Gifted students. 👦👧

Summary of the lesson💭:

First of all, we talked about the myths surrounding gifted students. Among them, are, for instance, that they always achieve good marks or that they have problems to socialize. However, the expert also talked about the truths, that is, they are a heterogeneous group and will not always share the same features, although there are some which are more common (mainly school failure) and precisely these are the signs that may alert us to detect this condition.

Therefore, the role of the teacher was also discussed. We as teachers should cooperate with the families and acting as mediators between them and the educational institutions in case they suspect the child is a gifted student.

The expert also showed us many existing projects, such as Educación 3.0, about this type of students which may help us to know how to deal with their needs.

Yet, the conclusion was that if we adapt the curriculum to students with special needs (students who have a lower level), we should also adapt the curriculum to these students who are above the standard level because if we do not do so, they may fail.

Precisely, this is what is happening nowadays and in many cases this is due to not only the lack of interest from the institution (although according to the current educational law (LOMCE) their needs must be met) but also due to the lack of resources as many families cannot afford a proper education for their children.

Thus, elements such as motivation, encouragement of creativity, or a creation of a proper atmosphere of work should be priorities when planning a curriculum adapted to these students’ situation.

Ways of helping gifted students in the English classroom

The key to meet the need of gifted students in the classroom is developing flexible teaching methods and useful lessons. Standard teaching is not valid in this special cases since these are usually restrictive and generalized according to a set of learning expectations. By the same token, common assignments and homework will not always be suitable for all students.

In this way, teachers can apply several strategies in order to teach ESL effectively. Here we provide a short list of some possible strategies:

• Independent reading and writing choices📚 Everybody is motivated by what they like and gifted students are even more. Thus, giving them some freedom to propose texts of their election is a good way of engaging them into the classroom.
• Giving opportunities for book discussions in the class.💬
• Ensure that the activities have clear goals and aim to increase pupils’ ability to analise and solve problems.🔍 Gifted students want to know the purpose of what they are doing. If they believe that the activities are purposeless they will lose motivation.
• Encouraging them to become autonomous learners 🙌through the proposition of activities which stimulate originality, initiative and self direction.
• Task-based learning. 💪Proposing projects to the class is a fantastic method to cater for diversity. They allow each student to develop his or her project to the best of their potential. In order to evaluate the final outcome, teachers must not only take into account the quality of the projects, but also the process of doing it.

Summary of the lessons 💭

☝ First session:

The first session of the subject consisted of an introduction of the teacher as well as the contents and methodology to be followed. Moreover, we started a debate on education, tackling subjects such as its definition as well as what it should mean according to us, its current situation in our country, analysing our educational system’s main problems and proposing any changes that we believe appropriate. Thus this lesson served as a warm-up in order to form the general frame in which the contents to be studied will be included.

✌ Second session:

In this session we were supposed to do the presentations of the linguists but we spent the class modifying and reducing the number of slides.

✌☝ Third session:

In this session each group carried out the presentation of the linguists. We listened carefully to each presentation and each group had to assess the performance of two of the groups. Our group did a presentation about Dell Hymes, a paramount figure of linguistics and sociolinguistics. We really enjoyed this session since it was so entertaining and, what is more important, we learnt a lot about other linguists such as Noam Chomsky, Jean Piaget and Mikhail Bakhtin among others.

✌✌ Fourth session:

During this session we have discussed about global language. We have watched a video regarding this topic in which David Crystal a linguist and academic defines English as a global language. After that, we have talked about this in groups and we all have given our opinions. Indeed, we have concluded that English can be considered a global language since it is widely spoken and employed for business and diplomatic relations.  

Luz - Group activities

1.1. EU Language Policies 📝

I. What do you  think is the role of EU Policies on Education?

We strongly believe that EU Policies on Education have an essential role in order to enhance good results in educative quality. According to this, and as well see it, this role involves promoting social cohesion through equity and justice among members as well as imagination and creativity so as to improve efficiency of education.

