Specializarea: Profesor de Limba Engleză [309285]
UNIVERSITATEA DIN ORADEA
Departamentul pentru Pregatirea Personlului Didactic
Specializarea: [anonimizat]: Lector univ. dr. Leah Claudia
Autor: Mircea Simona Elena
Unitatea de învățămant: Liceul „ Radu Petrescu”
Localitate: Prundu Bârgăului
Județul: Bistrița-Năsăud
-Oradea 2017-
UNIVERSITATEA DIN ORADEA
Departamentul pentru Pregatirea Personlului Didactic
Specializarea: Profesor de Limba Engleză
The Development of the European Key Competences through Lessons of Culture and Civilisation
Conducator stiintific: Lector univ. dr. Leah Claudia
Autor: Mircea Simona Elena
Unitatea de învățămant: Liceul „ Radu Petrescu”
Localitate: Prundu Bârgăului
Județul: Bistrița-Năsăud
-Oradea 2017-
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….5
Key concepts……………………………………………………………………………………………………….……….……8
Abbreviations list ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….9
CHAPTER I CONCEPTS OF CULTURE
1.1 General presentation ………………………………………………………………………………………….10
1.2 What is culture? …………………………………………………………………………………………………..11
1.3 Definition of culture …………………………………………………………………………………………….13
1.4 Cultre vs. civilization …………………………………………………………………………………………..14
1.5 Linguistic identity and diversity ……………………………………………………………………………15
1.6 English, the global language …………………………………………………………………………………20
1.7 Being a teacher in a changing world …………………………………………………………………….22
1.8 Attitudes to English as a [anonimizat]………………………………………………..27
CHAPTER II THE ROMANIAN CURRICULUM IN A EUROPEAN CONTEXT
2.1The European dimension of the Romanian education …………………………………………………29
2.2Curriculum change ………………………………………………………………………………………………………31
2.3 The European Key Competences ………………………………………………………………………………..35
2.3.1Communication in a foreign language ………………………………………………………………….37
2.3.2Digital competence ………………………………………………………………………………………………37
2.3.3Learning to learn ………………………………………………………………………………………………….38
2.3.4Social and civic competences ……………………………………………………………………………….38
2.3.5 Sense of initiative and entrepreneurship …………………………………………………………….40
2.3.6Cultural awareness and expression ………………………………………………………………………41
2.4 Language learning styles. Aims and purposes …………………………………………………………….41
2.5 Learning styles ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………45
2.6 Learning theories ………………………………………………………………………………………………………..47
2.6.1Difference between Acquisition and Learning ………………………………………………………49
CHAPTER III SHORT HISTORY OF TEACHING METHODS AND APPROACHES
3.1 General view ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………51
3.2 [anonimizat] …………………………………………………………………………….52
3.3 Active language learning …………………………………………………………………………………………….64
CHAPTER IV THE IMPORTANCE OF TEACHING LITERATURE AND HISTORY IN DEVELOPING THE EUROPEAN KEY COMPETENCES
4.1 Introduction ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………67
4.2 Why literature? Practical activities ……………………………………………………………………………68
4.3 A better cultural understanding ………………………………………………………………………………..69
4.4 Activities used during the English classes ………………………………………………………………….69
4.5 Lesson plans
CHAPTER V APPLICATIVE RESEARCH ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE EUROPEAN KEY COMPETENCES THROUGH LESSONS OF CULTURE AND CIVILISATION
5.1. General references ………………………………………………………………………………………………..115
5.2. The Objectives of the Research ……………………………………………………………………………..117
5.3. The hypothesis of the research ………………………………………………………………………………118
5.4. The Pedagogical Experiment ………………………………………………………………………………….118
5.4.1Pre-experimental stage or pre-test …………………………………………………………………119
5.4.2 The Experimental stage …………………………………………………………………………………..120
5.5 Pre-test stage ………………………………………………………………………………………………………….121
5.6 The post-test stage ………………………………………………………………………………………………….122
5.7 Answer analysis of the questionnaire at the end of the course ……………………………….125
5.8 Conclusions to the experiment…………………………………………………………………………………126
CONCLUSIONS ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
BIBLIOGRAPHY ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
APPENDICES …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
INTRODUCTION
George Herbert Mead, half a century ago, was prompted to say, “A person learns a new language and, as we say, gets a new soul . . . he becomes in that sense a different individual. You cannot convey a language as a pure abstraction; you inevitably, in some degree, convey also the life that lies behind it”.
UNDERSTANDING IS SEEING- the metaphor
Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself. – Leo Tolstoy, 1828–1910
In the context of the beginning of the new millennium, the Romanian society is in a full stage of European affirmation, the Educational System having to continuously adapt to the new standards. Thus, the English language bears a greater importance than ever before, being considered a “sine-qua-non” condition in shaping a teenager’s personality. In this aspect, the proposed theme “The Development of the European Key Competences through Lessons of Culture and Civilisation” has the purpose to develop the oral and written expression, to enhance the cultural representations of the Anglo-Saxon universe, to stimulate the interest for the study of the English language.
Being an individual, does not necessarily mean being entirely different from the others. In reality, we are a sum of social and cultural factors, despite the fact that the concept of uniqueness seems appealing. While studying literature, we become aware of other realities and thus we enlarge our perspective. Learning about different cultures gives us a better understanding of our identity by comparing and contrasting.
The European Framework defined eight key competences, all of them being equally important as well as interrelated. In the chosen theme, I want to refer to the competences, which are directly involved in the process of teaching/learning the English language, meaning: communication in foreign languages, digital competence, learning to learn, social and civic competences, sense of initiative and entrepreneurship, cultural awareness and expression.
Each English teacher can contribute to raise awareness of their importance, to show possible connections and bridges, to suggest concrete links starting from communication in English in order to develop: critical thinking, creativity, initiative, problem solving, decision taking and management of emotions.” Your knowledge doesn’t mean anything if nobody knows that you know.”
More than a language, English represents a subject that needs to be taught, a subject to be studied in preparation for exams, or even for study abroad in today’s world. Thus, the job of the English language teacher, more than ever before, is to prepare the student for a continuously changing world, for a world based on competences, on what a person knows to put into practice, meeting the needs of already working professionals of the world of businesses or the job market.
More than ever before, the role of the English teacher is ”to arrange opportunities for others to acquire skills, to benefit from professional development, and, yes to learn languages”. (Kenny, 1997:12)
In the first chapter, Concepts of Culture, we dealt with the importance of culture and civilisation in all aspects of life, with the stress on the importance in the study of the English language, as a facilitator for life opportunities. Also, we have tried to explain the terms culture and civilisation from various points of view. The emphasis was on the importance of mastering an important language like English, which in the last century has become a global language, or the new lingua franca.
Preoccupations concerning the cultural aspects in terms of linguistic acquisition, lead the way towards international communication. For better communication, we need to develop the students’ awareness and appreciation. The idea is, that if learners are not exposed to culture, the knowledge they get will be without substance. As teachers, we as well need to adapt to the requirements of today’s world. The use of technology in the English class shoud be a must, rather than a blockage in teaching and communication.
The second chapter, The Romanian Curriculum in a European Context, develops the idea of the Romanian education, on the threshold of incoming changes, with the stress on the changes that already took place due to the new European educational policies; these policies being in agreement with the changes in people’s behaviour and perception of the world.
The European Key Competences for life-long learning, establisged in the CEFR, brought changes in our educational system. We tried to explain their importance and to emphasize the changes they brought in the study of English, in terms of attitudes, understanding, assertiveness, innovation, initiative and appreciation, all applied both to a personal level and to the world around.
Linguistic acquisition comes in agreement with the key factors like: learning styles, personality, motivation, age, or goals. Yet, the role of the teacher in the process is as important, as it is obvious.
In the third chapter, Short History of Teaching Methods and Approaches, we tried to revise the most important teaching trends. The goal was to underline the idea of change by having the opportunity to compare thre traditional methods, which relied upon lots of grammar patterns and drills, to the modern ones, based on communication, with the stress on lots of vocabulary practice and real-life learning situations in order to become linguistically competent.
Going further, to the most extended and important chapter in the paper, The Importance Of Teaching Literature In Develping The European Key Competences, we have tried to draw a bridge between the study of literature and history, and the linguistic competence. As an important component of culture, literature represents a reliable source to be used in the classroom. Taking into consideration the historical aspect, when learners get in contact with pieces of writing dealing with various cultural aspects, coming from different times in history, they get to learn about important parts like: authentic language, social conventions, the context through the characters they become familiar with; the genuine materials promote language meant for the native speakers in its used context.
From the non fictional literature, students learn about emblematic figures which also contribute to a better understanding. They develop competences during these activities, as they manage to deal with both linguistic aspects, and with the thoughts, beliefs, social behaviour as well. In other words, they get a better picture of the past and of the present, with emphasis on the linguistic context. Through the chosen themes, students got to develop in terms of key competences.
In the fifth chapter, Applicative Research On The Developement Of The European Key Competences Through Lessons Of Culture And Civilisation, we presented the results of the pre-test and post-test, as well as of the questionnaire applied before and after the optional course. The results showed that after the implementation of chosen activities, their linguistic skills improved, the attitudes towards the study of English, as well, and also the self-confidence.
The conclusion is that culture and civilisation activities are both entertaining and educational. The main beneficiaries were the students, as they managed to decelop their knowledge in reading, writing, vocabulary and also in oral fluency. They started to understand the meaning of communication, which refers to placin their own cultural baggage in relation to their own.
Key concepts
Cultural appropriacy is when a topic suits the culture i.e. cultural background of the students and the teacher;
Cultural awareness is the part in which a better understanding of different groups is on the way, it represents a facilitator, by changing attitudes, mainly, towards other cultures.
Cultural background represents the culture that a student has grown or lived in; here culture refers to country, region or social group;
Cultural competence can be defined as the ability of recognising and accepting the way that people are. It also refers to the action of acknowledging and accepting differences in order to be able to know how to deal with various situations that may arise, to get a capacity of involving all the necessary parts in order to turn a goal into practice, or into a needed action. Cultural competence has the ability to bring together different attitudes, behaviours, skills, to influence positive results or efficient working conditions. It also refers to acceptance at various levels, so as not to be cases of exclusion, dealing with the responsibility of facilitating adaptation.
Cultural knowledge can be explained as cognition of certain, essential cultural characteristics of another cultural group, such as history, values, beliefs, and behaviours.
Cultural sensitivity represents knowledge of existing differences between cultures, without setting a certain role for values, by not judging as good or bad in terms of differences. When it comes to culture clash that can happen if a belief, a custom, religion is different from what is generally regarded as “right”, it is essential that we do not go against the idea of multiculturalism.
Abbreviations list
CA-contrastive Analysis
CEFR- Common European Framework of Reference for Languages
ICT-Information Computer Technology;
IST-Information Society Technology;
NL-Native Language:
SLA-Second Language Acquisition
TBL-Task Based Learning
TESOL-Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages
CHAPTER I
CONCEPTS OF CULTURE
1.1 General presentation
Raymond Williams defined culture as a realm of separate form, often actively opposed to the realm of material production and economic activity. The cultural policies have evolved such, that these days it is widely agreed that culture possesses inherent values, meant for life enhancement.
In the book Studying Culture, Ann Grey underlines that “Culture is ordinary; every human society expresses these in institutions and in arts and learning. The making of a society is the finding of common meanings and directions, and its growth is an active debate and amendment under the pressure of experience, contact and discovery, writing themselves into the land” (Gray, 1993:6)
In order to define culture, one should have in mind every individual that is part of it and every individual's mind, as the making and the growth of a society is continuously being remade in every one's mind. The long and difficult process is though, the making of a mind, which supposes a slow learning of the things around, of purposes and meanings in order to make it possible to communicate, observe and work. The next, but not less important is testing of the learned aspects in order to gain a certain amount of experience, of achieving new meanings.
In the same book is enhanced the fact that culture goes by two aspects as follows: the 'known' meanings and directions, which its members are trained to do; 'the new' observations and meanings, which are offered and tested. These two processes are defined as 'ordinary' processes of human societies and human minds and they are facilitators for us to see the nature of a culture as a creative and a traditional one.
The word culture is used bydirectionally, in order to define the way of life in all the aspects, which is a common meaning, to refer to the arts and learning, which is a process of self-discovery and of creative effort. It represents a whole way of life, which together with the arts is affected by the economic aspect. It is affected and changed by people, it is the result of an entire people, offering individual meanings, it is a result of experience. There have been various approaches of culture such as: antropological, scientific or artistic.
1.2 What is culture?
Culture can be defined as the common traditions, beliefs, customs, history, folklore, and institutions of a group of people. In the book Language and Culture, Claire Kramsch explains the origin of the word culture as coming from the latin word “colere” which means to cultivate. “The word culture evokes the traditional nature/nurture debate: are human beings mainly what nature dewtermines them to be from birth or what culture enables them to become through socialization and schooling?” (Kramsch, 2009:4) It is in a continuous change and in a strong relation with the outside environment and the individual. It is reflected in a set of behaviours, actions and communication patterns shared by the individuals that inhabit within a certain space together with common attitudes and alike behaviours, and it is not something that can be inherited, it takes a long process of learning. Culture is shared by people of the same ethnicity, language, nationality, or religion. It's a system of rules that are the base of what we are and affect how we express ourselves as part of a group and as individuals.
We, as individuals develop in a certain type of culture. The environment we live in determines what we learn, that is our choice of content and amount, how we learn it, meaning the means and methods used and the rules imposed by society for coexisting. These rules are transmitted from one generation to the next and are often adapted to the times and places. The rules are assimilated by children as they develop, in various ways, from different sources, through a tremendous amount of experiences.
From an organizational point of view culture can be seen as the sum of policies, procedures, programs, and processes, which comprise a set of values, beliefs, and customs. An organizational culture has the aim of building skills in order to achieve cultural competence. A culturally competent group should not only bring together knowledge about different groups of people but also transform it into standards, policies, and practices which are supposed to make things function properly.
The place that the values people acquire as members of society shapes the common human attributes. People are what they learn. In “Language and Identity” J.Edwards presents two versions of cultural determinism: the optimistic ones and the pessimistic ones. There are optimistic versions of cultural determinism which should set no visible boundaries on the power of people to do or to be whatever they want. It was suggested by anthropologists that there is no generally accepted "right way" of being human.
In different cultures, what is regarded and accepted as “the right way” is almost always "our way"; that what is taken for granted in one society is almost never similar to its corresponding ideas from another society. In order to function properly as a human being in our contemporary world, on should be tolerant of other people, idead attitudes, or lifestyles. This theory asserts that human beings are always open to change, always adaptable and able of getting reshaped, able to make choices on the way they want to live, able to express preferances.
“By the late 1970s, 'learner-centredness' had emerged as a key concept in second language teaching based on a now largely unquestioned understanding that learners'varied responses to teaching are as important a factor in language learning, if not more so, than teaching itself. In this sense, the idea of learner-centredness was a humanistic reactionto behaviourist theories that assigned little importance to the variability of responses to input” (Benson, Nunan, 2004:6)
The pessimistic version of cultural determinism, holds the idea that people are what they are socially conditioned to be without them having any power and control over it. Human beings are regarded as passive creatures,who only do what their culture states that is proper to do. The theory leads to the idea of behaviourism, which gives the human being no control of their behaviour putting the stress on the idea of cause and effect.
The conclusion to the above ideas is that there cannot exist a society without culture which connects the members of a community. There can not be any doubt that at the core of building personality lays the national identity, still, the national identity is also built on differences, which can lead to reactions of rejection or even racism towards people who live in/belong to another culture. The technological changes which allow us to create universal links will undoubtedly transfor our lives. In this context, education should be accomplished on a global scale and in order to build a sense of identity and a clearer understanding of the language, the study of the culture should represent a target.
1.3 Definition of culture
Culture has various aspects and definitions. I want to refer to the most frequently encountered meanings and definitions in order to set the complexity of this term.
Firstly, it is defined as the cumulated sum represented by knowledge, experience, beliefs, values, attitudes, meanings, religion, perception of time, roles, relationships, ideas concerning the universe, together with the material possessions gotten by a group of people in the course of generations through individual and group strain.
Culture represents an intricate network of systems of knowledge which are common for a comparatively numerous group of people.
Culture is also represented by various communicational systems, hence the fact that communication is another aspect of culture.
Generally speaking, mentioning the most common sense Culture is delineated by what is known as cultivated behavior; it can be seen as the entire sum of a person's learned, gotten experience that is conveyed at an organisational level, or more precisely, behavior gotten through social learning. Culture can also be regarded as the viable model of life accepted by a group of people, comprising behaviors, beliefs, values, and symbols that are generally accepted, without questioning them, taken for granted and transmitted, or we can say inherited by imitation, by communicative means from generation to generation . Culture can also be refered to as a set of symbols used for communication. We can include among the cultural symbols motives, values, skills, attitudes, in other words knowledge. The institutions that a society, or a large group of people has, serve the purpose of perpetrating the learned symbols by choice. Culture is, in other words, the amount of the learned behaviour perceived as the tradition of the people and is, in consequence, transmitted from one generation to another. Culture is the way that people belonging to a certain group think unitarily, it was seen as “collective programming of the mind that distinguishes the members of one group or category of people from another”. (Lewis, 2006:17)
Culture refers to a set of explicit and implicit patterns, representative of a certain human group, marking the uniqueness of that group, the set of rules that guide them along their lives, the history, which made them function accordingly, the key figures that function as motivators or role models, the living traditions or those depicted only in artefacts. The essence of culture consists of ideas driven by tradition and more importantly, the values. Culture functions on two different levels: firstly, it appeared as a result of the actions of people belonging to many generations and functions as a guide for inherited behaviour and all the aspects that derive from it with a stress on the past.
Secondly, it oversees future, since it is the starting point for any future action, as it bears the influence of the past, of the geographical area, of all the influences, or imitative behaviour that may derive as further actions.
“Culture, like a house, is a refuge and a place of comfort. When interacting across cultures, it is important people understand there will be some discomfort in moving beyond the house. Clear boundaries delineate the inside of the house from the rest of the world. Likewise, culture often determines who is part of our group (the in group) and who is not part of our group and not like us (the out group). This is one of the realities of the human experience. Culture, like a tree, has deep roots and it is important to understand historical contexts of cultures.”(Berardo, Deardoff, Trompenaars, 2012:63)
1.4 Cultre vs Civilisation
The Longman Dictionary of English Language and Culture defines culture as „the beliefs, way of life that are shared and accepted by people in a particular society; the attitudes and beliefs about something that are shared by a particular group of people in a particular organization.” The same source defines civilization as “a society that is well organized and developed, used especially about a particular society in a particular place or at a particular time. An advanced stage of human development marked by a high level of art, religion, science, and social and political organization”
In the first place, civilization, as theory underlines is bigger than culture in which an entire civilization can include one single part of culture. Civilization is a bigger unit than culture because it is an intricate sum of the society that exists within an area, together with forms of government, laws, and of course, culture. In this aspect, culture is just a fragment of an entire civilization.
Any culture exists inside a civilization. In this sense, a civilization can contain more than one even several cultures. If we compare culture and civilization we can show the differences between language and the country that uses it.
Culture can exist in itself whereas civilization cannot be called a civilization if it does not possess a certain culture. It can be compared with a certain nation that may or may not exist on its own without the use of a surrounding environment meant for communication. Consequently, a civilization is empty if it does not have its own culture, with its own particularities.
Lewis also puts the stress on the idea of culture as something tangible, and also be something that is not. Culture is presented here as becoming a physical material as a product of the beliefs, customs and practices of a certain people with a definite culture. At the same time a civilization is defined as something seen as a whole, being more or less tangible in spite of its basic components, like culture, it can be immaterial.
Culture can be learned, just as much as it can be transmitted from one generation to the next. “Using a medium of speech and communication, it is possible for a certain type of culture to evolve and even be inherited by another group of people. On the other hand, civilization cannot be transferred by mere language alone. Because of its complexity and magnitude, you need to transfer all of the raw aggregates of a civilization for it to be entirely passed on. It just grows, degrades and may eventually end if all its subunits will fail”. (Lewis, 2006:17)
1.5 Linguistic identity and diversity
John Edwards debates on the idea of identity from several points of view: personal and social identity, language, religion, gender, nationalism and identity. He stresses the idea of linguistic identity. “The essence of identity is similarity: things that are identical are the same, after all, and the word stems from the Latin idem. And this most basic sense is exactly what underpins the notion of identity (…) Language can certainly be considered a 'marker' at the individual level.”(Edwards, 2009: 19, 21)
In the case of the social groups, according to the set of experiences that a member has undergone, or according to the social knowledge, which is personalized from one individual to another, which is culturally specific to the group, there are various perceptions that people have in common and which can be seen “at one level, we can think of these as stereotypes, at another as culture itself.”( Edwards, 2009: 154)
The role and power of English can be stressed by speaking about language diversity. Seen as a linguistic 'steamroller'(Edwards, 2009:235) the main purpose of the English language at a global level is extremely important just as previously other languages have functioned historically as languages of wide communication, such as: French, Latin, Greek, Italian. Speaking in a particular language does not involve only the use of certain linguistic patterns, but also the idea of being a part of a larger community, whereas, speaking more than one language, could involve variations in identity, since language is identity and identity is culture.
The language that we speak influences the way we think about ourselves, the way we perceive ourselves as individuals, whereas, using a different language we can have a different perception about us depending on the setting, opening the door for more possibilities. The language we use comes together with a strong cultural support. Thus, the idea of acceptance, when it comes to cultural diversity, should be carefully dealt with, since various students, with various backgrounds, coming from different cultural contexts, come to acquire a foreign language according to their personal traits, characteristics, they function at a different pace from their classmates. So we can asy that different teaching means and methods should be applied to the foreign language classes, as needed, without letting aside the culture-civilisation component which is of utmost importance in facilitating knowledge of a foreign language, in our case, the English language.
