editorial carlo granados-beltrán, phd* w elcome to a new edition of gist journal. i want to start by thanking the members of our editorial and scientific committees, authors, and readers for their help during these uncertain times. this issue is a sample of the wide variety of topics in elt researchers are interested in. some contributions address disciplinary knowledge, for example, assessment and the teaching and learning of skills, whereas others contribute to the sociocultural component of elt. disciplinary contributions are represented by romero-villamil and guzmán martínez who inquired about how the implementation of instructional subtitled videos help students’ increase students’ range of vocabulary. the next two articles addressed assessment. ramírez narrates his experience regarding the challenges faced when designing of a placement test for a colombian public university and giraldo discusses the implications of task-based assessment for language classrooms. authors gözüküçük and günbaş from turkey present how fourth graders’ reading comprehension through computer-based reading texts. also, rincón-ussa, fandiño-parra, and cortés describe an implementation of ict-mediated teaching strategies to promote both autonomy and collaborative learning in a teacher education program. an area that has not been quite explored in elt is the ways english is taught to university students from other majors; in this direction, torres-escobar and correa-lópez analyzed how bilingualism english-spanish could be promoted in undergraduate psychology programs. in relation to sociocultural aspects, nieto-gómez and clavijo-olarte explored local literacies in an eap program by using community assets. vásquez-guarnizo, chía-ríos and tobar-gómez inquired efl students’ perceptions of gender stereotypes. in the same vein, castillo and flórez-martelo addressed the experiences hard-of-hearing people when learning a foreign language. also, garcía-ponce studies the influence of discrimination in the field of tesol in mexico from the perspectives mexican efl teachers. finally, olaya and gonzález-gonzález present the impact of 6 no. 21 cooperative learning to foster reading skills in an engineering program. we hope to continue communicating findings and reflections from both colombian and international english language teachers so that we consolidate a community of learning, practice, and research. *carlo granados-beltran phd editor in chief holds a phd in education from universidad santo tomás, an ma in british cultural studies and elt from the university of warwick and an ma in applied linguistics to tefl from universidad distrital. he is the academic director at the ba in bilingual education at única. he has been teacher of the language department at universidad central, the ba programmes in spanish and languages and spanish and english at universidad pedagógica nacional and the ba in modern languages at universidad javeriana. also, he is guest lecturer for the ma in language teaching at uptc editorial josephine taylor* gist is quite pleased this issue to offer reports of research from the u.s., latin america and africa. the articles in this issue point to the need to go beyond the standard recommendations of effective teaching practices, and delve into a deeper appreciation of classroom realities, cultural and contemporary issues of language use, teacher training and language policy. while much of the information teachers are presented with often reduces classroom practices and teaching or training models to set formulas or trite recommendations, gist strives to offer the work of practitioners who have taken the time to investigate, document, gather and analyze evidence from their settings in an effort to contribute to on-going understanding and conversations around a variety of issues facing teachers, coordinators, directors and principals in our daily practice. mora, rivas, lengeling and crawford contribute to a series of publications in gist on the issue of language brokering, particularly in the case of mexican transnationals who return to mexico to become english teachers. the study reveals the important role these individuals play as language brokers, particularly in their role as future teachers. córdoba, rodríguez and gaubil outline the design and implementation of an in-service teacher training program for efl teachers in costa rica and its role in improving the english language level of the majority of the country’s teachers. from chile, pelusa orellana offers an exploration on the use of the seminar format with pre-service english teachers. implementation of socratic dialogue and the paideia seminar protocol led to an increase in more elaborated arguments and overall sophisticated thinking in students. paula ramirez marroquín reports on the articulation of formative research and the classroom projects implemented at a university in bogotá. this study is interesting as it includes student and teachers’ voices as key perspectives in the examination of classroom practices and department policies and curriculum. oliva and núñez explore how integrating language and content with second language learners may play a role in the development of learner autonomy. 5 no. 9 (july december 2014) 6 jenny melo león explores the promotion of critical thinking in preschool classes in an immersion school setting in bogotá, colombia. this baseline study helps argue the need to investigate classroom realities first before advocating the implementation of particular techniques or even curricular projects. in terms of the intersection between language change, culture and current usage, and the challenge this presents to language teaching, gist is pleased once again to publish work by omowumi steve bode ekundayo, in which he explores the issue of orthographic intraference in examples of educated nigerian english. finally, juan david parra explores the current paradigm of critical realism in language policy debates and the need to involve educators and their experiences in the public discourse. it is our hope that readers enjoy this issue, find it thought provoking, and are stimulated to contribute with research of their own in upcoming issues. editor *josephine taylor received her ba in english and french from emory university and her ms in the teaching of english as second language from georgia state university, both in atlanta, georgia. she has been a teacher of english language and linguistics for more than 25 years, as well as administrator, curriculum designer, and external reviewer of language education programs in the u.s. and colombia. she has also worked extensively in english language publishing, as author, course developer and editor. josephine is currently the editor of gist education and learning research journal and adjunct professor in the undergraduate and graduate bilingual teaching programs at the institución universitaria colombo americana, única. no. 10 (january june 2015) no. 10 (january june 2015) 4 editorial carlo granados-beltrán* we are pleased to present a new edition of this journal. it is evident that new times bring new challenges and the educational field is not the exception. for this issue, four of the researchers approached topics connected to one of the 21st century skills, named initiative and self-direction (trilling & fadel, 2009); these skills imply student’s capacity to set up attainable goals, to monitor and organize tasks according to priority, to be a self-directed learner, and to show commitment to life-long learning, among other skills. our first contribution, by ramírez, explored through action research ways to promote autonomy in university students, within an english course. secondly, garcía & durán present an inquiry about the influence students’ learning experiences have on their perception as learners – or self-efficacy – and how they contributed to their reluctant attitudes towards the learning of english. in this same line, but focusing more, on the 21st century skill related to teachers and learning to create together, is carreño & hernández’s contribution about co-planning and its implications for teachers’ practices and their professional development. the second set of articles is linked to specific features emerging from language skill work. garcía-ponce & mora-pablo, from mexico, focused on the ways in which the beliefs about providing corrective feedback when students engage in oral interaction in a foreign language. additionally, fallas & chaves also decided to go beyond the matters of unity, coherence, cohesion and accurate syntax to approach the issue of students’ authorial voice when writing academic texts. coates, gorham & nicholas, in italy, proposed the application of phonics instruction to particular phoneme/grapheme decoding, and therefore, second language learning. last but not least, and responding to the need of delving into the ways in which the postmethod pedagogy (kumaravadivelu, 1994, 2001) can be put into practice in the local contexts, bautista’s study aimed to characterize the development of socio-cultural awareness in an efl university classroom. no. 15 (july december, 2017) no. 15 (july december, 2017) 5 we at gist journal hope our reader will find in our contributors’ articles not only practical application for their own classroom context, but also a source of inspiration to share their research endeavours in their classrooms and institutions so that we could continue building a community of learning in the fields of bilingual education and language teaching. references kumaravadivelu, b. (1994). the postmethod condition: (e)merging strategies for second/foreign language teaching. tesol quarterly, 28(1), 27 – 48 kumaravadivelu, b. (2001). toward a postmethod pedagogy. tesol quarterly, 35(4), 537 – 560 trilling, b. & fadel, c. (2009). 21st century skills. learning for life in our times. san francisco: jossey – bass. *carlo granados-beltrán holds an ma in british cultural studies and elt from the university of warwick and an ma in applied linguistics to tefl from universidad distrital. currently, he is doing a phd in education at universidad santo tomás. he is a teacher researcher at the ba in bilingual education at única. he has been teacher of the language department at universidad central, the ba programmes in spanish and languages and spanish and english at universidad pedagógica nacional and the ba in modern languages at universidad javeriana. also, he has been guest lecturer for the ma in language teaching at uptc. no. 15 (july december, 2017) no. 15 (july december, 2017) 5 presentación maría lucía casas pardo, m.ed. rectora única desde el momento en que el concepto de globalización dejó de ser una formulación teórica para convertirse en un modo de relación entre las naciones y las personas, no sólo fue preciso dejar de pensar en límites artificiales entre los países sino que se hizo perentorio idear escenarios y modos de encuentro para los ciudadanos globales. definitivamente el avance de las tecnologías, que va desde la universalización de la información en internet hasta la adopción cada vez más masiva de las redes sociales como mecanismos de interacción entre las personas y los grupos, ha hecho que acaben de desaparecer los límites geográficos entre países y continentes. las barreras que los habitantes del planeta azul tenemos que trascender hoy son más de carácter cultural, ideológico o lingüístico, que físico. por eso presentar a la comunidad académica una nueva entrega de gist, en la que se celebra la diversidad cultural y se publican resultados de investigación que abordan situaciones locales pero que resuelven inquietudes globales es una contribución importante, de la que nos sentimos orgullosos. como educadores bilingües, como investigadores, como ciudadanos de la aldea global, entendemos que la escuela es un espacio privilegiado para la construcción de propuestas que acerquen las culturas, diriman diferencias, permitan trabajar en la construcción de valores universales que propendan por la calidad de vida, la equidad social y el desarrollo sostenible. el ejercicio realizado por los autores de los artículos que publicamos en esta entrega de gist parte de la identificación de problemáticas específicas a una comunidad o a un campo del conocimiento, pero los resultados de sus reflexiones y hallazgos se hacen válidos para abordar temáticas similares casi en cualquier lugar... ese es el incuestionable valor que tiene la investigación rigurosa, y esa la fuerza enorme que tiene el habernos convertido en una gran aula global en la que aprendemos los unos de los otros. retos y dificultades que afrontan los docentes en entornos multiculturales. interrogantes que surgen cuando se trabaja con minorías y se busca garantizar calidad en la formación y evitar la no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) 6 discriminación. opciones que se abren cuando vamos a analizar las percepciones y los sentimientos de los docentes frente a su práctica. desafíos que se presentan al buscar empoderar a los alumnos para que a través del desarrollo de estrategias diferenciadas logren asumir una relación autónoma con sus procesos de aprendizaje…. son entre otros los temas que aquí presentamos a la comunidad académica. vistos desde la perspectiva de autores en distintos rincones del mundo, para el maestro global. no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) editorial josephine taylor* it is no longer necessary or novel to point out the increasingly pervasive role that technology plays in our lives, and by extension, in education and learning. as so many of our daily encounters and experiences are mediated through technology, and specifically online communication and information, these have come to define us. so swiftly have computer-mediated experiences come to characterize many, or for some, most of our interactions, operations and discussions, it has become quite difficult to describe this reality at any given moment. in fact, many of us no longer turn to print publications for information or trends, but rather are participants in the global online reality that unfolds and is simultaneously the subject of commentary and opinion as we experience it. print and even online academic publications struggle to keep up, and research on the subject of technology in particular is growing, but changes in online communication and information often outstrip the insights that are the subject of many research studies. such is the challenge for a publication such as gist when reviewing articles dealing with technology and learning. it is necessary for editors to participate in the continuing conversation on the subject so that we might have the criteria to judge the current state of debate and research. for example, it is necessary to push inquiry beyond certain well-treated themes. for example, scholarship that solely extols the benefits of technology for teaching and learning does little to provide insights into its use. obviously, technology is neither good nor bad; rather it is a given mediator of human relationships and activity, which like any tool, may be used in a wide variety of ways, with infinite purposes, good, bad, useful, or harmful. another perhaps insightful, but already well-treated topic in the literature is that of digital natives vs. immigrants, often used to explain why students’ lives are more mediated by technology than those of many teachers. this situation has led some or many teachers to be put in the uncomfortable position of knowing less than our students. however, the conclusions here are also clear and obvious. learning from students is a vital part of any teaching-learning relationship. as far as learning about and using technology, teachers have a responsibility as with any tool to explore the ways in which these tools might aid us in our desire to engage our learners in relevant experiences and in-depth encounters with content. 5 no. 9 (july december 2014) 6 what is needed in the scholarship on technology and language is inquiry into how phenomena such as multimodal discourse and digitally mediated interaction affect language and communication, teaching and learning. in general, educators would benefit from wellresearched questions dealing with key issues that emerge from within those experiences mediated by online or digital tools and resources; both of these in an effort to understand more deeply how technological and digital tools impact teaching, learning and communication. in this spirit, gist is quite pleased this semester to offer several such studies in the hopes that our journal may contribute to a deeper understanding of technology in our classrooms and our lives. this issue of the journal also offers a range of other studies from asia, africa and america, dealing with the teaching of specific language skills, namely speaking, as well as writing and literacy. it also offers studies that provide insights into the ever-challenging issue of engaging school-aged learners of english in contemporary issues such as the environment and problems of violence in our schools and neighborhoods. our issue this semester leads off with a study by palacios and chapetón of a program in a public school in bogotá that focused on the use of contemporary songs to raise students’ awareness of issues affecting their lives and to provide a vehicle through which to engage learners with the english language. results demonstrate that by connecting with students’ realities and interests, teachers can tackle the common refrain that “students are just not interested in english” in a positive way. liliana niño’s article on differentiated instruction provides insights into the procesos básicos program in bogotá, which offers literacy and english language instruction to internally displaced persons. this article also demonstrates the complexity of making instruction effective in circumstances of delayed or interrupted schooling while at the same time ensuring learners of their rights. mara salmona shares important research from a bilingual immersion school in bogotá that suggests that the use of and instruction in the first language with very young learners acts as an important support for learning the second language. gist is particularly proud to publish this study, and solicits the bilingual community in colombia to continue with relevant research into this topic. this study, as most research on this topic, points to the supportive role of the first language when learning a second language. these findings run counter to pervasive thinking on the topic in our context, which in many cases, has led most bilingual immersion schools to prohibit the use of the first language under the assumption that it interferes with or delays second language learning. no. 9 (july december 2014) no. 9 (july december 2014) 7 this issue also shares studies on processes of language learning and teaching, in both cases offering strong cases for researching learning processes from learners’ rather than solely teachers’ perspectives. the first in these articles is robert coté’s study of the process of peer review in a writing course. the study argues for the benefits of peer assessment and demonstrates that learners are both capable of providing pertinent feedback as well as considering and following their peers’ input. karbalaei and taji investigate the use of compensation strategies in students’ speaking. their findings are consistent with research on the topic that demonstrates that learners are active agents in their own construction of meaning, resorting to a range of communication, specifically compensation strategies when attempting interaction in a foreign language. the active role of learners as active agents in their own language use is given voice in carlos arias’ narrative case study of an individual from the island of san andres (colombia). the article outlines how the subject assumes an active and agentive role in constructing his linguistic identify through the conscious use of english, spanish and creole in daily, context-specific interaction. it is with great satisfaction that gist contributes to the discussion on technology and learning described earlier with the contributions of three articles dedicated to the subject. steve bode ekundayo provides a timely, well-documented, in-depth study of conventions of textese and e-mailese in nigerian english. his findings argue that the development of these new conventions are linguistic devices coherent with the evolution of language and communication, and do not pose a danger to the language in the form of “improper” usage. yuranny marcela romero discusses the role of online interaction in a blended english language learning environment, and roux, trejo and gonzález contribute further to this discussion in their study of students’ perceptions of support in a distance education course. both studies point to the importance of mentoring and support in the online environment. these findings urge teachers and researchers to devote attention to the ways in which said support might be more effective and sustained in order to benefit learners. further support for learners’ active engagement with media and content is provided by castillo and rojas’ action research study of blending content on environmental care in the english language class with school-aged children. findings are consistent with palacios and chapetón’s article that students can connect with language through attention to stimulating topics and linkages to events in their own lives. no. 9 (july december 2014) no. 9 (july december 2014) 8 this semester’s issue offers one reflection article, also dealing with the integration of technology and hands-on student-centered learning experiences in biliteracy centers for spanish and english speakers in the u.s. the centers proposed focus on the development of integrated projects focusing on language arts and other academic content areas. the projects are supported by literacy development and a wide range of digital tools. proposals such as this form an important basis for future research as to their effectiveness. finally, gist is pleased to provide a book review of a new local publication, teaching and learning another language strategically, by rigoberto castillo, also an author in this issue. aglaya weidner reviews the text and offers first-hand experience using it with learners in germany. with this review, our final issue this year gives voice to local and international scholars and researchers, and continues to foster connections and discussion through their efforts. we hope that our readers find the journal relevant and thought provoking at the same time, and we welcome all comments and contributions. editor *josephine taylor received her ba in english and french from emory university and her ms in the teaching of english as second language from georgia state university, both in atlanta, georgia. she has been a teacher of english language and linguistics for more than 25 years, as well as administrator, curriculum designer, and external reviewer of language education programs in the u.s. and colombia. she has also worked extensively in english language publishing, as author, course developer and editor. josephine is currently the editor of gist education and learning research journal and adjunct professor in the undergraduate and graduate bilingual teaching programs at the institución universitaria colombo americana, única. no. 9 (july december 2014) no. 9 (july december 2014) gist final1.indd 5 editorial josephine taylor* this issue, gist continues its bi-annual publication schedule. we are also pleased as well with our growing international recognition, and widening network of scholars, researchers, editors and contributors. in this semester’s issue, gist features articles from asia, africa and the americas, from a wide range of countries. it is exciting to share this breadth of experiences and knowledge, to offer insights into the local and particular, and at the same time to take note of the commonalities of our inquiry. research shared in this issue ranges from topics featured in previous issues, from linguistic intraference in nigerian english to the incorporation of media and technology into language learning, and the effects of this on learners’ attitudes and performance. we also offer several studies probing teachers and students’ constructed and perceived identities as learners, and towards the content studied. the issue also highlights important subjects in language policy and the growth and acceptance (or not) of the dominant role of english in contemporary society. in this issue’s only article from colombia, letty hazbleidy contreras ospitia, sandra milena charry garzón, and angela yicely castro garcés describe how multimedia speaking tasks such as podcast and video recordings, as well as oral presentations contribute to building students’ speaking skills, and positively affect learners’ attitudes towards such tasks and english class in general. findings strongly indicate that teachers interested in improving students’ speaking skills should provide opportunities for challenging, meaningful performance tasks, and that the inclusion of technology and multimedia enhances student motivation. in a related article from turkey, turgay han and fırat keskin describe how the use of the mobile application whatsapp for speaking tasks helps lower learners’ foreign language speaking anxiety. many teachers may opt out of using speaking tasks with their students, as so many learners are unwilling or unable to complete them due to their reluctance to take risks, and general anxiety when speaking in english. no. 12 (january june 2016) no. 12 (january june 2016) 6 instead of assuming that learners will never speak, teachers should be heartened that such applications may provide students the protection and face-saving context necessary to be more willing to communicate. in terms of vocabulary recall, alireza karbalaei, ali sattari and ziba nezami describe how audio-picture annotations improve second language vocabulary recall over simple text-picture annotations. this study from iran argues the need for aural as well as written input as an aid to vocabulary learning. this issue, gist offers several narrative explorations into a range of issues related to teacher identity. in elsie l. olan and paula belló’s article on the relationship between language, culture and society, they use positioning theory and narrative research to describe teachers’ positions of agency, authority and empowerment. in a related article, maría cristina sarasa carries out narrative inquiry to explore preservice english teachers’ imagined identities. this study from argentina offers four accounts, demonstrating how participants co-author their imagined (future) identities as teachers. gist number 12 also features the work of frequent contributor and recognized expert omowumi bode steve ekundayo on the phonemic realizations of the letter <ii> and <yy> in standard nigerian english, and its implications for the teaching and learning of english as a second language in the country. this study is interesting in a global context as the existence of new varieties of english come to gain increased importance in many countries, and certainly penetrate and influence the teaching of whatever standard of english currently adopted in those countries. finally, from the us, rachel kraut, tara chandler, and kathleen hertenstein explore the very compelling construct of teacher self-efficacy, a complex set of elements and conditions that work together to describe and explain teachers’ work where other theoretical frameworks fall short. in their study, the authors trace how important issues such as teacher training, access to resources, years of experience and professional development work together in the construction of esl reading teachers’ perceived effectiveness. taken together, the results of this study underscore the need for esl teacher training programs and iep institutes to devote greater effort in preparing faculty to teach esl reading skills effectively. finally, gist is pleased to share an important critique from costa rica by cristhian fallas escobar, johanna ennser-kananen, and martha bigelow on the hegemony of monetary and career-based justifications for learning english as a foreign language. in colombia, no. 12 (january june 2016) no. 12 (january june 2016) 7 many professionals struggle with this hegemony daily as we confront the restricting discourses limiting students’ motivations for learning english to “getting a better job.” gist is keenly interested in seeking out and disseminating recent scholarship on deeper considerations of the benefits of language learning for learners, institutions and society. editor *josephine taylor earned her ba in english and french from emory university and an ms in teaching english as a second language from georgia state university, both in atlanta, georgia. she has been a teacher and teacher trainer for 30 years in the us, germany and colombia. she has also worked extensively in publishing, consulting, curricular innovation, and educational improvement projects. she is currently editor of gist education and learning research journal as well as professor/consultant at the institución universitaria colombo americana, única. no. 12 (january june 2016) no. 12 (january june 2016) 7 editorial devin strieff* the importance of culture the articles we have published in this, the sixth edition of gist, represent our ongoing commitment to providing readers with research articles that deal with a subject that is becoming increasingly important in today’s globalized community: bilingual education. educators are constantly searching for new techniques to better reach their learners, and this edition, like those that came before, contains a number of articles that detail innovative strategies to do just that. yet educators must sometimes also deal with another topic of interest in bilingual learning centers, that of culture. this edition of gist includes several enlightening studies related to that topic, and we feel the discoveries made can be of use to many educators in all parts of the world. it is no secret that english language education is in high demand around the world. yet in many cases, there are significant challenges that have arisen regarding a learning population’s heritage culture and language, as well as specific difficulties related to the individual needs of a student population. this edition contains an article that examines the struggles that a bilingual educator faces when she lives and works in two different cultures with two different languages, and does not feel that she fits completely in either. we have also included a study that details efforts by teachers to incorporate heritage culture aspects into the second language content courses, with some encouraging results. yet another article examines the role of topics that are included in widely-available english textbooks and how they do or do not address the needs of a local population that, in many cases, will never visit the places and experience the cultures detailed in the textbooks. another fact that we are proud of at gist is the inclusion in this edition of a broad range of articles from many parts of the world. writers contributed studies from no fewer than four continents. this wide-ranging scholarship from differing cultures only serves to enrich our collective knowledge base and increases our capacity to provide the best learning environment for learners. the learning techniques and strategies, as well as the discoveries related to culture, included in this journal may serve readers as no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) 8 instruction, reinforcement or even inspiration. we at gist hope that readers will find something within these pages that they can apply to their own efforts in education, no matter what part of the world they are in. as language educators we must always be cognizant of the fact that we are building bridges between not just differing rules of grammar and vocabulary, but between cultures, as well. summary of articles the first article by sandra patricia mercuri examines how language choices and cultural practices can affect the identity development of minority students in the united states. through an analysis of interviews with