TEMA 21.- LA PROGRAMACIÓN DEL ÁREA DE LENGUAS EXTRANJERAS: UNIDADES DE PROGRAMACIÓN. CRITERIOS PARA LA SECUENCIACIÓN Y TEMPORALIZACIÓN DE CONTENIDOS Y OBJETIVOS. SELECCIÓN DE LA METODOLOGÍA A EMPLEAR EN LAS ACTIVIDADES DE APRENDIZAJE Y DE EVALUACIÓN

1. INTRODUCCIÓN
1.1. EL PROYECTO CURRICULAR DE CENTRO 2
1.2 EL PROYECTO CURRICULAR DE ETAPA Y DE CICLO. 3

2. LA PROGRAMACIÓN DEL ÁREA DE LENGUAS EXTRANJERAS: UNIDADES DE PROGRAMACIÓN. 3
2.1. La programación anual 3
2.2 La programación de unidades didácticas. 4
2.3 La programación de las sesiones de clase. 6

3 CRITERIOS PARA LA SECUENCIACIÓN Y TEMPORALIZACIÓN DE CONTENIDOS Y OBJETIVOS 9
3.1 Los objetivos 9
3.2 Los contenidos 12

4. SELECCIÓN DE LA METODOLOGÍA A EMPLEAR EN LAS ACTIVIDADES DE APRENDIZAJE Y DE EVALUACIÓN 18

5. RELACIÓN DEL TEMA CON LOS DISEÑOS CURRICULARES DE LA JUNTA DE ANDALUCÍA 24

6. PROPUESTA DIDÁCTICA 25

7. BIBLIOGRAFÍA 37

8. ANEXOS 39

1. INTRODUCCIÓN
El artículo 13 del Decreto de Educación Primaria establece que "los profesores programarán su actividad docente de acuerdo con el currículum de la Educación Primaria y en consonancia con los respectivos proyectos curriculares de etapa y ciclo". Por "currículum de la Educación Primaria" se entiende el conjunto de objetivos, contenidos, orientaciones metodológicas y criterios de evaluación que regulan la práctica docente en dicha etapa. Se encuentra en los Anexos del citado Decreto. "Los proyectos curriculares de etapa y ciclo" están incluidos en el Proyecto Curricular de Centro y éste, a su vez, en el Proyecto de Centro.
"El Proyecto de Centro es el instrumento para la planificación que enumera y define las notas de identidad del centro, establece el marco de referencia global y los planteamientos educativos de carácter general que definen y distinguen al centro, formula las finalidades educativas que pretende conseguir, adapta el currículo establecido en propuestas globales de intervención didáctica, adecuadas a su contexto específico, y expresa la estructura organizativa del centro. Su finalidad es dotar de coherencia y personalidad propia a los centros." (BOJA de 25/6/1992, punto III, 2 de 23 de julio de 1992).
El Proyecto de Centro debe ser una exposición clara, concisa y breve de las intenciones educativas, estructuras, reglamentos y diseño curricular de una comunidad escolar. Debe adaptar aquellos principios y estructuras educativas que se consideran adecuados para una comunidad. Debe ser un documento dinámico y modificable en función de la práctica educativa, a la cual debe servir como guía. Es necesario que sea una creación colectiva de la comunidad educativa, que expresa equilibradamente sus intenciones, sirviendo como marco de las actividades educativas y, por lo tanto, como facilitador del trabajo docente.
El Proyecto de Centro consta de varios instrumentos para la planificación a medio plazo, que garantizan la estabilidad de la acción educativa: finalidades educativas, proyecto curricular y reglamento de organización y funcionamiento. A corto plazo, en el transcurso de un curso escolar, incluye otros instrumentos que concretan la acción educativa: plan anual de centro y la memoria final.

EL PROYECTO CURRICULAR DE CENTRO
Por (PCC) se entiende un conjunto de actuaciones articuladas entre sí y compartidas por un equipo docente de un centro educativo mediante el cual se concretan y desarrollan las intenciones y prescripciones generales contenidas en los decretos de enseñanza para las distintas etapas educativas de Andalucía. Constituye el instrumento que hace explícito el proyecto educativo de un centro docente de una realidad concreta, dándole coherencia y continuidad (Guía para la elaboración del PCC. Consejería de Educación y Ciencia de la Junta de Andalucía).
Por lo tanto, el PCC tiene en cuenta no sólo los Decretos de Enseñanza para Andalucía, sino también las Finalidades Educativas del Centro, el otro elemento del Proyecto de Centro, que recoge el contexto al que hay que adaptar los citados Decretos: perfil del alumnado, características del Centro, la comunidad en la que se inserta.
El PCC no debe ser un mero trámite burocrático desconocido por la comunidad escolar, sino que debe ser un instrumento colectivo que exprese los criterios compartidos por el profesorado de un centro y favorezca la mejora de la calidad educativa del centro, mediante la reflexión y la renovación pedagógica de la práctica docente.
El Proyecto Curricular de Centro consta fundamentalmente de los Proyectos Curriculares de Etapa o Etapas y sus correspondientes ciclos, que contextualizan el Decreto de Enseñanza a la realidad del centro, sirviendo de guía para realizar la programación de aula. Sin embargo, el PCC quedaría incompleto si no contara con otros elementos o planes:
* Plan de Organización del PCC, que contextualiza la legislación general a las características de la comunidad escolar.
* Plan de Orientación para lograr una mayor adaptación de los procesos de enseñanza a las características del alumnado.
* Plan de Formación del Profesorado o relación organizada de necesidades de autoperfeccionamiento detectado por el profesorado a partir del análisis crítico sobre su práctica docente.
* Plan de Evaluación del PCC: análisis de los aspectos prioritarios para introducir cambios y ajustes en orden a conseguir un Proyecto de Centro más coherente.

EL PROYECTO CURRICULAR DE ETAPA Y DE CICLO
Uno de los elementos del PCC es el Proyecto Curricular de Etapa, que "constituye un conjunto de decisiones curriculares articuladas entre sí y compartidas por el equipo docente de una etapa educativa. Su objetivo principal es concretar las intenciones y prescripciones generales contenidas en los Anexos correspondientes a los diseños curriculares de cada una de las etapas educativa contenidos en los Decretos de Enseñanza de Andalucía y expresar, así, el Proyecto Curricular de un determinado equipo docente. La principal finalidad es dotar de coherencia la actuación didáctica en cada uno de los ciclos. Para elaborarlo hay que responder a una serie de preguntas:
*¿Qué enseñar? Concreción e interrelación de los objetivos generales de la etapa con los de cada área. Distribución por ciclos. Priorización y secuenciación de los objetivos.
*¿Cuándo enseñar? Orientaciones para la selección, organización y secuenciación de los contenidos de la etapa, distribuyéndolos por ciclos y cursos.
*¿Cómo enseñar? Concreción de los principios metodológicos de la etapa y de las áreas curriculares.
*¿Qué, cuándo, cómo evaluar? Concreción de los criterios de evaluación por ciclos y criterios de promoción.

2. LA PROGRAMACIÓN DEL ÁREA DE LENGUAS EXTRANJERAS: UNIDADES DE PROGRAMACIÓN
El Proyecto Curricular de Etapa es un instrumento de planificación a medio plazo, en el que está implicado el equipo docente. A corto plazo, el equipo docente realizará una programación de cada uno de los ciclos y cursos de la etapa en el área de Lengua Inglesa, que partirá del estudio de la situación en que se encuentra el alumnado, teniendo en cuenta que "la unidad de programación y evaluación de la Educación Primaria es el ciclo" (artículo 3,4 del Decreto).
Antes de continuar, es necesario decir que en el área anglosajona se hace una distinción entre syllabus design, que se refiere a los criterios para decidir la selección y secuenciación de los contenidos, y course design o language program design, que dice cómo se llevará a cabo el syllabus teniendo en cuenta los objetivos, la metodología, las actividades, los recursos y la evaluación.
PROGRAMACIÓN ANUAL
La programación anual de un curso, llamada "larga", constará de todos los elementos de la planificación:
1. Cabecera con el nombre del centro, del profesor responsable, el ciclo, área y curso académico.
2. Selección de los contenidos estructurados unidades didácticas quincenales que contemplen todos los contenidos: conceptuales (funciones, vocabulario, gramática, pronunciación, aspectos socioculturales), procedimentales (las habilidades comunicativas) y actitudinales. Los temas de las unidades didácticas tendrán en cuenta los intereses y necesidades del alumnado, una vez analizados en el diagnóstico inicial.
3. Actividades generales como diagnóstico inicial, repaso, evaluación final...
4. Objetivos generales del área teniendo en cuenta el Proyecto Curricular del Ciclo.
5. Repertorio de recursos didácticos cuya utilización se prevé a lo largo del curso. Previamente se habrá estudiado la operatividad del material existente en el centro.
6. Temporalización: fechas de comienzo y fin de las unidades didácticas, teniendo en cuenta los días hábiles y las festividades.
7. Consideraciones generales sobre el alumnado y metodología más adecuada.
Normalmente, en la práctica docente, las programaciones largas se limitan al punto 6, es decir, a la temporalización de las unidades didácticas, dando por entendido que los otros elementos están incluidos en el Proyecto Curricular de Ciclo.
PROGRAMACIÓN DE LAS UNIDADES DIDÁCTICAS
Se pueden hacer otras programaciones intermedias, por ejemplo, trimestrales, aunque lo normal es pasar de la anual a las unidades didácticas (lesson plan) con una duración aproximada de una quincena.
Antes de planificar la unidad didáctica hay tener en cuenta algunas consideraciones:
1. La más importante es el libro de texto y el "syllabus" (organización de los contenidos) que propone. Los libros de texto son útiles, ya que ofrecen materiales vivos e interesantes, progresión sensata de los contenidos lingüísticos. Los buenos libros aportan resúmenes, especialmente los gramaticales, que permiten revisar fácilmente; son sistemáticos en cuanto a la cantidad de vocabulario y permiten al alumno aprender por sí mismo.
Sin embargo, el profesor no debe ser un esclavo del libro, sino que debe omitir, recombinar o complementarlo. Para ello debe conocer todo el libro muy bien. Por otra parte hay que tener presente que los libros pueden producir efectos contrarios (aburrimiento del alumnado) cuando se utilizan abusivamente. Normalmente los libros suelen concentrarse en actividades para presentar el nuevo lenguaje y en la práctica controlada del mismo. En cada unidad nos encontramos con el mismo esquema y formato, por lo que no se adaptan a las características de cada clase, que son únicas. Algunos libros incluso no están equilibrados en cuanto a las habilidades que desarrollan o a las actividades, que suelen carecer de variedad.
1. En otro orden, los profesores deben conocer su oficio: el idioma que quieren enseñar, las estrategias didácticas específicas para el nivel, las ayudas de las que puede disponer, el amplio repertorio de actividades para llevar a cabo, que deben estar interrelacionadas de modo que unas refuercen a otras. Es importante conocer las fases de una unidad (presentación, práctica y producción), así como las técnicas adecuadas en cada fase. Debe dominar las habilidades para dirigir la clase: agrupamientos, disciplina...
2. Para que la programación sea realista, es importante que el profesorado conozca la institución o el centro en que trabaja: horarios, condiciones físicas de la clase y del centro, material disponible, el proyecto curricular de etapa y ciclo, restricciones...
3. Por supuesto debe conocer a sus alumnos: edad, sexo, clase social, ocupación de los padres, así como los factores sociales, políticos y religiosos que puedan influir en las relaciones personales. Es necesario que conozca sus antecedentes académicos (motivación, intereses, conocimientos previos...) y especialmente sus necesidades lingüísticas.
4. El profesor debe realizar una preparación cuidadosa de la unidad didáctica. Por ejemplo, debe tener en cuenta si el material es autónomo respecto a aspectos previos o posteriores o si debe corregir los deberes de casa. Es fundamental tener preparado todo antes de comenzar las clases, haciendo especial hincapié en los materiales: libros de texto, fotocopias, reproductor de cintas, etc., así como en los ejercicios y actividades, que deben ser variados y motivadores, especialmente para los diez últimos minutos: juegos, crucigramas, adivinanzas...
Es aconsejable que el profesor ensaye en casa y anticipe los posibles problemas de conceptos, formas o pronunciación que puedan surgir.
También hay que tener en cuenta que hay muchos factores que influyen en la planificación y, por lo tanto, imponen restricciones al profesor al elegir unas determinadas técnicas o materiales.
" Restricciones prácticas: duración de la unidad didáctica, número de clases a la semana, momento del día (por la mañana, por la tarde, a primera hora, a última hora...), el número de alumnos, el mobiliario, disponibilidad de materiales.
" La personalidad del profesor, entrenamiento previo, actitud...
" El alumnado: las diferentes necesidades de cada uno de ellos, su nivel de inglés (a veces hay enormes diferencias en cuanto al dominio de las destrezas, por lo se recomienda el aprendizaje autónomo con materiales adecuados), sus intereses, su edad, antecedentes educativos (¿están acostumbrados a trabajar en grupo?), actitudes, personalidad.
" Motivación y mantenimiento del interés. Aumentará en la medida que el alumnado conoce los objetivos y su importancia para aprender inglés. Es fundamentar organizar actividades significativas, relevantes y variadas.
La programación de la unidad didáctica debe contener los siguientes elementos:
1. Datos del diagnóstico inicial o de los resultados de la evaluación en las anteriores unidades didácticas. Identificación de los intereses y conocimientos previos del alumnado. Descripción de la clase (nivel o curso, condiciones físicas de la clase, tiempo disponible...).
2. Determinación del tema y los consiguientes contenidos. Relación con los temas transversales.
3. Formulación de los objetivos didácticos o de aprendizaje.
4. Selección y organización de los contenidos, distinguiendo conceptos, procedimientos y actitudes y relacionándolos con los objetivos. Conexión con otras áreas de conocimiento.
5. Secuenciación y organización de las actividades del alumnado: de introducción/motivación, sobre los conocimientos previos, de desarrollo, de revisión/ampliación y de evaluación. Valoración de la autonomía.
6. Temporalización en sesiones.
7. Metodología: enfoque y teorías de aprendizaje, estrategias de enseñanza y aprendizaje, agrupamientos, espacios. Papel del profesor.
8. Recursos y apoyos
9. Tipo de evaluación (inicial, formativa o sumativa, autoevaluación y heteroevaluación), instrumentos y técnicas. Criterios de evaluación.
10. Orientación y tutoría.
11. Medidas de atención a la diversidad. Optatividad. Diversificación curricular. Organización de los recursos personales y materiales dirigidos a los alumnos con necesidades educativas especiales. Programas específicos.
12. Recuperación. Proacción.
13. Valoración de la ejecución de la unidad didáctica.

PROGRAMACIÓN DE LAS SESIONES O CLASES
En cada sesión o clase, hay que concretar estos elementos. El número de sesiones variará en razón de las horas semanales asignadas (dos horas para el ciclo segundo y tres para el tercero) y la duración de las mismas, que normalmente son de una hora, de tres cuartos de hora o de media hora. Son posibles sesiones de menos de 20 minutos.
Es conveniente escribir la planificación en una tarjeta o bien llevar un diario de clase, indicando el tiempo dedicado a cada fase. Por detrás se incluirán notas y comentarios que puedan servir para futuras clases.
En Fun Boat! de la colección materiales curriculares para la Educación Primaria, hay varios ejemplos de programación de unidades didácticas especificando la temporalización de las sesiones. Hemos extraído la correspondiente a MY NEW HOUSE.
1ª sesión.
El profesor o la profesora presenta la unidad, haciendo un trabajo de Gran Grupo donde se comente la historia del cómic THIS IS MY NEW HOUSE (Sheet 1). Como siempre la lectura se hará al final de la unidad. Se reparten revistas a los diferentes grupos y se les pide que busquen habitaciones de casas y que las peguen en cartulinas. Cada grupo enseña sus cartulinas y el profesor o la profesora presenta las partes de la casa: "This is the bathroom"; en los grupos más alejados usa: "That is the kitchen". Luego este mismo ejercicio se hace por los miembros de cada grupo. Con el mural de la casa 6 se repasa y afianza de una forma directa el vocabulario (sólo habitaciones).
2ª sesión.
Se comienza con la canción 10 de la unidad mientras la clase se acomoda. Con el mural 6, se repasan las partes de la casa y se muestra la grafía correspondiente. Se reparte la Sheet 2 donde se deben recortar las habitaciones de la casa y pegarlas en donde corresponde. Una vez corregida, hacemos la Sheet 3, que es un crossword con las habitaciones de la casa. Cuando se conozcan las partes de la casa, se presentarán la mitad de las palabras del vocabulario, haciendo hincapié en las de uso más común.
3ª sesión.
Se comienza con la canción 10 y un repaso oral de lo aprendido. Se hacen dibujos de las partes de la casa con sus grafías y conforme vayan aprendiendo muebles se van colocando los carteles en la clase. Se pasa a hacer la Sheet 4. En ella se deben colocar los nombres correctos en cada casillero. El profesor o la profesora señala un dibujo y pregunta: "What is this?", para contestar seguidamente: "This is...". Repite el ejercicio en grupa e individualmente hasta cerciorarse de que ha sido comprendido. Se hace la Sheet 5, los alumnos y alumnas deben completar las palabras contestando a las preguntas. Una vez terminada la ficha se pregunta individualmente de forma oral.
4ª sesión.
Se comienza la clase con la canción 10. Se repasa el vocabulario dado con preguntas de "What's this?" para que la clase responda "This is...". Se presenta de modo directo y usando el mural 6 el resto de los muebles y cosas de la casa. Cuando se aprendan, se presenta la grafía. Se pasa la Sheet 6, que tiene dos partes: la primera los niños y niñas deben poner el nombre de cada habitación en el dibujo; la segunda, deben mirar el dibujo y completar las cosas que hay en él. Se reparte el material de explotación de la canción y se comienza a trabajar por partes, intentando averiguar qué palabras faltan.
5ª sesión.
Se comienza trabajando con la canción 10. No importa que muchas estructuras no se comprendan, lo importante es que identifiquen palabras. Se hace la Sheet 7, siguiendo las líneas y escribiendo el nombre de cada cosa. Pasamos a hacer la Sheet 8, donde se debe seguir a la pista por toda la casa para averiguar dónde se encuentra el chocolate. Se canta la canción 10.
6ª sesión.
Se comienza cantando la canción 10. Se repasa preguntando: "Where is the TV?", para que los alumnos y las alumnas contesten: "It's in the sitting-room" o "In the sitting-room". Pasa a hacer la Sheet 9, donde tienen que elegir entre He, She o It. Se repasa aquellos aspectos de la programación que hayan quedado "flojos".
7ª sesión.
Se comienza con la canción 10. Se repasa todo el vocabulario. Se pasan la Sheets 10a y 10b para hacer un pair work. Un alumno o alumna de cada pareja sólo pueden ver la casa A o la B. Después, el alumno o alumna A dice: "This room is number 1"; y enumera todos los muebles de la habitación. El B debe colocar en su ficha y en el lugar correcto el nombre de la habitación. El proceso se continúa hasta que la alumna o el alumno B tiene los cuatro nombres puestos, y se repite al revés. Después la pareja comprueba si todo está correcto.
8ª sesión.
Hemos llegado casi al final de la unidad, es la hora de realizar y explotar la lectura del cómic THIS IS MY NEW HOUSE. Se comienza presentando el juego The House Game (Puedes fotocopiar la Sheet 11 en transparencia de acetato para el retroproyector). Por parejas se coge una copia de The House Game (Sheet 11). Se comienza en START HERE y sale la persona que saque la mayor puntuación en el dado. Siguiendo las flechas debe decir correctamente el nombre de los muebles que aparecen en cada casilla; si acierta, vuelve a tirar; si falla le toca a la otra. El decir alguna puntuación del dado en español equivale a perder el turno. Cuando se dé la vuelta completa a su sección y llegue de nuevo a START HERE, debe decir al menos 4 muebles de la habitación que elija el compañero o la compañera. Si acierta la habitación, pasa a su propiedad. El juego lo gana quien consiga las cuatro habitaciones. Se puede arrebatar una habitación diciendo más muebles que los que el compañero o compañera dijo (¡ojo! es conveniente apuntar el número de muebles que cada uno dice). Si caes en un STOP, pierdes el turno. Si caes en un GOOD LUCK!, avanzas dos puestos.
9ª sesión.
En esta sesión se realizarán las autoevaluaciones EL ESPEJITO y YO OPINO. Se presenta la FICHA DE VOCABULARIO, para repasar y colorear.
Este modelo de programación propuesto por la Consejería de Educación y Ciencia de la Junta de Andalucía tiene el inconveniente de que los objetivos, contenidos y criterios de evaluación sólo se hacen explícitos una vez para toda la unidad didáctica. Sin embargo, consideramos necesario tenerlos en cuenta, aunque sea mentalmente para no perderse.
Hammer ofrece un modelo de programación por sesiones (no es necesario reflejar por escrito), que incluye una descripción de la clase (alumnado, condiciones físicas...) y el trabajo realizado recientemente: el tema, el contenido, destrezas desarrolladas...Además se explicitan:
" OBJETIVOS: especificaremos los objetivos de la clase, las capacidades que intentamos desarrollar: identificar, usar, entender, expresar... (to read to confirm expectations).
" CONTENIDOS: es la parte de la programación que más tiempo le dedicaremos: conceptos (funciones, estructuras, situaciones, vocabulario, pronunciación y cultura), procedimientos (destrezas) y actitudes. En la medida de lo posible todos ellos deben aprenderse integradamente, pero en las distintas clases se puede dar prioridad a uno de ellos: lectura, conversación, aspectos culturales, pronunciación...
" DESARROLLO DE LA CLASE
- PRECALENTAMIENTO - motivación (WARM-UP): el objetivo es contextualizar la escena cultural situacional, lingüística y semánticamente. Revisión de los contenidos de las lecciones anteriores.
- PRESENTACIÓN de los contenidos y de las actividades siguiendo el libro o no. Determinaremos el contexto o situación (en casa, en la tienda...). Indicaremos la posible utilización de apoyos didácticos y con cursos superiores utilizaremos la explicación gramatical, si fuera necesario. Cada sesión suele desarrollar más intensamente alguna destreza comunicativa o contenido: vocabulario, función, reading, listening, pronunciación...
- PRÁCTICA mediante ejercicios y actividades en grupo, por parejas e individualmente. En los primeros niveles estará muy controlada, dejando libertad progresivamente. Hay que determinar cómo, cuándo y dónde hacer las correcciones de los errores. Hay que prever los posibles problemas que puedan surgir y las actividades alternativas.
- PRODUCCIÓN (actividades "follow-up") en clase y en casa, si fuera necesario.

3. CRITERIOS PARA LA SECUENCIACIÓN Y TEMPORALIZACIÓN DE CONTENIDOS Y OBJETIVOS
Los contenidos y los objetivos están tan interrelacionados que es imposible definir o explicitar uno sin mencionar el otro. La diferencia estriba en que el objetivo enfatiza la capacidad que hay que desarrollar (captar información, comprender), mientras que el contenido especifica el objeto sobre el que se ejerce la capacidad (un cuento):

Objetivo: captar información general y específica en un cuento.
Contenido precedimental: comprensión de un cuento.
Casi todos los objetivos vienen expresados mediante un verbo y un complemento directo. El verbo se refiere a la destreza o habilidad intelectual (reconocer, comprender, aplicar, analizar, sintetizar, valorar). Es el aspecto formal. El complemento directo es el contenido propiamente. Estos dos objetivos del área de Lengua Inglesa tratan de desarrollar la misma habilidad, pero difieren en cuanto a los contenidos, destacando en el primer caso el significado o el mensaje de un texto, mientras en el segundo los elementos comunicativos que se utilizan para transmitir la información (funciones, vocabulario, gramática, pronunciación...).
1.- Comprender informaciones generales y específicas en textos orales y escritos sencillos...
5.- Comprender ( y usar) los elementos lingüísticos y no lingüísticos...

De ahí que se incluyan en el mismo epígrafe ambos elementos de la programación. No obstante, para un mejor estudio los trataremos aisladamente.

LOS OBJETIVOS
En el Decreto de Educación Primaria, lo importante es lograr los objetivos, convirtiéndose los contenidos en instrumentos para alcanzarlos. Pero ¿cómo se entienden estos objetivos?
Hay dos clases de objetivos: los propios de procesos formativos finalizados que se oponen a los de procesos abiertos, como los experienciales o expresivos, en los que las metas no están claramente definidas. En el primer grupo se incluyen los denostados objetivos operativos, pero también los objetivos por capacidades tal como lo plantearon Gagné-Briggs en 1974, quienes distinguen la acción que hay que realizar, el objeto o producto final, las circunstancias o condiciones en que se considera alcanzado el objetivo, así como los instrumentos y limitaciones. Sin embargo, lo más importante es determinar la capacidad o habilidad mental que se va a desarrollar con la acción.
En este sentido se entienden los objetivos del Decreto de Enseñanzas, que se diferencian claramente de los objetivos operativos en el sentido clásico y de los expresivos. Se trata de desarrollar una capacidad, que consideraremos desarrollada si se alcanzan los criterios de evaluación establecidos previamente.
Así los objetivos operativos utilizan verbos que indican acciones observables objetivamente como escribir, recitar, hacer, comparar: mientras que los objetivos expresivos usan verbos de acción como "realizar ejercicios, trabajar, investigar, descubrir, practicar. Estos últimos verbos indican más la actividad que se va a realizar que los objetivos que se van a conseguir, pues los que realmente se consigan al final diferirán de un alumno a otro.
Los verbos de los objetivos por capacidades del Decreto aluden, como hemos mencionados anteriormente, a las habilidades que hay que desarrollar (cognitivas, actitudinales e incluso psicomotrices): comprender, producir, leer comprensivamente, establecer relaciones, mostrar actitudes abiertas, transferir conocimientos y experiencias...
En este sentido, los objetivos son considerados como intenciones que sustentan el diseño y la realización de las actividades necesarias para la consecución de las grandes finalidades educativas, promover el desarrollo integral del individuo y facilitar la construcción de una sociedad más justa y solidaria. Son metas que guían los procesos de enseñanza y aprendizaje ayudando al profesorado en la organización de su labor. Constituyen un marco para decidir las posibles direcciones a seguir.
En función de los contextos y necesidades particulares de los individuos, los equipos de profesores podrán establecer criterios de ordenación de los objetivos a desarrollar en cada etapa educativa. También es importante analizar las relaciones entre distintas capacidades, matizar algunos objetivos, priorizar unos respecto a otros e incluso incorporar algunos nuevos teniendo en cuenta la realidad a la que se van a adaptar.
Por su carácter referencial y orientador, los objetivos tienen varios niveles de concreción en el centro, yendo desde las Finalidades Educativas, los más generales, hasta la programación en unidades didácticas, la más cercana al alumnado. Los objetivos generales de etapa del Decreto de Primaria se concretan en los de área en los diferentes ciclos, en un intento de adecuarse a cada realidad escolar, con las condiciones propias de cada contexto y de cada persona.
Cada objetivo general de la etapa está muy directamente relacionado con los objetivos generales de un área. En el caso del área de Lengua Inglesa,
OBJETIVO GENERAL DE LA ETAPA RELACIONADO CON LA LENGUA INGLESA

i) Comprender y expresar mensajes orales y escritos sencillos y contextualizados en una lengua extranjera.
OBJETIVOS GENERALES DEL ÁREA DE LENGUA INGLESA RELACIONADOS DIRECTAMENTE CON EL OBJETIVO GENERAL DE LA ETAPA.

