Temario de Oposiciones De: Inglés

Z
ci
ER
uca
CU
Ed
PO
DE
PU
RA
MA
ES
MA
RA
INGLS
TR
OS
GA
RC
A
PE
RE
TEMARIO
de oposiciones de
np
rim
ari
a
Ttulo: Temario de oposiciones de ingls de primaria
Cuerpo de Maestros.
Edita: Educlia Innovaci, S.L.

Carrer Montdver, 9 baix 46025 Valncia
http://www.e-ducalia.com
ISBN:978-84-92655-55-7
Autor: Pura Mara Garca Perez.
Imprime: Educlia Innovaci, S.L.
Ao 2009
1 Edicin.
Prohibida la reproduccin total o parcial, an citando su prodecencia, sin autorizacin
expresa de la editorial.
CUERPO DE MAESTROS- INGLS

CENTRO DE OPOSICIONES
THEME 4: ASSESSMENT
OF KNOWING FOREIGN LANGUAGES AS AN
INSTRUMENT
FOR
COMMUNICATION
BETWEEN
INDIVIDUALS
AND
COMMUNITIES. DEVELOPING INTEREST FOR LINGUISTIC DIVERSITY THROUGH
THE KNOWLEDGE OF A NEW LANGUAGE AND ITS CULTURE.
THEME 4
ASSESSMENT OF THE KNOWING FOREIGN

LANGUAGES AS AN INSTRUMENT FOR
COMMUNICATION BETWEEN INDIVIDUALS AND
COMMUNITIES. DEVELOPING INTEREST FOR
LINGUISTIC DIVERSITY THROUGH THT KNOWLEDGE
OF A NEW LANGUAGE AND ITS CULTURE.
0. Introduction
1. Culture in foreign language teaching. Main
concepts.
2. Culture, an important component of efl
teaching.
3. Practical techniques for teaching culture in
the efl classroom.
www.e-ducalia.com
4. Suggested activities to sensitize efl students

to the notion of cross-cultural understanding
4. Theme overview.
5. Bibliography.
Los derechos de edicin estn reservados a favor de www.e-ducalia.com. Prohibida la reproduccin total o parcial sin permiso escrito del editor.
0. INTRODUCTION
Culture has become an increasingly important component of English language teaching in recent
times and especially in English as a Foreign Language. There are a number of reasons for this related to
a view of language that incorporates a wider social and culture perspective, and to the increasingly
multicultural use of English. To illustrate this multicultural use of English this theme will examine the use of
English and the teaching of culture in the EFL classroom.
This will then be followed by a description of some of the difficulties involved in teaching culture
awareness outside of the central English speaking countries, especially which culture to focus on and
overcoming stereotypes. Some suggestions will be made as to how these difficulties may be overcome
and how we might approach the teaching of cultural awareness in a systematic way.
Finally, we will propose some easy and useful activities and specific techniques to make the
teaching of culture a better experience for both teachers and students in EFL classrooms.
1. CULTURE IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHING. MAIN CONCEPTS

According to P. Kerr there can be few topics more central to foreign language teaching
than the role of culture, whether it is cultural influences on the processes of teacher learning or the
cultural components of the teacher education syllabus.
Tel.: 96 327 35 17
Autor/a: Garca Prez, Pura Mara

www.e-ducalia.com
Tema Especfico 4 / 1

THEME 4: ASSESSMENT
INSTRUMENT
FOR
COMMUNICATION
BETWEEN
INDIVIDUALS
AND
1.1 DEFINITIONS OF CULTURE

Culture is a concept which needs to be handled carefully. Nowadays it is much used, often
far too loosely. One of the problems is that the most common use of the word as national culture
is very broad and conjures up vague notions about nations, races and sometimes whole continents,
which are too generalised to be useful, and which often become mixed up with stereotypes and
prejudices. It is easy to talk about, for example, the learning problems of a particular group of
students as being influenced by Arab culture but such cultures, if indeed they are identifiable, are
so complex and vast that they are no longer useful devices for investigating what is happening in
the classroom between people. It is necessary to be far more precise than this.
Culture is often seen as mere information conveyed by the language, not as a feature of
language itself; cultural awareness becomes an educational objective in itself, separate from
language. If, however, language is seen as social practice, culture becomes the very core of
language teaching, especially foreign language teaching. Cultural awareness must then be viewed
both as enabling language proficiency and as being the outcome of reflection on language
proficiency. (Kramsch 1993)
1. 2 CULTURE AND TEACHING MATERIALS

EFL text book writers, like everyone else, think and compose chiefly through culture-specific
schemas. Because native-speakers have face validity in EFL circles, most textbook writers are native
speakers who consciously or unconsciously transmit the views, values, beliefs, attitudes, and feelings
of their own English-speaking society usually the United States or the United Kingdom.
If they have any subject content, course books will directly or indirectly communicate sets of
social and cultural values which are inherent in their make-up. This is the so-called hidden
curriculum which forms part of any educational programme, but is unstated and undisclosed. It
may well be an expression of attitudes and values that are not consciously held but which
nevertheless influence the content and image of the teaching material, and indeed the whole
curriculum.
A curriculum (and teaching materials form part of this) cannot be neutral because it has to reflect a
view of social order and express a value system, implicitly or explicitly. (Cunningsworth, 1995)
1.3 CULTURE AND METHODOLOGY

A culture-sensitive approach to English language education is needed if the question of
appropriate methodology is to be fully addressed. The type of learning about the classroom which
this requires can be best carried out by ethnographic action research. A reflective approach to
English language education can contribute to culture-sensitivity; but it needs to be driven by what is
to be reflected upon. It needs to address the macro social influences on classroom behaviour.
(Holliday. 1994)
1.4 CULTURES OF LEARNING

By the term culture of learning we mean that much behaviour in language classrooms is set
within taken-for-granted frameworks of expectations, attitudes, values and beliefs about what
constitutes good learning, about how to teach or learn, whether and how to ask questions, what
Tel.: 96 327 35 17

www.e-ducalia.com

THEME 4: ASSESSMENT
INSTRUMENT
FOR
COMMUNICATION
BETWEEN
INDIVIDUALS
AND
textbooks are for, and how language teaching relates to broader issues of the nature and purpose
of education. (Cortazzi and Jin 1996)
2. CULTURE, AN IMPORTANT COMPONENT OF EFL TEACHING

