PROGRAMA DE LA ASIGNATURA: DIDACTICA ESPECIAL Y RESIDENCIA II

CARRERA/S: PROFESORADO EN INGLÉS

AÑO DE CURSADO: 2022
ORDENANZA/S PLAN DE ESTUDIOS: 430/2009
AÑO LECTIVO: 2022 X
RÉGIMEN DE CURSADA: ANUAL
(Marcar con una X la opción correspondiente)
1º CUATRIMESTRE
2º CUATRIMESTRE
CARGA HORARIA: 7 hs semanales
DEPARTAMENTO: LINGÜÍSTICA
ÁREA: PEDAGÓGICA-FILOSÓFICA Y SOCIAL
ORIENTACIÓN: DIDÁCTICA ESPECIAL

EQUIPO DE CÁTEDRA: Silvina Rodríguez (PAD)

María Adela García Álvarez (ASD)
Supervisores Prácticas: Silvina Rodríguez (PAD)
María Adela García Álvarez (ASD)
Paola Mabel Scilipoti (ASD)
María Leticia Tacconi (AYP)

1. RATIONALE
The present course, Didáctica Especial y Residencia II constitutes the last stage of a
process that starts in the 2nd year of the Teacher Training Programme with the Taller de
Didáctica Especial. That workshop intends to ease the transition between knowledge about
general methodological aspects seen in the first years of the programme and more specific ones,
related to the teaching of English as a foreign language, that are part of the syllabuses of the
methodological subjects in 3rd and 4th year. The 3rd year course Didáctica Especial y
Residencia I aims to provide student teachers with the basic theoretical knowledge and
teaching skills that they will need to become teachers of English for primary level.
The present course, Didáctica Especial y Residencia II, seeks to develop a deeper
understanding of the many issues that are involved in the teaching of English as a foreign
language at secondary school. Student teachers are encouraged to explore how these factors
affect learning positively and negatively. They are also given the opportunity to devise plans of
action to cater for these factors, design suitable syllabuses and develop their students’
intercultural communicative competence taking into account their needs.
The course revolves around the notion that teaching can be improved through a more complete
knowledge of the learner and of the teacher her/himself. The development of a self-evaluative
attitude is fostered throughout the course by placing student teachers in the role of researchers,
a role which is explicitly brought to the foreground when they are required to design an action
research project.
The subject includes a theoretical module and the practicum, and trainees are encouraged to
relate both parts. This is formally ensured by a series of tasks and assignments student teachers
are required to carry out.
The theoretical module is structured following Kumaravadivelu’s (2003) model of Postmethod
pedagogy, shown in the diagram below, which comprises “the operating principles that can guide
practising teachers in their effort to construct their own situation-specific pedagogic knowledge
in the emerging postmethod era” (pp.40-41). Each unit in the first module will help future
teachers develop the different macro- and micro-strategies that translate the three fundamental
principles of practicality, particularity and possibility into concrete classroom actions. The units
that make up the second module will equip trainees with the tools to design their own courses.

Kumaravadivelu’s (2003:41) Pedagogic Wheel

2. AIMS

To enable the learners to:

a) Make reasoned decisions as regards:
1. the formulation of realistic objectives for each teaching situation
2. syllabus design and planning
3. the choice of techniques and the selection and design of activities best suited to reach
the desired aims
4. the evaluation and continuous assessment of the learning process.
b) Understand and criticise their teaching practice on the basis of:
1. the recognition of the views of language and learning that underlie their teaching
2. the detection of possible contradictions and inconsistencies between what is intended and
what is actually done
3. the search for a theoretical rationale that supports their teaching practice.
4. the understanding of their beliefs about (language) teaching
c) Develop an attitude of cooperation with their peers, and of tolerance and respect towards
views and ideas different from their own.
d) Become aware of the influence that directly or indirectly they can exert on the formation of
society as educators.