a latina educator, the article shows the effects of language ideologies on her cultural identity and literacy development. the interviews show the challenges faced by many minority educators working with second language learners of english, educators who in many cases must struggle with being torn between the english-speaking world and the spanish-speaking world. the article also discusses the loss of and later efforts to regain their heritage language and how this experience informs them as they attempt to stress the importance of defining and strengthening the inherent cultural identity of their students. in the second article, sandra i. musanti, sylvia celedónmattichis and mary e. marshall investigate the perceptions, practices and equity issues of k-1 teachers as they integrate contextualized problem solving into their curriculums in an effort to adapt instruction to better serve latino students who are still in the process of learning the english language. the study took place during a professional development program in an elementary school in the southwestern region of the united states. the study shows how teachers valued the integration of this type of problem solving into their curriculum, as well as how they used language and culture in scaffolding to facilitate the instruction of complex mathematical concepts. the study also shows how teachers prioritized both the use of the native language in their teaching and equitable teaching by the promotion of a student centered approach. the third article, by maría carolina moirano, aims to discover teachers’ attitudes towards culture in the efl classroom through a study of three different efl textbooks. a questionnaire was given during interviews with the teachers and a content analysis using an a priori approach was carried out to determine how well these textbooks address argentine students’ cultural needs. the results of this study no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) 9 show that the textbooks in question fall short of providing the local students with the cultural topics that they need, and also that teachers hardly notice the problem and do little to change the situation. the fourth article, by mayra c. daniel and john e. cowan, shows the results of an investigation into the perceptions that teachers have regarding the contributions that the use of technology has in classrooms of bilingual learners. the researchers asked teachers how teacher-made digital movies impact learning, and what factors limit the infusion of technology into classrooms. data was collected in focus groups and surveys, and shows that teachers believe that the use of appropriate technology can provide greater access to academic language for bilingual learners. our fifth article was written by carmen a. rodríguez cervantes and ruth roux and investigates the communication strategies used by two efl teachers and their beginner level students in the language center of a mexican public university in the northeast of the country. it also discusses the potential factors that influence those communication strategies. data came from audio recording in the classrooms, interviews with the teachers, and observation notes taken during classes. the results of the research show that the strategy used most often was language switch, but that there was some difference in the strategies used depending on how involved the teacher was with the students. the researchers conclude that among the factors that influence the strategies used were class size, seating arrangement, and learning activity types. the next article by yuli andrea bueno hernández shows the impact and results of the implementation of three cognitive strategies used to teach science in english. data, which was collected from observations, field notes, surveys, interviews, videotapes and photographs, showed that the implementation of strategies helped the students understand not only the content and language, but also the class tasks. her findings showed that students, through the use of cognitive strategies, achieve more autonomy and independence in their learning. she also found that, for teachers, these strategies made it easier for teachers to manage their classrooms and keep students engaged. her recommendation is for the gradual implementation of learning strategies for all content classes. our seventh article, by leonardo herrera mosquera, aims to prove the applicability and value of a task-based assessment approach, which is often associated with english learning classes, to a different context: a beginning spanish class. the research was conducted at a middle school in the united states in a beginning spanish i class. no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) 10 the author found that the implementation of this treatment showed positive results in students’ performance on both semester exams. his research suggests that students can be taught a language following a communicative approach and assessed through communicative tasks and still be prepared for psychometric type tests, which should be of interest to language educators who must prepare students for standardized tests. the next article was written by sasan baleghizadeh and yahya gordani and is the product of research conducted at shahid beheshti university in tehran, iran. the researchers investigated the effects of different types of feedback given to graduate students enrolled in an academic writing class. they provided groups of students with three types of feedback: direct feedback, student-teacher conference, and no corrective feedback. the study found significant positive effects for those students who received student-teacher conference type feedback, which suggests that improvement in writing can be at least partially attributed by the type of feedback that students receive. the ninth article, by jeisson rodriguez bonces, is related to the implementation of content and language integrated learning (clil), in particular the characteristics and considerations in a context as diverse as colombia. he outlines the aspects of innovative education and stresses the need to innovate. a definition of clil through its dimensions is then provided. finally, the article offers a broad view of clil in the colombian context and its dimensions and influence in that country. the final article in this volume comes from spain and was written by mar gutiérrez colón-plana. the article is a qualitative study on different aspects of comenius projects undertaken in catalonia during the academic year of 2007-2008. it presents some of the strengths and weaknesses of these projects, the difficulties the coordinators have to face, and analyzes all the issues that need to be improved. data was gathered from a series of interviews with the coordinating teachers for the projects. the study concludes that the comenius project is very complex, adaptable to the reality of each center, and has a positive effect on students at primary, secondary and high school levels. the paper also addresses some problems in catalan society and especially its educational institutions. no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) 11 editor *devin strieff is a new editor of gist – education and learning research journal. he has worked in the corporate environment, drafting and editing client correspondence at international law firms in san francisco, california and caracas, venezuela. his education background is in history and political science from the university of oregon in eugene, oregon, and visual journalism from brooks institute in santa barbara, california. he currently teaches academic writing both at the undergraduate and graduate level at única. the curriculum includes the preparation, research, writing, revising and proper citation process of composing formal academic research papers. no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) 88 the logic of sense incorporated to the notion of inquiry as an orientation for learning: two classroom experiences1 la lógica del sentido incorporada a la noción de investigación como una orientación para el aprendizaje: dos experiencias en el aula. gonzalo camacho vásquez2* universidad del tolima abstract a reflection about two classroom experiences is presented in the attempt to incorporate the logic of sense into the notion of inquiry for learning. the author used the method of experimentation introduced by deleuze and guattari, who based its principles on philosophical conceptions by baruch spinoza. the first experience is conducted with students from the subject called reading and speaking workshop from the ba in english teaching at tolima university. the researcher designed a reading protocol which, in an initial stage, allowed students to comprehend the texts assigned for the class. afterward, this protocol enabled students to reach levels of application and evaluation through the formulation of questions based on the series of the logic of sense. the second experience was carried out with students from the masters in english didactics from the same university. the same reading protocol format was used; but, this time the questions constructed let students envision perspectives in the design of new curricular proposals. key words: experimentation, innovation, inquiry for learning, logic of sense. 1 received: november 5, 2016/ accepted: april 28, 2017 2 gcamachov@ut.edu.co camachogist education and learning research journal. issn 1692-5777. no.14. (january june) 2017. pp. 88-106. no. 14 (january june 2017) no. 14 (january june 2017) 89 resumen se presenta una reflexión en torno a dos experiencias de aula en las que se incorpora la lógica de sentido a la noción de indagación en el aprendizaje. el autor utiliza el método de experimentación, propuesto por deleuze y gauttari, y el cual a su vez se basa en principios filosóficos de baruch spinoza. la primera experiencia se realizada con estudiantes de la asignatura taller de lectura y conversación, perteneciente al programa de licenciatura en inglés de la universidad del tolima. el investigador diseña un protocolo de lectura para desarrollar inicialmente niveles de comprensión de los textos asignados para la clase. posteriormente, los estudiantes alcanzan niveles de aplicación y evaluación a través de la formulación de preguntas basadas en las series de la lógica del sentido. la segunda experiencia se aplica con estudiantes de la maestría en didáctica del inglés. el mismo formato de protocolo, utilizado con estudiantes de pregrado, es aplicado; pero, esta vez las preguntas formuladas permitieron visualizar perspectivas en el diseño de nuevas propuestas curriculares palabras claves: experimentación, innovación, indagación para el aprendizaje, lógica del sentido resumo é apresentada uma reflexão ao redor de duas experiências de sala de aula nas que se incorpora a lógica de sentido com relação à noção de indagação na aprendizagem. o autor utiliza o método de experimentação, proposto por deleuze e gauttari, o qual ao mesmo tempo se baseia em princípios filosóficos de baruch spinoza. a primeira experiência é realizada com estudantes da disciplina oficina de leitura e conversação, que pertence ao programa de licenciatura em inglês da universidade do tolima. o pesquisador desenha um protocolo de leitura para desenvolver, em princípio, níveis de compreensão dos textos designados para a aula. logo, os estudantes alcançam níveis de aplicação e avaliação através da formulação de perguntas baseadas nas séries da lógica do sentido. a segunda experiência é aplicada com estudantes do mestrado em didática do inglês. o mesmo formato de protocolo, utilizado com estudantes de graduação, é aplicado; mas, dessa vez as perguntas formuladas permitiram visualizar perspectivas no desenho de novas propostas curriculares. palavras clave: experimentação, inovação, indagação para a aprendizagem, lógica do sentido camacho no. 14 (january june 2017) no. 14 (january june 2017) 90 introduction “en vez de preguntar y responder dialécticamente, hay que pensar problemáticamente” (foucault, 1995, p. 27) knowledge at school seems not to be constructed, or even contradicted. it is, most of the times, assumed as a product, which students need to learn. in this way, questions are most of the time a kind of mechanism that enables the assimilation of preestablished knowledge. they function as a strategy that enables to confirm the pure comprehension of the theory (dialectical thinking in the words of foucault). for this french philosopher, questions should go beyond comprehension (foucault, 1995). they should envision problems, which are understood as a possibility to think differently: nowadays, we come across the idea of knowledge as a problem: thinking the unthinkable, emphasize the difference and see the statements as happenings (wiesner s, 1999, p. 10) 3 there have been many attempts to change these dialectical practices. among these attempts, i can highlight: cultural historical activity theory (chat) founded on the bases of vigostkian theory, global citizenship education (gce) which intends to connect education with the idea of forming global citizens through the principles of emancipation proposed by paul freire, and inquiry-oriented curriculum. this reflective article is based on a qualitative study that seeks for new manners of conceiving the concept of “problem” in the perspective of an inquiry-oriented curriculum through the use of the logic of sense (deleuze g, 1989). i experimented with the concept of problem proposed by deleuze and guatari in the construction of a learning proposal that changes the dialectical role of questions. the experience was conducted in two groups of students from universidad del tolima: experience 1: the course called reading and speaking workshop. fourth semester b.a. program in english teaching. experience 2: the course called curriculum: design, implementation and evaluation, second semester, masters in english didactics. the model was applied to both groups with different purposes. the data collected was analyzed in terms of the possibility of conceiving an inquiry-oriented curriculum. translated by the author for publication purposes. the logic of sense as an orientation for learning camacho no. 14 (january june 2017) no. 14 (january june 2017) 91 literature review the notion of “problem” for the logic of sense in order to understand the concept of problem for deleuze (1989), we need firstly to elucidate the images that people commonly have about the concept of “problem”. most of the times, a problem is seen as an obstacle. it is frequently associated with a solution. if a problem exists, there must be a solution; or at least we need to look for one. for the logic of sense, a problem does not necessarily imply a solution. when a problem finds a solution, it dies, it is not a problem anymore. from this perspective, the problem seems to have a positive connotation. deleuze (2005) understands the problem as the crossing of three series: the series of concepts, which is composed by images and ideas; the series of questions, and the series of happening or events. figure 1: the problem for the logic of sense according to this model, problems do not exist they are constructed through questioning the concepts inside the discourse: problems and questions are not defined according to lack. it is not that subject does not know something and therefore has a problem and asks questions. instead, problems determine objects and cannot eliminate the problem as determining, since the evolution and genesis of objects, their singularities and signs, are determined by the problem. so, in the same way that instances problems and generating questions for a body of knowledge allow it to be understood better, the problem and questions are a positive aspect of the object rather than a lack or insufficiency to be negated and eliminated (williams, 2013, p.88) the logic of sense as an orientation for learning camacho no. 14 (january june 2017) no. 14 (january june 2017) 92 as a result, concepts are made of images or ideas that need to be contradicted by means of questions that become new possibilities, new ways of seeing. they are made of paradoxes that allow us to turn the concepts around. a question is problematic when it makes us see a happening; but a happening is not what commonly occurs in daily life; on the contrary, a happening is an accident, a turning point in our lives, a possibility, a proposal, a new state, a new dimension. inquiry as an orientation for learning gordon wells (2002) presents an interesting approach to what inquiry means in the organization of a curriculum. through clear examples, he lets us realize on the importance of questions in the establishment of problems that define not only the content of a syllabus, but also the sequence of learning by considering the singularities and interests of learners. in a typical lesson about the time, beyond learning how time is measured, students question the same essence in the idea of measuring time: why is it necessary to measure time? how did ancient civilizations keep track of time? could there be other ways of measuring time? the notion of time is something that everyone assumes as a fact, without hesitating or doubting it. inquiry as an orientation takes students to the field of questioning notions that we assume as part of our daily routines. we use time every day, but we never think about it: can time be conceived in a different way? what could happen if an innovative method to measure time were invented? bearing the former idea in mind, we can see the connection of the logic of sense with inquiry as an orientation for learning: both of them expose students to think the unthinkable. with regards to the learning and teaching act, for wells (2002), problems have the following characteristics: 1. they may be spontaneous; they need to be opened to unplanned situations. 2. they are social constructions and as such have to be understood from the perspectives of cultural historical activity theory (chat) 3. they arise in the course of ongoing activities in which students are affectively and intellectually engaged. 4. they have no single correct answer; nevertheless, a solution has to be constructed for the participants to be able to continue to act effectively and responsibly. the logic of sense as an orientation for learning camacho no. 14 (january june 2017) no. 14 (january june 2017) 93 m. foucault and gilles deleuze would disagree with the fourth characteristic of problems stated by wells in the sense that the reason of being in the problem is the problem itself and not the solution: problems as complex themes resist a seventh postulate of the image of thought whereby truth and falsity are said to apply solutions of problems rather than to problems themselves. there are no technical, practical or theoretical solutions to problems that finally dispel their capacity to regenerate and raise novel questions and challenges (williams, 2013, p 139) in other words, it is the problem the one that keeps the mind looking for new alternatives; some of them become happenings when they are in the way of innovation. methodology research design i applied experimentation as a method (lichilín, 1999, p 16-18) in the sense that the philosophical foundations on the logic of sense were incorporated to the notion of inquiry oriented learning and teaching. in the first experience, the logic of sense was applied in the subject of reading and speaking workshop from the b.a. program in english teaching through the creation of a reading protocol (appendix a) that problematized concepts in the text that were part of the syllabus. the reading protocol asked students in item 5 to make problematic questions based on the contents of the text. these questions must accomplish the conditions presented in figure 1. in the second experience, students from the masters in english didactics used the logic of sense as part of the procedure to design an innovative curriculum proposal. as lichilín (1999) says, experimentation as a method is not the same as the experimental method from research traditions. the latter aims at scientifically demonstrating the effectiveness of a research variable by applying it to an experimental group in reference to a control group that is not intervened (griffee, 2012, p. 71-72). the former must be understood as a relation with the plan of immanence in baruch spinoza. for this philosopher, a thing is not defined by its form, its organ, its function, its substance or its subject, but because of its velocity, affective states and dynamic charges (deleuze, 1988) in this order of ideas, the research problems for experimentation would be located in the realm of immanence or consistency. that is to say, changes that transform an established state of things are those that the logic of sense as an orientation for learning camacho no. 14 (january june 2017) no. 14 (january june 2017) 94 affect its essence; while a change that modifies, the form belongs to the realm of organization or extension. deleuze (1998) gives a typical example of the two planes when he says that the change from the result of pouring a jar of water into two cups is in the plane of extension, while boiling a jar of water and pouring it into two cups will not result in 50 degrees celsius each. temperature is a quality that cannot be subdivided. figure 2: experimentation as a method: the extensive and the intensive planes from this assertion, we can tell that real changes in education will not occur in the extensive plane: when more desks are put into a classroom, more rooms are built in a school or more teachers are trained; but in the intensive plane: when there is a relation of affection with knowledge that moves a community to learn. in this sense, the question that leads the conducted research study is located in the intensive plane, since it wants to affect students’ perception of knowledge through the idea that this is not a universal truth legitimized by its scientific denomination, but a singular act that becomes a creation of mind, when knowledge is contradicted: what could happen when the notion of problem taken from the logic of sense is incorporated to an inquiry oriented learning experience? what new insights will students be able to see in the reading texts when questions are created to contradict the authors’ concepts through the use of the logic of sense? the logic of sense as an orientation for learning camacho no. 14 (january june 2017) no. 14 (january june 2017) 95 learning experiences two learning experiences were designed for the two groups of students already described. experience 1: a reading protocol the aims of this tool were firstly to ensure comprehension of the texts that were part of the syllabus of this subject; and secondly to lead students to inquire on the content of these texts through the application of the logic of sense. the protocol consisted of 5 steps: title, author(s), key words, thinking map and problematic questions. the first three parts were intended for students to identify the texts, the thinking map enabled the comprehension of the texts through the organization of information according to the purpose of the author(s). thinking maps consist of eight established maps, each one of them connected to the development of a mental skill (see appendix b). students were trained in the identification of each map, and the association of them to the purpose of the reading passage. that is to say, in the text called “teaching esl vs teaching efl. principles and practices” by daniel krieger (2005), and as the author describes similarities and differences, the proper map to use from the eight proposed by thinking maps is a double bubble map (yeager and hyerle, p. 37) finally, the problematic questions were constructed by using the following model: the author says/establishes/asseverates that “ ”; however/nevertheless, what could happen if/ what if/ how could it be ? the model to construct the question corresponds to the three series proposed by deleuze in the logic of sense: the series of concepts, which is composed by images and ideas, the series of questions, and the series of happenings or events (see figure 1) experience 2: a model for designing an innovative curriculum proposal as a final project of the course called curriculum: design, implementation and evaluation, students were required to design an innovative proposal and present it at the end of the semester in a poster session. the proposal was based on a needs analysis conducted at the institutions where the ma candidates worked and it had to consider the logic of sense as an orientation for learning camacho no. 14 (january june 2017) no. 14 (january june 2017) 96 the main concepts constructed during the development of the course. it could be related to any of the curricular elements or combination of them, such as: syllabus design, methodology, materials, or evaluation. designing an innovative curriculum proposal is not an easy task and the hardest part seemed to be: “how to guide students to construct a problematic question that let them see a clear proposal for the design?” the experience of learning consisted of three stages: 1. students were encouraged to reflect on their teaching and learning habits and beliefs by reading and discussing the text “examining our beliefs and practices through inquiry” by kathy g. short and carolyn burke (1996). the authors present some change stories to exemplify the ways curriculum may be reformed. in one of these stories the authors show: a belief: as teachers we remain in control of the standards and the communication, mostly by sending home report cards and announcements. a question: how can schooling be a collaborative venture among parents, teachers, and students? a proposal: establish a three-way communication by using exchanging dialogue journals. 2. students were exposed to the idea that an obstacle, a difficulty or scarcity may be an opportunity to see innovative ways of conceiving learning. to achieve this purpose, i showed the group a video entitled “embrace the shake” (2013) in which phil hansen developed an unruly tremor in his hand that kept him from creating the pointillist drawings he loved. hansen was devastated, floating without a sense of purpose. until a neurologist made a simple suggestion: embrace this limitation ... and transcend it. for the purpose of the model, the video was summarized by equating deleuze original triad: figure 3: summary of the video “embrace the shake” the logic of sense as an orientation for learning camacho no. 14 (january june 2017) no. 14 (january june 2017) 97 3. the original triangle proposed by deleuze in the logic of sense was transformed in order to include beliefs and habits that teachers commonly have about the curriculum. these beliefs and habits were questioned by using the base “what could happen if/what if / how would it be?” application the two learning experiences were applied under the following conditions: experience 1: the group of 16 students from the fourth semester wrote 4 reading protocols. each protocol was part of a learning unit that lasted 4 weeks. students wrote protocols on these texts: protocol 1: the role of metacognition in second language teaching and learning (anderson, 2002) protocol 2: tips for reading extensively (ono l, day r, and harsch k, 2004) protocol 3: the teaching tool box. reconciling theory, practice, and language in teacher training course (vanderwoude a, 2012) protocol 4: using the simpsons in efl classes (ruckynski j, 2011) experience 2: the model to design an innovative curricular proposal was administered in the group of 7 students from the second semester of the masters in english didactics during three sessions of 12 hours each. each student designed a curricular proposal that was presented in a poster session and a written report. data collection experience 1 the data from the reading protocol model was collected by using a language portfolio. the problematic questions content in the protocols were taken and analyzed in two moments: one in the middle of the process and the last one at the end of the semester. the purpose of this division was to evaluate the effectiveness of the model in the construction of problem questions and make further decisions on the sequence of learning. the logic of sense as an orientation for learning camacho no. 14 (january june 2017) no. 14 (january june 2017) 98 experience 2 the seven curricular proposals were presented in a written report that included an introduction; the problem question connected to the habits, beliefs and concepts, as well as the happening that resulted from the crossing of the first two series. besides, students presented a poster which contained an abstract of the paper orally. data analysis and interpretation experience 1 students from 4th semester wrote a total of 57 reading protocols: 13 students wrote protocol 1, 14 students wrote protocol 2, 14 students wrote protocol 3, and 16 students wrote protocol 4. as i said before, i divided the total of protocols into 2 groups: the first group comprised protocols 1 and 2, and the second group comprised protocols 3 and 4. these are the results of the first group of questions: figure 4: data from the first group of questions this is the data collected from the second group of questions: figure 5: data from the second group of questions the logic of sense as an orientation for learning camacho no. 14 (january june 2017) no. 14 (january june 2017) 99 as can be seen in figure 5, most of the questions formulated by the group of students included obstacles; nevertheless, after providing extra practice, the number of questions that included a proposal increased an 8%. i can infer that more practice in the use of the model could enlarge the percentage of problematic questions. experience 2 the information of the seven curriculum innovation proposals is presented in the table below: table 1: curricular innovation proposals from the masters in english didactics students results experience 1 in the first group, as it can be seen in figure # 4, most of the questions showed an obstacle instead of a proposal. this is an example of a question as an obstacle that students wrote in their reading protocols: the author explained that activities to work with the simpsons’ show are just thought to be worked in class; however, what could happen if students have already watched the episode we want to use for the class at home? the logic of sense as an orientation for learning camacho no. 14 (january june 2017) no. 14 (january june 2017) 100 this is an example of a problematic question that contains a proposal: the authors say that in order to understand the content of american tv shows like the simpsons, viewers need to be culturally literate; as a result, how could it be a learning unit if a cultural aspect such as political humor is discussed without watching the episode? taking into consideration that most of the students tended to formulate questions that contained an obstacle (false questions in terms of deleuze) i found it necessary to make an intervention in the group in order to make students aware of this phenomenon. i provided further practice in the way problem questions should have been formulated and expected to see the improvements in protocols 3 and 4 (see figure # 5 for analysis of data). experience 2 bearing in mind the notion of logic of sense proposed by deleuze, previously explained in the conceptual background through figure # 1, it was found that 85% of the questions in the curriculum proposals were formulated in terms of providing what gilles (2005) defined as a “happening”: a happening is not what commonly occurs in daily life; on the contrary, a happening is an accident, a turning point in our lives, a possibility, a proposal, a new state, a new dimension. to refer to only one case, at a suba compartir school in bogotá, students are used to having access to a book bank in each classroom. students count on the books, but they are not allowed to solve the exercises or write side notes. this habit is questioned by asking: what could happen if the 21 students from 401 at a suba compartir school designed their own material as a support to work on their everyday english classes? this question takes the problem into a new insight in the moment that the in-service teacher who wrote the proposal sees the possibility of changing the idea that resources, in this case books, are elements that are provided to the teacher and students. instead, he considers the idea of incorporating students’ needs, likes and interests in the design of the material; also, he sees that the learning process starts in the moment when students and parents are involved in the analysis of needs, the development of the materials and the evaluation of the process. the logic of sense as an orientation for learning camacho no. 14 (january june 2017) no. 14 (january june 2017) 101 conclusions after analyzing the two experiences and taking into account the initial research question, the most important findings were: in the formulation of questions, postgraduate students were able to link english teaching with other areas of knowledge and aspects of human dimensions; especially what wells and claxton denominate as the principles of chat. this group of students tend to be more skillful than undergraduate students at linking theory with practice. being in contact with real teaching environments enables graduates to detect cultural needs, habits and beliefs. i also found that setting examples such as the video about “embrace the shake” and formulas like the inquiry triangle enable comprehension and ease the path to get to a problem question; however, examples and formulas tend to minimize students’ mental effort. besides, problems established through the formulation of questions fostered students’ engagement in both groups. this aspect may be an interesting area for further research. students from both groups focused more on solving the task than on being aware of the rules of the language. as a result, language acquisition was unconscious, and reduced levels of anxiety. as an english teacher, i learned that the logic of sense and inquiry as an orientation for learning seem to be a path to be what kumaravadivelu (2003) calls a transformative intellectual: an educator committed with introducing change to the community where he lives. the current study allowed me to see that students struggle with the formulation of problem questions. there is a tendency to make questions that present obstacles more than proposals to the established habits, beliefs or concepts; moreover, most of these obstacles function like “tags” that students use for every question. in this way, these tags become excuses that block any type of change. on the other hand, getting to a problem question demands time and effort from the teacher as well as from students. the effort implies the use of mental capacities and think what have not been thought. students appear not to be prepared to formulate questions and, what is worst, they look like not being exposed to formulate questions before. with regard to language use, proficiency limitations seem to be an obstacle to develop high order thinking skills, which are a requirement to inquire. finally, since this study is in the field of experimentation, little has been said about the use of the logic of sense and inquiry as an orientation applied to language learning, the author of this article the logic of sense as an orientation for learning camacho no. 14 (january june 2017) no. 14 (january june 2017) 102 has carried out other studies where the former method has been used to criticize learning philosophies like the thomas the aquinas pedagogical model (camacho, 2013) and the pedagogical project of tolima university (camacho, 2013). the logic of sense proposed by deleuze may be a valuable research tool to open new insights in the dominant educative discourses, and as a result, propose new ways of conceiving teaching and learning. the logic of sense as an orientation for learning camacho no. 14 (january june 2017) no. 14 (january june 2017) 103 references anderson, n. (2002). the role of metacognition in second language teaching and learning. washington dc: center for applied linguistics. camacho, g. (2013). el pensamiento rizomático en la construcción de un modelo didáctico que vivencie la formación integral en el esquema de educación virtual de la universidad santo tomás bucaramanga. espiral, revista de docencia e investigación. 