Unit 11
Unit 11
Key Ideas 4
11.1. Attention to Diversity in the classroom 4
11.2. Group dynamics and classroom interaction 7
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In Depth 23
Test 25
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LOMCE:
Group features Internal factors
- Special needs associated to Extrernal factors
physical, physic or sensorial - Give students the Two dimensions - Intrinsic interest.
disabilities. choice. - Perceived value
of the activity. - Significant others.
- High capacities. - Random - Direction.
grouping. - Mastery. - The nature of
- Late incorporation. - Intensity or
interaction.
- ADHD. - Select the group magnitude. - -Self-content.
yourself. - The learning
- External measures. - Attitudes. environment.
- Group norms.
- Internal measures. - Other affective - The broader
states. contexts.
- Developmental
age and gender.
According to the LOE 2006 (modified) by the LOMCE in (2013) the students who need
a specific educational support should present the following features:
Schools should elaborate pedagogic proposals taking into account diversity and that
all students have access to a common education. The different methods should bear
in mind the different learning rhythms.
From the side of the administration, the necessary measures should be taken into
account. Among the measures for students with high capacities or disabilities we can
find:
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In these plans both ordinary and extraordinary measures can be found. The ordinary
measures for diversity are:
FPB (Formación Profesional Básica) basic professional training which implied the
creation of new formative cycles to which you can access when the students are
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between 15 and 17 years old once you have passed the first cycle of ESO.
We will now describe the measures for the students with special education needs
associated to a disability or to a severe conduct disorder.
Support from specialized teachers which can be given inside or outside the
classroom individually or in a small group according to students’ needs.
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Flexibilization of the permanence in the center, students with special needs can
stay one more year. Exceptionally they will be able to repeat a second time in the
4th course in case they haven’t repeated in previous years.
Adopt performance and enriching plans for the curriculum adapted to these needs
that allow students to highly develop their capacities.
To finish we will enumerate the measures for students who have lately been
incorporated to the educational system. The following circumstances will be
considered:
Knowledge.
Age.
Academic history.
Group work came into EFL through communicative approaches in the 1970s. Thanks
to this technique even less confident students get the chance to speak in the foreign
language, and the teacher acquires the role of a mediator.
Since English classes are, generally speaking, very numerous, we tend to associate
the term group as composed by a great number of students, however according to
Ehrman and Dörnyei (1998, p. 72) the term group conveys the following features:
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Once the whole group is set, the teacher should bear in mind the following features:
We will now see the different ways to group students depending on the activities that
will be carried out. All of them present advantages and disadvantages for this reason
they should be combined.
Students can choose their peers sitting down in the same place and working with the
same people. This is not necessarily connected with good class performance and in
the long term, since they are in their comfort zone, they won’t socialize with other
students. This group dynamic is suitable if the topic is more personal or the students
should know each other better.
Random grouping
This is seen as the fairest of all. If the class has 25 students and you want to make
groups of 5 give each student a number from 1 to 5 and once you have given all the
students a number, they should group with their corresponding number.
The teacher groups the strong candidates with the weak ones so they help them, and
they will also find it challenging, but if the activity is more homogeneous strong
candidates should be grouped with strong candidates.
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As previously stated, one of the conditions for the group to be cohesive is to follow
the rules and standards of behavior for this reason we propose a series of activities
that could be useful to introduce at the beginning of the school year.
This behavior contract is mainly addressed to teenagers and teachers can adapt them
to the most important aspects, according to their criteria.
In the following image we can find a contract that to become official should be signed
by the student and the parents.
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In the following image we find an example of golden rules created by the students.
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Direction. When we choose a specific action to carry out, this responds to the
question “Why do we carry out this task?”
Generally speaking, motivation is higher at early stages, preschool and primary and
decreases during adolescence. Generating initial motivation is relatively easy during
the different stages because the teacher should foster a good atmosphere and make
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fun and dynamic classes. The difficulty comes when motivation should be kept in the
long term.
As Marion Williams states (1994, p. 77) “Learning of a language is not just the learning
of the different skills we need to master to communicate with others and decode
their messages. It involves an alteration of our own identity: the adoption of new
social behaviors.”
The responsibility of English language teachers is very high because if students have
never contacted with the target culture we will be the “ambassadors of the language
and culture”, as Dörnyei and Murphey explain (2001, p. 14), “if our students are very
young and have not had any contact or previous knowledge of the target culture and
its speakers, it is our responsibility to present the culture of the English speaking
countries as something interesting and appealing and to reinforce a positive attitude
towards the otherness.”
In the following figure we present the main internal factors to foster foreign language
learning.
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Attitudes:
Intrinsic interest of activity: Language Learning in general.
1 Arousal of curiosity. 5 Target Language.
Optimal degree of challenge. Target Language community and
culture.
Mastery:
Feeling of competence.
3 Awareness of developing skills and
mastery of a chosen area.
Self-efficacy.
7 Developmental age and gender
Self-content:
Realistic awareness of personal
4 strengths.
Personal definitions and judgements.
Self-worth concern.
E X T E R N A L FA C TO R S
In the following image we can see the Motivational Teaching Practice during the
different stages.