II. What do you understand by EU Language Policies?

EU language policies are those policies encouraged by the European Union in order to ensure the correct learning of languages among the member countries, offering them different tools (such as programmes among different communities, projects, etc.) in order to achieve an improvement of those skills deemed as basic for the acquisition of a language different from ours.

III. Can you name any EU initiative related to language learning?

• Comenius programme: It was focused on all levels of school education, as well as on teachers, local authorities, etc. It was designed to improve and increase the mobility of pupils across the EU, enhance school partnerships, encourage language learning, ICT for education and better teaching techniques, etc.

• Erasmus programme: It was a student exchange programme from 2007 to 2013 which has evolved to Erasmus+ from 2014 to 2020.
• European Voluntary Service: It is open to young people aged 17-30 and lets you travel abroad for a period between 2 weeks and 12 months to participate in a project on a voluntary basis.

IV. In your opinion:

1-What are the main factors that drive EU Language Policies?

The main idea behind EU language policies is the mutual understanding in a group of states to which different nationalities and cultures belong. Thus, by creating a unified policy on which most of the members agree, it is ensured that the wide variety of languages in the union will be treated in similarly by all the states. Furthermore, it encourages the establishment of programmes such as language immersions, international examinations, internships in a foreign country and other experiences which bolster interculturality and tolerance among the members of the union.

2-What are the main factors that make people want to learn a language?

An individual would like to learn a language because of many different reasons. These reasons depend basically on the type of motivation implied. On the one hand, if there is an intrinsic motivation, the learner wants to learn a new language because he or she wants to learn more about its culture, its folklore,… to sum up, the learner likes the language and finds it interesting. On the other hand, there is extrinsic motivation when the learner just wants to get a certification, a good mark on an exam, but not because the language itself interests him or her.

3-What are the main factors that make people interested in defending any specific Language Policy?

The great plurality of languages and cultures within the EU make people defend the Language Policies as necessary and valuable, both in terms of plurilingualism and multilingualism.

2.1. EU Language Policies 📄

I. How many languages do you speak, apart from your mother tongue or L1?

• Angie: I speak Spanish, English and a little bit of German.
• Cristian: I speak Spanish (native), English (fluent), and German (basic).
• Marta: I speak English (fluent), Catalan (average level) and Italian (basic level).
• Elena: I speak Catalan and Spanish as mother tongues. Apart from these two L1s, I speak English and a bit of Chinese.
• Núria: I speak two mother-tongues since I am a bilingual speaker of both Spanish and Catalan. The other language I speak fluently is English, although I speak a bit of French as well.

II-Is your mother tongue your L1?

• Angie: Yes, Catalan is my mothertongue.
• Cristian: Yes
• Marta: Yes, it is Spanish.
• Elena: Yes.
• Núria: Yes.

III-Are there things you find easier in one language than the other?

• Angie: Regarding speaking, listening and reading, Catalan is the most useful language to me. Curiously enough, it is Spanish the one that allows me to express myself in the written medium in the best way, although that does not mean that I feel my inner feelings are as well represented as with Catalan: I would say it is a matter of written fluency. I must add that I also feel very comfortable when speaking English, more than with Spanish, to be honest.
• Cristian: Yes, naturally. When I have to express anger, frustrations or when I get very excited I speak Catalan. Curiously, I find much easier expressing my feelings in English. I only speak Spanish when people cannot understand Catalan. However, regarding bureaucracy, I always fill the documents in Spanish. I barely use German for obvious reasons.
• Marta: Regarding speaking and writing I feel more secure when using my L1 (Spanish) than Catalan since I consider that my level is not good enough. However, regarding listening and writing I love Catalan and of course, English. Despite my basic notions of Italian I find it also really similar overall to Catalan, so understanding it is easy for me too and I can speak a little bit of it.
• Elena: Yes, for instance, I think that Spanish orthography is easier than Catalan orthography. Also, I consider English grammar easier than Spanish and Catalan grammar. Besides, I believe that Chinese writing is more difficult than Spanish, Catalan and English writing. Yet, Chinese grammar is much easier than Catalan, Spanish and English grammar.
• Núria: When I was little I used to have some difficulties speaking Spanish since my parents spoke Catalan to me as well as most of my teachers at school. Nevertheless, those difficulties were trivial since I only had problems when translating words which differ a lot from one language to the other, or which I did not use when speaking Spanish.