2.1. OBJECTIVES OF THE THEORETICAL MODULE

To enable learners to:
a. Become aware of the characteristics of adolescent learners and the ways in which they
influence the relationship teacher-student.
b. Consider the connections between teenage students’ emotional, social, moral and cognitive
development and their motivation to learn English in the light of motivational theories of
language learning.
c. Understand the role of individual learner differences and affective factors in the development
of learning strategies.
d. Analyse learners’ communicative needs and wants.
e. Compare approaches to syllabus design and types of syllabus and identify the views on
language and language learning on which they are based
f. Analyse the actions involved and the factors that should be taken into account at the different
stages of course development
g. Become aware of what is involved in teaching language for communication.
h. Learn about ways of doing teacher research to investigate what goes on in their classrooms.
i. Design and analyse pair and group tasks in order to appreciate the value of working
cooperatively and collaboratively for self- and group development.
j. Distinguish between assessment and testing as two ways of evaluating learners.

2.2. OBJECTIVES OF THE TEACHING PRACTICE

a) To provide trainees with exposure to real learners, their learning problems and the cognitive,
affective and social factors which may influence their learning.
b) To encourage students to get to know the context of their teaching better by learning about
the institution (regulations, routines, discipline policy, facilities, etc.)
c) To provide trainees with an opportunity to have their teaching evaluated and constructively
criticised.
d) To help trainees develop their own teaching style.
e) To provide student teachers with an opportunity to try out new techniques.
f) To create a situation of gradually increasing freedom within which trainees can progress from
more to less reliance on the supervisors’ guidance
g) To develop in trainees an awareness of how the language is needed and used by foreign
language learners.
h) To help student teachers use a variety of instruments for the investigation of what goes on in
their classrooms.

By the end of the practicum, trainees will be expected to:

a) be more aware of the relevance of the English language for the students and the areas of
difficulty that its learning involves.
b) be more aware of the factors that aid and hinder learning in the classroom.
c) be more sensitive to secondary school students’ emotions, thoughts and attitudes as they
affect learning.
d) have a deeper awareness of what is needed for the development of the four language skills.
e) plan a series of lessons which are relevant to what the students need to learn.
f) be in control of some basic classroom management skills.
g) account for their classroom decision-making.
h) be able to evaluate their students and design appropriate tests, as well as interpret their
results.
i) be able to identify their own weaknesses and strengths in the teaching situation and devise a
plan of action to remedy the spotted shortcomings.

3. CONTENTS AS STATED IN ORD. 430/2009

Contenidos teóricos:
• adquisición de una lengua extranjera en la adolescencia y adultez
• diseño curricular y planificación anual
• el currículo centrado en el alumno
• análisis de necesidades
• cursos de inglés con propósitos específicos
• la lectura comprensiva como objetivo en la escuela media
• evaluación
• reflexión crítica e investigación en acción
Contenidos prácticos:

• estrategias y técnicas para el desarrollo de las distintas habilidades determinadas por el

tipo de curso
• selección y diseño de materiales para las distintas modalidades y especialidades
• diseño de pruebas y exámenes
• diseño de instrumentos de recolección de datos

4. LIST OF CONTENTS - THEORETICAL MODULE

MODULE I
TEACHING AND LEARNING A FOREIGN LANGUAGE IN THE POSTMETHOD ERA

INTRODUCTION: Learning teaching at a secondary school following the pedagogic

wheel

a) Parameters of postmethod pedagogy: particularity, practicality and possibility

b) A macrostrategic framework for language teaching
c) Teachers’ roles in the postmethod framework
d) Learner-centred psychological principles: teaching adolescents a foreign language

UNIT 1 - Learning a foreign language after primary school

The contents in this unit will enable student-teachers to maximize learning opportunities,
minimize perceptual mismatches and promote learner autonomy:

a. Generating and maintaining students’ motivation to learn – The impact of the teacher’s
motivation on students’ motivation.
b. Developing the learners’ full potential. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.
c. Promoting individualisation: Learning to learn - Identification and development of language
learning strategies
d. Learning to work cooperatively: social learning strategies
e. Promoting meaningful learning. Memory, emotion and cognitive depth