2 (2), 91-102 camacho, g. (2013). hacia un modelo pedagógico que vivencie la misión en el proyecto educativo institucional de la universidad del tolima. revista perspectivas educativas. volumen 6 (enerodiciembre), pp. 233-241. deleuze, g. (2005). quinta serie del sentido: “novena serie de lo problemático”: “vigesimoprimera serie: del acontecimiento. la lógica del sentido. barcelona: editorial paidós studio. pp.50,72 – 77 y 151-157 deleuze, g. (1988). spinoza and us. in spinoza practical philosophy. san francisco: city light books deleuze, g. (1989). la lógica del sentido. en especial el aparte titulado “serie novena de lo problemático” barcelona: editorial paidós studio. foucault, m. (1996). theatrum philosophicum. barcelona: anagrama. griffee, d. (2012). an introduction to second language research methods: design and data. berkeley: tesl-ej. hansen, p. (2013). embrace the shake. ted conference. retrieved from: https://www.ted.com/talks/phil_hansen_embrace_the_shake krieger, d. (2005). teaching esl vs teaching esl. principles and practices. english teaching forum. volume 43, number 2 kumaravadivelu, b. (2003). conceptualizing teaching acts. beyond methods. new haven and london: yale university press. lichilín, a. (1999). métodos: arqueología, cartografía y experimentación. cuarto módulo serie investigación. maestría en educación. campo de profundización en educación para la convivencia. bogotá: javegraf may, t. (2005). gilles deleuze. an introduction. united kingdom: cambridge university press. page 84 the logic of sense as an orientation for learning camacho no. 14 (january june 2017) no. 14 (january june 2017) 104 ono, l., day r., and harsch, k. (2004). tips for reading extensively. english teaching forum. volume 42. issue 4. pp. 1-18 ruckynski, j. (2011). using the simpsons in efl classes. english teaching forum. volume 49. number 1. pp 8-17 short, k. and burke, c. (1996). examining our beliefs and practices through inquiry. language arts, volume 73 (february, 1996). pp.97-104 vanderwoude, a. (2012). the teaching tool box. reconciling theory, practice, and language in teacher training course. english teaching forum. volume 50, number 4. pp 2-9 wiesner, s. (1999). el saber cómo problema. maestría en educación. campo de profundización en educación para la convivencia. bogotá: javegraf. williams, j. (2013). gilles deleuze’s difference and repetition. a critical introduction and guide. edinburgh: edinburgh university press yeager, c., and hyerle, d. (2007). thinking maps. a language for learning. author *gonzalo camacho vásquez is full-time teacher at universidad del tolima. he holds a ba in language teaching and a ma in education. he has been as an english instructor and teacher trainer for more than 12 years. he participated as an exchange teacher in the united states with visiting international faculty program (vif program). his areas of interest are foreign language teaching didactics, critical thinking and philosophy of education. the logic of sense as an orientation for learning camacho no. 14 (january june 2017) no. 14 (january june 2017) 105 appendix a 1. title: 2. author(s): 3. key words (from 5 to 10) 4. summary of main ideas (use a thinking map) 5. problematic questions about the text the logic of sense as an orientation for learning camacho no. 14 (january june 2017) no. 14 (january june 2017) 106 appendix b thinking maps a language for learning the logic of sense as an orientation for learning no. 14 (january june 2017) no. 14 (january june 2017) 113 a baseline study of strategies to promote critical thinking in the preschool classroom1 un estudio de base sobre estrategias para la promoción de pensamiento critico en las aulas de preescolar jenny melo león2* gimnasio la montaña, colombia abstract the purpose of this study was to identify the different incidents of critical thinking in five preschool classrooms in one school, and the instructional strategies preschool teachers employed in the development of children’s critical thinking. the participants in this study were five self-contained preschool teachers and their corresponding groups. the study explored teachers’ beliefs in regards to the role of critical thinking in their classrooms. data collection techniques included classroom observations, document analysis, and interviews with teachers. two over-arching findings include: a) it is possible to observe and describe numerous instances in which critical thinking is paid attention to explicitly by teachers, and b) it is possible to observe a range of classroom interactions and techniques that explicitly develop these skills among preschoolers. keywords: critical thinking, instructional strategies, classroom interactions, preschoolers, teachers’ beliefs, development of thinking. resumen el propósito de esta investigación fue identificar los diferentes aspectos del pensamiento crítico en cinco aulas de preescolar en un colegio, y las estrategias de instrucción usadas por los profesores en el desarrollo de este tipo de pensamiento en niños en edad preescolar. los participantes de este 1 received: dec. 15, 2014 / accepted: april 16, 2015 2 jennymelo@glm.edu.co gist education and learning research journal. issn 1692-5777. no. 10, (january june) 2015. pp. 113-127. an approach to integration no. 10 (january june 2015) no. 10 (january june 2015) 114 estudio fueron cinco profesoras de preescolar con sus respectivos grupos. este estudio exploró las creencias de los profesores respecto al rol del pensamiento crítico en sus aulas. las técnicas para la recolección de información incluyeron observaciones de clases, análisis de documentos institucionales y entrevistas con profesores. se identificaron los siguientes resultados generales: (a) es posible observar y describir numerosos ejemplos en los que los profesores prestan especial atención al pensamiento crítico y (b) es posible observar una variedad de interacciones y técnicas de clase que explícitamente desarrollan las habilidades de pensamiento crítico en los niños de preescolar. palabras clave: pensamiento crítico, estrategias de instrucción, interacciones del aula, niños preescolares, creencias de profesores, desarrollo de pensamiento. resumo o propósito desta pesquisa foi identificar os diferentes aspectos do pensamento crítico em cinco salas de aula de pré-primária em um colégio, e as estratégias de instrução usadas pelos professores no desenvolvimento deste tipo de pensamento em crianças em idade de pré-primária. os participantes deste estudo foram cinco professoras de pré-primária com seus respectivos grupos. este estudo explorou as crenças dos professores com relação ao papel do pensamento crítico em suas salas de aula. as técnicas para a coleta de informação incluíram observações de classes, análise de documentos institucionais e entrevistas com professores. identificaram-se os seguintes resultados gerais: (a) é possível observar e descrever numerosos exemplos nos que os professores prestam especial atenção ao pensamento crítico e (b) é possível observar uma variedade de interações e técnicas de aula que explicitamente desenvolvem as habilidades de pensamento crítico nas crianças de pré-primária. palavras chave: pensamento crítico, estratégias de instrução, interações da sala de aula, crianças de pré-primária, crenças de professores, desenvolvimento de pensamento. strategies to promote critical thinking melo no. 10 (january june 2015) no. 10 (january june 2015) 115 introduction preschool age is a very important age among humans. in this period, young children are keenly interested in learning everything with a very exciting attitude. it is considered by many people that this age is when young children blossom and gain knowledge as never again in their lives. all areas, including motor, communicative, cognitive, affective and social aspects are rapidly developed in order to enable children to interact with and understand the world around them. in terms of cognitive development, one of the most important skills to develop in preschoolers is the thinking process. every new situation becomes an opportunity for young children to assimilate and accommodate information in order to create new conceptual structures on their own (piaget, 1952). thus, studying the way critical thinking demonstrated in preschoolers becomes an important issue the academic world should consider. there has been a fair amount of discussion about the importance of promoting critical thinking in students; however, there is little evidence and few studies that focus on the way young children demonstrate critical thinking. most of the studies reviewed for this article are focused on adult acquisition of critical thinking skills. this research studied the practices of critical thinking development through incidents observed in five preschool classrooms of a school, the different thinking strategies employed by children, and the teachers’ roles in the development of this kind of thinking. the process of collecting and anayzing data went guided by the following research questions: 1) what incidents of critical thinking are possible to observe in preschool classrooms? 2) what instructional strategies do teachers employ in order to develop preschoolers’ critical thinking skills? 3) what are teachers’ beliefs about the role of critical thinking in preschool classrooms? findings indicate that it is possible to observe and describe numerous instances in which critical thinking is paid attention to explicitly by teachers, and that it is also possible to see a range of classroom interactions and techniques that explicitly develop these skills among preschoolers. strategies to promote critical thinking melo no. 10 (january june 2015) no. 10 (january june 2015) 116 literature review definitions of critical thinking critical thinking is known as a basic competence of the 21st century. this skill is acquired in a life-long process and is developed starting in infancy. this ability comes from an inner capacity of structuring cognitive structures that include high levels of complexity (piaget, 1952). further, the mental capacity for higher-level thinking continues to develop across the life span (piaget, 1952). critical thinking has been defined in many ways; for some authors it refers to the ability to interpret, analyze and evaluate ideas and arguments (facione, 2011). according to glesser (as cited in fisher, 2011), this kind of thinking refers to the attitudes to consider a problem in different, thoughtful ways within an experience. some others define critical thinking as reasonable and reflective thinking, the act of thinking about thinking, thinking moved by reasons, and the development of metacognitive understandings, among others (kuhn, 1999). different theorists have posited the importance of promoting critical thinking in the learning process and how students can learn in more thoughtful ways. some of these theorists have related the development of critical thinking with the term active experience. dewey and kolb are the most representative authors that proposed the idea of giving value to experience opose learning. dewey (1933) claimed that the quality of thinking is directly related to the experiences a person has. he defined experience as the act of living and having constant interactions between individuals and the environment (dewey, 1933). he called the relationship between subjects and their worlds transaction. one of the main points in dewey’s theory is that experience leads to an inquiring process, which promotes critical thinking in the student and consequently, thoughtful actions. this transaction is also called the “learning by doing” approach (dewey, 1933). glaster argues that critical thinking refers to the attitude of being inclined to think about the ways to face problems (as cited in fisher, 2011). this thinking process implies knowledge of methods of logical inquiry and reasoning. ennis defines critical thinking as the reasonable and reflective thinking focused on deciding what to believe or do (as cited in fisher, 2011, pg.4). considering the array of scholars who have been included above, for this study was considered that critical thinking is a process that implies reasoning and reflecting thoughtfully. scriven (as cited in fisher, 2011) mentions an important element that can show the level of critical thinking developed. it has to do with strategies to promote critical thinking melo no. 10 (january june 2015) no. 10 (january june 2015) 117 the language of reasoning. some language expressions may alert the ways in which one is thinking. when someone uses words such as “since” and “because”, there is an indication of reasoning. evidence, opinions, proofs, supports and fallacy are some language expressions that show higher understanding and development of critical thinking (fisher, 2011). bailin, case, coombs & daniels (1999) explain it this way: critical thinking is done with the purpose of making up one’s mind about what to believe or do. it must be described in terms of adequately accomplishing certain intellectual tasks. this kind of thinking allows the fulfillment of standards of adequacy and accuracy in one’s thinking. thinking catalogued as critical thinking must be done with a purpose whether it is to answer questions, make a decision, solve a problem, resolve an issue, devize a plan or carry out a project. (p. 273) based on dewey’s studies, kolb came up with a notion of learning that focuses on transformable experiences as a source of knowledge (as cited in elkjaer, 2009). he talked about the experiential learning cycle in which experience is transformed. this cycle shows the transformation of experience into a real, significant and thoughtful learning experience. the innovation in kolb’s proposal is in the different learning styles that arise throughout the transformation of experience (elkjaer, 2009). recent research on young children has focused its attention on how these learners may develop critical thinking and how different approaches in learning may lead to better outcomes. the role of instructional strategies, questions, play and curiosity instructional strategies. some studies conducted in different preschool contexts have shown the effectiveness of applying different instructional strategies in order to foster critical thinking in young children. in a project carried out by collier, guenther & veerman (2002), it was shown that using the following strategies strongly affected in a positive way the development of higher level of thinking, in which students were able to question and construct what was learned. the strategies included journaling, problem-based learning, questioning techniques, computer programs, graphic organizers, story mapping, quiet game, pneumonic device, kwlh chart, among others. these instructional strategies also allowed the students to better understand the concepts taught in class and in addition helped them organize their thoughts and ideas in a visual way, promoting well-structured thinking. strategies to promote critical thinking melo no. 10 (january june 2015) no. 10 (january june 2015) 118 the use of predictable routines was another instructional element analyzed (collier et al., 2002). it was clear how the environment became a safe, calm and pleasant atmosphere that easily promoted learning because of the use of predictable routines. scheau (2012) also mentions that instructional strategies in developing critical thinking can be more effective in students if the teacher creates a favorable environment in class for thinking, where students are allowed to formulate questions, share opinions, collaborate and communicate with each other. questions. a research project carried out in turkey with a group of preschoolers analyzed how children’s questions play an important role in the development of higher thinking (şahhüseyinoğlu, 2010). the researcher noticed that children’s questions were connected to their areas of interest or curiosity. they were able to make assumptions through questioning about the topic selected play and curiosity. according to şahhüseyinoğlu’s (2010) research, it was found that children experience curiosity and wondering about every new setting and environment they encounter. in this study, researchers observed that young children started asking their teacher questions about the items they saw as they entered the classroom. in the same study, the researchers also noticed that children could reach conclusions and share ideas by playing games and participating in role-plays. student development personal development. some recent studies have shown that children can develop personality characteristics according to the learning approach they experience in school. scheau (2012) observed that teachers perceived critical thinking to be helpful in developing students’ personalities. the group of teachers in this study believed that critical thinking develops a personal development plan, in which primary and elementary students set their own learning goals based on their interests. behavior and motivation. since young children are always stimulated to learn and question their world, it is considered that they have a high level of motivation in their learning process. for şahhüseyinoğlu (2010), stimulating curiosity is effective in supporting the academic motivation and continuity. when children feel they can control and study what they are interested in, they feel like independent learners that are able question what is shown and learned. this causes a high level of motivation in their process of education; when children feel in control of their learning they may be more likely to remain strategies to promote critical thinking melo no. 10 (january june 2015) no. 10 (january june 2015) 119 engaged for longer periods of time which might lead to higher levels of thinking. accountability and timing. some studies have shown that preschool students may make gains in acquiring accountability and pacing skills through learning by inquiring. bell (2010) found that preschool children learn to be self-reliant when they plan and organize their ideas. bell showed that the use of graphic organizers and thinking strategies such as brainstorming helped the students to better understand procedures to develop a specific investigation task and self-monitor their progress in learning. social skills. studies about developing critical thinking skills in preschool contexts have revealed that students develop certain social skills since they build knowledge with others. in a study by şahhüseyinoğlu (2010), the results demonstrated how sharing tasks and setting group goals benefit a collaborative learning environment and subsequently better interactional skills. children were able to develop communication, collaboration and negotiation skills through the intervention. cognitive skills. two different studies focused on the development of critical thinking through the use of different strategies and didactics. collier et al. (2002) found that after the application of the research activities, students showed a higher development of critical thinking skills, including recall, describing, problem solving, prediction and estimation. scheau (2012) concluded that critical thinking methods increase student’s imagination, co-operation (teamwork), communication, active behavior and immediate application of theory. fostering critical thinking and teacher education there was a negative aspect found in the studies reviewed, which had to do with poor quality and/or insufficient amounts of teacher training teachers aimed at fostering students’ critical thinking. studies conducted by collier et al. (2002) and rahman, yasin, & yassin, (2011) report that teachers do not have an interest in or have little knowledge of how to develop students’ critical thinking, or why it is important. according to these authors, teachers lack training in teaching critical thinking skills as well as evaluating them. this is because there are few tools or accessible materials. even though most of the research studies reviewed above include findings about the gains and benefits young children may experience when having an instruction that fosters critical thinking, there is still strategies to promote critical thinking melo no. 10 (january june 2015) no. 10 (january june 2015) 120 the need of more research and information on how to observe and foster crtical thinking among preschoolers. methodology research design this study followed the principles of qualitative and naturalistic research to describe and analyze the different aspects about critical thinking in preschoolers. the purpose was to provide a baseline that describes and analyzes the forms in which critical thinking is presented in the preschool classrooms. the study also focused on investigating the view of the teachers about the importance of critical thinking for preschoolers. three data collection instruments were selected: classroom observation, documents analysis and interviews. the variables taken into account for these techinques were the following: a) the presence of critical thinking in students, b) the incidence of teacher’s instruction in the development of critical thinking and the presence of pedagogical strategies that promote critical thinking skills, and c) teachers’ beliefs as to the importance of developing critical thinking in preschoolers. context the setting for this research was a private catholic english immersion school serving an affluent community in bogotá, colombia. this research was held in the preschool department. the preschool program serves children from kindergarten to first grade. they receive instruction in both english and spanish. the preschool curriculum has been changed along the years, but recently there has been a special interest in fostering 21st century skills. thus, an interdisciplinary preschool group of teachers from the school was formed to develop and lead those transformations in the current preschool curriculum. this interdisciplinary teaching team has worked on developing a new sense of early childhood education, reviewing and restating concepts such as child development, the concept of childhood, dimensions of development, and promotion of thinking. one of the members of this team was the leader of this research. participants children. the participants in the study were 98 children between six, seven and eigth years old at the preschool level. the students were strategies to promote critical thinking melo no. 10 (january june 2015) no. 10 (january june 2015) 121 enrolled in five different classes at three levels (kindergarten, transition, a year in the colombian system between kindergarten and first grade, and first grade). their mother tongue is spanish. in this group, there are also some children with curricular accommodations. teachers. the participants were selected at random and comprised a group of five bilingual preschool teachers (out of 90 teachers in the school). all of the teachers hold undergraduate degrees in education, psychology, music or administration. approximately 25% of the participants hold advanced degrees. the age of the teachers ranges from 22 to 45 years old. the participants’ teaching experience ranges between one and 15 years with an average of seven years. the participant teachers were told about purpose of the study and informed consent was obtained. data collection instruments observation was used in order to collect information regarding the presence of critical thinking in preschoolers, and the frequency in which this form of thinking happens in classroom interaction and the incidence of teachers in promoting critical thinking. it was non participant, which means that the observer did not have any contact or talk with the observed group. the observation was recorded in field notes. transcripts were then coded based on critical thinking indicators mentioned above. there were a total of five classes observed. each class was observed once for a length of 55 minutes. the second technique was document analysis. documents regarding teachers, students and school role were analyzed in order to find evidence of the real situations and issues that help describing the form critical thinking is promoted and seen at preschool level. the documents reviewed included the following: one lesson plan for each teacher, school long range plans by subjects (english and mathematics), four students’ notebooks and folders for each class, school cognitive objectives, and the preschool area project. for the third technique, teachers participated in a semi-structured interview with the five participant teachers. the teachers’ awareness about critical thinking and its implementation in their classes were analyzed. this interview questions focused on four key aspects that included behavior, feelings/ perception, experience and training. the interviews were carried out with each teacher separetely and the length was about 25 minutes. some sample questions include: what tells you that a child/student understands something you teach? strategies to promote critical thinking melo no. 10 (january june 2015) no. 10 (january june 2015) 122 do you accept when a child refutes with arguments what you say or explain? how do you know they are learning what you teach? do you think you students show their thinking in the classroom? how? data analysis and interpretation a first coding exercise was implemented in which different categories were created that were common across the three data sources. each classroom observation was transcribed and analyzed for recurring themes. the categories that emerged were the following: language of thinking, teachers and student´s interactions, use of resources and environment, type and accuracyof tasks, and behavior as indicators of thinking. the school documents were also analyzed for recurring themes. these themes were grouped into the following categories: indicators of critical thinking, classroom interaction that promoted critical thinking, materials and environmental accomodations that promote thinking, and teacher strategies that promote critical thinking. teachers’ interviews were also analyzed using content analysis to identify recurring themes. these themes were divided into the same categories listed above. results after collecting and analyzing data from the three sources, it was found that it is possible to observe and describe numerous instances in which teachers pay explicit attention to critical thinking. it was also possible to observe a range of classroom interactions and techniques that explicitly develop these skills in preschoolers. finally, teachers reported a generally positive and enthusiastic attitude towards the development of critical thinking in their classrooms, willingly participated in training, and desire more training on the subject. classroom interaction that promotes critical thinking one of the classroom interaction patterns found was the use of thinking language by children and teachers. both teachers and students used a wide variety of expressions and vocabulary that have been shown to lead to the development of critical thinking. it was found that students’ questions were highly concentrated in the “what” and “because” forms. for teachers, the thinking language seen in students is based on the level of questioning they show. for teachers, students’ questions are determinant indicators of thinking and understanding. strategies to promote critical thinking melo no. 10 (january june 2015) no. 10 (january june 2015) 123 there is a relationship between the degree of teacher questioning and evidence of students’ thinking and understanding. class methodology and skills development another pattern observed in the classroom observation notes, interview transcripts and document analysis has to do with the class methodology implemented for developing critical thinking in students. all five classes and planners analyzed showed a logical and sequential order that chronicled the goal of helping students develop thinking. the planners recorded methodologies that were used in the three main skill areas: fine motor (including coordination and visual perceptual skills), communicative and