1.- Comprender informaciones generales y específicas en textos orales y escritos sencillos producidos en situaciones de comunicación conocidas y habituales, con una intención de comunicación concreta.
2.- Producir textos orales y escritos en lengua extranjera que sean breves y sencillos, en situaciones de comunicación reales o simuladas y que conecten con el mundo experiencial de los alumnos.
Otros objetivos generales de la etapa también tienen relación con esta área o, de otra forma, el área de Lengua Extranjera puede contribuir a conseguir los otros objetivos generales. Sirva como ejemplo el siguiente objetivo general de etapa:
j) Comunicarse a través de medios de expresión verbal, corporal, visual, plástica, musical y matemática, desarrollando la sensibilidad estética, la creatividad y la capacidad para disfrutar de las obras y manifestaciones artísticas.
Este objetivo está relacionado con el siguiente objetivo general del área, al menos en lo que respecta a la comunicación no lingüística.

5.- Comprender y usar los elementos lingüísticos y no lingüísticos que intervienen en situaciones habituales de interacción social y comunicación para conseguir que ésta sea más fácil y fluida.
Los objetivos generales de área se distribuyen en los dos ciclos, teniendo en cuenta que los resultados concretos y los plazos de tiempo que necesita cada alumno para conseguirlos son diferentes. Por este motivo, los objetivos de ciclo no deben convertirse en barreras que seleccione al alumnado. Por otra parte, hay que tener en cuenta que el grado de desarrollo de un objetivo en un determinado ciclo está determinado por la complejidad o dificultad del contenido al que se aplique más que a la capacidad en sí.
Puesto que los nuevos objetivos pretenden desarrollar las habilidades humanas, será necesario conocerlas bien. Las taxonomías de objetivos como las de Bloom, Guildford, Gagné, Sullivan, Merril y De Block, entre otros, pretenden señalar todas las habilidades y graduarlas desde las más simples (saber un dato que hay que recordar, reconocer o repetir) hasta las más complejas (la síntesis creativa o valorativa de una producción literaria). El fin de las taxonomías es conseguir una educación integral de forma que se incida en todas las habilidades, graduando la dificultad según el proceso madurativo del educando.
A continuación relacionamos las habilidades intelectuales (indicadas en negrita) propuestas en las taxonomías citadas, especialmente la de Bloom, junto con los verbos usados habitualmente, así como los contenidos con los que trabajan.

A. CONCEPTOS
1. RECONOCIMIENTO (reconocer, conocer, definir términos, dar el significado, identificar, dominar el vocabulario).
1.1. Datos: terminología y hechos
1.2. Metodología: convencionalismos, tendencias diacrónicas, clasificaciones, criterios, métodos.
1.3. Conceptos universales.
B. PROCEDIMIENTOS
1. COMPRENSIÓN:
1.1. Traducción o traslación (decir con palabras propias, dar ejemplos, explicar, representar)
1.2. Interpretación (resumir, explicar, dar ejemplos, elaborar una interpretación científica, comprender mensajes)
1.3. Extrapolación (deducir, comparar, concluir)
2. APLICACIÓN:
2.1. Selección de principios, métodos, criterios (aplicar reglas de conversión, aplicar estrategias)
2.2. Utilización de convencionalismos y normas ( aplicar reglas correctamente, utilizar conceptos básicos o información, hacer un uso reflexivo, incorporar)
2.3. Producción de textos específicos (escribir, redactar, expresar)
3. ANÁLISIS:
3.1. Selección y clasificación de elementos aislados (clasificar, distinguir clases, analizar, diferenciar)
3.2. Análisis (analizar, relacionar sus partes, reflexionar, procesar)
4. SÍNTESIS:
4.1. Diseño de un proyecto (diseñar, planificar)
4.2. Producción de textos creativos (escribir, producir, construir, modificar, expresar, transmitir, comentar)
4.3. Formulación de métodos, principios y teoría (formular)
5. VALORACIÓN objetiva y subjetiva (valorar, comparar, apreciar, juzgar, descubrir la importancia)
C. ACTITUDES
1. ACEPTACIÓN Y APRECIACIÓN (apreciar, valorar, aceptar la necesidad, tomar conciencia, desarrollar actitudes críticas)
2. PARTICIPACIÓN: interés, gusto y disfrute (disfrutar, generar el gusto, profundizar).

En esta taxonomía se puede apreciar aún más la interrelación de objetivos y contenidos. Por ello, algunos (Halliwell, 1993) distinguen entre objetivos de conceptos, objetivos de procedimiento y objetivos de actitud. Para esta autora, en Primaria debe haber un equilibrio entre los de conceptos y de actitud, que se tienen que estudiar con más profundidad.

LOS CONTENIDOS
Son objetos de enseñanza útiles y necesarios para desarrollar los objetivos de cada área. Son instrumentos que permiten analizar la realidad de una manera objetiva, rigurosa y contrastada para posteriormente interactuar con ella llegando a predecir fenómenos naturales o sociales e intervenir, si es preciso.
En toda tarea didáctica hay un contenido, aquello sobre lo que se trabaja, y un aspecto formal, el trabajo u operación que se realiza sobre ese contenido para desarrollar una capacidad y lograr el objetivo propuesto.
A la hora de programar, se convierten en el centro alrededor de los cuales giran las actividades y los objetivos. Estudios realizados en Estados Unidos por Peterson, Marx y Clark (citados por Zabalza) sostienen que los profesores dedican más tiempo a los contenidos que a la programación de las actividades o a la formulación de los objetivos.
La función que tengan los contenidos da lugar a distintos modelos de "escuela". Hay que optar entre dos extremos: los contenidos como representación de la realidad objetiva tal como la ven los científicos deben ser conocidos por el alumno para insertarse con éxito en la sociedad; o por el contrario, el alumnado debe estudiar aquellos contenidos que tengan en cuenta sus exigencias, su forma de aprender, sus condicionantes psicopedagógicos, sus intereses, sus necesidades.
Por otra parte, los contenidos pueden convertirse en un fin en sí mismos o, por el contrario, deben ser un instrumento para alcanzar unos objetivos, para desarrollar unas capacidades y para conocer la realidad.
Entre ambos extremos hay posturas intermedias más moderadas. El Decreto de Primaria y la LOGSE en general han optado por un modelo en que los contenidos son un instrumento, sin que esto quiera decir que no tengan ningún valor. De hecho se prescriben unos determinados bloques temáticos. En cuanto a la otra decisión, interesan los contenidos que sean significativos y que tengan en cuenta las necesidades e intereses del alumnado.

CLASES DE CONTENIDOS
Respecto a las clases de contenidos, los desarrollos legales de la LOGSE han reducido las varias clases de contenidos a tres tipos: conceptos (incluyen datos, definiciones, hechos, principios), procedimientos y actitudes.
1) Los conceptos son los contenidos más elementales que los alumnos deben saber. Designan a un conjunto de objetos, sucesos, situaciones o símbolos que tienen ciertas características comunes, así como los principios o reglas que relacionan sus cambios. Para explicitarlos se pueden utilizar verbos como: conocer, definir términos, dar el significado, identificar, dominar el vocabulario... Estas palabras están relacionadas con los objetivos y las operaciones formales más elementales de las taxonomías. Normalmente se suelen omitir los verbos (conocer) o sustantivos verbales (conocimiento) dejando sólo el objeto directo, por ejemplo: "El conocimiento del vocabulario y las estructuras básicas de la lengua extranjera". Son contenidos conceptuales:
a) Las situaciones de comunicación en lengua inglesa.
b) Funciones habituales de comunicación (entablar relaciones, dar y pedir información...)
c) Vocabulario relativo al tema de la unidad didáctica: la casa, los alimentos, el cuerpo...
d) Estructuras gramaticales
e) Rutinas (expresiones idiomáticas) y fórmulas básicas (mostrar acuerdo).
f) Reglas que rigen la comprensión y la producción de un discurso coherente.
2) Los procedimientos son aquellos contenidos que nuestros alumnos sabrán hacer. Son un conjunto de acciones ordenadas y finalizadas dirigidas a la consecución de un objetivo. Cada disciplina y área de conocimientos incluye un cuerpo propio de procedimientos. Son muy rentables, porque ahorran tiempo y evitan almacenamiento excesivo de datos. Por otra parte, pueden dar significatividad a los conceptos. Se aprenden por repetición, imitación (las técnicas son fáciles de adquirir y memorizables) o por descubrimiento (las estrategias son más complejas, permitiendo resolver diversos problemas). Deben ser funcionales y transferibles a otras situaciones.
Son procedimientos la comprensión global de historias sencillas, la producción de mensajes, el uso de estrategias no lingüísticas, realización de murales, la participación en intercambios verbales, la resolución de pasatiempos, la localización en un plano, las simulaciones...Los verbos más frecuentes son: manejar, manipular, utilizar, construir, aplicar, observar, experimentar, elaborar, simular, demostrar, confeccionar, ordenar, coleccionar, formular...; aunque es más frecuente el uso de los sustantivos verbales correspondientes: manipulación, utilización, construcción...
3) Las actitudes provocan que el alumno sepa para qué hacer las cosas. No olvidemos que la actitud está constituida por tres componentes: el cognitivo (lo que el sujeto sabe sobre el objeto de la actitud), el emotivo (sentimientos agradables o desagradables que despierta el objeto) y el reactivo o conductual (inclinación a actuar de una manera determinada). Por lo tanto, no podemos limitarnos a informar sobre el respeto a las diferencias culturales; sino que hay que prever actividades, basadas en la dinámica de grupos, que incidan sobre los componentes emotivos y conductuales.
Los verbos son del siguiente tipo: respetar, tolerar, aceptar, sentir, valorar, apreciar, interesarse, colaborar, participar, cooperar, inclinarse por... Alternativamente, al igual que los procedimientos, se utilizan los sustantivos verbales correspondientes: actitud, respeto, aceptación, valoración, aprecio, interés... Ejemplos: reconocimiento de la importancia de ser capaz de comunicarse en inglés, atención y respeto a los mensajes en inglés, reconocimiento del error como normal en el proceso de aprendizaje...
Los tres tipos de contenidos están relacionados con las dimensiones del sujeto sobre las que se puede intervenir. Por poner un ejemplo, Gagné establece cinco dimensiones: los contenidos conceptuales están relacionados con la dimensión de la información; los procedimentales con las dimensiones de las habilidades intelectuales, las estrategias cognitivas y las habilidades psicomotrices; los actitudinales, con la dimensión de las actitudes.
Las estrategias cognitivas son la forma en que los sujetos utilizan las habilidades que poseen y se refieren a las técnicas de trabajo y a los modos de pensamiento (inductivo, deductivo, científico, fantástico...). Las habilidades psicomotrices tienen especial incidencia en las destrezas o conductas en su aspecto motor del alumnado de primer ciclo.
En cuanto a las habilidades intelectuales, están muy relacionadas con los objetivos o capacidades, a las que hicimos referencia al hablar de los objetivos.
La enorme cantidad de ellos dificulta su selección, por lo que se hace necesario realizar un esfuerzo importante de síntesis y contar con criterios racionales y objetivos para elegir los más relevantes y con mayor incidencia en la vida diaria, teniendo en cuenta que un contenido interesante para el alumnado no garantiza su relevancia desde el punto de vista educativo (Del Carmen, 1997).

LA SELECCIÓN
La selección de los contenidos que realice el profesor debe tener en cuenta el Decreto de Educación Primaria así como la literatura especializada del área e incluso de las programaciones que han sido implementadas en el centro. Posteriormente se identificarán sus contenidos axiales o nudos. En esta fase puede ser necesaria la ayuda del experto en el área que dé una visión amplia y clarificadora de la misma.
En cada ciclo el profesorado tendrá que seleccionar, adaptar, priorizar aquellos que permitan alcanzar los objetivos más fácilmente e incluso incluir aquellos contenidos que consideren necesarios teniendo en cuenta el contexto de su centro y las Finalidades Educativas. Será importante delimitar qué contenidos se incluyen en cada uno de los ciclos con el fin de evitar lagunas importantes o por el contrario repeticiones innecesarias.
En cualquier caso, es necesario contar con unos criterios que nos ayuden a seleccionar los contenidos:
* Representatividad: los contenidos deben ser seleccionados por procedimientos de muestreo, que reflejen bien el conjunto o población de donde han sido extraídos.
* Ejemplaridad: aquellos considerados fundamentales, básicos o elementales y las ideas estratégicas con gran alcance lógico dentro de una disciplina. Es lo que denominados ideas-eje o conceptos básicos que adquieren gran relevancia por su sentido instrumental o por su sentido lógico.
* Significación desde el punto de vista de la epistemología, es decir, los contenidos deben respetar la estructura de cada disciplina. Son los conceptos clave o "nudos" estructurales que actúan de conexión de la estructura temática.
* Transferibilidad: son aplicables a otras situaciones distintas a aquella en la que se aprendieron.
* Durabilidad.
* Consenso: contenidos sobre cuya importancia y validez hay acuerdo en la comunidad escolar.
* Adecuación al desarrollo cognitivo y a otras características de los alumnos como la afectividad o el estilo cognitivo.

SECUENCIACIÓN
Respecto a la secuenciación de los contenidos, está claro que no hay una única secuenciación con validez general, sino que variará atendiendo a las distintas realidades. Por otra parte, hay que tener en cuenta dos criterios que hemos mencionado anteriormente: la lógica de cada disciplina y las características psicosociológicas del alumnado. El primer criterio será preferente al elaborar el Proyecto Curricular, aunque no debe ser absoluto, ya que si sometemos la secuenciación de los contenidos de muchos manuales a un mínimo análisis, podremos comprobar que en algunos casos el orden establecido tradicionalmente no tiene una fundamentación suficientemente justificada.
El criterio psicológico será prioritario al elaborar la programación de la unidad didáctica. Es importante porque permite una más fácil asimilación por parte del alumno. Las teorías de Piaget plantearon la necesidad de secuenciar de acuerdo con el nivel de desarrollo operatorio de los educandos. Según el aprendizaje significativo de Ausubel los contenidos deben ordenarse teniendo en cuenta simultáneamente su significatividad lógica (la presentación de los contenidos debe facilitar la comprensión de sus relaciones y relevancia) y psicológica (relacionar los nuevos contenidos con los que el educando tiene previamente).
Las Orientaciones para la Secuenciación de los Contenidos en lenguas extranjeras de la Colección de Materiales Curriculares para la Educación Primaria, plantea los siguientes presupuestos pedagógicos y lingüísticos en los que se fundamentarán los criterios de selección y secuenciación de contenidos:
" Desde una perspectiva constructivista, se destaca la noción de aprendizaje significativo, creando situaciones de comunicación que impliquen conexiones con los conocimientos previos de los alumnos y con el entorno en el que se desenvuelven. En el campo concreto de la enseñanza de lenguas extranjeras, el concepto de aprendizaje significativo se traduce en las sugerencias sobre actividades previas a la introducción de nuevos contenidos, que funcionen como puente entre los conocimientos previos y los nuevos, en las alusiones a la necesidad de transferir estrategias de comunicación entre lengua materna y lengua extranjera, y finalmente en la necesidad de conectar las actividades con el entorno próximo de los alumnos o con sus centros de interés.
" En esta etapa, los procesos de adquisición tendrán gran importancia y, por lo tanto, la interacción con otras personas resultará indispensable. La cooperación, como requisito necesario para aprender hace que el profesor/a y los compañeros/as sean imprescindibles como mediadores entre las informaciones puestas en juego y los objetos, personas o acciones cuyos significados los alumnos/ as han de percibir.
" Desde la perspectiva lingüística, para esta selección y secuenciación de contenidos se han extraído criterios basados en el enfoque funcional y en las investigaciones realizadas sobre adquisición de segundas lenguas. Una consecuencia de este planteamiento es el respeto y aceptación de los errores que cometen los alumnos/as y su consideración como elementos necesarios e inevitables en los procesos de adquisición-aprendizaje de una lengua extranjera.
" Todas las investigaciones en adquisición de segundas lenguas inciden en la importancia de los factores afectivos en el proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje de la lengua extranjera. Esto supone que factores tan diversos como la motivación, la ansiedad o la autoestima han de tenerse en cuenta y ser tratados en consecuencia.
" Esta propuesta se basa en la necesidad de combinar procesos de aprendizaje organizados y procesos donde se fomente el uso de la lengua extranjera de manera natural y significativa, aprovechando la naturalidad y realismo de las situaciones que se creen dentro del aula.
" Los factores psico-cognoscitivos y socioafectivos que caracterizan a los alumnos de este ciclo. En general, los alumnos en la etapa de Primaria se caracterizan por un gran desarrollo de la memoria a corto plazo y de la capacidad de percibir. Esto hace necesario volver de forma sistemática y cíclica a contenidos tratados previamente con el fin de incorporarlos a la memoria a largo plazo. Los alumnos/as en esta etapa no son aún capaces de abstraer, sin embargo han de propiciarse procesos que faciliten la reflexión posterior en la etapa siguiente. El hecho de que el alumno en esta etapa tenga deseos de integrarse socialmente en un grupo y de imitar modelos adultos tendrá repercusión en la selección de temas y actividades. El aprendizaje se considera como una habilidad cognoscitiva compleja caracterizada por la automatización de las habilidades y su incorporación en la memoria a largo plazo. El enfoque didáctico más asociado con la teoría cognoscitiva en esta etapa es el basado en la actividad, según el cual, el aprendizaje de la lengua es un proceso activo, producto de su utilización para dotar de significado a los objetos, personas, acciones, etc. En una planificación basada en las actividades, éstas constituyen el eje central y generan el lenguaje necesario para su realización. El punto de partida para la propuesta de contenidos será la determinación de temas o centros de interés para los alumnos, que conecten globalmente con los campos de trabajo en otras áreas.
Los criterios utilizados para la organización y secuenciación de contenidos se pueden concretar en los siguientes puntos:
1.- Partir siempre de lo que el alumno/a ya conoce en el ámbito conceptual, procedimental y actitudinal con el fin de que pueda comprender las informaciones nuevas y enlazar los nuevos contenidos con los conocimientos adquiridos previamente. Es importante en esta Etapa trabajar conceptos nuevos, aunque los contenidos prioritarios serán los procedimientos.
2.- Los procedimientos son el núcleo alrededor del cual se articulan todos los demás contenidos.
3.- Los contenidos propuestos exigen la presencia de objetos, personas o acciones con el fin de facilitar que el alumno establezca relaciones entre significantes y significados para apropiarse así de los valores simbólicos transmitidos por la lengua extranjera.
4.- La exposición del alumno a datos es previa a cualquier adquisición de nuevos conocimientos. Por ello, los procesos receptivos tendrán gran importancia, aunque también será necesaria la producción con el fin de poder comprobar la validez de los aprendizajes realizados.
5.- Los elementos contextuales puestos en juego en las situaciones de aprendizaje serán claves para la interpretación y expresión de mensajes y significados. En esta Etapa tendrán prioridad los de tipo no lingüístico, tales como mímica, imágenes, gestos, etc.
6.- El lenguaje que se utiliza dentro del aula proporciona permanentemente informaciones cargadas de contenidos.
7.- Cualquiera de los contenidos presentados debe ser tratado de forma sistemática en contextos diferentes con el fin de garantizar que los nuevos conocimientos se incorporen en la memoria a largo plazo.
Si tenemos en cuenta la distinción de los tres tipos de contenidos, la secuenciación variará ligeramente:
*Los conceptos: se presentarán primero los más representativos progresando hacia un mayor detalle. Los principios deben ser inicialmente muy simples y explicativos, haciéndose más complejos progresivamente. Los conceptos, en el ámbito léxico, funcional y fonológico, vendrán determinados, pues, por los temas y los tipos de actividades. Las situaciones de comunicación favorecerán usos del lenguaje organizados en torno a funciones y sus correspondientes exponentes lingüísticos. Los contenidos léxicos se agruparán en tres grandes secciones: fórmulas y expresiones rutinarias, centros de interés y lenguaje de aula. Los conceptos fonológicos atenderán a los aspectos de entonación, ritmo, acentuación y sonidos.
*Los procedimientos son en este modelo el núcleo organizativo predominante. Estarán estrechamente vinculados a las actividades y los tipos de textos. Deben empezar por los más simples según el número de pasos a seguir, número de decisiones que hay que tomar, grado de novedad... Hay que iniciarse con las técnicas ya conocidas y con las estrategias-eje de carácter general.
*Las actitudes no presentan grandes problemas en cuanto a su secuenciación. Sin embargo, partimos de aquellas actitudes, valores y normas más generales y elementales para ir progresando hacia las que ofrecen particularidades o se conectan con procesos afectivos y de socialización más específicos. Evolucionar desde la aceptación y cumplimiento de normas hasta la comprensión de su necesidad y la participación en su elaboración.

Actualmente, nos encontramos con tres formas de secuenciar los contenidos (syllabus):
" El gramatical: esta secuenciación se preocupa de cómo se expresan los hablantes. La lengua es un sistema que hay que aprender gradualmente desde los elementos lingüísticos más fáciles a los más difíciles, excluyendo otros elementos de la lengua.
" El situacional se preocupa de cuándo y dónde el estudiante usará el inglés. Por lo tanto se ordenan los elementos lingüísticos independientemente del lugar que ocupan en la gramática, atendiendo a la probabilidad de que se necesiten usar en unas determinadas situaciones sociales. En realidad, no existe ninguna secuenciación situacional, sino gramatical, que usa las situaciones sociales para presentar y practicar las formas lingüísticas.
" El nocional intenta averiguar qué significados (funciones) necesita comunicar el alumnado. Entiende la lengua como un sistema semántico.
En realidad los tres trabajan con formas, significados y usos. La diferencia es el orden y la prioridad: el gramatical se mueve desde la forma hacia el significado y el uso, el situacional se movería desde el uso hasta el significado y la forma, el nocional desde el significado hacia la forma y el uso. Lo ideal sería combinar lo mejor de los tres, pero aún está por hacer. Actualmente en Primaria, las unidades didácticas se organizan alrededor de tópicos o situaciones cercanas a los intereses y necesidades de los alumnos, pero los contenidos gramaticales se gradúan según su dificultad, relacionándolos con las funciones.
En cuanto a la organización de los contenidos, los equipos de profesores tendrán en cuenta dos aspectos importantes: la necesidad de mantener una continuidad coherente en el proceso de aprendizaje a lo largo de los ciclos y cursos y, por otra parte, la atención a los planteamientos globalizados.
Hay que considerar las posibilidades globalizadoras de los contenidos transversales: Educación para la Paz y la Convivencia, Educación Moral y Cívica, Educación para la Salud, Educación del Consumidor y Usuario, Educación Medioambiental, Educación Vial y Educación para la igualdad de sexos.
Respecto a la temporalización, ya se ha hablado en el apartado anterior al hablar de las distintas unidades de programación.