UNIT 2 - Developing intercultural communicative competence

The contents in this unit will enable student-teachers to facilitate negotiated interaction, foster
language awareness, minimize perceptual mismatches, activate intuitive heuristics,
contextualize linguistic input and integrate language skills:

a. Teaching English for communication

b. Linguistic competence: Focus on form and focus on forms (proactive and reactive):
consciousness-raising, gap-noticing activities.
c. Sociolinguistic competence. Language in context.
d. Discourse competence.
e. Strategic competence. Development of communication strategies.
f. Integrating language teaching and cultural aspects

UNIT 3: Evaluation and assessment

The contents in this unit will enable student teachers to evaluate the learning process from the
perspective of the different axes in the pedagogic wheel.

a. Aims of evaluation: summative, formative and illuminative

b. Evaluation and testing. Types of tests.
c. Continuous assessment
d. Evaluating the coursebook
e. Illuminative evaluation: The teacher as researcher - Approaches to classroom investigation
in teaching - Action Research
 M O D U L E II
PROCESSES INVOLVED IN COURSE DESIGN

UNIT 4: Needs assessment and types of courses

a. Identification of learner needs

b. Identification of learning needs
c. GPE and ESP courses: general capacity / restricted competence
d. Classification of ESP courses
e. Language uses in ESP
f. Developing the reading skill in ESP courses

UNIT 5: Setting goals and objectives and organising the course

a. Focus on learning: Synthetic and analytic approaches – Product and process syllabuses.
b. Setting goals and objectives. Backward design.
c. Selection and organisation of contents. Types of syllabus (grammatical, functional, notional,
situational, content, etc.)

5. METHODOLOGY

5.1. TEORETICAL MODULE:

The theoretical contents of the syllabus will always be developed in close connection with and
application in practice. Trainees will permanently be asked to derive implications for teaching as
a result of a critical thinking process. The materials for each lesson will aim at the activation of
students’ background knowledge and prior contents seen in other subjects or the area and
orientation. For this purpose, the team will make use of articles, textbooks, video recordings of
lessons, clips from films/TV series/documentaries, web pages, apps, and any other relevant
resource that can facilitate the attainment of the aims and objectives of the course.
The students will be the centre of the learning process at all times. Their active participation in
class will always be encouraged so as to make the learning experience relevant and memorable.
Their needs and interests will be taken into account as well as any suggestion they would like to
make and can result in the inclusion of contents not present in the syllabus or the exploration of
procedures they would like to know more about.

5.2. THE TEACHING PRACTICE:

5.2.1. TYPE OF COURSE

Trainees will do their teaching practice at state secondary schools in GPE courses. The
practicum can take place at private schools if the courses available at state schools are not
enough. The observation period will take three weeks and the teaching practice between 8 to 10
lessons.

5.2.2. LESSON OBSERVATIONS

Prior to their actual teaching, student teachers will have a three-week period of
observations in the courses they have assigned. The purpose of these observations is for trainees
to:

a) have some previous contact with the group of learners they will teach;
b) identify the learners’ level of English;
c) anticipate possible problems;
d) analyse the type of work students are accustomed to doing.
e) design and administer a questionnaire on students’ motivation and interests, the results of
which will be later analysed and reported in the theoretical module.

5.2.3. PRACTICUM

The teaching practice, lasting 8 (eight) lessons, starts once trainees have completed the
required number of observations. During that observation period, and two weeks before
starting the practicum, student teachers must hand in a timeline with the overall organization
of the whole teaching practice period, stating the underlying topic that will connect all the lessons
and a final outcome that students must be able to accomplish by putting into practice all the
contents and notions learned with the trainees. Apart from this information, the timeline must
also state the topics, teaching point(s) and skills to be developed in each lesson.

The lesson plans for a complete week should be presented on Monday, the week before the
date each trainee will start teaching. This will help guarantee that there is enough time for
the trainers to analyse all the material together with the trainees, and for trainees to re-write
them if necessary. Each lesson plan must include:
- the handouts required for that lesson;
- if necessary, the script of listening texts;
- the description of visual materials (posters, ppt presentations, etc.); and
- if necessary, a copy of the textbook page to be followed.