2.1 THE CULTURAL CONTEXT OF LANGUAGE AND LANGUAGE TEACHING
Writers such as Boas (1911), Halliday and Hymes have changed our view regarding the
position of language to include the wider context of culture and socio-pragmatics. In particular
Halliday's (1979) and Halliday and Hasan's (1984) socio-semiotic view of language emphasizes the
social meanings that language both represents and shapes, "The social structure is not just an
ornamental background to linguistic interactionIt is an essential element in the evolution of
semantic systems and semantic processes." Therefore every language will reflect the values, beliefs
and assumptions of the culture it came from. Thus learning a language will also involve learning the
culture the language expresses.
Subsequently our view of language teaching has also changed to incorporate this link between
culture and language. Being competent in communication involves more than just an understanding of
the syntax and range of expression within a language.
Hymes' (1972) definition of communicative competence, which underpins much of
communicative language teaching, highlights the importance of understanding the socio-linguistic
aspects of language. This conception of communicative competence has been expanded in recent
years to include intercultural communicative competence (Byram 1991 and Kramsch 1993).
Whereas communicative competence involves an understanding of the norms of social
interaction of one socio-cultural community, intercultural communicative competence entails an
understanding of the differences in interactional norms between different speech communities and an
ability to "reconcile or mediate between different modes present" (Byram and Fleming 1998).
Central to the notion of intercultural communicative competence is 'cultural awareness'. Cultural
awareness involves an understanding not only of the culture of the language being studied but also of the
learners' own culture. This is viewed as an intrinsic part of language learning and without it successful
communication may be impossible.
2.2 DIFFICULTIES IN TEACHING CULTURE

Which culture?
English teaching and use may occur in a wide variety of contexts in non-English speaking countries,
which often do not involve English NS (native speakers). This raises the important question of what culture
we should be addressing when teaching cultural awareness.
As we stated at the beginning of this theme, culture and language are inexorably linked and as
such cannot be separated. Numerous authors (Valdes, Byram or Kramsch) have highlighted the
impossibility of teaching English without teaching culture. Whether culture is consciously or unconsciously
part of the teachers' pedagogic aims the transmission of culture is unavoidable. The content of what
we teach will always be in some way linked to culture, as Valdes points out, every lesson is about
something and that something is cultural (1990). Nevertheless, the central question of what culture
should be taught still remains, and we would agree with Alptekin and Alptekin in questioning the
relevance of focusing exclusively on English speaking culture in all contexts. We would argue the
Tel.: 96 327 35 17

www.e-ducalia.com

THEME 4: ASSESSMENT
INSTRUMENT
FOR
COMMUNICATION
BETWEEN
INDIVIDUALS
AND
learners' own culture is of equal importance.

Stereotyping
Another significant difficulty is avoiding stereotypes when teaching culture. Guest (2002) has argued
that attempts to identify national characteristics for the purposes of comparing and contrasting cultures,
leads to oversimplification and stereotypes of cultural characteristics. Moreover, he believes that
focusing on national cultural stereotypes ignores the individual and the diverse range of equally
important sub-cultures that every individual is a part of.
Within the Spanish context learners are often exposed to a limited range of encounters with
English culture through European and American media and brief encounters with tourists, which can
easily lead to unrepresentative stereotypical impressions. In response to this it has been recommended
that teachers aid learners to become aware of these stereotypical images, through discussions and
critical examinations of them in the classroom (Wongbiasaj 2003), in particular through the use of
English media.
2.4 IN SUPPORT OF TEACHING CULTURE

A reoccurring aspect of this part of the theme has been that language and culture are inseparable,
and even writers such as Guest, who question the purpose of direct teaching of culture, accept that in
teaching English we will also be transmitting the values of English culture. Kramsch has pointed out that
"language teachers are so much teachers of culture that culture has often become invisible to
them."(1993). If this is the case then culture would surely be best approached in the same kind of
systematic way as other aspects of language, such as grammar and vocabulary. As Valdes remarks if
culture is an unavoidable part of language teaching, then "recognizing the culture lessons to be learned
for what they are and making the most of them enhances the learning experience."
A further, and far from insignificant reason for teaching culture, is its popularity amongst learners.
Over half of the learners in a survey by Prodromou (1992) indicated an interest in learning about the native
culture of English, and the higher the level of English the more important learners felt it was to learn
about culture. Further support comes indirectly from a survey by Timmis (2002), in which the majority of
learners and teachers of English from a large range of countries expressed a desire to speak English
according to native speaker norms, however the survey also demonstrated a wish to retain aspects of
their own culture such as accent, especially amongst Asian students. These surveys would seem to
provide good evidence for teaching the culture of English speaking countries.
However they also suggest that not only English speaking culture should be taught but also other
cultures need to be examined. In particular learners need to develop an awareness of their own and other
cultures and this will be dealt with more fully in the examination of approaches to teaching culture.
2.5 APPROACHES TO TEACHING CULTURE

Dunnet suggests six aspects of culture that learners and teachers should be familiar with.
Languages cannot be translated word for word. As Dunnett stresses individual words have
idiomatic uses and connotations that go beyond the individual word itself.
The intonation pattern carries meaning.
Languages and cultures use non verbal communication which conveys meaning.
Although many gestures are similar in English and other languages such as nodding for
Tel.: 96 327 35 17

www.e-ducalia.com

THEME 4: ASSESSMENT
INSTRUMENT
FOR
COMMUNICATION
BETWEEN
INDIVIDUALS
AND
affirmation many others are not shared.
Languages use different grammatical elements for describing the physical world. Some
languages and English grammar are very different in a number of areas such as subject use,
tense and aspect, inflections and word order. These can at times cause communication
problems at a semantic level. For instance the Thai language contains no tense or aspect. This
can make areas of English grammar such as past simple or present perfect and any
accompanying temporal references difficult to grasp for Thai learners.
Cultures have taboo topics. Many of the topic taboos of English and other cultures are the
same. Nevertheless there are a number of topics which are perhaps a more acceptable
choice of topic in English than in other languages.
2.6 KRAMSCH'S "THIRD PLACES"
A contrastive approach to culture should aid learners' understanding of another culture; however
it will be necessary to go beyond this to achieve a full understanding of culture. If language and culture are
inseparable then as learners acquire a new language they will also be acquiring a new culture. However,
we cannot expect this culture to be the same as either the learners' native culture or the culture of the
language they are studying.
The learner will initially have a synthesis with their own culture, and in learning a foreign language
such as English may use it in ways that express meaning in their own culture. Nevertheless, as learners'
understanding of a foreign language develops they may come to understand other values and meanings
familiar to the foreign culture that are alien to their own culture. Yet their understanding of these values
and meanings may still be different to that of the native speaker. This leads Kramsch to suggest that
foreign language learning takes place in a 'third place' that the learner must make for him/herself
between their first culture (C1) and the foreign language culture (C2).
This 'third place' involves the language learner in an objective and subjective reflection of C1 and
C2 from which they must choose their own meanings that best reflect their personal perspectives.
Hence this conception of culture emphasizes the importance of individual interpretations of culture
rather than rigid stereotypical notions.
Kramsch (1993) proposes an examination of four aspects of culture in keeping with this view of
cultural acquisition:
Establishing a sphere of interculturality, relating C1 to C2 and reflecting on perceptions of