In any social/educational context, we can assert that language is the principal means by which we lead our lives. It is the context of communication, which involves the cultural aspect in many complex ways. We communicate in order to share our knowledge of the world, events, ideas together with our beliefs and attitudes. What we communicate may be common with other people. In any moment we use language, we use it along with its layer of culture. “Language is not a culture-free code, distinct from the way people think, behave, but, rather, it plays a major role in the perpetuation of culture, particularly in its printed form.”(Kramsch, 2009:8) At the same time, we communicate experience through language, or create experience through it. “Through its verbal and non-verbal aspects, language embodies cultural reality” (Kramsch, 2009: 3)
People identify themselves as being part of a community, which means that they are inside of it, whereas the other ones are regarded as outsiders. Seen as a changing process, culture can both include and exclude at the same time. “Cultures, and especially national cultures, resonate with the voices of the powerful, and are filled with the silences of the powerless. Both words and their silences contribute to shaping one's own and other's culture.” (Kramsch, 2009:9) Taking all this in consideration, language study represents a cultural activity, also, it has to deal with difficult issues which have to be taught in the process of language learning, such as acceptance of diversity, which includes differences in terms of age, gender, ethnicity; it also includes teaching cultural self-assesment, which leads to cultural competence.
Acceptance of diversity means valuing diversity by accepting and respecting differences between cultures, not taking cultural stereotypes, by this is meant judging people of a certain culture as we expect, based on what we previously learnt. The term othering, used in the book Intercultural Communication “refers not only to different nationalities, but to any group which is perceived as different”(Holliday,2010:25) We can suppose that if people share a common culture they have to be alike in terms of language shared or religion, but it is not necessarily true. It might be concerned only about sharing historical or geographical environments, whereas people may share only physical appearance, language, or spiritual beliefs. Our assumptions, which come from the culture we were born to can lead us to wrong conclusions. When people move, by speaking an internationally spoken language, the English language they mix the culture they come from with the one of the country they are to. A better understanding of the situation can influence a better understanding of how complex diversity is at all levels.
Cultural self-assessment refers to the most important behaviours that we are supposed to be aware of are usually the ones we take for granted. „Parents and teachers obviously give children the best advice they can to prepare them for successful interactions in their own culture and society, where good and bad, right and wrong, normaland abnormal are clearly defined. It is perhaps unfortunate in one sense that each cultural group gives its children a different set of instructions, each equally valid in their own environment.”(Lewis,2006:17) For example, we can refer to the physical distance during social interactions, which varies by culture. The main idea is that our learnt concepts tend to become our “core beliefs” which accompany us and which make us regard other peoples as strange, as they have different beliefs or habits. This assessment is a never ending continuous process which can lead to becoming culturally competent.
A better understanding of difference is essential in today's world. There can be many factors, that could affect cross-cultural interactions. If people follow misjudgements due to historical cultural experiences there can be certain wrong attitudes. The way that we perceive the reality around can be of great help to understand other people. “Most English people think they are normal and that all the others (whom they call foreigners) are abnormal-that is to say, they might be all right, but they really cannot act and think like the English, because, after all, they are foreign.”( Lewis, 2006:21) There can be a certain amount of mistrust coming from personal experiences, and this mistrust could easily be passed from one individual to another, from one group to another, from one generation to another. This is one of the many reasons why, when learning /teaching English to class or in the outside environment, the cultural aspect should not be neglected, since it enhances a better preparation for life, it teaches the right set of behaviours, which should accompany the students along their lives. Lack of understanding of a culture may lead to weaker preparation for life, without even being aware of it. Preparation for a proper interaction with varying cultures, needs awareness if it wants to be effective and in total agreement with beliefs and goals. It can happen if people learn how to treat each other with respect and how to communicate with each other.
Cultural knowledge should be an integrated part of the curriculum, not just an optional part of it, something that language teachers can deal without. Students must be taught how to be able to effectively use the knowledge gained. Program materials should reflect images of culture-civilisation.
Values, behaviours, attitudes, practices should make it possible for students to develop cultural, cross-cultural competence from school, from the English classes, to shape the needed values that could help them meet the demands of a changing world based on acceptance of diversity of better linguistic knowledge, in other words, of citizens of the world. We can be in agreement with Holmes’ view in what concerns the need for introducing culture in the language curriculum, as seen in Byram’s book Context and Culture in Language Teaching and Learning,according to which ”language affected how a culture conceptualised reality. Different languages evolved different ways of seeing (…) The culturally shaped differences among languages appeared trivial when compared to their common, underlying features.”(Byram, 2002:24)
Figure 1 Paths for Core Beliefs source Richard D. Lewis, When Cultures Collide. Leading Across Cultures
1.6 English, the global language
Language is continuously and constantly changing, which leads to differences between how we speak, how we present ourselves and how we are perceived as exponents of a county, of a certain culture or, simply as individuals. It is our utmost tool of perception, of reasoning, the very heart of who we are as individuals. It influences us as members of both larger and smaller communities, it determines choices in our formation as adults, has a tremendous effect in the formation of our personalities or in our social lives. In other words, it makes us human.
”English is the global language of the present historical period, serving for many people as the point of entry into the worlds of higher education, science, trade, politics, and so on. At the same time, for many times more people, English creates a barrier between themselves and their fields of interest. Many people in their countries will not be able to become doctors if, for example, if they do not know enough English.”(Edge, 2009:31)
It is stressed upon the idea, that the English language classes are only a small copy of the outside world, or the real world, due to the fact that the students get the necessary help which, cannot miss later in their lives, as this help during the classes has the purpose of developing a supporting system which consists of abilities, attitudes and awareness.
Taken into consideration the importance of English all over the world, the necessity of flexible communication arises since communication in an international language has become an element dealing with natural inheritance. It represents an important motivator for learners that are driven by the need to be accepted, to integrate into an English-speaking society, or to get the necessary tools in order to attain the personal purposes. By ability, we can understand reaching acceptable standards of fluency, correctness or appropriacy. It also involves adaptability to the linguistic requirements of the interlocutor, whether it is a job interviewer, or fitting into a group of people. Given these situations, the teacher represents a model for a learner, as different aspects of spoken or written English are taught in the classroom and also because most often English is in communication as a second language.
English is so widely used and so widely spread, that there is no precedent. It contains a great deal of knowledge, starting from education and business, to science and technology. It has become an official language, the chief foreign language in schools, reason why, broadly speaking, it is always educational. It “will retain its role as the dominant language in world media and communication” (Crystal, 1997:10)
Without giving second thoughts, we can strongly affirm that English has become along the time the global language. It can be heard anywhere, starting from news, to television, to internet, to advertising, and the list can continue. It is not a matter of novelty when we say that. Anywhere we travel, we see headlines, ads, signs in English. Without meaning that all the people in the world speak English, it means that they see it as an official language, thus a global language. In consequence, people feel more and more motivated to learn it, to encourage their children towards it, since it provides real skills for life.
Even though it is a long, painstaking process, it is worth learning it. Along the time, both the teacher and the student feel pride for such achievement, and also for the power of communication. Differences that may arise could be overcome, since it offers both communicative skills and skills for life. Such a thing can be mentioned as English is recognised in every country as a language bearing a special role, a special place in the communities due to the fact that it is used as a medium of communication for domains such as education, press, government, law, and the list can go on.
In our country, English has become a priority when it comes to teaching, as it is of considerable use. Borders are no longer considered to be boundaries as long as the speakers share a common language. Children are most likely to be taught English the moment they set foot in schools, at the same time adults long lo learn it, even though they were not exposed to it as much during schooling years, still longing to keep up with the latest trends. It has mainly become appealing especially due to the fact that it contains many words borrowed from various “languages with which it has been in contact” (Crystal, 1997:12).
The English language was at the centre of an international “explosion” in what concerns communication technologies, marketing, entertainment industry, science and technology. Being in the centre of such process, it solved the problem of finding a language meant to act as a lingua franca, that is a common language. More than that, it was accepted because of the political, economic, or religious power.
“Written communication functions within disciplinary cultures to facilitate the multiple social interactions that are instrumental in the production of knowledge.”(Berkenkotter, Huckin, 1995:42). Knowledge of languages facilitates the development and the progress that students undergo throughout their life. Along with knowledge reached and productivity, they are assessed. Taking into consideration the spreading of English as a result of globalization, we should expect it to be increasingly used as a Lingua Franca in order to express a sense of international and multicultural belonging to the language.
Bearing the “burden” of a global language brings about, along with the many opportunities, serving as an entry point for many people into the world, an obstacle between themselves and their area of interest. In today’s world, not knowing English, will prevent many people from becoming what they want, an educated professional in the new world. This is one of the most important reasons why the classroom, when it comes to English Language Teaching, represents a part of the real world, which helps students develop their lives along with their linguistic skills.
Being a teacher in a changing world
” In order to say something, it is necessary to know the lexis , that is to say the words that express meanings, and also to know how to put those words together in grammar so that they make sense. We want to make sure that the function that we are saying is appropriate in our discourse, that is to our interactive communication with other people. We also need to know about the sounds of the language, or the phonology, so that our pronunciation is clear.”(Edge 2009:24)
As teachers of English, our main priority is to adapt to the changes that we are faced with day by day. In the first place, we need to keep up with the changes in the curriculum, then with the increasing demands in terms of learning how to do something new, the professional development. Understanding education especially due to de fact that in order to make changes happen in the educational system, it depends mostly on how teachers act, on what they do in class, how they think or how effective they are.
In the last years, the conditions of teaching appear to have deteriorated in spite of the accomplishments concerning technology or science. Yet, change is necessary since a great number of students tend to, either drop out of school, or to perform poorly. Schools need to prepare students for life, conveying them the necessary tools, the skills that make them fit for life, to prepare them for opportunities. Of great importance is the role of the English teacher. The importance of speaking English has become more and more acute since Europe has regulated the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR).
It is very important that we respect change in order to make it work and become more productive. One must understand that most changes, though hard to make, give the appearance that big, substantial things are happening in a world based on competences achieved in school. English classes have such an effect on students, giving them the necessary preparation for this changing world. They step into the classroom and function as a group which has the teacher at the centre, who divides their time according to the planned activities: writing time, speaking time, reading or listening time. Carrying out these activities repeatedly, students come to learn appropriate linguistic behaviour.
Once with the rapidly changing social structure, global economy and digital technology, we as teachers along with our students need to accept the presence of certain devices with access to the internet in our classrooms, to integrate them and their virtual existence into our actual lives, making possible to provide education in such stimulating ways that are of interest for them.
These days the internet has the power to connect any individual to a global database of information and people, the drawback of this being the fact that the correct spelling and hand-writing together with memorising which were considered to be basics, are no longer regarded as such. Our role as educators, first and foremost is to assist young people in the process of making sense of their social world and of all its complexity.
As teachers, we encounter many situations in the classroom, we need to adapt to any of them and to adapt the contents to the specific of the students, but it is not possible, even if our experiences can be inspirational or encouraging, to copy what other teachers do in another classroom, into the same educational system, let alone a different educational system. Yet, during the language classes need to be stressed the fact that students are becoming more and more aware of the cultural aspect and of its importance, they come to analyse it and to make comparisons. By doing this, learners develop linguistic skills along with analysis and interpretation, they step outside the limits of the classroom into the society, get help from the newly developed technologies (internet, social networks, television, etc). Through the use of literary texts the students are stimulated at an affective level, getting a cognitive understanding as well of the others and they practice their imagination as well.
What is often seen as a problem in the foreign language classes, is teaching the cultural dimension. Sometimes, it is caused by the lack of opportunity to travel, in order to see the country in question and its culture uncover in front of the eyes. It should not be considered an impediment, especially due to the use of new technologies, the internet. It does not imply the fact that they could replace a first-hand experience, but the fact that with the use of these technologies, we can bring into the classrooms the culture of a foreign country, for a foreign society, respectively, of the English-American culture.
The teacher's task is in this case, to guide the students in this aspect, to help them understand, and the student's task is that of observing, experiencing and at the same time, learning. “The task is rather to facilitate the learner's interaction with some small parts of another society and its cultures, with the purpose of revitalising learner's understanding of their own cultural values, beliefs and behaviours, and encouraging them to investigate for themselves the otherness around them, either in their immediate physical environment or in the engagement with otherness with otherness which internationalisation and globalisation have brought into their world.”(Byram, 2001:3)
In the context of teaching culture and civilisation classes, the students learn to seize opportunities. These opportunities may arise from certain learning situations in the classroom, or from stepping outside the classroom. The materials used by the teachers have to be adapted to the class, to the level of the students, they can be fictional o they can present facts, or in other cases, these can be collected and adapted by both the teacher and the students.
Linguistic or grammatical competence can be attained by a proper understanding of another culture. Yet, by interacting with speakers of other language, the English language is used as a lingua franca. Intercultural competence, as it was named by Michael Byram, involves knowledge, skills and attitudes “complemented by the values one holds because of one's belonging to a number of social groups, values which are part of one's belonging to a given society”(Byram, 2001:5)
At the same time, the term of 'intercultural speaker' defines a person who possesses the ability of interaction with other people who have other views and perceptions of the world, who can accept and evaluate these differences and form proper attitudes. It also involves curiosity open-mindedness and willingness to assess one's values, beliefs and behaviours without drawing hasty conclusions.
Knowledge of one's culture also implies knowledge of the way in which social groups and identities work. This is one of the reasons why, the teachers' primary role in the classroom is to help students get a series of competences, or skills such as comparison, interpretation and understanding, discovery and interaction and critical thinking. They also need the ability to analyse their own cultural values in comparison to other people's values.
Being the new lingua franca of the new century, English is a means of granting access to the new technologies. This resulted in the fact that there is a huge need to learn English in non-speaking English countries. It leads to teaching both the language and the culture as two separated, different, but at the same time related in an intricate way, and as a consequence, they should be taught together. A real acquisition of the language cannot happen unless the learner internalizes the values and the patterns of the target language, hence the great importance of the culture acquisition during the language teaching process. “Thus, foreign language teaching is seen as a pedagogical process aimed at changing the learner's behaviour by injecting new norms and values into it.”(Rossner, 1990: 22)
The subject of introducing culture in the language teaching curriculum was debated by Holme(2002) and Byram, and was promoted accordingly. Five views were identified as result of the focus on the cultural aspect in language teaching. They differ, sometimes tend to exclude each other according to Candlin and Neil (2001), but they all have in the centre the idea according to which culture is at the core of language teaching. They are developed as follows: the communicative view, the classical-curriculum view, the instrumental or culture-free-language view, deconstructionist view, the competence view.
The communicative view is derived from the communicative approach with its stress on the fact ftat it gave the student the language which is of general use into a certain context. It derives from beliefs according to which language is with no exception, valuable. When culture is introduced, its content carries aspects which can be taken afterwards separately.
The classical-curriculum view, refers mainly to the function that language serves, as a facilitator in communication for foreigners, which comes together with a baggage of enlightening thoughts and ideas. It can be seen as a danger for the culture in question, but on the other hand when exposed to a different culture, the later one can bring improvements concerning the intellectual value. This was the main reason for leasning ancient languages, as it was considered that they will also bring the needed principles of logical though, as a result of the fact that grammar was seen as connected to the rationalist philosophy.
The instrumental or culture-free-language view was in connection to people’s concern towards the hidden cultural and political layers of language. This idea was supported by arguments, according to which dominant languages like English are spoken by economically powerful countries and represent a means of cultural and economical impoverishment, thing argumented by the fact that they bring new values into the new culture which will come ino conflict with the old ones; consequently, the people will become consumers not only with reference to the language, but also to the values, systems and knowledge in it. By widespread use of English in education, the countries will become permanent consumers.
The deconstructionist view refers to the perspective according to which the language that the student uses could be manipulated by the messages from the text. It is stressed upon the fact that languge learning should imply an understanding of such meanings. It is believed to represent a reflection of the communicative needs of the social context. In other words, it is interpreted as representation of meanings in society.
The competence view puts a stress upon the the knowledge of a culture is of great importance when it comes to understanding the meaning of the message conveyed, as Corbett (2003) stresses. When people know a certain language they become competent in understanding the real meaning. When language is learnt, it should be learnt within the boundaries of its culture, as coming from a certain etnography.
1.8 Attitudes to English as a foreign language-culture
Generally speaking, if there is a monolingual, mono-cultural context, where the prestige of learning a foreign language does not arise, preoccupation on cultural aspects of the foreign language acquisition, the English language grants the learners international and intercultural communication. In certain aspects, where the foreign language fails to realize its basic goal, that is, of enabling the student, the learner to use it as a tool meant to help communicate, it is necessary to expand the learner's cultural experience in order to develop cross-cultural awareness as well as appreciation. This is one of the reasons why it is believed that when teaching a foreign language, teaching the target culture is a sine qua non of teaching the target culture. Otherwise, it is believed, students will be exposed to a hollow language devoid of cultural context.”(Rossner, 1990: 23)
Being instructed in English is of paramount importance because it represents a window to the world of advanced technology and industrial development. But learning a foreign language is important to be done together with the cultural context because the idea of language acquisition represents a means of cross-cultural awareness. Although it took time to be considered a universal language in comparison to mathematics, which does not belong to a certain culture, English has grown to be bound to socio-political or ideological implications in developing countries.
By ideological it is meant the fact that language is taught along with our attitudes towards society, our place in the society, together with the fact that what we learn/teach in the classroom will automatically prolong outside the classroom, forming attitudes towards the world, new bonds and relationships. It gives students the necessary preparation for the expectation of the newly changing world and it provides them a set of competences along their lives.
By learning English, they will gain a set of new attitudes and competences such as: critical thinking, creativity, initiative, problem solving, decision taking and management of emotions. It is a process of developing self-awareness of the world outside, of the individual and the society, its aim being that of teaching the individual how to act in their own environment in order to contribute to the process of changing it for the better. It can surely become, as a result “the practice of freedom”.
Most of the English teaching textbooks content is very well 'linked' to the realities of the world, it is not fictitious or imaginary. This is very important when considering the cultural component of language teaching, as culture influences the way we think. The subjects of interest, the cultural aspects have proved to be of interest for the students, providing them the necessary range of vocabulary, grammar constructions and communicative skills that are needed in today's society. Out of real history or literature lessons, students acquire the needed linguistic practice and experience. They come to learn that history is made not by a handful of heroic individuals, but more than that by people’s choices and by their actions and in consequence students’ personal choices and actions matter, and are more important than they are aware of. By taking a more engaging and more honest look at the past, we can help students by providing them with the analytical tools to make sense of world today or more than that improve it.
Edwards (2009) and Ellis (2003) draw attention to the culture and civilisation lessons, which can motivate the learners instrumentally and integratively. Other subjects can be taught in English or the students' personal experience can represent valid topic for the language lessons. What is more important is that learning English, since it serves many educational functions, it helps broaden the students' horizons, their personal development in terms of helping them reach their potential and acquire various ways of thinking, not mentioning the communicative skills.
The power of the internet is pointed out in the sense that it connects the people to global data-bases of information, to people to international events, happening now, thus, building social-emotional-intelectual bridges, abilities especially in children. By doing this, they learn to cross borders of any type relational, educational or geographical.
CHAPTER II
THE ROMANIAN CURRICULUM IN A EUROPEAN CONTEXT
2.1The European dimension of the Romanian education
The term European Dimension has appeared in the context of the European educational policies for more than two decades. It first appeared in The Treaty on European Union and it referred to mutual efforts that should be made for a better knowledge, to the exchanges and mutual projects accomplished by the schools within the EU. In this context, the education and the competences became a national aim. It became a synonym for openness and cooperation.
In time, once with the political changes that happened in Europe, it became a purpose for the educational systems from Europe. For the first time the idea of lifelong learning became a part of the European dimension. In the context of a standardized, unitary educational system, the Romanian educational system became involved in the European dimension, especially in terms of educational policies, school documents, teaching means and methods, as well as people's perceptions of education.
In order to define the term, we must think about the fact that being an European, firstly refers to having the european way of life, the thoughts, ideas, or manners, it does not only refer to the geographical or histprical sense of belonging. It is not enough to belong to the same geographical space, or to share a common history, one must adopt and adapt to the same legal and organisational institutions, as well as having a positive attitude at a personal level.
From a cultural point of view, we can assert that it implies a process through which change is inevitable, it has to comply with acceptance of different norms of behaviour as well as of people. It is a long process which cannot be in short time, unless it relies upon a functional integration. It is best done in schools, through education. "Three fundamental functions of all national education system, and of compulsory education in particular, are to create the human capital required in a country's economy, to develop a sense of national identity and to promote equality or at least a sense of social inclusion."(Byram, 2008:5)
In the book From Foreign Language Education to Education for Intercultural Citizenship, Michael Byram puts a stress on the importance of learning foreign languages. It used to be important in the past years, but the recent years and the ongoing social changes, when the words 'globalisation' and 'internationalisation' are more and more often used in the daily vocabulary proved the significance of learning foreign languages. The increasing mobility favoured by the creation of a single market in the EU has led to an increase in interaction among people of different cultures. In schools, the presence of English from a very early age is always granted. The reasons are various, the most often coming from parents'awareness of seeing language learning as an essential skill, more than that an important investment in their children's future.
When children learn a foreign language, developing an intercultural competence is essential.
The term intercultural can be explained as recognision of values, of beliefs, lifestyles, (Byram, 2008:34). It refers to educating the students in such a way that they accept differences, by developing an emotional intelligence that allows them to overcome the fear of the others, of taking difference as a proper source to allow self- expression. It is part of the European context we live in, where respect of the democratic rights and of the cultural diversity are deep markers of the societies.