At least one of the lessons in the teaching practice period must be devoted to the development
of learning strategies to facilitate students’ learning of the foreign language.

Student teachers should write the last two lesson plans on their own, i.e. there will be no
correction on the part of the trainers before those lessons. Trainers will receive those lesson
plans when they go into the classroom to observe the lessons, so feedback on student teachers’
planning will be given afterwards.

5.2.4. TRAINEES’ TASKS

Trainees will be required to do the following tasks:

a. Observe lessons and write a report on their observations.

b. Arrange the selected teaching points in a sequence appropriate to their students’ level.
c. Analyse the textbook used for the course and make the necessary changes or adjustments.
d. Decide on the most suitable presentation techniques for the targeted functions, patterns,
vocabulary items and topics.
e. Design and sequence controlled practice activities, both oral and written.
f. Design interaction tasks.
g. Write lesson plans and progress tests.
h. Give a copy of the lesson plan to the course teacher and another one to the supervisor who
observes the lesson. This must be done at the beginning of each lesson.
i. Design students’ worksheets and select suitable teaching aids.
j. Select or write texts for listening and reading comprehension.
k. Grade students’ written work and assess their performance in class.
l. Reflect on their teaching practice, which will be formalised in an action research project
towards the end of the course. The design of the project will aim to investigate any
problematic aspect identified during the teaching practice.

6. EVALUATION

6.1. REQUIREMENTS TO PASS THE COURSE:

1) Students will pass the course (“cursada”) if they comply with the following requirements
for both the theoretical module and the teaching practice:
 a) two mid-term examinations or their corresponding make-ups - pass mark: 4 (four).
b) 70% of all practical assignments (oral and written) passed with a minimum mark of 4
(four).

Note: The marks of the mid-term tests will be awarded considering both the content of the
answers as well as the accuracy of the language used by the trainees. A maximum of 5 (five)
serious language mistakes will be accepted.

c) Teaching practice: Pass mark: 4 (four)

Note: A maximum of 3 (three) serious language mistakes will be accepted per lesson plan,
more mistakes will imply that the lesson plan is failed. Should a trainee go over that limit, s/he
will have to hand in one extra lesson plan per failed original version. For a trainee to pass the
teaching practice s/he will be allowed to fail no more than 4 (four) lesson plans. During the
lessons, trainees’ serious mistakes in oral performance will also be taken into account. A
maximum of 6 (six) serious language mistakes will be accepted per lesson. Should a trainee
go over that limit, one extra lesson will be added to her/his teaching practice.

D. Achievement Of Aims/Objectives

Make-up period of the teaching practice: Students will continue their practicum for a maximum
of 4 (four) lessons to make up for the aspects they may need to work on both in terms of
lesson planning, classroom management or language use.

IMPORTANT: Should a student fail the make-up period of the teaching practice,
he/she will be required to do the whole course again.

2) PROMOCIÓN:

Students can get “promoción” if they comply with the following requirements for both the
theoretical module and the teaching practice:

a) Two mid-term examinations: pass mark: 7 (seven)

b) 80% of passed practical assignments (oral & written)
c) Teaching practice: pass mark: 7 (seven)

3) FINAL EXAM:

This final assessment instance is composed of TWO PARTS:

a) At home, trainees will prepare a topic from the syllabus and present it relating it to as many
theoretical aspects as possible.
b) At the final exam, student teachers will be asked to develop and relate a number of topics
presented in a set of cards. Each trainee will choose a card and will be given some time to
organise the answer that will be presented orally.