C1 and C2.
Teaching culture as an interpersonal process, going beyond the presentation of cultural facts
and moving towards a process of understanding foreignness ('macro-features' such as
cultural specific values and attitudes).
Teaching culture as difference, culture should not be viewed as only national traits, many
other aspects of culture such as age, race, gender, social class need to be considered.
Crossing disciplinary boundaries, teachers need to have some understanding of a wider
range of subjects such as sociology, ethnography, and sociolinguistics.
Tel.: 96 327 35 17

www.e-ducalia.com

THEME 4: ASSESSMENT
INSTRUMENT
FOR
COMMUNICATION
BETWEEN
INDIVIDUALS
AND
2.7 CULTURE IN THE CLASSROOM
The teaching of culture should take place within the normal language classroom and not as a
separate subject. It is within the classroom that EFL learners acquire English language and hence culture, it
is surely at this point that culture should be discussed.
Many writers (Kramsch 1993, Tomalin and Stempleski 1993 and Valdes 1990) view the content of
what takes place in the language classroom as the ideal material with which to address culture. This
may Furthermore, the language classroom provides plenty of opportunity for 'meta-talk' (Kramsch
1993), that is, a discussion of the language and behaviours presented.
2.8 MATERIALS AND CONTENT
Equally importantly, materials and content in EFL teaching should try to make learners aware of
the cultural content of language learning and encourage learners to compare English culture with their
own. Materials that do this will, as Valdes (1990) suggests, prove successful with learners. Furthermore
materials that present English culture through the perspectives of foreign learners may also provide
valuable insights from 'third place' perspectives.
However in preparing such materials it is necessary to avoid the kind of oversimplifications and
stereotype. Moreover these materials must also encourage learners to compare cultures and to take a
critical perspective.
Tomalin and Stempleski (1993) propose a range of tasks such as class discussions, research and
role-plays using materials drawn from English speaking countries that promote discussions, comparisons
and reflection on English culture and the learners own culture. These can be arranged around such
subjects as cultural symbols and products e.g. popular images, architecture, landscapes, cultural
behaviour e.g. what is considered appropriate, values and attitudes, patterns of communication e.g.
non-verbal communication, and exploring cultural experiences e.g. looking at learners own feelings
and experiences of the target culture (Tomalin and Stempleski 1993).
3. PRACTICAL TECHNIQUES FOR TEACHING CULTURE IN THE EFL

CLASSROOM
According to Cullen and Sato teaching culture is considered important by most teachers but
it has remained "insubstantial and sporadic in most language classrooms". Omaggio gives several
reasons for this including lack of time, uncertainty about which aspects of culture to teach, and lack
of practical techniques. In this section of the theme, we will present a range of practical techniques
that can be successful in culture-based courses and some tips that can help to make the teaching
of culture a better experience for both teachers and students.
CREATING CULTURAL TEXTURE

Oxford (1994) has used the term 'cultural texture' to describe the many aspects of culture that
we need to teach to our students. To achieve this texture, we need to vary two different parameters.
Tel.: 96 327 35 17

www.e-ducalia.com

THEME 4: ASSESSMENT
INSTRUMENT
FOR
COMMUNICATION
BETWEEN
INDIVIDUALS
AND
1. Information Sources
2. Activity-types
3.1 INFORMATION SOURCES

As Cullen and Sato suggest in order to get a comprehensive picture of the target culture
from many angles, we need to present our students with different kinds of information. The list below
shows some possible sources of information which can be used as materials for teaching culture.
By using a combination of visual, audio and tactile materials, we are also likely to succeed in
addressing the different learning styles of our students.
Video
CDs
TV
Readings
Internet
Stories
Literature
Students own
information
Songs
Newspapers
Realia
Fieldwork
Interviews
Guest speakers
Anecdotes
Souvenirs
Photographs
Surveys
Illustrations
3.2 ACTIVITY TYPES

Many books which attempt to teach culture offer only 'discussion' activities. Discussion is a
valuable form of learning in culture, but we cannot expect all students to be able to discuss
complex issues at a high level in a foreign language. Often, even high-level students need some
preparatory activities with clear goals before they can proceed to discussion. Some of Cullen and
Satos favourite activities are presented below.
QUIZZES
We have found that quizzes are one of the more successful activity types. Quizzes can be used to
test materials that you have previously taught, but they are also useful in learning new information.
For example, look at the simple true/false quiz about Ireland below.
With a partner, answer true or false to the following questions.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Ireland is totally dark during the winter.

There is little snow except in the mountains.
The population of Ireland is less than that of Aichi Prefecture.
Ireland is about the same size as the island of Honshu.
The United Kingdom includes the Republic of Ireland.
The Coors, the Cranberries, U2, the Beatles and Enya are Irish musicians.
Some Irish people think the Shinkansen connects Tokyo to Hong Kong.
Tel.: 96 327 35 17

www.e-ducalia.com

THEME 4: ASSESSMENT
INSTRUMENT
FOR
COMMUNICATION
BETWEEN
INDIVIDUALS
AND
You should ask the students to answer true or false to each of the questions in pairs or groups.
They will share their existing knowledge and common sense to give answers. It is not important
whether students get the right answer or not, but by predicting, students will become more
interested in finding out the right answer. The right answers can be given by the teacher, through a
reading, listening, or video. At this point, extra information can be provided. For example, in
answering question 7 above, I tell the story of the Irish man sitting next to me on an airplane who
gave me this lovely nonsense.
ACTION LOGS
An action log is a notebook used for written reflection on the activities done during class
which also provides useful feedback for the teacher. Students write it up after each class or at the
end of each class. By requiring students to evaluate each class activity for interest usefulness,
difficulty, and, they must reconsider what they have learnt.
Each student also records their target for speaking English, what they think they actually
achieve, the names of their discussion partners, and their own comments on the activities. Some
students get so interested in the target culture that they write several pages in comments each
week.
REFORMULATION
When students have read an activity or listened to a story, you may like to use reformulation
to allow them to check what they have learned and to reinforce it by retelling it to a partner.
Reformulation simply means: 'Explain what you just learned to your partner in your own words.'
It is a very simple technique, but has proved very successful for learning both culture and language.
We often give readings for homework and require students to take notes on the content. These
notes can be in the form of pictures, keywords, or mind-maps.
NOTICING
As students watch a video or are engaged with some other materials, you can ask them to
'notice' particular features. For example, they could watch a video of a target-culture wedding and
note all the differences with their own culture.
Asking students to 'notice' gives a focus to the materials by making it into a task, rather than
simply passive viewing or listening.
PREDICTION
As mentioned above, prediction can be a useful tool in quizzes, but it can be equally useful
in using almost any materials. Like 'noticing', prediction can engage the students more actively. For
example, when you are telling a story, you can stop at a certain point and ask the students to
predict how it will continue. Or, when you are giving out a reading for homework, first give the title of
the reading and ask students to predict what they will learn. This will force them to review their
existing knowledge of the topic and raise their curiosity about whether their prediction is correct or
not.
RESEARCH
Student research is one of the most powerful tools that we can use with college students
because it combines their interests with the classroom. For example, after the first class, we ask
students to search the internet or library and find information on any aspect of the target-culture that
Tel.: 96 327 35 17

www.e-ducalia.com

THEME 4: ASSESSMENT
INSTRUMENT
FOR
COMMUNICATION
BETWEEN
INDIVIDUALS
AND
interests them. In the following class, students explain to their group what they have learned and
answer any questions about it.
This can lead to poster-sessions or longer projects. For some students, it can even lead to a
long-term interest in the target-culture.
Some other types of activity that have been found useful by Cullen and Sato include the
following but with a bit of thought, most standard EFL activities can be easily adapted for use in the
culture classroom. The most important point is to ensure that the students are actively engaged in
the target culture and language.
Games
Listening activities
Role Play
Writing activities
Field trips
Discussion activities
Reading activities
Singing
4. SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES TO SENSITIZE EFL STUDENTS TO THE NOTION OF