The intercultural education is a process that requires more steps to be taken, among which we must mention: acceptance of equal rights, non-discrimination, mutual knowledge of culture, also taking common actions.
When we refer to educatinal policies, intercultural education has certain goal, among which the most important should be emphasized:
the social cohesion refers to the multicultural societies and to the pluralistic citizenship, in which the teacher has to adapt the curriculum according to the needs of the class;
an educational system based upon the cultural resources (R.Tudorica, 2004:20), which means educational policies which have the main purpose of stressing the abilities in such a way that the young people be prepared for the requirements of the society; the education should be relied upon plurilingvism and multiculturalism;
the intercultural policies take into consideration the values which school managed to convey to the students and gives the opportunities of better social-emotional-intellectual relationships, through the acceptance of different values;
Intercultural communicative competence is explained by Byram as the ability of understanding the skills which are necessary for a successful communication with the members coming from a different social group. It recognizes the status of English as lingua franca and puts a stress on the fact that bilingual people are successful in their linguistic acquisition as long as they possess cultural insights. It is more complex than linguistic appropriacy according to a given social context, also it is the ability to interpret correctly the sharing of cultural knowledge among the interlocutors, as it is seen as a relative element, not a fixed one, and this is the moment when learning through experience happens.
Controversies concerning teaching intercultural competence arose, especially since the globalisation of the English language undermined the notion of a ‘fixed target culture’. Adittionally, criticism was expressed towards this view in relation to risks that arose in creating stereotypical views due to lack of depth, while the computer plays the role of a mediator in the process of learning by ensuring learning materials for learners instead of the teacher provided, in this way, the learners themselves being placed participatively in the act of communication.
Following this trend of new educational policies, it is essential that we mention the European citizenship as a key element of the approach, as it can be achieved through education. It is both a right and a duty of the identity of an individual who lives within this area and which brings a series of rights and responsibilities.
In the given context, the European dimension is a part of the educational policies, as it is itself a purpose of giving the European citizens a European conscience and an identity. It addresses mainly to a change in curriculum, to the education law, to the school activities. In terms of education, the European dimension is a target, a term in the curriculum, a European concept, with a direct effect on the educational policies.
When we refer to a curriculum based on the values of the EU, it is emphasized the idea of studying particular parts of history, geography, economy, that help perceiving EU as an entity. The lessons of culture and civilisation play an important role. They prepare the students for the opportunities that may apear later in life, as they present realities that go beyond the school education, beyond the curriculum.
2.2Curriculum change
The Macmillan dictionary defines the the term curriculum as the lessons and academic content or courses that are taught in schools to students. It comprises the sets of skills and knowledge that the students are expected to achieve, including learning standards, learning objectives as well as assessments
The curriculum contains “elements of traditional knowledge-based material as well as an increasingly significant cross-curricular element of skills or dispositions”. (Rossner, 1990:10)
It represents a key concept in education, both modern and traditional. The term curriculum comes from Latin means "running, race or road”. Due to the fact that curriculum is one of the fundamental elements concerned with efficient education and teaching, it is as a consequence, the object of reforms in education, which are intended to enhance a greater curricular standardization concerning schools, levels, courses or subject areas. It is meant to increase the teacher's effectiveness in class and to enable school improvement. In the last years, a greater importance has been given to the development of the communicative and cultural competences which are sine-qua-non conditions in learning a foreign language.
“I believe that curriculum studies must be based on in-depth understandings of the human nature. It is very important for one nation to establish a common base, in order to understand the substantial meaning of other countries’ civilization. Systematic transformation is possible in education, but it is very difficult to change the individual’s values unless we understand the fundamental structure of human nature.” International Handbook of Curriculum (Pinar, Hashimoto 2003:417)
Nicolae Scalis speaks in his essay “Curriculum studies in Romania” which is included in International Handbook of Curriculum (Pinar, 2003: 535) about the changes, which have happened in Romania starting with the 1990s. “After the 1990, an influx of Americanism flooded Romanian language and culture. Management, curriculum, network, new look, week -end, lifestyle, event and happening are only a few words that have slipped into the Romanian language from the American language. If we add to these words McDonalds, Pizza Hut, Ford cars, and American movies, we may think of an American invasion.”
In Romania, when we speak about curriculum, there is a clear distinction between the broad sense and the specific sense of the term curriculum.
In the broad sense, the term curriculum refers to the sum of educational processes and of learning experiences that the student undergoes on the course of his schooling years;
In a specific sense, the term curriculum refers to the sum of school documents which have the purpose of recording essential data on the educational process and on the learning experiences that the school facilitates for the student;
The contents of the primary and secondary curriculum are included in the national curriculum. The curriculum encompasses a wide variety of potential educational and instructional practices. The national curriculum is organised into blocks of years called ‘key stages’ (KS). At the end of each key stage, the teacher will formally assess every child’s performance. The national curriculum contains a set of documents, which provide the legal grounds, by which the school can help attaining the educational aim of the educational target, so that each student is offered equal chances for personal and professional development for social inclusion.
The national curriculum contains the following components: the educational policy-planning applied framework and the syllabus.
The educational policy-planning applied framework is an official document which reflects the educational policies of the national educational system; here are encompassed the school subjects, the areas of knowledge, compulsory subjects, as well as the optional ones, together with the minimum or maximum number of classes for each object of study; in the case of the English language, the number of classes for the fifth to the eighth grades is of two classes per week, while for the ninth to the twelfth grades it varies between two and four, depending on the area of study;
The school syllabus is a school document of great importance which sets the competences and contents for each object of study, which have to be attained within the given number of classes; for any teacher it is one of the main tools;
In Romania, after the curriculum reform, there have been multiple variants of syllabus, which although presented in a different structure, the common element was underlining the regulating role of the student's acquisitions in terms of formation. The child-centred curriculum, as well as the society-centred curriculum, represent the main steps taken in this aspect, together with the constant attempt to synchronise to the developments made at a European level towards a curricular standardization.
In 2007, once with the organisation of an intergovernmental forum on The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) on the development of language policies on the topic of challenges and responsibilities, a set of key competences was established. The Common European Framework gives the European countries a common basis in order to elaborate language syllabuses, curriculum guidelines, examinations, or textbooks. It has the main purpose to describe what students are supposed to learn in order to gain a better perspective of language use for a communication competence as well as the knowledge and the skills that have to be enhanced to give them the chance the act in an efficient way.
The levels of proficiency are also defined as a tool which enables learners to assess their progress “at each stage of learning and on a life-long basis. The Common European Framework is intended to overcome the barriers to communication among professionals working in the field of modern languages arising from the different educational systems in Europe. It provides the means for educational administrators, course designers, teachers, teacher trainers, examining bodies, etc., to reflect on their current practice, with a view to situating and co-ordinating their efforts and to ensuring that they meet the real needs of the learners for whom they are responsible.” (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, 2007).
The purpose of the CEFR is to promote an international cooperation, by facilitating transparency in terms of language teaching, means and methods, contents, objectives. It also promotes unitary and objective criteria of assessment on linguistic proficiency so that the learning contexts are no longer a matter of importance, thus facilitating recognition of qualifications. This will bring, as a result, help promoting European mobility.
The new School Syllabus for lower secondary was approved by OMECT no. 5097/2009 and was applied in schools beginning with the school year 2009-2010. It has the following structure:
note to the reader/presentation entry;
general competences-defined for each subject of study;
values and attitudes;
specific competences and contents;
methodological suggestions;
The presentation entry explains the reasons which determined the change from the curriculum planning based on objectives, to the one based on competences. New ideas concerning changes in curriculum studies all over the world are emerging, especially those valorizing culture, and in particular multicultural and cultural politics.
As a consequence, A.C.Lopes and E.F. De Macedo suggest, in W.F.Pinar's book, on curriculum “This increasing imprecision, due to the undefined nature of the cultural capital to which it is associated, seems to us to be of some concern, because, at times, it disregards the specificity of education and curricular processes. With this, we do not wish to deny the importance of the flow of meanings established between different fields and subjects. (…)Within this perspective, as different flows of meaning come together, this may prove to be profitable for the curriculum field in as much as researchers manage to re-evaluate discussions on the curriculum by trespassing on the traditional divisions established between areas of knowledge, thus taking better advantage of the elements available in their original field.”(Pinar, 2003:10)
2.3 The European Key Competences
Language thus becomes a means to an end, a tool to permit the expression of preexisting thought. (W.F.Pinar, 2005:256)
In our country, a new version of syllabus, issued in 2009, brought changes in the lesson planning and unit or time planning, in the fact that the key competences became the accepted type of curriculum project.
The importance of English in the development of the key competences for life-long learning as recommended by The Parliament and The Council of The European Union is obvious. The constantly changing world makes learners of any age encounter new and challenging situations for which one must be prepared.
The idea of life-long learning has turned to be rather a necessity of tremendous importance than a matter of choice. The constantly changing society determines us to pay a greater importance than ever before to our abilities of coping with life. Not only to become personally or professionally fulfilled, but also to ensure ourselves an active engagement in the life of the society we live in; this brings along the idea that a proper development of our skills and competences is needed for a better quality of life, here referring to having equal chances, motivation, personal fulfilment, social inclusion, active citizenship. In terms of the functions, notions, grammar and vocabulary needed to perform the communicative tasks, the linguistic levels established in The Common Reference Framework is set as follows, from the lowest to the highest level: A1 (Breakthrough), A2(Waystage), B1 (Threshold), B2 (Vantage), C1 (Effective Operational Proficiency) and C2 (Mastery).
user-oriented
(simpler)
WHAT the learner can do
constructor-oriented
(more complex)
diagnostic-oriented teacher-oriented learner-oriented
(more complex)
HOW WELL he/she performs
assessor-oriented
(simpler)
(Fig.2 source CEFR: 48)
The Reference Framework sets out eight key competences as follows:
Communication in the mother tongue;
Communication in foreign languages;
Mathematical competence and basic competences in science and technology;
Digital competence;
Learning to learn;
Social and civic competences;
Sense of initiative and entrepreneurship;
Cultural awareness and expression.
The key competences directly involved in the teaching-learning process are: communication in foreign languages, digital competence, learning to learn, social and civic competences, sense of initiative and entrepreneurship, cultural awareness and expression.
2.3.1Communication in a foreign language
It requires a series of abilities, among which:
knowledge of vocabulary and grammar,
ability to communicate both written and orally, to make people understand various messages depending on the conversational context, which implies knowledge of social conventions and the type of language that the situation requires;
the ability to initiate and sustain conversations based on familiar subjecs, the ability to read and understand written texts on various subjects;
the ability of using materials that help understanding or producing written or oral messages;
Intercultural communication is also an essential aspect which involves positive attitudes, appreciation of cultural diversity, together with an interest and curiosity in language study.
2.3.2Digital competence
It involves a series of abilities, among which:
ability to understand and use IST and ICT in everyday life, whenever the social environment requires it, that is, both at work and in the personal life, having the main purpose of making a person understand and seize opportunities that the internet communication brings, as well as becoming aware of the risks;
understanding of studied materials, and phenomena together with awareness of IST support in terms of information, innovation and creativity;
ability to convey reasons and conclusions on ICT, in order to develop a critical and reflective attitude on the information presented in the media;
the role of facilitator in involving the community through the use of networks in order to support cultural, social and professional purposes;
2.3.3 Learning to learn, is one of the most important key competences, due to the fact that it comprises a number of other key competences such as communication in the mother tongue, communication in foreign languages, mathematical competence and basic competences in science and technology, digital competence with the factors and skills that have as core purpose achieving a high quality of learning.
It involves the following skills:
knowledge and understanding of personal learning means and strategies, with the stress on understanding of strengths and weaknesses in both qualification and skill which could provide abilities for seizing educational opportunities and if needed, a good assessment of the needed support or guidance;
ability to manage the time needed during the learning process, which also implies a proper collaboration in the process, self-discipline, critical thinking and ability to stay focused for extended periods of time;
ability to communicate, as part of the learning process; here we can include motivation and confidence, supported by a positive attitude towards learning, which can lead to a problem solving attitude;
ability to perceive and deal with any encountered obstacles, along with the ability to turn them into opportunities;
desire to learn throught the life,
curiosity towards opportunities of learning experiences in various environments;
positive attitudes to learning.
2.3.4Social and civic competences refer to a better understanding of the world we live in, a series of positive attitudes towards the social environment. Here we can include family, social environment and a healthy lifestyle. It also refers to a better understanding of the social requirements in terms of language and behaviour, a series of basic concepts on various social groups, organisations, equality of chances, gender equality, acceptance of opinions different from ours, as well as a non-discriminatory attitudes and behaviour. An interest not only on the linguistic aspects of an environment, but also on the code of conduct that is generally accepted is required; “Understanding the multi-cultural and socioeconomic dimensions of European societies and how national cultural identity interacts with the European identity is essential.” (Key Competences for Lifelong Learning – A European Framework, European Communities, 2007)
The main competences are:
understanding of the community problems, and a sense of solidarity towards these problems;
ability to seize and take opportunities given in the EU an all over the world:
ability to adapt and to communicate in different social contexts, to accept points of view different from ours, in other words, a positive tolerant attitude;
ability to be empathetic towards other people and to create reactions of empathy;
ability to make a clear distinction between the private life and the working environment;
ability to understand the national culture and civilization in the process of interaction with other European cultures, or different cultures of the world;
ability to perceive differences of opinion caused by different cultural contexts;
The competence is relied upon an attitude of collaboration, assertiveness and integrity. An interest in socio-economic developments and intercultural communication should be demonstrated together with respect of other people coming from different environments, as well as a good preparation that should be in favour of overcoming prejudices and ability to compromise.
A good knowledge of the concepts of democracy, justice, equality, citizenship, and civil rights is of utmost importance “including how they are expressed in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and international declarations and how they are applied by various institutions at the local, regional, national, European and international levels. It includes knowledge of contemporary events, as well as the main events and trends in national, European and world history. In addition, an awareness of the aims, values and policies of social and political movements should be developed. Knowledge of European integration and of the EU’s structures, main objectives and values is also essential, as well as an awareness of diversity and cultural identities in Europe.” (Key Competences for Lifelong Learning – A European Framework, European Communities, 2007)
Civic competence refers to the ability of displaying solidarity and interest in solving problems that may be affecting the local and outer community. This involves constructive participation in community or neighbourhood activities together with critical and creative reflection and decision-making at levels that require it, through voting. Respect for human rights, such as equality, as the basis for democracy, acceptance and understanding of differences of different religious or ethnic groups represent the basis of a positive attitude.
2.3.5 Sense of initiative and entrepreneurship
This key competence refers to the knowledge that is needed in order to be able to identify the opportunities that may arise; the identification of opportunities should come from a broader knowledge of the way that economy works. Such knowledge enables identification of personal, professional and business activities. It also involves a series of related skills that should empower the individual manage a project, identify the strengths and weaknesses, or even to assess risk taking activities.
The necessary skills should also include “initiative, pro-activity, independence and innovation in personal and social life, as much as at work. It also includes motivation and determination to meet objectives, whether personal goals, or aims held in common with others, including at work.” (Key Competences for Lifelong Learning – A European Framework, European Communities, 2007)
The core skills are:
ability to elaborate and apply a project;
ability to work in a flexible and cooperative way on a team;
ability to identify strengths and weaknesses;
ability to assess the risks to be taken in various situations;
2.3.6Cultural awareness and expression
Cultural awareness refers, first of all, to the ”knowledge” of local, national and European cultural heritage and their place in the world. It covers a basic knowledge of major cultural works, including popular contemporary culture. It is essential to understand the cultural and linguistic diversity in Europe and other regions of the world, the need to preserve it and the importance of aesthetic factors in daily life. ( Key Competences for Lifelong Learning – A European Framework, European Communities, 2007)
The skills involved are:
ability of artistic expression using a varied range of media means, in agreement with personal capabilities;
ability to appreciate and enjoy the art of various cultures or cultural environments;
ability to identify economic opportunities and to use them within these cultural activities;
ability to express one's own creativity as well as personal viewpoints;
2.4 Language learning styles. Aims and purposes
Learning a foreign language has been since ancient times a method of setting political connections with other countries, of making alliances, of better knowing one’s enemy policies, of learning about the culture of the great civilisations of the world and the list can continue. Things and trends have changed lately, but the purposes still stay the same. As a speaker of an internationally spoken language, of English, one can set relationships, can make way for opportunities, or can create opportunities. By having cultural knowledge, one can get to the core of a nation.
As mentioned in the previous chapters, students of different ages and backgrounds learn English for various reasons, mainly, because it is a compulsory requirement in today’s world. This is one of the main functions of our national system, particularly of the compulsory education. “(…) to create the human capital required in a country’s economy, to develop a sense of identity and to promote equality or at least a sense of social inclusion.”(Byram, 2008:5)
We support this idea, with a stress on the change of educational policies which started to be accepted as a consequence of globalisation and internationalisation. The most obvious changes came from the aims of learning a foreign language, that is to understand the culture and civilisation and to be able to see the language in day by day situations for communication and for interaction with people coming from other parts of the world. As a result, the expectations concerning language learning and language teaching are quite high. One of the main reasons for the current situation is the fact that children, especially, are exposed to a very large variety of non-educational settings, which help them interact with other children and also due to the exposure to mass media.
When it comes to teaching English, the framework required the four essential skills: speaking, reading, writing and listening, as language is seen as a system where goals can be acquired. The functions of the language can be explained through the main principles by the types of communication. They are as follows: interpersonal, interactive and presentational. In addition, when analysed concerning the functions that languages play in communication and the purposes that they are used for, it is important to mention the fact that they are used to express tasks that need to be completed, rather than a set of grammatical rules that need to be analysed.
Once with the social and political changes undergone at a global level, the teaching methods have also changed in order to meet the expectations and the requirements of the new century. The main change was moving away from the traditional teaching methods based on linguistic and grammatical analysis, to audio-lingual, to communicative approaches. The process of language learning and teaching has changed and continues to change, as a result of the social changes and due to the technological advancement. It is a complex activity and it has come as a response to the social changes. It is also a complex task, as it needs a systematic use of materials, a careful choice of materials and it requires a proper training and commitment together with a good knowledge of the subject, of the students we teach an also a systematic use of means and methods.
According to the performance-based standards for educators for English language learners as published by TESOL in 1999 and revised in 2001 with reference to the teacher preparation to teach English to ESOL students range as follows divided into five domains: language, culture, instruction, assessment, and professionalism. In this respect, they are described as can be seen:
1. Language is systematic including the processes of first language development and second language acquisition;
2. Effective instruction is culturally appropriate instruction, and interrelationships between language, culture, and race can result in potential cultural conflicts between school and home, including negative effects of racism and stereotyping on teaching and learning;
3. Assessment of ELL students, including factors that distinguish between the student’s language proficiency and her/his competence of the content matter;
4. Effective instruction of ELL students, which involves planning and implementing instruction and using technology and other resources effectively when teaching content and language objectives;
5. Professionalism is centrally linked with the teacher’s ability to demonstrate expertise in the above four domains. (TESOL, 2010).
If we have to consider the reasons why different people learn the same language, we can conclude that they tend to do that for various aims and purposes. For example, some can learn due to the fact that they came into contact with an academic community which requires them to become accustomed to a certain specialised language, to technical terms needed in that field. In this case they need to master the reading skill. Another example can be considered, when students need to travel to an English-speaking country, which may require mastery of their listening and speaking skills. Yet, their goals may be different even when we talk about students which are in the same english class; by this we mean to say that one student may be centred more towards learning vocabulary, another one may be targeted towards mastery of grammar functions, yet another one may be more interested in achieving a native speaker-like pronunciation.
We have to mention the differences that exist among learner groups: cognitive and affective (Candlin, Mercer, 2001: 24-25 ), (intelligence, which has proved great success in second language acquisition, and motivation which drives one into channelling their efforts into achieving their goal).
Figure 3 Source Pateel, Praveen, 2008:146
What is more important for a teacher when entering a foreign language classroom, is to take into consideration all these goals and peculiarities of the students. It bears a great importance the impact that these particular goals may have on the student on the long run. What really matters is what students end up learning, taking into consideration the fact that the final aim of language learning is communication, which may lead towards linguistic accuracy, depending on the learner, on the motivating factors that may drive them towards the desire to succeed. Motivation of the learner may also depend on many key factors which may change in time; factors ranging from the involvement in the learning activity, to what can be gained from involving in that activity, meaning the amount of benefits that can be got at the end.
Additionally, when talking about aims, we must also refer to the personality of the student, since it goes hand in hand with the motivation. Here, it is important to notice the willingness to take risks. In this case, an extrovert will always be ready to take risks, to try new things, to express an opinion more easily, as compared to an introvert. The latter will always look for approval, will be more cautious, will avoid taking risks for fear or making mistakes, of failing, or of finding themselves in an embarrassing situation. In such circumstances the teacher’s role is essential, since the need to encourage an insecure foreign language speaker to try “new linguistic patterns in speaking or writing the language” (Candin and Mercer, 2001:18).
Another essential aspect that requires our attention is the age of the student. Here we have to mention that the earlier the process of a second language begins, the better the pronunciation of the student will be. When the process starts at an older age, there is always the risk, or we should better say that the probability that the learner be identified with a foreign accent.
In this respect, we agree with the idea mentioned in the book Teaching Pronunciation: “Scovel, terms this lack of adult facility in acquiring second language pronunciation the ‘Joseph Conrad phenomenon’ after the famous Polish-born author, who, despite the brilliant control of the lexis, syntax and morphology of English displayed in his literary works, was unable to reach anywhere near the same levels of perfection in his acquisition of English phonology.”(Celce-Muncia, Brinton, Goodwin, 1996:15). The same idea is emphasized by Singleton and Lengyel (1995:30-36) with the stress on the hypothesis that there is no “critical period for the acquisition of any aspect of language except for pronunciation”. The study also points out that “children generally outperform adults in the long run.”
