LACLIL > Vol 10, No 2 (2017)http://hdl.handle.net/10818/332572024-03-28T13:21:44Z2024-03-28T13:21:44ZMeasuring the Knowledge Increase of Eight Grade Students in a Bilingual Biology UnitOhlberger, StephanieWegner, Claashttp://hdl.handle.net/10818/332622022-06-07T17:33:18Z2017-01-01T00:00:00ZMeasuring the Knowledge Increase of Eight Grade Students in a Bilingual Biology Unit; Midiendo el incremento del aprendizaje de estudiantes de octavo grado en una unidad de biología bilingüe
Ohlberger, Stephanie; Wegner, Claas
In recent years, the issue of using bilingual education has come to the public’s attention. A widespread belief is that students in bilingual classes achieve a higher competence in the language (Bredenbröker, 2000), but that they lag behind in subject-specific knowledge when compared to fellow students in traditional (i.e. monolingual) classroom settings (Hajer, 2000; Marsh, Hau, & Kong, 2000).
Nevertheless, by evaluating knowledge gain in a short teaching unit, previous studies have shown that bilingual students rarely experience drawbacks (Osterhage, 2007; Zydatiß, 2007; Koch & Bünder, 2008). Although there are a variety of different opinions, the present study aims at detecting how subject-specific knowledge is influenced by bilingual biology lessons. The study was conducted at a grammar school in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, with 13 and 14 year old students. To assess differences in students’ knowledge gain, test and control groups were used, in which students were taught 12 identical biology lessons in a bilingual and a traditional classroom. The unit consisted of basic characteristics seen in (social) insects. Both classes took a knowledge test before and after the unit. We hypothesised that there would be a higher increase in knowledge for the bilingual class compared to the monolingual class. Results suggested a slightly higher knowledge gain in bilingual students, however no significant differences were revealed.
28 Páginas
2017-01-01T00:00:00ZUsing the Process-Genre Approach to Improve Fourth-Grade EFL Learners’ Paragraph WritingArteaga Lara, Héctor Mauriciohttp://hdl.handle.net/10818/332612022-06-07T17:33:19Z2017-01-01T00:00:00ZUsing the Process-Genre Approach to Improve Fourth-Grade EFL Learners’ Paragraph Writing; Usando el enfoque de proceso-género para mejorar la escritura de párrafos de los estudiantes de EFL de cuarto grado
Arteaga Lara, Héctor Mauricio
Writing plays a significant role in language learning. Previous research has reported on the effectiveness of several approaches to develop writing skills to enhance writing competence, but little attention has been given to paragraph writing of elementary students. The present qualitative action research study used artefacts, teacher’s journal, learner’s journals, and a focus group interview to collect data on the way the process-genre approach assisted fourth-grade EFL learners to write well-structured narrative paragraphs. Data were analyzed using the grounded theory approach showing that most of the participants managed to write well-structured paragraphs in which they developed only one idea and supported it without deviating from the subject. Learners also became aware of the role of audience and the features of the narrative writing genre. The findings of the study lend support to the notion that the process-genre approach is an effective way for young learners to achieve the expected goal; hence, it could be more widely adopted in writing courses at the elementary school level.
28 Páginas
2017-01-01T00:00:00ZChanging the Course: Interpreting and Elaborating Scientific Texts Aided by ICTCastillo, Rigobertohttp://hdl.handle.net/10818/332602022-06-07T17:33:17Z2017-01-01T00:00:00ZChanging the Course: Interpreting and Elaborating Scientific Texts Aided by ICT; Cambio de curso: interpretación y elaboración de textos científicos con la ayuda de TIC
Castillo, Rigoberto
Changes to the pedagogy of foreign languages (FL) are taking place in response to Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) available for learning. These changes provide instructors with opportunities to become meaning facilitators and designers. This article presents the rationale behind the pedagogy for a university course to enhance FL for academic purposes. The paper refers to three editions of a course with around 15 participants each, native speakers of Spanish who had an A2 to B1- English proficiency level in the scale of the Common European Framework of Reference. They came equipped with disciplinary knowledge in education and needed to build the state of the art of their research proposals. They had to submit an account of up-to-date literature and of research reports appearing in books, journals and repositories. The course, aided by ICT, helped them search, find, understand and integrate to their projects valuable literature available in English and in Romance languages. Participants drafted in English their research interest and learned to prepare an oral presentation. The article puts forward moving away from a focus on language to a focus on problem solving, and presents some of the strategies, procedures and ICT support that served the participants’ needs.
26 Páginas
2017-01-01T00:00:00ZPeer-Tutoring to Foster Spoken Fluency in Computer-Mediated TasksMarenco Dominguez, Jose Miguelhttp://hdl.handle.net/10818/332592022-06-07T17:33:19Z2017-01-01T00:00:00ZPeer-Tutoring to Foster Spoken Fluency in Computer-Mediated Tasks; La tutoría entre pares para fomentar la fluidez oral en tareas mediadas por computador
Marenco Dominguez, Jose Miguel
Twelve 14-to-15-year-old students participated in this investigation. The participants faced difficulties to speak fluently in L2 and they evinced different levels of proficiency, as most of them ranked A1 or less and others A2. Therefore, a solution had to be found to provide students with an additional space to interact and develop their English language skills. Differences among learners were the starting point of this research and, consequently, peer tutoring was the strategy proposed. The benefits from collaborating in small groups are supported by previous studies. Tutors learned by teaching while tutees received more time for individualized instructions. Along with peer tutoring, oral tasks and computer-mediated instructions ornamented this intervention. Qualitative data from learning logs, video recordings, rubric for assessing spoken fluency and a final semi-structured interview pointed to the effectiveness of this inquiry. The results suggest that learners increased self-confidence, enhanced spoken fluency, improved the outcomes of tasks. Some of these results are also found in similar local and international investigations. What this paper adds is the use of computers as an additional tool for student-student interaction in distance, as well as the improvement of young learners’ spoken fluency in high school level.
26 Páginas
2017-01-01T00:00:00Z