COMPLEMENTARY

TRAINING
FOR FOREIGN
LANGUAGE
DISCIPLINE

Noelia Miravet Calpe

UNIVERSITY MASTER IN SECONDARY AND SIXTH FORM

TEACHING, VOCATIONAL TRAINING AND LANGUAGE
TEACHING
Foreign Language Itinerary
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Valencian International University - VIU
University Master in
Secondary and Sixth Form Teaching,
Vocational Training and Language
Teaching

Complementary Training for Foreign Language Discipline

Foreign Language Itinerary
6 ECTS

Noelia Miravet Calpe

Key

Links of interest Example Important

Terms highlighted in orange are explained in the GLOSSARY.

Índice

UNIT 1. ENGLISH LEARNING THEORY AND IMPACT ON SOCIETY. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

1.1. Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

1.2. Cognitivism, Behaviourism and Constructivism. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

1.2.1. Cognitivism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

1.2.2. Behaviourism. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

1.2.3. Constructivism. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

1.2.4. Overview. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

1.3. Interdisciplinary Fields in Linguistics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

1.3.1. Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

1.3.2. Neurolinguistics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

1.3.3. Psycholinguistics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

1.3.5. Pragmatics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

1.3.6. Sociolinguistics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

1.4. Discursive-Communicative Competence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

1.4.1. Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

1.4.2. Components. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

1.5. Linguistic Registers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

1.5.1. Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

1.5.2. Classification. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

1.6. English as the lingua franca on the knowledge society. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

1.6.1. Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

1.6.2. Lingua franca. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

1.6.3. Knowledge society. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

1.6.4. Why has English become the lingua franca on the ‘knowledge society’?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

1.7. Anglo-Saxon culture and its impact on nowadays’ society. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

UNIT 2. LANGUAGE TEACHING METHODS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

2.1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

2.2. Evolution of English as a Foreign Language in Teaching Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

2.2.1. Grammar Translation Method (Structural Method). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

2.2.2. Direct Method (Interactive Method). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

2.2.3. Audio-lingual Method (Structural Method). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

5
Index

2.2.4. The Silent Way (Interactive Method). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

2.2.5. Community Language Learning (Interactive Method) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

2.2.6. Suggestopedia (Interactive Method) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

2.2.7. Total Physical Response (Interactive Method) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

2.3. The communicative approach or Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

2.4. CLIL. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

2.5. FLL & SLA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

2.5.1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

2.5.2. The concepts of Input, Intake and Output. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

2.5.3. Error Treatment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

2.6. ESP (English for Specific Purposes). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

UNIT 3. ENGLISH AS A SUBJECT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

3.1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

3.2. Integrating the study of English in the current social context. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

3.3. Knowledge and use of the main techniques for the interpretation of linguistic and literary texts . . . 40

3.3.1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

3.3.2. Text selection. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

3.4. English from the perspective offered by the reading of well-known books, by audio-visual aids, etc.
44

3.4.1. Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

3.4.2. The use of well-known books. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

3.4.3. Audio-visual aids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

3.4.4. ICT in English teaching. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

3.4.5. Other ways to learn English as a Foreign Language. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

3.5. Active learning activities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

3.6. Teaching students with special needs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

GLOSSARY. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

LINKS OF INTEREST. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

BIBLIOGRAPHY. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Bibliographic references . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

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 Unit 1

English learning theory and impact on society

1.1. Introduction
Throughout this subject we will attempt to grasp how English teaching methods have evolved through
the years while learning how they could be of use for our lessons depending on the goal set. Therefore,
in this first Unit we might as well begin by remembering some learning theories and competences
which support completely or partially those methods, along with the relevance and impact this
language has on society nowadays.

The concept of learning theory refers to a way of understanding the process in which any kind of
learner, including language learners, acquires a certain piece of knowledge. There are lots of learning
theories, all of them studied from different psychological perspectives through time, but, as we will
see next, we are going to focus on three of the most relevant ones related to language learning theory.

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Unit 1. English learning theory and impact on society

1.2. Cognitivism, Behaviourism and Constructivism

1.2.1. Cognitivism

The term ‘cognitivism’ derives from the Latin word cognoscere, which means ‘to know’. It was a
criticism and emerged as a response to behaviourism during the late 1950s. It represented the
change of the main focus of the learning theory from those things happening outside the learner, like
stimuli, responses and behaviour, to the processes happening inside the learner’s brain. According
to Snelbecker (1983), “Psychologists and educators began to de-emphasize a concern with overt,
observable behaviour and stressed instead more complex cognitive processes such as thinking,
problem solving, language, concept formation and information processing”.

According to this perspective, learning occurs, and has to be studied, not only taking into account
the teacher’s performance in class and the materials available (input) and the learner’s performance
and response to stimuli (output), but mainly what happens inside the learner’s brain (cognitive
development). In words of Jonnasen (1991), “Learning is concerned not so much with what learners do
but with what they know and how they come to acquire it”, so the learner receives a more important, if
not crucial, role in the learning process.

According to this theory, the explanation to knowledge is that it is an internal process governed by
rules. But who has the knowledge to interpret these rules? This is one of the main criticisms that
cognitivism received. This criticism was named the ‘homunculus theory’ because critics imagine a
‘cognitivist brain’ as a room in which there is a ‘homunculus’, this is, a small man interpreting the rules
which govern the knowledge of the man using his own knowledge, but the problem comes when they
asked themselves: and who interprets the rules governing the knowledge of the homunculus’ brain?,
which leads to an infinite sequence of homunculus into homunculus.

1.2.2. Behaviourism

“Behaviourism focuses on the importance of the consequences of those performances and contends
that responses that are followed by reinforcement are more likely to recur in the future. No attempt
is made to determine the structure of a student’s knowledge nor to assess which mental processes
it is necessary for them to use. The learner is characterized as being reactive to conditions in the
environment as opposed to taking an active role in discovering the environment” (Ertmer and Newby,
2013, quoting Winn, 1990).

In other words, the learner is presented with a stimulus, for example, a flashcard of an animal
is shown and they have to say its right name. The primary concern here is stimulating the right
response, as much as knowing how the association between the stimulus and the response is made,
strengthened, and maintained.

Following Ertmer and Newby (2013): “Although both learner and environmental factors are considered
important by behaviourists, environmental conditions receive the greatest emphasis. Behaviourists
assess the learners to determine at what point to begin instruction as well as to determine which
reinforcers are most effective for a particular student. The most critical factor, however, is the
arrangement of stimuli and consequences within the environment”.

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Complementary training for foreign language discipline

All in all, behaviourism can be a good theory to employ in a pre-test scenario, to measure how much
students already know on a topic, and therefore where to begin instruction. For instance, at the
beginning of the term we give a pre-test to our 1st year ESO students to get an idea of how deep their
knowledge on grammar and vocabulary already is. Currently, this can be done in a more inviting way
using quiz tools like Plickers, Kahoot or Quizziz.

1.2.3. Constructivism

Even though both cognitivism and constructivism identify learning with mental activity,
constructivism differs in a number of ways from cognitivism. Again, in words of Jonnassen (1991b),
“Most cognitive psychologists think of the mind as a reference tool to the real world; constructivists
believe that the mind filters input from the world to produce its own unique reality”, this is, learners
‘construct’ the meaning from their own experiences.

Ertmer and Newby (2013) provide us with a great definition of what constructivists think:
“Constructivists do not deny the existence of the real world but contend that what we know of the
world stems from our own interpretations of our experiences. Humans create meaning as opposed
to acquiring it. Since there are many possible meanings to glean from any experience, we cannot
achieve a predetermined, ‘correct’ meaning. Learners do not transfer knowledge from the external
world into their memories; rather, they build personal interpretations of the world based on individual
experiences and interactions. Thus, the internal representation of knowledge is constantly open to
change; there is not an objective reality that learners strive to know”.

1.2.4. Overview

Cognitivism Behaviourism Constructivism

Focused on the processing of Focused on what the learner Focused on how the learner
information (internal) does (external) processes new information and
applies it (internal-external)
Learner: proactive Learner: reactive Learner: proactive
Type of learning: higher-level Type of learning: basic defi- Type of learning: higher-level
reasoning and information nition and explanation of problem solving and critical
processing with an emphasis on concepts, generalization and analysis with an emphasis on
memory and organization memory real scenarios
Examples: corrective feedback; Examples: pre-tests and Examples: apprenticeships and
learning strategies like analogy, comprehension checks; lear- collaborative or cooperative
metaphor or concept mapping; ning that allows practice and learning; encouraging the use
removing irrelevant information repetition of new knowledge in different
contexts

Resource 1. Correlation between theories. Source: own elaboration.

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Unit 1. English learning theory and impact on society

1.3. Interdisciplinary Fields in Linguistics

1.3.1. Introduction

First of all, it is of key importance to explain what an interdisciplinary field is. An interdisciplinary
field results from the combination of two or more academic fields for a certain purpose. In the case
of linguistics, some examples would be sociolinguistics (sociology + linguistics), psycholinguistics
(psychology + linguistics), etc. Those combinations usually happen due to the indefinite boundaries
between different disciplines.

1.3.2. Neurolinguistics

Neurolinguistics is the science which studies the parts of the brain directly related to the
development and production of language. The starting point of this science is found in the aphasiology
studies carried out by Broca (1864) and Wernicke (1874), whose names were given to brain regions and
also to aphasias. Due to the lack of nowadays’ technology, those studies were carried out through
autopsies of people with linguistic problems, and it was proven that different areas of the brain where
in charge of different aspects of language. Phillips and Kuniyoshi (2005) make a clear distinction
between Broca’s and Wernicke’s aphasias. Broca’s is described as “damage to the left inferior frontal
gyrus associated with a syndrome in which language comprehension appears to be relatively intact
but language production is severely impaired and shows halting speech and difficulty with function
words such as determiners and auxiliary verbs”, whereas Wernicke’s is described as “associated with
a different syndrome (…) in which language comprehension is seriously compromised and language
production is grammatically fluent but often semantically inappropriate or lacking in coherence”; that
is, Broca’s area and, in consequence, Broca’s aphasia are associated with production problems and
Wernicke’s is associated with comprehension problems.

Modern techniques, which are non-invasive, allow neurolinguists to observe the brain in action.
There are techniques which allow scientists to observe the brain’s reaction to input and its activity
when processing and producing output. These techniques are based on the identification of which
brain areas are functioning at a certain moment through the observation of the magnetic fields that
this activity produces or through the observation of the blood moving to certain areas in response
to the need of oxygen.

In conclusion, this interdisciplinary field allows other fields’ hypotheses (mainly from psycholinguistics)
to be proven or observed thanks to the different techniques which allow us to observe the brain in action.

1.3.3. Psycholinguistics

Psycholinguistics is an interdisciplinary field which studies, together with other fields like psychology,
linguistics, neurolinguistics, etc., aspects of the language related to brain activity like L1 acquisition,
language comprehension, processing and production, and L2 acquisition. In early stages, these studies
were carried out from educational (methods) or philosophical (approaches) points of view. Nowadays,
psycholinguistics can go further in its investigations thanks to improvements in brain studying
techniques used by other disciplines such as neuroscience, biology and particularly neurolinguistics.

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Complementary training for foreign language discipline

According to Menn and Dronkers (2016), psycholinguistics “tries to discover how we manage to actually
do all the things that go into speaking and understanding, reading and writing (…) how sound waves
hitting one’s ear become, in less than half a second, one’s understanding of what a person means”. A more
‘poetic’ definition of psycholinguistics is provided by Scovel (1998): “The use of language and speech as a
window to the nature and structure of the human mind is called psycholinguistics”.