IV. In terms of language use

1-How would you describe the society you live in? Are the people in that society plurilingual?

In Spain there are different areas. Depending on the place people live, they may be mononlingual or bilingual. However, in those regions where there are two co-official languages, bilingualism is quite poor because the use of those languages which are not Spanish is not sufficiently encouraged, culturally speaking.

 2-How would you encourage ‘bilingualism’ in your classroom?

In the English classroom, we should not prohibit the use of the students’ mother tongue. Sometimes explanations in the target language are not sufficiently clear for students so some support in their L1 must be provided in those cases. In this way, the students will also discover that many features of their L1 are common to other languages, thus creating bonds between them.

 3-Do you feel some languages have a higher status in the classroom?

Depending on the subject and the linguistic model of the high school, the main languages may be Catalan, Spanish or English. In most schools, the parents have the right to decide if they want their children to be taught in Spanish or Catalan. The number of schools which offer the English model is very reduced and usually belongs to the private sphere.

3.1. Common European Framework of Reference for Languages 📔

1. What is the CEFR?

It is a framework, published by the Council of Europe in 2001. It is an international standard for describing language ability in terms of speaking, reading, listening and writing.

2. What are the main aims of the CEFR?

It was designed to provide a transparent, coherent and comprehensive basis for the elaboration of language syllabuses and curriculum guidelines, the design of teaching and learning materials, and the assessment of foreign language proficiency.

3. How many levels are described in the CEFR?

Six levels: A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, and C2. It also defines three 'plus' levels: A2+, B1+, and B2+.

4. How would you implement the CEFR descriptors in your classroom?

The CEFR is a framework of reference, therefore we think if should be adapted in order to fit our class context. We must take into account the assessment grid so as to be familiar with the features that are expected at a specific level. Thus, we will plan our lessons, create our syllabus and curriculum, as well as confort our methodology to, accordingly with the CEFR guidelines. Moreover, the evaluation will be carried out through what is expected at each level without forgeting the particular needs of each student to reinforce particular abilities or skills and achieve the level objectives.

4.1. European Languages Portfolio 📁

1.What is the ELP?

“The ELP is a document in which those who are learning or have learned one or more languages can record and reflect on their language learning and intercultural experiences.”

2. Which three components are included in the ELP?

• A language passport
• A language biography
• A dossier

3. What are the main aims of the ELP?

According to the Principles and Guidelines adopted by the Education Committee of the Council of

Europe, the ELP project has two main aims:

a) to motivate learners by acknowledging their efforts to extend and diversify their language skills at all levels;

b) to provide a record of the linguistic and cultural skills they have acquired (to be consulted, for example, when they are moving to a higher learning level or seeking employment at home or abroad).

4. How would you implement a portfolio system or some aspects of it in a secondary EFL classroom?

A good way of implementing an ELP would be making a journal or a diary about each session of the course and posting these writings on a blog. Also, another way could be making a video about students’ funds of identity. By doing this, we let them to include their own interests inside the English Language Classroom, and, therefore, their motivation will be increased.