4. SELECCIÓN DE LA METODOLOGÍA A EMPLEAR EN LAS ACTIVIDADES DE APRENDIZAJE Y DE EVALUACIÓN.
Las actividades son las unidades estructurales básicas de programación y acción dentro de la clase. Así lo reconoce el Decreto de Primaria al hablar de las Orientaciones Metodológicas:
Las actividades o tareas a realizar constituyen el centro de la planificación didáctica, integrándose en ellas los objetivos, contenidos y evaluación.
Las actividades y tareas se generarán a partir de temas o centros de interés pertenecientes al mundo experiencial de los alumnos y alumnas y se adaptarán a los intereses y edades de los mismos. Se trata de usar la lengua para hacer cosas con ella y, por lo tanto serán las actividades y situaciones de comunicación diseñadas las que generen la lengua a usar y no al contrario.
Hay un enfoque basado en las tareas, que surgió en India con el proyecto Bangalore, que se basa en el supuesto de que se aprende mejor el idioma extranjero cuando el alumno se centra en el significado o en la tarea, lo que conlleva su deseo de comunicarse. Las formas no se aprenden, sino que se adquieren a partir del input lingüístico. El syllabus, llamado procedimental, consiste en unas secuencias de tareas.
En toda actividad didáctica (según Yinger, citado por Zabalza) podemos distinguir los siguientes componentes:
a) Localización o lugar físico donde se realizarán.
b) Estructura o fases secuenciales de la actividad.
c) Duración.
d) Participantes: número y agrupamientos
e) Condiciones o conductas aceptables de los sujetos
f) Acciones instructivas o pasos dados por el profesor para llevar a cabo la actividad.
g) Contenidos y materiales.
a) Las actividades se realizarán normalmente en el aula. Excepcionalmente, se podrán realizar en el laboratorio de idiomas, en el aula de informática, en el salón de medios audiovisuales o en el patio.
Se considera que el aula es el contexto general, común y auténtico en el que se establecen las relaciones de comunicación en lengua extranjera.
En el aula se deben simular situaciones reales con la ayuda de materiales audiovisuales, pósters, realia... Las diferentes actividades elegidas (juegos variados, representaciones, cuentos, canciones, etc.) determinarán los contextos, que contribuyen a dar significado a los datos lingüísticos.
La construcción de los nuevos significados en lengua extranjera requiere que los alumnos tengan experiencias lingüísticas y no lingüísticas en las que estén presentes simultáneamente las acciones, personas u objetos, junto con las unidades lingüísticas y los significados.
La elaboración de significados simbólicos, es decir, que no dependa su comprensión del contexto en el que aparecen, se producirá posteriormente a partir de la ampliación y diversificación de los contextos.
b) Las actividades "deben tener una estructura de funcionamiento accesible a los alumnos y alumnas, o con la que ya estén familiarizados".
c) La duración de las actividades será variable y dependerá de muchos factores, siendo el más destacable el tipo de actividad. No se debe mantener demasiado tiempo en una actividad, incluso cuando parece que los alumnos están a gusto para prevenir el cansancio y el aburrimiento. Tampoco es conveniente estar variando continuamente.
Relacionado con la duración de las actividades está la de las clases: podemos optar en el segundo ciclo de Primaria entre dos clases de una hora, cuatro de media hora o cualquier otro periodo de tiempo. Todas las opciones tienen sus ventajas e inconvenientes.
d) A la hora de realizar una actividad hay que determinar el número de participantes y la forma de agrupamiento. Los espacios donde tengan lugar se organizarán de forma flexible para facilitar diversos agrupamientos y "para que el trabajo cooperativo sea práctica habitual en el aula". "El aprendizaje cooperativo y el lenguaje interactivo entre los compañeros favorecerán la ampliación de situaciones de comunicación y de relaciones sociales dentro del aula".
e) El profesor determinará las conductas permisibles o apropiadas para realizar las actividades (libertad de movimientos, nivel de voz...)
f) Respecto al profesor/a, debe planificar las acciones instructivas o pasos para llevar a cabo la actividad. Una actividad muy frecuente es la práctica de los nuevos contenidos repitiendo un diálogo en coro. De esta forma los errores no son apreciables y el alumno tiene la oportunidad de practicar la pronunciación, el vocabulario o la estructura gramatical sin miedo a equivocarse o a hacer el ridículo, al mismo tiempo que se va autocorrigiendo y ganando confianza en sí mismo. Más tarde, trabajará en grupo o por parejas para la práctica oral y asumiendo diferentes papeles en el role play. Finalmente trabajará individualmente en actividades escritas.
El papel del profesor es esencial en el aspecto afectivo y para dar" autenticidad a las situaciones de comunicación, usando la lengua extranjera como vehículo de comunicación en las interacciones que ocurran en el aula".
Su lenguaje debe resultar comprensible a los alumnos; para ello hará uso de recursos variados que faciliten el procesamiento de información y planteará la realización de tareas con suficiente apoyo contextual para facilitar que sean los propios alumnos quienes las interpreten y resuelvan de forma autónoma.
En el proceso didáctico e interactivo con los alumnos, el profesor/a incorporará de forma intencionada ciertas estrategias comunicativas semejantes a las que se utilizan en los procesos naturales de adquisición de lenguas y que los alumnos y alumnas ya han experimentado en su lengua materna parafrasear, usar elementos redundantes, repetir de forma natural, etc. Sin embargo, no debe ser objetivo primordial el que los alumnos y alumnas asimilen todos los datos que se les ofrecen.
g) En cuanto a los contenidos, debemos distinguir por una parte a los datos comunicativos que integran el mensaje y las unidades lingüísticas (vocabulario, funciones, estructuras gramaticales, pronunciación...) y por otra parte a las destrezas comunicativas. El Decreto de Primaria se decanta por las teorías de Krashen y del enfoque natural en cuanto a la recepción de datos.
En esta etapa educativa el objetivo fundamental será potenciar los mecanismos de adquisición, como proceso inconsciente y espontáneo que lleva a la construcción interna de conocimientos, junto con los mecanismos de aprendizaje, que tiene una finalidad educativa adicional y que requiere un esfuerzo consciente.
Será necesario poner en contacto al alumnado con datos comunicativos que les resulten significativos y comprensibles, con las siguientes características: a los intereses del alumno, aplicables a un amplio número de situaciones, con un nivel de complejidad sólo un poco más avanzado del conocimiento que poseen los alumnos, y con apoyo contextual suficiente para facilitar su comprensión.
En el aula se deben de proporcionar datos comunicativos variados, con el fin de estimular el proceso de aprendizaje natural en los alumnos y alumnas; datos tales como: el lenguaje del profesor u otras personas, el lenguaje de los compañeros, grabaciones contextualizadas tipo audio o vídeo, información escrita, etc.
Las destrezas de comprensión y expresión, tanto oral como escrita, se trabajarán de forma integrada desde el principio; sin embargo, la comprensión de informaciones no debe implicar la producción inmediata de las mismas, ya que es necesario propiciar períodos que permitan la interiorización de la nueva lengua. Así pues, se debe respetar lo que se conoce como períodos silenciosos, sin forzar la producción oral o escrita más allá de lo que la competencia comunicativa de los alumnos permite.
Las destrezas receptivas y orales son muy importantes en los primeros momentos, en que la competencia lingüística y comunicativa de los alumnos es baja, y se pueden acompañar de tareas que demanden respuestas no verbales, tales como dibujar, construir, asociar, señalar, secuenciar, responder físicamente, etc. El exceso de producción verbal puede suponer una limitación del tiempo dedicado a que los alumnos y alumnos reciban informaciones y datos enriquecedores para desarrollar su competencia comunicativa.
No obstante, en esta etapa también es necesario utilizar la lengua extranjera de forma productiva, como condición indispensable para su adquisición y aprendizaje. La producción es posible gracias al contexto cooperativo de las actividades que se desarrollen (entre compañeros, entre profesor y alumnos, etc.) , y permite contrastar la validez de los mensajes elaborados dentro del contexto de la actividad.
Especialmente en esta etapa, es importante desarrollar estrategias de comunicación que compensen los niveles de competencia de los alumnos y alumnas en lengua extranjera, que serán aún bajos. Algunas de estas estrategias pueden aparecer de forma natural: decir sólo lo que es necesario o relevante, ser breve y claro, utilizar gestos o mímica, etc. Sin embargo, hay otras estrategias que formarán parte de la actuación didáctica: hacer predicciones, inferir significados, anticipar contenidos, etc.
Los contenidos del área de Lengua Inglesa se pueden relacionar con los de otras áreas y con los temas transversales con una perspectiva globalizadora.
Desde la perspectiva del conocimiento global que el alumno tiene en esta etapa, es importante la iniciación de tareas o proyectos de trabajo centrados fundamentalmente en el aula y el entorno próximo. Esto posibilitará la relación entre la lengua extranjera y otras áreas de conocimiento e implicando a los alumnos y alumnas en tareas de búsqueda y participación personal, en parejas, pequeño grupo o de toda la clase.
El carácter globalizador que tiene el proceso de enseñanza aprendizaje en esta etapa implica que necesariamente el profesor/a especialista en lengua extranjera organice el trabajo junto con los profesores tutores con el fin de garantizar un enfoque globalizado.
La integración de la enseñanza del inglés con otras áreas está empezando a tener sus adeptos, pero sigue siendo una experiencia muy minoritaria. Sin embargo, es muy positiva porque el alumnado percibe el inglés como algo natural, que adquiere, más que aprende; por lo que es un aprendizaje más significativo y duradero.
La integración se puede realizar casi con todas las áreas y de muy variadas formas. La más conocida en España es la integración total con el área de Ciencias de la Naturaleza, que se imparte totalmente en inglés. Esto implica un buen dominio del inglés oral por parte del profesor.
Sin embargo, hay otras alternativas menos ambiciosas: podemos repasar operaciones matemáticas en inglés, utilizar tablas de doble entrada para resumir los datos de una investigación (How many students come to school by bus, by car or on foot?) o tomar las medidas (my foot is 18 centimeters, I'm 160 centimeters tall); se puede hacer un experimento de Ciencias de la Naturaleza, diciendo en inglés los pasos que se van dando (here's a jar, I'm going to open it, I can't open it...); se puede responder con acciones en clase de educación física (throw the ball, stop, pass me the ball, jump, turn around...).
Según Wheeler, citado por Zabalza, hay que establecer unos criterios para que el profesor pueda decidir a la hora de seleccionar las actividades:
" Validez: la actividad debe posibilitar mejorar el aprendizaje, el cambio de conducta, la mejora del alumnado, en definitiva, la consecución del objetivo propuesto.
" Comprensividad: se trata de seleccionar actividades que consigan desarrollar el máximo de habilidades de todo tipo: intelectuales, sociales, motoras, actitudinales...
" Variedad para satisfacer los distintos estilos cognitivos del alumnado y para lograr la comprensividad mencionada anteriormente.
" Conveniencia a la edad y nivel madurativo del alumnado.
" Estructura, es decir, que las actividades tengan un carácter organizado.
" Relevancia para la vida: las actividades debe ser significativas y útiles.
" Participación activa del alumno en la planificación de las actividades.
Otros criterios pueden ser que las actividades sean interesantes y motivadoras, así como que el alumnado use el máximo de lenguaje, en una situación que le suponga un reto dentro de las posibilidades del nivel. Al final de la actividad debe quedar la sensación de tener algún producto o de haber finalizado.
Cada clase debe ser única, impredecible. No se debe seguir siempre el mismo esquema o provocará aburrimiento. El profesor debe prever realizar en clase actividades que no se puedan realizar fuera de la clase: comunicación oral.
Asimismo, debe conocer de antemano qué actividades son estimulantes y cuáles son tranquilizantes. Son estimulantes los concursos, el trabajo por parejas y el trabajo oral en general, porque "despiertan" al alumnado, pero en grado extremo pueden excitar, lo cual es negativo. Del mismo modo, las actividades tranquilizantes como las auditivas, el copiar o el colorear son buenas en sí, pero pueden llegar a producir aburrimiento.
También podemos dividirlas en actividades que implican al alumnado mental o físicamente. En el primer apartado, se pueden incluir los juegos, los puzzles o los concursos. El alumnado tiene que recordar, reflexionar, deducir, inducir... Implican actividad física los TPR, dibujar, escribir, leer en voz alta...
Las actividades se pueden clasificar según otro criterio: el tipo de capacidad que desarrollan: orales o escritas, receptivas o productivas. Normalmente se suelen y se deben integrar varias destrezas, pero tomando como central una de ellas.
" Escuchar y hacer. Se trata de reforzar la comprensión auditiva mediante una respuesta activa que sirve para mantener atentos y motivados a los alumnos, al mismo tiempo que se consigue memorización a más largo plazo: TPR, symbol dictation, escribe lo que oigas, escucha y busca, escucha y ordena, escucha y adivina el orden, representar el cuento narrado por el profesor.
" Adivina. Sirven para practicar el hacer preguntas: qué tengo en mi tarjeta, cuántas cartas puedes acertar, jugar a los barcos.
" Levántate y averigua. Implican una interacción activa y real entre alumnos que se tienen que desplazar para realizar la actividad: cuadro de entrevistas, pon a prueba a tus compañeros, descubre quién tiene la misma tarjeta, busca información en el mural.
" ¿Recuerdas? Se utiliza la memoria par provocar comunicación oral: tarjetas que desaparecen, encontrar la carta pareja, dictado silencioso recordando.
" Piensa por ti mismo. Se le da oportunidad al alumnado para que genere y organice sus ideas: confecciona una lista por categorías, imagina y busca las palabras correspondientes, escribe un minilibro, diseña tu propia pegatina.
Otras clases de actividades son:
" Hacer gráficas en clase sobre la altura, el peso, la edad, el cumpleaños, el tiempo, la comida, etc.
" Canciones y rimas.
" Historias y cuentos.
" Rompecabezas y problemas: matemáticos, económicos, señalar diferencias, adivinar el más largo, adivinanzas, tests de memoria, crucigramas, etc.
" Juegos: se pueden adaptar a nuestros propósitos juegos que habitualmente juegan como la silla. Son muy adecuados los juegos de tablero y de cartas. Otros juegos: bingo, dominó de imágenes, juegos de patio, etc.
" Actuar diálogos cortos con escenas o situaciones de la vida diaria.
" Hacer cosas siguiendo instrucciones orales o escritas.
" Dar o seguir las instrucciones dadas a partir de un mapa para llegar a algún lugar.
" Usar horarios y otras gráficas.
" Actividades artísticas: dibujar, pintar...
Teniendo estas clasificaciones, es más fácil planificar según los condicionantes que surjan. A veces el alumnado está inquieto después de una clase de educación física o del recreo. Otras están aparentemente muy tranquilos, pero realmente inquietos después de trabajar con un profesor, normalmente el tutor, que los ha mantenido en sumo silencio casi todo el tiempo. No es igual dar la clase al principio de la jornada lectiva que al final o por la tarde. No se puede seguir el mismo esquema en todos los casos.
Respecto a las guías y ayudas que debe prestar el profesor, el alumnado debe saber exactamente qué y cómo hacer la actividad. La cantidad de ayuda prestada tiene un componente técnico-objetivo y otro actitudinal-afectivo. En procesos por descubrimiento es bueno que el alumno tenga poca ayuda para que "se busque la vida". Se intenta promover la creatividad y la tenacidad hasta encontrar la solución. El problema del profesor es saber hasta qué punto el alumno concreto es capaz de soportar la presión y la no-ayuda. En caso de decaimiento o frustración, es necesario ayudar. Siempre será válido el principio de dar la mínima ayuda, aunque nunca menos de la necesaria.
Por otra parte el profesor dispone de tres tipos de estrategias para ayudar al alumnado:
" Por descubrimiento (discovery) procediendo inductivamente a partir de ejemplos o de un problema, a partir del cual se genera una hipótesis de trabajo que se intenta comprobar mediante unas actividades investigativas.
" Por organización superior (advanced-organized), se realiza deductivamente analizando un modelo o regla.
" Por conceptos fundamentales (basic concept) mezclando lo inductivo y lo inductivo.
Respecto a la evaluación, a parte del Decreto de Primaria, disponemos de las normas que lo desarrollan
· Orden de 1 de febrero de 1993, sobre Evaluación en Educación Primaria en la Comunidad Autónoma de Andalucía.
· Orden de 18 de noviembre de 1996, por la que se complementan y modifican las Órdenes de la Consejería de Educación y Ciencia sobre Evaluación en las Enseñanzas de Régimen General establecidas por la Ley Orgánica 1/1990, de 3 de octubre, de Ordenación General del Sistema Educativo en la Comunidad Autónoma de Andalucía.
En la primera Orden, se establece en su artículo dos que la evaluación debe ser:
- Continua, es decir, de manera permanente acerca del proceso de enseñanza y aprendizaje.
- Global por cuanto deberá referirse al conjunto de capacidades expresadas en los objetivos generales de la etapa y a los criterios de evaluación de las diferentes áreas.
- Formativa
- Cualitativa
- Contextualizada (referida a su entorno y a un proceso concreto de enseñanza y aprendizaje).
Establecer unos controles de comprobación para que el alumno sepa si está en el buen camino es imprescindible. Esto tiene un componente cognitivo y otro afectivo. Por una parte, el alumnado necesita conocer el resultado que se pretende lograr; por otra, si el alumno sabe que está aprendiendo y haciendo realmente lo que se le pide, consigue aumentar la seguridad en sí mismo. El profesor puede realizar estos controles mediante preguntas al alumno e incluso con gestos o con la mirada. Otra forma es la autoevaluación de una forma sencilla e intuitiva, que permita al alumnado reflexionar sobre la adecuación del proceso seguido para alcanzar los objetivos.
Los controles se enmarcan en la evaluación formativa, que permite tomar conciencia del error, pudiendo el profesor proporcionar la ayuda necesaria para realizar bien la tarea. De esa forma la retroalimentación que recibe el profesor le permite rectificar a tiempo y reconducir el proceso. La evaluación formativa no sólo controla el proceso del aprendizaje, sino también los resultados esperados. También está relacionado con la autoevaluación, que permite al alumnado tomar parte activa en el proceso de aprendizaje, reflexionando y rectificando, si es necesario.
La reconducción variará según las dimensiones afectadas. Si los aspectos deficitarios son las capacidades (análisis, síntesis, aplicación, valoración...), no es necesario volver atrás en el proceso, sino prestar más atención a tales habilidades en las siguientes unidades, ya que estas habilidades se volverán a ejercitar con otros contenidos diferentes. Más problemático resulta solucionar la carencia de algunos contenidos. Normalmente hay que volver atrás y volver a trabajarlos, ya que las lagunas, especialmente en contenidos básicos, que actúan como prerrequisitos, pueden dificultar el proceso de aprendizaje.

6. RELACIÓN DEL TEMA CON LOS DISEÑOS CURRICULARES DE LA JUNTA DE ANDALUCÍA
El tema está totalmente relacionado con el Decreto de Educación Primaria y con las guías de la colección de Materiales Curriculares para esta etapa. La programación es la concreción del Anexo del Decreto para el área de Lengua Inglesa a un determinado momento y a un determinado grupo de alumnos: objetivos, contenidos, metodología de las actividades...Al haberse mencionado y citado expresamente en muchas ocasiones, no consideramos necesario volver a incidir en ello.

7. PROPUESTA DIDÁCTICA
Pueden plantearse varias propuestas didácticas: programación larga o de una unidad didáctica. Para la primera, podemos encontrar muchos ejemplos en los libros de texto para esta etapa. Para la unidad didáctica, creemos que el mejor ejemplo es uno de los modelos presentados por la Consejería de Educación y Ciencia en la Colección de Materiales Curriculares para la Educación Primaria, concretamente el planificado para el tercer curso.

UNIDAD DIDÁCTICA DE INGLÉS
PARA TERCER CURSO DE EDUCACIÓN PRIMARIA
Colección de Materiales Curriculares para la Educación Primaria

CARACTERÍSTICAS DEL CENTRO
Es importante señalar que la unidad que se presenta ha sido desarrollada en un Colegio Publico del centro de la ciudad, en el que se ha llevado a la práctica la experimentación de la reforma.
Esta experiencia ha contado con la colaboración de las profesoras tutoras. Desde el inicio se mantuvieron con ellas reuniones para determinar cuáles eran las ideas-eje que iban a dar sentido al primer curso del segundo ciclo de primaria. Nuestro objetivo era aproximamos al máximo, a través del área de lengua extranjera, a las finalidades educativas reflejadas en su proyecto curricular de centro.
Los alumnos/as que asisten a este centro pertenecen a una clase media y sus familias están preocupadas por el hecho de que la educación de sus hijos sea lo más completa posible. Por todo ello, fue muy bien recibida la idea de iniciar la enseñanza de la lengua extranjera a la edad de ocho años.
Este centro dispone de los medios con los que habitualmente cuentan todos los colegios: cassette, vídeo, fotocopiadora, etc. Durante el desarrollo de esta unidad se ha utilizado material fotocopiado, "wallpictures", un cuento, la pizarra, cassette, materiales que sirven de apoyo a las tareas propuestas.
Las clases se han realizado en las mismas aulas en las que los alumnos/as se encuentran en el resto de la jornada escolar. En cada una de estas aulas se ha destinado un espacio para ir creando un ambiente relacionado con la lengua extranjera y en el que los alumnos puedan contemplar sus propios trabajos.
El tiempo dedicado a su desarrollo ha sido de períodos de treinta minutos diarios. Se considera que estos períodos de tiempo han sido adecuados y, en cualquier caso, no se recomienda que sean superiores a cuarenta y cinco minutos. En cada una de las sesiones ha habido tiempo suficiente para terminar actividades con sentido en sí mismas sin provocar falta de motivación o cansancio trabajando en lengua extranjera.

OBJETIVOS
o Captar información general y específica en un cuento.
o Comprender instrucciones para realizar una casa y diferenciar sus partes.
o Leer de forma comprensiva palabras e instrucciones cortas sobre la casa y elementos que en ella puedes encontrar.
o Establecer relaciones entre los significados, la pronunciación y representación gráfica de las palabras relacionadas con las partes de la casa y los mueblas que puedes encontrar en ella.
o Mostrar actitudes abiertas de comprensión hacia las diferencias culturales que se manifiestan en la concepción de las viviendas.
o Transferir a la lengua extranjera los conocimientos que los alumnos/as tengan sobre la organización de su propio hogar.

CONOCIMIENTOS PREVIOS
En el tercer nivel de la etapa de Educación Primaria, los alumnos/as tienen por primera vez contacto institucional con la lengua extranjera. Por ello, los conocimientos previos en los que se basan las primeras unidades del curso se relacionan fundamentalmente con las experiencias y aprendizajes ya realizados en lengua materna. Esta unidad, que se trabajó en el aula después de que los alumnos/ as hubiesen estado durante 5 meses en contacto con el inglés, incluye por lo tanto contenidos previos propios de la lengua extranjera así como de la lengua materna.
Los conocimientos previos se explicitan en la unidad por dos razones:
a) Aclarar cómo se organizan los datos que ayudan a crear situaciones de aprendizaje significativo.
b) Presentar los elementos que se reciclan y han formado parte de aprendizajes anteriores.
Los conocimientos previos en los que se basa esta Unidad son los siguientes:
Bloque de Comunicación Oral y Escrita:
o Participación en situaciones de comunicación relativas a: colours, animals, objects.
o Ejecución de instrucciones simples, derivadas del uso del inglés en el aula: close/open the door/ window. Listen. Look., etc.
o Inferencias de significados de sustantivos a partir de la información no verbal.
o Relaciones entre significados de palabras y su forma oral y escrita.
o Imitación de modelos de entonación y ritmo.
o Participación en intercambios comunicativos muy sencillos.
o Contestación a preguntas de si/no.
o Uso del inglés como medio de comunicación en el aula, sobre todo en la compresión de mensajes emitidos por el profesor/a.
Bloque de Aspectos Socioculturales:
o Observación de diferencias entre nuestra forma de vida y las de otros países.
o Reconocimiento de fórmulas básicas de cortesía: please.
o Identificación de personajes de los cuentos en inglés que tienen equivalentes en lengua materna: The Three Bears, Goldilocks, Cinderella.
o Respeto e interés por las personas que hablan otra lengua.

CONTENIDOS
Los contenidos nuevos que se introducen en esta unidad didáctica se agrupan en torno a los mismos bloques mencionados anteriormente en el apartado de Conocimientos Previos.
No se especifican por separado los conceptos, procedimientos y actitudes ya que se producen interrelaciones entre los mismos en las situaciones de enseñanza-aprendizaje.
El punto de partida para la propuesta de contenidos es el tema o centro de interés, del cual se desprende una serie de situaciones de comunicación que se concretan en las actividades que, a su vez, generan el lenguaje a utilizar. Por todo ello, los procedimientos constituyen el eje alrededor del cual se organizan los demás contenidos. Puesto que se parte de un "Enfoque Basado en la Actividad", es necesario hacer una lectura paralela del Anexo I en el que se clasifican todas las actividades para comprender mejor la programación de esta unidad.
Esta Unidad Didáctica incluye los siguientes contenidos:
1) Centro de interés: House and Home, que incluye lo siguiente:
- Making a house. - Rooms in a house. - Furniture. - Playing in a house.
1.a. Funciones:
Following instructions:
- Draw the door/the windows.
- Cut out the bedroom/bathroom/table...
- Show me the armchair/wardrobe.
- Stick them up.
- Point to the bathroom/kitchen...
Understanding a sequence of instructions:
- First..., now..., then..., finally...
Finding/locating people:
- Where am I?
- Are you in the bathroom/ kitchen? Yes, I am/No, I'm not
- Where's Spot?
- Is he under the bed? No
- Is he in the wardrobe? No.
Locating rooms:
- It's up/down on the left/right
1.b. Léxico:
- house, fridge, flat, table, home, chair, door, sofa, window, rug, bathroom, armchair, bedroom, televisión, kitchen, bed, living room, wardrobe, bath
1.c. Aspectos fonológicos
- Resaltar el acento de palabra, sobre todo cuando se trata de palabras similares en la lengua extranjera y en la lengua materna: sofá, televisión. Marcar el acento con palmadas.
- Entonación de frases interrogativas: Is he in the wardrobe? Is he under the bed? Where am I?
2) Bloque de Comunicación Oral y escrita.
- Reconocimiento en un contexto distinto de elementos de vocabulario ya conocidos a través del lenguaje del aula.
- Captación del orden en que se da una secuencia de informaciones y mostrarlo a través de respuestas no verbales.
- Imitación de aspectos entonativos y rítmicos a partir de los modelos emitidos por el profesor/a otros medios.
- Interpretación de mensajes a partir de gestos y acciones: Where am I? I'm not in the bathroom, etc.
- Colocación de dibujos a partir de los mensajes orales percibidos.
- Asociación de significados nuevos con sus formas orales y escritas: rooms, furniture.
- Identificación de elementos de un cuento manipulativo, apoyándose en las ilustraciones, título, formato, etc.
- Comprensión de un cuento, participando en la construcción del mismo con respuestas de Yes/ No.
- Asociación de dibujos con las palabras inglesas correspondientes.
- Desarrollo de actitudes y habilidades creativas como formas de expresión.
- Participación en juegos y trabajos de grupo, aceptando las reglas y colaborando con los demás.
3) Bloque de Aspectos Socioculturales.
- Reconocimiento de palabras similares en nuestra lengua y cultura y las transmitidas por la lengua extranjera: sofá, televisión.
- Observación de las diferencias existentes entre nuestras viviendas comunes y las más características del Reino Unido, valorando lo que hay en común y lo distintivo.
- Identificación de relaciones entre los tipos de vivienda y la forma de vida: clima, horarios, etc.
- Diferenciación de los significados de palabras que se relacionan: house, flat, home.
- Identificación del personaje del cuento -Spot- en los conocidos por los alumnos/as, buscando su equivalente.
- Valoración de rasgos lingüísticos y de cortesía propios de la lengua extranjera.

MATERIAL DEL ALUMNO/A: HOUSE AND HOME
1 . - MAKE A HOUSE: Follow the instructions
2. - DRAW AND COLOUR: Finish the house.
3. - LOOK AND LISTEN: Look at the plan and listen to the teacher.
4. - LISTEN AND SING: Sing a song.
5. - PLAY A GAME: Hide in a room and guess.
6. - LISTEN AND DO: Cut out the rooms in the right order.
7. - LISTEN AND SET: Set the rooms in the right order.
8. - DRAW: Draw a plan of your house.
9. - LISTEN TO THE STORY: Say Yes or No.
10. - PLAY A GAME: Listen and take the picture.
11. - CUT OUT AND SHOW: Listen and follow the instructions.
12. - PLAY DOMINOES: Match the pictures and the words.
13. - LOOK AND DO: Place the furniture in the right room...
14. - WORK IN GROUPS: Draw a room and make a house with your group.