1.3.4. Metalinguistics
In order to understand this concept, first we must understand the prefix ‘meta-‘. Originally, it was an
old Greek word meaning ‘what is beyond’, but it was misunderstood and now its meaning has changed
to ‘x about x’. For example, ‘metadata’ means ‘data about data’. In the case of metalinguistics, the
concept means using linguistics to talk about linguistics; in order to do so, it uses ‘metalanguage’, this
is, ‘language about language’ with words like ‘morpheme’, ‘syntax’, ‘morphology’, ‘phoneme’, etc.

For example, a teacher does metalinguistics when correcting an error and explaining the learner why
it was not correct, telling them what they have to do in order to correct it, and giving them advice on
how to avoid doing it again.

Sometimes students are not familiar at all with the metalanguage used in the classroom for a
correcting purpose, not even when introducing new grammar structures. Regardless of whether
the context is L1 or L2, 70% of students in a Secondary class would not follow or understand an
explanation in which only metalanguage was used. Visual supports, pointing at words and providing
more examples are practices that teachers need in order to handle those students’ difficulties.

1.3.5. Pragmatics

As we know, the meaning of a sentence is not only determined by pure semantics but also by context.
And this is pragmatics’ field of study, the ways in which context and also previous knowledge, amongst
other factors, influence, determine and contribute to meaning.

Pragmatics sets the difference between a sentence, which is an abstract linguistic entity, and an
utterance, which has a complete meaning because context, speaker’s intent, etc. are taken into
account. When we are presented with a written sentence, we could detect a certain ambiguity if we
do not have previous knowledge, if we do not know the context or if we do not know the speaker’s
intent. For example, in the sentence ‘Have you got a light?’, if we do not have previous knowledge (this
sentence is used to ask for a lighter in order to smoke a cigarette), if we do not know the context
(the person asking has a cigarette in his mouth) and the speaker’s intent (lighting a cigarette), we will
understand a completely different thing, that is, we will not get the true meaning of the utterance.

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Unit 1. English learning theory and impact on society

One of the most important theories within the pragmatics field is the cooperative principle, also
known as Grice’s maxims, which, according to its author, Paul Grice, must be fulfilled in order to make
the best communication possible. According to Bach (2005), “They are not sociological generalizations
about speech, nor they are moral prescriptions or proscriptions on what to say or communicate.
Although Grice presented them in the form of guidelines for how to communicate successfully, I think
they are better construed as presumptions about utterances, presumptions that we as listeners rely
on and as speakers exploit”.

These are Grice’s maxims:

Maxim of quality

Supermaxim:

1. Try to make your contribution one that is true.

Submaxims:

1. Do not say what you believe to be false.

2. Do not say that for which you lack adequate evidence.

Maxim of quantity

1. Make your contribution as informative as is required (for the current purposes of the exchange).

2. Do not make your contribution more informative than is required.

Maxim of relation

1. Be relevant.

Maxim of manner

Supermaxim:

1. Be perspicuous.

Submaxims:

1. Avoid obscurity of expression.

2. Avoid ambiguity.

3. Be brief (avoid unnecessary prolixity).

4. Be orderly.

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Complementary training for foreign language discipline

In conclusion, pragmatics is the interdisciplinary field in charge of analysing those aspects external
to the sentence which are essential to understand the utterance, which are, amongst others, context,
previous knowledge, speaker’s intent, etc.

1.3.6. Sociolinguistics

Sociolinguistics is the field which studies the influence that society has on language. It must not
be confused with a different field called ‘sociology of language’, which focuses on the influence of
language on society. Those aspects studied by sociolinguistics and which influence language are
context, how language is used, cultural norms, etc. Sociolinguists are interested in explaining why
we speak differently in different social contexts, and they are concerned with identifying the social
functions of language and the ways it is used to convey social meaning.

A certain number of variables are taken into account when studying the influence of language on society,
such as sex, age, dialect or social class. In the case of sex, the slight variables are more quantitative
than qualitative. Regarding age, sociolinguistics focuses on how different age-ranged people speak
in different ways and how they are influenced by society. In the case of dialect variation, those
sociolinguists studying it receive the name of ‘dialectologists’, and focus their studies on how language
varies in different geographic spots and how society influences it. Regarding social class, sociolinguistics
focuses on how different diastratic dialects are used within the same speech community.

Another field of study is code-switching, which consists in how people use different registers
depending on where they are and whom they are addressing. We use different ways to speak to
our friends, our teacher or the prime minister. This concept of ‘register’ will be studied in chapter 5:
‘Linguistic Register’.

1.4. Discursive-Communicative Competence

1.4.1. Introduction

The concept was developed by Dell Hymes as opposed to the perceived inadequacy of Noam
Chomsky’s (1964) distinction between linguistic competence and performance. It includes a certain
degree of mastery of the relevant language together with other non-linguistic factors which influence
the communicative act: culture, status, intention, strategies, etc.

In words of Hymes (1964), “Communicative competence also involves knowing what to say to whom in
what circumstances and how to say it”.

It is the basis for Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), which is an approach to language teaching
that emphasizes interaction as both the means and the ultimate goal of study. This approach rose to
prominence in the 1970s and 1980s, as the advent of the European Common Market led to European
migration, and consequently there were a large number of people who needed to learn a foreign
language for work or for personal reasons. At the same time, children were increasingly able to learn
foreign languages in school.

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Unit 1. English learning theory and impact on society

Traditional methods such as Grammar Translation assumed that students were aiming for mastery
of the target language, and that students were willing to study for years before expecting to use the
language in real life. Instead, Communicative Language Teaching offered faster practical results and
implied more active participation of learners.

1.4.2. Components

Based on the works of Canale and Swain (1980), Canale (1983), Celce-Murcia et al. (1995), Alcón (2000),
DiMaggio et al. (2001) and Usó et al. (2006):

• Communicative competence: The four language skills and their learning in order to achieve
language knowledge which is apt for basic communication.

– Oral comprehension (listening).

– Oral production (speaking).

– Written comprehension (reading).

– Written production (writing).

• Digital competence: Being able to interact with new text formats (digital genres), new ways of
interaction between the reader and the text, which imply a high level of cognitive and
metacognitive development and the proposal of new activities, as the development of new
learning competencies linked to the digital environment.

• Discursive competence: Ability to explore the use of language appropriately in a specific

context and to build, interpret and use generic resources in order to achieve the objectives of
the community in which one intends to act.

• Intercultural competence: Sociocultural and cross-cultural knowledge, aiming to the

development of cultural mediation competence.

• Linguistic competence: Basic elements of communication (phonology, grammar and vocabulary).

• Pragmatic competence: Illocutionary and sociolinguistic competences, speech acts (Searle,

1969), cooperative principles (Grice, 1975), relevance theory (Sperber and Wilson, 1986) and
courtesy theory (Brown and Levinson, 1978).

– Illocutionary competence: knowledge needed to transmit and understand the communicative

attempt when performing and interpreting speech acts and linguistic functions.

– Sociolinguistic competence: knowledge of the characteristics of context which determine

which statements are appropriate in certain situations.

• Strategic competence: Plans established consciously in order to face a difficulty, which lead to
adopt a specific attitude regarding their learning process.

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Complementary training for foreign language discipline

– Communicative strategies: verbal and non-verbal mechanisms used to avoid communicative

problems.

– Cognitive strategies: linked to specific learning tasks (such as repetition for memorization,
terms classification, context-based meaning prediction, taking notes, etc.).

– Metacognitive strategies: they must help the learner to develop a critical attitude towards
their own learning. That attitude implies the development of abilities such as planning,
reflecting, follow-up and assessment of their own learning.

– Socio-affective strategies: linked to mediation and social transaction with other people, such
as cooperative or collaborative work.

“It is in discourse and through discourse that all the competences are realized” (Celce-Murcia and
Olshtain, 2000).

1.5. Linguistic Registers

1.5.1. Introduction

According to Ulijn and Strother (1995), “a register is a variety of language used for a specific purpose
with a group of language characteristics whose boundaries are usually defined by the context in
which that language is used. The characteristics of a register include its lexis, syntax, and rhetorical or
discourse features”.

1.5.2. Classification

We are going to focus on two of the ways in which registers can be classified. The first one is in terms
of use according to ISO (2009) and the second one in terms of formality according to Joos (1961).

ISO (2009) classifies different registers depending on their use as follows (alphabetical order):

• Bench-level register.

• Dialect register.

• Facetious register.

• Formal register.

• In-house register.

• Ironic register.

• Neutral register.

• Slang register.

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Unit 1. English learning theory and impact on society

• Taboo register.

• Technical register.

• Vulgar register.

Joos (1961) classifies registers in terms of formality:

• Frozen: it does not change. The best examples could be religious books like the Bible or the
Torah, whose quotations always remain the same and may include archaisms.

• Formal: used in formal situations like political speeches in the UN.

• Consultative: a little less formal; interruptions are allowed. An example of this register is the
type of language used in a teacher-learner conversation.

• Casual: it is the register used when speaking with friends.

• Intimate: the one used with family and close friends.

Until recently, the dialect register had always been an issue in the British Broadcasting Corporation
(BBC), where presenters of all TV and radio programmes and specially news presenters were forced
to use Received Pronunciation (RP), the accent which is spoken in the South of England. This happened
because RP was, and still is, considered as the high-class accent spoken even by the Royal Family. It
was the accent taught in the best schools.

The slang register is extremely difficult to teach in the sense that it is in constant evolution. Even
though learners are not supposed to use it, it would be interesting for them to learn how to understand
it, because this could be useful in several situations.

The technical register is used for specific purposes like being able to work as an electrician, plumber
or mechanic in an English-speaking country, but also to be proficient in commercial relationships, for
example. This is the field of study of ESP (English for Specific Purposes), which will be seen in Unit 2.

In conclusion, the term ‘register’ refers to the different kinds of language used in every situation.
These situations are determined by several factors, the most important of which are the degree of
formality, the social class, the place and the field within which the speech is produced. It is essential
for a learner to acquire proficiency in speaking, listening, writing and reading, and not less important
to know which register to use on every occasion. Choosing a register with a low level of formality
could cause problems. Imagine a salesperson who is about to reach an agreement which will result in
a huge sale; the last step is signing the deal with the other company’s CEO. If the salesperson chooses
a slightly informal register and the CEO takes offence, it could mean not signing the deal. If the
salesperson used a slang or vulgar register, the deal would not be signed at all.

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Complementary training for foreign language discipline

1.6. English as the lingua franca on the knowledge society

1.6.1. Introduction

In this chapter we will attempt to explain why English has become the lingua franca on the ‘knowledge
society’. It is an important issue in the sense that all of us are influenced by this fact and the situation
is not likely to change. Nevertheless, the lingua franca has not always been English; in old times it was
Greek, then Latin, and many centuries later French, until recent decades.

1.6.2. Lingua franca

The term has its origin in the language spoken by Italians for commercial purposes in the eastern
Mediterranean ports; it was a simplified version of Italian with loans from other languages. The term
is formed by two different words: lingua and franca.

Lingua means ‘language’, as it does in Italian and also in Portuguese.

Franca was used in the Byzantine Empire to refer to those people coming from the west. Originally it
was the Greek word frankoi.

The meaning of this term, which originally was ‘the language spoken by the people coming from the
west’, has evolved to the current meaning, which is, according to the Oxford Living Dictionaries online, ‘a
language that is adopted as a common language between speakers whose native languages are different’.

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Unit 1. English learning theory and impact on society

Therefore, a lingua franca is a language which is spoken by members of different language

communities in order to make themselves understood in certain contexts. English is nowadays the
lingua franca for the majority of people and contexts.