7. TIMETABLES

LESSONS: Mondays from 11 to 13 hs

Tuesdays from de 8 to 10 hs
Thursdays from 11 to 14 hs
8. TENTATIVE SCHEDULE

In the context of the social distancing established due to the Covid-19 pandemic, this is the
schedule we will try to comply with:

March April May June July August September October November

Introduction Unit 1 Recess Unit 2 Unit 3 Unit 4 Unit 5

9. BIBLIOGRAPHY

MODULE I
TEACHING AND LEARNING A FOREIGN LANGUAGE IN THE POSTMETHOD ERA

INTRODUCTION: Learning teaching at a secondary school following the pedagogic

wheel

Selected Readings

• American Psychological Association. Center for Psychology in Schools and Education. 1997.
“Learner-centered psychological principles: a Framework for School Reform and Redesign”
at: www.apa.org/ed
• Kumaravadivelu, B. 2003. Beyond methods: macrostrategies for language teaching. New
Heaven & London: Yale University Press. Chs 1 and 2.

UNIT 1 - Learning a foreign language after primary school

Selected Readings

• Alvarez, A, Rodríguez, S. y Castro, A. 2007. “Memory, emotion and learning. In honour of

Earl Stevick.” en: Castro, A. (ed.) Actas de las III Jornadas Un espacio de encuentro: el Estado
del Conocimiento en la ESI. Escuela Superior de Idiomas, U. N. del Comahue.
• Brewster, J., G. Ellis and D. Girard. 2007. The Primary English Teacher’s Guide. Penguin. Part
2 – Section 5.
• Dörnyei, Z. 2014. “Motivation in Second Language Learning”. In Celce Murcia, M., D. Brinton
and M. Snow (eds). Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language. National Geographic
Learning/Heinle Cengage. Ch 33.
• Dörnyei, Z. and A. Malderez. 1999 (4th printing, 2005). “The role of group dynamics in foreign
language learning and teaching”. In Arnold, J. (ed). Affect in Language Learning. New York:
CUP. Also available at: http://www.zoltandornyei.co.uk/uploads/1999-dornyei-malderez-
cup.pdf
• Dörnyei, Z. and E. Ushioda. 2011. Teaching and Researching Motivation. Longman.
UK:Pearson. Chapters 5, 6 & 7.
• Gross Davis, B. 2009. Tools for teaching. The USA:Jossey-Bass.
• Harmer, J. 2007. The Practice of English Language Teaching. Pearson Longman. Ch.23.
• McLeod, S.A. 2014. “Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs”. Retrieved from:
www.simplypsychlogy.org/maslow.html
• Oxford, R. 2011. Teaching and Researching Language Learning Strategies. UK:Pearson. Ch
1.
• Stevick, E. 1996. Memory, Meaning and Method. Newbury House. Chs. 2 (pp.23-32) & 6
(pp.128-137).

UNIT 2 - Developing intercultural communicative competence

Selected Readings
• Canale, M. 1983. “From Communicative Competence to Communicative Language
Pedagogy.”In: Richards, J. and R. Schmidt (eds). 2013. Language and Communication. NY:
Routledge.
• Ellis, R. 2002. “Grammar Teaching – Practice or Consciousness Raising?” In: Richards, J. and
W. Renandya. Methodology in Language Teaching. An Anthology of Current Practice.
Cambridge University Press. pp. 167-174.
• Long, M. and P. Robinson. 1999. “Focus on Form. Theory, research and practice” In: Doughty
C. and J. Williams. Focus on Form in Classroom Second Language Acquisition. Cambridge
University Press.
• Monteserín, A., M. García Álvarez, y A. Castro. 2010. “Grammar in 3D: Making grammar
stand out from the page”. In: Castro, A. (ed.) Actas del Primer Congreso Nacional El
Conocimiento como Espacio de Encuentro. Facultad de Lenguas. UNCo. ISBN 978-987-604-
208-6
• Svetlana, Y. 2011. “The importance of the development of students’ sociocultural competence
at the Kazakh-American Free University”. In: The Kazakh-American Free University Academic
Journal №3 pp. 153-157. Available at: http://www.kafu-academic-journal.info/journal/3/
• Tarone, E., A. Cohen and G. Dumas. 1983. “A closer look at some interlanguage terminology:
a framework for communication strategies”. In Faerch, C. and G. Kasper. Strategies in
Interlanguage Communication. London: Longman.
• Willis, D. & J. Willis. 1996. “Consciousness-raising activities” In: Willis, J. & D. Willis (eds.)
Challenge and Change in Language Teaching. Heinemann.
• Xin, Z. 2007. “From Communicative Competence to Communicative Language Teaching”. In:
Sino-US English Teaching. Vol. 4, N° 9 (Serial N°45).