GUÍA DIDÁCTICA: HOUSE AND HOME
WARM-UPS:
Estas actividades tienen como finalidad centrar la atención de los alumnos/as en la lengua extranjera al comienzo de cada sesión de trabajo, por lo tanto, su duración no tiene que ser superior o dos o tres minutos. La selección de una de estas actividades para cada sesión queda a criterio del profesor/ a, considerando que debe relacionarse con algo que se haya trabajado previamente en el aula o con la sesión del momento. Se dan a continuación sugerencias sobre los Warm-ups que se pueden realizar en esta unidad didáctica:
- Cantar la canción "Where am I?"
- Hacer el juego "Hide and seek".
- Contar el cuento "Where's Spot?", escondiéndolo cada vez en un sitio diferente. Los alumnos muestran los carteles Yes/No, según crean.
1. MAKE A HOUSE
Pedir a los alumnos/as que miren atentamente el dibujo que corresponde a esta primera actividad y que piensen de qué se puede tratar. El profesor/a pregunta: What is it? Why? Los alumnos/as dan respuestas en lengua materna y el profesor/a parafrasea en inglés las respuestas dadas:
- Yes, it's a house. - This is the door. - These are the windows. - This is the roof.
El profesor muestra sobre un plano cada una de las instrucciones que va dando a los alumnos/as y hace una casa junto con ellos. Es conveniente ayudarse de objetos reales (scissors), de mímica y acciones (Cut the line, Don't cut the dotted line, etc.) y señalar las partes necesarias del dibujo para aclarar el significado de las instrucciones. Las instrucciones son las siguientes:
- Take the scissors. Cut the line... Don't cut the dotted line. Join these two squares. Now, join the other two parts in this way. Do the same in the other side. Stick like this. Write your name on the house.
Si en esta sesión no se hacen más actividades, es conveniente que todas las casas se queden guardadas juntas en algún armario o rincón del aula.
Classroom language
- Look at the picture. What is it? No, it isn't a box. Yes, it's a house. This is a door/roof... These are the windows. Look at me. In this way. Try again. Right. Very good. Put the houses over there.
2. DRAW AND COLOUR
Cada alumno/a trabaja de nuevo con la casa que ha hecho para terminar de dibujarla y colorearla. Si esta actividad se realiza en la sesión siguiente, el profesor puede ir cogiendo las casas que estarán colocadas todas juntas en algún lugar de la clase y preguntar a los alumnos/as: Whose is this house? Pablo/Lola, this is yours. This is your house.
A continuación, el profesor/a va indicando las partes de la casa que deben dibujar:
- Draw the door/the four windows. Follow the dotted lines.
Al mismo tiempo que da las instrucciones, el profesor/a debe ir señalando la parte correspondiente en la casa que ha hecho y terminar de dibujarla. Todo ello ayudará a aclarar el significado de cada instrucción, aunque los alumnos/as pueden estar ya familiarizados con el vocabulario básico por el uso previo del inglés en el aula en expresiones tales como: Open/close the door/the window.
Finalmente, cada alumno/a colorea su casa, después de escuchar la instrucción: Colour your house. Cuando todos/as han terminado, contestan individualmente a las preguntas que hace el profesor/a:
- What colour is the door/roof? What colour are the windows?
Classroom language
- Can you take your house, please. Whose is this? Pablo/María, this is your house. Draw the door/the four windows. Colour the house. What colour is the door/roof? What colour are the windows? Show me your house, please. Very nice.
3. LOOK AND LISTEN
El profesor/a muestra una ampliación del mismo plano que tienen los alumnos/as y que presenta un corte de una casa. Señalando cada una de las habitaciones, va diciendo los nombres: This is the bedroom/ bathroom kitchen/ living room...
A continuación el profesor/a va señalando las diferentes habitaciones, diciendo el nombre unas veces correctamente y otras no. A la pregunta: Is it right? Los alumnos/as contestan Yes/No, según sea adecuado. Por ejemplo, el profesor señala el dormitorio y dice: This is the bathroom. Is it right? Los alumnos/as responden: No.
Finalmente, los alumnos/as señalan sobre su plano las habitaciones que va indicando el profesor/a, atendiendo al orden en que se nombran.
Classroom language
- Look at the plan. This is the bedroom/bathroom/kitchen/living room... This is the bathroom/bedroom... Is it right? Point to the bedroom/bathroom...
4. LISTEN AND SING
Esta canción incluye frases que van a ser de utilidad para el juego de la actividad siguiente.
Primero el profesor/a pone la grabación o canta la canción una vez, al mismo tiempo que representa con gestos y acciones los significados fundamentales, que se relacionan a continuación:
Where am I? - gesto indicando la pregunta, señalándose a sí mismo/a.
I'm not in the kitchen - acción negativa que se indica con movimiento de la cabeza o del dedo. Igual para el resto de las frases negativas.
Si es necesario, se puede utilizar la fotocopia ampliada del plano para indicar la habitación que corresponde a cada pregunta. Los alumnos/as escuchan de nuevo la canción y esta vez imitan las acciones y gestos del profesor/a en el momento adecuado.
Finalmente todos intentan cantar la canción acompañándola de nuevo con acciones y gestos y repitiendo cada frase después del profesor/a de la grabación si es necesario. Se puede dividir la clase en dos grandes grupos, de forma que un grupo cante la primera parte y el segundo grupo sólo la parte que dice: Yes. Yes. You're in the living room. Yes. Yes. You're in the living-room. Después se cambian los papeles entre los dos grupos.
Classroom language
- Listen to the song. Look at me. Mime the actions. Let's sing the song. Repeat after me. Let's sing in groups. New, change over.
5. PLAY A GAME
Se trata de un juego de adivinación con el que los alumnos/as ya están familiarizados en lengua materna- "el escondite" (Hide and Seek). Hacer esta aclaración a los alumnos/as les ayudará a entender la mecánica del juego y a entender el significado de las expresiones básicas.
En primer lugar es el profesor/a quien se esconde imaginariamente en una de las habitaciones del plano (living room.) y pregunta a los alumnos: Where am I? Los alumnos/as le hacen preguntas individualmente o en grupo, para ello pueden practicar preguntas, que incluso pueden cantar previamente siguiendo el orden de la canción que ya conocen: Are you in the kitchen/ the bathroom/ the bedroom? A estas preguntas, va contestando: NO, I'm not y finalmente Yes, I am.
A continuación sale un alumno/a delante de la clase y decide en qué habitación se va a esconder sin decírselo a los demás. La clase le hace preguntas del mismo tipo: Are you in the bathroom/ kitchen...? hasta que lo adivinan.
Se puede repetir lo mismo con varios/as alumnos/as hasta que se compruebe que han captado la dinámica del juego y las expresiones a utilizar.
Finalmente, pueden hacer el mismo juego en parejas, cambiando los papeles en cada partida.
Classroom language
- Let's play "Hide and Seek". Pablo, come here please. Ana, hide in a room. Ask questions. Play in pairs.
6. LISTEN AND DO
El profesor/a comienza presentando el mobiliario fundamental que corresponde a cada habitación para que los alumnos/as se empiecen a familiarizar con el mismo: This is the bedroom. There is a bed/ a chair/ a picture... in the bedroom. This is the bathroom. There is a bath/... etc.
El profesor/a va dando instrucciones para recortar cada una de las habitaciones en orden:
- Cut the rooms in the right order.
- First, cut out the bathroom. Put it on the table.
- Now, cut out the kitchen. Put it on the table.
- Then, cut out the bedroom. Put it on the table.
- Finally, cut out the living room. Put it on the table.
Para comprobar si los alumnos/as son capaces de reconocer los nombres de las distintas habitaciones, se pueden dar las siguientes instrucciones: Can you show me the bathroom/ kitchen....please?
Estos recortes hay que guardarlos para la actividad siguiente. Si se realiza en otra sesión, es conveniente que se queden todos recogidos en sobres individuales
Classroom language
- Listen to my instructions. Cut out the pictures of the rooms. That's not the bathroom. It's the kitchen. That's right. Keep them in an envelope.
7. LISTEN AND SET
Si esta actividad se hace en otra sesión, los alumnos/as deben sacar los dibujos recortados que estarán guardados: Take the envelope. Take the pictures out.
El objetivo de esta actividad es colocar cada habitación en la parte correspondiente de la casa. Para ello, se trabaja con los conceptos de Up/Down y Right/Left. En unidades anteriores ya se ha practicado con left/right en relación con partes del cuerpo.
Es conveniente hacer alguna actividad previa de Respuesta Física Total o algún juego corno "Simon says... " con el fin de que los alumnos/as recuerden lo que ya saben, por ejemplo: Stand up, sit down, show me your left/right hand/leg, etc.
El profesor/a señala el plano y va indicando: Up, down, left, right, up on the left, up on the right, down on the left, down on the right. A continuación los alumnos/as señalan la parte que va nombrando el profesor/a.
Finalmente, el profesor/a va dando las indicaciones para colocar cada habitación en su sitio:
- The bedroom is up on the left. The bathroom is up on the right. The living room is down on the left. The kitchen is down on the right.
Se pueden ir combinando las instrucciones para practicar más. Cuando se haga la distribución definitiva, los alumnos/as pueden comprobar el resultado con su compañero/a y pegan cada habitación en su lugar. A continuación recortan las palabras correspondientes a los nombres de las habitaciones y las pegan debajo de la habitación adecuada.
Classroom language
- Set the rooms in the right order. Listen to the instructions. Check with your partner. Use glue to stick up the rooms. Cut out the words. Throw the papers to the bin! Match the words with the rooms. Good.
8. DRAW
Los alumnos/as deben dibujar un plano sencillo de su casa, en el que figuren las habitaciones principales: Draw a plan of your house/flat. Es especialmente importante que dibujen su habitación: Draw your bedroom. También deben dibujar algunos muebles en cada una de las habitaciones. Finalmente deben escribir en inglés el nombre de las habitaciones principales, mirando la actividad anterior si necesitan ayuda.
Mientras los alumnos/as realizan la actividad, el profesor/a circula por la clase y va haciendo algunas preguntas individualmente: What is it? o va diciendo en inglés los nombres de algunos de los muebles dibujados al mismo tiempo que los va señalando: This is a sofa/bed/ bath...
Una vez que hayan terminado todos los planos, se fomentará un diálogo que permita contrastar en términos generales la vivienda típica británica con las nuestras, diferenciando flat/house, la vida en el interior de la casa más que en la calle (por el clima), los rasgos de una casa típica británica, el nivel de confort, el jardín, etc.
Classroom language
- Draw a plan of your house/flat. Write the names of the rooms. Draw the furniture. Do you live in a house/ in a flat? Who lives in a house/a flat? Put your hands up.
9. LISTEN TO THE STORY
El cuento se titula "Where's Spot?" (Autor: Eric Hill). Se trata de un cuento interactivo que exige la participación de los alumnos/as mientras se cuenta. Argumento: Sally no encuentra a su cachorro, Spot, y lo está buscando por toda la casa.
Las ilustraciones son manipulativas de forma que ante todas las preguntas es posible mirar en un lugar y comprobar si Spot se encuentra allí.
Texto del cuento
Naughty Spot! It's dinner time. Where can he be?
Is he behind the door? No.
Is he inside the clock? No.
Is he in the piano? No.
Is he under the stairs? No.
Is he in the wardrobe? No.
Is he under the bed? No.
Is he in the box? No.
There's Spot! He's under the rug. Try the basket. Good boy, Spot. Eat up your dinner!
El profesor/a explica brevemente el contexto en el que se desarrolla esta historia. Los alumnos/as recortan las dos indicaciones con las palabras Yes/No y muestran individualmente una de ellas cada vez que en el cuento se hace una pregunta.
El cuento se puede contar en otras ocasiones, escondiendo a Spot en sitios diferentes y haciendo las mismas preguntas, aunque se puede alterar el orden de las mismas.
Actividad Complementaria: Los alumnos/as pueden confeccionar un cuento basándose en imágenes manipulables, para poder utilizarlo con el vocabulario que ya conocen (por ejemplo, nombres de habitaciones). Al final de esta unidad, también podrían utilizar nombres de muebles y objetos de la casa.
Classroom language
- Listen to the story. Sally is trying to find Spot. Cut out the sings. Where's Spot? Yes or No?
10. PLAY A GAME
El profesor/a prepara flashcards utilizando fotocopias ampliadas de las ilustraciones de mobiliario y las coloca al azar en la pizarra. Cada flashcard debe ir acompañada del nombre del objeto correspondiente para que los alumnos/as se familiaricen con la forma escrita de las palabras.
Antes de empezar el juego, el profesor/a va presentando el nombre de cada objeto al tiempo que lo muestra a la clase y lo coloca en la pizarra. Después el profesor/a va nombrando cada uno y los alumnos/as los señalan en sus dibujos.
Se forman dos equipos en la clase, que se colocan en fila en la parte de atrás. Los alumnos/as que quedan en cabeza son los encargados de coger la flashcard que nombra el profesor/a en cada ocasión. De esta forma, en cada ocasión le toca el turno a dos alumnos/as diferentes. Gana el equipo que consigue más flashcards.
Classroom language
- Split in two teams. Stand at the back of the class. Stand on two lines. Come and take the pictures. Listen. Are you ready? Come on. It's your turn.
11. CUT OUT AND SHOW
El profesor/a da instrucciones para que los alumnos/ as recorten cada uno de los dibujos en el orden adecuado: Cut out the armchair/fridge/table... A continuación los van mostrando en el orden indicado por el profesor/a: Can you show me the armchair/the sofa/the chair...?
Repartir a los alumnos/as etiquetas en blanco para que copien en cada una el nombre de cada objeto o mueble. Para ello, pueden mirar las palabras de la actividad anterior. Por parejas, deben intentar asociar cada palabra con el dibujo correspondiente. Cuando terminen, guardan los recortes en un sobre para utilizarlos en la actividad N° 13.
Classroom language
- Look at the pictures. Cut out the table/sofa... Show me the armchair/bed... Check with your partner.
12. PLAY DOMINOES
Los niños/as ya están familiarizados con este juego en lengua materna. El objetivo es asociar dibujos con las palabras correspondientes, formando cadenas.
Organizar la clase en pequeños grupos y repartir un juego de dominó a cada alumno/a de manera que siempre tengan algunas piezas diferentes a los demás compañeros/as. Según el número de jugadores, se puede fotocopiar y recortar el número de cartas que sea necesario.
Los alumnos/as se van turnando para intentar asociar sus cartas. Gana el alumno/a que antes consigue colocar correctamente todas las que le han correspondido. El profesor/a circula por la clase y presta ayuda cuando sea necesario.
Classroom language
- Let's play dominoes. Play in small groups (of four). Match the words and the pictures. Start. Who is the winner? Let's try again. It's your turn.
13. LOOK AND DO
Los alumnos/as trabajan en grupos de cuatro y utilizan los recortes que guardaron en la actividad N° 11. Cada alumno/a se encarga de colocar el mobiliario y objetos que corresponden a una habitación, disponiéndolos de la mejor forma posible y coloreándolos. Para que les resulte más fácil y el resultado final sea mejor, el profesor/ a puede fotocopiar el recuadro de la habitación y repartírselo a los alumnos/a. Después pegan cada habitación en una parte de la casa. Con el fin de repasar las instrucciones: up/ down/on the left/on the right, el profesor/a puede dar las instrucciones a toda la clase.
Cada grupo dedica un tiempo a preparar una breve descripción oral de su casa y a continuación cada grupo informa al resto de la clase. Por ejemplo: There is a... in the bedroom/bathroom...
Actividades Complementarias: Los alumnos/as pueden terminar de adornar la casa, añadiendo detalles tales como plantas, cuadros, lámparas, etc. El profesor/a circula por la clase y va diciendo en inglés lo que los alumnos/as van dibujando: What's this? It's a...
Classroom language
- Play in groups of four. Stick the furniture in the right room. The kitchen is finished. Very nice. Stick the rug where you want. Listen. Place the rooms in the plan. Draw what you like. Colour it.
14. WORK IN GROUPS
Los alumnos/as trabajan en grupos de cuatro. Se reparte a cada alumno/a una de las indicaciones de la actividad. Cada alumno/a, según su indicación, debe dibujar una habitación con todos los detalles que quiera y después deben de confeccionar la casa ideal entre todos los componentes del grupo.
Cuando hayan terminado, todas las casas se colocan en un rincón de la clase, con un cartel en cada una de ellas que diga: Home, sweet home. Dialogar con los alumnos/as sobre las diferencias correspondientes a los conceptos de House/Home.
Classroom language
- Work in groups. Make your ideal house. Draw a room. Write your names. Put it on the noticeboard.
INSTRUMENTOS DE EVALUACIÓN
Se muestran a continuación algunos instrumentos de evaluación para utilizar en esta Unidad Didáctica:
1) Diario de Clase.
Se recomienda que los alumnos completen el diario de clase durante tres o cuatro veces al menos a lo largo de toda la Unidad. Las frases a completar en el diario son las siguientes:
- I'm good at... - I like...
Los datos aportados por los alumnos/as nos darán sugerencias en torno a los tipos de actividades que les gustan y las que han podido resultar difíciles o fáciles para la mayoría.
2) Perfil del Alumno/a
Es interesante empezar a configurar el perfil del alumno/a en lengua extranjera desde la iniciación a la misma en el segundo ciclo de la Etapa de Educación Primaria. El perfil se puede ir elaborando en un cuaderno destinado a tal fin, en el que se vayan recogiendo muestras representativas del trabajo del alumno/a y de su nivel de progresión. También se podrían añadir otros materiales de otras áreas o de actividades fuera del aula que el alumno/a considere que son representativos de su esfuerzo.
Una vez finalizada esta Unidad, se puede pedir a cada alumno/a individualmente que selecciones dos trabajos representativos de su esfuerzo y que los incorpore a su perfil, pegándolos en un cuaderno. No incluiremos en el perfil ningún trabajo que el alumno/a considere que no es muestra de su esfuerzo o progresión.
3) Actividades finales
Se sugieren a continuación dos actividades que pueden servir a los alumnos/as para mantener un fichero de aspectos fundamentales tratados en la Unidad. Sobre todo están encaminadas a consolidar vocabulario y a servir de instrumento de referencia y recuerdo fácil para el alumno/a.
A) Dar a los alumnos/as tarjetas con los nombres en inglés del vocabulario básico de la Unidad. Los alumnos/as hacen los dibujos correspondientes en folios y pegan cada palabra junto al dibujo adecuado. Se puede incluir el siguiente vocabulario básico:
- bathroom, fridge, armchair, bedroom, table, television, kitchen, chair, bed, living room, sofa, wardrobe, rug, bath.
B) Relacionar con flechas los nombres de muebles y objetos de la casa con las habitaciones donde se pueden encontrar.

8. BIBLIOGRAFÍA

ALCARAZ, E. Y MOODY, B. (1982). Didáctica del inglés: metodología y programación. Madrid: Alhambra.
ÁLVAREZ, L., E. SOLER Y J. HERNÁNDEZ (1995). Proyecto educativo, proyecto curricular, progración de aula. Madrid: S.M.
BARBERÁ, V. (1993). Proyecto Curricular del tercer ciclo de Educación Primaria. Madrid: Escuela Española.
BELL, R.T. (1981). An Introduction to Applied Linguistics. Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching. London: Batsford Academic and Educational Ltd.
BESTARD MONROIG, J. (1983). Preparación y desarrollo de las clases de inglés. Madrid: Edi-6.
BLOOM, B.S. (1972). Taxonomy of Educational Objectives: the Classification of Educational Goals. New York: David Mckay Co.
BROWN, H. D. (1987). Principles of Foreign Language Learning and Teaching. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
BRUMFIT, C.J. (ed.) (1984). General English Syllabus Design. Oxford: Pergamon Press and the British Council.
DANGERFIELD, L. (1985). "Lesson planning" en MATTHEWS, A. et al. (eds.) (1985).
DAVIES, I. (1976). Objectives in Curriculum Design. London: McGraw-Hill.
DUBIN, F.& E. OLSHTAIN (1986). Course Design. Developing Programs and Materials for Language Learning. Cambridge: C.U.P.
FRIED-BOOTH (1986). Project work. O.U.P.
GIMENO SACRISTÁN, J. (1985). Teoría de la enseñanza y desarrollo del currículo. Salamanca: Anaya.
GREENWOOD, J. (1981). "Planning your teaching" en ABBOTT, G.& P.WINGARD (eds.) (1981). The Teaching of English as an International Language. A Practical Guide. Glasgow & London: Collins.
HALLIWELL, S. (1993). La enseñanza del inglés en la Educación Primaria. Longman.
HAMMER, J. (1987). Teaching and Learning English. London: Longman.
MATTHEWS, A. et al. (eds.) (1985). At the Chalkface. Edward Arnold.
NULAN, D. (1988). Syllabus Design. O.U.P.
NULAN, D. (1989). Designing tasks for the Communicative Approach. C.U.P.
PALMER,D. (1985). "A revision lesson plan using information transfer, a discourse chain and role play" en MATTHEWS, A. Et al. (eds.) (1985).
SEGOVIA AGUILAR, J. y otros (1992). Fun Boat! Proyecto para la Enseñanza del Inglés en Educación Primaria. Colección de Materiales Curriculares para la Educación Primaria. Sevilla: Junta de Andalucía
SPRATT, M. (1985). "A reading skills lesson" en MATTHEWS, A. Et al. (eds.) (1985).
VARIOS (1992). Decreto de Educación Primaria. Anexo: área de Lengua Extranjera. Colección de Materiales Curriculares para la Educación Primaria. Sevilla: Junta de Andalucía.
VARIOS (1992). Módulos didácticos. 3. Lenguas extranjeras. Colección de Materiales Curriculares para la Educación Primaria. Sevilla: Junta de Andalucía.
VARIOS (1992). Orientaciones para la secuenciación de contenidos. 1. Área de Lengua Extranjera. Colección de Materiales Curriculares para la Educación Primaria. Sevilla: Junta de Andalucía.
WILKINS,D.A. (1976). Notional Syllabuses. Oxford: O.U.P.
YALDEN,J. (1983). The Communicative Syllabus: Evolution, Design and Implementation. Oxford: Pergamon Press.
YALDEN,J. (1987). Principles of Course Design for Language Teaching: Cambridge: C.U.P.
ZABALZA, M.A. (1988). Diseño y desarrollo curricular. Madrid: Narcea.

TEMA 21.- LA PROGRAMACIÓN DEL AREA DE LENGUAS EXTRANJERAS: UNIDADES DE PROGRAMACIÓN. CRITERIOS PARA LA SECUENCIA Y TEMPORALIZACIÓN DE CONTENIDOS Y OBJETIVOS. SELECCIÓN DE LA METODOLOGÍA A EMPLEAR EN LAS ACTIVIDADES DE APRENDIZAJE Y EVALUACIÓN:

1) INTRODUCTION

2) FOREIGN LANGUAGE AREA PLANNING: DIDACTIC UNITS

3) CRITERIA TO ESTABLISH THE SEQUENCE OF OBJECTIVES AND CONTENTS

4) SELECTION OF THE METHODOLOGY TO USE IN LEARNING
AND ASSESSMENT ACTIVITIES

5) BIBLIOGRAPHY

1.- INTRODUCTION:

The Organic Act 1/1990 of General Arrangement of the Educational System introduced some important changes, aimed at improving the quality of education in Spain. Among these changes we can mention:

- The extension of compulsory education to the age of 16 years old

- The establishment of new educational stages such as: Infant, Primary and Compulsory Secondary Education.

- These stages are organised in cycles, which is the period that should be considered for teaching programs and promotion.

- The establishment of a curriculum which, in spite of having certain aspects which are compulsory for all the country, is also open and flexible, as the different autonomous educational services could adapt it to their real context. Then, each school should adapt the official curriculum to their real environment by means of the design and development of the Curricular Project.

- Every teacher should design his/her particular teaching planning according to the decisions taken in the Curricular project.

Then, taking into account these basic aspects of the Educational Reform, we are going to deal with:

- The elements and specific characteristics of foreing language teaching planning.

- The criteria we must take into account for the sequence of objectives and contents

- The methodological principles we should bear in mind to design the learning and assessment activities.

2.-FOREIGN LANGUAGE AREA PLANNING:

As we have said before, our educational system establishes and open and flexible curriculum which must be adapted to the particular needs of students through different levels:

The First level, refers to the official curriculum which contains the general objectives of each stage for the different areas, their blocks of contents and assessment criteria.

The Second level, includes the Curricular Project of each stage, where each school adapts the elements of the official curriculum to its particular context.
According to the R.D. 82/1996, the Curricular Project should include the following elements:

- The general objectives of the stage adapted to the socio-cultural context of the school.
- The sequence of objectives, contents and evaluation criteria of the different areas per cycle.
- General methodological decisions that affect the following aspects: Methodological principles, groupings, space, time and materials.
- General decisions about the attention to pupils with special needs.

And finally in the third level of curricular development, each teacher should design his/her teaching planning which consist of a set of didactic units, taking into account the decisions made by the teaching staff in the Curricular Project.

Then the teaching planning is defined in the curricular material known as Red Boxes as: 'the process whereby, starting from the official curriculum and the decisions taken in the Curricular Project, teachers plan the work that is going to be developed in the class. As a result, we have a set of sequenced didactic units for a given cycle'.

Teaching planning should be:

" Adapted to the context and pupil's needs
" Flexible, which implies that we must be ready to change any of it elements if we feel that they are not appropriate for a particular group of students.
" Concrete, as it should give clear information about the teaching/ learning process which is going to be developed in the classroom.
" Realistic, as the teacher should have the space, time and materials to carry out the activities he/she has designed and this activities should be adapted to the student's level.

Teaching planning covers two aspects:

1. First, it includes several general decisions to ensure the coherence of the teaching process and the link between the different didactic units throughout the cycle.

These decisions, which are taken by the teaching staff of the cycle, deal with :

- Arrangement and sequence of contents throughout the cycle

- General guidelines about: space, time, materials, pupils groupings and
evaluation

2. In the second place, the teaching planning includes the design of the didactic units. In relation to the design of didactic units the teaching staff of the cycle should:

" Find topics which meet the students interests and needs
" Decide the objectives and contents to be worked on in each unit.
" Design activities according to these objectives and contents.
" Choose the materials suitable for each unit.
" Decide about the strategies to assess the students performance and the teaching practice.

Now, we are going to deal with the first aspect we have mention, the general decisions to ensure the coherence of the teaching process throughout the cycle, which include: THE SEQUENCE AND TIMING OF OBJECTIVES AND CONTENTS.

2.1.- CRITERIA TO ESTABLISH THE SEQUENCE AND TIMING OF OBJECTIVES AND CONTENTS:

As we have seen when talking about the Curricular project, one of the decisions made in such document is the sequence of objectives, contents, and assessment criteria of each area along the different cycles.

Then, once the teaching staff has decided the objectives and contents programme per cycle, in the Curricular Project, the cycle teacher or teachers have to decide about the sequence and timing of these objectives and contents within the cycle.

The term sequence refers to the order in which we are going to present the contents while the term timing refers to the amount of time we will need to achieve the objectives and teach the contents.

Since the establishment of this sequence is a difficult task, the Ministry of Education published a Resolution of the 5th of March 1992, that offered some criteria to establish such sequence:

1. The objectives and contents should be related to the global aim of Foreign language learning , which is the acquisition of communicative competence.

2. The objectives and contents should be arranged in a meaningful way

3. The arrangement of objectives and contents should ensure the coherence of the learning process

Regarding contents this Resolution says that:

1. We must go from the general and simple to the particular and complex. This applies to the arrangement of concepts and procedures, since it is difficult to arrange attitudinal contents into cycles.

2. There must be a balance between the three types of contents (concepts, procedures and attitudes).

3. As far as the procedures are concerned, the four skills should be developed in an interrelated way as they are in real communication.