thinking. these planners belong to the five participant teachers and were created on their own. during the interviews, teachers stated that there is no predominance of any one of these skills and that they try to develop each one with the same depth. however, when analyzing the data, it a predominance of certain skills was found, according to the age and level of the children, as seen in the following figures: figure 1. skills focus in kinder per teachers’ planners figure 2. skills focus in transition per teachers’ planners strategies to promote critical thinking melo no. 10 (january june 2015) no. 10 (january june 2015) 124 figure 3. skills focus in first grade per teachers’ planners the data illustrate a tendency to focus the class work on the three skills mainly promoted in preschool: fine motor, thinking and communication skills. for the kindergarten grade, more attention is focused on the development of fine motor skills. for the transition level, the attention is focused on the development of communicative skills. in the case of first grade, the attention is mainly focused in the development of thinking skills. these results were reached by counting the number of activities children had on each skill. thinking processes throughout the lessons it was also found that there are several processes and thinking operations planned and applied for every class or activity implemented by the teacher. the following are the main processes planned and developed by the group of teachers along the observation period: exemplification, comparison, explanation, retelling, naming, identifying, projecting/introjecting, observing, comparing, memorization, attention, concentration, and perception. at least four to five of these processes are listed for each activity planned. teachers stated that they take into account these processes based on what is set in the cognitive curriculum of the school. it was evident that some of these processes are strongly developed during certain moments. accurate task performance in the development of critical thinking class tasks are one important part in the daily school lives of preschoolers. it was found that young children face many different types of activities that help them in the development of skills and habits. the way children perform when solving the assigned task is strategies to promote critical thinking melo no. 10 (january june 2015) no. 10 (january june 2015) 125 an indicator that tells teachers about the understanding of the students. teachers interviewed stated that the more accurate the task is done, the better understanding is reflected. this is what teachers think works and what they believe is needed to support critical thinking skils. another aspect found in this area has to be with the types of activities children carry out; depending on the purpose of the activity, critical thinking skills can be developed. preschoolers were exposed to different types of tasks, the most common being the following: handwriting tasks, video analysis, problem solving routines, ordering of events, identification of cause and effect relationships, stating facts, mistakes finding, and class discussions. teachers’ training and use of resources it was found that the all of the five participant teachers had taken a training course offered by the school called conceptual pedagogy. in general, teachers think that this course has helped them in understanding students’ cognitive development. they argued that there are positive aspects of the training, but they also admit that it is not useful for all levels, ages or subjects. teachers also mentioned that they had not received any further cognitive training and that they would like to receive more training in the field of critical thinking. the use of concrete materials and other aids in order to help students’ understanding of the topic was another aspect found. teachers said that they try to use as much concrete and real material as possible. some of the resources frequently use by teachers are auditory, visual, concrete, kinetic (manipulative), and graphic materials. they found these important for the age because they observe more motivation in children when they use this kind of material. resources and environmental arranges have strong presence in the activities planned by the teachers; however, it is not evident that these kind of resources are specially designed to help children developing critical thinking skills. it seems it is done more by chance than for real purpose in the development of thinking. strategies to promote critical thinking melo no. 10 (january june 2015) no. 10 (january june 2015) 126 conclusions this study sought to identify the incidents of critical thinking in five preschool classrooms in one school. documentation on the different instructional strategies preschool teachers employed in the development of critical thinking in preschoolers were identified, as well as teachers’ beliefs in regards to the role of critical thinking in their classrooms. there are classroom interactions that were predominant and may lead to the development of critical thinking. these included the language of thinking and the promotion of curiosity, questioning, discussion and reflection during class time. teacher practice in the preschool classes is centered on the development of certain activities and skills that are predetermined by the teacher. it was believed by teachers that should more predominance be placed on the development of activities in which skills are the core, specifically thinking skills, there will be more possibilities for students’ to develop critical thinking. thinking processes are a component that need to be included into teachers’ planners and class delivery. when teachers focus their lesson planning on the development of specific thinking process, they are more likely to extend the possibilities of developing critical thinking in their students. transference and application of what is learned, the level of participation in class, inferences and problem solution were also believed to indicate degree of critical thinking. the presence of these indicators may also contribute to raising the level of the development of critical thinking. class environment also plays an important role in the development of critical thinking skills in students. teachers who have a more clear purpose of promoting thinking and reflection in the students apply more environmental modifications and use many more resources before and during the lesson. in terms of limitations of this study, since the data analysis was based only on the interaction with teachers, reading of documents and observation of classes, there was a limitation in terms of the role of children in this process. it was not possible to talk to the participant children and inquire about their perception towards the issue of critical thinking. it was not also possible to evaluate the level of critical thinking acquired by these children in the moment the research was held. this research showed a different perspectives of the development of critical thinking in preschoolers and opens the opportunity of researching different aspects, but especially in terms of diagnostic tools to determine the level of critical thinking development in preschoolers as well as teachers believes in supporting children`s critical thinking. strategies to promote critical thinking melo no. 10 (january june 2015) no. 10 (january june 2015) 127 references bailin, s., case, r., coombs, j. & daniels, l. (1999). conceptualizing critical thinking. journal of curriculum studies, 31(3), 285302. bell, s. (2010). project-based learning for the 21st century: skills for the future. the clearing house: a journal of educational strategies, issues and ideas, 83(2), 39-43. collier, k., guenther, t., & veerman, c. (2002). developing critical thinking skills through a variety of instructional strategies. (unpublished master’s thesis). saint xavier university. chicago, il. dewey, j. (1933). how we think: a restatement of the relation of reflective thinking to the educative process. boston, ma: heath. elkjaer, b. (2009). pragmatism: a learning theory for the future. in k. illeris, (ed.), contemporary theories of learning. (pp. 75-88). new york, ny: routledge. facione, peter a. critical thinking: what it is and why it counts. millbrae, ca: the california academic press fisher, a. (2011). critical thinking: an introduction. cambridge: cambridge university kuhn, d. (1999). a developmental model of critical thinking. educational researcher, 28(2), 16-46. piaget, j. (1952). the origins of intelligence in children. new york: international university press şahhüseyinoğlu, d. (2010). children as researchers: a report from 6 year old turkish students ‘science’classroom. procedia-social and behavioral sciences, 2(2), 5152-5156. scheau, i. (2012). the influence of critical thinking on pupil’s development and at the level of didactic activities. procedia-social and behavioral sciences, 51(3), 752-756. author *jenny melo león is a self-contained teacher at the gimnasio la montaña. she has been working on preschool education for more than 10 years. she is a licensed teacher in preschool education, specialist in educational management and holds a master’s in education, all from the universidad de la sabana. she has recently graduated from the specialization in bilingual education from única. strategies to promote critical thinking melo no. 10 (january june 2015) no. 10 (january june 2015) a comparative linguistic analysis of english and spanish phonological system1 un análisis lingüístico comparativo del sistema fonológico del inglés y el español juan carlos silva valencia2 technical university of ambato, ecuador 1 received: january 22nd, 2022 / accepted: november 30th, 2022 2 silvajuancarlos3@gmail.com gist education and learning research journal. issn 1692-5777. no. 25 (july december, 2025). pp. 139-155. effects of transactional distance perceptions on efl students’ motivation 140 no. 25 abstract this paper analyzes a few significant differences between spanish and english in relation to phonological patterns. first, a short introduction is given about these two languages, and it is briefly explained in what linguistic aspects they are similar or different. then, each of these linguistic features is analyzed in detail, clearly establishing the differences existing between spanish and english. the specific phonological features that are addressed on this academic paper are vowel and consonant phonemes, diphthongs and triphthongs, as well as word and sentence stress. furthermore, several pronunciation difficulties for spanish speakers are discussed. finally, some didactic implications are considered so that teachers can help their students of either language learn the second one considering important linguistic features. keywords: spanish, english, vowel and consonant phonemes, word and sentence stress, pronunciation difficulties, didactic implications. resumen este artículo analiza algunas diferencias significativas entre el español y el inglés en relación con los patrones fonológicos. en primer lugar, se hace una breve introducción sobre estos dos idiomas y se explica brevemente en qué aspectos lingüísticos son similares o diferentes. a continuación, se analiza en detalle cada uno de estos rasgos lingüísticos, estableciendo claramente las diferencias existentes entre el español y el inglés. las características fonológicas específicas que se abordan en este artículo académico son los fonemas vocales y consonantes, diptongos y triptongos, así como el acento de sílabas y oraciones. además, se discuten varias dificultades de pronunciación para hispanohablantes. finalmente, se consideran algunas implicaciones didácticas para que los profesores puedan ayudar a sus alumnos de cualquiera de los dos idiomas a aprender el segundo considerando características lingüísticas importantes. palabras claves: español, inglés, fonemas vocales y consonantes, acentuación de palabras y oraciones, dificultades de pronunciación, implicaciones didácticas. a comparative linguistic analysis of english and spanish phonological system silva 141 no. 25 resumo: este artigo analisa algumas diferenças significativas entre o espanhol e o inglês em relação com os padrões fonológicos. em primeiro lugar, faz-se uma breve introdução sobre estes dois idiomas e explica-se brevemente em que aspectos linguísticos são similares ou diferentes. a continuação, analisa-se em detalhe cada uma destas características linguísticas, estabelecendo claramente as diferenças existentes entre o espanhol e o inglês. as características fonológicas específicas que se tratam neste artigo académico são os fonemas vocais e consoantes, ditongos e tritongos, bem como o acento de sílabas e orações. além disso, discutem-se várias dificuldades de pronunciação para hispano-falantes. finalmente, consideram-se algumas implicações didáticas para que os professores possam ajudar seus alunos de qualquer um dos dois idiomas a aprender o segundo, considerando características linguísticas importantes. palavras chaves: espanhol, inglês, fonemas vocais e consoantes, acentuação de palavras e orações, dificuldades de pronunciação, implicações didáticas. a brief review describing my professional opinion about the paper the current paper i have written has a significant impact on the teaching and learning of both target languages, which are spanish and english. teachers and students ought to be aware of the main phonological differences existing between these languages so that the teaching-learning process regarding pronunciation can take place smoothly. being conscious of features such as vowel and consonant phonemes, diphthongs and triphthongs, word and sentence stress and identifying common pronunciation difficulties will definitely facilitate learning. teachers can easily and smartly address those problems by using some meaningful and practical techniques so that students can hone their pronunciation. therefore, the content of this paper will positively contribute to those who are teaching or learning spanish and english as a foreign or second language. a comparative linguistic analysis of english and spanish phonological system silva 142 no. 25 introduction l earning english as a foreign or second language (efl/esl) involves, just like spanish or any other language, the development of the four fundamental skills, which are reading, listening, writing and speaking as well as grammar, discourse, lexis and phonology. uribe, fuentes, vargas, and rey (2019) state that in communication, that is, when learners apply their speaking skill, the phonological system plays an important role. pronunciation defines how comprehensible ideas are so that their interlocutors can understand them smoothly. therefore, to convey a clear message, it is fundamental to have good pronunciation. however, mastering appropriate english pronunciation can represent a big problem for efl or esl learners since there are several factors that generate obstacles when learning pronunciation. but naturally, that does not only happen with english, but with other languages as well. if we take, as an example, english and spanish native speakers, trying to learn these languages as a second or foreign language, it will definitely cause a problem in several areas, but especially in pronunciation because the phonological system of each language works differently. now, english and spanish languages, at first sight, may seem to have quite similar phonological features; but this is not necessarily true. even though the alphabet is nearly the same in both languages, there are extreme differences in pronunciation. shoebottom (2017) states that the phonological system of english differs a lot from that of spanish, especially in several significant aspects such as vowel and consonant sounds as well as syllable and sentence stress. as a result, for english speakers, trying to learn to speak spanish, at times may not be such an easy task to do because there are certain sounds that they do not have in their mother tongue. similarly, for spanish speakers, it becomes quite complicated to acquire english as a second or foreign language due to the complexity of pronunciation of words in l2. but differentiated phonemes are not the only factor that students must be aware of at the moment of learning proper pronunciation in the target language, syllable and sentence stress also play a significant role when dealing with phonological patterns. comparing and contrasting the phonological systems of both languages will allow them to have a better panorama of which these differences are that seem to make learning more difficult or easy for some language learners. this paper will, therefore, present some of these differentiated phonological aspects that are extremely influential when learning either language: spanish or english. a comparative linguistic analysis of english and spanish phonological system silva 143 no. 25 literature review vowel phonemes first, let us compare the number of vowels found in each language. on the one hand, according to shoebottom (2017), there are only 5 pure vowels in spanish, where the length of the vowel is not meaningful when differentiating between words. these vowel sounds are: a (paso), e (peso), i (piso), o (poso), u (puso). on the other hand, there are 12 pure or basic vowel sounds in standard english, being the following: iː (sheep), ɪ (ship), e (pet), æ (cat), ʌ (sun), ɑː (father), ɒ (dog), ɔ (all), ʊ (put), uː (soon), ɜː (bird), and ə (the). as just seen above, the number of pure vowel sounds in english is significantly higher than the ones in spanish, and that is one of the salient reasons why spanish speakers frequently find it grueling to produce all english vowel sounds properly. now, let us notice that the number of english vowel sounds shown above is only referring to the basic ones; if we consider the variations coming from those pure sounds, we can get more. if we start from saying that english vowel sounds can be divided into several categories: monophthongs (short and long vowels) diphthongs, triphthongs, vowels before historical r, and weak vowels. according to wood (2019), the number of vowel sounds in english depends upon the variety of english we are talking about. although, in the written alphabet of both target languages (english and spanish) there exist 5 vowel letters (a, e, i, o, u), in spoken english the case is different. generally speaking, there are approximately 20 distinct vowel phonemes in english. but, as mentioned above, the exact number of this type of sound will vary according to the english accent we are talking about. ballester (2015) also suggests that the exact number of these sounds usually depends on the manner the system is analyzed. equally, their sound qualities may vary significantly from accent to accent. to give an example, the american english vowel sounds are evidently different from those of british or australian. however, this is not the case of spanish vowel sounds as they are clearly differentiated in pronunciation. so, if we consider the standard southern british english, the number of vowel phonemes is 19, being these: /ɪ/ (sit), /e/ (dress), /æ/ (trap), /ʌ/ (strut), /ɒ/ (lot), /ʊ/ (foot), /iː/ (sea), /ɔː/ (north), /uː/ (goose), /ɑː/ (palm), /aɪ/ ( price), /eɪ/ (face), /ɔɪ/ (choice), /aʊ/ (brown), /əʊ/ (boat), /ɪə/ (near), /ɛː/ (square), /ɜː/ (nurse), and /ə/ (about). however, the total number of vowels in general american english is 21 and those are the following: /ɪ/ (myth), /ɛ/ (bread), /æ/ (cat),/ʌ/ (son), /ʊ/ (took), /iː/ (people), / ɑː/ (watch), /uː/ tuna), /aɪ/ (try), /eɪ/ (say), /ɔɪ/ (noise), /aʊ/ (noun), /oʊ/ (slow), /ɪr/ (clear), /ɛr/ (fair), /ɔr/ (four), /ɑr/ (car), /ʊr/ (ensure), /ɝ/ (mercy), /ɚ/ (feather), and /ə/ (common). as it is clearly seen, one important detail to mention is that some of the phonetic symbols also change from british english to american english. now, considering the numerous vowel sounds found in english, it is now understandable why it is extremely difficult for spanish speakers to learn to differentiate a comparative linguistic analysis of english and spanish phonological system silva 144 no. 25 among all those phonemes. shoebottom (2017) states that some typical problems entail the failure to differentiate between sounds in words such as sit/seat, cat/cut, fast/first, etc. in the first illustration, for example, students may not be able to easily differ the short /ɪ/ from the long / iː/. normally, english learners, whose mother tongue is spanish, struggle a lot with such differentiated sounds since in their mother tongue there is only the phoneme /ɪ/ not the long / iː/. consequently, dealing with minimal pairs, especially beginner or basic levels, is quite challenging for them. in spanish, though, learning minimal pairs is not as hard as in english because the vowel sounds are quite different from each other. diphthongs and triphthongs with regards to diphthongs, which is the combination of two vowel sounds, according to vizental (2008), there are 8 diphthongs in english, and these are divided into 2 types of sounds (considering the position of the speech organs): closing and opening diphthongs. in closing diphthongs (ei, ai, ɔi, au, əu), the nucleus is more open than the glide, whereas in opening diphthongs (iə, εə, uə), the vowel is closer than the glide. in spanish, however, diphthongs, which can be rising or falling. rising diphthongs entail a semivowel + a full vowel (ia, ie, io, ua, ue, uo, iu, ui). in contrast, falling diphthongs consist of the opposite sequence (ai, au, ei, eu, oi, ou), giving a total number of 14 diphthongs in this language (garita & maría gonzález, 2019). in relation to the number of triphthongs, which refers to a combination of three vowel sounds in one syllable, ballester (2015) states that there are 5 in english, being these: /eɪǝ/ (player), /aɪǝ/ (fire), /ɔɪǝ/ (soya), /ǝuǝ/ (lower) and /aʊǝ/ (hour). basically, as seen above, all triphthongs combine a diphthong and the schwa sound /ǝ/. nonetheless, triphthongs are uncommon in spanish. salcedo (2010) states that they may emerge in strange noun forms such as buey and huey. likewise, they might appear in the second person plural form of the verbs, which is in the vosotros endings such as limpiéis. consonant phonemes interestingly, there are numerous differences between the consonants in english and spanish. vizental (2008) contends that, according to phoneticians, there are 24 consonant phonemes in english, and they are grouped as plosive, affricate, fricative, nasal, and lateral consonants. in spanish, however, salcedo (2010) says that most american spanish dialects have 19 consonant phonemes, and they are classified as stops, slit fricatives, groove fricatives, affricates, nasals, laterals, and tap consonants based upon the manners of articulation. a comparative linguistic analysis of english and spanish phonological system silva 145 no. 25 frederi (2005) points out that there are 15 phonemes that happen in both languages, but 5 from these only occur in spanish, and 9 only in english. some of the phonemes that occur in both languages can be “ch” and “sh”. even though these are different phonemes in english, in spanish, these sounds may be pronounced interchangeably in the same word whose meaning will not be changed. this can be done in the word chimenea, where students might say “chimenea” or “shimenea”. evidently, something like this cannot happen in english because the meaning would be totally different. for example, in the words cheap and sheep, it is not possible to pronounce these sounds interchangeably because they are referring to two different things. the same happens with the letters “v” and “b”. although in english these are different phonemes, in spanish, depending on the dialect, both consonants appear in written words, but people usually pronounce these two phonemes as “b”. for instance, the word vaca (cow) sounds like baca. as mentioned above, there are certain consonant sounds that only occur in spanish, but not in english (frederi, 2005). for example, the trilled “rr”, a phoneme which can be heard in words such as carro meaning car and pero which is the conjunction but. evlampieff (2017) posits that this is one of the typical phonemes english speakers find quite challenging to correctly pronounce in order to have a proper spanish accent. if the phoneme is not correctly pronounced, the meaning of the word will be totally different from the one intended. another phoneme that exists only in spanish, but not in english is “ñ” as in baño to say bathroom. english speakers at first might be unclear about how to pronounce this consonant, however, paying attention to the phoneme “jə” as in the word canyon, they can become successful in producing this phoneme accurately. the consonant sound “ll” as in lluvia meaning rain may also be complicated to pronounce for english speakers. what they can do to properly pronounce this sound is focus on their sound “ʒ” as in the word genre. this phoneme resembles the one in spanish “ll” and can facilitate learning its proper pronunciation. similarly, there are consonant phonemes that only occur in english but not in spanish. whitley (2002) states that there are unshared consonants in these two languages. for example, “ð” is in father, appears in english, but not in spanish. nonetheless, learning to produce this phoneme does not really seem extremely difficult for spanish speakers because they can merely connect “ð” to the sound “d” as in día meaning day or use “t” instead of /θ/in the word thank. another phoneme existing in english, but not in spanish is “dʒ” as in jungle. yet, the closest spanish sound that resembles “dʒ” is “ll” as in llorar meaning cry. to some extent, these two consonant phonemes may sound pretty much the same and students might not be able to clearly identify the difference in pronunciation unless they are carefully explained about the manner of articulation of each sound. whitley (2002) also mentions that the english phoneme “ŋ” as in king does not exist in spanish. still, spanish speakers might focus on the phoneme “g” as in gato meaning cat to try to produce the phoneme “ŋ” at the end of an english word. a comparative linguistic analysis of english and spanish phonological system silva 146 no. 25 word and sentence stress frederi (2005) states that spanish is a syllabic language. he explains that each syllable in this language has the same duration regardless of where the stress falls in the word. usually, this is one of the main reasons for several english speakers to assume that spanish speakers are “rapid” talkers. this responds to the fluent manner syllables are pronounced in spanish. english, on the other hand, is characterized by having an accentual rhythm of speech. in other words, the accented syllables in a word tend to have a longer duration in comparison to the unaccented ones. for instance, in the word banana in english, the first and last syllables are pronounced very quickly because they have the unstressed schwa phoneme /ə/ while the second syllable is stressed as it has the phoneme /æ/. taking the same word in spanish, all the three syllables have the same duration and stress, and of course, the schwa phoneme /ə/ does not exist in this language. with regards to this phoneme, shemesh (2012) indicates that there are 3 types of stress in english being these primary, secondary, and weak, which is the schwa sound. she goes on to explain that the primary stress is always longer, louder, and higher on pitch. for instance, in the word tomorrow, the first syllable sound “tə” has a weak stress, /mɒr/ has a primary stress, and /əʊ/ has a secondary stress. in spanish though, there are only 2 two types of stress: primary and secondary, no matter how many syllables there are in a word. taking the same example, mañana, which is “tomorrow”, the syllable “ña” has a primary stress, while the other two syllables “ma” and “na” have a secondary stress. another noticeable difference between these two languages is the use of a dash representing an orthographic sign that goes on the vowel of the stressed syllable, which is found in various cases of spanish words (lavandeira, 2015). this dash clearly suggests what syllable must be stressed in the word, and depending on the utterance, the meaning will change. for example, tomate without this accentual dash means “tomato” in english; with the orthographic sign though, tómate, the meaning of the word changes to the imperative form of verb take conjugated in the second singular person. this orthographic sign does not appear in english words; hence, it becomes more complicated for spanish speakers to know what syllable is the one which has to be stressed in an english word. this is one of the reasons why english learners sometimes have trouble accentuating the right syllable in certain words. for example, beginner english students might accentuate the syllable “ti” in the word “article” because the word in spanish is artículo, being “tí” the accented syllable with the orthographic sign. another example would be the word helicóptero, where “có” is stressed; as a result, students might think that in english, the right syllable to accentuate is not “co” in helicopter, but first one “he”. hence, this linguistic detail might cause confusion to spanish speakers with regards to learning to accentuate syllables in english. for people who are learning to speak spanish though, the orthographic sign can facilitate their learning as this dash explicitly tells them what syllable they are supposed to stress in a word. a comparative linguistic analysis of english and spanish phonological system silva 147 no. 25 with regards to sentence stress, ballester (2015) points out that the relative stress of words in a sentence relies on their relative importance. in other words, the more significant a word is in a sentence, the stronger it will be stressed. these content words include nouns, adjectives, main verbs, and adverbs. this linguistic detail is found in both languages: spanish and english; nonetheless, having a longer duration in content words of a sentence does not occur in spanish. let us take the example of a complete sentence: “we stayed there for a while”, there are two accented areas of stress and as opposed to the other sounds in this statement, they have a slightly longer duration. this phonological phenomenon would not take place in spanish even if the same sentence were translated into this language (frederi, 2005). “permanecimos ahí por un tiempo” does not have any special longer accented area of stress that stands out from the other sounds in the sentence. indeed, the primary stress occurs in the syllables “ci”, “hí” and “tiem”, but this does not mean that the syllable sound is going to be longer as it happens in english. therefore, accentual rhythm of speech would never take place in spanish unless this were deliberately done to emphasize something like the message to be delivered or proper articulation of the syllable being accentuated. pronunciation difficulties for spanish speakers undoubtedly, one of the biggest challenges for spanish speakers when learning english as a foreign language is pronunciation. afonso (2021) explains that they usually struggle to make certain sounds in english which are not found in their mother tongue. for example, they generally have trouble with these sounds /ɪ/ /iː/ /æ/ /ʌ/ /ɜː/ /ɛː/ /ə/ /ʊ/ /w/. for example, spanish speakers find it hard to say feel and fill accurately as in their mother tongue they only have the short /ɪ/, not the long vowel sound. the same happens with /æ/, /ʌ/ and /ɑː/ which correspond to spanish /a/ so spanish native speakers struggle with these 3 different sounds. as a result, they will say these 3 words, for example, bad, but and bar in the same way with the sound / ɑː/. besides vowel sounds, spanish speakers also have issues with several consonant sounds. uribe, fuentes, vargas, and rey (2019) state that typically, it is hard for them to produce certain sounds like /ŋ/ /dʒ/ /ʒ/ /ð/ /θ/ /z/. it is common to hear learners using the /t/sound instead of /θ/ in words like thanks or through, /s/ sound instead of /z/ in words such as is or zoo and the /g/ sound as in good in words like wood or would. these authors also point out that