1.6.3. Knowledge society

We are perhaps more accustomed to hearing the term ‘information society’, but it is becoming
obsolete, since it only refers to the fact that there is the possibility of interchanging information. The
term ‘knowledge society’ is more updated and reflects more accurately what society is like nowadays.
It refers to the capacity of creating and spreading knowledge that humanity has at present thanks to
information sharing tools like social media. The problem is that not all information sharing is legal or
equal; taking this into account, UNESCO (2005) has proposed the following principles in order to solve
the problem:

• Cultural diversity.

• Equal access to education.

• Universal access to information (in the public domain).

• Freedom of speech.

1.6.4. Why has English become the lingua franca on the ‘knowledge society’?

Now that we know that lingua franca refers to a language adopted by people from different cultures
to understand each other, and that the knowledge society of today has a huge capacity to create and
spread information of all kinds, let us see why English has become this lingua franca.

Through the course of history, there have been several lingua francas in Europe for various causes.
Originally, the lingua franca was Greek because of academic reasons; afterwards it was Latin for
political reasons (Roman Empire), and later for religious reasons (Christianism), and then it became
the language of knowledge (monks copied books in Latin). The next lingua franca was French due to
cultural reasons (enlightenment and encyclopaedia). But why is English our lingua franca now?

It all started with the expansion of the British Empire all over the world, which enabled the English
language to be spoken in almost every continent. According to Sheffield University web page, here is
a list of countries where English is still spoken by the majority of the population, although there are
more English speaking countries:

“Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Canada, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana,
Ireland, Jamaica, New Zealand, St. Kits and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and Grenadines, Trinidad and
Tobago, the United Kingdom and the United States of America”.

However, if this is the main reason, why is not Spanish the lingua franca? It might be argued that it is
because English is easier to learn than Spanish, but this is not the cause. As we are about to see, the
main reasons are political, cultural and economic.

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Complementary training for foreign language discipline

The switch from French to English as the lingua franca began in World War II, but there was a
diplomatic event in 1919 which set a precedent. The Versailles peace treaty was signed in French
as was usual in all diplomatic relationships, but also in English. After World War II, both USA and
the Commonwealth played leading roles in the formation of the United Nations and this led to the
adoption of English as the lingua franca in politics and diplomacy.

When World War II ended, the geopolitical status changed due to the economic, military and political
rise of the USA, which had an enormous influence on the position of the English language in the
world. The political situation of empowerment made the USA become the most important country in
economic terms, which allowed them to invest in science and technology. This is why nowadays the
majority of scientific articles are written in English. At the same time, the rise in technology provoked
that the internet and all information exchange tools related to it used the English language, which is
the reason why it became the lingua franca in the knowledge society.

As a conclusion, we have studied the concepts of lingua franca and society of knowledge, and we have
learned why English has become the lingua franca in politics, economics, science, culture, etc. China is
drawing attention as its economic power rises, so Chinese could become the next lingua franca of the
world. We will have to wait to know the answer.

1.7. Anglo-Saxon culture and its impact on nowadays’ society

Before studying the impact of Anglo-Saxon culture on nowadays’ society, we need to know what
‘Anglo-Saxon culture’ is. This issue has been discussed on many occasions because what we
understand as ‘Anglo-Saxons’ in the present day does not correspond to the original meaning of the
expression. Originally, the Anglo-Saxons were a culture which lasted until the Norman invasion in 1066
AD.

In order to avoid confusion, a new term was coined by Stephenson (1995) to define this so-called Anglo-
Saxon culture, which is ‘Anglosphere’. The countries pertaining to this ‘Anglosphere’ are the following:

• Australia.

• Canada.

• Ireland.

• New Zealand.

• United Kingdom.

• United States of America.

Lloyd (2000) also included:

• South Africa.

• The West Indies.

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Unit 1. English learning theory and impact on society

The reason why these countries have been grouped under the term ‘Anglosphere’ is that they were
former members of the British Empire and they still have close commercial, military, political and
economic relationships. The Merriam Webster Dictionary provides a definition of ‘Anglosphere’: ‘the
countries of the world in which the English language and cultural values predominate’.

Countries belonging to the Commonwealth cannot be classified as pertaining to the Anglo-Saxon

culture in the sense that, although they once were part of the British Empire, English is not their
main language of communication and they do not have the same commercial, military, political and
economic relationships with each other than those pertaining to the Anglosphere.

The impact of this culture in nowadays’ society is clear. English is the second native tongue spoken in
the world and the most popular second language at present. The fact, above mentioned, that English
has become the lingua franca of the 21st century empowers the Anglosphere with the capacity of
influencing the rest of the world. The presence of the English language is so overwhelming that the
number of Anglicisms has increased exponentially, and these have displaced words or expressions
that already existed in other languages. We keep using economical terminology without translating
it, with examples such as ‘freelance’, ‘incoterms’, ‘check in’, ‘WhatsApp’, ‘overbooking’, etc., and English
is the language for military uses, international emergency protocols, etc. Information technology is an
issue we cannot leave aside, as it influences every country. Concepts such as WordPress, programs,
applications or plug-ins used for the creation of websites require a fast channel of transmission. Once
each concept is born and explained, people learn the form and the content of a word at the same time.
There is no need for a translation.

On the other hand, the Anglosphere countries are distributed throughout the globe and their
industries influence the rest of the world’s economy and way of life. Among the most important
ones is the audio-visual industry, ruled almost entirely by the United States, although the United
Kingdom’s BBC is also prominent. As regards cinema and TV series, the United States is the source
of the most powerful productions. For decades, American films and TV series have influenced our
lifestyle and have served the American government as propaganda. Thanks to them, the ‘American
way of life’ has become the most desired one. In addition, the most important music industry is within
the Anglosphere countries, too. The way in which the Anglo-Saxon culture is spread thanks to music is
difficult to grasp. Almost every single day, almost every single person in the world listens to music, and
the majority of songs are composed in English by English native speakers that unavoidably transmit
some aspects of their culture through their rhythms, melodies, and mainly through their lyrics.

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 Unit 2

Language teaching methods

2.1. Introduction
Since English became the lingua franca of modern times, many scholars have developed different
theories on how English as a Foreign Language (EFL) should be taught. From the Grammar Translation
Method (GTM) to the current Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) or Content and Language Inte-
grated Learning (CLIL), language teaching methods have evolved adapting themselves through social,
political and psychological influences.

2.2. Evolution of English as a Foreign Language in Teaching Methods

In this section, an evolution of language teaching methods will be presented in relation to English as
a Foreign Language (EFL), along with a complete overview of the main teaching methods of the last
five centuries.

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Unit 2. Language teaching methods

2.2.1. Grammar Translation Method (Structural Method)

During the 16th century, Latin was the prevailing language in academic studies, but also in texts on poli-
tics and business. From then on, Latin was gradually replaced by modern languages such as French or
English. Due to this switch of lingua franca, the purpose of learning Latin changed from communica-
tive to purely academic, and the linguistic competences to be acquired were only those of reading and
translating texts rather than those used in communication.

Thus, the aims of the Grammar Translation Method were both to develop students’ mental ability and
discipline and to provide them with the ability of translating and reading literary texts. It was a deduc-
tive method in which students were usually taught in their mother tongue (L1), and the usual exercises
were grammar drills and translation of short sentences from L1 to Latin and also from Latin to L1.
Once they were capable of translating sentences, they continued with longer texts which were usually
classical and literary. More attention was paid to form than to content and very little attention was
paid to pronunciation or communicative aspects. Despite the appearance of many new methods, this
is still the most widely used for Foreign Language Teaching (SLT).

In this sense, it is interesting to note that old methods can be used with modern technology. New
resources such as translating applications on mobile phones and the access to forums where one
can get immediate answers to the translation of any kind of terminology make us consider teaching
methods from a slightly different point of view.

In an example of an activity based on the GTM, teachers would guide the translations of texts and
would present similar sentences to those which appeared in the texts being translated. There is not
a natural order presentation of grammar rules. Grammar structures are presented according to the
order of appearance in texts.

Example of an activity for the Present Perfect Tense and meaning of Adverbs 'since' and 'for':

Translate the following sentences into your language.

a. “I have lived in Spain for all my life”.

“She has studied French for 2 years”.

“They have practised sports for several years”.

One step further, including negative forms, questions, and different adverbs.

b. “You haven’t visited France since your mother died”.

“Have you ever been to an English speaking country?”

Once students are familiar enough with translating from L2 into L1, they are ready to do it the
other way around.

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Complementary training for foreign languaje discipline

The learning profile of a foreign language learner should be taken into account when elaborating class
materials. A student whose L1 structures do not follow easy syntax patterns will find it a really diffi-
cult task to translate them. Teachers will have to monitor the thinking of that student telling them
to create simpler and shorter sentences consciously in order to avoid ambiguous meanings or word
order alterations which can lead to grammar categories’ misplacing.

In order to achieve good class results and get students to find motivation in the study of English,
teachers should combine different methods in the creation of their tasks. There is not one single
perfect method. But we can say that the best approach is that which combines several methods to fit
every student’s needs.

The GMT method applies successfully to those students whose predominating type of intelligence is
linguistic, logical or mathematical. A good way to know the students’ intelligence type is to carry out a
questionnaire on multiple intelligences at the beginning of the school year. Students will realise that
they can get higher results than other classmates in one or more areas of knowledge and this may be
an incentive for their motivation. On the following link you can find an example of a test based on 1992
Howard Gardner’s multiple intelligences model: https://testyourself.psychtests.com/testid/3103.

2.2.2. Direct Method (Interactive Method)

Also known as Natural Method, it was developed as a reaction to the Grammar Translation Method. It
is taught entirely in L2 in order to create a ‘natural environment’.

It relates concepts like ‘experience’, ‘word’ and ‘thought’ with those of ‘language’, ‘idea’ and ‘expression’
and its main aim is communication. In order to reach the aim, the class is carried out completely in L2,
no mother tongue is used for translations; instead of that, each piece of vocabulary is explained in L2,
through dramatization, relation of concepts or the use of pictures or objects.

It was conceived to imitate the natural acquisition method, which is the reason why it is also called
‘Natural Method’. Audiolingualism emerged to correct some failures of the Direct Method.

Example: Think about activities that you started doing some time ago and you still do, for instance,
sports you have started to practice, and also about things you stopped doing (for negative examples).

2.2.3. Audio-lingual Method (Structural Method)

Two main extralinguistic factors played an important role in the appearance of this method. The first
one was the raising of a new psychological theory called behaviourism, developed by B. F. Skinner; this
psychological theory stated that every psychological behaviour, including language, consisted in a
response to a stimulus and so it could be manipulated by means of positive or negative reinforcement.
The second factor was the start of World War II, when the USA needed a large number of people to
be taught many different languages in a very short period of time, for which this method was chosen;
that is the reason why it is also known as the Army Method. As regards pure linguistic factors, it was
influenced by the theories carried out by American linguist Leonard Bloomfield. His and other Amer-
ican linguists’ main field of study during the 20th century was the native-American tongues; since there
were no teachers of these tongues, they had to focus on the oral aspect of language.

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Unit 2. Language teaching methods

Originally, the aim of this method was to provide students with a series of basic units of communi-
cation so they were able to communicate with native speakers at a basic level within a few weeks. In
order to do so, classes were conducted totally in English (this became more flexible through time),
and consisted in the repetition of single sentences and dialogue drills. Its main focus was placed on
speaking and listening skills.

This method and its psychological basis were strongly criticized by many linguists, the most critic
of which was Noam Chomsky, who pointed out the strong limitations of structuralist linguistics and
behavioural theories.

When we ask students to memorize a dialogue, we are using this method. Accuracy should be evalu-
ated then on the basis of pronunciation, intonation, and grammar correction. No marks for improvisa-
tion, originality or creativity and maturity can be provided.