REFERENCE:

Council of Europe - European Language Portfolio https://www.coe.int/en/web/portfolio/introduction

4. David Crystal 🤓

1. Which factors do you think that make a language to be 'global'? 🌍

According to what we have seen in David Crystal’s video, and as we see it, the are several factors that make a language to be “global”. One of the most important factors is that a global language must be worldwide spoken both as an L1 and as an L2.  Moreover, a language must be used in international organizations to be global. That is, a global language has to be applied in order to enable people from different backgrounds and societies communicate among them. All in all, a global language is usually developed in business and diplomatic relations since it is spoken by powerful people in powerful countries.💰 

2. What could be a definition of Global Language? 🗣

A Global Language is a language which is learned by a great majority of people as second language so it is spoken worldwide. Thus, its main use is to make communication between individuals and organisations from any country in the world possible. English 🇬🇧 is a global language, that is why it is used in many international organizations such as UNESCO, EU, NATO, etc.

3. How does David Crystal define Global language? 💬

“A Language achieves a genuinely global status when it develops a special role that is recognized in every country. This role will be most obvious in countries where large numbers of the people speak it as a first language. […] To achieve such a status, a language has to be taken up by other countries around the globe. They must decide to give it a special place within their communities, even though they may have few (or no) mother-tongue speakers” (David Crystal).

Listen to David Crystal and answer the following questions:

4. Do we need to the teach English as a ‘global’ language to learners? How can we do it?

According to David Crystal, we must teach English as a global language if we want to prepare students properly in order to face the “English-speaking world.” If we want to achieve this, we should pay special attention to the teaching of comprehension, that is, the practice of learning and reading skills through materials which reflect the varieties of English. 

5. Should we focus on the receptive skills? Why/why not? 👂🏻

Yes, we should focus on the receptive skills but not in the common way which is carried out among most teachers. That means, students cannot learnt the oral receptive skill by listening to their book’s audios in which the speakers have a British standard accent since this is simply not real. If they go abroad, they will encounter a hundred different accents which will differ a lot from the one they are used to listen in the classroom. 


▶ David Crystal - Should English be taught as a 'global' language?

3. Our collaborative project✍🏻

1. AIMS 🚀

Our collaborative project is about the linguist Dell Hathaway Hymes and our main aim is to present a general overview of Hymes’ principles and methodologies.

According to this, this project pretends to deal with some of the linguist’s personal issues in order to understand how these could interfere on his professional development as a linguist.

After that, our collaborative presentation shows the linguistic current in which Hymes is located so as to comprehend his theory which will be later developed.

Therefore, we discuss the main influences on our linguist’s work by focusing our attention on Chomsky’s linguistic competence since Hymes’ theory is a reaction against him.

The main purpose for doing this is to present Hymes’ theory in a comprehensible way as this is the most important part of our project.

After presenting Hymes’ communicative competence 💬 and the Speaking model🗣, we deal with the influences that Hymes’ had for developing later works to establish links among different linguists and researchers.

To sum up, this project is intended for understanding Hymes’ linguistic model trough critical thinking in order to show connections among different linguists before and after Dell Hymes.

2. The project was carried out in a collaborative way 👨‍👩‍👧‍👧: 

In the first place we held a meeting☝🏻in which we divided the presentation into different parts to be prepared by each one of us, as well as including ideas on its performance (in this case, the use of cardboards 📝 to explain Hymes’s SPEAKING model). After this, a research 🔍was conducted on Hymes’s context, influence received, theory and importance of his work as reflected on that of posterior authors. Moreover, each component of the group had to created a slide for the common PowerPoint presentation, with a clear organization and the necessary information to be displayed in front of the class. These slides were shared through a common file in Google Drive so as to be able to comment on them, correcting any possible mistakes and suggesting changes if needed. Finally, the Powerpoint was set together and sent to the teacher, and individually we prepared our part of speech 🗣in the presentation that we performed in class.