4. However we must remember that in the Foreign Language Area curriculum for Primary Education, oral skills are stressed over written skills, and receptive skills are given the priority over productive skills.

5. Contents must be adapted to the students level of development: According to PIAGET and INHELDER (1984) children are at the concrete operational stage (between 7 and 11 years old) The characteristics of this stage are as follows:

" Children start to develop rational thinking starting from concrete objects, classes or relations.
" Children make progress in perceptive and motor aspects.
" Children begin to develop socialisation skills.

According to these characteristics we must remember the following guidelines:

" If children mental operations are based on their concrete experiences, we, as foreign language teachers, should select topics and activities connected to the pupils real experiences.
" If children develop their perceptive and motor abilities, we should contribute to this development by means of contents and activities which involve body movement or the use of their perceptive and creative abilities.
" We should also foster the development of socialisation skills. In this sense we should promote the development of positive attitudes such as co-operation and respect towards the contribution of others.

6. The contents should be presented in context. The new grammatical structures and vocabulary must be learnt in connection with the communicative functions that children need to express themselves in situations related to their needs and experiences.

When planning the sequence of objectives and contents we must take the following steps:

1. We must decide the degree in which the abilities expressed in the general objectives are going to be developed in each cycle, and choose the contents we need to reach them. For instance, starting from the objective number one of the foreign language area:

'To understand simple and oral written texts about known objects, situations and events, using general and specific information taken from those texts for specific purposes.'

We can sequence the abilities expressed in this objective, for the second cycle of Primary education, as follows:
'At the end of the second cycle pupils will be able to understand the general meaning of simple oral texts emitted by the teacher with a simple structure and vocabulary, in familiar contexts, and with the help of gestures, mime and any necessary repetition'

2. As we must teach the three types of contents in an interrelated way, we must choose any of them to organise the sequence. The best way to promote the development of communicative abilities is organising them around procedures. If we decide to do it in this way, we should consider the factors which determine the sequence and the degree of complexity of the communicative functions, since these will be the factors to be taken into account to set the sequence of contents. These factors, which are defined in the Resolution of the 5th of March, are:

- The type of oral or written texts
- The channel
- The type of comprehension
- The interlocutor
- The level of correction

Now, we are going to explain these criteria in detail.:

- The type of oral or written texts
Here we must consider the length, vocabulary, the linguistic structures, and organisation of the oral or written texts that we are going to use in class. Obviously, we must go from short simple texts to more complex ones.

- The channel
As far as channel is concerned we should consider if the oral or written messages that our students should understand or produce are going to be transmitted in a face to face communicative situation, or by means of a cassette recording or a written text. In this sense, we should start from face to face communication, because mime, gestures and expressions help pupils to understand.

- The type of comprehension
The type of comprehension refers to the information we ask them to extract from an oral or written message. This comprehension may be global ( if they should get the general sense of the message) or specific (if they have to extract specific details). The most logical progression goes from global to specific comprehension.

- The interlocutor
Regarding the interlocutor we should take into account if he/she is known or unknown for the student, if he/she belongs to the school context or not. At the beginning we should work with close interlocutors such as the teacher and the classmates.

- The level of correction
The level of correction deals with the demands about correction in the oral and written production of students. Obviously such demands increase along the cycles. At the beginning, they should produce language correctly enough to be understood.

3 .- Then, if we have decided to organise contents around procedures, we should not forget that the three types of contents (concepts, procedures and attitudes) must be considered in an interrelated way. Then we should relate them as in the following example:
"Recognising the characteristic sounds, rhythm and intonation patterns of the foreign language, realising the importance of being able to communicate in a foreign language

To see this relation more clear, the Resolution of the 5th of March suggests that we can display them in a chart, as follows

EXAMPLE OF SEQUENCE OF CONTENTS FOR THE SECOND CYCLE

Procedures
Concepts Attitudes

Recognising -Characteristic sounds
-Rhythm and intonation
patterns. - Realising the importance of oral communication in a foreign language.

Identifying -Words and sentences in texts related to the context of the classroom and daily life - Showing an optimistic attitude towards their own ability to understand the foreign language

Global comprehension - of messages with the following communicative intentions:
*Greeting (hello!,good morning...)
*Identifying oneself (I am. ,My name is...)
*Giving and asking for basic personal information (using expressions such as: What´s your name, How old are you?...)
- These communicative functions should be related to topics of general use and wide notions, which are interesting for children, such as:
*The school, family, friends, animals, body, home, numbers, colours...

- Showing a receptive attitude towards people who speak a different language.

Specific comprehension

- Of information previously required in contextualised situations*

- Showing a receptive attitude towards people who speak a foreign language.

*For instance, we ask children to fill a chart about the favourite sports of different characters from the textbook. First, we tell them what they are going to listen to a conversation where the characters talk about things they like and dislike and what information they should pay attention to. Then, we play the cassette or read the text aloud and they should complete the chart, with the specific information we have asked them for (sports, in this case)
TENNIS BASKETBALL FOOTBALL
STEVIE yes yes no
LUCY yes no yes
ANNIE no yes no

As we can see this task ask them to extract specific information (about favourite sports), previously required by the teacher, in a contextualised situation,( as they already recognise the characters voices, and know what they are talking about).

If we do this with all the general objectives we will have a list of the contents of each cycle including concepts procedures and attitudes.
These orientations are quite useful to establish the sequence of objectives, contents and assessment criteria, in the second and third cycle, but we must not forget that English has been introduced in the 1st cycle in our Autonomous Community.

Then the Order of 30th of August published by the Department of Education, Science and Technology of our Autonomous Government says in its article number 3 that:
"The centres must change and adapt their Curricular Projects to this change as the objectives, contents and evaluation criteria of the foreign language area, should be sequenced for three cycles, instead of two"

Obviously, as we haven't got our own curriculum yet, we must take as reference the objectives, contents and evaluation criteria of the R.D. 1344/91 of the 6th of September, which establishes the national curriculum for primary Education.

However, the Department of Education, Science and Technology of our Autonomous Government, has published a document, made by foreign language teachers co-ordinated by the Technical Inspection Service called "English in the first cycle of Primary Education". This document is not a law, it has been published just to help teachers. Regarding the abilities, skills and contents which should be worked in this cycle this document says that:

In the FIRST CYCLE:

- The most important skill in the first cycle should be listening.

- We must not force children to speak until they are ready to do it. Then at the beginning they can show what they have understood by means of non-verbal actions such as movements, gestures, drawing, cutting, pointing, colouring...

- Total Physical Response ( TPR) activities and songs are a good way to help them link words and actions, and express themselves in English in a funny and meaningful way.

- Written language should be avoided, especially in the first year of the cycle, because they are learning to read and write in their native language and the complex English spelling could be confusing for them.

- Contents should be taught by means of didactic units, organised around meaningful topics such as:, Family, Friends, Christmas, Things of the classroom, The house, Food, Toys, Clothes...

- Children must be already familiar with such topics in their native language. Then, the co-ordination with the class-teacher is very important to establish the sequence of the different didactic units along the cycle.

2.2.- DIDACTIC UNITS:

Now we are going to talk about the second moment of the teaching planning: the design and development of didactic units.

Didactic units are defined in the curricular material known as Red Boxes published by the Spanish Ministry of Education (1991) as:

A unit of educational action formed by a set of activities that are developed in an specific time, to reach a set of didactic objectives.

A didactic unit is the answer to all the curricular questions:

- What to teach? In the form of Objectives and contents

- When? Through the sequence of objectives and contents.

- How? By means of the learning activities, space and time organisation, didactic resources and materials.

- And what, when and how to evaluate, by means of the assessment criteria, and the different activities to carry out the initial, formative and final evaluation

A didactic unit should have the following elements:

1.- Description
2.- Didactic objectives
3.- Learning contents
4.- Activities
5.- Materials
6.- Space and time arrangement.
7.- Evaluation criteria and techniques used to carry out this process.

We are going to analyse this elements in detail:

1.- The Description is a kind of introduction which includes :

" The topic of the didactic unit
" A brief reference about pupils´ previous knowledge
" Cycle/ level and term
" Number of sessions
" Connection with the previous didactic units

2.-The didactic objectives are more specific than those designed for the cycle as they express the abilities that we want pupils acquire as a result of the work developed in a given didactic unit.

The didactic objectives must meet all the students' needs. This means that the teacher should include some basic objectives as well as more difficult ones designed to reinforce the acquisition process. In this way everyone could progress according to his / her possibilities.

3.- Learning contents: The didactic unit must include the three types of contents ( concepts, procedures and attitudes) taking into account that:

" There must be a balance between them
" They should be interrelated and connected to the students experience and needs.
" The teacher should include contents related to cross-curricular topics ( health, peace, environment protection...)

4.- Activities or learning experiences:

Once we have explained the main criteria to design the learning activities, we will focus on evaluation activities :

The general methodological principles for Primary education, included in the R.D. 1344/ 1991 of the 14th of June, evaluation is considered as a global and continuous process, which must be used as a tool to improve the teaching/learning process.

According to the document "Keys for the teaching of a foreign language(MEC,1991) the main aim of evaluation in the foreign language area is "to check if students are able to use the language in communicative situations"

Then, evaluation activities should not be different from learning ones. Direct observation of the students' work is the main evaluation technique, however in order to make this observation in a systematic way the document "Keys for the teaching of a foreign language" suggests that we should use an evaluation form containing the aspects to be observed on each kind of activity.

For example for the evaluation of oral activities this document suggest teachers to consider the following questions:

Has he/she completed the activity?
Does he/she understand the activity?
Can he/she make her/himself understood by means of words and gestures?
Is his/her pronunciation good enough to be understood?
Does he/she need help from the teacher or other students?

BIBLIOGRAPHY.

- Ley Orgánica 1/1990, de 3 de octubre de Ordenación General del Sistema Educativo.
- RD 1344/1991 de 6 de septiembre, por el que se establece el currículo de la Educación Primaria.
- RD 82/1996, de 26 de enero que establece el Reglamento Orgánico de las Escuelas de Educación infantil y colegios de Educación primaria.
- Resolución de 5 de marzo de 1992, de la Secretaria de Estado para la Educación, que regula la elaboración de proyectos curriculares y establece orientaciones para la distribución de objetivos, contenidos y criterios de evaluación.
- Orden del 30 de agosto de 2000, por la que se establece y regula la impartición de la lengua extranjera en el primer ciclo de Educación primaria, en el ámbito de la Comunidad Autónoma de Extremadura.
- MEC: Materiales para la Reforma, area de lengua extranjera. Madrid. Servicio de publicaciones del MEC. 1991.
- MEC. Proyecto Curricular. Materiales para la reforma. Madrid. Servicio de publicaciones del MEC, 1991.
- Brewster, Ellis and Girard. The primary English Teacher's Guide. London. Penguin. 1992.

(Se trata del tema 22 del temario específico de la especialidad de lengua extranjera)

TEMA 22: Variables to be taken into consideration in the
organization of the foreign language classroom. Pupils grouping,
space and time management, methodology selection, teachers' role,
. . .
1.- General Factors
1.1.- Age
Generally speaking, it is said that children learn more
quickly than adults but this is not so clear. Children learn more
quickly because of their innate abilities of acquisition in
primary levels. Children, because of their motivation to become a
communicator, develop a better pronunciation than adults, but
adults will acquire primary levels more rapidly because of their
greater cognitive abilities and strategies.
1.2.- Sex
It has been found that girls and boys use different
strategies when they are learning a language. Girls tends to be
mere communicative than boys.
1.3.- Motivation and attitudes.
Gardner and Lamberer stabled two main kinds of motivation:
-Integrative: The learner has a genuine interest in the
second language community
-Instrumental: His interest is in how the second language
can be useful towards furthering others goals.
It is clear that this is not enough to be highly motivated,
It must be acompained by others factors such as useful
strategies.
1.4.- Aptitude and intelligence
Learning a second language in a classroom involves two sets
of intellectual abilities:
- A general academic or reasoning ability called
intelligence
- Specifics cognitive qualities needed for second language
acquisition called aptitude
There are several problems to stablish the difference of
influence of both in the second language acquisition.
1.5.- Personality
Krashen argues that extroverted learners will find easier to
make contact with other users of the second language and
therefore will obtain more input.
Also Characteristics such as extroversion assertiveness and
adventuresomeness are predictable to be positive for learning
Social Skills. Allow the students to be related to the world and
culture of the country.
Other factors we have to consider are inhibition and axiety.
A teacher who reduces both in the whole learning process will
make students increase confidence when producing a language.
1.6.- Learning Styles
According to Ausubel, learning styles are define as "self-
consistent and enduring individual differences in cognitive
organization and functioning".
It can be inductive or deductive; dependent or independent;
holistic or analytic; ...
These cognitive learning stiles will be developed in the
chapter of learning strategies.
Age, sex, motivation, aptitude, intelligence, personality and
learning style stablish individual differences in the way or
second language acquisition. So we should consider them to
stablish
the most effective way to teach them
2.-"The good language learner" (Ellis) and the unsuccessful
learner
a)Ellis characteristics of a good language learner
*Be able to respond to the group dynamics of the learning
situations
*Seek out all opportunities to use the target language
*make maximum use of the opportunities to practice the
second language
*Supplement the learning that derive from the direct contact
with speakers of the second language
*Be an adolescent or an adult rather a young child
*Possess sufficient analytic skills to perceive categorize
and store the linguistic features of the second
language and also to monitor errors
*Possess a strong reason for learning the second language
and also develop a strong task motivation
*Be prepared to experiment by taking risk
*Be capable of adapting to different learning conditions
b) Characteristics of an unsuccessful language learner
*tendency toward a history of faliture
*Lack of confidence
*No risk taking
*Low self-steam
*Negative attributions
*Poor study habits and learning strategies
*Full of surprises
3.-Learner involvement: Strategies
For a successful learner-centred-comunicative methodology,
the teacher must be no more the "controller"
or the "conductor". S/he must help the learner to be
self-autonomous and aware with the global learning.
According to Hutchinson these are the characteristics that
should be enhanced with the classroom:
3.1.- Positive attitudes
To develop affectivity in the language, the learner and the
teacher have to work together.
The teacher role is to turn into a productive ingredient in
the learning pot. He is going to decide how
to conduct the process, materials, . . . He also should teach
attitudes, strategies, abilities, skills and other concepts
now included in the syllabus design. Positive attitudes are those
concerned with culture awareness.
3.2.- Awareness raising
Teacher must apply global contents. S/he must provide the
learner the strategies to become responsible.
The strategies included here are those affective ones.
3.3.-Skill development
The skills are directed toward cognitive and metacognitive
strategies.
Metacognive strategy is a learning strategy that involves
thinking about our knowledge of the learning
process.
Cognitive strategy is a strategy that involves mental
manipulation or transformation of materials or
tasks and is intended to enhance comprehension, acquisition or
retention.
Both are concerned with the "learning to learn".
3.4.- Basic tools for learning: Techniques
*Sound acquisition
-repeating aloud
-Listening carefully and talking aloud
*Grammar
-Following rules
-Inferring grammar rules
-Comparing L1 and L2
-Memorizing structures and using them
*Vocabulary
-Making up charts
-Learning words in context
-Learning words that are associated
-Using new words in phrases
-Using a dictionary
*Listening comprehension
-Listening to the radio
-Exposing oneself to different accents and registers
*Learning to talk
- Not being afraid to make mistakes
- Making contact with native speakers
- Asking for correction
*Learning to write
-Having penpals
-Writing frequently
-Frecuent reading of what you expect to write
*Learning to read
-Reading something everyday
-Reading things that are familiar
-Reading texts at the beginners level
-looking for meaning from the context
3.5.-Learner syllabus design (loopback)
The contents that a task based syllabus, like the Spanish
reform one, Should be divided into:
a)Contents which develop the oral communicatively abilities
b)Contents which develop the written communicatively
abilities
c)Sociocultural contents
These contents must include the strategies above mentioned.
These strategies will achieve the specific and the general aims.
A progresive evaluation will be considered during the academic
year. And one of the most important things included in the
syllabus is the selection of a methodology.
In summary, we are clamming a task based approach focused in
the process where evaluation and methodology are included in the
learning contents.
4.-Class management. Pupils grouping
LOCK-STEP
PAIR WORK
GROUP WORK INDIVIDUAL STUDY
A
D
V
A
N
T
A
G
E
S
*Anyone can
hear what
is
being said
*We get a
good
language
model
*We can
move
the lass at
a
fast pace
*Is not
very
stressing *Increases the pupils practice
*Motivation to learn with others
*Important for our youngest pupils
*Increases the amount of pupils talking time
*Gives them opportunities to use the language to communicate
*They learn and teach
exhibiting a degree of self-reliance which
is absent from teaching controlled
activities
*more dynamic
*Need a communication
more important
*more relax than
pair work
*Child relax from
outside pressure
*Child internalize what s/he is learning
*Permit our pupils
select between
diferent activities

D
I
S
A
D
V
A
N
T
A
G
E
*Children
does not
practice
very much
*lack of
heterogeneity
*lack of
effectiveness
for a
communication
work
*Noise problems
*How to group our pupils
*Some pupils do not like to work in pairs
*To motivate them
we have to tell them what the reason for the activity is
*Use of Spanish
*Use of Spanish
*Incorrectness
*Noise
*Motivated clearly
defined goals are
the solution
*Selection of group members

TEAC
H
ERSï
ROLE
*controller
*assessors
*Assessors
*Prompters
*resources
*Provides assistance
*Checks the task
is carried out satisfactorily

K
I
N
D
S
*OPEN PAIRS
Who are not Side by side perform a task. The rest listen them
*CLOSED PAIRS
The class is divided into pairs and working at the same
Time
*CLOSED & OPEN
Form new ones during the activity
*COOPERATIVE
Our two pupils have to help each other to
complete the activities
*STRONG & WEAK TOGETHER
Usually good for
Both
*GROUPS OF STRONG/WEAK
They could work different materials at
The same time
* Biggest size for a group is half class and only for competitive activities.
*Smallest group
(6 more or less)
*Flexible groups
As the activity progress the group split up and reform
*fixed groups for
all the year you can have group leaders
who make of group
organizer and
mini-teacher

5.-Space and time management
The teacher should consider this options:
5.1.-The physical enviroment
-Seating
-Voice proyection
-Blackboard
5.2.-Rapport between teacher and student
-physical position
-eye contact
-Using students names
-Personal involvement/enjoyment
-Encouragement
-Self-confidence
-Clarity
5.3.-Students' individual sense of belonging to a group
-teacher involving all equality
-Expressing their own personalities
-Constitution of groups in the class
5.4.-Classroom organization and lay out
-In most cases we do not have total freedom to organize
the classroom. Brewster underlines Six points to consider:
1.- A grid plan made to scale is useful if we have a large
class squeezed into a small area
2.- We must think about sitting our pupils in rows or groups
3.- Pupils who is closed to the teacher Concentrate more and
work harder
4.- A small classroom library colour coded acording to
difficulty
5.- Areas where our pupils can display their work
6.- Corners
5.4.1.- Classroom display
We must encourage them to display their work when setting a
display we must keep several points in mind:
1.-try to keep the work at our pupils eye level
2.-We may include related words pictures or a tape which may
tell a story which is described visually in a display
3.-As they must be eye catching, the titles and lettering
should be large and attractive
4.- We must ensure that the pupils' names are on their work
and above all, that all our pupils have something on display
5.5.-Time management
The differents groups can go at a different speed and what
we have planed could be good for one but not for the others. We
have to plot realistic timings for the complection of certain
activities.
We may be left with time to spare at the end of our lesson;
In these cases we need to have some activities reserved
6.-Selecting a methodology
Our curriculum established that the main aim of teaching a
foreign language in primary education is to enable our pupils to
reach communicative competence and its main subcomponents:
Grammar competence: Domain of grammar and lexical
capabilities
Discourse competence: written or speaking discourses with
coherence and cohesion.
Socio-linguistic competence: Understand the social context in
which the conversation takes place
Socio-cultural competence: Knowledge of cultural aspects of
the target language speaking countries
6.1.- Communication in the classroom
We can stablish a continuum where communicative and non
communicative activities are the extremes. In the classroom we
divide the work into 3 major activities depending on the point of
the continuum we are placed:
Presentation
Practice
Production
6.2.- Integrated Skills
Our activities will sometimes have to concentrate on one
single skill to reach our aims but we have to use that to
practicing others.
6.4.- Assessment
Continuous assessment is now the more wide spread method of
assessment in our schools. This assessment have to show our pupils
level of attainment, the effectiveness and efficiency of our
methods and it start with an initial diagnosis.
7.-A common working environment: Teachers' role
7.1.- Teaching style
Teaching style is a complex amalgam of beliefs, attitudes,
strategies, techniques, personality and control which lies at the
heart of the interpersonal relationship between teacher and
learner.
7.2.- Motivation
A primary function of the teacher management roe is to
motivate the learners who are demotivated. There are several
ways:
-Adopting a positive attitude towards the learner.
-Giving pupils meaningful relevant and interesting task to
do.
-Maintaining discipline to be extent that a reasonable
working atmosphere is stablish
-Being motivated and interested themselves
-Involving the learner more actively in the classroom
process and activities that demand inter-student communication and
cooperative efforts
-Introducing learners to the concepts of self apprassial and
self-evaluation
-Giving positive feedback or written assignments
-Encouraging pride in achievement by allowing learners to
display their work on the classroom.
7.3.- Main types of teachers
We are going to analyze the six main roles that Hammer
distinguishes:
CONTROLLER. We are totally in charge of the class. It is use
in presentation stage. It is only adequate during the
reproducction stage, being wholly inappropriate at the production
stage.
ASSESOR. During the presentation stage we also correct our
pupils' error and mistakes but without making our pupils ashamed
of their errors.
Organizing feedback is a major part of assessing our pupils
performance. The teacher waits until an activity or task has been
completed and he tells pupils how they did.
ORGANIZER. is to tell our pupils what is our topic and what
re the tasks. We must also get the activity going, solving
initial problems and finally organize feedback.
Prompter. We sometimes need to help our students where there
is a silence or our pupils are confused. We should help only when
it is necessary
PARTICIPANT. In simulations is interesting to participate
with our pupils.
RESOURCE.In communicative activity it's important to keep our
roles as assessors and to be a kind of resource center.
7.4.- Comunication patterns: "formal" or "informal"?
If we allow greater freedom of participation from the
learner, we will develop a less formal communication pattern. The
learners will be more ready to share meanings and values. This
will enrich the contents of learning.
7.5.-Attitude towards errors in the learning process.
The mistakes are caused by an overgeneralization of the
second language or by the interference of the mother tongue. As
educators, our porpoise is to encourage risk-takers.
The mistakes takes part in the learning process and they
assure the stage of the students' acknoledgement. Only if obstruct
the comunication are to be corrected.

ESPECIALIDAD - INGLES

TEMA 22

VARIABLES A TENER EN CUENTA EN LA ORGANIZACIÓN DE LA CLASE DE LENGUA EXTRANJERA INGLESA: AGRUPACIÓN DEL ALUMNADO, DISTRIBUCIÓN DEL ESPACIO Y TIEMPO; SELECCIÓN DE METODOLOGÍAS, PAPEL DEL PROFESOR, ETC...

ASPECTS OF CLASS MANAGEMENT: PUPIL GROUPING, SPACE AND TIME MANAGEMENT, METHODOLOGY SLECTRION, ROLE OF THE TEACHER, ETC...

1. INTRODUCTION.

2. PUPIL GROUPINGS.

a. Lockstep.
b. Pair work.
c. Group work.
d. Individual work.

3. SPACE AND TIME MANAGEMENT.

a. Space management.
b. Time management.

4. THE ROLES OF THE TEACHER AND LEARNER.

a. The teacher's role.
b. The learner's role.

5. METHODOLOGY SELECTION.

a. Selection of activities.
b. Planning principles in methodology selection.

6. SUMMARY.

7. SYNOPSIS.

8. BIBLIOGRAPHY.

1- INTRODUCTION.

In this topic we will analyse various aspects of class management which we must take into account for achievement of effective teaching. These aspects include the student groupings, the space and time management, the methodology selection and the role of the teacher.

This topic is of prime relevance since class management involves the efficiency of the teacher and the learning activities.

2 - PUPIL GROUPINGS.

We will first discuss the pros and cons of various interaction patterns: lockstep, pair work, group work and individual study.

It is advisable to use the different groupings.

2.1 - Lockstep.

Lockstep is the traditional teaching situation. All the students work as a group with the teacher ( they are 'locked' into some activity ) and the teacher acts as controller and assessor.

This type of grouping is used when the teacher provides feedback or gives instructions.

a) Advantages.

Lockstep has certain advantages:

" The whole class are concentrating and the learner's attention span is then improved.
" Everyone can hear what is being said.
" The students get a good language model from the teacher.
" Many students find lockstep very comforting.

b) Disadvantages.

There are also reasons why the use of lockstep alone is less than satisfactory:

" Students working in lockstep get little chance to practise. Besides, they do not use language in real-life situations.
" Lockstep usually goes at the wrong pace: either the teacher is too slow for the good students or he/she is too fast for the weak students.

2.2 Pair work.

a) Procedures for pairwork.

It pairwork is to be successful, certain procedures need to be followed.

I. Make sure the students know exactly what the have to do. Explain the activity and practise as necessary.

II. Divide the students into pairs ( taking advantage of the way the are seated ). Depending on the type of activity, make sure that students take it in turns to initiate and respond ( e. g. ask and answer questions ).

III. Carry out selective checking, walking round the class and listening in Join in with a pair from time to time, especially with those students who are likely to need your help. If you feel that an activity is going badly, stop it, re-present it to the class and let the students start again.

IV. Control noise level by stopping an activity and asking the students to start again more quietly.

V. Gauge the amount of tune an activity should go on for. Stop the activity when most students have had a reasonable amount of practice.

VI. Provide any necessary feedback. Tell the students how well they have done.

b) Advantages.

Pair work has the following advantages:

" It increases the amount of students' talking time as they are presented with opportunities for productive practice.

" It develops socialization skills and attitudinal contents (cooperation, participation, autonomy and responsibility), which contribute to create a good atmosphere in the classroom.

c) Disadvantages

However, pair work has several disadvantages:

" The students will sometimes use their mother tongue. Apart from selecting activities which we can be reasonably sure are not beyond the level of the students and in preparing them if necessary with some essential language (especially in the early stages), there are a number of things we can do to help overcome this problem:

" Explain to the students why they are doing activities of this kind: i.e. that this is an opportunity to use English.

" Demonstrate whenever possible how they can 'get round' difficulties , i.e. through alternative expressions.

" Encourage the students to consult us if they have real difficulties.