2.2.4. The Silent Way (Interactive Method)

It was created in the 1960s by C. Gattegno and owes its name to the fact that one of its key elements
is the almost total absence of speech production coming from the teacher: students are the ones
speaking 90% of the time or more. Some physical elements help the teacher in class, such as coloured
Cuisenaire rods, sound-colour charts, word charts and Fidel charts. Cuisenaire rods, which were origi-
nally used to teach Maths, help students learn colours and numbers at a first stage, but are also used
to teach grammatical relations.

This method lays stress on how students learn rather than on how to teach them. Although it was used
by very few teachers, it had great influence on the teaching of pronunciation, and some aspects of it
are still used nowadays.

2.2.5. Community Language Learning (Interactive Method)

It was developed by C. A. Curran in the USA. This method emphasizes the sense of the class as a commu-
nity in which students help each other to learn through interaction. Thus, students play an important role
in class and are the ones who determine what is taught, since there is no syllabus or textbook.

Two main roles are assigned in this method: the teacher as a counsellor and the student as a client. The
role of teacher requires a bigger effort than in other methods due to the fact that a counsellor has to be
aware of their students’ feelings, thoughts and motivation. It is also more demanding for students, but,
since they are the ones choosing the topics of each lesson, this method is very motivating for them.

Nowadays, it is usual to hear suggestions from students and listen to a song or watch a hit film or a
YouTube video in class. Teachers are willing to do this kind of activities to break monotony. It is then
that the expertise of the teacher to include them in the evaluating process is required; otherwise they
may cause the opposite effect. The coupling content/exam should be present in every activity done in
the classroom. Improvising without control can cause a lack of motivation and attention.

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Complementary training for foreign languaje discipline

2.2.6. Suggestopedia (Interactive Method)

It was developed by G. Lozanov in Bulgaria. Its name is the result of mixing the words ‘suggestion’
and ‘pedagogy’. In this method, as Jeremy (2001) stated, classroom atmosphere and venue are of key
importance to make sure that “students feel comfortable and confident”.

Unlike Community Language Learning, this method is more teacher-controlled, especially as regards
environment and the form and quantity of input, but not so much as to be teacher-directive. The input
students receive is key, for example, it is usual for them to listen to classical music while the teacher is
explaining. Obviously, the venue, lesson duration and kind of input are different for adults and children.

Due to its lack of scientific background, this method has been criticized and described as ‘pseudo-
science’ or ‘placebo’. Another point of criticism is the fact that it relies on the trust learners develop
towards the method (non-conscious acquisition of language).

2.2.7. Total Physical Response (Interactive Method)

It was developed by James Asher in California, USA. It is based on the correlation between language
and movement. As stated by Asher (1996): “A reasonable hypothesis is that the brain and the nervous
system are biologically programmed to acquire language, either the first or the second in a particular
sequence and in a particular mode. The sequence is listening before speaking and the mode is to
synchronize language with the individual’s body”. This theoretical framework serves as a basis for the
instructional procedures.

The class consists of drills based on imperative sentences uttered by the teacher with the aim of
creating a response from learners, who must follow their instructions. This method is very useful to
introduce new vocabulary like phrasal verbs, for example. Errors are not corrected at early stages, but
after the elementary level is exceeded, they cease to be overlooked. This method is optimal to teach
subjects like Physical Education or Arts and Crafts in English.

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Unit 2. Language teaching methods

Ejemplo

The setting is a Physical Education class taught in English.

The teacher gives orders to learners in L2 and accompanies them with gestures to elicit the
physical response from their students.

Some examples of orders:

Raise your hands.

• Raise your left hand.

• Raise your right hand.

• Move your feet.

• Move your left foot.

• Move your right foot.

• Move your arms.

• Move your left arm to the left.

• Move your left arm to the right.

• Move your right arm up.

• Move your right arm down.

Orders can combine parts of the body with different movements in different directions.
With this type of lesson, the teacher can approach learners that still need to take in the
basics of a language.

Another way of putting this method into practice is sticking Post-it notes with phrases around the
classroom and making students pick them up according to instructions. These notes can include
more directions that students must follow to find a ‘treasure’ hidden in the classroom, as it would
happen in an escape room experience. They may also have pictures or requests to keep on reacting
to orders. These activities can be extended to other subjects, but this is a good method to use as a
routine breaker. Depending on how students react to it, teachers can use it longer and more often.
The students’ mood, weather conditions, and the timing of sessions are aspects to bear in mind when
choosing this dynamic method.

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Complementary training for foreign languaje discipline

2.3. The communicative approach or Communicative Language

Teaching (CLT)
According to Spada (2007), CLT “is a meaning-based, learner-centred approach to L2 teaching where
fluency is given priority over accuracy and the emphasis is on the comprehension and production of
messages, not the teaching or correction of the language form”. To sum up, the goal of this method is
to achieve communicative competence; but what is communicative competence?

According to Hymes (1966): “It is an ability to choose right verbal and non-verbal medium as well as to
take into consideration the specific speaking situation”.

CLT emerged from the need of changing from the traditional Grammar Translation Method to a faster
and more effective one. The rise of the European Union and the subsequent migrations increased the
number of adults who needed to learn a language as quickly as possible, for which Grammar Transla-
tion Method programmes were most unsuitable.

The main features of a communicative approach according to Nunan (1991) are the following:

• An emphasis on learning to communicate through interaction in the target language.

• The introduction of authentic texts into the learning situation.

• The provision of opportunities for learners to focus, not only on language but also on the lear-
ning process itself.

• An enhancement of the learner’s own personal experiences as important contributing elements

to classroom learning.

• An attempt to link classroom language learning with language activities outside the classroom.

The main disadvantage of this method is that problems can arise if the teacher is not from the same
region as the learner, in which case the teacher will not be able to detect the possible influence of
their student’s mother tongue.

27
Unit 2. Language teaching methods

Example of a CLT lesson

The objective is to teach the past tense of the verb to be.

The teacher starts the class asking their students what their favourite historical characters
are, or about well-known people, events or dates of all times. Once the students have said
several names, the teacher looks them up on the computer and reads parts of their biogra-
phies, for example their childhood.

Possible questions to elicit the practice of the past tense of verb to be:

• Which of them was the first to be born?

• Which of them were born in Europe?

• Which of them were born in America?

• Which of them was an orphan?

• Which of them were of poor origin?

• Which of them were poor at first but finally became rich?

The following questions will not only elicit the practice of the past tense of the verb to be,
but they will also connect the students’ own personal experiences with the lesson content:

• Were you in any of those countries?

• Was any of your ancestors a historical figure?

• Was any of them unknown for you?

Finally, the teacher will provide an explanation on the use of the past tense of the verb to be and how
they have been using it in order to give students the opportunity to focus not only on language, but
also on the learning process itself.

The teacher will take notes of the answers as a mere observer and then will use them as a follow-up
activity, showing them on a digital screen or writing them on the blackboard. For example, students
can interview one another around the class to keep on practising the speaking skill, or they can write
an essay with all the information they have gathered, or they can add their own Wh- questions as if
they were reporters working for a magazine.

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Complementary training for foreign languaje discipline

2.4. CLIL
CLIL stands for Content and Language Integrated Learning. This concept was coined by David Marsh in
1994. CLIL is, according to Griva and Deligianni (2017), “an innovative way of engaging learners with both
the content they are interested in and English language use and learning, while at the same time making
them aware of the multilingual character of modern-day communication”. This approach consists in
learning subjects like Maths, History, Geography and others in a second or foreign language.

Its aim is to teach the subjects present at the curriculum and, in addition, improve the skills of the
foreign or second language without the need of overloading the students with more lessons. This
approach has been described as a very important innovation by the European Commission (2004),
since “it can provide effective opportunities for pupils to use their new language skills now, rather than
learn them now for use later. It opens doors on languages for a broader range of learners, nurturing
self-confidence in young learners and those who have not responded well to formal language instruc-
tion in general education. It provides exposure to the language without requiring extra time in the
curriculum, which can be of particular interest in vocational settings”.

An example of this approach is the teaching of Physical Education in English; it is a good starting
point due to the fact that vocabulary is limited and the teacher’s commands can easily be understood
by pupils. It is not an easy task, in the sense that a teacher whose subject is not Foreign or Second
Language Teaching has to be competent in this language as well as capable of adapting the level both
to the objectives in the curriculum and to that of their pupils.

Secondary Education Settings have always provided a slight approach to what a CLIL class should be.
In order to teach Administration, Robotics, Gardening, Electricity, Information Technology, Commerce,
Ceramics, Cooking, Hairdressing, Engineering, etc., some of the tasks required for the good under-
standing of the terminology have to be taken out of real texts. Realia from different sources have
paramount importance. We include a list of written texts:

Instruction leaflets Recipes Insurance policies

Letters Medical reports Minutes

Public notices Business documents Obituaries

Job advertisements Emails Extracts from books, novels

Slogans in commercials News reports PowerPoint slides

Newspaper forecasts Official gazettes Forms

Meeting requests School correspondence Food nutritional facts

Product labels Invitations Tickets

Poems Traffic signs Certificates

Menus Surveys Scripts

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Unit 2. Language teaching methods

Any kind of task based on realia will create a content focused situation. For example, to teach the
vocabulary used to report the balance statement of a company, students should be acquainted with
the terminology in L1; otherwise teachers should look deep into the subject matter and explain situ-
ations that contribute to losses or to gains in a company, or what to include in the assets section or
in that of liabilities. It should not be forgotten that middle vocational studies have plenty of subjects
whose contents are completely new for students.

Initially, teachers speak slowly and use plenty of repetitions, demonstrations, visual aids and realia. Later,
they speak at a more natural pace and encourage peer co-operative and independent learning. They work
to create an atmosphere that fosters continuous language growth. However, language is absorbed more
successfully when the focus on direct language teaching is reduced and content teaching is increased. By
guiding students through experiments or activities that relate directly to their lives and by focusing on
the learning of content while providing language support, language learning is actually maximized.

The same happens with book reading: students concentrate in meaning, but form starts to enter the
brain, and unconsciously linguistic patterns become familiar to them.

This topic, CLIL, is very controversial. Many countries and states have combined teaching in two
languages for ages. India, Morocco, some states in the USA such as Texas or California, some
provinces in Spain, Switzerland, Denmark, Belgium, etc., which means there are a large number of
studies and experience that support the use of immersion programmes for the teaching of two
languages simultaneously.

However, in some autonomous communities three languages are studied and this is a bit chaotic for
parents when it comes to homework. If they can hardly help their children in their own native tongue,
how about doing it in a foreign language? Parents not only have to master the school contents of the
subject taught in English, but also the new foreign language! And how about teachers who are on sick
or maternity leave? Not many teachers will be available to substitute them in proper conditions. This
requires ongoing training and improving of the techniques and contents of the subject. Also, techni-
ques for the motivation of students to get them engaged in Physical Education or Science in English,
for example, should be part of the ongoing training. Another drawback of CLIL classes, as well as
Vocational Training classes, is the selection of course materials. The Spanish Education Law provides
teachers with web pages where they can find some useful materials.

If a school wants to use this program, it has to be described in the School Linguistic Project. It is the
teaching centre’s document where all the curricular and organisational measures taken for the deve-
lopment of the linguistic programmes are specified.