3. Write about the importance of collaborative learning/teaching 👩‍👩‍👧‍👧

• The term "collaborative learning" refers to an instruction method in which students at various performance levels work together in small groups toward a common goal🏆. The students are responsible for one another's learning as well as their own. Thus, the success of one student helps other students to be successful. Besides, according to Johnson and Johnson “there is persuasive evidence that cooperative teams achieve at higher levels of thought and retain information longer than students who work quietly as individuals”. In this way, it engages the students, makes them responsible for their own learning and they become critical thinkers🤔. Another positive aspect of this method is that it creates a relaxed atmosphere 😌in the classroom, since students are not competitors anymore but collaborative co-workers who in seek of the whole group’s success.🎉
• The term "collaborative teaching" on the other hand refers to the involvement of various educators working together in order to instruct groups of students. This collaboration usually takes place among professionals from different disciplines, such as core subjects, special needs education, guidance programs and so on. These educators work together to plan lessons, lecture and teach, do evaluations and manage the class✏. All teachers implied co-operate together, having the same weight in the class, so as to they are equals in the classroom. The main advantage of this method is that students get a more individual and personal attention, and they are able to discuss and compare different perspectives and ideas. An important point to be taken into account is that teachers should be flexible and open-minded 🙌🏻since they will need the other teacher's approval and opinions to work better together.

References:

• Gokhale, A. Anuradha (1995). ‘Collaborative Learning Enhances Critical Thinking’, Journal of Technology Education, vol.7, no. 1, viewed 13 December 2016, <http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/JTE/v7n1/gokhale.jte-v7n1.html?ref=Sawos.Org>.
• Johnson , R. T., & Johnson, D. W. (1986). Action research: Cooperative learning in the science classroom. Science and Children , 24, 31-32.
• Totten , S., Sills, T., Digby, A., & Russ, P. (1991). Cooperative learning: A guide to research . New York: Garland.
• Topeducationdegrees.org. (2016). What is Collaborative Teaching?. [online] Available at: http://www.topeducationdegrees.org/faq/what-is-collaborative-teaching/ [Accessed 13 Dec. 2016]
• Understood.org. (2016). Collaborative Team Teaching: What You Need to Know. [online] Available at: https://www.understood.org/en/learning-attention-issues/treatments-approaches/educational-strategies/collaborative-team-teaching-what-you-need-to-know [Accessed 13 Dec. 2016].

 4. Say something about the linguist you presented and another one that may drew your attention.  👬

Hymes was the first linguist who developed the concept of communicative competence. 🔝

In other words, he highlighted the importance of the context when studying a language. When we learn a language, we need to take into account not only the formal code, but also its context. This is why he was one of the founders of sociolinguistics, and precisely for this reason he was a significant figure within the field of linguistics. However, Piaget was also an important figure in the field of psychology since he was the first who developed a theory about cognitive development, which can be approached from a linguistic point of view. He considered that human beings go through four stages of cognitive development.

2. Outside the box 📦

How can we improve the Spanish Educational paradigm?

Although in Spain Education does not enjoy an important role for society💩, as many laws have shown, we strongly believe that it is one of the most important pillars of society. It contributes to the promotion of critical thinking 🤔 as well as many other skills which will help students to become efficient citizens of the world. 🌍Many aspects of today’s educational system in Spain should be changed. Among them are, for instance, the teacher-centered model followed in the classroom throughout the last decades;  the traditional way in which state exams for teachers are carried out towards a much more practical rather than theoretical approach; a better teacher training📚, taking into account catering for diversity👫, problem solving💡, the use of ICTs💻, etc; encouraging collaborative projects among students as well as using methodologies in order to foster creativity🎨.

▶ Ken Robinson - Do schools kill creativity?

1. Why this course ❓

This course means to us the opportunity to prepare ourselves so as to become teachers of the future 😎, that is, innovative instructors with the capacity to use creativity 💡in order to help students in their study of the English language.🇬🇧 It enables us to become familiar with the theories that have influenced the path which English Language Teaching has followed throughout the years, as well as those which contribute to its renewal year after year. Moreover, it trains us to take part in that same renewal by enhancing our critical thinking🤔 and teaching skills 📚, leading us to our future position as English teachers but never leaving behind the idea of our role as cultural and social workers 👪.

Who are we? 🤗