" Ask them at least from time to time to impose self-discipline, e.g. through a penalty system which requires them to pay a small fine if they use the mother tongue. This can be done in a fun-like way so that the students actually enjoy catching one another out.

" Incorrectness is another problem as many students think that if they are not corrected, they do not learn.

" Teachers sometimes worry about noise when pair work is used.

2.3. Group work

a) Organising group work.

a) Forming groups. The size of the groups should be worked out in relation to the total number of students in the class. As a general rule, we could say that there should be 5-8 students in each group and not more than 5-6 groups in the class. The teacher should normally form the groups, usually on the basis of mixed ability ( i.e. good and weak students together) since as a rule learners do help one another.

b) Group leader. Each group should have its own 'leader'. The function of the group leader is not to dominate the group but to coordinate their activities and to serve as a link between the group and the teacher.

c) The role of the teacher. These are some of the things the teacher must do:

" Select activities carefully. The teacher should ensure that the activities can be done reasonably well with the language the students have at their disposal.

" Work out the instructions for an activity carefully. Keep instructions simple, and if necessary use the mother tongue.
" Present the activity to the class. Give plenty of examples and give the students a 'trial run'.

" Monitor the students' performance. While the activities are in progress, the teacher's main task is to move around the class and to 'listen in' discreetly in order to find out how the students are getting on. The teacher should not, as a rule, correct mistakes of language during a group activity but make a note of them and use them as the basis of feedback.

d) Provide feedback.

b) Advantages

Group work offers the following advantages:

" It increases the amount of student's talking time.

" It gives the students the opportunity of using language to communicate with each other.

" It develops socialization skills and attitudinal contents.

c) Disadvantages

Group work has the same disadvantages as pair work: use of the first language, incorrectness and noise.

The size of the groups depends on the activity type, whether it is a dialogue, a debate, a game, etc. When the class is divided into two groups, we speak of team work. Team work is not often used because it involves less pupil participation.

2.4. Individual Study

We must try and let students work on their own and at their own pace at some stage during the class.

This type of grouping can be used for reading and writing work.

3- SPACE AND TIME MANAGEMENT

3.1. Space management.

Space bears a direct relationship to the activities to be done, and an indirect relationship to the methodology.

There are different ways of organising the classroom:
a) Traditional seating arrangement. The students sit in rows facing the teaching. It is up-front teaching: the teacher is at the front of the class as the focus.

There is not a close relationship between the teacher and the students. Therefore this seating arrangement does not foster communication.

This type of class arrangement is suitable for the beginning and the end of the lesson, the representation stage, and individual work: exams, written exercises, compositions, silent reading. This distribution does not favour communication, and the position of the teacher is of distance and difference with respect to the pupils.

b) Circle, teacher out. This kind of arrangement favours communication, since the pupils can see each other. As the teacher is out, the pupils feel more comfortable.

This type of arrangement is suitable for debates, discussions, games. It is typical of the methods Community Language Learning, Total Physical Response and The Silent Way.

c) Circle, teacher inside. The role of the teacher is to provide help when necessary. It is suitable for every kind of communication activity.

d) Horse shoe. The students are seated in a semicircle and the teacher is in the middle. It is suitable for every kind of activity: drills, games, debates, etc. This grouping favours communication.

e) Boarding meetings. It is used for activities involving a lot of material (reports, project work ). The desks are placed together and the pupils sit around.

f) Streams. The pupils are seated in two parallel rows facing the blackboard or facing each other. The most suitable activity to use this type of arrangement is the debate.

g) Mix and mingle. Every student is in a different position, all looking at the teacher. This type of arrangement is suitable for many oral games.

h) Learning stations. The class is divided into groups of 4, 6 or eight students, each group like a station in which different activities are done and where the pupils can change positions.

3.2. Time management

Time plays a decisive role in the learning process, since we can plan objectives, contents and activities according to the length of lessons.
We must take into account the psychological characteristics of our pupils and design varied and short activities as their concentration span is short.

On the other hand, w should plan realistic timings for the completion of certain activities (games, discussions) and design activities for the end of the lesson, in case we run out of material.

We will now present the different types of timetable:

a) Open timetable. It allows the students to plan the activities of the day, and so requires careful activity: planning and material organization.

b) Flexible timetable. Lessons can be shorter or longer. The advantage of this type of timetable is that it is adapted to the needs of the syllabus.

c) Traditional timetable. There is a fixed number of fifty-minute lesson given by the same teacher in the same classroom.

d) Modular timetable. The school day is divided into modules of 20 minutes. The English lesson may cover two successive modules one day, three the next day, two the next day. There are certain activities that can be done in one module, like conversation in small groups.

4- THE ROLES OF THE TEACHER AND LEARNER

4.1. The teacher's role.

The role of the teacher, then, will depend to a large extent on the activity type. We will examine the roles of controller, assessor, prompter, participant and resource.

4.1.1. Controller/ Conductor

The teacher acts as a controller at the presentation stage, at the practice stage and in lockstep activities.

At the presentation stage, the teacher checks that all the students have understood the form and meaning of the new language item.

At the practice stage, the teacher elicits responses, provides cues in drills, works out the instructions for the activities and check that the pupils are doing the activity in the proper way.

4.1.2. Assessor

The teacher will correct the students' mistakes at the practice stage. He /She should also assess how well they are performing.

On the other hand, the teacher will encourage self-assessment. In this way the pupils will become more responsible, autonomous and independent, and they will get more involved in the learning process, which is very important, as it is the centre of learning and a point of reference.

The teacher must also assess his/her own work as teacher.

4.1.3. Organiser

The success of many activities depends on good organization and on the students knowing exactly what they have to do.

The main aim of the teacher when organising an activity is to give clear instructions and get the activity going.

4.1.4. Prompter

The teacher will encourage the students to participate or make suggestions about how to carry out an activity when there is a silence or when do not know what to do next.

4.1.5. Participant

The teacher will sometimes act as a participant. This will contribute to create a pleasant atmosphere in the class, and will also give the students the opportunity of practising English with someone who speaks it better than they do.

4.1.6. Resource

The teacher should always be willing to offer help if necessary.

4.2. The learner's role

One of the major changes in foreign language teaching refers to the learner's role.

Whereas in the traditional foreign language methods the learner assumed a passive role, the teacher being the focus, in the communicative approach the learner plays an active role and is responsible for their own learning.

On the other methods, such as The Silent Way and Suggestopedia, the students are encouraged to become independent.

5. METHODOLOGY SELECTION

5.1. Selection of activities

The learning and assessment activities will aim to develop the students' communicative competence and to practise the four language skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing) taking into account that following the Foreign Language Area Curriculum in Primary Education, aural/oral skills will be stressed over written skills.

The activities will be selected according to the stage of the lesson:

*At the practice stage, we will design pre-communicative activities, which will prepare the students for using the new language in real communication. The activities will be oral guided: drills, short dialogues, exercises�

*At the production stage, the pupils will do free speaking and written activities which engage them in real communication: simulations, role-plays, discussions, information gap activities, problem solving activities, compositions, games, etc.

With regard to assessment, there are many ways of assessing the students' progress from class observation to objective test. Evaluation should be continuous and global.

5.2. Planning Principles in Methodology selection.

On the other hand, we must take into consideration two planning principles in methodology selection:

a) Variety

Variety mainly means using a wide range of materials and activities in the classroom.
There are many ways of introducing variety within a lesson:

- We can use a wide range of activities and materials.
- We can change the seating arrangements for different activities.
- We can use the coursebook in different ways.

We should introduce variety for three reasons:

- The students' motivation will be better.
- Our pupils' attention span is short and they thus need to do different things.
- Lessons will be more enjoyable.

b) Flexibility

Flexibility means the ability to use different techniques, activities and materials depending on the students' level.

6 -SUMMARY

" In this topic we have analysed various aspects of class management including student groupings, the distribution of space and time, the role of the teacher and the learner, and the selection of methodology.

" We also have described briefly the advantages and disadvantages of the different types of interaction: lockstep, pair work, group work and individual study.

" Space bears a direct relationship to the activities to be done, and an indirect relationship to the methodology.

Time is also a relevant element in the teaching process, since we plan objectives, contents and activities according to the length of lessons.

" The role of the teacher depends to a large extent on the activity type. We have examined the roles of controller, assessor, prompter, participant and resource.

" In the learning process, pupils are responsible for their own learning and should develop autonomy.

" In the last part of the topic we have focused on methodology selection. We have centred on different types of learning activities according to the stage of the lesson.

" Finally we have enumerated two essential learning principles: Variety and flexibility.

Variety means mainly using a wide range of materials and activities in the classroom.

Flexibility means the ability to use different techniques, activities and materials depending on the students' level.

7 - SYNOPSIS

PUPIL GROUPINGS

* Lockstep - Advantages
-Disadvantages

*Pair work - Procedures of pair work
- Advantages
- Disadvantages

* Group work - Organising group work
- Advantages
- Disadvantages

* Individual work

SPACE AND TIME

* Space management - Traditional seating arrangement
- Circle, teacher out
- Circle, teacher inside
- Horse shoe
- Boarding meeting
- Streams
- Mix and mingle
- Learning stations

* Time management - Types of timetable

THE ROLES OF THE TEACHER AND LEARNER

*Teacher's roles - Controller
- Assessor
- Organiser
- Prompter
- Participant
- Resource

* Learner's roles

METHODOLOGY SELECTION

*Selection of activities - Learning activities - Pre-communicative activities
- Communicative activities

*Planning principles - Variety
- Flexibility

8-BIBLIOGRAPHY

" BURT, K.M. & DUKAY, H.C., New Directions in Second Language Learning: A Guidebook for ESL/EFL Teachers. MacGraw Hill International Book Company.

" CRYSTAL, D. Lenguaje infantil. Aprendizaje y Lingüística. Medico-técnica. Barcelona, 1981.

" DIXON, R.J. Practical Guide to the Teaching of English. Regent Publishing Co., New York, 1975.

" HARMER, JEREMY., The Practice of English Language Teaching. Longman Handbooks for Language Teachers. Longman 1983.

This book is a complete guide and reference work for all teachers of English as a foreign or second language.

" HONEY & MUNFORD, Manual of Learning Styles. Cambridge, 1992.

" NUNAD, DAVID., Designing Tasks for the Communicative Classroom. Cambridge, 1989.

" VANK, E. K., The Threshold Level. Council of Europe, 1975.

" WIDOSH, H. J., Teaching English as Communication. Oxford U. P., 1978.

TEMA 23 - OPOSICIONES DE EDUCACIÓN PRIMARIA - ESPECIALIDAD DE INGLÉS

OPOSICIONES A LA ESPECIALIDAD DE "INGLÉS"

EDUCACIÓN PRIMARIA

TEMA 23

LA ELABORACIÓN DE MATERIALES CURRICULARES PARA LA CLASE DE INGLÉS.
CRITERIOS PARA LA SELECCIÓN Y USO DE LOS LIBROS DE TEXTO.
DOCUMENTOS AUTÉNTICOS Y DOCUMENTOS ADAPTADOS: LIMITACIONES DE USO. LA
COLABORACIÓN DE LOS ALUMNOS EN EL DISEÑO DE LOS MATERIALES.

0. INTRODUCTION.
1. PRODUCING ENGLISH LESSONS CURRICULAR MATERIALS.
2 CRITERIA FOR THE CHOOSING AND USE OF COURSEBOOKS.

1.1 Choosing a course book.
2.2. Using a course book.

3 AUTHENTIC, SIMULATED-AUTHENTIC AND NON-AUTHENTIC TEXTS: USE
CONSTRAINTS.
4 INOVOLVING THE CHILDREN IN MATERIAL DESIGN.
5 BIBLIOGRAPHY.

0. - INTRODUCTION
There is an abundance of English language teaching materials on the
market. At various times of our professional life we will be involved
in the selection of materials for our pupils, and, if we do not find
any materials which response to our pupils' needs we will have to
design them.
Before attempting to evaluate published materials or to design our own,
we must come to some conclusions about our pupils and what their needs
are.
The following profile of pupils needs has been taken from "Harmer" and
has three major components:
- description of pupils
- description of pupils' needs
- conclusions

DESCRIPTION OF PUPILS

1. Age:
2. Number of boys and girls:
3. Familiar background:
4. Parents' occupation:
5. Motivation/Attitude:
6. Knowledge of the world:
7. Knowledge of English:
8. Interests:
9. Pupils with special needs:
10. Pupils with discipline problems:
11. Based on the above, what conclusions can we draw about the
kind of materials that would be suitable for our pupils?

Once we have an idea of our pupils' personal characteristics we must
come to some kind of conclusion about what their needs are. Most of
them are legally marked (general objectives, assessment criteria.)

DESCRIPTION OF PUPILS' NEEDS

1 . To reach communicative competence we need to study the four
skills:
- Reading
- Listening
- Writing
- Speaking
2 . Is there any pupil with special needs? What shall we
do about them?

Now we have a clearer idea bout our pupils and their needs. It is time
to move to some conclusions about the type of materials we want to
select and design. We will now study the selection and production of
materials separately.

1. PRODUCING ENGLISH LESSON CURRICULAR MATERIALS.

Producing our own materials is a time-consuming process, so it is not
very often that teachers decide to produce all the materials they need
for a whole cycle. Most teachers, however, produce supplementary
materials which are finely tuned to their pupils' needs.
(Brewster gives some reasons for producing our own supplementary
materials, even if we have a course book:
1 - We may feel that our course book does not provide enough
practice on a problematic point for our pupils and we must prepare some
extra activities.
2 - Some of the materials in our course book are not appropriate
for our class, either because their lack of interest or because they do
not answer our pupils' needs.
3 - We want to foster a different methodology which is not the
one used by the course book authors, eg. We want to provide our pupils
with a selection of different activities so that they can choose and
work more autonomously.
4 - If the course book uses the same approach one and again we
may want to add some activities for the sake of variety.

In any of these cases we can see we are dealing with the production of
materials such as

Worksheets, flashcards

Worksheets can be exercises which are drawn, written or sheet of paper
then photocopied so that each pupil in the class could have one. They
are clear; simple and attractive with the instructions in very simple
English or in Spanish (especially with our youngest pupils). The
activities we normally use last a few minutes and practise one
particular language point involving our pupils in different skills.
We can use worksheets to organize both oral and written work,
individually or in pairs or groups. If we want to use them more than
once it is a good idea to cover them in plastic. If we do not, our
pupils can personalize the worksheets with labels, colours and so on.

When designing worksheets, we must think about how our pupils
will use them. It is important to know whether they will need written
instructions, either in simple English or in Spanish, or only oral
ones. It is always a good idea to try the worksheet ourselves to see if
there is really enough room to write our pupils' names and the
responses demanded in the activities.
Worksheets can be used with information gap activities. For
example we can tell our pupils they are going to work in pairs. We give
them a worksheet and tell them they cannot show each other their
worksheet. They have to share the information in order to complete the
worksheet.
We can also make a picture dictation where our pupils will give
us a non-verbal response. The worksheet consists of a simple drawing of
a naked, bald boy. We dictate his description and our pupils must add
the new elements to the drawing.
Other activities will include Time dictation, where our pupils
as us the time and draw it on the clockfaces drawn in the worksheet or
True or False where our pupils must compare the information they have
in the worksheet with the information we give them orally.

Flashcards for young learners are often made using pictures and
some words. The pictures must be clearly recognisable and the letters,
large, clear and black. Flashcards must
be large enough for the whole class to see: they must convey the
meaning clearly, especially when they refer to actions our pupils must
follow.
Flashcards must be used to introduce and practise vocabulary
related to our pupils' fields of interest. For example: What's
this? It's a monkey

To introduce and practise "yes/no questions" or "wh-questions".
For example: Do you like (Showing marmalade flashcard)? Yes, I do/
No, I don't
To introduce and practise talking about possessions, about uses
of modal verbs,
There is/ there are.
Both flashcards and worksheets can be made by ourselves or by our
pupils, as we will see in the last section.

2 . CRITERIA FOR THE CHOOSING AND USE OF COURSE BOOKS.

In the introduction we studied our pupils and their needs. Now that we
know them we can start to evaluate materials, above all our course book.

2.1 Choosing a course book.

Choosing a course book is extremely difficult. In some case, we cannot
get a good picture of the suitability of a book till we have been
working through it for some time. However, we can prepare a course
book evaluation form which is based on "Harmer". According to him, any
course book evaluation form should be based on the following criteria.

CRITERIA FOR SELECTING COURSE BOOKS ( Nunan )

1 - The course book makes clear the link between the classroom
and the wider word.
2 - The course book fosters independent learning.
3 - The course book focuses our pupils on their learning process.
4 - The course book is readily available.
5 - The course book accords with our pupils' needs.
6 - The course book can be used at more than one level of
difficulty (heterogeneity)
7 - The pedagogical objectives of the materials are clear.

Harmer's material evaluation form has seven parts. Each part is
considered through a set of questions which may be answered "yes/no
with an additional comment. The seven parts are:

- practical considerations
- layout and design
- activities
- skills
- language type
- subject and content
- guidance

To these we must add the final conclusions.

Under practical considerations we must decide if the price of
the materials is suitable for our pupils. We must also be sure about
the availability of the different parts of the course such as tapes,
workbooks.
We must also judge whether the course book layout and design is
attractive for our pupils.

We must also study our selected course books to see that there is a
balance of activities. In particular, there should be a substantial
amount of aural language input and a wide variety of communicative
activities. The presentation of new language should take place in
realistic contexts.

In the skills part we must see whether the course book balance
of skills is appropriate for Primary Education. We must see that the
aural component is more important than the written one, and that
receptive skills are more important than the productive ones.

In language type, we must consider whether the language is
realistic:
- authentic
- simulated authentic
We must also consider whether it is of the right type
(relevant to our pupils' needs); and finally, if the progression is
adequate for the cognitive stage of development of our pupils.

In subject and content we analyze what topics are included in
the course book and whether they match up to our pupils' personalities,
backgrounds and needs. Subject and content should be relevant,
realistic, interesting and varied.

We must also consider if there is sufficient guidance, not only
for us, but for our pupils. As far as we are concerned, we need to have
clear explanations of how the material should be used to take the
maximum advantage out of it. As far as our pupils are concerned, we
have to consider whether the materials are clear, easy to follow and
have well-defined objectives that the whole class can understand.

Finally, we must come to conclusions about the adoption of the
proposed course book once the form has finally been completed.
The whole Course Book evaluation form will take the following
form:

COURSE BOOK EVALUATION FORM:

1 . Name of the course book under consideration:
2 . Author or authors:
3 . Publisher:
4 . Level:
5 . Price:

1 . Practical considerations.
1.1. Is the price of the materials appropriate for our pupils?
YES / NO Comment
1.2. Are the integral parts of the course available now (course
books, tapes, teacher's books, tapes.) ? YES / NO Comment:

2 . Layout and design.
2.1 Is the layout and design of the materials appropriate for our
pupils? YES / NO Comment:

3. Activities.
3.1. Do the materials provide a balance of activities that is
appropriate for your pupils?
YES / NO Comment:
3.2. Is there a sufficient amount of communication output in
the course book under consideration? YES / NO Comment:
3.3. Do the course book provide enough roughly-tuned input for our
pupils?
YES / NO Comment
3.4. Is new language introduced in motivating and realistic
contexts? YES / NO Comment:
4. A source of practical teaching ideas.
5. Work that our pupils can do on their own so that we do not need
to be centre stage all the time.
6. A basis for homework if that is required.

7. A basis for discussion and comparison with other colleagues.

It also helps our pupils because it offers them:

1 . A sense of purpose, progression and progress.

2 . A sense of security

3 . Scope for independent and autonomous learning

4 . A reference for checking and revising.

However, we also find some things that we can do better, such as:
participating in oral interactions, adjusting level and quantity of
work to our pupils' needs; and encourage our pupils when they are not
motivated.

As we can see it is equally wrong not to deviate from the
course book at all as deviating for the sake of deviating. If we have
chosen the book properly, it is usually a good idea to use the book
very much as the author suggests for the first time, as a great deal of
thought has gone into its writing. This way we can see really see its
advantages and drawbacks and act accordingly. Any chosen text must be
adapted to the particular requirements of the class and it is not very
professional to adopt for our cycles the aims and objectives of the
course book, unless they are reasonably complementary.

However, whether we adapt the course book or we teach it
straight from beginning to end, we must decide on our pace of
progress. This is very important in Primary education where we have
170 teaching hours every year. This is plenty of time really (roughly
an hour a day) and so we must be able to produce plenty of additional
and varied practice of the same topic. To do this we can use authentic,
simulated authentic, or artificial materials.

3. AUTHENTIC, SIMULATED AUTHENTIC AND NONAUTHENTIC MATERIALS: USE
CONSTRAINTS.

The main aim of all our teaching is to enable our pupils to reach
communicative competence. As the focus will be on assisting our pupils
to do in class what they will need to do outside, the materials we use
should reflect the world outside. In other words they should have a
degree of authenticity. This authenticity should relate to the text
sources as well as to the pupils' activities and tasks.

3. 1 - Authenticity. (Nunan)

Authenticity material are usually defined as those which have been
produced for other purposes than to teach language. They can be got
from many different sources: video clips, recordings of authentic
interactions, extracts from television, radio and schedules.
Despite the difficulties associated with the use of authentic
materials, they are easily justified on the grounds that specially
scripted texts are artificial.
Cardlin and Edelhoff suggest that there are at least four types
of authenticity which are important in our classrooms:
- authenticity of goal
- authenticity of environment
- authenticity of text
- authenticity of task

Nunan thinks that the most important type of authenticity is what he
called "learner authenticity". By this he means "the realisation
and acceptance by the learner of the authenticity of a given text,
task, set of materials or learning activity". If we want our pupils to
think that the materials we use are authentic they must fulfil two
conditions:

1 . They must be recognised by learners as having a legitimate place
in the language classroom.
2 . They must engage the interests of our pupils by relating to their
interests, background knowledge and experience, and through these,
stimulate genuine communication.

It is important to make our pupils realise that they are
learning something. This is especially easy with traditional
activities, such as drills or translations, but new, communicative
activities may seem to them a waste of time. In some activities we can
have, as Gavin Bolton said of drama a unique pedagogic situation, where
a teacher sees himself as teaching but our pupils do not see themselves
as learning.

The second condition is easily fulfilled if we take into
account our pupils characteristics and needs.

3. 2 . Simulated authentic and artificial.

A non-authentic text, in language teaching terms, " is one
that has been designed especially for language learners". (Harmer).
We can make a distinction here, however, between texts which have been
made to illustrate particular language points for presentation
(artificial) and those which appear to be authentic (simulated
authentic)

The justification for simulated authentic texts is clear in the
case of our pupils. Beginner pupils are able to handle genuinely
authentic texts, but they need to have practice in texts that look
authentic, even if they have been edited, and so there is a certain
degree of language control.
Manipulating and comprehending these texts will help our pupils to
acquire the necessary skills they will need when they come to handle
authentic material.

4. INVOLVING THE PUPILS IN MATERIAL DESIGN.

Our curriculum clearly advocates a communicative approach to language
teaching. This approach makes use of tasks that will be linked in
principle ways to the real-tasks our pupils are required to engage in
outside the classroom. The Communicative approach to language teaching
also suggests that classroom-based acquisition is fostered by
psycholinguistically - motivated learning tasks.

However, our curriculum also establishes a learner-centred
approach and one of the best ways to take account of our pupils needs
and characteristics is by making them participating of the material
design process.

5. BIBLIOGRAPHY.

Brewster, J., Ellis, G. and Girard, D. The Primary English Teacher's
Guide Penguin. London 1992.

Brumfit, C.J., and Johnson K. (eds) The Cambridge Encyclopedia of
Language, CUP Cambridge

Harmer, J. The Practice of English Language Teaching, Longman, London,
1983

Halliwell, S. Teaching English in the Primary Classroom, Longman,
London, 1992. (There exists Spanish translation: La Enseñanza del
Inglés en Educación Primaria. Longman, London, 1993.)

Littlewood, W. Communicative Language Teaching. CUP. Cambridge, 1988.

Nunan, D. The Learner- Centred Curriculum. CUP, Cambridge, 1988.

Richards, J.C. and Rodgers, T.S. Approaches and Methods in Language
Teaching, CUP. Cambridge,1986.

Platt, J., and Platt, H. Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied
Linguistics, Longman, London, 1992

Savignon, S. Communicative Competence: Teory and Classroom Practice,
Addison-Wesley. Reading, Mass., 1983

Widowson, H.G. Teaching Language as Communication. OUP. Oxford,
1978.

TEMA 23 - OPOSICIONES DE EDUCACIÓN PRIMARIA - ESPECIALIDAD DE INGLÉS

ESQUEMA

LA ELABORACIÓN DE MATERIALES CURRICULARES PARA LA CLASE DE INGLÉS.
CRITERIOS PARA LA SELECCIÓN Y USO DE LOS LIBROS DE TEXTO. DOCUMENTOS
AUTÉNTICOS Y ADAPTADOS: LIMITACIONES DE SU USO. LA COLABORACIÓN DE LOS
ALUMNOS EN EL DISEÑO DE LOS MATERIALES.

0 . INTRODUCCION

- Teacher's roles: - selection
- production

- Profile of pupils' needs: - description of pupils
- description of pupils'
needs
- conclusions

1 . PRODUCING ENGLISH LESSONS - CURRICULAR MATERIALS:

* Reasons for producing our own materials:
1. Our course book does not provide enough practice.
2. Some of the materials in our course book are not appropriate
for our class.
3. We want to foster a methodology which is not the one used by
the course book authors.
4. To add some activities for the sake of variety.
- Worksheets: - practise one linguistic point
- oral and written
- pair and individual
- Flashcards: - information gap
- time dictation
- true or false

2. CRITERIA FOR THE CHOOSING AND USE OF THE COURSE BOOKS.

2.1 Choosing a course book:

* Criteria.
1. The course book makes clear the link between the classroom and
the wider word.
2. The course book fosters independent learning.
3. The course book focuses our pupils on their learning process.
4. The course book is readily available
5. The course book accords with our pupils' needs.
6. The course book can be used at more than one level of
difficulty (heterogeneity)
7. The pedagogical objectives of the materials are clear.
*Harmer's evaluation form: - practical
considerations - guidance
- layout
and design - conclusions
-
activities
- skills
- language
type
- subject
and content

TEMA 23 - OPOSICIONES DE EDUCACIÓN PRIMARIA - ESPECIALIDAD DE INGLÉS

2.2. Using a course book:

* What the course book does well: - to the teacher
- to the pupils
* To the teacher.
1. A clearly thought out programme which is appropriately
sequenced and structured to include revision.
2. A wider range of material than we can collect individually.
3. Economy of preparation time.
4. A source of practical teaching ideas.
5. Work that our pupils can do on their own so that we do not need
to be centre stage all the time.
6. A basis for homework if that is required.
7. A basis for discussion and comparison with other colleagues.