It includes:

1. Details of the teaching centre/school.

2. Context analysis.

3. Authorised programmes.

4. Applied programmes.

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Complementary training for foreign languaje discipline

5. Linguistic objectives.

6. Introduction to reading and writing.

7. Methodologies to integrate languages.

8. Gradation of Language Integrated Treatment.

9. Organisation of human and material resources.

10. Teacher training.

11. The centre’s project to improve the application of the plurilingual program.

12. Implementation calendar.

13. Linguistic normalization plan.

2.5. FLL & SLA

2.5.1. Introduction

These two acronyms stand for Foreign Language Learning and Second Language Acquisition
respectively. These two terms tend to be confused; the aim of this chapter is to clarify the differ-
ence between them, which is mainly a matter of context. We refer to the learning of a language with
the adjective of ‘foreign’ when the learning process takes place in a country where this language is
not official. On the other hand, we use the expression ‘second language’ when the learning process
takes place in a country where this language is official. As we can read in Richards and Smith
(2002), “In a broad sense, any language learned after one has learnt one’s native language (is called
second language). However, when contrasted with foreign language, the term refers more narrowly
to a language that plays a major role in a particular country or region though it may not be the first
language of many people who use it. For example, the learning of English by immigrants in the US or
the learning of Catalan by speakers of Spanish in Catalonia (an autonomous region of Spain) are cases
of second (not foreign) language learning, because those languages are necessary for survival in those
societies. English is also a second language for many people in countries like Nigeria, India, Singapore
and the Philippines (plus Spanish), because English fulfils many important functions in those coun-
tries (including the business of education and government) and Learning English is necessary to be
successful within that context. (Some people in these countries, however, may acquire English as a
first language, if it is the main language used at home)”.

Three concepts are important when talking about learning and acquisition: input, intake, and output.

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Unit 2. Language teaching methods

Resource 2. Input-Output. Source: https://www.englishclub.com/learn-english/language-skills.htm

2.5.2. The concepts of Input, Intake and Output

a. Input

When we talk about input we refer to the amount of language data which the student is
exposed to. According to Zhang (2009), there are three views of the concept of input: “behav-
iourist, mentalist and interactionist view, each holding a different emphasis in explaining SLA.
A behaviourist view treats language learning as environmentally determined, controlled from
outside by the stimuli learners are exposed to and the reinforcement they receive. In contrast,
mentalist theories emphasize the importance of the learner’s ‘black box’. They maintain that
learners’ brains are especially equipped to learn language and all that is needed is minimal
exposure to input in order to trigger acquisition (Ellis, 1997). Interaction theories acknowledge
the importance of both input and internal language processing, emphasizing the joint contribu-
tion of linguistic environment and the learners’ inner mechanism in interaction activities”.

b. Intake

In contrast to input, which, as we saw above, is the amount of data which the student is
exposed to, the concept of intake refers to the input which has been processed, this is, learned
by the student. Corder (1967) was the one who coined this term: “The simple fact of presenting
a certain linguistic form to a learner in the classroom does not necessarily qualify it for the
status of input, for the reason that input is ‘what goes in’, not what is available for going in, and
we may reasonably suppose that it is the learner who controls this input, or more properly his
intake”. Thus, he made the distinction between what could have entered the learner’s brain
(input) and what actually has entered it (intake).

c. Output

When we use the term output we refer to the production that students make of their second
language after the process of learning. It is the final step of the process beginning with an
input that turns into an intake and finally results in an output. The output is measured in terms
of fluency and accuracy. Errors in output are treated in different ways with the aim of making
them disappear.

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Complementary training for foreign languaje discipline

2.5.3. Error Treatment

First of all, we need to know what an error is. A recurrent way of explaining it is comparing it with a
similar but not equal word, ‘mistake’. A mistake happens when a student produces incorrect output
having already studied a certain topic in language, for example, when a 3rd year ESO student says “He
play football”. The student knows the rule: it is a must to put an ‘s’ at the end of a verb in third person
singular in present simple, but he forgets it. An error happens when the same student produces an
incorrect output containing a grammar point that they have not studied yet.

When a teacher analyses and responds to a student’s output, they can react in two ways, depending
on whether the output produced is correct or incorrect. If the output is correct, it is a good practice to
give positive feedback to the student in order to motivate them, but if the output is not correct, nega-
tive feedback, this is, ‘corrective feedback’, is necessary.

According to Ellis et al. (2006), “Corrective feedback constitutes one type of negative feedback. It
takes the form of a response to a learner utterance containing a linguistic error. The response is an
other-initiated repair and can consist of (1) an indication that an error has been committed, (2) provi-
sion of the correct target language form, (3) metalinguistic information about the nature of the error,
or any combination of these”. It is not enough to highlight the error, it is also positive for the learner’s
acquisition to provide the correct utterance and explain what the error consisted in.

But, does the teacher-learner interaction end when the teacher produces this feedback? The answer
is no. There is a kind of output produced by the learner in reaction to the teacher’s feedback, which is
called ‘uptake’. This can be seen when a mistake is produced by the learner, then the teacher produces
corrective feedback, and finally the learner produces an uptake.

Depending on the purpose of the feedback and the kind of reaction which provokes the uptake, they
can be classified into different categories. Lyster and Ranta (1997) classified both corrective feed-
back and uptakes as follows:

Types of feedback

• Explicit correction: refers to the explicit provision of the correct form. As the teacher provides
the correct form, they clearly indicate that what the student had said was incorrect.

• Recast: involves the teacher’s reformulation of all or part of a student’s utterance, minus the error.

• Clarification request: indicates to students either that their utterance has been misunderstood
by the teacher or that the utterance is wrong.

• Metalinguistic feedback: contains either comments, information, or questions related to the

correctness of the student’s utterance, without explicitly providing the correct form.

• Elicitation: refers to one technique that teachers use to elicit completion of their own utterance
by strategically pausing to allow students to ‘fill in the blank’.

• Repetition: refers to the teacher’s repetition, in isolation, of the student’s erroneous utterance.

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Unit 2. Language teaching methods

Types of uptake

• Repetition: refers to a student’s repetition of the teacher’s feedback when the latter includes
the correct form.

• Incorporation: refers to a student’s repetition of the correct form provided by the teacher,
which is then incorporated to a longer sentence by the student.

• Self-repair: is a self-correction in response to the teacher’s feedback.

• Peer-repair: is a correction provided by a classmate, in response to the teacher’s feedback.

• Acknowledgement: refers to a simple ‘yes’ from the student.

• Same error: is a sentence that includes a repetition of the student’s initial error.

• Different error: is a sentence that neither corrects nor repeats the initial error; instead, a diffe-
rent mistake is made.

• Partial repair: refers to a sentence that includes a correction of only part of the initial error.

In conclusion, either in the context of FLL or SLA, in order to reach a desirable level of success, teachers
must be capable of helping students produce a good output; if there is an error or a mistake in students’
output, teachers should immediately produce the best possible feedback; and they also need to interpret
students’ uptake to know if they are learning or not. On the other hand, if the output is correct, teachers
also need to produce positive feedback, as it is a very important source of motivation for learners.

2.6. ESP (English for Specific Purposes)

Teaching EFL in the context of a regular secondary school is not the same as teaching it in a forma-
tive course for business administration or mechanics. Certain occupations like that of business agent,
soldier, waiter, receptionist, scientist, doctor, nurse, etc. require specific teaching in L2 acquisition;
this is the field of study of English for Specific Purposes (ESP).

This discipline has grown enormously during the last years. According to Anderson (2015), “ESP has grown
to become one of the most important areas of English Language Teaching (ELT) today. This is mainly as
a response to technological advances, particularly Internet, the rapid spread of globalization and the
accompanying spread of English as the language of international communication in social and economic
contexts and to greater worldwide professional mobility which has brought an increase in vocational
language training. English has achieved a global language status and this phenomenon has made it imper-
ative that many non-English-speaking countries develop English language proficiency in their own citi-
zens”. This spectacular growth can be compared with the change of lingua franca that provoked a reaction
to the old Grammar Translation Method or the needs emerging from modern war that made the develop-
ment of Audiolingualism necessary. Society has evolved in a manner that ESP has become crucial in EFL.

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Complementary training for foreign languaje discipline

No clear definition of ESP has been provided due to lack of agreement among scholars, but Dudley-
Evans and St. John (1998) did provide eight characteristics of ESP, three of them being absolute and
the rest being variable:

Absolute characteristics:

• ESP is defined to meet specific needs of the learners.

• ESP makes use of underlying methodology and activities of the discipline it serves.

• ESP is centred on the language appropriate to these activities in terms of grammar, lexis, regis-
ter, study skills, discourse and genre.

Variable characteristics:

• ESP may be related to or designed for specific disciplines.

• ESP may use, in specific teaching situations, a different methodology from that of General
English.

• ESP is likely to be designed for adult learners, either at a tertiary level institution or in a profes-
sional work situation. It could, however, be for learners at secondary school level.

• ESP is generally designed for intermediate or advanced students.

• Most ESP courses assume some basic knowledge of the language systems.

In previous years, ESP was very different from general English teaching, as it could be seen in
Hutchinson et al. (1987), who gave the following answer to the question “is there a difference between
ESP and general English?”: “In theory none, in practice a great deal”. This was so at a time when little or
no attention at all was paid to the students’ needs, but nowadays this difference is insignificant.

The interest in developing ESP has grown, and this has provoked the appearance of a large number of
specific courses and books which are demanding on both teacher and student. A great deal of training
on the specific field is needed from the teacher and plenty of study and work hours are demanded
from the student. Students have to be proficient not only in the four skills: speaking, writing, listening
and reading in general terms, but also in specific vocabulary, expressions and background knowledge
from their specific field.

ESP is still a young discipline, but it is sure to continue growing as the number of specialized teachers
increases, due to the demand caused by the rise of English as the lingua franca in the knowledge society.

35
 Unit 3

English as a subject

3.1. Introduction
Spain aims to promote education improvement. Among its main measures are: greater autonomy
for schools, new preventive diagnostic testing in primary education and more vocational pathways
starting in the final years of lower secondary education.

This educational reform introduced changes to certain aspects: functioning of the system and
curriculum, organisation, objectives, requirements for the award of certificates and qualifications,
programmes, progression and evaluation.

The curriculum for Compulsory Secondary Education establishes key competences. For competences
to be efficiently acquired and effectively integrated into the curriculum, integrated learning activities
that allow students to move towards the acquisition of more than one competence at a time, as many
of them overlap and interlock, must be designed. There is not a one-to-one relationship between the
teaching of certain areas or subjects and the development of some specific competences. Each area
or subject contributes to the development of different competences and each competence is in turn
acquired through work in the various areas or subjects.

The development of competences in linguistic communication, mathematics, science and technology

must be strengthened in Compulsory Secondary Education.

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Unit 3. English as a subject

In order to ensure common training for all students, it is the responsibility of the Ministry of Education
and Vocational Training to design a basic curriculum that guarantees that certificates are official and
valid throughout the country. The education authorities complete the curriculum for their respective
regions. For more information, see Administration and governance at central and/or regional level.

Education institutions also play an active role, developing and completing the curriculum in order to
adapt it to their context and pupils. In addition, each teacher draws up the teaching plan for each class
group. For more information, see Administration and governance at local and/or institutional level.

Families are expected to purchase textbooks and school materials. However, there are certain local
and/or autonomic financial aids aimed at students schooled in public education centres. Local author-
ities and school boards may pass the use of course books every four years to avoid the introduction of
new material at random, which may mean important savings for some families. A teacher may decide
not to use a book, provided that students are not made to buy a new one.

The syllabus design of English for every course must be stated in the centre’s ‘PGA’ (‘Programación
General Anual’, annual general syllabus), based on the curriculum of the Spanish and regional govern-
ments. It must contain the titles of the course books, the number of teaching hours per week and the
contents and sequences of every term. There are three terms (evaluating periods) every year, except
in second year of Vocational Training, when there are only two. This is because students do their
internships in companies from March to June.