UNIT 3: Evaluation and assessment

Selected Readings

• Bailey, K. 2014. “Classroom Research, Teacher Research, and Action Research in Language
Teaching”. In Celce Murcia, M., D. Brinton and M. Snow (eds). Teaching English as a Second
or Foreign Language. National Geographic Learning/Heinle Cengage. Ch 38.
• Brown, H. D. 2004. Language Assessment. Principles and Classroom Practices. Longman.
Chapter 1,3 & 10
• Harmer, J. 2007. The Practice of English Language Teaching. Pearson Longman. Ch22 & 24.
• Katz, A. 2014. “Assessment in Second Language Classrooms”. In Celce Murcia, M., D.
Brinton and M. Snow (eds). Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language. National
Geographic Learning/Heinle Cengage. Ch 21.

M O D U L E II
PROCESSES INVOLVED IN COURSE DESIGN

UNIT 4: Needs assessment and types of courses

Selected Readings

• Basturkmen, H. 2006. Ideas and Options in English for Specific Purposes. Lawrence Erlbaum.
Chs 3 & 5
• Graves, K. 2000. Designing Language Courses: A Guide for Teachers. Newbury House.Ch 6.
• Hedgcock, J. and D. Ferris. 2009. Teaching Readers of English. Routledge. pp.13-42
• Johns, A. and D. Price. 2014. “English for Specific Purposes: International in Scope, Specific
in Purpose”. In Celce Murcia, M., D. Brinton and M. Snow (eds). Teaching English as a Second
or Foreign Language. National Geographic Learning/Heinle Cengage. Ch 30.
• Nuttal, C.2008. Teaching Reading Skills in a Foreign Language. Macmillan. Chs 1, 2, 3 & 11.
• Widdowson, H. 1983. Learning Purpose and Language Use. OUP. Ch 1

UNIT 5: Setting goals and objectives and organising the course

Selected Readings

• Finney, D. 2002. “The ELT curriculum: A flexible model for a changing world” In: Richards,
J. & W. Renandya. Methodology in Language Teaching. Cambridge University Press.
• Golaminia Tabari, A. 2013. “Challenges of Language Syllabus Design in EFL/ESL Contexts”.
In Jorurnal of Language Teaching and Research, Vol.4, N° 4, pp.869-873. Academy
Publisher.
• Graves, K. 2004. “A framework of course development processes” In: Graves, K. (ed.)
Teachers as Course Developers. Cambridge University Press. 7th printing. pp.13-36
• Graves, K. 2014. “Syllabus and Curriculum Design for Second Language Teaching”. In Celce
Murcia, M., D. Brinton and M. Snow (eds). Teaching English as a Second or Foreign
Language. National Geographic Learning/Heinle Cengage. Ch 4.
• Gross Davis, B. 2009. Tools for Teaching. The USA: Jossey-Boss. Chs 1 and 2.
• Nunan, D. 1988. Syllabus Design. Oxford. Ch 3 & 4.
• Richards, J. 2013. “Curriculum Approaches in Language Teaching: Forward, Central, and
Backward Design”. In: RELC Journal 44(1) 5–33. SAGE
• Richards, J. 2001. Curriculum development in language teaching. Cambridge University
Press. Ch 6.
• Wiggins, G. and J. McTighe. 2005.Understanding by Design. Virginia: ASCD – Ch1 (13-34).

Mgtr. Silvina L. Rodríguez Prof. Ma. Adela García Álvarez

Prof. Paola Scilipotti Prof. Leticia Tacconi