regarding phonological differences between english and spanish, some phonemes in these languages are done in a different manner and place of articulation. for instance, the phoneme /r/ is vibrant alveolar in spanish, whereas in english, it is approximant post-alveolar. as a result, the speech organs of the spanish speakers who are learning english have to be adjusted to the exact english articulation movements so that the phonemes are produced appropriately. another a comparative linguistic analysis of english and spanish phonological system silva 148 no. 25 case is the phonemes /d/ and /t/. in english, these sounds are produced by touching the tip of the tongue against the upper gumline. in spanish, however, these sounds are made by touching the blade of your tongue (just behind the tip) to this same position. another difficulty spanish speakers have in pronunciation is word stress. darren (2020) posits that in english, vowels are eaten. he explains that both of these languages have cognates, which are words that have the same origin. when these cognates are pronounced, however, the sound of certain phonemes change. for instance, in spanish, vowels are normally produced more completely; meanwhile in english, they are usually reduced to the “schwa” sound /ə/. this occurs in syllables that are not stressed. a few examples of these cognates are: color, which in english it sounds like “colr”, but in spanish it sounds exactly as the way it is written. another example can be the word normal, which in english the sound goes like “norml”, but in spanish it also sounds the way it is written. cognates can also lead to mispronunciation of certain phonemes of some particular words in english. likewise, spanish spelling has a big influence on english pronunciation. (afonso, 2021) explains that spelling and pronunciation are very strongly associated in spanish, so beginning students commonly pronounce english words in the same way they are written, letter by letter. here we are also talking about l1 interference since their mother tongue negatively influences the way they read english. there are some common words spanish speakers mispronounce. for example, mother /moder/, money /moneɪ/, chocolate /tʃokoleɪt/, friend /frɪend/. but they also have problems identifying letters or sounds which are silent in english, so it is hard for them to identify and memorize which phonemes do not sound in english. some typical examples are answer, island, honest, palm, climb, knife among other words. moreover, some spanish speakers tend to drop consonant sounds at the end of words. moore (2020) points out that this usually happens in words like “breakfast”, and learners just say “brekfas”. another example is when they say mine trying to say mind, or tex instead of text. but this also occurs when they have to say the plural form of certain words. for example, in sentences they only say sentence, or task instead of tasks. another mistake they make in pronunciation is when they have to use the past of some regular verbs and they don’t add the phoneme /d/ in verbs like loved, decided, created, changed, etc. they say these verbs as if they were in the present tense. now, spanish speakers not only tend to drop consonant sounds at the end of terms, but they also tend to add the sound /e/ at the beginning of some words starting with ‘s’ and a consonant. some typical examples happen in these words: street as ‘estreet’, school as ‘eschool’, strict as ‘strict’, and some others. according to moore (2020), this occurs because words in spanish do not normally start with a consonant cluster. therefore, sounds like /sp/, /st/, /sk/, /sl/, /sm/ do not exist in spanish and they will always have a vowel sound before. for example, esperar, estado, esmero, etc. a good way to correct a comparative linguistic analysis of english and spanish phonological system silva 149 no. 25 this pronunciation mistake in learners is to practice saying ‘ssssss’ several times before actually saying the word which starts with /s/. didactic implications unquestionably, learning to properly articulate and produce the target phoneme in either language (english or spanish), at times, might not be very straightforward to carry out. however, it is the teacher’s responsibility to give students the necessary linguistic tools so that they become successful in pronouncing well the vowel, consonant, or syllabic sounds in the language they are learning. but in order to be able to accomplish this, students need to know the correct position of their mouth, tongue, lips and other speech organs when learning to articulate new phonemes. frederi (2005) points out that when language teachers are working with bilingual students, it is essential to know about common articulation rules as well as patterns of speech of the learners’ language. being aware of these linguistic factors helps the language instructor better appreciate the phonological differences of these two languages, but more importantly, how to take advantage of these variances to smoothly teach the students the second or foreign language, which in this case would be spanish or english. similarly, it is important and beneficial for students to work with minimal pairs since working with words, whose meaning and pronunciation differ from one sound, allows them to practice using correct pronunciation for each pair of words. tursunkulova & juraboyeva (2021) point out that minimal pairs offer great benefits when teaching and learning pronunciation of another language. they help students overcome their difficulties in pronunciation. working with two words at the same time, where only one phoneme is different in each word, helps students’ identity and learn proper articulation of sounds of each phoneme as they can contrast two nearly alike sounds. likewise, nordquist (2017) agrees that minimal pairs serve as linguistic tools which permit to indicate that two sounds are contrastive. he also claims that a minimal pair is the easiest and clearest manner to recognize phonemes in a language. yule (2010) also suggests that minimal pairs allow students to develop their capacity to comprehend the distinction in meaning based upon the minimal sound contrast. hence, these pairs of words help students practice and differentiate common bewildering sounds like /s/ and /z/, /tʃ/ and /ʃ/, /iː/ and /ɪ/ among other phonemes in english. when learning spanish, minimal pairs also help distinguish consonant and vowel sounds such as in words like poca and foca, diga and digo, fuerte and suerte, etc. having several repetition exercises is another key factor that greatly contributes to model and obtain proper pronunciation of such complicated sounds in either language, a comparative linguistic analysis of english and spanish phonological system silva 150 no. 25 spanish or english (ballester, 2015). students should have as many opportunities as possible to practice listening to words, and then repeating them right after the word heard because the more they repeat, the faster they will learn to accurately pronounce the new utterances. but it is essential that language teachers wisely correct students’ mispronunciation on time by using appropriate techniques to avoid making students feel frustrated or demotivated because of having too much correction. according to thornbury (2005), repetition and drilling is generally seen as an advantage when learning correct pronunciation of new items because it develops articulatory control over language. in other words, drilling allows proper articulation of sounds because the organs of speech production take the right position in order to properly say the utterances intended. but drilling is also seen as a fluency-enhancing technique because it does not only improve correct pronunciation of chunks but also speaking in a more natural manner without hesitation. so, the teacher should model correct pronunciation of the target words by having choral drilling, that is, asking all the students to repeat the words at the same time, and individual drilling, which means asking individual students at random to repeat the words to check and correct pronunciation. but error correction ought to be used wisely and appropriately. gumbaridze (2012) argues that one type of error correction cannot always be seen as the only primary method for all types of learners because for some students it can be motivating while for others it might be discouraging. indeed, it is necessary to have many drilling exercises to enhance and perfect pronunciation of words, but it is also crucial to correct students’ mistakes in a proper way utilizing different appropriate strategies that do not hinder learners from speaking the language. thus, constant repetition exercises help optimize pronunciation and avoid having fossilization mistakes, but the teacher should be cautious and sensible in the way they correct learners’ inappropriate articulation of sounds. there are many other activities that can be applied in the classroom to model proper pronunciation of words, phrases and complete sentences. for example, to practice pronunciation of words, the technique “odd one out” is useful. tursunkulova & juraboyeva (2021) points out that this activity can make any pronunciation rules more memorable for learners. the idea is to choose some similar words in terms of pronunciation or their meaning. for instance, leap, tea, sea, great, etc. and students are supposed to choose the word, which is different from the group, which in this case is great. this activity can be done either as a reading exercise, where learners can read the words to themselves aloud and then identify the target sounds in the written words or as a listening exercise, where the teacher reads the words and the student just chooses the odd one out. the activity “reading out-loud” is another great tool to rehearse pronunciation. uribe, fuentes, vargas, & rey (2019) postulate that this technique has been a comparative linguistic analysis of english and spanish phonological system silva 151 no. 25 implemented in l2 teaching so that student’s oral production can be enhanced. this activity offers several advantages. it not only improves pronunciation of individual words, but it also fosters fluency so that students can speak faster in a natural way. moreover, it helps learners to improve word and sentence stress as well as intonation patterns. naturally, this helps the teacher identify pronunciation mistakes and correct those errors afterwards. the teachers’ role is extremely important in this exercise since if they do not model proper pronunciation of words, phrases, or even sentences, the students will continue making the same mistakes and those will become fossilized. thornbury (2005) also suggests using this technique as it has the advantage of providing a safe framework within which students can concentrate on lower-level features of speaking, such as pronunciation, stress and intonation. so, it is helpful if learners first mark onto their script the main stressed words and then divide each word or expression into meaningful chunks. this will allow them to sound more natural, accurate and fluent when speaking the target language. this author also recommends using chants in the classroom because they represent a more playful way of practicing repetition and drilling of chunks. thornbury (2005) states, “because they are contextualized, the chunks in chants may in fact be more memorable than in standard drills” (p. 66). in order to work best, the chants ought to include repeated examples of short, multi-word series, and should also have a constant rhythm. once learners have heard the chant a couple of times, learners can try to reconstruct it in a written version, before they chant it in unison. teachers can also ask students to mark the main stressed words to practice sentence stress. if tough utterances are included or found in the chant, they can be modeled in an isolated way and have learners repeat them a few times until correct pronunciation is heard. there are many other activities that can be done when teaching both languages to improve the learner’s pronunciation. afonso (2021) suggests several famous techniques that teachers can apply in the classroom. for example, the phoneme race where the class is first divided into two teams and the teacher jots down some phonetic symbols on the board. these will be pronounced for students to listen to. then he will write words on cards and the learners from each group have to run towards the teacher to obtain a card. later, each team needs to identify the phoneme of the word pronounced, write it down on the back of the card and then run back to the teacher. if the word written is correct, that group is given another card. in the end, the group that has accumulated the most cards is the winner. afonso (2021) also recommends playing the game chinese whispers where learners sit in a circle. the instructor displays one of the students a symbol and he has to whisper it to the next student. the next student whispers the symbol he heard to the next student and so on until the last learner gets that symbol. they should say the sound of that symbol to compare with the original one given to the first student. now, this technique can be used not only symbols, but words, phrases or even sentences. it a comparative linguistic analysis of english and spanish phonological system silva 152 no. 25 all depends on what the teacher wants students to practice such as pronunciation of individual utterances, intonation, word or sentence stress. another useful technique to improve students’ pronunciation in either language, spanish or english, is using dictionaries. this activity works well if students are teenagers and adults whose level of english is at least (pre) intermediate and who have a good understanding of the phonetic alphabet. the teacher selects five words and at the same time they are phonetically transcribed. individually or in pairs, they are required to write the corresponding word. then learners exchange papers with another pupil or pair and are asked to check whether they have done it correctly. the winner is that learner or pair of students who got it right. for students whose level of english is more basic or have no good domain of the phonetic alphabet, audio dictionaries can be used. the idea is that the teacher plays the audio of the word/s that need to be practiced and then students are asked to listen and repeat. listening to the correct pronunciation provided by the dictionary can significantly help improve students’ pronunciation. the teacher can even foster autonomous learning by encouraging learners to visit an online audio dictionary or download a complete one such as cambridge, oxford, longman, etc. so that they can check the correct pronunciation of any word that they want to practice. dictionaries with audio are such great tools to learn and improve pronunciation. but eventually, learning to read the phonemic charts is extremely important and beneficial because students will know exactly how to pronounce each symbol and consequently how to pronounce words correctly. so, language teachers should gradually incorporate pronunciation lessons along with the phonemic chart to help their students to improve this speaking sub-skill. conclusions to sum up, there are a few similarities between spanish and english regarding their phonological system, but there are more differences encountered between these two languages. in this paper, it was seen that even though several phonemes and a few other phonological patterns such as vowel and consonant sounds, diphthongs, triphthongs, word and sentence stress occur in both languages, the number of distinctive features between them is not the same. for example, considering the numbers of sounds mentioned above, it is concluded that english has a total of 44 phonemes, whereas spanish has only 24 phonemes. another difference is that english has an accentual rhythm of speech, where some syllables are longer than others, while in spanish certain syllables are stressed, but they do not have longer duration. finally, teachers need to take into consideration several factors when teaching about pronunciation to their students so that words are properly pronounced in either target language they are a comparative linguistic analysis of english and spanish phonological system silva 153 no. 25 learning. there are a variety of strategies and techniques such as the ones mentioned above that teachers can employ to help their learners improve their speaking skills, particularly pronunciation, intonation, proper word and sentence stress. a comparative linguistic analysis of english and spanish phonological system silva 154 no. 25 references afonso, e. (2021). the importance of teaching english pronunciation in spanish schools. universidad de la laguna. ballester, s. (2015). phonological system of the english language. retrieved from https:// mafiadoc.com/phonological-system-of-the-english-language-vowels-phonetic59d5dad41723ddcb1973290b.html darren, l. (2020). most common pronunciation errors for spanish speakers learning english. retrieved from packard communications: https://packardcommunications. com/pronunciation-english-spanish/ evlampieff, m. (2017). rocket languages. retrieved from spanish consonants: https:// www.rocketlanguages.com/spanish/lessons/spanish-consonants frederi, m. (2005). super duper publications. retrieved from common articulation variations between english and spanish garita, m., & gonzález, n. s. (2019). english vowel sounds: pronunciation issues and student and faculty perceptions. revista actualidades investigativas en educación. gumbaridze, j. (2012). error correction in efl speaking classrooms. procedia social and behavioral sciences, 1660 – 1663. lavandeira, s. (2015). a comparative linguistic analysis of english and spanish advertising discourse. moore, b. (2020). 6 pronunciation mistakes spanish speakers make in english. retrieved from oxford house language courses: https://oxfordhousebcn.com/ en/6-pronunciation-mistakesspanish-speakers-make-in-english-and-how-tofix-them/ nordquist, r. (2017). thoughtco. retrieved from minimal pair (phonetics): https:// www.thoughtco.com/minimal-pair-phonetics-1691392 salcedo, c. (2010). the phonological system of spanish. revista de lingüística y lenguas aplicadas, 195-209. shemesh, h. (2012). accent’s way. retrieved from the schwa | the secret of american pronunciation | vowels: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mrftj1bgla shoebottom, p. (2017). language differences: english-spanish. retrieved from http:// esl.fis.edu/grammar/langdiff/spanish.htm thornbury, s. (2005). how to teach speaking. harlow: pearson. a comparative linguistic analysis of english and spanish phonological system silva 155 no. 25 uribe, o., fuentes, s., vargas, k., & ray, a. (2019). problematic phonemes for spanish speakers’ learners of english. gist education and learning research journal, 215238. trong, l. (2010). teaching english discrete sounds through minimal pairs. journal of language teaching and research, 540-561. tursunkulova, k., & juraboyeva, g. (2021). the strategies, techniques, and activities to teach english pronunciation with minimal pair sounds technique. international journal of academic pedagogical research, 140-142. uribe, o., fuentes, s., vargas, k., & rey, a. (2019). problematic phonemes for spanish speakers’ learners of english. gist education and learning research journal, 215238. vizental, a. (2008). phonetics and phonology: an introduction. aurel vlaicu. whitley, s. (2002). spanish/english contrasts a course in spanish linguistics. washington dc: georgetown university press. wood, s. (2019). how many vowel sounds does english have? retrieved from babble magazine: https://www.babbel.com/en/magazine/english-vowel-sounds/ yule, g. (2010). the study of language. new york: cambridge university press. author: juan carlos silva valencia has a bachelor’s degree of science in english education and a master’s degree in tefl. in addition, he has completed multiple courses to obtain several international certificates such as tkt, tefl, celta and tesol. likewise, he has received numerous national qualifications in language teaching methodology. moreover, he has more than 10 years of teaching experience and has worked at several institutions of both secondary and higher education. currently, he works as an english teacher at the technical university of ambato. he is deeply interested in several academic fields like linguistics, specifically phonology, language teaching methodology, and digital learning orcid: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7127-3709 a comparative linguistic analysis of english and spanish phonological system silva how to reference this article: silva valencia, j. c. a comparative linguistic analysis of english and spanish phonological system . gist – education and learning research journal, 25. https://doi.org/10.26817/16925777.1152 gist final1.indd 152 monetary and career based motives at the core of efl programs: problems and solutions1 programas de inglés como lengua extranjera basados en fundamentos económicos y profesionales: problemas y soluciones cristhian fallas escobar, johanna ennser-kananen and martha bigelow2* universidad nacional, costa rica, boston university, university of minnesota, usa abstract in this paper, we discuss the dominant discourses that use monetary and careerbased reasons to justify the learning and teaching of english in costa rica by drawing parallels to similar phenomena taking place in japan, korea, canada, and colombia. we argue that the propagation of these discourses has resulted in the commodification of efl teaching and learning in costa rica, as programs are designed to meet narrow material-based interests and purposes. the reflection includes an analysis of publicity around efl learning, a national initiative to improve efl teaching/learning, a specific efl program in a public costa rican university, and the opinions of students from this program. we demonstrate how the construction of english as the means by which professionalism, economic growth, and wealth can be accomplished has shaped efl curricula in particular ways, thereby neglecting diverse motivations for efl learning. we finish the paper by advocating for the creation of more democratic spaces in efl classrooms where both teachers and learners can critique in constructive ways the impact that these dominant discourses have on themselves as individuals and on efl curricular at large. 1 received: december 15, 2015 / accepted: february 26, 2016 2 cristian.fallas.escobar@una.cr/prongsquib@hotmail.com/ jennser@bu.edu / mbigelow@umn.edu r efl ec tiv e a rt ic le s gist education and learning research journal. issn 1692-5777. no.12. (january june) 2016. pp. 152-173. fallas, ennser & bigelow no. 12 (january june 2016) no. 12 (january june 2016) 153 keywords: commodification of english, corporate-oriented english teaching and learning, critical discussions, diversifying efl curriculum resumen en este artículo discutimos los discursos dominantes que utilizan razones económicas para justificar la enseñanza y el aprendizaje del inglés en costa rica, estableciendo paralelos entre fenómenos que ocurren actualmente en japón, corea, canadá y colombia. la propagación de estos discursos ha dado como resultado la mercantilización de la enseñanza y aprendizaje del inglés en costa rica, impactando así el diseño curricular de los programas para satisfacer propósitos e intereses económicos. la reflexión incluye un análisis de la publicidad a nivel nacional en torno al aprendizaje del inglés, de algunas iniciativas nacionales orientadas al mejoramiento de esta área, de un programa de inglés como lengua extranjera ofertado en una universidad pública en costa rica, y de las opiniones de estudiantes de este programa. se hace hincapié en cómo la construcción del inglés como medio para la movilidad social, riqueza y profesionalismo ha impactado los programas de inglés como lengua extranjera, causando que estos, en su mayoría, pasen por alto diversas motivaciones que los aprendices puedan tener para el aprendizaje del inglés como lengua extranjera, debido a la prioridad que se le da a los intereses materiales y económicos del sector productivo. por último, este artículo aboga por la creación de espacios democráticos en los cuales tanto profesores como estudiantes puedan criticar de forma constructiva el impacto que los discursos dominantes antes mencionados tienen sobre los individuos y el currículo en inglés como lengua extranjera en general. palabras clave: comodificación del inglés, enseñanza del inglés orientada al sector productivo, discusiones críticas, la diversificación del currículo en inglés como lengua extranjera. resumo neste artigo discutimos os discursos dominantes que utilizam razões econômicas para justificar o ensino e a aprendizagem do inglês na costa rica, estabelecendo paralelos entre fenômenos que ocorrem atualmente no japão, coréia, canadá e colômbia. a propagação destes discursos deu como resultado a ‘co-modificação’ do ensino e aprendizagem do inglês na costa rica, impactando assim o desenho curricular dos programas para satisfazer os propósitos e interesses económicos. a reflexão inclui uma análise da publicidade ao nível nacional em torno à aprendizagem do inglês, de iniciativas nacionais orientadas ao melhoramento desta área, de um programa de inglês como língua estrangeira oferecida em uma universidade pública na costa rica, e as opiniões de estudantes deste programa. enfatiza-se em como a construção do inglês promove a mobilidade social, riqueza e profissionalismo e como tem impactado os programas de inglês como língua estrangeira, que na sua maioria passam por cima diversas motivações que os aprendizes possam ter para a aprendizagem do inglês como língua estrangeira, devido à prioridade que se dá aos interesses fallas, ennser & bigelow no. 12 (january june 2016) no. 12 (january june 2016) 154 materiais e econômicos do setor produtivo. finalmente, este artigo opta pela criação de espaços democráticos nos quais tanto professores como estudantes possam criticar de forma construtiva o impacto que os discursos dominantes antes mencionados têm sobre os indivíduos e o currículo em inglês como língua estrangeira em geral. palavras clave: co-modificação do inglês, ensino do inglês orientado ao sector produtivo, discursões críticas, a diversificação do currículo em inglês como língua estrangeira. monetary and career based motives fallas, ennser & bigelow no. 12 (january june 2016) no. 12 (january june 2016) 155 introduction the learning and teaching of english as a foreign language (efl) has proliferated rapidly around the world, but even more so in regions attempting to actively participate in the so-called global economy, such is the case of costa rica. to respond to this everincreasing demand for english, the number of efl programs has also multiplied at all levels of education nationwide, creating a societal push that has positioned english as the only logical foreign language to learn and has granted it a mandatory status in k-16 (álvarez, valenzuela, & villalobos, 2008). the rapid rise of efl teaching/learning, however, requires an examination of the forces fueling the choice for efl in the country and the pressures these forces exercise on efl curricula in costa rica at the college level. in this paper, we discuss the circulating discourses portraying efl learning as a desirable/inevitable pursuit connected to monetary gain and career advancement, and argue that these may be not only drawing the attention of individuals but also shaping efl curricula in costa rica in particular ways. to this end, we examine how the discourses disseminated by efl advertisements, combined with the pressures exercised by a national government-supported foundation, have caused the efl program in a public costa rican university to be reduced to business/career advancement ideals. our claim is that programs such as this one fail to consider the wide range of motivations driving learners to engage in efl learning. to demonstrate this, we analyze the multiple reasons that 30 students in the program provide for their efl endeavor. based on this analysis, we advocate for democratic/ constructivist spaces, where both teachers and learners can examine diverse motivations for efl learning and the extent to which learning english truly serves the promises disseminated by the discourses connecting english to monetary gain and career advancement. literature review this paper deals with the discourses that connect efl teaching and learning to monetary gain and career advancement in the business sense, and the impact these have had on individuals’ choices for what foreign languages to learn and on efl curricula in costa rica at large. according to mayr (2008), “discourse is a difficult and fuzzy concept as it is used by social theorists (e.g. foucault, 1972, 1977), critical linguists (e.g. fowler et al., 1979) and finally, critical discourse analysts (e.g. van dijk, 1990), all of whom define discourse slightly differently and from their various theoretical and disciplinary standpoints” (p. 7). our monetary and career based motives fallas, ennser & bigelow no. 12 (january june 2016) no. 12 (january june 2016) 156 use of the term ‘discourse’, however, does not refer to the structuralist paradigm that looks at language as separate from the social use it is given and the social context in which it originates. instead, we endorse a more functionalist view in that we take discourse to be any instance of language-in-use that rationalizes social practices and thus constructs a version of reality. that is, we understand discourse to, “...deal with meaning in social, cultural, and political terms, a broader approach to meaning than is common in much mainstream linguistics” (gee, 2011: ix). our argument is that a barrage of discourses has legitimized particular social constructions of english. the ideologies (ideascapes) contained in such discourses, which position english as an inevitable/ desirable endeavor and call for a link between efl and the corporate sector to be established, have become undeniable truths, fueled by advertisements and nationwide polices (mediascapes) (appadurai, 1996). as the ideascapes that english is the only logical foreign language to learn and that efl programs must respond to the corporate sector gain more force, these ideologies become regimes that teachers, administrators, and learners of efl programs agree to believe in and act upon. in various countries, but especially in costa rica, dominant discourses circulate, which construct efl learning as an indispensable tool that guarantees material and monetary gains and position efl learning as a non-negotiable, inevitable task that must meet the needs and demands of the corporate sector. as motha and lin (2014) put it, the present efl landscape is filled with discourses connecting the lack of english proficiency to a disconnection from an imagined international community and an exclusion from access to economic gain and professionalism, thus compelling individuals to regard english as worthy of pursuit and efl program administrators and curriculum writers to reshape such programs in ways that serve the business sector. one illustrative example of how english has become a soughtafter foreign language is park’s (2010) study of success stories published in the press in korea at the same time that an ‘english frenzy’ was developing as a result of the government and the business sector joining efforts to position english as an indispensable asset in the global economy. these stories, normally written from the perspective of a journalist, but at times composed as self-reports, consisted of accounts portraying individuals who succeeded at learning english as “… character[s] whose achievements in language learning attest to [their] grand potential for endless self-development and self-improvement celebrated in the new economy” (p. 23). the publication of these monetary and career based motives fallas, ennser & bigelow no. 12 (january june 2016) no. 12 (january june 2016) 157 success stories was coupled with the upgrading of the english curricula to emphasize communicative competence, the creation of immersion programs, and