CROSS-CULTURAL UNDERSTANDING
Culture will most likely present new territory for our students. We therefore suggest that
teachers spend enough time preparing them to the notion of cross-cultural understanding.
Below, you will find some activities designed to sensitize students to such notion. These
activities need not be done in the order they appear, nor do they all need to be done.
PRELIMINARY ACTIVITY 1: BARNGA
This is a card game which simulates cultural clashes and we strongly recommend you use it in
your class. It is a very easy game which perfectly illustrates what happens when one encounters a
foreign culture. Briefly, this is a game played in teams of four or five. After two or three games,
students enter a tournament (with the assumption that they were playing with the same set of rules)
and gradually discover (or not, as the case may be) that each team has been functioning under a
different set of rules. The set includes:
1. the rules of the game
2. suggestions for debriefing
How to go about it:
We suggest that you:
Have your students play the game, without telling them what it is all about (that is extremely
important!)
Do a debriefing session.
1. Game: To play the games, you will need as many sets of cards as you will have groups of
students. If you have 4 students per group and 16 students total, it will mean that you will
need 4 different sets of cards (try to make the groups as even as possible although there can
be a slightly uneven number of students per group). From each set of cards, you will need
the following only: Aces, 7, 8, 9 and 10. For how to play the game, refer to the rules that
come with the game.
Tel.: 96 327 35 17

www.e-ducalia.com

THEME 4: ASSESSMENT
INSTRUMENT
FOR
COMMUNICATION
BETWEEN
INDIVIDUALS
AND
2. Debriefing session: It is desirable this activity be done in the target language, if at all possible.
We suggest the following. Ask your students to tell you:
1. If they had problems when playing the game
2. The nature of the problems (some may not have realized that there was even a
problem...).
3. What their first thoughts were when they realized something was amiss. Write all of
them on the board, in a column (column 1)
4. What their initial reactions (did they accept the situation? did they fight it? did they
be come angry? etc...). Write all the different reactions on the board, in a different
column (column 2).
Ask students to then look at the comments written on the board and tell you what they notice.
For column 1, where all likelihood, there will be such comments as "he is cheating"; she
does not know the rules"; "he does not what he is doing"; "she has some nerve!". Students will
probably notice that most comments are negative (it never fails!) and that they tend to almost
always blame the other person (he/she did... did not...), rarely themselves.
For column 2, there will likely be very different and sometimes opposite reactions (aggressiveness
versus passiveness/acceptance versus resistance). Ask students why they reacted the way they
did. Some might say "it was not worth fighting over" or " I went along with the majority": or "I
laughed when I realized what was going on" etc...
Finally, ask students why you gave them that game. Here again, responses might vary. Some
might say: "to see how we could communicate without speaking"; others might say: "you wanted
to see our different personalities". Some might say (which is the real goal of the game): "what
happened in this game is just like what happens when we encounter another culture".
Now comes the time to ask students in what way Barnga simulates a culture clash. Some possible
answers:
o
o
o
At first, when things looks similar, you assume that the underlying rules (= the
underlying codes) are the same or similar; then you discover that there are tacit rules
(=codes) which one was not aware of.
The initial reaction is often negative: one usually assumes that the other one is in the
wrong and that I am right!
There are many ways one can react when one meets another culture (one can:
accept the new norms; resist them; deride them, ignore them, make nasty comments
about them, etc...)
Finish by telling students that the goal of Culture is to try and go beyond those typical negative
reactions and to look at this new culture in a non-judgmental way: not as inferior but as different and
to try and understand the underlying assumptions between the differences they noticed.
Tel.: 96 327 35 17

www.e-ducalia.com

THEME 4: ASSESSMENT
INSTRUMENT
FOR
COMMUNICATION
BETWEEN
INDIVIDUALS
AND
5. CONCLUSION
If culture and language are interlinked and
inseparable then we need to try to teach culture in some
kind of systematic way, as we try to do with other aspects
of language.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
However there are problems in deciding what culture

to teach, possibly creating cultural stereotypes and
ignoring the individual when teaching culture. Furthermore,
in many foreign countries, English is often used as an
international language rather than as a means of
communicating with English speakers from English speaking
countries, bringing into question the relevance of English
speaking culture.
VALDES, J. (1986). Culture

Bound. Cambridge University Press.
Nevertheless, these difficulties do not mean that

culture should be ignored or left to unconscious processes.
Learners and teachers should be aware of the cultural
aspects of communication and language and need to be
able to interpret these on both national and individual
levels. They should also be prepared to re-evaluate and
re-assess their knowledge based on experience.
Learners also need to be encouraged to view using
a foreign language as a new cultural experience and
not part of either their native culture or the TL culture.
Communication in an L2 or FL takes place in a 'third place'.
Materials, teacher training, and course content need to
reflect such uses of English.
ALDERSON J. AND URQUAHART

A. (1984) Reading in a Foreign
Language. Longman.
BYRAM, M. (1991). Teaching Culture

and Language: Towards an Integrated
Model. Buttjes.
BYRAM, M. (1996). Mediating
languages and cultures. Multilingual
Matters.
BYRAM, M. and FLEMING, M.
(1998). Language Learning in
Intercultural Perspective. Cambridge
University Press.
KRAMSCH, C. (1993). Context
and Culture in Language Teaching.
Oxford University Press.
Moreover materials should encourage learners to

reflect on comparisons between cultures and to form
their own perspective on them; through materials drawn
from English cultures, cross-cultural materials involving
outsiders' observations on English culture, and locally
produced (Spanish or European) English materials. Finally
the teaching of culture should be integrated into normal
English lessons and be a covert part of the lesson.
The view of language learning presented encourages
learners to view themselves as acquiring a new culture
and one that enables them to take a cross-cultural
perspective on their own and the target language culture.
Hopefully, instead of ignoring the individual and
creating cultural stereotypes, such a view of language and
language teaching should generate more diversity within
the international use of English.
Tel.: 96 327 35 17

www.e-ducalia.com

Tel.: 96 327 35 17
THEME 4: ASSESSMENT
INSTRUMENT
FOR
COMMUNICATION
BETWEEN
INDIVIDUALS
AND

www.e-ducalia.com
CUERPO DE MAESTROS- INGLES

TEMA 19: MOTIVATIONAL AND EXPRESSIVE TECHNIQUES AS A

RESOURCE FOR FOREIGN LANGUAGE LEARNING. REAL- LIFE
SITUATIONS, ROLE PLAYING AND STORYTELING. GROUP WORK
IN CREATIVE ACTIVITIES. TEACHERS ROLE.
THEME 19
MOTIVATIONAL AND EXPRESSIVE