* To our pupils
1. A sense of purpose, progression and progress.
2. A sense of security.
3. Scope for independent and autonomous learning
4. A reference for checking and revising.

* What the teacher does better: - oral exchange
- adjusting level and
quality of work
- encourage our pupils
* We must adapt course books to our pupils' needs.

3. AUTHENTIC, SIMULATED-AUTHENTIC AND NON- AUTHENTIC TEXTS. USE
CONSTRAINTS.

* Main aim: to reach communicative competence

3.1 Authenticiy.

* Nunan's definition.
* Enabling out pupils to comprehend and manipulate real texts.
* Cadlin and Edelhoff: - authenticity of goal
- authenticity of environment
- authenticity of text
* Learner's authenticity.
* Authenticity conditions:
1. They must be recognised by learners as having a legitimate
place in the language classroom.
2. They must engage the interests of our pupils by relating to
their interests, background, knowledge and experience, and through
these, stimulate genuine communication.

TEMA 23 - OPOSICIONES DE EDUCACIÓN PRIMARIA - ESPECIALIDAD DE INGLÉS

3.2 Simulated Authentic and artificial.

* Harmer's definition of non-authentic.
* Types of non- authentic texts. - artificial
- simulated authentic
* Simulated authentic texts: prepare for real texts.
* Materials we use: - authentic
- simulated authentic

4. INVOLVING THE CHILDREN IN MATERIAL DESIGN

* Communicative approach.
* Learner-centred approach
* Material design: Spanish or English class.
* Way to introduce it:
1. Tell the class to pay close attention to the features of one
activity in the course book.
2. Tell them to think of possible ways to make a similar activity
using the materials they normally have at home ( pencils, glue,
scissors, a dictionary, a word processor.)
3. Give them the outline of an activity. They will have to prepare
in pairs a flashcard or a worksheet to go with the activity.

5. BIBLIOGRAPHY.

UNIT 23: CREATING MATERIALS FOR ENGLISH LESSONS. COURSE-BOOK SELECTION AND USE CRITERIA. AUTHENTIC MATERIALS AND ADAPTED MATERIALS. INVOLVING PUPILS IN MATERIAL DESIGN.

1. PRODUCING ENGLISH LESSON CURRICULAR MATERIALS
There is an abundance of English language materials on the market. Producing our own material is a time-consuming process, so although teachers do not very often decide to produce all materials, they produce supplementary activities to the course-book.
Once we know our pupils' characteristics and needs, we can deal with a production of material as worksheets, flash-cards, etc., in order to include some variety, more practice and focus on an interesting item that there is not in the course-book.
Both, flash-cards or worksheets, can be elaborated by our own pupils.

2. CRITERIA FOR THE SELECTION AND USE OF COURSE-BOOK
Choosing a course-book can be difficult. We must consider:
" Contents: if selected language is based on the objectives
" Sequence: if contents are gradually presented in a cyclic way, previous language and a little more. Activities for all the learning moments (presentation, practice and production). If progression is adequate to the cognitive stage of children.
" Skills: if it works the four skills
" Activities: if language is realistic, the topics are relevant to pupils, if there are communicative activities.
" Design: if they are attractive for pupils and have visual backups for most presentations of new language. Instructions must be clear.
" Practical considerations: if price is suitable for children. If there is availability of other materials: tapes, work-books, videos, graded readings, teacher-book, activities for evaluation, �)
The course-book help teacher by providing an appropriately sequenced and structured programme, a wide range of material, economy of preparation time, practical teaching ideas, security, a reference to checking and reviewing.
But teachers must adapt the course-books to their pupils' needs.

3. AUTHENTIC, SIMULATED AND NON-AUTHENTIC MATERIALS.
Communicative competence is our main aim. To get it, children need materials which reflect the world outside.
Authentic materials are the ones produce for purposes other than to teach language: video-clips, TV programmes, radio and newspaper, signs, maps and charts, photographs and pictures, timetables, etc.
Authentic materials imply some difficulty but they prepare pupils to understand and manipulate language in real communicative situations. They get gradually used to the new element.
As beginners are not able to handle genuinely authentic texts, they need to have practice in simulated texts that look authentic, so there is a certain degree of language control. Manipulating these texts they will acquire the necessary skills they will need when they handle authentic material.
Simulated materials have been designed specially for language learners, but they are similar to real situations.
There is also artificial material, designed to illustrate particular language points in presentation stages.
Even if there is a certain language control, simulated authentic materials are useful to acquire linguistic skills in communicative situations.

4. INVOLVING PUPILS IN MATERIAL DESIGN
Communicative approach is a learner-centred approach. We should make them participants of the material design process.
Beginners can make their own flash-cards with cut-outs or drawing their own cards to play afterwards. It is dynamic, motivating and they have a responsibility in their own learning process.
Older pupils can also make materials that can be used with other pupils: puppets, video-recordings, brochures, surveys, �
They can do it as a project. Teachers offer a topic or they can choose one of their interest. They make groups, search relevant information, prepare the design, divide the tasks into the group members and produce the item. Then, they show it to the rest of the class and the work is evaluated by all of them.

UNIT 24: TECHNOLOGICAL AND PEDAGOGIC ASPECTS OF USING VISUAL, AURAL AND AUDIO-VISUAL MATERIALS. COMPUTERS AS ADDITIONAL RESOURCE IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE LEARNING.

1. VISUAL, AURAL AND AUDIO-VISUAL MATERIALS
A number of new techniques for teaching English have been developed thanks to new technologies and the decease in price of appliances. These machines have contributed greatly to the diversification of teaching activities. They make learning more enjoyable and they are more and more widely used.

Visual materials
" Newspapers:
They are quite available and cheap. They include a wide variety of text types and a great amount of information from and about the target culture. It is an interesting way to bring the real world into the learning situation.
It is also useful for integrating skills. Reading material leads easily into discussions and writing activities.
Stories are interesting but date over very quickly. So, it may be better to collect human interest stories which do not became out of date for a long period of time.
However, even older pupils find newspapers difficult because of the special grammar conventions, unknown vocabulary, cultural references, etc. we should teach them some of the conventions of the newspaper style at a basic level.
Some activities can be:
" Writing and replying small advertisements
" Writing and replying to letters to agony aunts
" Reordering paragraphs
" Replying to job ads
" Predicting horoscopes
" �.
" Episcope:
we can use this projector to show any material to the whole group. It is not useful for a long term.
" Overhead projector:
It is used with transparencies, which are very easy to elaborate. They can be partially covered and also superposed, so language can be presented gradually. They are good for presentation and correction.

" Slides:
They can be easily made by the teacher or the pupils. They focus attention, being motivating and useful for story telling.
" Comics and storybooks:
Pictures are very motivating for children and help to understand the story. They usually have short texts, with similar structures. They can be used to fill the bubbles, ordering the sequence, describing, retelling.
" Magazines:
They have very attractive pictures, good for cut-outs. Children can create their own material or illustrate descriptions of famous people.
" Posters:
There is a wide range of posters and wall charts, in different types and sizes. They can be a guide for common expressions, reminders and visual aides. Very useful for descriptions.
" Flashcards:
They must be small and resistant, easy to manipulate. Good for new vocabulary presentation, games, hide and seek, pointing, �
" Blackboard:
It is the most used in school. It is good for spontaneous examples and presenting new language. The magnetic ones can be used for presenting or illustrating an issue. The magnetic cut-outs can get moved and superposed.

Aural Materials
" Radio:
Is a wonderful way to develop listening skills. Graded radio lessons offer the opportunity to listen to programmes adapted to the pupils' abilities, motivating them to future authentic listening. However, our pupils do not have the necessary linguistic abilities to cope with radio programmes.
" Cassette recorder:
The development of listening skills in the classroom situation relies on recorder material. Cassettes provide a good model of spoken English. It is very useful for introducing new language and songs. Children's utterances can be recorded to be conscious of pronunciation. They can contrast their performance with the good model and also it can be useful for checking pronunciation achievement. There must be activities for pre, while and post-listening. It can be listened more than once. There could be a listening corner in the classroom.

" Language "lab":
Children work individually. It is useful for practising oral drills. It can also be boring and with no purpose.

Audio-visual materials
They include both, sound and pictures.
" Television
A TV language programme offers audio-visual clues to meaning. Students hear the language and see the context. It is a powerful motivator. It brings the outside world into the classroom, it is a powerful stimulus to talk about. It introduces the culture of the target language into the classroom and means a change from the teacher and the textbook, although it is difficult, for it cannot be repeated or stopped.
" Video
Recordings offer the possibilities a live programme cannot. Teachers can plan the activities from a great range of sources:
" Language-teaching broadcast
" Films, cartoons, advertisements,�
" TV programmes, documentaries
" Video recordings of classroom activities
Video recordings show language in a context. The learners can see why things are said in a different way. They can pick speakers' feelings and attitudes. Video presentations allow reviewing and comprehension questions, follow-up ideas and suggestions. They generate interest and motivation and a good atmosphere for a successful learning.
Teachers must take advantage of the power of video-films to create a successful language environment. It should be used as another technique for facilitating language acquisition.
Learners must take part and not think they are being entertained or watching TV passively. It is essential the gradual introduction of video in the classroom.
Video-based lesson planning
For a one-hour class, it is enough to use an extract of between three and five minutes. If its length is of 15 minutes or more, it is better to play it once through and then go back and concentrate on short extracts.
Viewing the video about three times gives us the chance to get familiar with it, study the language and behaviour as well as language use. If the video is difficult we may set the scene and explain a few words and sentences essential to understanding.
For the first time students watch video, we could set an active viewing task with techniques as silent viewing, prediction, thinking and feeling, sound only, true or false sentences, etc.
" There is a technique which requires answering these questions after viewing: where, when, who, what, why, how?
" Silent viewing: the sound is turned down. Learners can predict or guess what might be said. When the sound is played we can check whether their expectations were right.
" Freeze frame: pressing the pause button allows to look more closely at individual images, utterances, � within a sequence. It is useful for detailed language study, observation and description.
" Role play: acting out involves practising the exact words of a dialogue. For that, learners will need to look at the script and reproduce gestures, expressions, etc. It is important to be able to transfer language from the situation on the screen to their own usage. They can carry out creative activities like changing the setting somehow.
" Behaviour study: it focuses on non-verbal ways to express (facial expressions, gesture, dresses, physical contact) The main aim is to make learners conscious of the behaviour conventions in other cultures. They could be compared to behaviour conventions in their own culture.
" Prediction: the teacher stops the video and asks what is going to happen next (look at the title and predict the topic, predict the end, guess the title, write the dialogue)
" Thinking and feeling: this technique focuses on emotions between characters and its relation with what it is said (body language, certain words, what the characters are thinking, how they would feel in case �, etc.)
" Sound only: the screen must be covered or turned round. It is good for describing things or people, identifying things by sounds or following a description of something.
" Watchers and listeners: half the class watches the scene and the other half listens. The watchers explain to the listeners what they have seen. It is a good practice in speaking, observation and accurate reporting.
" Telling the story: the learners watch the end of a video sequence and try to construct the story. Then, they watch and contrast.
" Culture comparison: it focuses on differences and similarities between the own culture and the target culture. It makes learners aware of their own culture.
" Video camera: four steps can be suggested to make use of the video recorder:
" Talking head: one person talking to the camera
" Dialogues: people talking together
" Group discussion: a group is filmed while discussing
" A project work: the use of a camera for recording interesting items, and also the learners' performances in the target language.

To evaluate the video, it must be reflected the aims of using it. if there are no specific learning aims, there is no point in making a film.

Computers
Learning with computers is quite new, as there are only programmes for beginners in certain areas, such as word building, vocabulary, prepositions, etc. It is very useful at personal level but not in conventional schools.
It is quite expensive for a group and it needs some knowledge on how to operate it.
Sometimes it makes tasks easier and more enjoyable. It is highly motivating.
The main activities are matching, gap-filling, sentence correction, multiple choice, odd out, putting the paragraphs in order, relating parts, true or false, etc.
There is a programme called "Grammar Checker" for spelling mistakes, punctuation, usage, � but it cannot correct meaning and style.
It is good for teachers if programmes are already made. They can use the spare time to assist weaker pupils.
It can result boring sometimes. It can only be used for written skills.

TOPIC 24. TECHNOLOGICAL AND PEDAGOGICAL ASPECTS IN USING AUDIO-VISUAL MATERIALS (NEWPAPERS, TV, TAPE RECORDERS, VIDEO, ETC.). COMPUTERS AS AN AUXILIARY RESOURCE FOR LEARNING AND IMPROVING FOREIGN LANGUAGES

INDEX

0. INTRODUCTION
1. AUDIOVISUAL MATERIALS
2. COMPUTERS AS AN AUXILIARY RESOURCE FOR LEARNING AND IMPROVING FOREIGN LANGUAGES

0. INTRODUCTION

A number of new techniques for teaching English have been developed during the last ten years thanks to the fast development of new technologies and the decrease in price of appliances such as TV sets, video machines, camcorders or computers. Besides, the educational authorities have tried to develop their use, lately the use of computers in particular with programmes such as Aldea Global, Info XXI, Educared, etc.

These machines have not only made our lives easier but have also greatly contributed to the diversification of teaching activities when teaching a foreign language. Consequently, new products have been launched. New video methods, new computer programs, make the learning more enjoyable and enable the teacher to widen current classroom teaching techniques. We could say that these audiovisual technologies started to expand in the late 1970s or early 1980s and are getting more and more widely used.

However there are other techniques based on technological development which are still used in the classroom and which date back a little farther. These techniques are not really "audiovisual", but we will study them: newspapers, radio, cassette recorder, etc.

When talking about the use of technology in the classroom advantages and disadvantages should be taken into account.

Advantages:
- language is taught in its context
- high motivation
- it provides creative opportunities
- it broadens horizons and extends contacts
- it means a great potential for a wide variety of activities
- it provides flexible responses to learning problems

Disadvantages:
- ephemerality
- difficulties in comprehension (language and structural)
- it requires a lot of commitment on behalf of the teacher, who has to think that technology must serve him/her, but will never replace him/her.

1. USING AUDIOVISUAL MATERIALS

1.1. VISUAL MATERIALS

The student belongs to the "image and sound generation". Therefore, the learning process must include visual and audiovisual materials which are so familiar to them. These images will encourage the student to communicate, as they are natural and motivating stimuli for them. They make the language used in the classroom look more real.

The main functions of the image in the English classroom are:
- motivating function: the students becomes active.
- it replaces reality: the image is used in substitution of reality.
- it creates situations: the student gets involved with it.
- it suggests experiences: the student is suggested interpretations or experiences that will lead him/her to real communication situations
- informative function: it transmits cultural aspects (customs, landscape, art, politics, celebrations� of the country)
- checking function: the image is used for checking the students´ understanding of the verbal message.
- concentration function: it focuses attention on something.
- reinforcing function: the image supports understanding and memorising.

We will talk about the newspaper because it is an essential visual material used in the English classroom. English-language newspapers are available world-wide on a daily basis. Some originate from English-speaking countries, others are locally produced. They are cheap and plentiful so newspapers can be useful in the classroom (the same happens with magazines).

Newspapers contain a very wide variety of text types and an immense range of information. They are therefore a natural source of many of the varieties of written English that become increasingly important as learners progress.

Reading newspapers is a way to transfer latent skills from the mother tongue to the language learning classroom. Those pupils who normally read newspapers in Spanish will be receptive to the use of English newspapers in the classroom. Reading newspapers we exercise skimming and scanning skills. These skills are very useful for our pupils. Newspapers are about the outside world so using them in the classroom is an interesting way to bring the real world into the learning situation.

Using newspapers is also useful to integrate skills. The reading material leads easily into discussions and writing activities. This integration of skills is also authentic as the response to what we read in newspapers is likely to be authentic and personal.

Topicality is both an advantage and a disadvantage. Contemporary stories are motivating, but also date quickly. For this reason, it may be better to collect human interest stories which do not date over a long period of time. Finally, we can say that newspapers are probably the best source of information about the target language culture.

However, there are also drawbacks. Most learners find newspapers difficult: special grammar conventions, obscure cultural references, large amounts of unknown vocabulary� Letting our pupils choose the text they wish to work with can get rid of many problems. Before the third cycle authentic newspapers shouldn´t be used, as the students could demotivate. In the third cycle we can teach them some of the conventions of the newspaper style at a basic level.

The activities we may use will include:
- writing and replying to small ads
- writing and replying to letters to agony aunts
- re-ordering jumbled paragraphs
- re-ordering jumbled cartoon strips
- completing cartoon speech bubbles
- predicting horoscopes for class members
- matching property ads with pupils´ needs
- replying to job ads (role plays)
- designing and elaborating a newspaper

All these activities can only be done at a very basic level with our pupils. However, it is important to familiarise them with newspapers. They will be used by secondary teachers more extensively and we must not forget that most educated people read one or more newspapers daily.

Other visual materials are photographs, the overhead projector, realia, flashcards or drawings on the blackboard, rods, wall pictures, slides, etc.

1.2. AURAL MATERIALS

Here we can include the radio, the cassette recorder, the laboratory. The radio is not very common in the English class. Though it is a very useful way to develop listening skills, our students do not have the necessary linguistic abilities to cope with radio programmes. The foreign language lab is hardly used now and it can be replaced by a computer lab.

We will speak more about the cassette recorder. Though much can be done by simply speaking while all the children follow what we say, it is clear that the development of listening skills in our classroom situation relies heavily on the universal availability of a cassette of pre-recorded material.

All new Primary English coursebooks have a teacher´s cassette with the corresponding texts and songs. These cassettes provide a good model of spoken English and real language.

We can accustom our pupils to listen to recordings of simple stories or fairy tales with activities to follow if we set up a listening corner in our classroom where we can have two or three cassettes and the activity books. The children will of course need to be trained in how to use a cassette player on their own, but they probably know how to play it already. It is a good reinforcing material for slower students, who can work autonomously.

If we use the cassette player to introduce new language we can always give our pupils the possibility of listening to the recording more than once. Listening materials suitable for our levels are very simple and the range of activities they include are somehow limited. We must try to widen the range of activities including pre-, while- and post- listening activities which will improve the listening skills of our pupils.

Recording devices can also be used to improve our pupils´ oral skills. They can record themselves noticing differences between their own pronunciations and the pronunciations of the cassette. This is also motivating for our pupils. One activity which promotes oral skills and motivates our pupils is recording their own songs in a tape.

2.3. AUDIOVISUAL MATERIALS

Audiovisual materials proper include both sound and pictures. We next study how to use the television, the video and the camcorder in the classroom.

Television

In relation to television, we can say that it is inherently a medium that has a great potential for motivating learners. It provides a wide variety of situations, accents, topics and presentation techniques. The real situations provide a context for language exploitation. The language used offers the necessary authenticity. It offers the possibility of exploiting students´ current interests. Television provides a wide range of paralinguistic clues - facial expressions, body movements, etc. - that are very useful for comprehension. Television can introduce the culture of the country - food, clothes, buildings, etc. -. A major advantage is that the same programme can adapted to different levels, depending on the task students are asked to do. The role of the teacher becomes crucial to take the decision as to how to work the programmes. As one of the major problems of using television and video in the classroom is the ephemerality of the medium, our task as teachers is to confront the pupils with activities that build and reinforce the viewing experience.

Children may not understand a real TV programme, but that is not a problem. Watching regularly TV programmes especially made for native children is very beneficial. But we cannot expect children to answer questions or reproduce what they hear, even if they spend hours watching programmes in English. TV programmes, such as cartoons, do not teach the language, but help internalise it. This kind of material must be authentic and interesting.

The problem of using TV is that we cannot stop it. Although TV is an important aid for study, it fulfils its real importance in the classroom on videocassette.

Video

As an addition to the teacher´s resources, video offers an interesting and motivating aid to learning. It brings the outside world into the classroom, it offers examples of new language and is a stimulus to the classroom communication.

Video materials used in language teaching come from a wide range of sources:
- video recordings of language-teaching broadcasts and films
- video recording of domestic television broadcasts, such as comedy and news programmes
- video recordings of specialists films and television programmes such as documentaries produced by industry, or educational programmes
- video language-teaching materials made for the classroom rather than for public transmission or broadcasts
- self-made video films, involving the teachers and learners.

The combination of sound and vision is dynamic, immediate, and accessible. This means that communication can be shown in a context; it is what we could call language in action. We find out straight away about the speakers in dialogues since they can be seen and heard. This way, we find out about their ages, their sex, whether they are related or not to each other, the place where the situation is taking place, etc. With all this information the learner can clarify whether the situation is formal or informal, etc.

Register is the way in which we say things depending on the people we are talking to and our relationship with them. The learner can see why things are said in a different way. Watching the video, s/he can judge relationships and feelings from the speaker´s gestures, facial expressions, posture, distance from each other, dress and surroundings. All these factors influence or reflect what people say and how they say it, and only video can show them fully.

Like any feature film or TV programme, a video will use close-ups of people, places and things to emphasise or explain what it is going on. The camera technique helps learners to understand the narrative and the character´s behaviour and motivation.

One more important aspect to think of is that learning a language is not only a matter of structures and words. Cultural factors are a very important part of language learning. Video allows the learner to see the target language at work.

Although the audiovisual features of video films are found in cinema films and television broadcasts too, they do not offer the same facilities for classroom exploitation. On top of that we must not forget the electronic tricks to create special effects and images.

All these previous aspects make the video material interesting. At their best, video presentations will be intrinsically interesting to language learners, and they will want to watch more, even if comprehension is limited, and should ask questions and follow-up ideas and suggestions. By generating interest and motivation, the video films can create a climate for successful learning.

We have to make it clear that the video recorder cannot and does not replace the teacher. It changes his or her role so that teachers become more facilitators adapting the materials to the needs of individual classes or pupils. Learners should not be exposed to long excerpts whose body of texts would be so demanding that could create more frustration than encouragement. As a general rule, it is much better to choose a short excerpt and to work thoroughly on it.

An adequate approach could consist of three phases:
- in the first phase the video is just being played so that pupils become familiar with the materials they are going to watch
- before the second phase takes place, some vocabulary might be taught but it is not necessary. In this phase the video is paused frequently so that attention can be focused on specific items of vocabulary and the actual teaching and learning activities can be initiated.
- phase three is aimed to reinforce the work that has been done. Depending on how challenging the materials have been, the video can be played through or paused at different stages for pupils to process what is being said.

Some techniques for the use of video are:
1 Silent viewing: playing the video with the sound turned down for no more than two minutes. The learners watch it and decide what is happening and what the speakers are saying.
2 Freeze frame: pressing the Pause button on the video recorder to freeze the motion of the screen. This allows the learner to look more closely at individual images or utterances within a sequence. It is useful for detailed language study, observation, and description.
3 Roleplay: it is, together with acting, one of the most useful ways of using new language through a video. Acting out involves practising the exact words of a dialogue, while roleplaying means that the learners use their own words and personalities to act out the situation they have seen on the screen.
4 Behaviour study: it concentrates on the non-verbal ways in which people express themselves - facial expressions, gesture, posture, dress, physical contact, etc. The main aim is to sensitise learners to conventions of behaviour in another culture.
5 Prediction: the teacher stops the video and elicits from the class what happens or what is said next. They can predict the topic after looking at the title, predict the end, guess the title, write the dialogue, the synopsis, etc.
6 Thinking and feeling: this technique is designed to focus on the thoughts and emotions of the characters in a sequence, and their relation to what is said. The learners have to say how the speaker is feeling, giving reasons for their choice. The teacher can also as "What are the characters thinking?" or even "How would you feel in a situation like this?"
7 Sound only: the opposite of silent viewing. Instead of not listening, the learner can listen but has to imaging the picture. The technique provides practice in describing things or people, identifying things or people from their description and following an oral description of something.
8 Watchers and listeners: half the class watch the screen and the other half listen. Then the watchers explain to the listeners what they have seen. This provides practice in speaking, observation and accurate reporting.

Video improves both listening and speaking skills, but it can also be used to improve writing ones, with exercises and activities, jumbles, word soups, etc. Even at higher levels learners can be asked to complete a script, to take short notes about what is being said, or produce short summaries.

The video camera

At a certain stage (after rehearsal, but at any level) students can be invited to produce their own material and record it in video. It is a high motivating task, but it requires time and technical mastery.

The teacher and/or the learners should operate the video camera and equipment competently. Then a wide variety of stimulating projects can be undertaken. Speaking abilities are developed, but also self-confidence, work in groups, organisation and order, care for the class materials, etc.

Four steps can be suggested to make use of the camcorder:
- a talking head: one person talks to the camera
- dialogues: two or three people are filmed talking together
- group discussion: a larger group of people are filmed in discussion
- project work: a freer use of the video facilities

The activities that can be carried out can be categorised in groups:
- language-training video: which presents to the learners some aspects of communication in the target language
- recordings of the learners: which allow them to see and hear themselves performing in the target language
- video projects controlled by the learners, which offer the learners the opportunity of working together in the target language

With small children the exploitation of the video camera will be on the part of the teacher, but it will be as stimulating and instructive as with older students. The viewing will be, in this case, the most important part of the process. For both small and older students the viewing is enjoyable and surprising, and means the moment of feedback.

2. COMPUTER AS AN AUXILIARY RESOURCE FOR LEARNING AND IMPROVING FOREIGN LANGUAGES

Although they have been used for teaching since the 1960s, computers only became practical and affordable for language learning in the early 1980s, when relatively inexpensive personal computers first became available. The first Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) programs were mainly used for manipulating words and sentences, playing games with students, testing them, and giving them feedback on their performance. Used in this way the computer has often been described as the "medium of the second chance" (because the activities usually let you try more than once to get the answer right) and of risk-taking (because you can make mistakes in your answers without other students knowing).

As computers became more powerful, and multimedia software became practical, the early 1990s saw the emergence of CD-ROMs, storing complete encyclopaedias or language courses with text, graphics, and audio or video. Commercial products of this sort, which are professionally produced, reliable, and straightforward to use, have a place in many classrooms.

Of course, the teacher must know how to work the computer and the program. The students have the mastery already. Every school has now its computer room and each learner can sit down and work.

The use of a computer is an excellent way to set remedial work. Not only does the learner have access to it at any time (with a computer at home), but has a reliable source if the program has been properly developed, and, what is more, the computer never gets tired, irritable or impatient. It is particularly good for learners who cannot cope with a more traditional teaching approach. As in video learning, computer learning makes use of a series of techniques that eases the task and makes it more enjoyable and entertaining. And pupils find that using computers is highly motivating.

The number of interactive programs on the market has increased a lot, but not all of them are useful for the class. Many are for adults and are still focused on the language, not on the content, as the machine cannot grasp meaning. They work on pronunciation, repetition, grammar and vocabulary exercises. The communication is still something that has to do with human beings.