more aggressive competition among universities to offer courses taught in english. all in all, these stories contributed to the transformation of english in korea from “…mere preparedness for employment” to being “… about living up to the vision of what constitutes the ideal human subject in the neoliberal world” (p. 27). another example of the push for english is found in kubota’s study (2011) of the discourses propelling the efl industry in japan. in her study, she explains that the current linguistic instrumentalism, taking place in japan, is rooted in the assumptions that efl competence is necessary to participate in a global economy and that english proficiency enhances economic gain for both nations and individuals. kubota argues that the language education policies and the language teaching and testing industries in japan have perpetuated these discourses of linguistic instrumentalism and although there is a general consensus that the entire population is to acquire basic skills in english, the business sector has made it practically mandatory for japanese professionals to develop efl proficiency to meet corporate demands. as the efl testing industry further institutionalizes the ideology that english is a requirement in the present labor market, more individuals resolve to engage in efl learning and efl programs adopt a business and work-skills orientation. yet another example is heller’s study (2002) of the transformation in the ideology and practice of english-french bilingualism in canada unfolding over the last four decades, which she claims is filled with contradictions between language as a mark of belonging and language as a marketable commodity. she discusses that in canada “… young people expect their bilingualism to translate into privileged access to jobs in the service and information sectors,” (p. 59). although heller’s study focuses on the push for french as a second language, she clearly illustrates how monetaryand career-based discourses manage to spread the need for foreign/second language learning as connected to the corporate sector, under the promise of access to wealth and professional advancement. this, in turn, points to the fact that not only english is subject to commodification, but that other languages with symbolic power may be undergoing similar processes of instrumentalism. even closer to the context under scrutiny, guerrero’s study (2010) around the force that english is gaining in the ‘expanding circle’ countries where english has no official status but where it is largely used as a foreign language, also serves to illuminate the point we wish to monetary and career based motives fallas, ennser & bigelow no. 12 (january june 2016) no. 12 (january june 2016) 158 make. in her study, she examines the colombian national bilingualism project and claims that the initiative serves to perpetuate the symbolic power of english by constructing it as a necessary tool for academic and economic success. she assesses how this project constructs english “… as the magic formula that will solve [their] economic, social, cultural, and political problems…” (p. 305). to this, however, she adds that, “in such a complex, competitive, rich, plurilingual, pluricultural world like the one we live in, it is very narcissist and egocentric to think that speaking an important language like english is the key to solve all our problems” (p. 306). while the alignment between efl programs and the demands of the commercial sector is not necessarily in itself ethically or even pedagogically wrong, the reduction of efl programs to focus only on monetary gain and corporate professionalism runs the risk of neglecting other motivations for efl learning. although not necessarily present in public discourses about english learning, individuals are likely to have a wide range of reasons for choosing a foreign language. while some learners may be driven by an interest in cultures and people, a desire to broaden their view and avoid provincialism, a desire for new stimuli and challenges, a need for achievement, or a desire to integrate into a new community (dörnyei, 1990), others may do so fueled by a desire for travel, knowledge, and friendship (clément & kruidenier, 1983). and still others may simply have the goal of speaking a difficult or exclusive language (oxford & shearin, 1994), or relating to the international community (yashima, 2009) by going abroad, associating with members of other cultural/linguistic groups, and engaging in foreign affairs. in efl programs driven by the profit-based and careeradvancement mentality, learners’ diverse motivations can easily be overlooked, as the priority becomes “... to be the provider of human capital and the engine for economic growth” (block, gray, & holborow, 2012, p. 7), which inevitably leads to the exclusion of alternative purposes for learning english. higher education institutions are particularly pressured to provide individuals with the skills required in a highly capitalist economy (holborow, 2012, pp. 14-32). as mayr (2008) puts it, “...there has been a tendency to run universities like commercial businesses, with students being their customers. this development in turn has been promoted by the government’s pro-managerial discourses and policies, which espouse an entrepreneurial culture and educational system” (p. 3). in other words, universities have undergone changes in the direction of adopting a free-market and corporate business viewpoint, which have implications for efl programs. monetary and career based motives fallas, ennser & bigelow no. 12 (january june 2016) no. 12 (january june 2016) 159 as a matter of fact, for universities in costa rica, the dominant circulating discourses mentioned above have gradually allocated the learning of english a mandatory status. but not only that, these discourses have also led to the re-structuring of efl programs so that they meet the narrow needs and interests of the productive corporate sector, which necessitates workers to possess only technical, business, job-related, and managerial skills. the status of english as the mandatory foreign language to learn and the practice of shaping efl programs in ways that respond to corporate demands in turn has resulted in limiting learners’ choices as to what foreign languages to learn and what purposes to learn them for. in the next section, we explain the approaches we used to demonstrate that the costa rican efl landscape, specifically at the university level, resembles the phenomena currently taking place in japan, korea, canada, and colombia. pressures shaping efl programs in costa rica devoid of any contextual knowledge, one cannot understand the forces fueling the choice for efl in costa rica and the pressures these forces exercise on efl curricula in costa rica at the college level. for this reason, we present examples of language learning advertisements found in flyers, billboards, magazines, and newspapers that are publicly displayed and illustrative of dominant public discourses in costa rica. in other words, we provide a glimpse into costa rican ideascapes/ mediascapes (appadurai, 1996) around efl. as we reflect upon these advertisements, we also draw connections to the pressures applied by a foundation in costa rican on efl programs nationwide, as well as the structure and institutional status of one particular efl program in a public university in the country, with an emphasis on an analysis of its textbooks and testing practices. zooming in from the broader societal context of costa rican ideascapes and mediascapes and the local environment of the target efl program, we also present and examine data collected by means of a survey of 30 students in the efl program under scrutiny, here and after called inglés para todos (english for all), regarding their motivations for engaging in efl learning. the participants, taking the third level of the program, were in majors such as economics, environmental management, international affairs, administration, history, visual arts, topography, gender studies, and biology. at the time of this study, there were only three level-three courses, and so the participants were randomly selected from out of these three groups (10 students from each group). looking at all these facets of the cost rican efl landscape monetary and career based motives fallas, ennser & bigelow no. 12 (january june 2016) no. 12 (january june 2016) 160 allowed us to see not only the push for efl in the nation but also the effects this push has had on the efl program inglés para todos. the table below summarizes the data sources examined in this paper. table 1. sources of data utilized for analysis the media, nationwide initiatives, and the corporate sector in costa rica, the public is exposed to a barrage of advertisements about english teaching and learning filled with discourses portraying the language as a desirable and inevitable endeavor that brings monetary gain and career advancement, connected to the needs and demands of the productive corporate sector. these advertisements, which can be seen on billboards, in newspapers, magazines, and in social networks, encourage costa ricans to study english, by linking its learning to being a competent professional in a ruthless job market, to higher possibilities of getting a promotion or better-paid job, and to opening doors to a lucrative business world in the entrepreneurship sense. although this is not an in-depth study of the construction of efl by the costa rican media, an overview of advertisements that abound in costa rica serve as an illustration of the ideascapes/ mediascapes (appadurai, 1996) currently circulating monetaryand professionalism-oriented reasons for efl learning. specifically, four major ideascapes were embodied in the advertisements we found in various sources: (a) thinking in english was equated with thinking big, causing creativity, success, and the pursuit of dreams to be associated with proficiency in english; (b) efl learning was associated with monetary and career based motives fallas, ennser & bigelow no. 12 (january june 2016) no. 12 (january june 2016) 161 increasing profits and allowing professionals to offer better services, which clearly connects efl proficiency to money-related outcomes; (c) a lack of oral proficiency in english was compared to being mute, thus constructing receptive bilingualism (understanding written and spoken english but not being able to speak it as an unfortunate situation that positions individuals in a place of deficit and disadvantage; (d) an implicit promise was made that being proficient in english would improve individuals’ professional profile by granting them better chances of being hired; and (e) speaking english was described as an unavoidable requirement to get a job in the current competitive job market, portraying efl learning as a competition in which those who learn the language have a competitive edge. this kind of advertisement and the discourses it contains tap into people’s desires and fears by connecting english proficiency to success, profit, professionalism, and a ruthless job market. these circulating discourses have constructed the learning of english as a desirable endeavor, thus pushing costa ricans to choose english as their additional language, based on the belief that it unlocks doors to wealth, social mobility, and professional development in a highly business-oriented setting. against the backdrop of these circulating discourses, english has become a high-demand and profitable area of education in costa rica by those aspiring to access economic mobility. as the belief that speaking english automatically translates into access to better paid jobs and material gain, learning english has become more widespread and even gained the support of the government, which has created the conditions to further endorse efl learning as the only logical choice and to reshape efl programs. in costa rica, more recently, the efl programs that have flourished are commonly those that have been reduced to the aforementioned ideologies and purposes, thus contributing to the exclusion of alternative motivations for investing in efl, in favor of utilitarian purposes. driven by the english frenzy (park, 2010) also present in costa rica, more and more parents make tremendous sacrifices to enroll their children in the schools with the strongest efl programs, hoping to secure a prosperous future for their children. this pressing need for english also resembles the efl landscape of korea, where due to active promotion of english as a crucial resource “for competition in the global economy, university students and white-collar workers struggle to acquire and improve english language skills to render themselves marketable in the increasingly flexible job market, and parents strain themselves financially and emotionally trying to provide their children with the best opportunity for acquiring english” (park, 2010, p. 23). monetary and career based motives fallas, ennser & bigelow no. 12 (january june 2016) no. 12 (january june 2016) 162 by and large, the dominant discourse in the country seems to be that efl learning and teaching is worth it, mainly to the extent that it serves economic growth, as is discussed below. in costa rica, the government has granted efl learning a mandatory status in elementary and high school education (álvarez, valenzuela, & villalobos, 2008). this situation has been further institutionalized by the creation of a national foundation whose objectives include a) generating knowledge for decision-making on public policies related to the teaching of foreign languages, b) orchestrating actions with international volunteer programs focused on language teaching, designing educational processes that emphasize the development of language skills for the workforce, and c) building public-private partnerships to carry out language programs on a national level. as evident in the objectives in italics, this governmentsupported foundation is to become involved in public policies related to efl, focusing on creating a stronger link between efl and the acquisition of skills for the productive corporate sector. although this foundation states that it works as a catalyst for the teaching of various foreign languages, their efforts point to positioning english as the foreign language in costa rica, and not as much work has been done geared towards other languages. compelled by the objectives described above, this foundation has provided massive amounts of efl teacher training across the nation, focused on improving the teachers’ efl proficiency and their efl teaching methodologies. in addition, the foundation has also created mandatory efl programs in the five public universities in the country, which to a greater or lesser degree, have taken the shape of esp twoyear programs, characterized by a particular choice of textbooks. of specific interest is the four-level efl program inglés para todos in one of these public universities. granted, the university where this program operates offers other foreign languages such as japanese, mandarin, and portuguese, but the efl program in question is the one that has been given the most priority, as seen by the fact that for 27 out of 36 majors, taking this efl program has institutionally been declared mandatory and that while the university does offer few courses in other foreign languages (three to four for each language at the most), up to 27 efl groups are opened every semester. the projection of authorities in this university, however, is for the program to become mandatory in all majors in the near future. monetary and career based motives fallas, ennser & bigelow no. 12 (january june 2016) no. 12 (january june 2016) 163 efl textbooks, testing practices, and the corporate sector a quick overview of the contents of the textbooks utilized in the program under scrutiny reveals an interesting trend. the content of the textbooks for levels one and two center on a number of topics including: personal details, my region, leisure, home and away, buying and selling, services, work, gadgets and technology, food, journeys, body and mind, and getting together. the topics seem fairly varied but many of these units are developed in office and work related contexts. levels three and four topics include working life, projects, leisure time from work, services and systems at work, customers, customer service, guests and visitors at a company, security at the workplace, teamwork at the workplace, logistics of business projects, decision-making at the workplace, innovations at the workplace, and evaluation of processes and performance at the workplace. in this second textbook, it becomes more evident how the learners are introduced to the world of business with units that connect english to economic growth, money-related outcomes and professionalism, thus reducing english to just business. none of the units of the second book include alternative uses for english. one might think that a textbook is only a textbook and that the teachers have the power of agency to include alternative materials and activities, but the sole existence of a pre-selected textbook often results in instructors keeping the textbook at the center of all teaching and learning. this is true even more so when the textbook selected is coupled with the administration of a standardized final exam at the end of each course, which centers on the units contained in the textbook. for example, the standardized final exam administered to students finishing level three in the second semester of 2015 was comprised of the following items. the listening sections included 1) listening to two people talking about their strong and weak points in applying for a job, 2) listening to a woman talking about what she likes and dislikes about business trips, and 3) listening to a man talking about how to create an effective and appealing business website. the reading sections involved 1) matching people to potential jobs according to their qualifications and provided job descriptions, and 2) solving a multiple-choice exercise based on a text about investments. the writing section comprised the following tasks: 1) writing about their dream job, 2) writing a complaint letter to a business manager, 3) writing a new proposal for a company, 4) writing an e-mail to the human resources manager about the importance of work-life balance, and 5) describing a strategy to launch a new product. the speaking section included 1) showing an international business partner the premises of the company he/she is visiting, 2) describing an entrepreneurial initiative to a potential monetary and career based motives fallas, ennser & bigelow no. 12 (january june 2016) no. 12 (january june 2016) 164 business partner, 3) explaining to the staff of a company changes in the structure of the business, and 4) engaging in speed networking to find business partners. the clear match between the units in the textbook and the final standardized exam is a factor that may force teachers to allow the business-oriented textbook to guide their teaching. the textbooks selected for the inglés para todos and the privileged standardized testing practices resemble the trend of english for specific purposes (esp), “which incorporate[s] concerns like ‘negotiations’, ‘meeting skills’, ‘preparation skills’....” (cameron, 2002, p. 71). although esp is, of course, a valid and important option to have, the predominance of esp topics in textbooks, the abundance of esp courses/programs, and the reduction of efl to the learning of work-based and business-oriented skills stifle learners with diverse motivations from the opportunities to learn the language for alternative purposes, favoring the interests of those concerned about business and profit making. needless to say, our aim is not to criticize the existence of esp courses and programs but to problematize the marginalization of alternative motivations for efl learning and the assumption that esp equals guaranteed professional advancement. the efl classroom: a complex landscape of motivations given the particular textbook selection and testing practices in inglés para todos, a survey was conducted with 30 efl students taking their third semester of english, to learn about their motivations to study the language. the participants were majoring in economics, environmental management, international affairs, administration, history, visual arts, topography, gender studies, etc. in the survey, they were given a list of possible reasons to study english, were asked to choose three that coincided with their own motivations, and to rank them in order of importance. this list included studying abroad, getting to know the culture of english-speaking countries, finding a job, getting a promotion, meeting general interest in foreign languages, meeting general interest in learning more about english, facing a personal challenge, expanding their knowledge of the world, traveling, making/ maintaining relationships with english speakers, fulfilling an academic requirement, and setting up their own business. as regards their first motivation, figure 1 below shows that although the biggest force driving the respondents to engage in foreign language learning coincides with the discourses spread by the media and government-supported initiatives, their efl endeavor is also fueled by other various motivation of a more personal type. monetary and career based motives fallas, ennser & bigelow no. 12 (january june 2016) no. 12 (january june 2016) 165 figure 1. motivation #1 to study english regarding their second motivation for studying english, most students report to have money-related motivations such as finding a job or getting a promotion, as well as career-based reasons including studying abroad and academic requirement. however, it is important to note here that the money-related motivation fell from a 60% to a 26% whereas career-based motives remained stable. additionally, the informants also reported to have other motivations. clearly, as they explore other reasons why they engage in efl learning, other alternative motives not related to money or career building start to emerge and become more prevalent. figure 2. motivation #2 to study english monetary and career based motives fallas, ennser & bigelow no. 12 (january june 2016) no. 12 (january june 2016) 166 finally, as to their third motivation, the picture becomes a bit more complex, in which the majority reported to be interested in meeting a general interest in understanding english better and personal reasons, as well as career-based motivations. figure 3. motivation #3 to study english these figures demonstrate that individuals normally have multiple motivations for engaging in efl learning, that even the majority of students who are driven by moneyand career-oriented purposes have other motivations as well, and that the classroom is a complex landscape of motivations. as demonstrated in the figures above, learners walk into efl classrooms driven by diverse motives and hoping to accomplish multiple objectives that programs focusing on moneyand career-related outcomes fail to meet. the high percentage found in the respondents’ first motivation to study english shows that the discourses that connect the learning of english to thinking big, to granting skills to offer a better professional service, to boosting one’s professional profile and opportunities to get hired in a competitive job market, are pushing individuals to believe that efl learning is a desirable and unavoidable task, thereby fueling an english frenzy (park, 2010). our task as teachers of english as a foreign language in light of the ‘english frenzy’ (park, 2010) spreading in japan, korea, canada, colombia, and costa rica, and the proliferation of efl programs that respond to narrow motivations for efl learning, it is monetary and career based motives fallas, ennser & bigelow no. 12 (january june 2016) no. 12 (january june 2016) 167 essential that we as efl professionals take measures to bring about change geared towards a more diverse efl curriculum. to this end, the design and implementation of efl curricula must consider that not all learners are invested in efl learning for the reasons advanced by circulating discourses and that those who are, may also have other alternative motivations. we insist that learners be critical of their motivations because even when the discourses connect english to promises of material gain and career advancement, both teachers and learners must examine the extent to which these promises can become a reality. this critical examination of motivations is possible by opening spaces in efl classes in which the forces pushing people to learn english and guiding language curricula are discussed to move the current desire for english from an unconscious to a conscious plane (motha & lin, 2014). the resulting new awareness can constitute an important starting point for teachers and students to start to question their own motivations and their connection to dominant circulating discourses around efl and to seriously examine what english can do for them. this dialogue can potentially allow them to make liberating decisions about their efl learning endeavor and about what they will do with the english they learn. again, critical discussions should center on an examination of how dominant monetary and career advancement discourses impact individuals and efl curricula. this dialogue can be a process to come to terms with the many contradictions efl teachers feel between their altruistic reasons for joining the field and the oftenlimiting ways of being an efl professional in programs that favor moneyand career-based motivations. in the direction of catering to multiple motivations for efl learning within the curriculum, we generated some examples of activities and topics teachers may incorporate into their lessons to cultivate a multi-faceted rationale for studying english: (1) using english for volunteering or working for international altruistic aims, (2) exploring aesthetic uses of language such as composing music e writing poetry and short stories, (3) learning not only about english speaking countries but also about the world through different perspectives, given how much media is produced in english, (4) participating in and promoting youth culture by consuming, analyzing and creating content from a youth culture perspective, (5) taking a stand to support minority or indigenous language rights and revitalization, (6) turning aesthetic reading into an everyday classroom practice, and (7) discussing the need for social and not only economic entrepreneurship. monetary and career based motives fallas, ennser & bigelow no. 12 (january june 2016) no. 12 (january june 2016) 168 these seven ideas are rarely tackled in the books that are currently used in efl programs in costa rica, and are never to be found in the current advertising for efl learning nor in the goals and projects of the national government-supported foundation. by integrating such topics and activities into an efl curriculum, students may find themselves more engaged, more successful, and may develop more and better communicative proficiency, which in turn may serve them very well in the marketplace. but more importantly, these may allow efl learners to see the multiple purposes for which english can be used, other than the moneyand career-based ones comprising the dominant circulating discourses. one good example of the ideas exposed above is the caracola creative languages project by alice emery, luz cadavid and wendy garcía, located in new haven, connecticut, whose vision is to provide socially engaged language teaching and learning founded in the principles of experiential learning, artistic creation as a transformative exercise, and communication. in their philosophy, they state that while they are aware that speaking multiple languages brings about numerous opportunities for growth, they seek to open spaces for exciting cultural experiences in collaboration with members of the community. this, they claim, may serve to bridge the social divides that may exist at the community level. to this, we would add, that a curriculum that departs from the expressed needs of the learners is more likely to help those learners become successful at communicating in the second or foreign language that they are learning; skills that may as well serve them for job and money related purposes or any other motivations they may have. the caracola creative languages founders understand this and have managed to translate it into a curriculum that responds to their learners. our idea is not to stop individuals from choosing efl or to shut down esp-oriented programs but to call for the diversification of efl curricula so that it includes various motivations and to educate individuals to become conscious of their own motivations and critical towards circulating discourses connecting english to profit, career advancement and success. one good starting point to initiate dialogue in the efl classroom is the question, “how might english be a language that allows us to be more, rather than just to have more?” (pennycook, 2000, p. 220). efl needs more critical language teachers and learners capable of taking actions towards diversifying efl curricula. fueled by the discourses in advertisements and the pressures from the government-supported foundations, english itself and efl programs in costa rica are being commodified, where individuals’ fears monetary and career based motives fallas, ennser & bigelow no. 12 (january june 2016) no. 12 (january june 2016) 169 of a competitive job market take priority over their aspirations to travel, to get to know the world, to keep and maintain friendships with native and nonnative speakers of english, to expand their perspectives of the world, to set up their own business, to take on a personal challenge or simply to learn more about a foreign language. a program that excludes non-money related motivations runs the risk of leaving little to no room for discussions around diversity, equity and justice; for the development of critical thinking skills; for activism around important current issues such as immigration and human rights. programs that mostly focus on work skills, as seen in the textbook and testing practices favored in inglés para todos, exclude topics such as social entrepreneurship, as it responds to the needs of the industry and not to studies that focus on prospective students and their various motivations to engage in efl learning. interestingly, at the national level, needs analyses seem to be done on the industry and corporate sector and not on the learners themselves. governments and universities seem to operate upon the premise that serving corporations equals serving people’s needs, dreams and aspirations. conclusions this discussion is grounded in the costa rican context, specifically that in higher education. the consequences of monetary and career-based motives for studying english are likely to apply to primary and secondary school settings as well, but this is outside the scope of this paper. we speculate that the issues raised here are repeated all over latin america, but again, this discussion focuses the analysis on the situation in costa rica. we also acknowledge that is paper is not an in-depth study of ideology in any given institution’s efl program. it is merely a scholarly reflection on and critique of the current state of affairs in efl teaching in higher education in costa rica. in this article, we explored international literature on the proliferation of english for monetary and career-based motivations and then linked this literature to the unique context of costa rica, with a small set of data serving to illustrate some of the issues raised. by engaging in the actions described in the section above, the satisfaction many teachers may feel is to know that while they are part of the teaching force of one of the most powerful languages in the world, they did not succumb to a prescribed curriculum without critical examination of alternative perspectives to those offered by the dominant discourses. opposition to the current commodification of efl teaching and learning and its reduction to profit and career purposes is monetary and career based motives fallas, ennser & bigelow no. 12 (january june 2016) no. 12 (january june 2016) 170 a big challenge that is already long overdue. the ideology –real and imagined– that english serves the “broadest possible communication” and that “it is an instrumental ‘necessity’ for getting a good job” (gal, 2012, p. 39) is so much a part of our everyday lives that it becomes unthinkable for society to start operating otherwise. but in hindsight, every effort counts in changing a landscape of foreign language teaching that still puts the market at the center of human activity and leaves humans and their diverse reasons for engaging in efl learning at the periphery. our discussion aims to articulate a problem in the field of efl teaching and learning; namely, that we should not allow the study of english to be defined entirely by the demands of the market. there are many reasons to study a language and by tapping into or even cultivating these multiple reasons for english learning, we have the opportunity to engage learners in dynamic, current, authentic language teaching and learning. monetary and career based motives fallas, ennser & bigelow no. 12 (january june 2016) no. 12 (january june 2016) 171 references alvarez g., valenzuela n., & villalobos n. 