TECHNIQUES AS A RESOURSE FOR FOREIGN
LANGUAGE LEARNING. REAL-LIFE SITUATIONS,
ROLE PLAYING AND STORYTELLING. GROUP
WORK IN CREATIVE ACTIVITIES. TEACHERS
ROLE.
0. Introduction.
1. Motivation in efl.
2. Motivation in efl and young learners
3. Real-life situations and motivation: role
playing.
4. Storytelling and motivating young
learners.
5. Group work.
6. Teachers roles.
7. Theme overview.
8. Bibliography.
www.e-ducalia.com
Los derechos de edicin estn reservados a favor de www.e-ducalia.com. Prohibida la reproduccin total o parcial sin permiso escrito del editor.
0. INTRODUCTION
As Dornyei (2001) notes, "teacher skills in motivating learners should be seen as central to
teaching effectiveness".The issue of motivation, particularly in EFL settings, is so important that other
considerations about teaching methodology seem to pale in comparison.
It is important to think about motivation as the essence of language teaching because of
the stark realities of learning English for most of our students. All of the conditions that we know
contribute to successful second or foreign language acquisition are lacking in most EFL contexts:
there just isnt enough English input in the environment, there probably arent enough opportunities
for interaction with English speakers, there usually arent enough strong role models promoting the
learning of English, and there may not be widespread enough social acceptance for the idea of
becoming proficient in English. Because of these adverse conditions, a learner has to have
extraordinary motivation in order to succeed at learning English.
Through this theme, we will examine different strategies and activities to motivate foreign
language learners and young learners all of them related to group processes and to teacherstudents and student-to-student interaction.
After examining motivation strategies, we will define the characteristics of the most used
drama techniques and storytelling activities.
Finally, we will end this theme up by describing teachers roles and some guidelines to
organize group work in the classroom.
1. MOTIVATION IN EFL
Prior to analyzing some of the motivational strategies, it would be of relevance to say a few
things about the teacher/learner relationship. Whichever way we look at it, this relationship is riddled
with power and status. For many, power plays a large part in the relationship. The rights and duties of
teachers and learners are related to power. For example, many teachers might assert that they
have the right to punish those learners who misbehave.
Tel.: 96 327 35 17

www.e-ducalia.com


In any social encounter involving two or more people, there are certain power relationships
"which are almost always asymmetrical" (Wright, 1987). Social psychologists distinguish between
three different types of power - coercive, reward-based, and referent. The basis of coercive power is
punishment. Some individuals or institutions have the authority to punish others. The basis of the
second type of power is reward. Some individuals or institutions have the power to reward what they
deem appropriate behaviour. For example, business organisations reward employees with a salary,
a bonus etc. The basis of the third type of power is motivation. In this case, individuals or institutions
appeal to the commitment and interest of others. In view of this three-fold paradigm, it is of
importance to concern ourselves with the fostering of learner motivation, as it is considered to be the
most effective and proactive, so to speak, power relationship.
GROUP PROCESSES AND MOTIVATION
According to Thanasoulas, a discussion of motivation and motivational strategies would not
be complete without a consideration of group processes, inasmuch as there is usually a group of
people that we as teachers are called on to motivate. Tuckman (1969) established that a group
went through four stages from its formation, which has important implications for the study of the
classroom and the use of group activities during teaching.
Stage 1 Forming: At first, there is some anxiety among the members of the group, as they are
dependent on the leader (that is, the teacher) and they have to find out what behaviour is
acceptable.
Stage 2 Storming: There is conflict between sub-groups and rebellion against the leader.
Members of the group resist their leader and the role relations attending the function of the
group are questioned.
Stage 3 Norming: The group begins to develop a sort of cohesion. Members of the group
begin to support each other. At this stage, there is co-operation and open exchange of views
and feelings about their roles and each other.
Stage 4 Performing: Most problems are resolved and there is a great deal of interpersonal
activity. Everyone is devoted to completing the tasks they have been assigned.
Experience shows that almost every group goes through these four (or even more) stages
until it reaches equilibrium and, thus, taps into its potential.(Daniels, 1994)
1.1 A FRAMEWORK FOR MOTIVATIONAL STRATEGIES

As Thanasoulas states, skill in motivating students to learn is of great importance. Until
recently, however, teachers were forced to rely on "bag-of-tricks" approaches in their attempt to
manage their classroom and motivate their learners. Good and Brophy (1994) hold that these
approaches have been influenced by two contradictory views:
a) That learning should be fun and that any motivation problems that may appear should be
ascribed to the teacher's attempt to convert an enjoyable activity to drudgery.
b) That school activities are inherently boring and unrewarding, so that we must rely on
extrinsic rewards with a view to forcing students to engage in these unpleasant tasks.
One central question in designing a framework of motivational strategies is to decide
how to organise them into separate themes. The following taxonomy is based on the processoriented model by Dornyei and Otto (1998). The key units in this taxonomy are as follows:
Tel.: 96 327 35 17

www.e-ducalia.com


Creating the basic motivational conditions, which involves setting the scene for the use of
motivational strategies
Generating student motivation, which roughly corresponds to the pre-actional phase in the
model
Maintaining and protecting motivation, which corresponds to the actional phase
Encouraging positive self-evaluation, which corresponds to the post-actional phase
CREATING THE BASIC MOTIVATIONAL CONDITIONS

Motivational strategies cannot work in a vacuum, nor are they set in stone. There are certain
preconditions to be met before any attempts to generate motivation can be effective. Some of these
conditions are the following:
A. Appropriate teacher behaviour and good teacher-student rapport. Whatever is done by a
teacher has a motivational, formative, influence on students. In other words, teacher
behaviour is a powerful "motivational tool" (Dornyei, 2001). Teacher influences are manifold,
ranging from the rapport with the students to teacher behaviours which "prevail upon"
and/or "attract" students to engage in tasks. For Alison (1993), a key element is to establish a
relationship of mutual trust and respect with the learners, by means of talking with them on a
personal level.
B.
A pleasant and supportive classroom atmosphere. To be motivated to learn, students need
both ample opportunities to learn and steady encouragement and support of their learning efforts.
Because such motivation is unlikely to develop in a chaotic classroom, it is important that teachers
organise and manage the classroom as an effective learning environment. Furthermore, because
anxious or alienated students are unlikely to develop motivation to learn, it is important that learning
occur within a relaxed and supportive atmosphere (Good and Brophy, 1994).
C.Cohesive learner groups characterised by appropriate group norms. There are several factors
that promote group cohesiveness, such as the time spent together and shared group history,
learning about each other, interaction, intergroup competition, common threat, and active
presence of the leader (Ehrman and Dornyei, 1998).
GENERATING STUDENT MOTIVATION
Ideally, all learners exhibit an inborn curiosity to explore the world, so they are likely to find the
learning experience per se intrinsically pleasant. In reality, however, this "curiosity" is vitiated by such
inexorable factors as compulsory school attendance, curriculum content, and grades - most
importantly, the premium placed on them.
INCREASING THE LEARNERS' "GOAL-ORIENTEDNESS"
In an ordinary class, many, if not most, students do not understand why they are involved in
an activity. It may be the case that the goal set by outsiders (i.e., the teacher or the curriculum) is far
from being accepted by the group members. Thus, it would seem beneficial to increase the group's
goal-orientedness, that is, the extent to which the group tunes in to the pursuit of its official goal. This
could be achieved by allowing students to define their own personal criteria for what should be a
group goal.
MAKING THE CURRICULUM RELEVANT FOR THE LEARNERS
Many students do their homework and engage in all sorts of learning activities, even when a
subject is not very interesting. Obviously, these students share the belief of the curriculum makers that
Tel.: 96 327 35 17