In addition to that, the criteria on which students will be evaluated must be clearly explained. Infor-
mation about exam marks and percentages, essays, projects, group work, oral presentations, etc. has
to be given to students at the beginning of the course. Also, the criteria for resits and extraordinary
evaluations must be clearly stated.

Teachers can follow that scheduling roughly. Any changes to improve results are welcome, but they
have to be stated in the PGA. It is mostly experience that helps teachers improve their results. In
order to achieve goals, it is a good idea to keep a weekly or monthly plan. Dividing the plan into units
is another option. In either Primary or Secondary Education, teachers of the same level should keep in
touch with one another to share feedback from everyday experiences or from their didactic results.
Teachers should not feel frustrated if the plan is not followed strictly. It is wise to adapt it to the
students’ needs and to timing. Finally, students’ homework out of school hours is not regulated in any
official document; it is up to each teacher to organise it.

The following figure is a check list to remind teachers to consider their performance. They should
always be ready to change plans in order to succeed, with the help of research.

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Complementary training for foreign languaje discipline

PLANNING

Prepare the lesson plan. Show students objectives and contents.

Visualize every activity in the lesson plan. Predict problems that may arise.

Keep reminding vocabulary and concepts,

Continuous revision.
pronunciation, etc.
In corridors, when changing classes, at break
Talk to the same group’s teaching board. times, etc. Sometimes department meetings are
not enough.

Talk to other same year level teachers. One meeting every three months is not enough.

Students talk about teachers all the time; let’s

Get anonymous surveys for your performance.
have them talk to us.
Compare results with other teachers, years,
Statistics show objective results.
terms, etc.

3.2. Integrating the study of English in the current social context

Wars, Brexit, Trump, Russia, refugees, Gibraltar, science, technology, virus, medicine, developing coun-
tries, globalization, world news, cultural exchanges, travelling, tourism, jobs, family, NGO...

Internationally speaking, all these terms describe contemporary issues. To deal with them, a lingua
franca is needed, and that is English.

Spain is deeply involved in the construction of the European Union, where the ability to speak other
Community languages is a key factor to promote free movement of people and enhance cultural,
scientific and economic cooperation among its members. The significant improvement of mass media
and the fast development of information and communication technologies have fostered an increase
of international relations, particularly in English. The geographical location of Spain and its economic
development in different sectors makes it essential to train our students to live in an increasingly
international, multicultural and multilingual world. The aim of foreign language teaching in ESO
(Compulsory Secondary Education) is to enable students to develop the discursive competences that
may take place in multiple domains: the personal domain, including common family and social prac-
tices; the education domain, related to everyday situations and actions in the school; the academic
domain, related to the subject contents; the public domain, which includes everything related to
common social interactions; and the mass media domain.

There has always been a controversy in the convenience of the implementation of bilingual educa-
tional systems. This is a very relevant issue in countries like Spain, where there are several regions
known as ‘autonomous communities’ in which public opinion is clearly divided on this subject. In
addition, the political borders and the linguistic isoglosses, which are, according to Oxford Living

39
Unit 3. English as a subject

Dictionaries (2017), lines “on a map marking an area having a distinct linguistic feature”, are not coin-
cident, and this fact creates political problems when designing the educational systems. There are
places where only Spanish is spoken and yet at least one subject has to be taught in the region’s
language, and there are some other places inside the same region where Spanish cannot be used
in teaching. Some people demand the opportunity of choosing if they want their children to study
in Spanish or in the region’s language, and some other people claim to be in a situation of diglossia
that may lead the regional language, this is, their mother tongue, to disappear. Instead of viewing the
co-officiality of two languages as an opportunity, some people tend to view it as a problem.

This was not the case for Stephen Krashen, an American scholar that has claimed the advantages of a
bilingual educational system in California. He fought for the implementation of a bilingual system which
would result in a better coexistence of the Spanish and English speaking communities. He experienced
several problems, and, in the end, the anti-bilingual education Law 227 was passed. In words of Krashen
(1996), one of the main problems that critics pointed out was that “even if the bilingual education worked,
it will only work for Spanish, and not for other languages that have different writing systems. In addition
they note that there is a severe shortage of qualified bilingual teachers”. Despite his efforts to preserve
the existing bilingual educational programs, he failed on that purpose due to the prevailing of the political
thoughts of Californian government over the scientific evidence that he presented to politicians.

Something similar happens in Spain. Political decisions prevail over scientific evidence, and recom-
mendations result in defective linguistic educational programs which, although not always, benefit the
status of Spanish language over that of regional languages, thus aggravating the problem of diglossia
that may eventually lead the regional language to becoming a mere folkloric aspect of a region due to
lack of use by the linguistic community.

3.3. Knowledge and use of the main techniques for the interpretation
of linguistic and literary texts
3.3.1. Introduction

When reading a text, the reader does a dual task: one part of it helps them improve their linguistic
competence and the other one enriches and widens their knowledge of the world. Reading is a
popular hobby which everyone can use to learn a language. One can read books, newspapers, adverts,
messages in posters, or letters. By simply choosing one piece of these types of text, all language
skills, as well as many of the language areas (i.e. vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, etc.) can be
taught. A text can be read, of course, but also heard, said or written. So, linguistic and literary texts
provide teachers with a very powerful tool for the task of teaching a second language.

Several years ago, language was taught at university through subjects like ‘English Language and its
Literature’, in which language skills were combined with the cultural, social and historical background
of some important periods of the country whose language was studied. This supports the idea that
one cannot carry out the teaching of a language without the use of its literature. Even though the use
of literature in language teaching is a worthy concern (Sage, 1987:1), the text selected and the timing
for its analysis is an important issue to be handled by the teacher.

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Complementary training for foreign languaje discipline

3.3.2. Text selection

There are two main aspects to bear in mind in the selection of a text. One aspect is purely literary and
the other is the possibility of using the text as a tool to teach linguistic skills and at the same time
improve literary competence. Spanish schools tend to choose at least one reading resource per year
in Compulsory Secondary Education and Baccalaureate. The text chosen varies according to students’
age, interests, linguistic skills, syllabus, availability in bookshops or on the internet and teacher’s
own qualifications. The more motivated students are towards the task to do with the text, the better
results teachers will obtain.

a. Reading books with the aim of improving literary competence

As it was said before, it is teachers that choose the texts that are included in the syllabus design
of every school year. The members of the English department vote for the different titles chosen.
A book can be read in the classroom, at home, or combining both. The timing and sequencing must
also be taken into account. The best moment is usually before some holiday period, like Christmas
or Easter, so that students are not too busy with homework or exams of other subjects.

Teachers must calculate the time allotted for the tasks to carry out along with the reading of
the book, for which they must take into account its length and level of difficulty. These can be
pre-reading tasks, while-reading tasks (to check comprehension) and post-reading tasks. Many
reading books include activities. The feedback for the evaluation of this reading task can be
obtained from an exam and a project or presentation. When introducing the reading task, and
as a pre-reading activity, the foreign language teacher must enhance the learners’ linguistic
background in order to prepare them to handle the linguistic and sociocultural points that they
will encounter when interpreting the texts. At this point, Bousbai (2014) states the following
questions quoted from Lazar (2000):

1. Are the students sufficiently familiar with the usual norms of language use in a given text?

2. How much of the language in the text will students be able to infer?

3. Will students find it useful and enjoyable to study the text?

4. Will they feel demotivated by the difficulties of the language?

5. Will students be motivated by other factors to study the text (e.g. tapes, films, songs, events,
pictures…)?

6. Is the text too specialized in its language to be relevant to the type of language the lear-
ners require?

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Unit 3. English as a subject

Another question that the teacher must bear in mind is not only the students’ linguistic compe-
tence in L2, but also their literary competence in L1. Learners with a lack of linguistic compe-
tence can face the task of reading in a foreign language with enough motivation if they have
a good command of literary competence in their mother tongue. Teachers must encourage
students to keep on reading without the need of translating and understanding every single
word or sentence of a text. If students are equipped with the necessary literary knowledge,
they will interact with the text aesthetically and even critically and not only linguistically.
Readers will interpret texts in the light of their own world view and cultural experience. This
fact is a good starting point to create debates or follow-up activities for the treatment of any
linguistic skill: reading, speaking, listening or writing. At the same time, the corresponding
subject matter of the curriculum will be dealt with from the social competence point of view.

b. Use of shorter texts not only as a reading activity, but also for listening, writing or speaking

The same piece of text can be used in different classes of the same year but also for lower
or higher levels. The same text can be listened to or read according to the design of the
pre-reading, while-reading and post-reading activities. Furthermore, depending on the
students’ level of linguistic competence, activities with graded difficulty can also be handed in.

Examples of listening tasks:

A wide variety of texts for listening tasks can be found on internet: videos, news, documenta-
ries with or without subtitles, songs, radio programmes, airport announcements, course book
listening exercises, films, real life conversation recordings, etc.

If the answer to a comprehension question is exactly stated in the text:

– Fill in the blanks with missing words.

– Answer questions with specific words.

If the answer is paraphrased in the text:

– Deduce the answer to a question or fill in the gaps.

– Tick the topics mentioned out of a series of sentences.

– Order some sentences chronologically according to the listening script.

– Suggest the pronunciation of the answer (for unknown vocabulary or proper names).

A significant debate comes up when several linguistic skills take part in the same exercise. When
teachers want students to do a listening skill practise, they should only evaluate the students’ feed-
back which comes from the listening itself. If the feedback is wrong in the written skill, for example in
the spelling of some words, it is not the moment of correcting it and marking and scoring that answer as
wrong. Otherwise, the students will be discouraged from trying to do their best in a listening exercise.

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The same philosophy should be applied in similar situations when a student has not understood the
instructions for a writing activity. The task of reading the instructions’ statement is already a reading
activity, and therefore, if the result of the writing does not correspond with the objective of the task
demanded, teachers should not give students a bad mark in writing. If the teacher wants to mark a
writing activity, they should make sure that students have understood the instructions. The same
applies when asking students to do a speaking activity; if oral or written instructions are not under-
stood, the speaking activity will not be marked according to the real linguistic competence and skills.

Some examples of written tasks that follow a reading or listening activity of a text are, according to
Murat (2005), summarising, paraphrasing, describing, adapting (changing narration into dialogue and
vice versa), writing responses to questions (making sure questions are understood), in-class essays,
take-home compositions, changing the end of the text, writing letters to the characters.

Most writings that students can produce are inspired by the reading or listening of short stories,
plays, novels and even poetry. Some examples of speaking tasks are role-playing, oral reading, drama-
tizations, improvisations, pantomiming, re-enactment, discussions, group activities, etc.

In order to choose a piece of a literary text, it is convenient to follow a check-list. The following is
based on the ideas suggested by Bousbai (2014):

• Type of course: students’ level/class, reasons for learning English, kind of English (speciality),
load (length of course), number of students, technological equipment availability.

• Type of student: age and intellectual growth, interests and hobbies, linguistic proficiency, cultu-
ral background, literary competence.

• Features of text: availability, length, exploitation, relevance with the English syllabus, cross-cu-
rricular contents.

In this classification, topic is not mentioned. McCarthy (1991) writes about what a topic is. We must
understand its meaning in order to choose a text which we think might be more or less student-
friendly. He suggests three aspects to bear in mind: the pragmatic view, the semantic field and the
functionality of a text.

Pragmatically, a text can be about how to buy online; according to the semantic field, the topic would
be buying the specific product, whatever it is; and functionally, the topic could be asking for help or
convincing customers.

So, literature contributes in full to the teaching of a foreign language and also boosts literary and
social competences, apart from reading skills, which is the most obvious aspect, as well as listening,
speaking and writing skills.