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(1994). language learning motivation: expanding the theoretical framework. the modern language journal, 78(1), 12-28. park, j. s. -y. (2010). naturalization of competence and the neoliberal subject: success stories of english language learning in the korean conservative press. journal of linguistic anthropology, 20(1), 2238. pennycook, a. (2000). language, ideology and hindsight: lessons from colonial language policies. in t. ricento (ed.), ideology, politics, and language policies: focus on english (pp. 49-65). philadelphia: john benjamins north america. yashima, t. (2009). international posture and the ideal l2 self in the japanese efl context. in dörnyei, z., & ushioda, e. (eds). motivation, language identity and the l2 self (pp. 144-163). bristol, uk: multilingual matters. authors *christian fallas escobar holds an ma in second languages and cultures from universidad nacional de costa rica, and a certificate in teacher training from the school of international training. he has been an efl instructor for over thirteen years and currently works in the escuela de literatura y ciencias del lenguaje at the universidad nacional. among his areas of interest are critical thinking, reflective teaching, multiculturalism monetary and career based motives fallas, ennser & bigelow no. 12 (january june 2016) no. 12 (january june 2016) 173 & multilingualism, translanguaging, and the intersection between economics, politics and efl. he has co-authored a textbook for efl and published several papers dealing with translanguaging in efl contexts, bilingualism in latin america, and neoliberal discourses and their connection to the rise of efl. *johanna ennser-kananen is clinical assistant professor of language education at boston university. her work focuses on language ideologies, multilingual language practices, and linguistic legitimacy in school and classroom settings. in addition, she has analyzed the spread of neoliberal processes in various educational contexts. ennser-kananen has published her work in the international journal of language studies and the encyclopedia of applied linguistics and presented it at national and international conferences such as the annual conventions of aera, aaal, and actfl. she is co-editor of the routledge handbook of educational linguistics. *martha bigelow is professor of second language education in the department of curriculum and instruction at the university of minnesota. she is a former peace corps volunteer in the dominican republic and english teaching fellow in panama. she currently teaches in a graduate program which prepares language teachers and researchers to work in a wide range of educational settings on issues related to foreign and second language learning. she has published in a range of books and journals including: tesol quarterly, studies in second language acquisition, writing systems research, theory into practice, the new educator, diaspora, indigenous and migrant education, and annual review of applied linguistics. she has published two books related to her work with adolescent somali refugees in the united states: (1) literacy and second language oracy (2009, oxford university press) with elaine tarone and kit hansen and (2) mogadishu on the mississippi: language, racialized identity and education in a new land (2010, wiley blackwell). she is the co-editor with johanna ennser-kananen for the routledge handbook of educational linguistics (2015). her advocacy and public engagement includes serving on boards of immigrant non-profits, long-term teacher education initiatives, and statewide leadership in education and policy issues related to teaching immigrant adolescents and adults. monetary and career based motives fallas, ennser & bigelow no. 12 (january june 2016) no. 12 (january june 2016) gist journal reviewers no. 12, 2016 (january – june) gist would like to thank the following reviewers for their valuable comments and thoughtful revision: carlos augusto arias, institución universitaria colombo americana, única, colombia mauricio aldana, institución universitaria colombo americana, única, colombia ricardo amórtegüi, centro colombo americano bogotá, colombia j. petra cole, holy trinity primary school, australia carlo granados beltrán, institución universitaria colombo americana, única, colombia sandra mercuri, the university of texas rio grande valley, usa sandra liliana rojas, institución universitaria colombo americana, única, colombia joellen simpson, bnc colombo americano cali, colombia astrid wilches, centro colombo americano bogotá, colombia hans-georg wolf, university of potsdam, germany 177 content and language integrated learning (clil): considerations in the colombian context1 jaisson rodriguez bonces2* universidad central, colombia abstract the present article seeks to encourage reflection on the characteristics and considerations when implementing content and language integrated learning (clil) in a diverse context such as the colombian one. initially, the general aspects of an innovative and changing education in a globalized world are presented by stating the need to innovate. secondly, content and language integrated learning is defined along its implications by critically addressing clil dimensions. lastly, the article offers a broad view about the inclusion of clil in the colombian context. in general, the article presents the implications about the use of clil, specifically its dimensions and influence in colombia. keywords: clil, content based instruction, clil dimensions resumen el siguiente artículo tiene como finalidad motivar a la reflexión sobre las características y consideraciones para implementar el aprendizaje y enseñanza de lengua a través de contenido (content and language integrated learning) en un contexto tan diverso como el colombiano. inicialmente se presentan las generalidades de una educación innovadora y cambiante en un mundo globalizado que exige docentes que incorporan metodologías apropiadas a las necesidades e intereses de los estudiantes. seguidamente se define el aprendizaje y enseñanza de lengua a través de contenido y sus implicaciones para así abordar sus dimensiones de manera crítica. finalmente, el texto ofrece una visión más amplia con respecto a la inclusión de clil en el contexto colombiano. en general, a lo largo del artículo se reflexionará acerca de las implicaciones del uso de clil, específicamente sus dimensiones y su influencia en colombia. palabras claves: clil, enseñanza y aprendizaje por contenidos, dimensiones clil 1 received: august 17th, 2012 / accepted: september 4th, 2012 2 email: jeijeto@hotmail.com gist education and learning research journal. issn 1692-5777. no. 6, november 2012. pp. 177-189 no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) 178 resumo o seguinte artigo tem como finalidade motivar à reflexão sobre as características e considerações para implementar a aprendizagem e ensino de língua através de conteúdo (content and language integrated learning) em um contexto tão diverso como o colombiano. inicialmente se apresentam as generalidades de uma educação inovadora e cambiante em um mundo globalizado que exige docentes que incorporam metodologias apropriadas às necessidades e interesses dos estudantes. seguidamente se define a aprendizagem e ensino de língua através de conteúdo e suas implicações para assim abordar suas dimensões de maneira crítica. finalmente, o texto oferece uma visão mais amplia com respeito à inclusão de clil no contexto colombiano. em geral, ao longo do artigo se reflexionará acerca das implicações do uso de clil, especificamente suas dimensões e sua influência na colômbia. palavras chaves: clil, ensino e aprendizagem por conteúdos, dimensões clil introduction language teachers have used many influential methods and approaches that have made their mark on the field of english language teaching. the historical progression of foreign language teaching and every one of its methods and approaches have taken place within a framework where the term innovation is fundamental. the world has changed radically, globalization has gathered pace rapidly, and the english language has come to dominate the way new ideas, methods and approaches have grown out of reactions to the dominant paradigms of previous periods. due to this, it seems strange now to think that many educators ignore or disdain the significance of being innovative in their practice which means to be proactive, creative and dynamic. in a straight response to these changes many teachers in colombia are adapting methodologies to improve their teaching practices in such a way that they motivate and engage students while reaching language standards. in this sense, content and language integrated learning (clil) has been used in the colombian context as a way to teach content through english. content and language integrated learning (clil) rodriguez bonces no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) 179 towards a definition of clil although clil has been used in europe or in the united states labeled as content based instruction (cbi), in colombia it is a new paradigm shift in the field of language teaching since it entails innovation in methods and approaches. the acronym clil was originally defined in 1994, and launched in 1996 by unicom, university of jyvaskyla in finland and the european platform for dutch education. according to marsh (2002), it describes educational methods in which “subjects are taught through a foreign language with dual-focused aims, namely the learning of content, and the simultaneous learning of a foreign language.” this definition clearly shows how clil not only implies the teaching of content through english but remarks the importance language has when teaching content. that is to say, educators need to pay close attention to the fact students are learning content through a language that demands instruction and background knowledge. as a result, it is advisable that educators plan content lessons that include a target language goal. if one considers the dual focus expressed in the previous paragraph, the term clil becomes an umbrella term to cover “learning through any language that is not the first language of the learner” (ball, 2006). in consequence, the educational community needs to be aware that using a foreign language when teaching content incurs in language learning since structures, vocabulary, and pragmatics, among other linguistic features, are implicit in the topic being taught. clil entails teaching the foreign language while students learn subject – matter. marsh (2003) adds that clil also includes procedure when it is implemented effectively. for instance, when students learn a subject; namely, history, geography and/or science through the medium of a foreign language; the foreign language acts as a vehicle for learning, thus educators plan integrating not only content and language but also procedures by stating how content will be addressed in such a way that it is meaningful for every learner, no matter their proficiency level. as a result, clil is also an instructional approach. content and language integrated learning (clil) refers to any dual-focused educational context in which an additional language, thus not usually the first language of the learners involved, is used as a medium in the teaching and learning of non-language content. it is dual-focused because whereas attention may be predominantly on either subject-specific content or language, both are always accommodated. (marsh, 2003, elc information bulletin 9) content and language integrated learning (clil) rodriguez bonces no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) 180 clil is focused on interdisciplinary curriculum or cross curricular planning. in this regard, educators teaching english as a medium of instruction (emi), language across the curriculum (lac), content based instruction (cbi), content based language teaching (cblt), english for specific purposes (esp) or any form of bilingual education, are all applying clil. english has turned out to be the dominant language in our society, therefore a need for language and content integrated learning arises in order to prepare future professionals to face this changing world. this situation gives the learning of a foreign language the importance that it had never had before in the curriculum, as it provides innumerable advantages if we are to accompany the new trends in the world we are living in. apprentices need to learn a language to confront the demands of a new society; the studied language may provide a better status and the possibility to use it for different needs. in order to show the use of language, learners may do cross curricular connections by doing project work, for example. in summary, when using clil, both language and content are simultaneously given attention and they are both essential in the learning process. the language is used as a tool to learn the contents of the subject, and those contents are used as a meaningful medium to learn and use the language communicatively. clil, dimensions and focuses marsh et al. (2001) mentioned five fundamental dimensions that characterize clil as an instructional approach: figure 1. clil dimensions content and language integrated learning (clil) rodriguez bonces no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) 181 ball (2006) thinks that these dimensions are the basis for clil. keeping in mind content and language imply both communication and knowledge, it is certain to consider these five dimensions provide a framework for the approach. first, culture dimension contributes to the growth of intercultural knowledge resulting in most of the cases in cultural understanding. likewise, culture dimension helps to introduce wider cultural context, learning at the same time about specific neighboring countries, regions and minority groups. it emerges as a means to handle issues relating to regional-political conditions where even if cross-border contact has been minimal in the past, the future invites much greater contact. colombia as multicultural and diverse as it is, offers a wide spectrum to assume a cultural position in regards to one´s own perception and the foreign language. clil is used to promote understanding and awareness through language-enhanced methodologies. second, regarding the environment, clil prepares for internationalization which is nowadays one of the main goals of the educational system in colombia. the programme curriculum may be heavily influenced by specific environmental needs or opportunities identified in the institution. in the same way, thanks to this internationalization, there is an international certification access. students have preparation for future studies or work that involves different languages, so they are ready to face any culture with all the necessary skills to take an exam in which their proficiency is valued. when integrating content and language, students have the opportunity to acquire both basic interpersonal communications skills (bics) and cognitive academic language proficiency (calps) with the former being all the social language skills and the latter the language skills to cope with academic requirements (cummins, 2000). being able to communicate academically and socially opens new borders and encourages students to explore and travel around the world. third, in terms of content, clil is seen as helping to provide opportunities to study content through different perspectives. marsh et al (2001) claim that “languages, and the cultures associated with them, sometimes reveal differing world-views that can be seen in the ways in which some content is taught.” one obvious example lies in how educational curricula in different countries may describe shared historical events. however, traditions in the different disciplines can lead to significantly diverse ways of approaching and understanding similar phenomena. clil enables learners to study through these different perspectives that can lead to achieving a deeper understanding of the subject matter. tackling a topic from different perspectives content and language integrated learning (clil) rodriguez bonces no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) 182 undoubtedly fosters critical thinking and broadens students’ perspectives on different issues. the content dimension even offers access to specific target language terminology. students acquire new lexicon in order to understand concepts or express academic language accurately. clil is suitable for all levels of education, from elementary to graduate or vocational to professional education. fourth, marsh (2001) affirms that in terms of learning dimension, clil complements individual learning strategies. clil is specifically geared to learner-centered methodologies that attempt to improve learning by giving attention to individuals’ needs in terms of social and thinking skills. one broad issue relates to how the brain processes information (sousa, 2006). recently, it has been posed relevant to how the brain learns; for instance, brain differences among boys and girls, different learning styles or even how the arts influence learning. likewise, this learning dimension suggests that clil helps to increase learner motivation which is at the heart of all education. lastly, in terms of language dimension, clil is a significant approach to improve overall target language competence. using marsh’s (2001) words, this is one of the most common reasons, both historically and more recently, for the introduction of clil. this focus stresses language competence in general and therefore includes reading, writing, speaking and listening skills. clil furthers the language experience through the integration of language and non-language teaching. in the same way, this language dimension proposes that the practicing of oral skills can be done in a ‘utilitarian’ way that is to provide opportunities to use the language as a tool to communicate. this means that methods to be used are the ones that lead to a high degree of interaction within the class. in such cases, even if desirable it is not necessary for a teacher to have native-like competence in the target language; what it truly matters is the ability to interact and transmit knowledge by means of the target language. finally, these five dimensions build students’ profile and attitudes by being competent in the foreign language. this focus often involves a learner being able to use a language for specific purposes while developing cultural, personal and social understanding. marsh et al. (2001) pointed out that the dimensions are idealized and should not be viewed as standing alone, because they are usually heavily inter-related in clil practice. it is useful to distinguish the dimensions because it allows to identify the separate, yet inter-locking reasons why clil is implemented in diverse contexts. content and language integrated learning (clil) rodriguez bonces no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) 183 considerations when implementing clil many scholars claim that for clil to work effectively there are a number of conditions to be met. rodríguez-bonces (2011) affirms that there are four areas that researchers, educators and anyone else involved in the field need to work on in order for clil to suit the colombian scenario. those aspects are the following: 1) language learning approach; 2) teacher training; 3) materials development; 4) cultural and intercultural competence. (p. 85) with teacher training being one of the most applicable. subject teachers must be adequately trained in the target language while language teachers teaching content need to be trained in the core subject. it may be said that clil promotes real cooperation between teachers from different areas or departments, as well as collaborative teaching. the implementation of clil encourages careful analysis of existing methods and appropriate adaptation. for instance, bilingual models such sheltered instruction observation protocol (siop) advocate for careful planning, meaningful learning, gradation of content and assessment according to students’ background and educational needs. in clil all these factors play a pivotal role at some point or another. clil is a coherent way of doubling the amount of exposure to the language, without the necessity of adding more room in the timetable for language (only) lessons. in the long term, using clil from primary school would be beneficial since it would allow those students to study other languages in high school or university. students increase language instruction time while acquiring new concepts. the language can be acquired by natural means, leading to authentic use of it. clil is based on language acquisition rather than enforced learning. furthermore, teaching subject content in the foreign language makes the use of that language more contextualized, real and meaningful for students. as language is used to fulfill real purposes, its use is authentic and much more meaningful for the students; as a consequence, motivation is increased. the use of innovative materials and methods can be an engaging factor for students and teachers. by using materials that address topics that students are familiar with and, if possible, that they have recently studied in their mother tongue, students are able to learn more as they will already know a lot of the content and context. this familiarity enables them to pay attention to details that they would otherwise miss. as previously mentioned when explaining the clil dimensions in content and language integrated learning (clil) rodriguez bonces no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) 184 terms of language, content and environment, materials need to be chosen according to social contexts and students’ level and interests. materials should consider existing knowledge, contextual clues and thinking skills and if possible the inclusion of interdisciplinary experiences that bring active engagement. implementing clil demands that schools provide teachers with plenty opportunities for professional development and enhanced teaching practice. as it can be inferred, classes following a clil approach differ from efl (english as a foreign language) ones. in typical efl, the topics are pre determined by interest or age related factors. in one unit, students can be talking about friendship and in the next one about global warming. the contents are disposable, they serve to introduce or practice a linguistic objective, and they are not goals themselves. nevertheless, with clil students are using the language meaningfully and higher cognitive skills are being developed: analyze, argue, compare, judge, categorize, etc. it develops oral communication skills and cultural awareness. educators need to be trained on how to address different topics, on how to plan lessons for diversity or multilevel skills. besides, teachers need guidance on how to assess students when the focus is content but the means is language. moreover, we all know that for the new technologies, internet, the world wide web and other ways to be connected with the outside world, english is the lingua franca, so clil also provides the opportunity of social inclusion and a wider cultural consciousness. however, not many teachers have the knowledge of how to incorporate the information communication technologies (icts) in the classroom. it is evident that topics such as lesson planning for clil, ict´s in the classroom, differentiated instruction, scaffolding techniques, and assessment, among others, should be part of any professional development program. no method or approach can work well if instructors are not supported in their work by educational authorities who believe in teachers’ expertise and their capacity to successfully implement changes. implementing clil in diverse educational contexts clil may be used not only in elementary or high school settings; it may also be applied in undergraduate programs since students take some of the subjects of their major in english. in fact, some universities are offering bilingual teacher preparation programs. similarly to high school, in many institutions all the students in the different programs have to take and pass four or six compulsory levels in order to get their degree. at this point, educational background influences learning content and language integrated learning (clil) rodriguez bonces no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) 185 approach. in fact, many students find english very difficult because they did not have good training in secondary school. bearing this situation in mind, clil has to be implemented gradually. it may be initially used in a couple of courses towards the end of the students’ programs once learners have had the chance to catch up with their knowledge of the language. in the same way, students´ background influences the learning context and teachers’ educational background affects teaching approach. as regards teachers, core area teachers with an acceptable level of english could perfectly deliver their classes in the target language and students could benefit from such an approach. however, it is difficult to imagine language teachers delivering highly specific contents at university level unless, of course, backed up by the subjects’ teachers. such implementation would require both subject and language teachers working hand in hand in order to complement each other in the same class. another distinction needs to be made between rural and urban contexts. although clil has been used in europe, conditions in latin america, specifically colombia are different: for instance, in terms of students’ mobility or school resources. another consideration to bear in mind is about the professional training teachers receive. clil requires subject teachers with foreign language skills and vice versa, unfortunately, this characteristic is not fulfilled by the majority of the educators. in fact, in colombia there are some areas where teachers are not equipped with adequate training and even resources. it seems most of the educational capacity is in the big cities, with small towns or villages being isolated in the implementation of new approaches such as clil. there is also a divergence between the context of private and public institutions. alvarez and ayala (2005) point out that public institutions teachers differ from private institutions teachers. one main difference is the professional training teachers receive. specially, in reference to foreign language education, private schools teachers often are experts and hold an undergraduate or graduate degree in the subject they teach. in addition, they are offered more training and methodological updating, for example publishing houses train teachers on how to use textbooks as part of the teaching methodology even in other subjects different to english-, but they are also teaching them using english as the vehicle for learning. in contrast, in public education teachers from different subject matters such as social studies, literature and others usually have to teach for instance the subject of english (or vice versa) without previous training. content and language integrated learning (clil) rodriguez bonces no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) 186 obviously some adjustments have been introduced by the government last year, although there is still a lack of more professional development training. alvarez and ayala (2005) also note, in regards to logistics, private schools are funded independently; they are not subject to the limitations of state education budgets and have more freedom to invest in new technologies and materials. opposite to that, public schools must follow all state and local laws in education. these laws also include regulations about program and curriculum development different from private school regulations which are freer in their curriculum design. as a consequence, these two settings (private and public schools or institutions) need to be considered as two separate worlds. perhaps this is another reason that would make the use of clil impossible in some specific contexts. it is true educators need to make some adjustments in the curriculum and programs in the teaching courses in order to succeed, no matter if they belong to public or private systems. clil suggests and requires a large degree of language exposure. the correlation with the proficiency levels proposed by the common european framework (cef) is another aspect to consider. the cef asserts that c1 language proficiency level is attained after one thousand hours or more of independent work and exposure to the target language. our contextual characteristics and educational system are not ready yet for such a challenge. the average number of hours of a foreign language class in a public school in colombia is four hours per week while in private schools it is eight hours. therefore, variation in the number of hours of english language instruction will inevitably affect proficiency levels. in terms of language policies, authorities need to consider the contexts described above. many teachers have complained about the conditions in which they try to teach languages and the blindness or deafness of education authorities to teachers’ claims and /or suggestions. it is absolutely essential that governmental policies acknowledge the importance and value of clil through their national education plans (long and short-term). if the national educational authorities do not clearly spell out how the bilingual plan is going to be implemented, most likely local education ministries or boards will not easily accept changes in the current curricula, thus blocking the way to any initiative that may later prove beneficial for all the actors in this complex context. the last aspect to take into account is the diversity of curriculums. clil appears as a very interesting proposal to promote interdisciplinary curriculum or co-teaching. however, this approach content and language integrated learning (clil) rodriguez bonces no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) 187 is difficult to implement due to the fact that some subject teachers are not even basically prepared in a foreign language. one option to solve this issue would be co-teaching by having language teachers teaching parts of the different subjects of the curricula. for instance, the english teacher may invite the art teacher to do a hands on activity about the topic being studied. the art teacher speaks in english, he/she gives the corresponding instructions to follow in order to create the mask; subject integration supports the learning experience. in conclusion, in order to implement clil in diverse contexts, everyone involved in the educational process needs to consider the following aspects: 1. adequate target-language competence. 2. adequate subject-knowledge. 3. adequate materials in the target language. 