www.e-ducalia.com


what they are being taught will come in handy. In order to inspire learners to concern themselves
with most learning activities, we should find out their goals and the topics they want to learn, and try
to incorporate them into the curriculum.
CREATING REALISTIC LEARNER BELIEFS
It is widely acknowledged that learner beliefs about how much progress to expect, and at
what pace, can, and do, lead to disappointment. Therefore, it is important to help learners get rid of
their preconceived notions that are likely to hinder their attainment. To this end, learners need to
develop an understanding of the nature of second language learning, and should be cognisant of
the fact that the mastery of L2/FL can be achieved in different ways, using a diversity of strategies,
and a key factor is for learners to discover for themselves the optimal methods and techniques.
1.2 MAINTAINING AND PROTECTING MOTIVATION

Unless motivation is sustained and protected when action has commenced, the natural
tendency to get tired or bored of the task and succumb to any attractive distractions will result in
demotivation. Therefore, there should be a motivational repertoire including several motivation
maintenance strategies. Let us have a look at two of them:
a) Increasing the learners' self-confidence.
b) Creating learner autonomy.
INCREASING THE LEARNERS' SELF-CONFIDENCE
In an inherently face-threatening context, as the language classroom is likely to be, it is
important to find out how to maintain and increase the learners' self-confidence. There are five
approaches that purport to help to this end (Dornyei, 2001):
1. Teachers can foster the belief that competence is a changeable aspect of development.
2. Favourable self-conceptions of L2/FL competence can be promoted by providing regular
experiences of success.
3. Everyone is more interested in a task if they feel that they make a contribution.
4. A small personal word of encouragement is sufficient.
5. Teachers can reduce classroom anxiety by making the learning context less stressful.
CREATING LEARNER AUTONOMY
Many educationists and researchers (Benson, 2000; Little, 1991; Wenden, 1991) argue that
taking charge of one's learning, that is, becoming an autonomous learner, can prove beneficial to
learning.
This assumption is premised on humanistic psychology, namely that "the only kind of learning
which significantly affects behaviour is self-discovered, self-appropriated learning" (Rogers, 1961).
Benson (2000) distinguishes between five types of practice fostering the development of autonomy:
1. Resource-based approaches, which emphasise independent interaction with learning
materials
Tel.: 96 327 35 17

www.e-ducalia.com


2. Technology-based approaches, which emphasise independent interaction with educational

technologies
3. Learner-based approaches, which emphasise the direct production of behavioural and
psychological changes in the learner
4. Classroom-based approaches, which emphasise changes in the relationship between
learners and teachers in the classroom
5. Curriculum-based approaches, which extend the idea of learner control over the planning
and evaluation of learning to the curriculum as a whole
1.3 ENCOURAGING POSITIVE SELF-EVALUATION

Research has shown that the way learners feel about their accomplishments and the amount
of satisfaction they experience after task completion will determine how teachers approach and
tackle subsequent learning tasks. By employing appropriate strategies, the latter can help learners to
evaluate themselves in a positive light, encouraging them to take credit for their advances. Dornyei
(2001) presents three areas of such strategies:
1. Promoting attributions to effort rather than to ability
2. Providing motivational feedback
3. Increasing learner satisfaction and the question of rewards and grades
2. MOTIVATION IN EFL AND YOUNG LEARNERS

Educate to motivate or motivate to educate? Should we educate children in order to motivate
them? Or should we motivate children in order to educate them? According to Lobo, M. when
motivating children, we are building up the way for their education. Of course this applies not just to the
teaching of English as a foreign language but to teaching in general.
A lot has been said about the importance of motivating learners in order to achieve good results in
class. Easy to say. Probably not so easy to attain. In the case of English one thing is clear: young learners
are very motivated towards English when they come to our classes for the first time. It is the teachers
responsibility to make that motivation grow. But how does motivation happen? What helps the teacher to
motivate learners? There are many complex factors that intervene in the process of increasing childrens
motivation in class.
We will concentrate here on the teacher as motivator of young learners and on the materials used
in the classroom by following Lobos suggestions.
The motivating teacher
When dealing with young learners, the teacher becomes the key motivating factor that can
make education and motivation be very closely linked. The younger the children are the more relevant
the figure of their teacher is at all levels. Here are some of the features that will identify the motivating
teacher:
The motivating teacher:
Likes his/her job. He/she is ready to help the children grow personally, - cares for childrens personal
circumstances, - knows the childrens psychology, - is patient- tries to be fair in all situations, - caters
for different needs,- abilities and capabilities
Tel.: 96 327 35 17

www.e-ducalia.com


Is friendly. He/she creates a good atmosphere in the classroom.

Is positive. He/she sees the + side of situations,-tries to find a solution/alternative to difficult
situations
Makes his/her explanations easy to follow and understand. He/she uses language that is
accessible to pupils-uses all kinds of materials and resources to make input - comprehensible to
children - speaks in a clear voice-is organised
Has a good knowledge of English,- of useful materials for the class, - of school life,- of cultural issues
Classroom Materials and motivation
The materials used in class will play an essential role in increasing childrens motivation. Whatever
materials we choose for a particular lesson, project, teaching unit, term or school year, those materials
must be varied, attractive, interesting, accessible, challenging, encouraging, surprising and, ideally, they
must lead the children to achieve some kind of outcome. Only by accomplishing all these requisites will
materials be motivating and therefore successful in a class of young learners.
Besides, in order to be both educational and motivating, materials must foster creativity and
imagination, they must cater for different needs, abilities and capabilities, they must help to develop
general learning skills as well as social skills, and they must present good models of behaviour.
We could say that ANY materials can be used successfully in class as long as they are carefully
chosen and used with a clear purpose. Among the most successful materials and activities with
young learners Lobo mentions the following ones: TPR activities, stories, games, songs, chants, rhymes
and poems, puppets, arts and crafts, computers, magic, drama activities, puzzles and problem
solving activities, and any other material that at a certain stage can make the learning of English a
motivating memorable experience.
It is desirable that the materials used in the EFL class are presented in the form of teaching units in
class, not as isolated activities. Within a teaching unit, the activities and materials mentioned above must
be nicely linked and one activity must lead into the next so softly that children will not even notice.
To sum up, learning English with young learners must always be a joyful, memorable,
motivating experience for the children in which the teacher becomes a key motivating element that
makes education and motivation be very closely linked.
3. REAL-LIFE SITUATIONS AND MOTIVATION: ROLE PLAYING