Invite culture into class. You could use pop songs, movies, and magazines to work
the different skills in an authentic context.
If you want to work on speaking skills you could play English songs with the website
Lyricstraining (https://es.lyricstraining.com/) and the students will fill the gaps
individually, in pairs or groups (depending on their level and age), and if they finish
filling it they will be able to listen to the whole song. This activity will allow them to
connect listening, reading and speaking.
Gamification. It is a perfect way to introduce more passive skills like reading and
writing, grammar and vocabulary. We could play charades to practice verbs in
progress or continuous actions. With the use of ICT tools students of all ages can learn
vocabulary in a fun way. In the following website
https://www.eslgamesplus.com/classroom-games/ primary students will be able to
practice colors, animals, clothes and numbers with a fortune wheel.
To conclude, to foster students’ motivation and keep in the long-term classes should
be fun but also unexpected, for this reason the teacher should change the activities
every week to make it more unpredictable, specially at early stages where the
attention span in short.
Reflective teachers pose themselves daily questions like, “If I teach this topic, should
I do this task? When would it be better to teach it? Should I group them in pairs or
larger groups?” Generally speaking, teachers do this research informally but in order
to obtain trustworthy results we could follow these tips:
2. Observe in the classroom and make questions. These questions should not be too
general or specific but focused or related with the main research question.
3. Write on an observation journal, so you can collect much information which will,
sometimes, be useful to improve your teaching. In this journal you can reflect your
own thoughts but also interview students, give them questionnaires or tests.
4. Write down all the research and results. It is clearer if it is presented in a graph or
diagram. This will be the point of departure to start introducing changes in your
classroom.
We will now analyze different action research projects that can be carried out:
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Stringer’s model
Mill’s model
Presents a four-step action research where research is done by the teachers and for
teachers and students. It is a dynamic and flexible model that can be adapted to all
contexts and levels.
Wallace’s model
This model aims to accelerate and enhance reflective development specially related
to language teaching. It can be done by systematically carrying out data and drawing
to some conclusions about the future teaching practice.
The teachers will have to reframe the problem, collect fresh data, rethink the analysis
until they find a satisfying solution.
Action Project
We now present a sample Action Project that should follow these steps:
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Step 1. The problem should be related to student learning in the classroom. We could
pose the following questions:
Would a different type of assignment enhance students’ learning?
Would they feel more motivated studying grammar implicitly?
Step 3. Gathering information following one of the previous models and collecting
data, observing…
Step 4. Apply the measures according to the given results to improve the
teaching/learning practice for example by changing the type of assignments to make
a more effective learning.
Easy Pace Learning. (N. d.). 150 praise and encouragement phrases you can use to
show you appreciate your co-workers, classmates, students, friends. Retrieved from:
https://www.easypacelearning.com/all-lessons/english-lessons-level-3/1343-praise-
and-encouragement-phrases-you-can-use-to-show-you-appreciate-english-words
needs-provision-within-mainstream-education-70_es
Mills, G. E. (2003). Action research: a guide for the teacher researcher. New Jersey:
Merrill/Prentice Hall.
Rashid, N. and Tikly, L. (2010). Inclusion and Diversity in Education: guidelines for Inclusion
and Diversity in Schools. London: British Council. Retrieved from:
https://www.britishcouncil.es/sites/default/files/british-council-guidelines-for-
inclusion-and-diversity-in-schools.pdf
Throughout this document you will find how to develop a model in school to foster
inclusion in a European context where learners, teachers and parents have a voice.
British Council. (N. d.). Primary Success Stories: Involving the whole group in the lesson.
[Video file]. Retrieved from: https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/primary-
success-stories-involving-whole-group-lesson
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This video by Barnali from India talks about how the teacher manages to involve all
learners despite their level, classroom layout and mixing groups. One of the purposes
of this resource is to make teachers reflect on their own development.
McCallister, J. (N. d.). Action Research in Education: Methods and Examples. [Video file].
Retrieved from: https://study.com/academy/lesson/action-research-in-education-
examples-methods-quiz.html
The following video explains the benefits and types of action research and the steps
that should be followed. After watching the video, you can check your knowledge
doing a quiz.
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3. Who stated the following quote “Learning of a language is not just the learning of
the different skills we need to master to communicate with others and decode
their messages. It involves an alteration of our own identity: the adoption of new
social behaviors.”
A. Dörney.
B. Elley.
C. Marion Williams.
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7. The type of research that is flexible and dynamic and starts from a hypothesis and
ends with an action plan is…
A. Wallace’s.
B. Stringer.
C. Mill’s.
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9. The factor of mastery related to internal factors of motivation is related to: The
Spotlight technique consists on:
A. Feeling of competence, awareness of developing skills and mastery of a chosen
area and self-efficacy.
B. Feeling of competence, awareness of developing skills and mastery of a chosen
area self-efficacy and language learning in general.
C. Feeling of competence, awareness of developing skills and mastery of a chosen
area, self-efficacy and arousal of curiosity.
10. Group work started to be used through the…………………. method in the 1970’s.
A. Grammar-based method.
B. Total Physical Response.
C. Audiolingual.
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