2.5 Learning styles
Speaking about different age learners or learners with different personality traits and motivation, it is also significant how students prefer to learn a foreign language as it can affect the results. Learning styles can be classified as follows: sensory or cognitive.
Figure 4, Learning styles
The cognitive learning styles can be summarised as abilities to summarize, synthetisize, sequencing or use of intuitive abilities.
Figure 5 Cognitive learning styles
As pointed out in the above figures, students with different learning styles, sensory or cognitive may find useful during the learning process the use of different learning strategies according to their perception or cognition. When acquiring new vocabulary or a new grammar rule, for example in the case of a visual learner it would be much easier to associate the new word with an image, whereas an auditory learner may find it easy to read and to repeat it in a loud voice. The same rules apply to other types of learners: an analytical learner could easily spot the differences, while a synthesizing learner could pay a great deal of attention to similarities between the foreign language and the native language. This can also lead to associated problems like mispronunciation, reading words the manner they are spelt, attempts to put the words together like in their native language.
2.6 Learning theories
There have been several theories concerning second language acquisition or SLA which follow patterns observed during the process of learning which can help us understand the process. Among the most important we must mention them as follows: the behaviourist theory, the innatist theory, the cognitivist and the interactionist theories. They have been mentioned in the chronological order that they appeared. In the part that follows, we will make a brief presentation of each approach.
The behaviorist learning theory was defined in A Dictionary of Language Acquisition as “a psychological theory of learning dominant in the 1950s and 1960s, most closely associated with B. F. Skinner, but originating with Ivan Pavlov’s well-known CLASSICAL CONDITIONING experiments with dogs. According to behaviorism, language was viewed as a process of habit formation.”(Tavakoli, 2012:42)
This process consists of three steps:
• stimulus (a signal from the environment that evokes a reaction) • response (the learner’s reaction to the stimulus) • reinforcement (a reward for an appropriate response: reinforced behavior gets internalized, a behavior that is not reinforced is extinguished)
Behaviorism attempted to explain learning without reference to thinking or mental processes. Essentially, it claimed that as an organism interacts with its environment, its behavior is conditioned. The behaviorist theory is that all learned behavior is based upon specific stimulus relationships in the environment. Skinner extended his theory of Stimulus-Response into the theory of verbal behaviour. In the L2 context, learners were to be trained to repress L1 habits (learned from the environment in response to linguistic input, reinforcement and contingencies) and acquire good L2 habits. Behavior was modified over time when learners were rewarded for responding correctly.
Innatist hypothesis refers, according to Ellis (2008) to the view that children bring a biologically endowed abstract knowledge to the task of learning a first language, and this abstract knowledge constrains the shape of the target linguistic system they learn. This innate knowledge allows them to discover the underlying rules of a language system and minimizes guessing and hypothesis formation. According to the innateness hypothesis which was developed by Noam Chomsky, a number of important characteristics of language are built into our brains at birth, as part of our genetic endowment, and hence we are born already ‘knowing’ what a human language can be like. In this view, then, learning a particular language is merely a matter of learning the details which distinguish that language from other languages, while the universal properties of languages are already present and need not be learned.
The cognitive theory is a theory that describes phenomena in terms of mental constructs in the mind of individuals. Cognitive theory attempts to understand how humans create and use knowledge. That is, as Tavakoli suggests, for cognitivists, there are no special places in the mind for language, math, or any other knowledge system. Cognitive researchers are thus interested in learning processes, and a good deal of cognitive research centers on LEARNING STYLES, APTITUDE, INFORMATION PROCESSING, and other areas. Within cognitive theory, all learning utilizes the same general principles for human understanding and learning. Thus, language learning would utilize the same mechanisms for learning as would, say, history learning and chess learning. Applied to SLA, cognitive theory views language acquisition as the formation of a knowledge system that L2 learners must eventually tap for speaking and understanding
Cognitivism approaches to language acquisition which view the process as closely linked to general cognition and to COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT (Corbett, 2003:58). Some accounts leave open the extent to which certain aspects of language are innate; but all take the view that acquisition is primarily driven by the way in which the infant’s cognitive abilities are brought to bear upon the INPUT to which it is exposed. These cognitive abilities may reflect developing awareness of objects, spatial relations, defining characteristics, etc., or they may take the form of perceptual biases which incline the child to recognize patterns in linguistic material.
Social-interactionist theory approaches to language acquisition which emphasize the parts played by the child’s environment, its social instincts, its pragmatic needs and its relationship with the carer.
What is important is the interaction, both linguistic and non-linguistic, which derives from the child’s need to communicate .Without specifically correcting a child, parents show puzzlement, recast utterances or give responses that exemplify the correct form. There is also evidence that carers grade their language sensitively, increasing sentence length and complexity as the child gets older in response to evidence of the child’s linguistic development.
Social-interactionist views stress the importance of the infant’s relationship to its environment. One aspect is the familiarity of certain objects and events which ensures that there is a repetitive and even a ritualistic quality to much of the language that is used. Interaction with the principal carer (especially in the form of play) also follows predictable sequences; and it is through play that semantic relationships such as the agent/object distinction are said to become manifest. The carer plays an important role in interpreting new events as they arise
2.6.1 Difference between Acquisition and Learning :
Acquisition :
In order to develop linguistic competence in a foreign language, as stated by Stephen Krashen in his Principles and Practice in Second Language Acquisition “Language acquisition is a subconscious process; language acquirers are not usually aware of the fact that they are acquiring language, but are only aware of the fact that they are using the language for communication. The result of language acquisition, acquired competence, is also subconscious.” (Krashen, 1982:10)
There are many languages that people use in countries or societies. Though a difference must be made in terms of linguistic competence. First language is when language is learnt without any practice. Children learn their first language without encountering any problems. This happens because the first language is learnt naturally. When language is learnt naturally and without any systematic practice then it is called Acquisition. The language when it is learnt in primary environment or learnt without practice it is acquisition. (Patel, Jain, 2008: 35-37)
Language acquisition is the process by which a child acquires its mother tongue. The acquisition of a first language is the most wonderful feat we perform in our whole life; we do it at an age when we can hardly do anything else. Language acquisition is an active process. Children take the clues available to them and use these clues to construct their own grammatical rules, rules which grow in sophistication as acquisition proceeds.
Learning:
Learning a language requires the operation of an innate capacity possessed by all human beings. In our schools many subjects are taught. English taught as second language because particular practice is given to the students to learn English. To learn English, the help of mother tongue is taken. The term "Learning" can be defined as: The way through which the art of using skill and practice is given to learn it than it is learning. “The second way to develop competence in a second language is by language learning. We will use the term "learning" henceforth to refer to conscious knowledge of a second language, knowing the rules, being aware of them, and being able to talk about them.” (Patel, Jain, 2008: 35-37)
Acquisition and inductive learning: similarities and differences
_________________________________________________________________________________
Acquisition Inductive Learning
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Data first, rule follows Data first, rule follows
Rule is subconscious Rule is conscious
Focus on meaning Focus on form
Slow progress May occur quickly
Requires large amounts of data May occur after exposure to
small amount of data
Figure 6, Source Krashen, 1996: 113
CHAPTER III
SHORT HISTORY OF TEACHING METHODS AND APPROACHES
3.1 General view
English is taught in every school from our country, starting from early stages of education, the preparatory level. For the English teacher it is a task which requires a lot of attention, a great deal of interest towards the new teaching trends and methods. It is a second language and it requires that the teacher know what to teach students and also how to teach them in order to get to the method that best applies to a particular group of students.
Methodology helps the teacher with the scientific base in teaching a particular subject, it provides guidance on the material taught in order to make the teaching process an effective one. In order to be so, the teacher needs to know different methods of teaching English. It offers techniques of teaching, strategy, objective assessment of the chosen materials.
The Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics defines method as “a way of teaching a language which is based on systematic principles and procedures, i.e. which is an application of views on how a language is best taught and learned and a particular theory of language and of language learning.” In the same book, methodology is defined as “the study of the practices and procedures used in teaching, and the principles and beliefs that underlie them. “
Along the history of teaching, there have been a series of methods and approaches, ranging from the traditional ones, like the grammar-translation method, to the most recent like the competency-based language teaching. When a teacher chooses a certain method, there are for sure certain expectations concerning the outcome. It involves a lot of study and knowledge in order to apply the theoretical approaches to class, to confirm what is expected, or to predict certain drawbacks. “Educational theories exist to predict such side-effects as well as confirm mainline expectations.”(Brundrett, Silcock, 2002:30) We will try to go through the most important approaches and give examples of activities.
Before the 20th century, the most influential methodologist was Johann Amos Comenius, who decided that learning should be developed in a pleasant manner, at a fast pace, with the stress on the way that language acquisition occurred as a natural process in the mind of the learner. He built a pattern for inductive language learning, which was focused on teaching, rather than analysing what was being taught. It promoted some basic rules, starting with the use of limited vocabulary in incipient stages, repetition drills, providing help in reading and writing for the students, use of pictures for emphasis of vocabulary, practice repetitive vocabulary.
3.2 Different times, different methods
Once with the profound changes in every aspect of life happened in the 20th century, in terms of educational policies, new approaches to teaching foreign languages were devised in order to meet the needs of the pupils, with reliance on the pedagogical concepts of age. Several approaches can be distinguished:
• the grammar-translation method (GTM);
• the audio-lingual method (ALA);
• the communicative approach (CLT);
• the post-communicative turn (PCT);
Each one of them was contested and rejected by new generations, but all of them proved to contain strengths, as well as weaknesses, therefore if their techniques and procedures are used intertwined, they can prove successful. “Amongst the plethora of ideas and techniques which have been offered over the years, some trends have had-and continue to have-a significant impact on how languages are taught today” (Harmer, 2007:48)
Grammar-translation
The Grammar-Translation Method is called old method of teaching. To use of this method is very easy for teacher. This method is also called classical method because it is very helpful in learning the classical languages. In this method the mother tongue is used to teach English. In English words, phrases and sentences are taught with the help of this method. It tells that everything in English should be taught by translating into mother tongue. It is believed that vocabulary of a foreign language can be learnt through translating its meaning into the mother tongue and the teacher points out the grammatical point and rules. As Harmer mentioned in his study, „grammar-translation still has relevance today, though it is not practised as a method in the same way. But most language learners translate in their heads as various stages anyway, and they can learn a lot about a foreign language by comparing parts of it with parts of our own mother tongue.”( Harmer, 2007:49)
Grammar-translation also assumes that conscious control of grammar is necessary for mastery, learning needs to precede acquisition. This means that all target structures be introduced and explained. There is no limitation of the rules to be learned and students will be able to use all the rules all the time, Grammar-translation results in very low amounts of acquired competence.While there is some variation, grammar-translation usually consists of the following activities:
Explanation of a grammar rule, with example sentences.
Vocabulary, presented in the form of a bilingual list.
A reading selection.
Exercises are designed to provide practice on the grammar and vocabulary of the lesson. These exercises emphasize the conscious control of structure and include translation in both directions, from L1 to L2 and L2 to L1. Most grammar-translation classes are designed for foreign language instruction and are taught in the student's first language.
Characteristics :
The unit of teaching is word, not a sentence. It means vocabulary is taught in the form of isolated words;
It considers grammar as a soul of language;
Grammatical rules of teaching of English are explained into mother tongue;
This method does not help in development of linguistic competence. English grammar is taught through rules, translation, definition and comparison with mother tongue grammar;
Grammar is taught deductively;
The main function of language learhing, communication is ignored;
Reading and writing are the main focus;
Audio-lingualism
This method appeared in the 1940s, and was developed in the 1950s, being later used in the language laboratory in the 1960s. (Kramsh, 1993:135) The common features of audio-lingualism with possible variation in practice are as follows: The lesson begins with a dialogue, which contains the structures and vocabulary of the lesson. The student is expected to repeat the dialogue and finally memorize it. The class practices the dialogue as a group, then in smaller groups. The dialogue is followed by drills on the structures introduced in the dialogue. The aim of the drill is to form habits that automize the pattern. There are four drill types: repetition, substitution , transformation, and translation. The rules are not considered instructions on how to perform. The explanation is considered optional. The suggestion was that learning came as as a result of habit formation “where performing the correct response to a stimulus means that a reward is given (…)this procedure is reffered to as conditioning” ( Harmer, 2007:50)
In theory, conscious learning is not a goal of audio-lingualism. The goal is to make the student learn a patterns used directly in performance. In practice audio-lingualism relies upon inductive learning, which means that the student tries to develop a rule based on the dialogue and pattern practice. There is no explicit attempt to restrict learning to rules not yet acquired. Despite the fact that pattern practice attempts to keep students off rules, the need of complete correctness needs monitoring all the time.
The Direct Method
This method follows the same principles that a child learns his mother tongue naturally and without any practice, meaning that the child learns it directly.(Kramsh, 1993:140) Teaching the language as learning mother tongue is known as the Direct Method, or the natural method because it is learnt naturally, like the first language. The difficulty lies in bringing the exact environment in which first language is acquired. This method was against of Grammar-Translation method as it was considered that great extent of use of mother tongue affected the naturalness of language. The language was not learnt, but practiced. In this method, the same environment is created to learn foreign language but it is not a natural process. It depends on the desire to learn for personal development. (Krashen, 1982:135)
Characteristics:
• There is no interference with mother tongue.
• There is direct connection with the target language, so that the child thinks into target language and express into target language.
• Teacher chooses activities in order to tell the meaning of the sentence in the context. An action related to the sentence is performed to show meaning of the sentence.
• There is a great range of activities .
• The meaning of the sentence is showed with the help of gestures, postures and actions. It helps the student to establish a connection between words and expression.
• The teaching learning process is carried out in English environment.
The Structural Approach
The structural approach is a different method of teaching and is in direct connection to the way that words are set, so that they could represent a suitable pattern of sentence, being directly relied upon the behaviorist theory. Controlling the structure of the sentence is one of the basic principles,as it was considered to be of greater importance than vocabulary acquisition. It does not imply the fact that words are not taught, it is the way that the word content is selected. Here we refer at how useful, simple or easy to teach they are.(Patel, Praveen,2008:90-96) An appropriate situation should be created to practice the structure and to relate its meaning to it and to build up a vocabulary of content words even structure is separately taught.
Generally speaking, the structural approach to teaching English mainly refers to the way the language material is organised in order to be presented, so that the newly introduced notion to be taught in an appropriately chosen environment and situation. The emphasis is on the careful selection of sentences, in such a way to be graded and arranged to build a syllabus.
In conclusion, teaching language within this approach, the pattern and structure of the language has to be understood.
The Communicative Approach – CLT
The term „to communicate" means to express or convey the ideas verbally or non-verbally. The communicative language teaching appeared in the 1970s and 1980s. The concept was introduced by Dell Hymes. According to him, more grammatical knowledge is essential to achieve the competences of a good speaker in English language.(Harmer, 2008:50) The knowledge of how learner language is used by the member of the speech community is essential.
The communicative approach is a learner centred approach. It not only gives the learner grammatical competence but also a social skill concerning what is appropriate to say. How to say, when and where, to satisfy the daily needs. In addition, accuracy and appropriateness are equally important.
In English language teaching, the teacher tries to develop communicative ability, also known as communicative competence. Communicative competences classify as follows: grammatical competences, speech competences, technical competences, socio-linguistic competences.(Walia, 2012:125-131)
In this approach the role of teacher is that of a facilitators of his students’ learning, also being a co-participant not an authoritary figure to provide all the resources necessary for communication to be effective in every context. The communicative approach stresses the purpose of writing .In this approach learners need to have the knowledge of the rules to generate language appropriately for certain situations, together with knowledge of the use of techniques to communicate effectively in every day life situations.The main aim is to develop the communicative competence among learners.(Patel, Praveen,2008:96-101)
Characteristics of Communicative Approach :
Communicative approach puts emphasis on communication of language;
The message expressed in communication always in form of function;
This approach enables students to evelop communicative ability as an important activity of life.
The atmosphere of teaching English language is created so that student could learn English directly.
All the teaching materials are prepared according to child’s attitude and interest or difference so one could learn language easily and effectively.
The students should be provided with real- life situations. Role play, simulation, projects should be produced by students so they could connect them with real life situations.
The emphasis on active mode of learning is given, activities include pair work and group work.
Speaking and listeng skills are important for oral communication, so oral activities are emphasized. The oral communication and written communication are separately taught.
The visual support helps to motivate and focus pupils' attention.
The language is never static: it is dynamic.
The active use of lexical items helps the learner to develop vocabulary, in other words the lexical items are taught in a given context.
The natural approach
The Natural Approach which was developed by Tracy Terrell at the University of California relies upon principles such as the absence of error correction in the classroom as emphasis of the existing constraints when grammar is used consciously.(Krashen, 1981:106) The amount of homework varies greatly. SLA theory predicts that young children would not profit from grammar homework, while older children and adolescents might be able to handle limited amounts.
Characteristics:
During class teaching, the stress is on providing input for acquisition.
The target language is spoken in the classroom by the teacher, while students may use the first or the second language. Their errors are not corrected unless they seriously threaten communication.
Formal grammar work may be included in homework and error correction is employed in corrrection.
The activities may involve the use of certain structures, but the purpose is to enable students to present ideas, perform tasks, or solve problems.
Total Physical Response -TPR
This method was developed by James Asher. Total Physical Response, or TPR, basically relies upon obeying commands issued by the teacher which provoke a physical response. The commands complexity of the commands increases as the class progresses, the idea being to include more complex syntactic constructs in the commands. Students speak only when they are prepared to interact.. In the typical TPR class the first few months would consist of 70% listening, 20% speaking, and 10% reading and writing.(Krashen, 1981:107)
TPR assumes that grammar is learned inductively, in other words, students will deduce the correct form of rule during the class activity. The emphasis is on listening comprehension and the fact that speech is delayed much misuse of conscious learning will be prevented: students will tend not to monitor their output for use in inappropriate circumstances.
Characteristics:
Delayed speech from students until understanding the spoken language.
Understanding of spoken language is achieved through utterances by the instructor in the imperative.
Sstudents will indicate their preparation to talk at some point, when understanding of spoken language happens.
Suggestopedia
Lozanov developed this methd at his Institute of Suggestology in Sofia, Bulgaria. It consists of the following. Courses are given to small groups, around 12 students at a time, and are intensive, meeting for four hours per day for one month. (Patel, Praveen,2008:96-101) Each four-hour class consists of three parts:
1. Review, done via traditional conversations, games, plays. It may include some exercises and error correction, but does not include pattern drill.
2.. New material is introduced in the form of dialogues based on situations familiar to the students
3. The dialogue is read by the teacher, while students follow the text and engage in deep and rhythmic Yoga breathing. While the foreign language phrase is being read, the students retain their breath for four seconds, look at the appropriate part of the text, and mentally repeat to themselves the given phrase or word-group in the FL. Concentration is greatly promoted by the retention or suspension of breath.The second part, labelled the passive part of the seance, involves music. The central activity is the teacher's reading of the dialogue. The students meditate on the text while baroque music is played.(Krashen, 1982:142-145)
In Suggestopedia, each member of the class is given a new name and role to play, to overcome inhibition, to lower the affective filter and that allow the subconscious language acquisition system to operate at full, or near full capacity and efficiency.
Suggestopedia also seems to put grammar in its proper place, respectively input requirements for acquisition.
Interactive learning
The concept of interactive learning mainly refers to the dual role of communication, of both sending and receiving information, or the role of receiver and of sender in any communicative situation. By interacting, the interlocutors negotiate, which will lead to production of meaning. The idea of interactive learning assumes that among the most frequent activities in the classroom will be pair work and group work. The language input will be genuine, used in day-by-day situations, the main purpose being communication.
In the classroom, when this method is applied by the teacher, the purpose is communication, the stress is on both what is said and also, on how it is said. Being a modern approach to teaching, teacher’s and students’ roles change.
Learner-centred learning
This kind of instruction involves the giving over of some 'power' in the language learning process to the learners themselves. It also strives to allow for personal creativity and input from the students, as well as taking into account their learning needs and objectives;
Although the teacher may seem to have a peripheral role in the learning process, he/she still provides guidance and help, especially to those who are slow in developing communicative independence, or he/she may be part of the communicative act itself.
Cooperative Language Learning (CLL)
From the title, we can easily deduce the fact that the major stress here, is on cooperation, in this case cooperation happens among students in the classroom, on a team. The idea of cooperation opposes the idea of competition, which means that students work together as a unit in order to achieve their goals together. (Richards, Rodgers, 2001:192-203)
The teacher needs to prove ability in assessing the students’ needs, also to prove organizing qualities, along with being a good manager of class activities. Error correction happens only occasionally. The internalization of language needs to be a personal experience, in order to be of importance. Supervision in class interaction includes facilitation of the communicative action.
Content-Based Learning (CBL)
This method of language teaching and learning connects language learning to the content and uses them both in a cocurrential manner. In this matter, language is regarded as a tool for knowledge acquisition about other things, proving its usefulness instantly. (Lamie, 2005:28-31) An important factor in content-based learning is the fact that the content is what determines the linguistic aspects which need to be mastered, not the other way around. When students learn other school subjects, such as math, history or science while using English as the linguistic support, they are more motivated to learn more language, as they are presented with subjects of interest for them. “CBL, which integrates language teaching and subject learning, stands out as a highly successful and effi cient way of channelling resources towards language acquisition without putting more pressure on an already hefty school curriculum” (Juan-Garau, Salazar-Noguera, 2015:2)
Like any other approaches before, there are some drawbacks which are in the way of implementation. One of the most frequent, is that students are more interested in the correctness aspect, in terms of grammar, than in the developement of the other skills, or the accurate use of language.