Programs that children can use are made specially for them, some are for the learning of English but do not focus on grammar, but on concentration games, memory games, tales, cookery recipes, numbers and letters, paintings, etc. Others are not specially sold for learning English, but has the option of using it in this language. They are very motivating for our students and they learn the language unconsciously and in a playful way.

In many ways, however, the challenges presented to both students and teachers by the Internet can provide a more interesting, rewarding experience. The Net is a huge, rich resource. Its main distinguishing feature is that it is a medium of exploration, which releases creativity and imagination.

The Internet is beginning to transform language learning:
- first of all by making available to teachers and students an enormous range of information and resources
- as a means of communication
- not only in writing, but it is beginning to allow audio and video communication
- it leads to more cross-curricular work
- for their potential to motivate.

The students, once they are working on the computer, unless they need help, take the attention away from the teacher, though the teacher must co-ordinate and assess. This allows more flexibility in managing the lesson, and in particular there is often more time to work with individuals and groups than in an ordinary class. Most of the activities with the Internet require small groups, they are not usually done individually.

Materials from the Internet can be used with a variety of levels by allowing students themselves to choose the kind of material they work with, and by varying the kind of task they are asked to perform. For example, if students have to visit newspaper sites in order to produce their own newspaper, they can be given a choice of Websites, of the kind of news they select, and of the task they are to carry out with the news they find.

There are also steps to work with computers:
1.Pre-computer work: in some cases, before beginning an activity on the computer, it will be necessary to pre-teach vocabulary, or a specific function or structure. In every case, however, you will need to ensure that the students know exactly what they have to do when they begin work on the computers.
2. Computer work: If the activity has been well prepared, and the students suitably trained, the teacher should intervene only if s/he is asked for help. Instead, the teacher will monitor what the students are saying and doing.
3. Post-computer work: it is important that anything done in the computer room should be transferable to the normal classroom, and any Internet activity should be planned from the outset with some kind of follow-up activity in mind. Wherever possible, students should have something physical that they can take away with them from the computer room, so that they have a record of what they have done for follow-up work or for end-of-course- revision.

One drawback of the Internet is that it is a huge, rich resource, much of it yet unplanned. The variety of resources is so great that deciding how to exploit resources once you find them can be a challenge in itself. You have to plan the lessons very well in order to ensure your students´ Internet time is productive in terms of language learning.

UNIT 25: LEARNER-CENTRED FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHING AND LEARNING. ADVANTAGES, RUDIMENTS AND APPLICATIONS. IDENTIFICATION OF ATTITUDES TOWARDS FOREIGN LANGUAGE. ITS APPLICATIONS.

1. LEARNER-CENTRED FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHING AND LEARNING
All class activities can be done using information that learners themselves bring to the class. This methodology involves pupils active partaking, and every single activity is based on the knowledge and experience of our pupils.
The advantages of this method are:
" Exploding learners' potential: interests, ideas, beliefs, �
" Analysis of needs: analysis is always positive for developing abilities
" Previous learning experience: teachers must know their interests and needs.
" Learners as authors: they prepare their material
" Peer teaching and correction: they learn from each other
Learners learn better when the content is relevant to their past experience and present concerns. They learn how to learn.
There are different types of learners:
" Active learners: through games, pictures, video,� They need to use the language by doing things.
" Analytical learners: they prefer studying grammar, through books, finding their own mistakes, �
" Communicative learners: they enjoy learning by observing and listening to native speakers, talking to friends, watching TV, �
" Authority-oriented learners: they like teachers to explain everything, taking notes, reading, etc.
These differences must be taken into account to follow the principles of learner-centred teaching. If our learners prefer traditional learning activities we should start with them and try to move gradually towards acceptance of more communicative activities.
Materials
They are by definition limited to those produced by the learners in the class. The material should reflect the outside world and have some authenticity.
Learning how to learn
Different pupils have different ways of learning and different preferences about materials. They must become more and more independent and effective learners.
" Cognitive learning: planning, hypothesising, reflecting, classifying, matching, predicting, �
" Socialisation: collaboration, peer-corrections, �
" Communication: participation, �
It is extremely important the curiosity and a positive attitude towards foreign language learning.
Heterogeneity
There are mixed-ability groups, so homogenous materials cannot provide effective practice. It has a positive effect on pupils' attitude.
Assessment and evaluation
Evaluation involves both, teachers and pupils. Pupils should learn how to assess their own progress and also materials, activities, etc., to be aware of their own role as active agents during the learning process. Pupils can fill a diary form about what they have learnt, what mistakes have been made, what they would like to learn next, �
Teacher's role
In a learner-centred approach the teacher will be a curriculum developer. He/she must adapt the syllabus to the pupils, contribute with ideas and opinions, answer pupils' questions on vocabulary, grammar or procedures, provide what pupils ask for, etc.

There can be some resistance from learners who have specific preconceptions about the learning process. Some learners will feel that they are only learning when doing the type of activities they are used to.
In any syllabus there would always be pupil-centred teaching activities.
To face the responsibility for the sequence of events in the classroom it is necessary to record all the work done.

2. IDENTIFICATION OF MOTIVATIONS AND ATTITUDES TOWARDS ENGLISH. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS.
A learner-centred course should be justified in terms of relevance and motivational potential for our pupils.
We must know first the type of pupils we have. We need their description and interests.
Once their needs are analysed, we can get to know their motivations and attitudes towards English. We need to know their language proficiency and patterns of language use, and also their subjective needs, such as expectations and attitudes towards English, which are much more difficult to diagnose.

We can use standardised interviews and proficiency assessments, classroom observation, self-rating scales, ..
E.g.: How do you like learning?
When you speak, do you want to be corrected?
Where do you like learning from?
Do you find these activities useful?
Do you find your English is improving?

TEMA 25

EL PROCESO DE ENSEÑANZA Y APRENDIZAJE EN LA LENGUA EXTRANJERA CENTRADO EN EL ALUMNO: FUNDAMENTOS Y APLICACIONES. LA IDENTIFICACION DE LAS MOTIVACIONES Y ACTITUDES ANTE LA LENGUA INGLESA. APLICACIONES PRACTICAS.

0. INTRODUCTION

1. LEARNER CENTRED FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHING AND LEARNING:

1.1. Advantages.
1.2. Theoretical bases.
1.3. Methodology in a learner centred curriculum
1.4. Materials in a learner centred curriculum.
1.5. Assessment and evaluation in a learner centred curriculum.
1.6. The role of the teacher.
1.7. Potential problems.

1.7.1. Learner resistance.
1.7.2. External restraints.
1.7.3. Demands on the teacher.

2. IDENTIFICATION OF MOTIVATIONS AND ATTITUDES TOWARDS ENGLISH: ITS APPLICATIONS.

2.1. Techniques for identification of motivations and attitudes.
2.2. Applications.

3. BIBLIOGRAPHY

0. INTRODUCTION.

Campbell (1992) has stated that the main principle in learner centred teaching is that all class activities can be done using information that the learners themselves bring to the class. It is true that humanistic approaches also accept active pupil involvement in learning methodology, but learner centred teaching is more radical because it believes that every single one activity can be based on the knowledge, experience, and expertise of our pupils.

Learner centred teaching can be used in different ways in the English classroom. It can be any of the following:

the only method used in the classroom
a complement of other materials, providing topicality and practising language not covered by other materials
a set of remedial procedures to use in unpredicted situations such as poor attendance

1. LEARNER CENTRED FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHING AND LEARNING:

We next study tile most important aspects of a learner centred curriculum:

advantages
methodology
materials
assessment
the role of the teacher
problems

1.1. Advantages.

Campbell (1992) mentions nine advantages of using learner centred teaching:

the potential of the learner
constant needs analysis
topicality
previous learning experience
learners as authors
pace

the element of surprise
peer teaching and correction
group solidarity

The potential of the leanier. Our pupils bring a lot with them into the classroom. They have their own ideas, beliefs, attitudes and interests. These things are very important for them, so, if they can see them reflected in the way they learn English and the activities within the classroom they will be more motivated to use language for effective communication.

It is easier for a pupil to talk freely about a topic he himself has chosen, and therefore, he can draw on his knowledge to talk about, than about a topic which may be totally irrelevant. The way to fluency is more direct this way.

It is also important not to forget that a great part of the knowledge our pupils bring with them into the classroom is their mother language and culture. Learner centred teaching encourages them to incorporate this into their target language competence.

Constant needs anaNsis. In learner centred teaching, analysis is a continually developing process. Activities are chosen to met the current needs of its members. As our pupils carry out an activity, we spot the problems they have and introduce suitable practice activities in subsequent lessons. As we can see, the analysis never stops.

Topicality. Learner centred teaching allows us to introduce those issues our pupils are interested in into the classroom. This may be used to supplement or replace unsuitable coursebooks topics.

Previous learning experience. A learner centred approach offers an open ended experience to our pupils. We give them a basic framework that they must complete according to their interests and needs. This way, the same framework can evolve in completely different ways with different groups. Even if we repeat the same activity it may be different if the members of the group are different.

Learners as authors. Language practice is doubled in learner centred learning because our pupils are involved not only in using the materials but also in preparing them as well. They will be interested in seeing how other people will use the materials they have prepared so they have a real life reason to pay attention in the feed back stage.

Pace. Preparation work is longer in learner centred activities. However, as the activity progresses, the pace increases. Also, the involvement of our pupils is total from the very beginning.

The element of surprise. The fact that pupils in a learner centre teaching situation do not have the materials in advance, adds a strong element of surprise to the lesson. Not only do our pupils not know what is coming before the lesson starts, but they are often unable to l.:redict how the lesson will d elop, and how the material they have produced will be used.

Peer teaclang and correction. Learner centred teaching encourages pupils to work together and learn from each other, thus increasing their level of socialization. Activities are structured in such a way that our pupils have to pay attention to what their colleagues are saying. They can teach and correct each other. This working together means that the class can pool whatever individual linguistic resources they have.

Group solidarity. The fact that our pupil's work together in activities which are based in their interests and needs will tend to create a spirit of group solidarity. Learners are working with one another, not in competition with one another and therefore the atmosphere of the classroom is one of really purposeful commitment to learning English.

1.2. Theoretical bases.

The basic principle of permanent education in the General Law of Spanish Educational System (LOGSE) can only be achieved if the instructional programmes are centred around learners' needs. Only in this way should education develop in our pupils the capacity to control their own destiny. Therefore, the learner should be seen as being at the centre of the educational process. Bearing this in mind, the following principles of learner centred curricula can be identified:

- pupils who value their own experience as a resource for further learning or whose experience is valued by others are better learners
- pupils learn best when the learning objectives are congruent with their current self concept
- pupils react to experience as they perceive it, not as we present it
- pupils do not learn when they are over stimulated or stressed
- pupils learn best when the content is relevant to past experience or present concerns and the learning process is relevant to life experiences
- pupils who have learnt how to learn are the most productive learners
- pupils learn best when new information is presented through a variety of sensory modes

We next study how these principles are reflected in all aspects of pupil centred teaching.

1.3. Methodology in a learner centred curriculum.

Traditional approaches to language teaching have tended to separate considerations of syllabus design from methodology. Syllabuses specify the "what" of teaching whereas methodology specifies the "how". In recent times, the shortcomings of this lack of integration have become apparent, and there have been calls for a more integrated approach. In learner centred models, all the elements are in interaction and each may influence the other. This change in perspective has been prompted more by the development of communicative language teaching than anything else: for communicative language teaching to become a reality, there was a need for methodologies to reflect curriculum goals.

A communicative curriculum uses pedagogic tasks which must be linked in principled ways to the real world tasks pupils might be required to engage in outside the classroom. Learnercentred approaches draw on these activities and in studies on classroom acquisition which may provide psycholinguistically motivated learning tasks. But this is not enough because so far the language learner, who is the centre of our methodology, has been neglected. What happens if our pupils do not see as helping him learn activities which we consider to be communicative and psycholinguistically justified?

If we want to adopt both a communicative and a pupil centred approach we may find ourselves in a big problem. Some pupils favour more traditional learning activities rather than communicative type activities. An analysis of pupils data reveals that there may be four types of learners:

concrete learners: they prefer learning by games, pictures, 'Video, talking in pairs, learning through the use of the cassette ...

analytical learners: they prefer studying grammar, studying English books, studying alone, finding their own mistakes, having problems to work on ...

communicative learners: they enjoy learning by observing and listening to native speakers, talking to friends in English, watching TV in English ...

authority oriented learner: they like the teacher to explain everything, writing everything in a notebook, having their own textbook, learning to read ...

As we can see it is very difficult to use a communicative approach with analytical andauthority oriented learners if, at the same time, we want to follow the principles of learner centred teaching. These pupils may say things like "I don't want to clap and sing. I want to lean English. " These differences must be taken into consideration and a process of negotiating learning activities should begin.

If our pupils do not believe in the learning value of communicative activities we can begin by setting traditional learning activities, and gradually try and move our pupils towards acceptance of more communicative activities. The danger here is that our pupils get used to these traditional activities and do not want to change into communicative ones later on. For this reason some teachers prefer to make quite clear their expectations from the beginning. Whatever choice is made we must provide the maximum amount of information to learners, and set up mechanisms to facilitate negotiation and consultation.

1.4. Materials in a learner centred curriculum.

Pupil centred teaching materials are by definition limited to those produced by the learners in class. Therefore paper and pen are usually all that is needed though the use of more sophisticated equipment such as photocopiers, audio or video recorders and so on may be motivating.

The focus will be on assisting our pupils to do in class what they will be able to do outside, the materials should reflect the outside world. To do this, they should have a degree of authenticity. The materials should also foster independent learning (learning how to learn) and, as all our classes have mixed ability groups of learners, materials should be designed so that they are capable of being used in a variety of ways and also at different proficiency levels.
We now study these characteristics in detail.

1.4.1. Authenticity.
Nunan (1988) describes authenticity as follows:

"Authentic materials are usually defined as those which have been produced for purposes other than to teach language. They can be culled from many different sources: video clips, recordings of authentic interactions, extracts from television, radio and newspapers, signs, maps and charts, photographs and pictures, timetables and schedules. "

Despite the difficulties associated with the use of authentic materials, they are easily ju, 'ified on the grounds that specially scripted texts are artificial. Comprehending and manipulating this type of texts does not mean that our pupils will comprehend and manipulate language in real communicative situations and this is one of the principles of communicative language teaching that we have adopted.

While authenticity is generally thought of in terms of the materials used in a given teaching activity, there are other factors which may be equally important. Candlin and Edelhoff (1982) suggest that there are at least four types of authenticity which are important in our classrooms:

authenticity of goal
authenticity of environment
authenticity of text
authenticity of task

Nunan (1988) thinks that the most important type of authenticity is what he called "learner authenticity". By this he means "the realisation and acceptance by the learner of the authenticity of a given text, task, set of materials or learning activity". If we want our pupils to think that the materials we use are authentic they must fulfil two conditions:

1. They must be recognised by learners as having a legitimate place in the language classroom.
2. They must engage the interests of our pupils by relating to their interests, background knowledge and experience, and through these, stimulate genuine communication.

It is important to make our pupils realise that they are learning something. This is especially easy with traditional activities, such as drills or translations, but new, communicative activities may seem to them a waste of time. In some activities we can have, as Gavin Bolton said of drama, a unique pedagogic situation, where a teacher sees himself as teaching, but our pupils do not see themselves as learning. The second condition is easily fulfilled if we take into account our pupils characteristics and needs.

The problem is that these two conditions can be mutually exclusive. Television can be an engaging experience for our pupils, at home, but they may not legitimate its presence in the classroom. In this case we must found a process of negotiation, through which our pupils are gradually sensitised to the new element.

Those who take a hard line on authenticity insist that these should not be edited in any way. However, especially with our pupils, who are beginners, it may be necessary to edit authentic materials in a way. Edited materials can be classified into simulated authentic and artificial.

1.4.2. Learning how to learn.

Learning to learn approaches take into account that different pupils have different ways of learning (as we have seen when discussing learners' types). This means that they also have different preferences regarding learning materials. Therefore, the materials we use must aim to develop self awareness and gradually lead pupils to a conscious development of their own learning strategies, so that they become more effective and independent learners. This entails using materials that enable our pupils to acquire the following strategies:

1. Metacognitive strategies, such as planning for learning, hypothesizing, self assessment and reflection on the learning process.

2. Cognitive strategies, such as sorting, classifying, matching, predicting, using dictionaries, repeating ...

3. Social mediation strategies, such a's collaborating and peer correction, which may be developed by means of materials designed for pair or group work.

4. Communication strategies, that is, using phrases to enable them to participate and maintain communication in English, e.g., Can you say that again, please?

Acquiring learning to learn processes develops our pupils' curiosity and fosters a positive attitude towards foreign language learning. This is extremely important with our pupils as one of the main aims of Primary foreign languages education is to familiarize our pupils with English. This will prepare them for more formal and exam oriented courses in secondary school.

1.4.3. Heterogeneity.

Heterogeneous materials can be used at different levels of proficiency. As all classes are composed of mixed ability groups, homogeneous materials cannot provide effective practice for all our pupils; they may be too difficult for the weak pupils and may lack in volume or challenge for the stronger. The use of heterogeneous exercises not only ensure that a higher proportion of our pupils get learning value out of the practice, it also has a positive effect on our pupils' attitude as responses at different levels may be right.

The previous characteristics should be present in learner centred materials.

1.5. Assessment and evaluation in a learner centred curriculum.

No model would be complete without an evaluation component. We normally use the terms evaluation and assessment interchangeably, but they may mean different things for theoreticians. Assessment is taken to refer to the set of processes by which we judge pupil learning. Evaluation, on the other hand, is wider term, entailing assessment but also some additional processes which are designed to assist us in interpreting and acting on the results of our assessment.

In any pupil centred system, localised evaluation processes involving both teachers and pupils need to be developed. Our pupils should learn how to assess their own progress, and also evaluate, from their own perspectives, other elements within the curriculum including, materials, activities, and learning arrangements. Such pupil centred evaluation will assist in the development of a critical self consciousness by learners of their own role as active agents during the learning process. This is one of the main goals of a pupil centred approach.
Self assessment at basic level should not take a complex form. Our pupils' learner diary typical sheet may take the following form:

PUPIL'S DIARY
Completa una hoja cada semana.

1. Esta semana lie estudiado ....
2. Esta semana he aprendido ...
3. Esta semana he usado el inoles en ...
4. Esta semana he hablado con ...
5. Esta semana he visto los siguientes programas en in 16s ...
6. Esta semana he cometido estos errores ...
7. Mis dificultades han sido ...
8. Me eustaria saber ..
9. La semana que viene voy a aprender ...

1.6. The role of the teacher.
Whithin a pupil centred system, the teacher has a central role to play in all aspects of the curriculum. Accordina to Nunan, in traditional curricular systems, the teacher is reduced to the role of servant to a centralised curriculum process in which decisions about what will be taught, how it will be taught and how it. will be assessed are made by an authority remote from the point of lesson delivery.
In a pupil centred system such a control is undesirable. Our curriculum sets a group of shared minimum contents which may well be differentiated in terms of topics, themes, materials, learning tasks according to the particular teaching situation we are in. The main role of the teacher in a learner centred approach will be that of curriculum developer. He must adapt the curriculum to his pupils' characteristics (third level of concreteness). He must adapt the planned curriculum, which is set down in curriculum documents, to his teaching situation, implemented curriculum. Finally, he will assess what the pupils actually learn (assessed curriculum).

Derived from this main role of curriculum developer, we may find others such as:
participant
resource
monitor or assessor

As active participants we contribute ideas and opinions or relate personal experiences, helping to bridge the traditional gap between pupil and teacher. In learner based teaching, the teaching and learning are taking place on both sides.

We are also a resource, answering our pupils questions on vocabulary, grammar of activity procedures. By providing what our pupils ask for, rather than what we think they need, we can facilitate more effective learning.

At other times we will be assessors or monitors, checking what learners have produced. This assessing could be overt or covert. In communicative activities it is not very convenient to interrupt our pupils.

1.7. Potential problems.

Campbell finds three main problems:

learner resistance
external restraints
demands on the teacher

1.7.1. Learner resistance.

Learner resistance arise with groups of learners who have specific preconceptions about the learning process. This will not normally happen with our youngest pupils as it is the first time they are learning English, but it may well happen if they have had a different teacher during the second and third cycles of primary education. Some learners will feel that they are only learning when doing the type of activities they are used to. A gradual introduction of learner centred activities may convince our pupils of their value.

1.7.2. External~restraints.

Even if you are required to follow a syllabus which, despite having been approved by .iie School Board and the teaching staff, you do not quite like, you may find that it is still possible to cover parts of the syllabus using pupil centred teaching activities.

1.7.3. Demands on the teacher.

If we follow a pupil centred approach we are faced with the responsibility for the sequence of events in ;he classroom, a role which was normally left to the coursebook in conventional teaching. It is therefore essential to keep a record of all work done. We can make this in a pupil centred way as well if the pupils collaborate in the production of a regular class newsletter, which serves as a summary of all that has been achieved over a period of time, and reassures all concerned that progress is being made.

2. IDENTIFICATION OF MOTIVATIONS AND ATTITUDES TOWARDS ENGLISH: ITS APPLICATIONS.

We have already studied the main features of a learner centred curriculum. We now know that the contents of a learner centred course should be justified in terms of relevance and motivational potential for our pupils. We must now analyze procedure which have the potential for generating different curricula for learners with different motivations and attitudes towards Enalish. The starting point is generally the collection of various types of biographical data.

This description of our pupils is obviously the same one we need in order to select and design materials for them:

DESCRIPTION OF PUPILS
1. Age:
2. Number of boys and girls:
3. Familiar background:
4. Parents' occupation:
5. Motivation/attitude:
6. Knowledge of the world:
7. Knowledge of English:
8. Interests:
9. Pupils with special needs:
10. Pupils with discipline problems:
11. Based on the above, what conclusions can we draw about the kind of materials that would be suitable for our pupils?

Once we know our pupils we can begin a needs analysis procedure to get to know their motivations and attitudes towards English.

Needs analysis made its appearance during the 1970s in language planning. It serves three main purposes:

- obtaining wider input into the content, design and implementation of a language programme
developing goals, objectives and content
providing data for reviewing and evaluating existing programmes

Initially needs assessment was linked to accountability and relevance in political terms rather than to educational aims. Nowadays, however, taking account of our pupils' needs when designing the cours of instruction is well established.

Our pupils' need can be divided into two groups:

objective
subjective

Objective needs are those which can be diagnosed by teachers on the basis of the analysis of personal data about learners along with information about their language proficiency and patterns of language use.

Subjective needs, which are the motivations, attitudes, expectations towards English we are more interested in, are more difficult to diagnose, even by our pupils themselves.

Objective needs analysis results in content specifications derived from an analysis of the communicative situations our pupils are likely to find themselves. As they are derived from the language situation, they can be carried out in the absence of our pupils. On the other hand, subjective needs are derived from the learners themselves. While there is a tendency to equate objective needs with the specification of content, and subjective needs with the specification of methodology, the two need not be seen as synonymous. In learner centred approaches techniques for subjective needs analysis will therefore figure as prominently as techniques for objective needs analysis.

2.1. Techniques for identification of motivation and attitudes.

Techniques for data collection and course planning can be ranged on a continuum from formal to informal. Formal techniques include standardised interviews and proficiency assessments, while informal techniques include such things as classroom observation and self rating scales for use by learners in evaluating learning activities.

At the initial data collecting stage, we will probably not need all the data listed in the following survey. It may be interesting, however, to see the wealth of information we can get from our pupils referring to their subjective needs (motivations, attitudes and expectations). This survey is a practical application of the learner centred approach theory in relation to the identification of our pupils' motivations and attitudes towards English.

2.2. Applications.

The following questionnaires have been adapted from Brindley [Hunan, (1988:187)]:

A. Dime si el siguiente use del inglés es importante para ti. (Mucho, regular, nada)
1. Tell people about yourself ...
2. Tell people about your family ...
2. Tell people about your interests ...
3. Use buses/trains/ferries ...
4. Find new places in the city ..
5. Receive telephone calls ...
6. Make telephone calls ...
7. Join hobby or interest groups ...
8. Watch TV ...
9. Listen to the radio ...
10. Read newspapers/books/magazines ...
11. Give/accept/refuse invitations ...

Elige los cinco usos que quieras aprender en primer lugar.
1
2
3
4
5

B. ¿Cómo to gusta aprender? Contesta SI/NO

1. In class do you like learning
a. individually?
b. in pairs?
c. in small groups?
d. in one large group?

2. Do you like learning
a. by memory?
b. by problem solving?
c. by getting information for yourself?
d. by listening?
e. by reading?
f. by copying from the board?
g. by listening and taking notes?
h. by reading and making notes?
i. by repeating what you hear?

3. When you speak do you want to he corrected
a. immediately, in front of everyone?
or ...
b. later, at the end of the activity, in front of everyone?
c. later, in private?

4.Do you mind if other pupils sometimes correct your written work?
Do you mind if the teacher sometimes asks you to correct your own work?
Do you mind if the teacher asks you to correct some other pupils' work?

5. Do you like learning from

a. television/video films'?
b. radio?
c. tapes/cassettes? (e. g. language lab, language masters, cassette players)
d. written material?
e. the blackboard?
f. pictures/posters?

6. Do you find these activities useful?
a. Role play
b. Language games
c. Songs
d. Talking with and listening to other students
e. Memorising conversations/dialogues
f. Getting information from guest speakers
g. Getting information from planned visits

7. How do you like to find out how much your English is improving?
By .....

a. written tasks set by the teacher?
b. oral language samples taken and assessed by the teacher?
c. checking you own progress by making tapes, listening to the critically and comparing them?
d. devising your own written tasks for completion by yourself and other students?
e. seeing if you can use the language you have learnt in real life situations?

8. Do you get a sense of satisfaction from:

a. having your work graded?
b. being told that you have made progress?
c. feeling more confident in situations that you found difficult before?

In this way we can get practical information about our pupils' motivations and attitudes, enabling us to use the principles of learner centred teaching in our classroom so that we could make the most of its advantages. For example we can use the following learnercentred activity in order to practise the simple present and physical description vocabulary.
First, we draw a circle on the board. Secondly, we tell our pupils they are going to build this into a character deciding previously whether it is a man or a woman. Next, we continue to ask questions to build up the physical representation on the board, e.g. Does he have a moustache?, Is he fat? ...

We continue to ask questions about where he lives, his job, interests, family and so on. We point out contradictions e.g. he is 16 and father of three. As our pupils come with suggestions the pace increases and our pupils will point out contradictions and suggests alternatives by themselves.