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Unit 3. English as a subject

3.4. English from the perspective offered by the reading of well-

known books, by audio-visual aids, etc.
3.4.1. Introduction

When we read a novel, essay, guide book or text of any other kind, we get not only a visual image of our
interpretation of the contents, but also, in an unconscious way, pieces of information that can poten-
tially be used at any time. Our brains consider that information as linguistic input which improves and
restructures our language rules. Readers get not only meaning, but also form, grammar structures,
language registers (formal, informal, slang), etc. Every character of a novel offers a wide range of real
life situations in which readers can identify their own experiences. They might agree or disagree, but
reading will build up a cultural competence and a critical sense. Readers question, interpret, connect,
explore, and predict according to their life schemes. Reading widens horizons. It is a form of travelling
and meeting new people in the past, present and future, without moving.

3.4.2. The use of well-known books

Best-sellers are easy to be reached by a large number of people; the more copies sold, the more they
are shared and the more they are read. Marketing plays an important role here. If something with a
particular layout sells fast, why not applying it to something else? Afterwards we get the film version,
which can be identical, worse or better. Who plays the role of the main character that readers have
created in their minds when reading the novel? The most famous actor or actress of the moment does.
One way of getting inside the real character is watching the film in its original version. Listening to
voices in English gets the audience closer to the characters. Many countries all over the world broad-
cast films systematically in the original version; some for economic reasons: no investment is needed
to make the film dubbing; and some to help citizens learn a foreign language.

Nowadays, all television sets have a device which allows those viewers who are interested in learning
a foreign language to watch films, documentaries, sitcoms or videos in their original version (not to
mention DVD and Blu-ray systems). But there are many more ways to do so: through streaming on
internet websites, library borrowing, buying from newsagents or bookshops, etc. While listening to
the dialogues, one can read them on the screen in English too. This is a good strategy that helps lower

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Complementary training for foreign languaje discipline

level students to improve their listening skills and makes it easier to follow the plot in contexts where
English registers are more complex or colloquial or where English is uttered very fast.

When the film industry makes a film version of a book, readers become curious to compare what they
have visualized while reading the book and what they will watch in the film. A good tool to encourage
students to read a book is the reward of watching the film afterwards. Some films, based on best-
sellers, can be easily tracked on the internet. Here we suggest some authors whose novels have been
the inspiration for famous films.

British authors: William Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, Ian Fleming, J. K. Rowling, Doris
Lessing, Roald Dahl.

North American authors: Herman Melville, Tennessee Williams, Scott Fitzgerald, Truman Capote,
John Grisham.

Irish authors: Marian Keyes, Bram Stoker, Oscar Wilde.

3.4.3. Audio-visual aids

A few years ago, teachers tended to focus on listening activities which involved using a CD player
or playing an audio on the internet, which provides students with a wide range of voice recordings, or
used their own voice output. However, in most real life situations, we listen to somebody and watch
that person speaking. Audio-visual aids allow teachers to listen to songs and watch their corresponding
video clips at the same time, watch films with or without subtitles in class, read passages of novels while
listening to them, etc. This way, there are more strategies available for listeners to understand what is
being said. By watching the person who speaks, we get more information from the look on their faces,
their gestures, or how their lips move. Listening exams should also include the comprehension of videos,
not only isolated conversations without images, which is, regrettably, a widespread practice.

3.4.4. ICT in English teaching

The term ICT stands for ‘Information and Communication Technology’, which slowly but steadily has
become an extremely useful element to increase motivation in lessons, as it directs learning in a more
meaningful path.

Velasco, Rodríguez and Martínez (2012) claim that meaningful learning is important in education because
it is the human mechanism by excellence which is used to acquire and store the vast amount of ideas
and information represented in any field of knowledge. This facilitates students’ interest and motivation
throughout the school process, including the acquisition of a second language, as it leads them to find
the relationship between new words of L2 and those already established in their mother tongue.

According to García-Martín and Cantón-Mayo (2019), making students seek information by them-
selves using the ICT resources they have at hand involves selecting the right resource, organising
and integrating the information obtained. This enriches the learning process much more than simply
following a textbook or listening to a teacher’s explanation. Furthermore, participation in chats or
forums improves communication and interaction skills.

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Unit 3. English as a subject

They supported this statement on various studies from Gil (2012) and Torres-Díaz et al. (2016), the
results of which led them to the conclusion that both computer use and the type of activity engaged in
it contribute significantly to explain not only the academic performance in young people, but also the
greater academic success in higher education achieved by those who make balanced use of technolo-
gies, because of the motivating factor involved.

The use of ICT in the classroom is essential because it allows both students and teachers to enhance
knowledge, change environment, socialize, share and resolve communication situations with class-
mates. These tools are available and accessible for a good teaching-learning process; however, it must
be taken into account that all tools must be monitored and supervised by the teacher so that they do
not lose their purpose.

Below there is a list of useful tools that can be used in English lessons, hence enhancing students’
motivation and meaningful learning (click on them to open the link):

• Quizziz (Creating quiz games students can play at home)

• Kahoot (Creating quiz games students can play alone or in teams)

• Plickers (Creating quiz games students can play alone or in teams)

• ClassCraft (Motivation, behaviour control and teamwork)

• ClassDojo (Motivation, behaviour control and teamwork)

• EdPuzzle (Add questions to interesting videos from YouTube)

• Genia.ly (Create eye-catching presentations or useful infographics)

• Match The Memory (Create flashcard memory games)

3.4.5. Other ways to learn English as a Foreign Language

Traditionally, native teachers start their professional career looking for a job in the country of the
foreign language they are learning, so as to be in contact with its culture and accents. Two of the jobs
which are most applied for are those of native teacher or teacher assistant in private or state schools.
English teachers teach Spanish in English speaking countries. The Spanish government promotes the
exchange of teachers between countries through programmes like Comenius, Leonardo, or Erasmus.
The Ministry of Education publishes a large number of scholarships and programmes every year;
some vacancies are not covered because not many people are familiar with them. Another option for
schools is to apply for a native English Language Assistant, who can contribute to the tasks of many
real oral activities.

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Complementary training for foreign languaje discipline

It is also very motivating for students to offer them a field trip to England or to an English speaking
country such as Malta or Ireland at the end of the school year. One week is enough to put what they
have studied in class into practice. Students can visit cultural sites in the morning and stay with native
host families in the evenings. To get further involved, there are exchange programs with schools in
English speaking countries. Students are accommodated by host families and attend classes as if
they were English. However, this requires a lot of red tape and time, as well as teachers who are willing
and available to accompany these students abroad.

3.5. Active learning activities

“Students must do more than just listen: they must read, write, discuss, or be engaged in solving prob-
lems. Most important, to be actively involved, students must engage in such higher-order thinking
tasks as analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. Within this context, it is proposed that strategies
promoting active learning be defined as instructional activities involving students in doing things and
thinking about what they are doing” (Bonwell and Eison, 1991).

Using active learning techniques in lessons is vital, as they have a powerful impact upon the students’
learning process. According to Bonwell and Eison (1991), several studies have shown that students
prefer strategies promoting active learning as opposed to traditional lectures and resources.

This approach offers endless opportunities to engage learners in the process and motivate them as
they acquire L2. Some options of cooperative and task-based learning to include in lessons are:

Scripted cooperation

This cooperative learning approach seeks the improvement of comprehensive reading. Students work
in pairs following this sequence:

• Both partners read the first section of the text.

• Student A repeats the information without looking at the text.

• Student B gives feedback without looking at the text.

• Both work with the information.

• Both read the second section of the text.

• The two swap roles for the second section.

• They go on until they finish reading the text and complete the activities assigned together.

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Unit 3. English as a subject

Wise council

Very useful when it comes to introducing new contents, it is done in teams; the teacher must choose
‘four wise men/women’ to form a ‘council’, and every team must choose a spokesperson:

• A few days in advance, the teacher chooses four students in the class to master a certain aspect
of the new topic, skill or procedure. These become ‘wise’ or ‘experts’ in something. The teacher
asks them to prepare well, since they must teach their classmates what they know.

• In the session, the spokesperson of each team goes to one of the ‘four wise men/women’ to ex-
plain their theme, skill or procedure.

• The spokesperson returns to their team to explain what they have learned to the rest of their
teammates.

Three-minute stop

If teachers seek to promote the students’ understanding of their explanations while getting feedback
on how well they are following the lesson, this technique is very useful:

• During a presentation, the teacher introduces small three-minute stops, in which groups try to
verbally summarize the contents explained so far and write two questions about that part of
the lesson.

• After three minutes, each team raises one of its questions to the rest of the groups. If one ques-
tion (or a very similar one) has already been raised by another team, they must ask the other
question.

• When all the questions have been raised, the teacher continues the explanation until he makes a
new three-minute stop.

This method gives teachers the chance to gamify a traditional lecture by creating a scoreboard where
every team gets a point whenever one or both of their questions are expressed correctly.

Numbered heads together

This technique is useful to complete activities or tasks activating previous knowledge, involving every
member of the team to understand the work done:

• The students form groups of four members who are numbered from 1 to 4.

• The teacher asks a question or assigns an activity.

• Students think of the answer individually.

• They carry out a sharing within their group ‘putting their heads together’.

• After a few minutes, the teacher chooses one of the numbers and the students that have it give
their team’s answer.

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Complementary training for foreign languaje discipline

One for all

Just as ‘numbered heads together’, this approach allows students to complete activities and get a
better understanding of lessons thanks to their teammates:

• The teacher assigns the students a series of exercises.

• The students form small groups.

• The groups work on the first exercise by agreeing on the right answer and making sure that
every member understands how to do it. The teacher establishes the following rule: “We will not
move on to the next exercise until we have all understood how to perform the previous one”.

• Once the time is up, the teacher randomly asks for a team member’s notebook, corrects it and
asks them to explain the process followed in each exercise.

• The reward or grade obtained by that student will be shared by the rest of the team.

Flipped classroom

Flipped classroom is a blended learning teaching model in which students need to get acquainted
with some theory in advance, and so they watch a video or study new vocabulary on their own. But
it is not only about creating a video lecture and asking students to study some grammar points; this
method gives teachers the possibility to focus more on production, using new language structures
and engaging students in the content.

Escape room for ESL

An escape room is a physical adventure game, inspired by ‘escape the room’ videogames, in which
players solve a series of puzzles using strategy, clues and hints to complete the goal. The idea is to
get students to work through a number of puzzles using their language skills, logic, memory and team-
work, while putting into play both cooperative and gamification approaches to learning. For instance,
there could be an escape room at the end of every trimester that encompassed all students had
learnt, with activities such as:

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Unit 3. English as a subject

• Reading about the story behind the escape room theme, in order to answer some questions that
will allow students to move on in the game.

• Teamwork, such as solving a labyrinth in pairs, communicating only in English.

• Listening to the clues hidden in the room.

• Word puzzles and riddles to ‘open doors’ or find new clues.

Teachers may use a wide variety of handouts to make sure students are reaching the objectives in
the syllabus. The following figures are templates for different activities; teachers can also impro-
vise with them.

Figure A

Every task design should be adapted to each class and students’ needs. For that purpose, teachers
should have a kind of checklist with the following headings:

ACTIVITY TITLE
Target students (age and level)
Language point focus

Peripheral language

Social (…) competence

Cross-curricular connections
Type of activity (communicative,
reading...)
Timing (1st term, next week...)

Figure B

BINGO CARD TEMPLATE

It can be drawn on a blackboard or projected with a computer for students to copy.

This allows both an easy and a difficult elaboration. Faster learners can fill in the nine boxes and
slower ones only four, five or six.