Task-Based Learning (TBL)
This approach is based upon the concept that learning should be done through tasks, hence the name. The basic idea of a learning task, refers to a language learning technique. This was regarded such, in terms of a problem solving activity, a project, or any other acticities that engage the students in learning activities. The task has a clearly proposed objective, appropriate content, an application procedure, and the expected outcomes. The number of identified tasks is two. (Thomas, Reinders 2010:1-16)
In the first place, the teaching tasks, in which, the students are required to use language that is specific for grammar, vocabulay, or any skills involved. What the purpose of this kind of task represents, is to provide the input that is necessary for language acquisition, not necessarily a real-world task.
Real-world tasks can be defined as tasks that provide day by day use of language, which can represent a real support for future life situations. A very good example of such activity can be a role play, in which a job interview can be practised.
Just like every previous approach that was briefly presented, this theory, also raises a number of issues. It does not seem to work more effectively than the Presentation Production Practice, as seen in (Harmer, 2003:51 ) approach the TBL tends to replace. Moreover, the criteria for selecting and sequencing tasks are also problematic, as is the problem of language accuracy and the task work may serve to develop fluency at the expense if accuracy. Content is also of little interest in TBL, TBL focusing on classroom processes, rather than on learning outcomes. These make TBL too vague to be widely adopted as a methodology.
Competency-Based Learning (CBL)
As the title suggeste, this approach can be described as putting the stress on the outcomes of learning, which is the core principle of teaching. (Krashen, 1982:146-153) It is taught in direct connection to skills, but it can also be related to the academic aspect, as well. The basic principle is that students progress through the curriculum at their pace, moving on only when the competency is achieved. Although it was considered as relatively new, in the USA it has quite a long history.(Burke, 1989:2-8) Characteristics:
the primary goal lies in the ability of the students of becoming capable to deal with the increasing demands of the world successfully ;
the language taught deals with concrete tasks within communication, so students will be taught skills which are required in certain situations;
emphasis is on what students can do, how to behave in a given situation;
learning is organised on modules, each objective is divided into sub-objectives, for a clear view over the progress achieved ;
students know from the very beginning what is expected of them, in consequence they develop behaviours in agreement with the expectations;
the stress is on assessment which is continuous consisting of pre-tests and post-tests, meant for diagnosis;
the test are not traditional, since the assessment is concerned with ability in demonstrating taught behaviours;
it is a student-centred instruction, in consequence, the needs of the students are definitory concerning thecontent, level and objectives;
Content and Language Integrated Learning -CLIL
Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) seems to play an increasingly important role as a tool for language learning and teaching and as an element of bilingual or pluringual education. It appeared due to the needs, or we could say, flaws in different educational systems as follows: the inefficient use of time due to timetables being crowded, the need of a richer content in language learning and teaching, which would be more challenging as it would develop pragmatic and socio-linguistic competences; teaching various subject matters in the target language (English), would help students develop competence in the use of linguistic and discourse features for subjects like history or geography.
“In Europe, where a variety of languages coexist, the move towards economic unity and cohesion has led to a need for higher levels of multilingualism. Better access to language teaching and learning methods is now crucial in many communities. To that end, different proactive forces converge to point the way ahead in functional language learning.“ (Juan-Garau, Salazar-Noguera, 2015:4)
To sum up, language and subject teachers work together. Language teachers acquire subject knowledge and subject teachers acquire expertise in combining language development with teaching the content effectively.
The benefits of CLIL need to be assessed in terms of cultural awareness, internationalisation, language competence, preparation for both study and working life, and increased motivation. CLIL may be the best-fit methodology for language teaching and learning in a multilingual Europe. “Language competence touches on the ability to gain access to specialised materials, participate in mobility programmes throughout Europe (Comenius, Leonardo and Erasmus, Erasmus Mundus, Tempus), engage in cross-borderprojects, relate to international partners and, later on in life, fi nd employment and be professionally mobile.” (Juan-Garau, Salazar-Noguera, 2015:32)
Characteristics:
Language is, both used to learn and to communicate. A CLIL lesson is not only a language lesson, but also a subject lesson. CLIL lessons should combine elements of the following: content, communication, cognition, culture, all four language skills should be combined.
The teaches shoud be careful to integrate language and receptive and productive skills, reading or listening texts are the basis of the lessons, the language is functional according to the context, the lexical aspect is stressed, not sa much the grammatical one; finally an important element is the learning style when devising tasks.
CLIL lessons pay equal importance to content and language often following a four-stage framework. The texts must be accompanied by illustrations so learners can visualise what they are reading. The structure of the text is used to help learning and facilitate the activities focused on language development and core content knowledge.
The expectations are that learners reproduce the main ideas of the text in their own words. They will need to use simple and more complex language, with no grading of language involved. The teacher should highlight useful language in the text and to make a delimitation into cathegories according to function, such as :collocations, semi-fixed expressions, set phrases, subject-specific and academic vocabulary.
According to Juan-Garau and Salazar-Noguera, there are three specific features that make CLIL ‘a differentiated European construct’: it is not only methodology, it is more than that, an educational approach, which was mainly about the construction of Europe to be united in diversity, both linguistic and cultural. Also, the medium of instruction for school subjects is different from L1 both for students and teachers, and finally, the coursebooks follow the national curriculum of each state, so the culture of the classroom is that of L1.
3.3 Active language learning
If we compare the traditional teaching methods to the modern approaches to teaching English, we can emphasize a number of aspects, which are worth mentioning. Firstly, traditionally, the role of the teacher was to convey knowledge, being the sole holder of the absolute truth, always interested in scientific research, who also, proved mastery of the subject.
The active participative methods of teaching involve the student in the process of teaching and learning directly. The main difference is that the student’s role is no longer of a spectator, they can involve actively in this process, in order to achieve competences. Additionally, the student expresses personal opinions and arguments, learning to function as part of a team.
If we make a comparison between the traditional and the modern methods of teaching, we can come with a comparative list:
Traditional Methods to Language Teaching vs. Modern Approaches to Language teaching
The Traditional Methods to Language Teaching have the following characteristics:
Are mainly focused on learning the subject;
Are centred on content;
The teacher is at the centre of the instructional process;
The emphasis is on the act of teaching;
The student is the beneficiary of the learning process;
They are focused on conveying information by repetitive activities;
The idea of independent work is neglected;
They are formal and abstract;
Science is presented as a sum of finite knowledge;
They are formal;
They are not applicative;
They are in favour of competition;
They are based on constraints;
They impose a formal control;
The Modern Approaches to Language teaching have the following characteristics:
They are student-centred, on the development of skills and competences;
Student-formation is precedential to teaching;
They are active-participative;
The student is at the centre, having a word to say in this matter;
Learning is prior to teaching;
The independent work and self-teaching are emphasized;
They are action-based, the experience comes from exploration;
The emphasis is on the process through which the learners form /express personal opinions;
The materials used in teaching are in direct contact with the reality;
They put a stress on exploration, applications, experiment and practicality;
They encourage the creative spirit and the initiative;
They highly encourage self-assessment;
Cooperation is of great importance;
Students are motivated to learn as a result of the success;
As a conclusion to what we have said previously, we can affirm the fact that the traditional methods of teaching are still partly used nowadays, even if at a smaller level. In terms of English language teaching, when a student comes in contact with new information, or when in the circumstances of a communicative act, they fist translate in their mind, or try to find common points or resemblances to L1, even if sometimes, at an unconscious level.
On the other hand, the modern methods of teaching cultivate openness and collaborative tasks, along with new ideas. The learners will find easiness in expressing opinions, combining information, which will lead them to creativity and responsibility.
Along with the positive aspects brought by the modern teaching methods, we cannot fail to notice the fact that there are also a number of drawbacks as follows:
are time-consuming;
probability of wrong information if not attentively monitored by the teacher;
reliability on the group to perform tasks;
difficulty to identify and assess progress;
less active students if the activities are not clearly devised and monitored;
CHAPTER IV
THE IMPORTANCE OF TEACHING LITERATURE AND HISTORY IN DEVELOPING THE EUROPEAN KEY COMPETENCES
4.1 Competence through literature
In the second chapter were mentioned the key competences, what they meant, what they involved and their importance. The competences, which are directly involved in the foreign language teaching-learning process are: communication in foreign languages, digital competence, learning to learn, social and civic competences, sense of initiative and entrepreneurship, cultural awareness and expression.
An aspect, which has a great impact, is the importance of literature in teaching English. When we take to the class a piece of writing which is full of meaning, it unveils under the eyes of the readers, it conveys words with multiple meanings, it presents extraordinary characters, in other words, it brings a piece of that peoples’ soul.
Culture always represented an issue when it came to the use of literary texts in language teaching classes being both a reliable classroom resource and at the same time a challenge. Starting from the traditional language teaching method, the language-translation class used a selection of literature that “ (…)was seen as the best way to access the most ‘worthwhile’ culture of another speech community .At the same time, literary texts were reserved for learners at the highest levels of achievement, the presumed apex of aspiration for a second language learner.” (Hall, 2015:40)
Yet, once with the developement of different approaches and also due to the use of communicative strategies in teaching, literature no longer represents just a source of learning new vocabulary, of identifying word or grammar structures or patterns, more than that, it is a synonim for culture learning.
Also, culture and literature are now thought of in different ways. The culture of the English language “is particularly problematic in the modern globalized world where the idea of the coincidence of the borders of a nation state and a particular language clearly no longer holds.” (Hall, 2015:40) As mentioned previously, what motivates the learners of English is not in any way to give up their own language and culture in favour of English or any other language and culture, but to develop bicultural identities with English as the language of aspirational modernity and participation in a wider global community of young people, of style and change and progress, not to mention wealth, travel, achievement and cultural values far from any offered conventionally by classic literature.
Nevertheless, Kramsch (2009) gives examples of case studies in which learners find themselves through the exploration of the literary texts of a language and community other than the one they have grown up with. Issues of identity and of emotions and feelings are to the fore in such perspectives on language learning. Kramsch also uses examples which explain metaphors of ‘transgression’ more than the need to assimilate an imagined English culture.
English may mean to us more than an aspiration. Through literature we can explore who we are, who we are not and who we might want to be. That is why our responsibility of educators is to channel our students towards more critical readings.
4.2 Why literature ?
As mentioned above, when teaching literature in the foreign language class, we can teach a complete set of activities, ranging from the cultural aspects, to the study of grammar or vocabulary, to a series of speaking activities which will be exemplified, to reading or writing, but most of all students develop critical thinking and prove power of analysis. The stress is on the material which is brought into the English class, that it be authentic, we have noticed that the recently introduced materials from the textbooks are “authentic samples of language – for example, travel timetables, city plans, forms, pamphlets, cartoons, advertisements, newspaper or magazine articles. Learners are thus exposed to language that is as genuine and undistorted as can be managed in the classroom context.” (Collie, Slater, 1987:6)
Also, when students are exposed to literature, they are exposed to language that is ‘intended’ for native speakers. In this respect, they become familiar with other uses of the vocabulary, with various uses of the written mode, and also with the conventions of writing. Last, but not least, literature, in any form it may be presented, carries within a great amount of cultural baggage. ” This nonfiction literature about key historical characters richly complements the multicultural fiction which highlights main characters also from a variety of ethnic backgrounds.”(Taylor, Sobel, 2011:141)
4.3 A better cultural understanding
In order to get a better understanding of the language they speak, many learners try to understand the way that life is in the country where the language in question is spoken. In order to accomplish this, the best way would be a visit. But in many situations it is just not possible, in this case, some indirect sources need to be chosen among which: watching films, music videos, reading newspapers, listening pieces to radio programs, or reading literature. In the support of the last one, we can emphasize the idea that even if they are invented, or created they still reflect the social context or background through the characters they present.
When we read, we discover a new world, we imagine and also learn about thoughts, feelings, social norms and behavours, beliefs, likes and so on. Although it is only a picture of the real world, it stands for the image that the reader infers about the way that the real society is structured. Also, if we talk about historical inspiration literature, it is a good way to help us ‚get a picture’ of what life used to be like in the past in our country as well as in others. It can function very well as a support for the learner’s awareness of their cultural values.
When we have to choose what our students read, a thorough consideration must be made. Firstly, we have to consider the linguistic difficulty, how enjoyable or thought-provoking the story will be, secondly it is the effect on the readers and on their cultural knowledge that we have to keep in mind.
4.4 Activities used during the English classes
As mentioned above, when we choose the type of material that we bring to class it is essential that it be suitable for students in terms of: level of difficulty, topic, range of vocabulary, or topic. It should always teach a valuable lesson, together with the needed linguistic patterns that allow a better communication in the foreign language. The activities that we are going to describe as follows are a few examples of tasks accomplished by the students during the English classes.How can literary texts be used in the classroom? We will enumerate the ones mostly used in the English classes:
-Using the title and the book cover
– Using the theme
– Key extracts
– Questionnaires
– Guessing missing information
– What happens next?
– Question-and-answer worksheets
– Complete the sentences
– Summaries with gaps
– Key points for summaries
– Choosing an interpretation
– Choosing a moral
– Language worksheets
– Retelling the story
– Language projects
– Writing activities
– Oral activities
– Role plays
– Cover designs
– Team competitions
– Retelling the story
– Spot the error
– Writing essays
– Dramatic adaptations
We need to keep in mind the fact that building a teaching strategy which leads to a better comprehension is essential.
Thinking Comprehension Strategies
Fig.7 Reading-Thinking Strategies Source Sobel, Taylor, 2011
Using the title and the book cover
This type of activity is a ‘preparatory’ one, in the sense that it can help students in getting familiar with the type of writing, make deductions starting from the cover design, or can interpret the title. In other words, speculations can be made on the story, as well as on the book. An example is the book cover for Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens from Macmillan Readers as seen on the next page, which portrays Miss Havisham and her decaying world. The other cover of the same book presents the open gates of Satis House. Students were divided into two groups and were assigned different covers in order to observe if they could make similar judgements on the novel. Students from the first group were asked questions firstly on the woman in the picture: What kind of person does she seem to be?/ Is she simple or sophisticated?/ Does she seem to be loving or kind?/ What social class does she belong to?/ Does she seem to be ordinary?/ What can we say about her judging from her facial expression?
The second group was presented with questions concerning the picture: What sort of picture is it?, What world does it open?, What can this world contain?, What sort of people could have such gates?, What symbols can it bear?, What feelings do you get about it?, Is it related to something good, dangerous, happy?
In the next stage, the teacher asks the students to explain the title of the book Great Expectations. What does it mean to have expectations?/ What happens when the expectations are great?/ Who could have great expectations? /What age is best for that?/ What type of novel do you think it is?
Using the theme
Wihin this activity, one major theme is chosen in order to be discussed in class. In this case, the students were asked to write their opinion concerning the choice that Hester Prynne, the main character from The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne has to make when she has to face being publicly shamed for her sin, in revealing the name of her baby’s father.
Students are presented with study questions such as: What would you have done in a similar situation? / Would you be able to keep such a secret and take the whole blame? / Would you tell anyone? / How do you judge Dimmesdale’s lack of reaction to what was happening to Hester? / How do you motivate the choices given the social context and the social pressure?
The students deal with the task, and after that the teacher collects the papers and mixes them. As a follow-up, each student is invited to read a randomly chosen paper, being asked to express their feelings concerning their reading. After this activity, a general discussion follows on the issues raised in the task.
Example for students’ work
Key extracts
Using this type of activity, the teacher makes a selection of key extracts which have the purpose of helping the students form an opinion concerning the main character, the setting, the time, or the cultural values presented in the novel/short story.
In this case, we have chosen a few extracts from F.Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. The excerpts were meant to produce a contextualised framework for the students’imagination. The fragments are taken from Harper Collins Classics.
I believe that on the first night I went to Gatsbys house I was one of the few guests who had actually been invited. People were not invited they went there. They got into automobiles which bore them out to Long Island, and somehow they ended up at Gatsbys door. Once there they were introduced by somebody who knew Gatsby, and after that they conducted themselves according to the rules of behavior associated with amusement parks. Sometimes they came and went without having met Gatsby at all, came for the party with a simplicity of heart that was its own ticket of admission.(…)
She narrowed her eyes and shivered. Lucille shivered. We all turned and looked around for Gatsby. It was testimony to the romantic speculation he inspired that there were whispers about him from those who found little that it was necessary to whisper about in this world.(…)
She narrowed her eyes and shivered. Lucille shivered. We all turned and looked around for Gatsby. It was testimony to the romantic speculation he inspired that there were whispers about him from those who found little that it was necessary to whisper about in this world.(…)
We got up, and she explained that we were going to find the host: I had never met him, she said, and it was making me uneasy. The undergraduate nodded in a cynical, melancholy way.(…)
The bar, where we glanced first, was crowded, but Gatsby was not there. She couldnt find him from the top of the steps, and he wasnt on the veranda. On a chance we tried an important-looking door, and walked into a high Gothic library, panelled with carved English oak, and probably transported complete from some ruin overseas.
Much better. I turned again to my new acquaintance. This is an unusual party for me. I havent even seen the host. I live over there I waved my hand at the invisible hedge in the distance, and this man Gatsby sent over his chauffeur with an invitation. For a moment he looked at me as if he failed to understand.
Im Gatsby, he said suddenly.
What! I exclaimed. Oh, I beg your pardon.
I thought you knew, old sport. Im afraid Im not a very good host.
He smiled understandingly much more than understandingly. It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life. It faced or seemed to face the whole external world for an instant, and then concentrated on you with an irresistible prejudice in your favor. It understood you just so far as you wanted to be understood, believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself, and assured you that it had precisely the impression of you that, at your best, you hoped to convey. Precisely at that point it vanished and I was looking at an elegant young rough-neck, a year or two over thirty, whose elaborate formality of speech just missed being absurd. Some time before he introduced himself Id got a strong impression that he was picking his words with care.
Worksheet 1
The main purpose of the activity was to draw people’s attention on the main character, Jay Gatsby, on his personality, his lifestyle, his habits in contrast to the other people that come in contact with him. The stress was also on the cultural aspect of the 20’s in America.
Questionnaires
The questionnaires can be used in the classroom for more purposes. When it comes to using them when using a literary context, they can be a very useful tool in order to find out the students’opinions on the themes or topics brought into discussion. Our example is a follow-up activity to the previous one and it has to deal with the moral issues raised by the novel The Great Gatsby.
1. True or False: Gatsby is a poor man who does not like to interact with other people.
A. True
B. False
True or False: Daisy falls in love with Nick at the end of the story.
A. True
B. False
3.True or False: Tom despises Gatsby and wants him dead.
A. True
B. False
4.True or False: Gatsby's house is an extravagant mansion in which he holds many parties.
A. True
B. False
5.True or False: Daisy takes the blame for the death of Myrtle.
A. True
B. False
6. True or False: Gatsby aquired all of his money illegaly by bootlegging alcohol.
Discuss
A. True
B. False
7.True or False: Tom is married to Myrtle and secretly having an affair with Daisy.
A. True
B. False
8.True or False: Nick arranges a large funeral for Gatsby in which everyone who knew him attended
A. True
B. False
Worksheet 2
Guessing missing information
This task was used in order to check the understanding of a fragment of reading, also, to practice the new vocabulary. In this case, the students had a post-reading activity whose main purpose was to check the comprehenshion of the novel The Great Gatsby. More than a reading comprehension activity, it was used for vocabulary check.
The Great Gatsby is the story of an eccentric 1 …………………Jay Gatsby told by Nick Carraway. Gatsby’s enormous 2………………….is located in the vicinity of Carraway’s home, and Carraway becomes curious about his neighbour when he is invited to one of his famous 3……………………. Nick finds out that Gatsby is in love Daisy Buchanan, who is his cousin and also the wife of Tom Buchanan, an 4………………………of Nick’s from Yale. Buchanan takes his friend in the city, where Nick learns that Buchanan has a mistress named Myrtle. Gatsby insists that Nick plan a meeting for him and Daisy. Nick learns that Gatsby, Jay Gatz at that time, and Daisy had once been 5………………….., but Daisy married Tom while Gatsby was in Europe during the Great War. After this, Jay Gatz abandoned his old identity, becoming Jay Gatsby and got himself a 6………………….with the help of the criminal Meyer Wolfsheim. Gatsby chose to have his house in Long Island because it was across the bay from Daisy’s house, from which a 7…………………. light could be seen at night.
Gatsby and Daisy get together, and begin to see each other 8…………………….. Nick and Gatsby become close friends as well. Buchanan confronts Gatsby in Manhattan about the love 9………………………, and they argue about whom Daisy really loves. In spite of her claims that she loves them both Daisy decides to return to Long Island with Gatsby. Daisy drives Gatsby’s car, but she 10……………………….a woman, and then speeds off. The woman is no one else but Buchanan’s girlfriend Myrtle who had run to see the car because she thought it was Buchanan’s. Myrtle’s husband 11…………………………Buchanan for the death, but Buchanan informs him that it was Gatsby’s car that killed the woman. He goes to Gatsby’s house, where he 12…………………………… Gatsby and then himself. Daisy refuses to confess to her crime, and only a few people, including Gatsby’s father Henry come to Gatsby’s funeral.
