a public school in Cali. The article comprises the context, reasons that justified the research, theoretical support, methodology, and results, analyzed through descriptive statistics and a data matrix. The findings suggest that the didactic proposal was easy to use for the teacher, understandable for the students, and appropriate for the students' proficiency level due to its emphasis on the oral skills. It was concluded that didactic material should follow the pacing of the teachers' academic work and has to be closely linked to the reality of teachers and students.
Uploads
Key words: English teachers’ profile, professional development, teacher quality.
Key words: teaching practices, practicum, foreign languages, curriculum evaluation, teacher education, teacher development.
Este artículo es resultado de una investigación etnográfica que describe la Práctica Docente (PD) 2003-2004 de las últimas cohortes (98 y 99) de la Licenciatura en Lenguas Modernas (LLM) de la Universidad del Valle, antecesora de la actual Licenciatura en Lenguas Extranjeras (LLE). Se identifican fortalezas y debilidades en la formación pedagógica como evaluación retrospectiva de la LLM y se proponen elementos para la evaluación inicial de la LLE, con miras a su acreditación de calidad. Además, esta investigación contribuye a la elaboración de un instrumento de evaluación curricular que puede servir para otros programas de licenciatura similares. Las variables para la caracterización de la PD fueron: bases conceptuales en las propuestas de PD de los estudiantes y la asesoría de los profesores de PD; metas y objetivos; enfoques y estrategias metodológicas; evaluación; recursos; relaciones con el componente curricular de formación pedagógica.
Palabras clave: práctica docente, lenguas modernas / extranjeras, evaluación curricular, formación pedagógica, formación docente.
* Investigación registrada en la Vicerrectoría de Investigaciones de la Universidad del Valle, bajo el código #4191. Inicio: 12-07-03, Fin: 15-02-05. ,
199-240.
Key words: English as a foreign language (EFL), teaching methods, teacher profile, teaching practices.
A separate book presents the results concerning students profiles and intitutional conditions in relation to the implementation of the National Bilingualism (English) Program (NBP) in Cali, Colombia.
Key words: English teachers’ profile, professional development, teacher quality.
Key words: teaching practices, practicum, foreign languages, curriculum evaluation, teacher education, teacher development.
Este artículo es resultado de una investigación etnográfica que describe la Práctica Docente (PD) 2003-2004 de las últimas cohortes (98 y 99) de la Licenciatura en Lenguas Modernas (LLM) de la Universidad del Valle, antecesora de la actual Licenciatura en Lenguas Extranjeras (LLE). Se identifican fortalezas y debilidades en la formación pedagógica como evaluación retrospectiva de la LLM y se proponen elementos para la evaluación inicial de la LLE, con miras a su acreditación de calidad. Además, esta investigación contribuye a la elaboración de un instrumento de evaluación curricular que puede servir para otros programas de licenciatura similares. Las variables para la caracterización de la PD fueron: bases conceptuales en las propuestas de PD de los estudiantes y la asesoría de los profesores de PD; metas y objetivos; enfoques y estrategias metodológicas; evaluación; recursos; relaciones con el componente curricular de formación pedagógica.
Palabras clave: práctica docente, lenguas modernas / extranjeras, evaluación curricular, formación pedagógica, formación docente.
* Investigación registrada en la Vicerrectoría de Investigaciones de la Universidad del Valle, bajo el código #4191. Inicio: 12-07-03, Fin: 15-02-05. ,
199-240.
Key words: English as a foreign language (EFL), teaching methods, teacher profile, teaching practices.
A separate book presents the results concerning students profiles and intitutional conditions in relation to the implementation of the National Bilingualism (English) Program (NBP) in Cali, Colombia.