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Complementary training for foreign languaje discipline

Figure C

Chart to classify warm-up activities, time fillers, fast finisher activities, etc.

Activities can be classified according to the most predominant skill (reading, writing, listening or
speaking), or according to the realia used. Here we provide two classifications with different activi-
ties so as to have a wider range to choose from.

Materials Reading Writing Listening Speaking

Magazines, texts from
course books, news, Jigsaw reading Debating Story telling
photos, etc.
Tickets, leaflets, cards,
Gymkhana
travelling realia, etc.
Circle
Course books Blockbuster Telephone game
pronunciation
Word hunt,
listing the
Paper (or similar) to
vocabulary of
write on
the unit in a
specific order
Running
Song lyrics
dictation
Word match
Flashcards between
students
In pairs,
simultaneous
Film photos, assorted
reporting.
images, etc.
Guided
prediction

This is a list of example activities which teachers usually create, but it is a good idea to have students
prepare them. One group of students prepares activities and another solves them. They can be done
on traditional or laminated paper (with erasable markers, they can be used over and over), in the class-
room or at home.

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Unit 3. English as a subject

Figure D

For example, from “Can I open the door?” = CIOTD? One student creates one
Blockbuster and has to solve every other students’.//Another version: teacher writes
suggestions on blackboard on a bingo card or 3 in a row from a bigger card.
Students are standing in the classroom forming one inner and one outer
circle. A student chooses one word or phrase which is particularly difficult to
Circle pronunciation pronounce from the unit that has just been studied and says it to the class-
mate in front of them. Then the student moves one place and repeats the
word and the classmate facing them has to repeat it.
Choose the best headline, piece of news or punchline in the magazines used
Debating
for the activity. Say why.
Stick the realia (bus cards, tickets, film reviews, etc.) around the class and
Gymkhana hand out a questionnaire whose answers can be found in the realia. A good
activity to do before break time.
Each student reads a piece out of a text and then they have to ask questions
Jigsaw reading
to each other or in groups, to get the full version and put it in the correct order.
One member of a group goes to another and reads a piece of the lyrics of
a song, then goes back to their group and dictates to the writer as much
Running dictation
as they can remember, but cannot come back to look again straight away.
Another member continues from the point where the previous one stopped.
A student is watching a video and describing it. There is no sound on. Another
Simultaneous
student, who is facing back all the time, asks questions and imagines or
reporting
predicts what is going to happen next.
Story telling Choose 6 photos and find a connection to create a story.
This is a memory game. Each student is given a piece of paper with a word
Student-word match written on it. They all say their word aloud and everybody else has to
remember it.
A student chooses a sentence and whispers it to another. The action is
Telephone game
repeated in chains of 4 students. The last one writes the sentence down.
First, students write a list of words in alphabetical order from the units they
Word hunt have studied. Afterwards, students can find a definition and play Pasapa-
labra.

3.6. Teaching students with special needs

Teachers occasionally encounter students with special needs such as learning differences, mental
health issues, specific disabilities (physical or developmental), and giftedness. It is paramount to
know how to include these students in the rhythm of the session with normality, thus avoiding exclu-
sion or frustration.

We are going to focus on two specific disabilities that affect our subject particularly, which are vision
and hearing impairment. Following the work of Cumellas, Riera et al. (2006), we establish the following
guidelines for each case:

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Complementary training for foreign languaje discipline

Vision

Visual impairment or loss normally implies partial visual deficit (10 % or more), which is different
from being blind. The following guidelines must be taken into account when planning lessons, so as to
ensure that classes are carried out normally:

• Set achievable objectives for students, so as to guarantee their success. This will provide secu-
rity and increase their motivation towards the subject and the development of L2.

• The teacher should help the student in the execution of the desired movements, or seek help
from other classmates through cooperative work. This type of intervention must be limited by
risk of the student adopting a passive attitude, unfavourable for learning.

• The student should be placed as close to the teacher as possible.

• Use clear spatial indications in verbal instructions (on your right, in front, on the opposite wall,
two steps from you, etc.) that serve as a reference to move safely. Avoid using terms like ‘there’
while pointing with one finger, as the student will not capture the indication well.

• Avoid environmental noise, since the student can become disoriented.

• The classroom should be well lit, with contrasting colours and, if possible, with objects that ser-
ve the student as a reference to move autonomously through the room.

• Keep a balance between demanding and smooth activities.

• Use specific and/or adapted materials. For example, flashcards should always have colour and
contrast and words should be written in Braille.

• Always carry out sessions in the same place. If the space is changed, make sure either the tea-
cher or a classmate helps the student by acting as a ‘guide’.

• Do not leave obstacles and make sure the floor is clear to walk safely, taking into account that
high obstacles may not be detected.

Hearing

Hearing impairment or loss normally implies a certain grade of hearing loss that can be slight (26 to
40 dB), moderate (41 to 60 dB) or severe (61 to 80 dB). The following guidelines must be taken into
account when planning lessons, so as to ensure that classes are carried out normally:

• Set achievable objectives for students, so as to guarantee their success. This will provide secu-
rity and increase their motivation towards the subject and the development of L2.

• Draw their attention using a specific signal, agreed with the student, when addressing the class
or the pupil with hearing loss.

• The student must have good visibility of the teacher’s face when they speak so as to see the
movement of their lips. It is not advisable to move around, cover one’s face, etc.

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Unit 3. English as a subject

• Speak clearly, slowly, to their face, vocalizing each word and trying to be expressive. Use correct
language with short, simple sentences.

• Always check the understanding of what has been said.

• Use other resources that help in understanding: drawings, images, touch, etc.

• The student should always sit or stand with their back to the light so as not to be dazzled and
see the teacher well.

• Control the sound environment. The level should not be too high: if the student uses hearing
aids, sound will be amplified.

• Provide the student with prior information on the activity that will take place, through writing or
orally.

• Give the student any change of rules or new cooperative learning method in writing, to ensure
they understand the activity.

• Avoid using acoustic signals. Instead, use visual signals to communicate with them when possible.

Legislative Annex

The detail of the educational legislation currently in force, including the corresponding links to the
Official State Gazette (BOE), can be consulted in the document "Legislative Annex". It also presents,
succinctly, the subjects related to the area that are present in the current official curricula.

54
Glossary

Aphasia
According to Oxford Living Dictionaries, aphasia is the “Inability (or impaired ability) to understand or
produce speech, as a result of brain damage”. This term comes from old Greek and it literally means
‘speechless’, although aphasia does not always imply the total loss or absence of the ability to speak.
Some years ago, this could only be studied through autopsies due to the fact that neuroscientists did
not have the non-invasive techniques used nowadays.

Background knowledge
It refers to the education and experience of a certain person which influences their way of facing
problems, such as the handicap of teaching an ESP class.

Behaviourist
It refers to a thing or person that is in the scope of ‘behaviourism’. ‘Behaviourism’: psychological theory
consisting on the belief that human behaviour is based on a stimulus-response basis. This approach
to psychological theory was developed by B. F. Skinner through his studies on operant conductivism,
which showed that behaviour can be changed through positive and negative feedback.

Criticism
Since humans started to do science, its theories have evolved. New theories are usually set by theo-
rists that find the previous theories incorrect in one sense or another. The process of finding out what
is incorrect and proving new theories to be more complete or correct is called criticism. Thus, cogniti-
vism, for example, emerged as a criticism to behaviourism.

Competence
Generally speaking, it is the ability or capacity of a person to perform some action in a correct way. As
regards language, linguistic competence is referred to as the internal knowledge needed to produce
language in a correct way. It should not be confused with ‘performance’, which is the use of language
made by a speaker, including mistakes, hesitations, etc.

Curriculum
Also known as syllabus, it refers to all the criteria, objectives and learning tasks which the design
of a lesson has to follow. According to edglossary.org, it includes the learning standards which the
students are expected to meet, the units and lessons the teachers teach, the assignments and
projects given to students, and the books, materials and videos used in the course.

55
Glossary

Formality
According to Oxford Living Dictionaries, it is “the rigid observance of convention or etiquette”, which
could be transferred in linguistic terms as the rigid observance of convention or etiquette of the
speech. Different settings determine how “rigid” this observance must be, from, for example, an inter-
view with King Felipe VI, to a meeting with one’s friends to drink some pints of beer.

Genre
Pronounced /ˈ(d) ʒɒnrə/, this term comes from the French language and means literally ‘kind’. In
linguistics, it refers to the different kinds of writing styles. Some examples of linguistic genres are
formal letters, newspapers, restaurant menus, etc.

It is also used in literature to define the different kinds of styles such as comedy, fiction, drama, tragi-
comedy, etc.

Knowledge society
Contemporary society has been known as the ‘information society’ due to the people’s capacity of
sharing information. Nowadays this term has changed to ‘knowledge society’, which was defined by
the UNESCO (2005) and refers to another characteristic which is the existence of a huge quantity of
knowledge available.

Lingua franca
According to Oxford Living Dictionaries, a lingua franca is “A language that is adopted as a common
language between speakers whose native languages are different”. Thus, nowadays the lingua franca
in the world, from the cultural, political and scientific point of view, is English, as it is used by people
from many different places with different mother tongues to communicate among them. It has not
always been English: in old times it was Greek and Latin; many centuries later, it was French. The term
comes from Italian and literally means ‘Frankish tongue’.

Literary competence
It was highly valued when teaching methods emerged, afterwards it was forgotten, and nowadays it
has regained its deserved importance.

Multiple intelligence
According to the Wikipedia, “The theory of multiple intelligences differentiates intelligence into
specific ‘modalities’, rather than seeing intelligence as dominated by a single general ability. Howard
Gardner proposed this model in his 1983 book Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences.
According to Gardner, any intelligence must fulfil eight criteria: musical-rhythmic, visual-spatial,
verbal-linguistic, logical-mathematical, bodily-kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and natura-
listic. He later suggested that existential and moral intelligence may also be worthy of inclusion”.

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Complementary training for foreign language discipline

Propaganda
It is defined by the Oxford Living Dictionaries as the “information, especially of a biased or mislea-
ding nature, used to promote a political cause or point of view”. A lot of means have been used to
spread the different countries’ propaganda, but nowadays the most powerful ones are television,
cinema and the internet.

Realia
Any authentic material used in the classroom setting.

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Links of interest

The following websites will help teachers create their own materials for their classes.

Find a video about your topic at

http://www.vidipedia.org/ (For Secondary Education only).

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/categories/arts/featured (Secondary Education).

Find a song at
Tip: It is better to find a video clip and then find the lyrics by writing the title of the song and the word
‘lyrics’ in Google.

http://havefunteaching.com/songs/science-songs/

Find an IWB Lesson-PPT at

Tip: Select Canada as country as their material is closer to CLIL.

http://exchange.smarttech.com

Find online games at

Tip: Select subject first, then age and then games. You can also use the search box and write topic and
game.

http://www.whyfiles.org/

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize

http://classroom.jc-schools.net/sci-units/

http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/learn.jsp

Find visual material at

Tip: Find images for key vocabulary, processes, etc.

http://visual.merriam-webster.com/science.php

https://infovisual.info/en

59
Links of interest

Other websites
• http://www.isabelperez.com (This website offers all kinds of material a teacher may need).

• www.onestopenglish.com (Solutions for English teaching. By Macmillan Publishers. With photo-

copiable material).

• http://teflgames.com/ (Find reading, listening, writing and speaking activities and games).

• www.puzzlemaker.com (Create your own criss-cross, word search, puzzles, etc.).

• https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/books-life/6166774/25-best-book-to-film-adap-
tations.html (25 book based films).

60
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Autor/a
Noelia Miravet Calpe

Reservados todos los derechos©

Universidad Internacional de Valencia - 2023