Worksheet 3
Predicting what happens next
This activity was performed on the form of a role play. Students set in groups were asked to discuss possible continuations, then either improvise them and act them, or prepare, script and act them out. Another type of activity is the predictive writing task. After the students have read the first section of text, the teacher asks them to write the story / dialogue / letter /note that follows from the given situation. In our case, after reading a fragment from Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Grey, which will be exemplified as follows, the students had to make predictions on what the continuation would be. In the passage presented, taken from Chapter 11, Dorian compares his flawless face with the appearance of his portrait, which is increasingly old and ugly. In spite of his life during which he had been seeking pleasures, he is still young and handsome, while the portrait is the one that bears all the changes.
The purpose of this activity was to make the students want to continue reading the writing on their own.
“ Often, on returning home from one of those mysterious and prolonged absences that gave rise to such strange conjecture among those who were his friends, or thought that they were so, he himself would creep upstairs to the locked room, open the door with the key that never left him now, and stand, with a mirror, in front of the portrait that Basil Hallward had painted of him, looking now at the evil and aging face on the canvas, and now at the fair young face that laughed back at him from the polished glass.
The very sharpness of the contrast used to quicken his sense of pleasure. He grew more and more enamoured of his own beauty, more and more interested in the corruption of his own soul. He would examine with minute care, and sometimes with a monstrous and terrible delight, the hideous lines that seared the wrinkling forehead or crawled around the heavy sensual mouth, wondering sometimes which were the more horrible, the signs of sin or the signs of age. He would place his white hands beside the coarse bloated hands of the picture, and smile. He mocked the misshapen body and the failing limbs.
There were moments, indeed, at night, when, lying sleepless in his own delicately scented chamber, or in the sordid room of the little ill-famed tavern near the docks which, under an assumed name and in disguise, it was his habit to frequent, he would think of the ruin he had brought upon his soul with a pity that was all the more poignant because it was purely selfish. But moments such as these were rare. That curiosity about life which Lord Henry had first stirred in him, as they sat together in the garden of their friend, seemed to increase with gratification. The more he knew, the more he desired to know. He had mad hungers that grew more ravenous as he fed them.”
Worksheet 4
In support of their task, the students had a set of statements that could be easily completed. Afterwards, they were used for a speaking activity, which was dealing with the validity of their predictions ,given the new knowledge in the developement of the story. The purpose was to develop analitical thinking, which is extremely important in terms of reading comprehension and also to make way for communicative skills, which represent crucial skills for life.
I think Dorian will ………………………………………………………………………………………………..
I think his soul will/will not be rescued because ……………………………………………….
I think the greatest danger he will face is ………………………………………………………………..
I think he will succeed in ………………………………………………………………………………….
I think he will fail in ………………………………………………………………………………………….
I think he will find it easiest to …………………………………………………………………………..
I think he will find it hardest to ………………………………………………………………………….
Question and answer worksheets
This type of worksheets are very easy to prepare and a special care needs to be taken to the types of questions that are supposed to lead the student to the part in which it is analized beyond the easy answer precisely given in the text. In the case of these worksheets, the first three or four questions presnt factual information and require close answers, while the remaining ones require an in-depth analysis. The same questions can be used, but with a better guidance for the students, in the idea that they have to choose the right answer. When asking students to justify their choices, they can become more aware of characters in the book, problematic situations, and so on. It is advisable that the students be encouraged to make speculations for what lies beneath the surface of the read text.
Answer these questions:
a. What did Lord Henry say about the picture?
b. What did Dorian recognise when he first saw the picture?
c. Why was Dorian jealous of the picture?
d. How did Lord Henry’s influence affect the way Dorian felt about the picture?
e. Why did Basil say he wouldn’t sell the picture to Lord Henry?
f . What wish did Dorian make about himself and the picture?
Worksheet 5(sample activity taken from Penguin Readers Activity Worksheet)
Complete the sentences
In order to practice vocabulary or grammar patterns which appear while reading, the incomplete sentences can be used as an alternative to questions and answers. Our example is a worksheet used on Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Grey as part of homework.
1.Complete the following sentences.
a. Basil doesn’t want Lord Henry to meet Dorian because …………………………………….
b. Dorian wants Lord Henry to stay with him while he poses because …………………….
c. Dorian is jealous of his own picture because……………………………………………..
d. Dorian was a little afraid of Lord Henry because ……………………………………
2. Put the words in the right order to make sentences.
a. Dorian Basil room portrait him the shows the portrait. into takes and ………………………………………………
b. people Dorian say. that be must worse Basil than says even ………………………………………………
c. the neck. takes Basil’s into Dorian sticks knife it and ………………………………………………
d. cupboard. a bag Dorian and Basil’s hides at in ………………………………………………
e. about tells Francis visit. Dorian Basil’s
………………………………………………
3.Complete the sentences with words from the box.
chocolate corruption knife curtain body
a The portrait was covered with an old purple ……………… .
b The face in the portrait showed signs of ……………… .
c On the top of a cupboard Dorian saw a ……………… .
d In the morning Dorian drank a cup of ……………… .
e Campbell helped Dorian with the ……………… .
Worksheet 6 (sample activity taken from Penguin Readers Activity Worksheet)
Choosing an interpretation/moral
In order to check understanding of a text, as well as to draw attention to certain aspects that need to be highlighted in order to bring about a debate or to result in a written product, it is a very good classroom activity to request students an interpretation or to draw conclusions concerning the moral of a story.
One of the worksheets which has been used in class is the fragment taken from The Little Prince, chapter 21, which presents the dialogue between the Fox and the Prince about the importance of taming. The students worked in groups, they had to find interpretations for what ‘taming’ meant in the given context, they also had to find suitable interpretations for the highlighted parts.
"My life is very monotonous," the fox said. "I hunt chickens; men hunt me. All the chickens are just alike, and all the men are just alike. And, in consequence, I am a little bored. But if you tame me, it will be as if the sun came to shine on my life. I shall know the sound of a step that will be different from all the others. Other steps send me hurrying back underneath the ground. Yours will call me, like music, out of my burrow. And then look: you see the grain-fields down yonder? I do not eat bread. Wheat is of no use to me. The wheat fields have nothing to say to me. And that is sad. But you have hair that is the color of gold. Think how wonderful that will be when you have tamed me! The grain, which is also golden, will bring me back the thought of you. And I shall love to listen to the wind in the wheat . . ."
The fox gazed at the little prince, for a long time.
"Please–tame me!" he said.
"I want to, very much," the little prince replied. "But I have not much time. I have friends to discover, and a great many things to understand."
"One only understands the things that one tames," said the fox. "Men have no more time to understand anything. They buy things all ready made at the shops. But there is no shop anywhere where one can buy friendship, and so men have no friends any more. If you want a friend, tame me ."
"What must I do, to tame you?" asked the little prince.
"You must be very patient," replied the fox. "First you will sit down at a little distance from me–like that–in the grass. I shall look at you out of the corner of my eye, and you will say nothing. Words are the source of misunderstandings. But you will sit a little closer to me, every day . . ."
The next day the little prince came back.
"It would have been better to come back at the same hour," said the fox. "If, for example, you come at four o'clock in the afternoon, then at three o'clock I shall begin to be happy. I shall feel happier and happier as the hour advances. At four o'clock, I shall already be worrying and jumping about. I shall show you how happy I am! But if you come at just any time, I shall never know at what hour my heart is to be ready to greet you . . . One must observe the proper rites . . ."
Worksheet 7
Language projects
The language projects could focus on various aspects of language, and it is an activity which was very suitable for group-work, in our case. They can range from chain-stories, to vocabulary work, such as using certain vocabulary creatively, like poetry-writing, or composition writing. We had a such project, within which we have attempted to combine vocabulary work within a culture and civilisation lesson.
Prior to this, the topics of discussion in the classroom were the English kings and queens, people who proved great leadership qualities. After that, we watched the BBC documentary on The Real White Queen. While watching, students had to write down new vocabulary on this subject. The choice of subject is easy to explain, as it presents a famous love story within a historical context, which made all more fascinating. It proved to be an entertaining activity with satisfactory results.
Choosing a moral
The moral of a story, even though it is a traditional way of getting oplinions from the students, it represents a good way of inferring ideas and values as well, found within a story. That was one of the reasons why, when The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne was taught at class, following discussions on the themes and symbols of the book, the students were split in four groups, each of them being assigned a possible moral of the story. They had to bring arguments in favour or against the moral, with relevant examples from the book.
Morals:
Truth prevails no matter what.
Love is stronger than hate.
Sin leads to knowledge.
Always be true to yourself.
Worksheet 8
Language worksheets
The fragments to be read sometimes present difficult vocabulary or other lingvistic patterns which may rise problems, and a worksheet is meant to make reading easier for the learner. In other cases, the teacher’s wish might be to highlight the metaphorical language, or make sure that certain terms or structures from literary text become part of a student’s active vocabulary. This type of worksheet depends very much on the given text, its level of difficulty, or its stylistic qualities. We give a brief list of various types: extracting vocabulary, classifying vocabulary (including vocabulary assigned to characters), matching exercises, grammar work, etc.
1. Which word from the box best describes each character?
clever dishonest honest innocent jealous miserable selfish scornful
a Tom Buchanan …………………………
b Daisy Buchanan …………………………
c Jordan Baker …………………………
d Nick Carraway …………………………
e Jay Gatsby …………………………
f Myrtle Wilson …………………………
g George Wilson …………………………
h Meyer Wolfsheim …………………………
2. Complete these sentences with one suitable word in each space.
a The main ………………… to the accident was Michaelis.
b Tom stopped his car when he realised there had been a ………………… .
c Tom found out that Myrtle had been ………………… by a big yellow car.
d Tom told Wilson that he wasn’t ………………… the yellow car.
e Gatsby asked Nick about the accident but didn’t seem to care about the ………………… woman.
f Nick realised that Daisy was driving the ………………. .
Worksheet 9
What if . . . ?
We tried to do this activity as a discussion one at first. First, the two words were taken separately in order to convey the idea of condition/possibility. Our discussion was around the novel Great Gatsby, mainly around questioning the decisions of the characters which brought about the series of events. Students imagined the events prior to the climax events. We will give examples of questions used in the discussion:
What if Gatsby hadn’t met Nick Carraway?
What choices would the two characters have made?
What if Daisy had chosen Gatsby over Tom?
What if Gatsby hadn’t taken Daisy’s blame on him?
What if Mytrle hadn’t been killed in the accident?
How would all these things have affected the developement of the story?
What effect would it have had upon the reader?
The use of third conditional was revised during the activity.
Simple language work
Texts always represent an endless source full of possible activities. One of the most usefu concerning language functions, is to have the students deal with specific areas of vocabulary. Our example is from the activity following the reading of Outside the Cabinet Maker’s by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Students had to imagine that the events would have been different in order to be fit in the story, using the third conditional.
Use the third conditional to imagine the events differently to fit into the story:
If the boy hadn’t been into the flat____________________ .
If the father and the daugheter had heard the boy say ‚Is Johnny in?’ and the woman reply ‚No, he’s in the park.’_________________ .
If the shutter had blown closed and stayed closed __________________.
If the man had been carrying a big box marked Fragile ___________________.
If the little girl had asked about the company van ___________________.
Fill in the blanks with one appropriate word.
1. The blinds were drawn_____________ him forever.
2. She reached _______________ her bag in the back seat.
3. The man and the little girl looked _____________unexpectantly.
4. The shutter banged ______________ back to forth every few minutes.
5. The lady came ______________ of the cabinet maker’s shop.
Worksheet 10
Retelling the story
Very good for vocabulary/grammar practice, as well as for encouraging the students improve their speaking skills is this type of activity, which was performed as a chain story. The purpose was to give each student the opportuniry to speak, to better remember the main points/characters from the story, along with a brief feed-back on the new vocabulary.
Writing activities- Letter in a bottle
The idea of writing a letter in a bottle came following the activities connected to Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe. The students had to imagine that they were shipwrecked on a deserted island, and among other things remained from the wreck, they could find paper and pencil. They were asked to write a letter, describing their present situation, as well as asking for help. Half of them put themselves in the position of the character (Robinson Crusoe), while the other half wrote the letters in their name, as it can be seen in the pictures below.
It proved to be challenging creativity, which required a lot of use of immagination, writing skills. It was also a good opportunity to revise types of letters.
Oral activities
It is of great importance to recognize the power that a gradual release of responsibility has upon learners. Understanding the value that a model which is provided to students has, means a lot of guided practice prior to students working independently on a task that is similar. The use of symbols that accompany word descriptions, helping students make their own way from the information they are familiar with to the new ones, provides great support in conceptualizing new information in such a way, that it can be applied in a meaningful manner.
Book cover design
The book cover design activity was done as a means of finding out responses to the book they had read/the film thay had watched. This was done as a pair-work activity and the request was to make book covers for Robinson Crusoe and for Great Expectations, in such a way that they be appealing for readers, and to also be representative for the topic of the book. The book covers were presented in front of the class, also explanations were given considering the intentions they had when preparing the design, or on the effect they had on the class.
The two book covers presented here are very different from each other in terms of resources used for design. The first one is simple pencil and paper drawing, while the second is a computer-based product . The motivation of the students for the second one, was that they wanted to present it to different readers, as a comic book.
Team competition
The competitions are always seen as events which remind students how well they did in a certain aspect in comparison to other students. This is one of the reasons why it is always fun, dynamic and enjoyable. This activity was used as revision. The students were split in two teams and were presented with a quiz containing questions on characters from the books we dealt with, on historical figures we learned about during the optional course, as well as quotes.
Why does Dorian Grey decide to distroy his portrait?
Who wears a scarlet letter?
Where does Robinson Crusoe sail?
What is Miss Havisham’s house called?
How does the girl react to the Nightingale’s song?
What Tudor king was Elisabet I’s father?
How were marriages in the rich middle age noble families?
What do you know about birth in the 14th -16th centuries?
What is the name of Hester and Dimmesdale’s child?
What is Lord Henry’s role in the story?
Worksheet 11
Writing essays
One of the most efficient ways of assessing students’ skills, improvement of vocabulary, or grammatical aspects, not to mention creativity. At the same time, it is a good way of checking understanding of the plot and characters. As a writing activity, following the study of Great Expectations, we spoke for and against on the idea of adoption. The starting point of discussion was represented by the two characters, Estella and Pip, who are both orphans and are ‚adopted’ by the so-called surrogate parents, Miss Havisham and Magwitch, who use them.
We are going to present an example of the class activity on this topic.
Power Point Presentations
Another good way for an effective assessment is represented by the power point presentstions. We have been using them on various topics such as: themes, conflict, symbolism and important quotes from The Picture of Dorian Gray, Great Expectations, The Great Gatsby,as well as for history topics like: The War of the Roses, The Real White Queen, English the Global Language, The Universal Culture and Civilisation, The Role of Women in Society, Addictions, etc.
The presentations were done in the form of group work, and represented a good way for checking comprehension, at the same time they created an opportunity for students to express opinions on given subjects, to develop cooperation and to work on a team.
PICTURES SELECTED FROM STUDENTS’ PRESENTATIONS
Pictures taken during the presentations
Debates
A debate on a chosen topic is a good reason for a for and against group discussion, for expressing opinions, suggestions, proposals. One example of the debates we had during the English classes, was on Great Gatsby. We chose six characters as follows: Jay Gatsby, Nick Carraway, Daisy Buchannan, Tom Buchannan, Myrtle Wilson, George Wilson. The class was divided into six groups, in agreement with the number of characters. They had to choose two members to represent the character (one for each part of the debate). Each group found viable arguments to justify the character’s choices.
Afterwards, they had to imagine that it was a ‘life and death’ situation, and each group had to bring suitable arguments in order to ensure the character’s survival. Out of the six characters, only two could be chosen as winners. Being a competition-type activity, there was a jury formed of the remaining students. The jury voted for the best-argumented speeches/characters. After only two of the remained in the competition, the two had to bring other convincing arguments so that only one became the winner.
This activity proved to be a very lively one, the students found themselves in the position of placing themselves in the role of the characters, thus understanding them better. Also, the use of vocabulary and grammar structures, represented a plus in terms of enhancing their speaking skill, of their linguistic competence. They became attached or compassionate towards the characters.
Pictures taken during the activity:
The language of love
This activity took place on Valentine’s Day, as students found it easier to express themselves on such a sensitive topic. Firstly, we had a general discussion on the idea of love. We drew a spidergram on the blackboard and ilicited words/phrases conected to the topic, such as: to be in the seventh heaven, to be walking on clouds, to have the heart in one’s sleeves, to be head over hill in love, to settle down, to sweep somebody off their feet, the world is your oyster, to break up, to make up, etc.
In the next stage, we analysed a love song; students had to do a fill-in exercise first, while listening to the lyrics they completed the missing vocabulary. Afterwards, they continued with an in-depth analysis: metaphorical language, symbols, overall impression, attitude toward love.
As a follow-up activity, the students had to deal with a multiple-choice exercise on the same topic, as follows:
I.Answer the following questions about the nature of love:
1. Which of the following statements comes closest to your idea of what love is?
(Tick one, or more.)
□ Love is a paradise.
□ Love is hell.
□ Love is a disease.
□ Love is a state of madness.
□ Love is a religion.
□ Love is an all-consuming fire.
□ Love is a kind of warfare.
□ Love is nonsense.
□ Love is ……………..
2. How important, how valuable is it for you? Which of the following sentences
comes closest to your opinion?
□ The most important thing, the only valuable thing in the world.
□ A good thing, but not the only good thing in the world.
□ A mixed blessing.
□ A disaster: it always ends in tragedy.
II.Write notes on the lyrics of the song you have chosen, answering the following
questions:
1. What is ‘love’ like, according to this song? Choose a spot on the continuum.
Is it . . .
supremely important /relatively unimportant/ marvellous/ full of joy terrible/ painful/ lasting/ ephemeral what else?……………………………………..
2. Words that describe love (does the song have any images or comparisons?): ………………………………….
3. Words that describe the loved one (images? comparisons?): ………………………………….
4. It you’re in love, according to the song:………………………………….
How do you behave?………………………………….
How do you feel?………………………………….
How does the person who is loved behave/feel?………………………………….
□ A pleasant illusion, cloaking the reality of sex.
□ An unpleasant illusion, distorting our idea of relations between the sexes.
3. If you love someone, what would you be most likely to compare him or her to?
□ a flower: ………………..
□ a bird: ………………..
□ an animal: ………………..
□ a celestial body: ………………..
□ a part of nature: ………………..
□ something else: ………………..
4. If a man loves a woman, this is how he behaves:
□ Writes poems to her.
□ Sends her flowers and gifts.
□ Weeps and sighs if she doesn’t respond.
□ Acts in a manly, masterful way.
□ Conceals his love.
□ ……………………………………..
5. If a woman loves a man, this is how she behaves:
□ Gives him gifts.
□ Pretends to love someone else.
□ Conceals her love.
□ Tells him about it.
□ Sighs and weeps if he doesn’t pay attention to her.
□ ……………………………………..
Worksheet 12, source Collie, Slater, 1987:148-149
Afterwards, the students chose from a bowl a series of four words connected to love, which they used to create their love poems. Some examples can be seen as follows:
LOVE POEMS COMPOSED BY STUDENTS
Lesson plan
School: “Radu Petrescu” Secondary School Prundu Bîrgăului
Grade: 11th
Book: Upstream Upper Intermediate
Subject: Mass – Media
Type of lesson: teaching speaking and reading skills
Aims:
To express personal opinions and bring arguments to support the ideas;
To identify the social means by which a person becomes famous;
To find positive and negative aspects of mass-media;
To complete tasks and present them;
To use specific vocabulary, by and acting out real situations;
Methods: discussion, brainstorming, word tree, questions, role-play, prepared talks
Aids: textbook, computer, newspapers, electronic resources, paper, coloured pencils
Students’ interaction: lock step, pair work, group work
Activity 1: Pathway to fame
Aim: To express personal opinions and bring arguments to support the ideas;
To identify the social means which help a person become famous;
Procedure:
Brainstorming: Students are asked to express opinions concerning the ways of becoming famous.
Have you heard about Madonna, Elvis Presley? Why are these people so well- known worldwide?
What should one do to become famous? How can you become famous?
Who, what can help you?
Could television, the internet or the newspaper help you become famous? In which way?
How can the above mentioned things be called?
Interaction: lock step
Assessment: observation
Timing: 5 minutes
Activity 2: Defining mass-media
Aim: To find positive and negative aspects of mass-media;
To express personal opinions and bring arguments to support the ideas;
Procedure:
Word tree: The phrase mass-media is written in the middle of the blackboard;
Brainstorming: Students need to revise the main components of mass-media (television, internet, press, etc).
What does the internet imply?
Why/ When do people use it?
How often do you use the internet? For what purposes?
What are the advantages and disadvantages of using the internet?
Similar questions will be asked with reference to television, newspapers, magazines.
Do you watch TV/read newspapers/magazines/blogs?
If the answers were positive, what kind of shows do you watch/ magazines/newspaper read? Why? How often?
Assessment: students present from a critical perspective five advantages and disadvantages of mass-media means;
Interaction: lock step
Timing: 10 minutes
Activity 3: Working in the media
Aim: To complete tasks and present them;
To use specific vocabulary, by and acting out real situations;
Procedure:
Students are separated into four groups:
The first group prepares a publicity spot promoting a new single recently released by one of their favourite singers/bands;
The second group prepares a talk show on an interesting theme to debate. They need to invite guests, to choose a host of the show.
The third group will design a leaflet promoting our school. They will also have to think about the context it would be suitable to be presented;
The fourth group will present an existing website which they sonsider to be successful, emphasizing the positive and the negative features of it; Students should also chose one in the group to play the role of a reporter who should ask someone famous questions on the topic.
Students will present their work, motivating their choices;
Assessment: students’activity will be marked, based on accomplishment of tasks and linguistic accuracy;
Interaction: lock step, group work, pair work
Timing: 35 minutes
Homework:
Students will write a for and against essay on fame.