Role play provides the opportunity for students to develop and revise their understanding and
perspectives by exploring thoughts and feelings of characters in given situations. The teacher may
take a role, becoming an active participant in promoting independent thinking and co-operative
learning.
The difference between role play and drama in context is that role play is a strategy for
exploration and does not attend to structure or aesthetic concerns. Role play can be used to
explore one situation or episode and does not need to be structured in beginning, middle, and
ending episodes. Closure can be achieved through reflection or debriefing, rather than through a
specific ending in the role play.
Tel.: 96 327 35 17

www.e-ducalia.com


Role play helps students to develop:
empathy as they examine others' ideas, feelings, and points of view

oral expression and interpretation skills as they use language to describe perceptions,
emotions, and reactions
decision-making and problem-solving skills as they gain experience in independent thinking
and co-operative learning
SOME OF THE ADVANTAGES OF ROLE PLAY TECHNIQUES FOR YOUNG LEARNERS

-It helps break down inhibitions in children.
-It gets them moving about the classroom.
-Via the physical movement, their minds are stimulated.
-It gives children the opportunity to develop their imagination in a controlled and creative way.
-It helps to clarify meaning and use of target language in a creative and realistic context.
-It can often bring reality into the classroom; where otherwise would be just a dry exercise.
-It makes task negotiation fun.
-It encourages interactive communication, and risk taking.
4. STORYTELLING AND MOTIVATING YOUNG LEARNERS

According to David Vale and Anne Feunteun in 'Teaching children English: A training course
for teachers of English to children', kids start developing their identity as readers and listeners from
the age of three or four years old, because they start constructing their world of meaning and
imagination when they are first exposed to different stories of life. It is vitally important that we, as
teachers, support this development.
4.1 CONSTRUCTIVE AND CREATIVE COMPREHENSION

According to Ielmini, P., storytelling is a kind of reading which requires children to be active
participants in the construction of meaning. Children get fully involved while listening to a story and
they also feel joy and satisfaction. As language teachers, we are always tempted to regard the
teaching of reading and listening only as a variety of comprehension activity but in doing so we
sometimes discourage children from becoming "good" readers of English. Using storytelling in class,
children develop a constructive and creative comprehension.
WHAT CONSTRUCTIVE AND CREATIVE COMPREHENSION IMPLIES
When children listen to a story, in terms of comprehension response, they get involved in
different types of mental processes. First, they create a mental picture of what they are listening to.
Then, they can imagine what is going to happen next. Children also identify themselves with the
characters and situations in the story relating them to their own experiences. Last but not least,
children apply their own values to those found in the story. Therefore, each child's response will be
unique because it will demonstrate individual interpretation, it will relate to the whole story and it can
be also discussed and shared with others in the class.
Making it happen
Choose a story or write one of your own. When you make the selection, think on the age
level and proficiency level of your students. You may use a well-known fairy tale, a scary story or any
suitable reader you find in your school-library.
Tel.: 96 327 35 17

www.e-ducalia.com


4.2 STORYTELLING - BENEFITS AND TIPS

WHAT CAN STORYTELLING OFFER?
According to Stoyle, P., children have an innate love of stories. Stories create magic and a
sense of wonder at the world. Stories teach us about life, about ourselves and about others.
Storytelling is a unique way for students to develop an understanding, respect and appreciation for
other cultures, and can promote a positive attitude to people from different lands, races and
religions.
STORYTELLING AND INTERCULTURAL UNDERSTANDING
There are a number a number of ways in which storytelling can enhance intercultural
understanding and communication. Stories can
Allow children to explore their own cultural roots

Allow children to experience diverse cultures
Enable children to empathise with unfamiliar people/places/situations
Offer insights into different traditions and values
Help children understand how wisdom is common to all peoples/all cultures
Offer insights into universal life experiences
Help children consider new ideas
Reveal differences and commonalties of cultures around the world
OTHER BENEFITS OF USING STORYTELLING IN THE CLASSROOM.

Stories
Promote a feeling of well being and relaxation

Increase children's willingness to communicate thoughts and feelings
Encourage active participation
Increase verbal proficiency
Encourage use of imagination and creativity
Encourage cooperation between students
Enhance listening skills
5. GROUP WORK
Group and pair work (henceforth group work) are so much a part of our everyday teaching
routine that we hardly pause to think before partitioning the class to tackle some particular
communicative task. But group work may not always be the best option. There will be a time and a
place for whole-class activities in the English language classroom, just as there's a time and a place
for group and pair work.
According to Andrewes, S., group work came into the standard EFL teaching repertoire with
communicative methodologies in the 1970s. At that time, studies of contemporary foreign language
classes revealed that as much as 80% of lesson time consisted of the teacher talking to (at) the
students. In a class of, say, 30 students, it is evident that the learner hardly got a chance to practice
the language. Teacher Talking Time (TTT) became taboo and ways were devised to stamp it out and
train the students to actually perform in the language they were learning.
Group work was thus introduced into the EFL repertoire to come to grips with a particular
problem. Group work made it possible for the teacher to devote more time to the students' oral
Tel.: 96 327 35 17

www.e-ducalia.com


production, which perhaps before had not been a priority of the foreign language classroom.
Thanks to group work, less confident students get the chance to put their knowledge of the new
language into practice in a non-threatening environment, away from the critical eye and ear of the
teacher. Instead of being dependent on the teacher, students get used to helping and learning
from each other. Meanwhile, the teacher is left free to discreetly monitor progress and give help,
advice and encouragement where and when it is needed.
Dealing with group work demands just as much tact and sensitivity. The teacher may have to
decide whether to intervene to bring an enthusiastic discussion onto a more linguistically fruitful
path, or to stay in the background to allow the students to make their own discoveries about the
language and the best way to learn it. Should groups be of mixed ability, so the more able
language learners help the weaker ones, or would same-ability groups be preferable, so that faster
learners can progress at their own pace, while the teacher gives extra help to individual learners in
the slower groups.
Like any kind of praxis, group work can lose its meaning if it is handled in an automatic and
unthinking way. It was developed under particular circumstances to solve a particular problem and
it is not per se intrinsically better than any other technique. No technique is the panacea for all our
teaching problems and its value should be reviewed from time to time.
6. TEACHERS ROLES
The teachers role in understanding students needs and engaging them in their learning
experiences includes:
-learning about the students and their interests, abilities and learning styles
-planning classroom environment and routines
-organizing classroom facilities and resources
-planning and organizing for instruction
-planning and organizing for assessment and evaluation
-planning for communication with students families
-reflecting upon the effectiveness of their planning, instruction and assessment as a means of
gathering information about their students progress and instructional needs, and the success of their
practice.
At all levels TEACHERS PLAY A VERY ACTIVE ROLE THROUGHOUT THE LEARNING IN:
Helping learners to authenticate learning making links to curriculum learning, interests,
existing knowledge; to harness curiosity, love of learning.
Helping learners to own the learning; to frame goals, purpose, audience, roles, plans,
deadlines, and checkpoints, criteria; to identify and apply optimum LEARNING STRATEGIES for
the learning process.
Helping learners to establish/ build big picture foundation knowledge.
Helping students to define info needs; to establish topic overview, knowledge gaps and Key
Filters.
Coaching learners to determine and use best info sources/ info resources/ info technologies/
search strategies; to select and reject info; to frame info claims.
Coaching learners to interview and analyse info; to understand and process this info; to
synthesise best info to match need, record info selectively, organise it effectively.
Tel.: 96 327 35 17