Lesson plan
Teacher: Mircea Simona-Elena
School: Liceul“ Radu Petrescu”
Grade/Level: 10th
Estimated time: 50 minutes
Topic: Stories and Fairy Tales
Type of lesson: practising speaking and writing skills
GENERAL COMPETENCES:
-to help students talk about stories;
– to expand students’ vocabulary;
– to develop students’ writing skills;
-to check comprehension;
-to have students use their previous knowledge;
-to stimulate students’ imagination;
SPECIFIC COMPETENCES:
By the end of the lesson:
-students will be able to write a new story starting from a pattern;
-students will be able to express themselves in English using specific vocabulary;
-students should develop their writing skills and learn how to structure their story;
Methods: discussion, brainstorming, discussion questions, group-work,
Students’ interaction: pair work, group work
Skills involved: all, mainly speaking and reading
Evaluation/Assessment: Continuous, through observation and analysis of answers;
Activity 1: Homework check
Aim: to check the assignment and to make students feel comfortable with the new lesson
Interaction: Teacher-Students
Time: approximately 5 minutes
Activity2: Lead-in: presentation of the topic
Aim: to let students know the new topic and practice speaking
Procedure: The teacher asks students questions as follows: if they remember about Snow White or Cinderella. In this lesson, students talk about well-known childhood stories. They revise story telling vocabulary and then plan and write a fairy tale. The teacher hands out the list of fairy tales to students and asks students which ones they know, what the fairy tales are called in the students’ language and who are the main characters in each story. They are also asked to add more fairy tales to the list.
Fairy tales:
Rapunzel
Cinderella
Jack and the Beanstalk
The Three Little Pigs
Goldilocks and the Three Bears
The Emperor’s New Clothes
Hansel and Gretel
Little Red Riding Hood
Snow White
Beauty and the Beast
Time: approximately 5 minutes
Activity 3: Fairy tale quiz
Aim: To have students practice the previous knowledge.
Interaction: Teacher- students, student-student, the whole class.
Procedure: The teacher asks the students to do task 1. Students are also asked to do the quiz in groups. Then, if necessary, corrects as class reads the text. A more confident student is asked to read the texts loudly. The rest of the class are asked to pay attention to the unknown words and the new vocabulary.
Choose the correct answers with a partner.
1) Who says ‘I’ll huff and I’ll puff and I’ll blow your house down’?
A) a giant B) a wolf c) a witch
2)Snow White eats a poisioned:
A) apple B) orange C) banana
3) Hansel and Gretel find a house made of:
A) gold B) sweets C) straw
4) Cinderella wears shoes made of:
A) glass B) gold C silk
5) Rapunzel has very long:
A) nails B) eyelashes C) hair
6) How many bears did Goldilocks meet?
A) 1 B) 2 C) 3
Source British Council webpage
Time: 5 minutes
Activity 4: Fairy tale framework
Aim: To have students practise the writing skills.
Procedure: The teacher asks students questions concerning the beginning of fairy tales:
How do fairy tales usually start? (Once upon a time)
How do fairy tales usually finish? (And they all lived happily ever after.).
The students are handed out task 2 and are requested to work in pairs.
Complete the details of this well-known fairy tale.
The start: Once upon a 1________….
Location: In the woods
Character 1:
A girl called Little 2________ Riding Hood. She wears a 3________ coat. She
is kind and brave.
Character 2:
A wolf. He has big 4________. He is wicked.
Basic situation:
A girl goes to visit her 5________. She finds a 6________ in her 7________’s
bed.
Outcome:
A woodcutter kills the 8________.
The end:
They all lived 9________ ever after.
Source British Council webpage
Time: Approximately 5 minutes.
Activity 5: Follow-up activity -Location and characters
Aim: to have students work on vocabulary
Interaction: Teacher- Students
Procedure: Students are required to name other typical fairy tale locations. The teacher gives them help if necessary, by asking questions like:
Are fairy tales usually located in a castle or in an office building?
Can you think of any typical evil characters like the queen in Snow White, and good, kind, nice characters likeSnow White?
Task 3 is handed out to the students. Students categorise the vocabulary in task 3 in pairs.They are requested to add more words and expressions if they can. The discussion is on which characters are typically good or bad as a class. Also, any vocabulary is explained if necessary.
Task3
Time: Approximately 5 minutes.
Activity 7: Write a fairy tale;
Aim: To have the students work individually on the topic
Interaction: Teacher- whole class;
Procedure: Students are handed out task 4 and are also told the course of activity: that they are going to write a fairy tale, a traditional one, or they can invent an original story. First, they need to take notes in task 4, using the framework in task 2 as well as the vocabulary in task 3 to help them. Students then write a story in pairs. Additionally, the spoted errors are collected from the stories, and students correct them.
Task 4: Write a fairy tale.
You are going to write a fairy tale. You can invent a story or write one of the stories from task 1. First, take some notes. Use the information in Tasks 2 and 3 to help you.
The start:
The location:
Two or more characters plus their appearance and personality:
The basic situation:
The outcome:
The end:
Handout for students, Source British Council webpage
Activity 7: Homework assignment: Turn the fairy tale written in the class into a comicbook story;
Aim: To have the students practice writing;
Interaction: Teacher- Whole class;
Time: 5 minutes.
Lesson plan
School: “Radu Petrescu” Secondary School Prundu Bîrgăului
Grade: 12th
Unit: Jane Austen
Subject: Pride and Prejudice
Type of lesson: teaching reading, speaking and writing skills
Aims:
To identify Jane Austen’s importance in literature;
To identify the most important themes in the author’s novels;
To deal with reading tasks;
To identify/explain new vocabulary in a given context;
To do reading comprehension activities;
To discuss aboutJane Austen’s characters;
To complete a quiz connected to Jane Austen’s work
Methods: working with the text, comprehension questions, discussion questions, brainstorming, word tree,
Aids: Pride and Prejudice – the original text, worksheet
Students’ interaction: lock step, pair work, group work
Activity 1: Jane Austen’s role in English literature
Aim: To identify Jane Austen’s importance in literary history
Procedure:
Brainstorming: Teacher starts a talk about Jane Austen
Who was Jane Austen?
What do you know about her life? Can you name some works?
What are the main characters in Sense and Sensibility or Pride and Prejudice?
What is your favourite character? Why?
Assessment: students should be able to speak about the author’s life and impoetant works;
Interaction: lock step
Timing: 5 minutes
Activity 2: discussing the main themes in her novels
Aim:
To name the most important themes in the author’s novels and comment upon them
Procedure:
Discussion questions: Teacher asks students to mention the important themes in Jane Austen’s books, with the stress on the social aspect;
What was the women’s condition in the XIXth century England?
What rights did they have? What preocupations did they have?
What represented marriage?
Who had an important say in choosing husbands/wives?
Debate: Students are given worksheets and they are asked to comment on the following topic – women’s role in marriage. Students do their task, with the stress on bringing arguments. The discussion is on Pride and Prejudice, students also deal with the given activities.
What is the place of marriages in the novel?
What are the main reasons for marriages? (Lydia, Elizabeth, Jane, Mr. Collins)
Why did Darcy consider Jane as unsuitable for Bingley? What made him change his mind?
What does Darcy start to feel about Elizabeth?
Does Elizabeth feel the same?
Assessment: students should prove the ability to sustain their opinions
Interaction: lock step
Timing: 5 minutes
Activity 3: reading comprehension
Aim: To read the given text;
To explain words and phrases using the context;
To do the comprehension activities;
Procedure:
Working with the text: Students are asked to read the beginning part of Pride and Prejudice
IT is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife. However little known the feelings or views of such a man may be on his first entering a neighbourhood, this truth is so well fixed in the minds of the surrounding families, that he is considered as the rightful property of some one or other of their daughters.„My dear Mr. Bennet,'' said his lady to him one day, „have you heard that Netherfield Park is let at last?'' Mr. Bennet replied that he had not.„But it is,'' returned she; „for Mrs. Long has just been here, and she told me all about it.''Mr. Bennet made no answer.„Do not you want to know who has taken it?'' cried his wife impatiently.„You want to tell me, and I have no objection to hearing it.''This was invitation enough.„Why, my dear, you must know, Mrs. Long says that Netherfield is taken by a young man of large fortune from the north of England; that he came down on Monday in a chaise and four to see the place, and was so much delighted with it that he agreed with Mr. Morris immediately; that he is to take possession before Michaelmas, and some of his servants are to be in the house by the end of next week.'' „What is his name?''„Bingley.''„Is he married or single?''„Oh! single, my dear, to be sure! A single man of large fortune; four or five thousand a year. What a fine thing for our girls!''„How so? how can it affect them?''„My dear Mr. Bennet,'' replied his wife, „how can you be so tiresome! You must know that I am thinking of his marrying one of them.''„Is that his design in settling here?''„Design! nonsense, how can you talk so! But it is very likely that he may fall in love with one of them, and therefore you must visit him as soon as he comes.''„I see no occasion for that. You and the girls may go, or you may send them by themselves, which perhaps will be still better; for, as you are as handsome as any of them, Mr. Bingley might like you the best of the party.''„My dear, you flatter me. I certainly have had my share of beauty, but I do not pretend to be any thing extraordinary now. When a woman has five grown up daughters, she ought to give over thinking of her own beauty.''„In such cases, a woman has not often much beauty to think of.'' „But, my dear, you must indeed go and see Mr. Bingley when he comes into the neighbourhood.'' „It is more than I engage for, I assure you.''„But consider your daughters. Only think what an establishment it would be for one of them. Sir William and Lady Lucas are determined to go, merely on that account, for in general, you know they visit no new comers. Indeed you must go, for it will be impossible for us to visit him, if you do not.''„You are over-scrupulous, surely. I dare say Mr. Bingley will be very glad to see you; and I will send a few lines by you to assure him of my hearty consent to his marrying which ever he chuses of the girls; though I must throw in a good word for my little Lizzy.'' „I desire you will do no such thing. Lizzy is not a bit better than the others; and I am sure she is not half so handsome as Jane, nor half so good humoured as Lydia. But you are always giving her the preference.'' „They have none of them much to recommend them,'' replied he; „they are all silly and ignorant like other girls; but Lizzy has something more of quickness than her sisters.''„Mr. Bennet, how can you abuse your own children in such way? You take delight in vexing me. You have no compassion on my poor nerves.''„You mistake me, my dear. I have a high respect for your nerves. They are my old friends. I have heard you mention them with consideration these twenty years at least.''„Ah! you do not know what I suffer.'' „But I hope you will get over it, and live to see many young men of four thousand a year come into the neighbourhood.'' „It will be no use to us if twenty such should come, since you will not visit them.'' „Depend upon it, my dear, that when there are twenty I will visit them all.'' Mr. Bennet was so odd a mixture of quick parts, sarcastic humour, reserve, and caprice, that the experience of three and twenty years had been insufficient to make his wife understand his character. Her mind was less difficult to develope. She was a woman of mean understanding, little information, and uncertain temper. When she was discontented, she fancied herself nervous. The business of her life was to get her daughters married; its solace was visiting and news.
Worksheet on Pride and Prejudice
What, according to the opening sentence, are wealthy young men in searchof?
What does Mrs. Bennet know about Mr. Bingley?
How does Mr. Bennet react to his wife’s suggestion to visit Mr. Bingley?
Which of the daughters seems to be Mr. Bennet’s favourite? Why?
How does Mr. Bennet describe his daughters?
What kind of marriage do the Bennets have? Bring arguments.
What kind of man/ father is Mr. Bennet? What about Mrs. Bennet?
Why does Mr. Bennet ask his wife so many questions?
Do you consider that Mr. Bennet enjoys annoyng his wife? Why?
Assessment: answering comprehension questions, explaining words and phrases
Interaction: pair work, lock step
Timing: 15 minutes
Activity 4: role –play
Aim: To understand Jane Austen’s characters;
To do a quiz;
Procedure: Students are asked to complete their tasks connected to the studied work:
1 M ark the sentences as right (√), wrong (x) or it
doesn’t say (?).
a Mr Bingley has moved into the area in search of a wife.
b Mrs Bennet does not address her husband by his first name.
c Mr Bennet visits Bingley before most other people do.
d Mr Bennet describes Bingley in detail before Bingley meets his daughters.
e Miss Bingley’s least favourite Bennet was Kitty.
f Jane prefers to go to Netherfield on horseback.
2 Choose the correct answer.
1 Mr Collins turned out to be …
a interested in fishing.b very talkative.
c most gentlemanly.
2 Elizabeth felt …
a flattered by Wickham’s attentions.
b bored by the story of his past.c honoured by her feelings.
3 Elizabeth …
a accepted Mr Collins’s invitation to dance
reluctantly.
b managed to avoid dancing with Mr Collins.
c refused to dance and preferred to sing.
4 Mr Collins’s proposal of marriage is presented …
a in a rather romantic fashion.
b in a rather calculating fashion.
c in a rather hesitant fashion.
3 Complete the sentences with the name of one of the characters.
a ……………… invites Elizabeth to visit.
b ……………… sat next to her aunt at the theatre.
c ……………… shouted to Elizabeth to come.
d ……………… was as full of ompliments as was Mr Collins.
e ……………… is Mr Darcy’s cousin.
f ……………… tells Elizabeth a story which makes her angry.
4 F ill in the gaps with the correct words from the box.
jealous admitted leave shown
unwise loved girls keen
a The regiment was due to …………… for Brighton soon after.
b Kitty was …………… of her sister’s planned trip.
c Elizabeth felt Lydia’s trip as…………… .
d Mr Bennet no longer …………… his wife really.
e The Gardiners had two …………… of six and eight years old.
f Elizabeth is …………… around Darcy’s house.
g Darcy was…………… to know the Gardiners.
h Elizabeth …………… she had been mistaken about Wickham.
5 C ircle the right words or expressions. Use your dictionary.
a The housekeeper knew / did not know / did not care about the story about Lydia and Wickham.
b Mr Bennet agrees at once to / refuses angrily / hesitatesabout Mr Gardiner’s suggestion in his letter.
c Mrs Bennet is ashamed / fearful / ecstatic about Lydia’s future.
d Mr Bennet is furious / compassionate / confused about his daughter’s new situation.
e After the marriage Mr Bennet relented / remainedstubborn about the question of a visit from Lydia.
f Elizabeth was amused / surprised / horrified to hear that Darcy had been present at Lydia’s wedding.
g Mrs Gardiner denies / suspects / fears that Darcy is in love with Elizabeth.
6 Choose the correct answer.
1 Lady Catherine …
a does not like to face West.
b is determined to make Elizabeth feel inferior.
c feels very close to Elizabeth’s mother.
2 Elizabeth replies to Lady Catherine …
a with careful politeness.
b sar castically.
c relaxedly.
3 Elizabeth …
a thanks Darcy warmly on Lydia’s behalf.
b wishes to wound Darcy’s feelings.
c proposes marriage to Darcy.
Worksheet, source Penguin Readers
Assessment: it will be assessed the students’ skills in performing different tasks
Oral assessment and written Students will complete a test: multiple choice questions, fill in exercises.
Timing: 20 minutes
Homework: write an essay with the following topic: How has the role of the women changed over the years?
Timing: 5minutes
CHAPTER V
APPLICATIVE RESEARCH ON THE DEVELOPMENT ON THE EUROPEAN KEY COMPETENCES THROUGH LESSONS OF CULTURE AND CIVILISATION
5.1. General references
In every student’s life education plays an essential role, be it formal, non-formal, or informal education. Each individual is set under the influence of education which is accomplished through a series of means and methods which contribute to the formation and development on an intellectual, affective, social or professional level. We, as educators, offer our students knowledge they will later use, which will prepare them for a proper active social life. Concerning language teaching, leaners have to accomplish a series of tasks, which arise in communication, which require them a series of competences that they developed during the educational process.
The educational process is accomplished, according to a series of official documents, in agreement with the issued objectives. Their final purpose is to gradually present information, which will represent a strong educational support. The Common European Framework defined levels of proficiency, which allow learners’ progress to be measured at each stage of learning and on a life-long basis. In the same document is mentioned the fact that in the process of learning, the ‘language learner’ will become a ‘language user’ and that by learning a second language and culture, one does not become less proficient in the first language. “The language learner becomes plurilingual and develops interculturality. The linguistic and cultural competences in respect of each language are modified by knowledge of the other and contribute to intercultural awareness, skills and know-how. They enable the individual to develop an enriched, more complex personality and an enhanced capacity for further language learning and greater openness to new cultural experiences. Learners are also enabled to mediate, through interpretation and translation, between speakers of the two languages concerned who cannot communicate directly.”(The Common European Framework, 2001: 52)
Foreign language learning incorporates a series of components ranging from grammatical competence, communicative competence, language proficiency, to changes of attitude towards one’s own or another culture. We have presented in the previous chapters a short history of teaching metods and linguistic approaches, ranging from the behaviourist approach, with language learning as a result of imitation, accompanied by grammar rules and drills, to the society oriented ones, which present language learning within a context, being student-oriented. What we have tried to do, was to eliminate the misconception that a language is made merely by grammatical rules, which if mastered, could lead to language acquisition. In a certain manner, by presenting various approaches to language teaching, we have managed to contradict this idea, in the sense that foreign language learning is also foreign culture learning, and it has been taught in the foreign language classroom even if this was for various reasons.
The main premise of this paper is that teaching a foreign language cannot be done without some understanding of its culture. In the same way, we cannot speak about communicative competence without taking into consideration different views and perspectives of people in different cultures, which might facilitate or on the contrary, suppress communication. “Communication requires understanding, and understanding requires stepping into the shoes of the foreigner and sifting her cultural baggage, while always putting [the target] culture in relation with one’s own” (Kramsch, 1993: 205)
CEFR established that all human competences contribute in one way or another to the language user’s ability to communicate and may be regarded as aspects of communicative competence. (The Common European Framework, 2001:110)Among these competences, we put a stress on the knowledge of the society, and culture of the community, intercultural awareness, practical skills, ability to learn, language and communication awareness, linguistic and communicative competence, due to the fact that these competences, or abilities can be attained during the foreign language classes.
The study of the English language in our schools is carried out in agreement with the CEFR, regulated by The Law of Education, and it has as primary objective to convey the knowledge, which can lead to creating abilities, or in other words, competences, which are necessary for life. The pedagogical research in this field is not new, as language learning/acquisition, or the use of the right means and methods of teaching have represented a widely debated and studied domain, which continues to improve and develop. The development that it had, within the Romanian Educational System, as well as the dynamics of the society, determine a greater emphasis on the research, not only in terms of reformative or innovative, also on the optimization and the outlook on the educational process.
5.2. The Objectives of the Research
When we refer to the importance of teaching English in schools, we can strongly support the idea that it has a special feature: to shape characters and to open new doors: that is why along the years of study, the learners get competences, which will support them along their lifetime, without any space and time restraints. The objectives, can be easily deduced, as they are part of the European Key Competences:
ability to communicate both written and orally, to make people understand various messages depending on the conversational context, which implies knowledge of social conventions and the type of language that the situation requires;
understanding of studied materials, and phenomena together with awareness of IST support in terms of information, innovation and creativity;
ability to communicate, as part of the learning process;
ability to understand the national culture and civilization in the process of interaction with other European cultures, or different cultures of the world;
ability to appreciate and enjoy the art of various cultures or cultural environments;
ability to express one's own creativity as well as personal viewpoints;
ability to work in a flexible and cooperative way on a team;
5.3. The hypothesis of the research
Basic hypothesis
The carrying out of educational activities, which are meant for formation, with reference to the role of culture and civilisation, which has a significant role in the development of necessary competences required in today’s world.
Secondary hypothesis
Teaching our students with regard to the dynamic of the cultural aspect, they will develop their critical thinking, thus their communicative competence; in other words, cultural awareness facilitates communicative competence (verbal or non-verbal).
5.4. The Pedagogical Experiment
The pedagogical research was carried out at “Radu Petrescu” Secondary School from Prundu Bîrgăului, Bistrița-Năsăud county, in the interval 2016-2018. The experiment was undertaken as a result of an optional course, Culture and Civilisation of Great Britain, which was designed for the 11th and for the 12th form intensive-English. It was meant to improve students’ linguistic skills, to enrich their cultural knowledge, to develop creativity, to facilitate work as part of a team, to enhance the ability of synthesis and analysis.
5.4.1 Pre-experimental stage, or pre-test
In this stage we chose the items and the level of difficulty at the beginning of the experiment. What we were interested in for a successful outcome, were the general profile of the groups, their inner composition, as well as their quantitative structure. In this respect, we paid special attention to guarantee a balance between the experimental group and the control group, of levels fairly equal, so that they could be initially considered to be comparable under all aspects, as this is one of the essential conditions for a successful research.
In the accomplished reserch, the choice of the experimental class and of the control one, the activity of the students was sistematically watched, in order to get the information connected to the students’ educatinal needs, their aptitudes, motivation for study, learning style or the speed in the accomplishment of tasks. Also, the marks at English were analysed, which was followed by pre-tests which were applied.
Testing and written assessment
Tests are one of the most frequently used tools in assessment and in pedagogical research, due to the fact that they allow getting valuable informationon the level of competence achieved, the knowledge, as well as personality, behaviour, and the list can continue. The test is an instrument used in research composed of a series of items which deal with knowing the students’ acquired knowledge, on an informative and on a formative plan at the same time, meaning the identification of presence or absence of certain information, abilities, competences. The items can classify according to various criteria, one of the most frquent is the criterion of objectivity offered in assessment. According to this criterion there are three broad cathegories of items:
Objective items, which include multiple choice, pairs or matching items, with three distinct directions:
-objectivity of the item content;
-objectivity of students’ perception of the task;
-objectivity of assessment/marking skeme;
2. Semi-objective items, which are characterized by the power to test a wider range of competences, which put the student in a more complex situation than the objective items. Here we can mention the fill-in items, or structured questions.
3. Subjective items, which require the student to use creativity, originality and the ability to convey a personal account on the answer; we can mention essay-writing items.
When we test, there are important key factors that need to be considered. Tests need to be valid, consistent, rigurous, they need to be well-thought of, free of irrelevant material, clear and unambiguous, to assess one piece of knowledge at one time per item.
In our research we applied at the beginning two pre-tests at four classes. The levels ranged from intermediate – upper-intermediate. The pre-test results revealed the fact that the intermediate level classes were clearly different in trems of scores. On the other hand, the upper-intermediate classes proved a slight difference in marking, which made the choice of two classes for the experiment. The 11th form , with a lower score, became the experimental group, and the 12th form became the control group. This stage was followed by the selection of contents. It comprises lessons from the optional course on culture and civilization.
5.4.2 The Experimental stage
The nature of our experiment requires the introduction at the experimental group of the independence variable, or of the expected change in behaviour, of new means and also an analytical monitoring of the situation so that projecting, accomplishment, monitoring and adaptation of the teaching activity is done under this perspective.
At the same time, at the control class the teaching process will go on as usual, using the same methods, without being influenced by the changes in the experimental class. As an independent variable at the experimental class, certain formative activities were included in connection to the contents, also a number of extracurricular activities were organized.
Using the independent variable was observed the variation of the dependent variable, meaning the changes made in terms of acquisition, but more importantly the changes in the experimental class. Also, the variations in the dependent variable in the control class were noticed, with the purpose of identifying the effect of the experimental factor, meaning od the independent variable. At the beginning of the experiment a questionnaire was applied. It can be found at appendix 1. The questionnaire was also applied at the end of the experiment. It contains opinion questions, which had the purpose to identify subjective aspects, on attitudes, intersts, expectations, as well as concerning the educational needs, mainly aspects which cannot be observed by any means.
Analysis of the Students’ Answers
At the first affirmation “I am willing to learn English”, the answers were positive. Most of the students chose options 4 or 5. Concerning the second affirmation “I want to use English more and improve my English”, the answers also reveal an increased interest for this subject, most of them being aware of its value and importance in their lives. On the other hand, the answers to the third question “I work actively in the class with good preparation”, the answers were distributed among the numbers 2, 3, 4. It revealed little preparation and active work.
With reference to the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh question “I’m confident speaking in English”, “I can speak English fluently”, “I enjoy speaking in English”, “I try to speak in English”, the predominant answers revealed the fact that the students showed desire to improve their speaking skills, as they lacked confidence when they were in the position of expressing themselves freely.
Their enjoyment of reading proved to be fairly low, questions 10 and 11 „I’m confident reading in English”, „I enjoy reading in English” . Due to the lack of confidence, the students rarely tried to speak and to read in English, as it results from the answers to questions 8 „I can communicate in English (convey my intentions, ideas and emotions)”, 9 „I can tell a story in English”, 10 „I’m confident reading in English”.
Concerning the narrative and the cognitive competences, according to the choice of answers, the results proved to be a bit higher in comparison to their perception concerning the abilities in English, but yet, quite moderate. Here we refer to questions 12 „I can talk about the lesson topics (exchange information and ideas, and discuss)”, 13 „I can identify points related to the lessons”, 14 „I can analyse, interpret and think deeply about the lesson topics”, 15 „I am interested in society and humans”.
5.5 Pre-test stage
The purpose of our research is, as observed from the title of the chapter and of the paper, to demonstrate the development on the European key competences through lessons of culture and civilisation. In order to do that, the necessary content was selected so that it should make the students realise the importance of the cultural aspect which is strongly connected to the linguistic acquisition; to draw their attention to key figures from Great Britain history, to the importance of literature through a series of pieces of writing which were selected in agreement to the students’ age and areas of interest.
In order to establish the influence of the chosen contents and according to the questionnaire results, the first test which was applied based on the students’ previous knowledge of grammar and vocabulary. The results revealed certain deficiencies in a number of students in accomplishing their task properly. The analysis of the students’ answers resulted in the assuarance that the optonal course was worth applying especially on those students who proved positive attitudes towards the subject. The extra purpose was also to change attitudes and behaviours in learning English.
The test which can be found in the Appendix section, represents an assessment tool which had the purpse to measure the extent of the learners’ knowledge of vocabulary as well as grammar structures.
The results of the test range as follows:
5.6 The post-test stage
At the end of the pedagogic experiment, the students were subjected to a final test in order to:
Assess the evolution after the experiment;
Compare the results from the beginning of the experiment with the final ones;
To establish the support of the independent variable in the progress of the students;
At the same time, the questionnaire was applied again to the students, in order to identify the changes that appeared.
The results to the post-test can be seen as follows:
The metaphor understanding is seeing best applies here, as we can conclude that the teaching of culture should be incorporated in the language classroom. To read well, to speak well, to act in agreement with the requirements of a given situation we have to see clearly what we read, what is spoken, as well as the appropriate use of language.
It is a requirement more difficult to accomplish, because it involves a more complex work, from assessing the degree of difficulty, to the in-depth analysis of the content, which sometimes proves to be more difficult than we had imagined. When we find out about famous historical figures, when we read, we are ‘drawn’ from our environment, trying to imagine the characters, their actions and the consequences through their words.
The best way to assess learners’ evolution is to notice their attitudes towards the school subject. Yet, in order to get good results, it is necessary to make people more aware of its importance. Changes do not necessarily need to be made in terms of EFL teaching approaches. Practice proved the fact that both modern and traditional methods work in the classroom. Still, by using predominantly student-centred approaches along with ICT means, students are more motivated to learn, what is more, learning comes concerning all the skills.
A question regarding our discussion, is how can we incorporate culture into the foreign language curriculum, in order to engage awareness? The geographical environment and historical or political development of the foreign culture, its institutions and customs, the literary achievements, or the details of the everyday life of its members should no longer represent a boundary in developing proper communication. We must admit that, we cannot teach culture more than we can teach anyone how to breathe. Yet, what we can do is, try to show the way, to teach about culture, to facilitate understanding, rather than to present a certain perspective of seeing things.
5.7 Answer analysis of the questionnaire applied an the end of the course
Refering to the students’ answers to the first question, concerning their interest in learning English, after the analysis we came to the conclusion that their opinion has not changed, students in both classes remained positive. Also, the second question ranked high, which revealed the fact that students maintained their interest awake concerning the use and improvement of English skills.
Changes have been noticed with reference to the third question, which ranked lower at the beginning of the course, the predominant answers were 3, 4 and 5, which can mean a greater awareness of the importance of preparation and active participation in the English class.
Concerning their speaking skill, meaning questions 4, 5, 6, 7, the predominant answers proved positive attitude towards speaking and also more confidence in starting a conversation and ability in conveying the message to the interlocutor. Answers to the questions 8 and 9 also support the answers to the previous questions, putting a stress on the confidence towards communication of feelings, ideas and emotions, to the personal competence of telling a story, of being able to transmit emotions at the same time.
Speaking about reading desire and enjoyment, the results were also quite different compared to the initial ones. Students seem to be more confident when reading in English, which can be explained in relation to the reading worksheets they dealt with and also with the vocabulary they have acquired during the course.
Again, in terms of narrative and cognitive competences (questions 13-18), the choice of answers revealed an increase. Students seem to have managed to change their perception concerning their abilities. This can be a result of many group activities which gave them confidence as the groups were heterogenous, and also of the activities which fuelled their imagination and enganced their creativity.
The last set of questions, which required their opinion on the quality of the materials used during the course and their suitability and appropriacy, (questions 19-22), evaluating the topics, materials and degree of difficulty, ranked predominantly fairly good. This was also revealing confidence and reliability not only in themselves, but also in their teacher; what is more the last question, which dealt with the helpfulness of the course for life and also for later in life, students ranked high, which shows knowledge of the benefits that knowing English can bring about.
5.8 Conclusions to the Experiment
As a result of the questionnaire, we could take in the fact that concerning the interest and the positive attitude towards the English classes, the positive answers prevailed, which can be the result of becoming more and more aware that in our world the knowledge of English has a great impact upon our lives and a positive influence, bringing about many opportunities.
The questionnaire results revealed some challenging results, refering to the acievement of the optional course goals. Students seemed to experience difficulty in expressing their thoughts orally. The questionnaire results may suggest the fact that a positive attitude towards speaking and reading would help. The lack of confidence may result from little practice, from poor reading habits, from their lack of motivation concerning independent reading practice; also, when they encounter more unknown vocabulary they feel overwhelmed. That is why, it is preferable for them to be under teacher’s guidance to have the knowledge and skills transmitted.
In connection to their self perception and assessment, the students’ perception tends to be quite rigid, as a result of their ‚great expectations’ towards themselves and of the image of self. The activities planned in the course gave students the chance to experience more diverse views and attitudes towards learning.
The results of the course in the vast and marvellous field of culture and civilisation revealed that it can open new perspectives for students, bringing them closer to opening the ‚doors of perception’ as Blake used to say.
Teaching language through culture and civilisation lessons as a means of developing the key competences represented a new experience both for students and for the teacher as well. The focus was to present students with new ideas using different appoaches by exposing them to various literary and nonliterary texts as an endless resource for language teaching in context. They got an insight on the usefullness of cultural awareness in day by day use, also, they got the opportunity of becoming engaged in creative activities, which gave them confidence in their skills and allowed them to gain feed-back which might help them prepare for life.
The course proved to have a positive effect on students, according to the feed-back gained from the questionnaire results and also from the pre-test and post-test presentation of marks. The case study was also an opportunity of reflection upon the classroom teaching strategies, practices and assessment in terms of effectiveness for the students. The usefulness of the course can be emphasized by the fact that it gave students both competence and confidence to engage creatively in the use of language.
Teaching English within the compulsory system of education does not necessarily have to resume to only being able to communicate in that language, especially orally, it means so much more than that. It also means cultural dimension in order to convey a real educational value. The materials selected permitted us to enter many cultural contexts and experiences. By analyses of the texts which managed to illustrate the complex cultural layers.
CONCLUSIONS
The interest in learning foreign lanuages is not a new issue to be studied, since it started long time ago. Yet, learning a foreign language these days, no longer means what it meant in the 20th century, “a close study of the canonical literature in that language (…)especially the learning of English internationally, literature came to be seen as extraneous to language teaching and to everyday communicative needs and as something of an elitist pursuit and was replaced by more functional concerns.” (Teranishi, Saito, Wales, 2015:315)
Once with the development of the communicative approaches to teaching, the role of literature in teaching foreign languages has changed, as authentic texts proved to bring more benefits, not only in connection to the linguistic constructs, but also to utility matters, as they seem to be bridge-building. Including the study of various texts, as products of culture, represents an endless resource for language teachers. The outcome can only be positive.
There are many questions to be asked on this matter, as a result of the changes concerning educational policies, or how fast the information travels in the world, we should reconsider what we wantand how we want to teach in the classroom. Should we stick to the national characteristics, or should we rather consider values that go beyond social and political aspects? In any way we should judge it, the educational aspect must prevail. Taking into account the technological changes, we must consider the technologies which came as support for learning.
Refering to the quote attributed to FrenchCuban writer Anaïs Nin: “We don’t see things as they are; we see them as we are”, we can say that it best sums-up the idea of the entire paper. People tend to build fences and to separate themselves from what is different, or better said, what is different from us, what requires effort to be understood. Exactly this type of attitude is what we should teach our children, our students to avoid.
The purpose of the paper was to prove the importance of teaching culture and civilisation classes within the English language classes. The motivation of the choice is simple: in order to get to the core of something, we need to break through, to remove the existing layers, to watch things from a different perspective, to avoid simplistic judgements and stereotypes. We cannot become competent people in the fast-changing, fast-moving world of today. One gate that opens and gets us prepared for the requirements of today’s world since young age, is the English language. We cannot teach a language without its culture, they are a unit that should go together.
The European Key Competences can be developed within the language classes, as the variety of topics chosen during the course proved to be successful. Through the increasing understanding of both the social and the cultural dimension when it comes to language acquisition, many cognitive and behaviorist theories were challenged, as the core source of interest was the second language acquisition. More importantly, in connection to an increased awareness of the social nature of learning, the need to understand how important the context in which learning takes place still remains.
The course on culture and civilisation and its role in the developement of the key competence proved to be successful on an overall analysis. However, we could not fail to notice the fact that a series of problems, and in certain cases failures, were revealed. For example, some students still proved resistance when it came to speaking in front of the class in order to express personal opinions, or to critically analyse the fictional or non-fictional works. On the other hand, there were other problems with students who wanted more time allocated for the activities/tasks, to get more involved. By the end of the course, these problems were turned into positive experiences, as we managed to see them in a positive light, as a learning experience.
From the tests, assessments and accomplishment of tasks and final products, we can say that students finished the course with a clear understanding of the importance of culture in learning English, a clear appreciation of the relation between literary/non-literary texts in developing critical thinking, in raising awareness on social aspects of importance. They also understood that it is important to ‚possess’ a basis of personal thoughts and ideas, just as certain readings appeared to display hidden thoughs and symbols, as it represents a good start for developing conversational skills. The cultural component represented an important criterion in the choice of texts, and on the choice of classwork. The emphasis in the choices was on developing the linguistic competence.
Students became involved in making themselves and their classmates as well, in learning about learning, thus developing both linguistically and culturally. “The ‘obvious’ value of teaching a ‘useful’ subject like a foreign language in an internationalised and globalised world tends to push aside the value of (liberal) education.” (Byram, 2008: 227)
The chapters in this paper are founded on the idea that the cultural aspect greatly contributes to attribute education in the English language a greater value, as it has applicability. It seems to make it easier for students to understand the value of skill knowledge in day-by-day interaction, and on
learners to understand that knowledge of and skills in interaction with the daily values, beliefs and behaviours of other people is useful in communication as well as valuable in stimulating reflection. Knowledge of literature and skills of literary criticism can also do this, but it is not immediately obvious that this is the case.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
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APPENDICES
Appendix 1
Optional course on Culture and Civilisation of Great Britan
Argument of the course
This practical course is designed to guide students through the history of Great Britain. Its duration is of two semesters, the main focus is on social, political and cultural issues. It adresses to students interested in the cultural aspects.
The course is called History of Great Britain, since it is meant to illustrate the functional character of the most different aspects of culture.With a stress on the historical truth, the course offers a generous opening towards the idea of cultural and the distinct spiritual values.
This course is meant to meet the students’ curiosity concerning the idea of history ana civilisation of Great Britain along with the ideas of tradition and modernity. It proposes a comparative approach at the same time enhancing the knowledge.
The purpose of this course is also, to get students used to pieces of literary writings and to get them used to start a conversation based on different issues encountered while dealing with the texts.
Furthermore, the purpose is to increase student’s reading and writing skills through the chosen stories in the given cultural context, which are very interesting and enjoyable. There are rich characters clear plots and conflicts and surprising resolutions which make these stories entertaining even to those with limited English language skills.
Last but not least, this course is meant to practice troublesome grammatical structures and to learn to write accurately during the proposed activities.
Historical Contents
1.Theoretical aspects and introductory terms S1-S2
2. Great Britain-the beginning. Pre-Roman and Roman Britain. The invaders. S3-S4
3. The Norman Conquest S5-S6
4. The age of Chivalry S7-S8
5. The Wars of the Roses S9-S10
6. The Tudors S11-S13
7. The Stuarts S14-S16
8. Republican Britain. Restoration S17-S18
9. Life in the 18th century Britain S19-S120
10. The Industrial Revolution S21-S22
11. Nineteenth Century Britain S23-S24
12. 20th Century Britain. World War I S25-S26
13. 20th Century Britain. World War II S27-S28
14. Industrial Decline. S29-S31
15. Round up and conclusions S32-S36
Means of assessment
The assessment is continuous and is accomplished through power-point presentations, projects, as well as written assessment through essays on a given topic, speaking through debates, or oral presentations.
Values and attitudes
Proving flexible thinking and behaviours in the exchange of ideas, and within the group/team-work, within various communicating situations;
Raising awareness on the role of English language, as facilitator on the workforce, and on the universal culture;
Willingness to accept differences and for a tolerant attitude by critically approaching the stereotypes and differences;
Developement of interest in the discovery of specific socio-cultural and professional aspects, through the exposure to a wide variety of texts in English;
Appendix 2
Perceptions of the English language lessons and personal abilities in English
Indicate your agreement or disagreement on each of the statements using the numbers from the scale:
1 disagree 2 fairly disagree 3 no opinion 4 fairly agree 5 agree
Appendix 3
PRE-TEST
Put the sentences in the right order:
The following morning I still did not feel any better, so I went down to the surgery.
When I woke up on Tuesday, I felt sick and dizzy.
It cleared up the sore throat very quickly.
I was shivering one minute and sweating the next.
I started feeling ill on Monday evening. I had a bit of a temperature, so I took an aspirin and had an early night.
When I saw the doctor, I explained my symptoms.
I took the prescription to the chemist, where I got an antibiotic.
He examined me, and said I had the flu and a sore throat.
I took things easy, and by the weekend, I had completely recovered.
He gave me the prescription for the sore throat, and said that I should go to bed for a few days.
I had some toast, but I was sick immediately, so I went back to bed. I had a fever.
2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11.
II. What do these people do?
a nurse
A nurse looks after patients in hospital.
a surgeon _______________________________________________________.
a dentist ______________________________________________________.
a midwife ______________________________________________________.
a consultant ____________________________________________________.
a general practitioner ____________________________________________.
III.The following passage on Britain monarchy contains twenty gaps. Fill them in paying attention to the verbs in brackets:
Britain, as you may know, is a monarchy. England 1 (have)______________a king or queen 2 _______________ over a thousand years. One of the 3________________ famous was Henry VIII, who 4 (become)__________________ king in 1506 and resigned 5 _____________________1547. He broke away from the Roman Catholic Church so that he 6 ________________________ divorce and marry again.
Elisabeth II 7 ______________________ on the throne 8 _____________________ 1952, and is generally very popular. I think she has 9 ____________________ an unenviable job. She 10 _____________________ to meet a lot of people who she probably does not want to talk to, and keep smiling. Some people think she will give up her throne because she 11(rule) ______________________ for such a long time. If she 12 (do) ___________________, Prince Charles 13 _________________become king. I 14 (read) ______________________ a lot about the royal family recently, as there has been so much in the press about them. You 15 __________________ open a newspaper without seeing a picture of one of them. People are fascinated to know what they are 16 __________________ as people, what they do, and everything about their private lives. I often wonder what Prince Charles 17 ___________________ do if he 18 (not be) ____________________ the Queen’s son. I suppose he 19 (make) ___________________a lot of money in business or something like that. Anyway, I’m sure he 20 ______________________ be a very good king.
IV. Fill each blank with the correct form of the word given:
The girl was wearing a ________________ dress. FASHION
It was ___________________ of him to ignore our invitation. POLITE
The ________________ of task took him several months. ACCOMPLISH
I would like to help, but ___________________ I cannot. FORTUNE
He showed complete __________________ to our criticism. INDIFERENT.
Our firm has got more than two hundred ___________________. EMPLOY
Appendix 4
POST-TEST
Read the following fragment and choose a synonym for the words in the given context:
“On July 4, 1776, a conclave of insurgent colonists in America passed the Declaration of Independence; war against the British had already been going on for over a year, so the Declaration came as the culmination of years of tempestuous events in America.
(…) Since the French intimidated the colonists no longer, they ceased to rely upon the British for protection and were not as submissive as they were formerly. On the other hand, the British regarded the colonies as source of revenue and began to impose inequitable taxes upon them. (…) The British continued their policy of taxation without collaboration with their once docile subjects. “
1. They sat in conclave to decide the course of action against the British.
a.a building b.a secret meeting c. an opposition d.an accord
2. The army was sent against the insurgent villagers.
a. interested b. friendly c. rebellious d. clever
3. His criminal life culminated with a life-long prison sentence.
a. started b. continued c. climaxed d. ended
4. Their ship was driven into the reef by the tempestuous sea.
a. temperate b. terrific c. stormy d. deep
5. The battle winners expected their prisoners to be submissive, but they were stubborn.
a. gentle b. greedy c. obedient d. communicative
6. The protest started due to the inequitable taxes.
a. unjust b. unlikely c. unexpected d. unimportant
II . Complete the sentences with the following idioms. Use them correctly.
Call it a day;
Out of the blue;
Ring a bell;
Given the sack;
Go down like a lead balloon;
Out of order;
I think we have done enough, shall we ______________________.
The elevator does not seem to be working. It must be __________________.
I was not expecting such a negative reaction. It _______________________.
Look at the bright side! It is not like you have been__________________.
You’d better ________________________, John. Considering your grades, you might fail!
When I made that joke about police officers, it _______________________. It turned out that most of the people in the room were policemen wives.
Are the words in the following sentences used correctly or not? Tick what is right and explain what is wrong with the ones that are not correct.
1. If something is fragile, it has a nice smell. Right Wrong
2. A malevolent person has a heart of gold. Right Wrong
3. He has a lot of personnel and family problems. Right Wrong
4. A road with ice on it is also called a slip road. Right Wrong
5. This is not comprehensive. I cannot understand it. Right Wrong
IV. Finish each of the following sentences, so that it means the same as the sentence before it:
Your friend is a smart guy
What ________________________.
He had never shot a gun in his life.
It was ________________________.
3. I cannot carry this bag. It is too heavy.
This bag_______________________.
4. Nobody could do anything to help them.
Nothing _______________________.
5. I get nervous when people are rude.
I cannot ________________________.
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