www.e-ducalia.com


Coaching learners to construct knowledge claims from analysed, synthesised info; to

represent facts, own ideas, opinions and understandings, and support knowledge claims with
evidence.
Coaching learners to communicate knowledge translate knowledge into clearly framed
messages related to learning purpose and audience, meeting assessment requirements, and
using the potential of medium and technology effectively.
7. THEME OVERVIEW
In general, motivation is the "neglected heart" of our
understanding of how to design instruction (Keller,
1983). Many teachers believe that by sticking to the
language materials and trying to discipline their
refractory students, they will manage to create a
classroom environment that will be conducive to
learning. Nevertheless, these teachers seem to lose
sight of the fact that, unless they accept their
students' personalities and work on those minute
details that constitute their social and psychological
make-up, they will fail to motivate them. What is
more, they will not be able to form a cohesive and
coherent group; unless they succeed in turning most
"curriculum goals" (goals set by outsiders) into
"group goals" (goals accepted by the group
members, that is, students). Learning a foreign
language is different to learning other subjects.
Therefore, language teaching should take account
of a variety of factors that are likely to promote, or
even militate against, success. Language is part of
one's identity and is used to convey this identity to
others. As a result, foreign language learning has a
significant impact on the social being of the learner,
since it involves the adoption of new social and
cultural behaviours and ways of thinking.
Talking about the importance and benefits
of storytelling, we are fully convinced that
storytelling from teacher to student or from student
to student carries many benefits. Students can lose
themselves in the characters, plots and situations,
they lower their anxiety levels and at the same time,
they increase their self- confidence and esteem. As
they progress, the students can improve their
abilities to comprehend and later produce the
target language.
Young Learners share a remarkable variety
of personal experiences, values and ways of
understanding .The language they learn in the
classroom is the tool they use to shape their
thoughts and feelings. It is more than a way of
exchanging information and extending ideas it is
their means of reaching out and connecting with
other people. Stories can link not only between the
world of classroom and home but also between the
classroom and beyond. Stories provide a common
thread that can help unite cultures and provide a
bridge across the cultural gap.
Tel.: 96 327 35 17
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
- AUSTIN, JL. (1962). How To Do Things With
Words. Harvard University Press.
- BENSON, P. (2000). Teaching and
researching autonomy in language learning.
Longman.
- CHAMBERS, G. N. (1999). Motivating
language learners. Multilingual Matters.
- JOHNSON, D., JOHNSON, R. & HOLUBEC, E.
(1998). Cooperation in the classroom. Allyn
and Bacon.
- MALEY, A. & DUFF, A. (1982). Drama
Techniques in Language Learning
Cambridge University Press.
- MCRAE, J. (1985). Using Drama in the
Classroom. Pergamon Press
- PHILLIPS, S. (1996). Drama With
Children.Oxford University Press
- SHIPTON, P. The House on the Moors.
Heinemann New Wave Readers.
- RICHARD, P. A. (2000). Making it happen.
Longman.
- VALE D.; FEUNTEUN, A. (2001). Teaching
children English: A training course for
teachers of English to children. Cambridge
Teacher Training and Development
Materials.
- WENDEN, A. (1991). Learner strategies for
learner autonomy. Prentice Hall.

www.e-ducalia.com
Temario de oposiciones de ingls primaria.

Cuerpo de Maestros.

Temario de Oposiciones De: Inglés

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Temario de Oposiciones De: Inglés

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Temario de Oposiciones De: Inglés

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

What are some of the main concepts related to culture in foreign language teaching?

What are some of the main concepts related to culture in foreign language teaching?

What are some of the difficulties involved in teaching culture awareness outside of the central English speaking countries?

What are some of the difficulties involved in teaching culture awareness outside of the central English speaking countries?

Z

Ttulo: Temario de oposiciones de ingls de primaria

Edita: Educlia Innovaci, S.L.

CUERPO DE MAESTROS- INGLS

ASSESSMENT OF THE KNOWING FOREIGN

4. Suggested activities to sensitize efl students

1. CULTURE IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHING. MAIN CONCEPTS

Autor/a: Garca Prez, Pura Mara

CUERPO DE MAESTROS- INGLS

1.1 DEFINITIONS OF CULTURE

1. 2 CULTURE AND TEACHING MATERIALS

1.3 CULTURE AND METHODOLOGY

1.4 CULTURES OF LEARNING

Autor/a: Garca Prez, Pura Mara

CUERPO DE MAESTROS- INGLS

2. CULTURE, AN IMPORTANT COMPONENT OF EFL TEACHING

2.2 DIFFICULTIES IN TEACHING CULTURE

Autor/a: Garca Prez, Pura Mara

CUERPO DE MAESTROS- INGLS

learners' own culture is of equal importance.

2.4 IN SUPPORT OF TEACHING CULTURE

2.5 APPROACHES TO TEACHING CULTURE

The intonation pattern carries meaning.

Autor/a: Garca Prez, Pura Mara

CUERPO DE MAESTROS- INGLS

affirmation many others are not shared.

2.6 KRAMSCH'S "THIRD PLACES"

Establishing a sphere of interculturality, relating C1 to C2 and reflecting on perceptions of

Autor/a: Garca Prez, Pura Mara

CUERPO DE MAESTROS- INGLS

2.7 CULTURE IN THE CLASSROOM

2.8 MATERIALS AND CONTENT

3. PRACTICAL TECHNIQUES FOR TEACHING CULTURE IN THE EFL

CREATING CULTURAL TEXTURE

Autor/a: Garca Prez, Pura Mara

CUERPO DE MAESTROS- INGLS

3.1 INFORMATION SOURCES

3.2 ACTIVITY TYPES

Ireland is totally dark during the winter.

Autor/a: Garca Prez, Pura Mara

CUERPO DE MAESTROS- INGLS

Autor/a: Garca Prez, Pura Mara

CUERPO DE MAESTROS- INGLS

4. SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES TO SENSITIZE EFL STUDENTS TO THE NOTION OF

Autor/a: Garca Prez, Pura Mara

CUERPO DE MAESTROS- INGLS

Autor/a: Garca Prez, Pura Mara

CUERPO DE MAESTROS- INGLS

However there are problems in deciding what culture

VALDES, J. (1986). Culture

Nevertheless, these difficulties do not mean that

ALDERSON J. AND URQUAHART

BYRAM, M. (1991). Teaching Culture

Moreover materials should encourage learners to