4. explicit institutional and national policies 5. teacher co-operation. conclusion innovation in education implies the adoption and adaptation of approaches and methodologies. clil as an instructional approach that fosters content knowledge through language involves careful planning according to the different contexts and current times. there are many considerations when implementing clil; for instance, language proficiency, subject knowledge, intercultural communication, teacher training and policies among others. english teachers have to work closely with subject teachers to ensure that language development is appropriately catered to, in other words, to guarantee that content and languages are truly integrated. this article is an invitation to reflect about what is needed to implement instructional approaches so that students and teachers succeed by engaging in academic performance, critical thinking, collaboration, and multiculturalism through different interactions in the classroom. as english becomes an essential add-on to any curricular program around the world, it is moving into a position where it becomes a subject that students learn in order to do something else. clil, with its dual-focused aims, encapsulates perfectly this utilitarian view of the english language. “clil is about using languages to learn… it is about installing a ‘hunger to learn’ in the student. it gives opportunity for him/ content and language integrated learning (clil) rodriguez bonces no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) 188 her to think about and develop how s/he communicates in general, even in the first language” (marsh, marsland & stenberg, 2001). all in all, clil views language as a vehicle to learn through english. references ball, p. 2006. defining clil parameters. retrieved from http://www.onestopenglish.com/clil/methodology/articles/ june 2012. cummins, j. (2000) language, power and pedgogy: bilingual children in the crossfire. clevedon: multilingual matters dalton-puffer, christiane. 2007. discourse in content and language integrated learning (clil) classrooms. john benjamins publishing company. darn, s. 2006. clil content and language integrated learning. http://www.stevedarn.com/?writings::clil%3a_content_and_ language_integrated_learning marsh, d. 2002. content and language integrated learning: the european dimension actions, trends and foresight potential. http://europa.eu.int/comm/education/languages/index/html marsh, d. et al, (2001): profiling european clil classrooms: european commission (handbook). marsh, d. (2003). the relevance and potential of content and language integrated learning (clil) for achieving mt+2 in europe. elc information bulletin 9 april 2003 retrieved from: http://userpage. fu-berlin.de/elc/bulletin/9/en/marsh.html rodriguez-bonces, m. (2011) clill: colombia leading into content and language learning. in ikala revista de lenguagje y cultura. vol 16. no 28/ mayo-agosto. antioquia: universidad de antioquia. sousa, d. (2006). how the brain learns. california: corwin press sage zárate, j. & álvarez, j. (2005). a perspective of the implications of the common european framework implementation in the colombian socio-cultural context. colombian applied linguistics journal (9), bogotá, colombia: fondo de publicaciones universidad distrital francisco josé de caldas. content and language integrated learning (clil) rodriguez bonces no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) 189 the author * jeisson rodríguez-bonces holds an m.a. in applied linguistics to tefl and is currently doing an m.a. in spanish as a foreign language. he is a teacher and teacher trainer at universidad central and unitec. adults and teenagers have been part of his teaching experience as well as experience outside colombia. his areas of interest include language teaching and learning and bilingual education. email: jeijeto@hotmail.com content and language integrated learning (clil) rodriguez bonces no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) 79 no. 11 (july december 2015) no. 11 (july december 2015) gist education and learning research journal. issn 1692-5777. no. 11, (july december) 2015. pp. 79-102. foreign language learning strategies in the context of stem education1 estrategias de aprendizaje de lenguas extranjeras en el contexto de la educación stem turgay han2* kafkas university, turkey abstract this study aims at providing an insightful evaluation of the efl strategies used by firstyear stem (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) students, and their perceptions of their own use of strategies. the 147 participants were undergraduate level, first-year engineering students at a state university in turkey. their ages ranged from 18 to 24. they took the young learners’ language strategy use survey (lss). in addition, a sub-sample of students was interviewed about the strategies they used in learning language skills. the results showed that the students tended to employ various strategies in learning different language skills, but did not frequently use or practice these strategies. further, vocabulary strategies and pronunciation skills were believed to be effective in conveying and deciphering meaning. these results suggest that language learning strategy training should be provided in stem education. keywords: language learning strategies, engineering students, english as a foreign language 1 received: july 15, 2015 / accepted: september 10, 2015 2 turgayhan@kafkas.edu.tr 80 no. 11 (july december 2015) no. 11 (july december 2015) resumen este estudio tiene como objetivo proporcionar una profunda evaluación de las estrategias en el aprendizaje del inglés como lengua extranjera utilizadas por los estudiantes de primer año de stem (ciencias, tecnologías, ingenierías y matemáticas) y sus propias percepciones sobre el uso de estas estrategias. los participantes fueron 147 estudiantes de primer año de la carrera de ingeniería de una universidad en turquía, cuyas edades oscilaban entre los 18 y 24 años. se aplicó el instrumento (young learners´ language strategy use survey) para identificar las estrategias de aprendizaje utilizadas por los participantes. asimismo se seleccionó una submuestra de estudiantes para entrevistarlos sobre las estrategias que utilizan en el proceso de aprendizaje de idiomas. los resultados mostraron que los estudiantes solían emplear diversas estrategias en el aprendizaje de idiomas, sin embargo no las utilizan con frecuencia. además, se asume que las estrategias de vocabulario y habilidades de pronunciación son eficaces en la transmisión y comprensión del significado de las palabras. estos hallazgos sugieren que es necesario proporcionar entrenamiento en estrategias para el aprendizaje de idiomas en la educación en ciencia, tecnología, ingeniería y matemáticas (stem). palabras clave: estrategias de aprendizaje de una lengua, estudiantes de ingeniería, inglés como lengua extranjera resumo este estudo tem como objetivo proporcionar uma profunda avaliação das estratégias no aprendizado de inglês como língua estrangeira utilizada pelos estudantes de primeiro ano de stem (ciências, tecnologias, engenharias e matemática) e suas próprias percepções sobre o uso destas estratégias. os participantes foram 147 estudantes de primeiro ano da carreira de engenharia de uma universidade na turquia, cujas idades oscilavam entre os 18 e 24 anos. aplicou-se o instrumento (young learners´ language strategy use survey) para identificar as estratégias de aprendizado utilizadas pelos participantes. da mesma forma se selecionou uma subamostra de estudantes para entrevistá-los sobre as estratégias que utilizam no processo de aprendizado de idiomas. os resultados mostraram que os estudantes tinham o hábito empregar diversas estratégias no aprendizado de idiomas, porém não as utilizam com frequência. além disso, se assume que as estratégias de vocabulário e habilidades de pronúncia são eficazes na transmissão e compreensão do significado das palavras. estas descobertas sugerem que é necessário proporcionar treinamento em estratégias para o aprendizado de idiomas na educação em ciência, tecnologia, engenharia e matemática (stem). palavras chave: estratégias de aprendizado de uma língua, estudantes de engenharia, inglês como língua estrangeira foreign language learning strategies han 81 no. 11 (july december 2015) no. 11 (july december 2015) introduction strategies are deliberate observations and mental actions actively employed by learners to improve their language learning, for example, observing how others take notes in a lecture and thinking over one’s own background before engaging with a text (anderson, 2005). the term has also been used interchangeably with behaviors, tactics, and techniques (ellis, 2008). however, there is no fully agreed upon classification of strategies nor a thorough scientifically validated hierarchy of strategies (oxford, 1990). ellis (2008) describes the most widely accepted strategy classifications: those made by o’malley and chamot (2010) (e.g. cognitive, metacognitive and socialaffective learning strategies), and oxford (1990) (e.g. direct and indirect strategies). further, several researchers have examined the robust link between strategy use and l2 proficiency (e.g. huang & nisbet, 2014; kayaoğlu, 2013; kouritzin, 2012). however, the literature indicates that very little research has specifically targeted foreign language learning strategies (lls) used by stem students in content-based instruction. in this sense, this study aims to bridge this research gap by examining foreign lls employed by engineering students who had previously received english language instruction and were receiving content-based engineering instruction at a turkish state university. the study posed these questions: what strategies do the engineering students frequently employ while learning english-as-a-foreign language and how do they perceive them? further, the following sub-research questions were asked: what are the strategies students frequently use in learning and employing each language skill (e.g. speaking, listening, reading, writing, vocabulary and grammar)? how do the students perceive their strategy use? literature review inventories used in lls research several inventories and surveys have been devised to examine language learning strategies (lls). the most frequently referred to in the literature include oxford’s (1990) strategy inventory for language learning (sill). several research studies on lls have benefited from sill (e.g. demirel, 2012; patil & karekatti, 2012) for the purpose of providing “a general picture of the individual learner’s typical strategy use, rather than a specific portrayal of the strategies used by the learner on a particular language task” (oxford, 1999, p.114). it has been used in different language contexts and levels of study foreign language learning strategies han 82 no. 11 (july december 2015) no. 11 (july december 2015) (oxford, 1999). the great advantage sill is to provide reliable and valid data (anderson, 2005). likert-type items in the sill are classified into two main, and six sub-categories of strategies: direct strategies (e.g. memory-related, cognitive, and compensatory), and indirect strategies (e.g. metacognitive, affective, and social strategies) (oxford, 1999). the cronbach alpha internal consistency index of the 80-item version of the scale in efl/esl or translated contexts is between .94 and .98.the reliability of the 50-item version of the sill is .89 and .90 when administered in english in efl contexts (oxford, 1999). another more sophisticated taxonomy is purpura’s (1999), which examines the psychometric properties of cognitive and metacognitive lls (e.g. comprehending, retrieval and memory strategies) through the applications of the structural equation model approach. the survey of reading strategies (sors) (mokhtari & sheorey, 2002) is another commonly used likert-type scale, which examines metacognitive strategies used while reading in the target language. it includes three sections: global reading, problem solving reading strategies, and reading support strategies. sors has a well-established psychometric property and a reliability co-efficiency of .93. finally, cohen and oxford’s (2002) young learners’ language strategy use survey (lss) defines strategies regarding language skills. this taxonomy uses 76 items, which are constructed to examine strategy uses in learning language skills such as listening, speaking, reading, writing and other language features including vocabulary and translation. content based instruction (cbi) and science, technology, engineering and mathematics (stem) education stem is an acronym coined in the competitive and modern world and mostly refers to interdisciplinary science, technology, engineering and mathematics education. these four areas are entangled rather than separated into four disciplines because these skills, required in real world applications, are considered for success. stem education mostly aims to support undergraduate level students in developing the skills needed for a stem career, which responds to the need for competent professionals in the real world (reeve, 2014). for a long time, language course content has been selected from a particular profession or academic discipline, such as that of airline pilots or computers scientists. this is because this type of cbi enables the integration of language and content learning, and contributes to the naturalness of content for language instruction (larsen-freeman, 2000). further, cbi “speed[s] up the learning and teaching of the second language in question” (van els, 2005, p. 973). this tendency may be a result of the position of english as the language of technology around the globe. the professional world and the labor market in several fields force foreign language learning strategies han 83 no. 11 (july december 2015) no. 11 (july december 2015) students to have not only technical competencies, but also a strong command of english, the lingua franca of science and technology today (gimenoa, seiza, siqueiraa, & martínez, 2010). research into lls several studies on lls have been conducted in the last three decades (e.g. anderson 2003; cohen 1998; ellis, 2008; huang & nisbet, 2014; kayaoğlu, 2013; kouritzin, 2012; naiman, fröhlich, & todesco, 1978; oxford, 1990). some mainly investigated learners’ engagement towards learning new things, and the strategies they frequently employed to understand, memorize and retrieve information (e.g. oxford, 1990). others compared more successful language learners to those less successful, and identified the qualities of good learners in terms of lls (e.g. kayaoğlu, 2013). typically, there is generally a robust link between strategy use and l2 proficiency. some learners are better at foreign and second language learning than others even though they receive the same education in the same setting (lee, 2010). it has also been argued that less successful learners do not generally show considerable progress due to their repeated use of the same strategies. on the other hand, successful language learners possess a variety of strategies ready to be employed in different occasions (anderson, 2005). other studies that have frequently examined the relationship between strategy use and language learning performance, and specifically on esl (bialystok, 1979; eslinger, 2000; rubin, 1975; vann & abraham, 1987), and the link between different efl proficiency levels and strategy use (ehrman & oxford, 1995; oxford & nyikos, 1989). more recent studies have examined lls use from different perspectives: studying the link between reading strategy use and reading proficiency among adult esl learners (huang & nisbet, 2014); the link between high and low learners’ language learning beliefs and language strategy use (kayaoğlu, 2013); male and female foreign language learners’ lls (tercanlıoğlu, 2004); the link between lls, gender and academic achievement (demirel, 2012); and the link between explicit metacognitive strategy instruction and efl reading comprehension (durgun, 2010). regarding stem education, very few studies have examined lls used by science and engineering tract students (cheng, xu & ma, 2007; kouritzin, 2012; minh & intraraprasert, 2012; patil & karekatti, 2012). among the first of such studies, cheng, xu and ma (2007) investigated engineering students’ lls while learning english. questionnaires were used to investigate their strategy use, frequency of strategy use and utilization of learning strategies in practice. the findings indicated that students frequently used more cognitive strategies than social/affective strategies, and metacognitive strategies were foreign language learning strategies han 84 no. 11 (july december 2015) no. 11 (july december 2015) employed less often. further, the result suggested that participants believed in the positive effect of strategy use on language learning. in another study, minh and intraraprasert (2012) investigated languagelearning strategies used by science-oriented students in vietnam. thirty students majoring in science, technology and health science in six different vietnamese universities were interviewed to extract a lls inventory to represent the strategies they used. the results suggested two main categories of strategies: language skills enhancement and general language knowledge enhancement. following minh and intrarapraseet, patil and karekatti (2012) examined lls employed by engineering students and their perceptions on the use of strategies in learning english in the indian context. the sill (oxford, 1990) was used to collect data from 60 engineering students from four engineering colleges. the findings indicate that students prefer metacognitive, cognitive, compensatory and social strategies, but they rarely use memory and affective strategies. further, students are not aware of the benefits of using lls to learn english. finally, kouritzin (2012) investigated the similarity between studying foreign languages and the study of stem subjects in the canadian context. the findings showed that stem lead to greater opportunities when compared to foreign language study, regardless of whether the students receive foreign language study or not. it was found that the knowledge of a foreign language was not necessary for business or social success in canada, and that english was an international language of science. in the turkish cbi context, the medium of instruction and the course content related to professional fields are in english at several universities (e.g. bau, boun, itu). however, in the turkish research context, to the best of our knowledge, there has been little substantial research that specifically selects its target sample from stem majors at the undergraduate level. only kayaoğlu (2011) has investigated efl physics-track students’ language beliefs and approaches to language learning. the participants were taking foundation efl courses in a turkish state university. in this study, the participants responded to horwitz’s (1987) 34-item beliefs about language learning inventory. the results indicated that the students frequently believed that foreign language learning requires a special ability, a good ear, and good memory skills. the students’ beliefs and their fixed ideas about aspects of learning foreign language impacted their lls. briefly, foreign language learners try to employ several different strategies to complete language learning tasks such as reading or writing. in foreign language learning strategies han 85 no. 11 (july december 2015) no. 11 (july december 2015) this sense, they could be successful in completing the tasks if they employed the appropriate lls (richard, 1994 cited in lee, 2010). the above review has shown that very little research has specifically targeted foreign lls use by stem students in content-based instruction. methodology research design this mixed methods study used both quantitative and qualitative methods. specifically, using the convergent parallel design, the researcher concurrently collected the quantitative and qualitative data. the quantitative and qualitative analyses were carried out separately, and then the results were merged to assess the general interpretation (creswell & clark, 2011). context and participants the participants were 147 first-year students studying in different undergraduate level engineering departments at a turkish state university. their ages ranged from 18 to 24. students took an intensive english course in the preparatory program before starting their faculty education in which they attended several content-based courses in english. the medium of instruction and exams were conducted in english. students were tested using a criterionreferenced framework designed by the school of foreign languages at the university. the test included two sections, the first which tested their speaking and writing skills and the second which tested their listening, reading, grammar, and vocabulary skills. all the participants passed this exam based on criterionreferenced assessment. table 1. shows the participants’ profile. table 1. participants’ profile department f % f % age software/computer engineering 24 16.3 11 7.5 18-24 metallurgical and material engineering 13 8.8 29 19.7 automotive engineering 72 49 58 39.5 mechanical and machine engineering 12 8.2 39 26.5 electric and electronic engineering 11 7.5 9 6.1 energy system engineering. 15 10.2 1 .7 total 147 100 147 100 foreign language learning strategies han 86 no. 11 (july december 2015) no. 11 (july december 2015) data collection instruments cohen and oxford’s (2002) young learners’ language strategy use survey (lss) was used in this study. this 76-item taxonomy investigates strategy use in different skills (e.g. listening, speaking, reading writing, and other language features including vocabulary and translation). the reliability checks are positive. the reliability coefficients are: learning structure and vocabulary (r = .85), speaking (r = .77), listening (r = .83), reading (r = .67), and asking for clarification (r = .79) (paige, cohen & shively, 2004) a reliability check for this present study was also conducted. the results showed that the total reliability is very high (r = .925). further, while the reliability coefficients were over .7 for listening (r=.79), speaking (r=.78), reading (r=.78) and writing (r=.75), the reliability coefficients were lower than .7 for vocabulary (r=58) and translation (r=55). data for this study was collected in two phases. first, 147 students responded to the 76 items on the scale. then, a focus group interview was conducted with a random sub-sample of four students. these participants were randomly selected from volunteers who were studying at different departments to maximize differences among the participants. six interview questions were pre-determined and directed to the students after they took the survey. the questions related to the strategies used in learning every language skill and their individual experiences. the students discussed their perceptions about strategy use. the interview was conducted in turkish to maximize participant responses. the interviews were voice recorded and then transcribed. data analysis and interpretation a series of descriptive statistical analyses (e.g. the mean and standard deviation) were performed over the quantitative data. the purpose of conducting these statistical analyses was to determine which lls were most frequently used. a coding and classifying approach (gay, mills & airasian, 2009) was used for the qualitative data analysis. first, the student responses determined to be pertinent to the research questions were arranged together. they were categorized, and then analyzed according to recurring themes (huang, cunningham, & finn, 2010). in terms of the focus groups, the interviews were conducted with the subsample of four interviewees in turkish. first, the voice-recorded interviews were transcribed. then, the researcher translated the students’ responses from turkish to english. the aim of conducting the interview in the learners’ native foreign language learning strategies han 87 no. 11 (july december 2015) no. 11 (july december 2015) language (e.g. turkish) was to encourage more detailed responses. finally, the analysis was made based on recurring themes following gay, mills and airasian’s (2009) coding and classifying approach. these analyses were used to answer the following research question: how do the students perceive of their strategy use in learning english-as-a-foreign language? results the quantitative results are presented first, followed by the qualitative results. the quantitative analyses included descriptive statistics (e.g. mean and standard deviations of strategy use for each skill). the tables provide the descriptive statistics for the data obtained from responses used in the analysis. finally, the analysis of the focus group interview is presented. quantitative data analysis the quantitative data was used to answer the following research question: what are the strategies students frequently use in learning and practicing each language skill (e.g. speaking, listening, reading, writing, vocabulary and grammar)? foreign language learning strategies han 88 no. 11 (july december 2015) no. 11 (july december 2015) table 2. descriptive statistics for listening strategies if the statement really describes you if the statement isn’t like you if the statement is somewhat you like general mean general s.d. f % f % f % mean sd. what i do to listen more… -781 .0825 1. i listen to the radio in the language. 45 30.6 44 29.9 58 39.5 ,904* 0,84 2. i watch tv shows in the language. 46 31.3 35 23.8 66 44.9 ,789 0,87 3. i go to movies that use the language. 43 29.3 41 27.9 63 42.9 ,850 0,84 4. i listen to the language if i am in a or go see movies in the language. 54 36.7 29 19.7 64 43.5 ,762 0,90 5. if i hear people speaking the language, i listen 47 32.0 41 27.9 59 40.1 ,878 0,85 what i do to understand sounds 6. i find sounds in the language that are like sounds in english. 41 27.9 38 25.9 68 46.3 ,796 0,84 7. i try to remember unfamiliar sounds i hear. 49 33.3 27 18.4 71 48.3 ,701 0,89 8. i ask the person to repeat the new sound. 41 27.9 24 16.3 82 55.8 ,606 0,87 9. i listen to the rise and fall of sounds (the music of the language). 56 38.1 25 17 66 44.9 ,721 0,91 what i do to understand what i hear 10. i listen for the important words. 48 32.7 44 29.9 55 37.4 ,925* 0,84 11. i listen for what seems interesting. 49 33.3 25 17 73 49.7 ,674 0,90 12. i listen for words that are repeated. 43 29.3 32 21.8 72 49 ,728 0,87 what i do if i still don’t understand what someone says: 13. i ask the person to repeat. 43 29.3 42 28.6 62 42.2 ,864 0,84 14. i ask the person to slow down. 44 29.9 35 23.8 68 46.3 ,776 0,86 15. i ask a question. 48 32.7 30 20.4 69 46.9 ,735 0,88 16. i guess the meaning from the person’s tone (such as angry or happy). 48 32.7 35 23.8 64 43.5 ,803 0,87 17. i guess the meaning from how the person moves or stands. 52 35.4 32 21.8 63 42.9 ,789 0,88 18. i guess the meaning from what i heard before. 55 37.3 28 19 64 43.5 ,755 0,90 foreign language learning strategies han 89 no. 11 (july december 2015) no. 11 (july december 2015) table 2 provides the detailed descriptive statistics for the responses given for the listening strategy category. both the mean and standard deviations are very similar across each strategy item, indicating that students employ similar listening strategies. the mean scores are close to 1.0, indicating that the students use these listening strategies to some extent. the standard deviations are slightly below 1.0, indicating that the students employ similar listening strategies. further, item #1 and item #10 received higher mean scores, indicating that the students mostly listen to the radio and pay attention to important words when listening. table 3. descriptive statistics for vocabulary strategies if the statement really describes you if the statement isn’t like you if the statement is somewhat you like general mean general s.d what i do to memorize new words f % f % f % mean sd .704 .0582 19. i group the words by type (e.g.. nouns. verbs. adjectives). 54 36.7 28 19 64 43.5 ,748 .89968 20. i match the sound of the new word with the sound of a word i know. 42 28.6 25 17 80 54.4 ,626 .87655 21. i use rhymes to remember new words. 58 39.5 25 17 64 43.5 ,735 .91320 22. i make a picture of new words in my mind. 56 38.1 21 14.3 70 47.6 ,667 .92406 23. i write the new word in a sentence. 44 29.9 32 21.8 71 48.3 ,735 .86816 24. i write the new word on a card. 36 24.5 36 24.5 75 51 ,735 .83030 25. i go over new words several times at first. 47 32 22 15 78 53.1 ,619 .90077 26. later i go to remind myself about words i learned earlier 43 29.3 35 23.8 69 46.9 ,769 .85769 table 3 provides the detailed descriptive statistics for the responses given for vocabulary strategy use. both the mean and standard deviations are very similar across strategy items, indicating that each student employs similar vocabulary strategies. the mean scores are approximately 1.0, indicating that the students use these vocabulary strategies mentioned above in the table. again, the standard deviations are slightly below 1.0, indicating that the students employ very similar vocabulary strategies. foreign language learning strategies han 90 no. 11 (july december 2015) no. 11 (july december 2015) table 4. descriptive statistics for speaking strategies if the statement really describes you if the statement isn’t like you if the statement is somewhat you like general mean general s.d f % f % f % mean sd .761 .0630 what i do to practice speaking 27. i make the sounds of the language until i can say them well. 57 38.8 27 18.4 63 42.9 ,755 .90567 28. i imitate the way native speakers talk. 56 38.1 35 23.8 56 38.1 ,857 .87586 29. i say new expressions over to myself. 48 32.7 32 21.8 67 45.6 ,762 .87798 30. i practice using new grammar forms when i talk. 52 35.4 29 19.7 66 44.9 ,748 .89392 what i do to talk with other people: 31. i start conversations. 53 36.1 25 17 69 46.9 ,701 .90757 32. i change the subject if i don’t have the words i need. 53 36.1 26 17.7 68 46.3 ,714 .90459 33. i plan what i am going to say. 55 37.4 28 19 64 43.5 ,755 .90072 34. i ask the other person to correct me when i talk. 57 38.8 33 22.4 57 38.8 ,837 .88364 when i can’t think of a word or phrase i want to say: 35. i ask the person to help me. 49 33.3 30 20.4 68 46.3 ,741 .88575 36. i try to say it a different way. 49 33.3 29 19.7 69 46.9 ,728 .88858 37. i use words from my own language. 50 34 29 19.7 68 46.3 ,735 .89057 38. i use words from my own language, but utter them with sounds from the new language. 51 34.7 24 16.3 72 49 ,674 .90660 39. i move my hands or body so the person will understand me. 51 34.7 40 27.2 56 38.1 ,891 .85540 table 4 provides the detailed descriptive statistics for the responses given for speaking strategy use. both the mean and standard deviations are very similar across strategy items, indicating that students employ similar speaking strategies. the mean scores are somewhat near 1.0, indicating that the students use above mentioned speaking strategies. again, the standard deviations are slightly below 1.0, indicating that the students employ very similar speaking strategies. foreign language learning strategies han 91 no. 11 (july december 2015) no. 11 (july december 2015) table 5. descriptive statistics for reading strategies if the statement really describes you if the statement isn’t like you if the statement is somewhat you like general mean general s.d f % f % f % mean sd .763 .0830 what i do to read more 40. i read a lot in the language. 52 35.4 28 19 67 45.6 ,735 .89699 41. i read for fun in the language. 49 33.3 26 17.7 72 49 ,688 .89673 42. i find things to read that interest me. 51 34.7 35 23.8 61 41.5 ,823 .87319 43. i look for things to read that are not too hard 57 38.8 24 16.3 66 44.9 ,714 .91580 what i do to understand what i read 44. i skim over a reading to get the main idea. 56 38.1 38 25.9 53 36.1 ,898 .86380 45. i look for important facts. 64 43.5 25 17 57 39.5 ,850 1.230* 46. i read things more than once. 54 36.7 31 21.1 62 42.2 ,789 .88968 47. i look at the pictures and what is under the pictures. 54 36.7 30 20.4 63 42.9 ,776 .89308 48. i look at the headings. 40 27.2 35 23.8 72 49 ,748 .84818 49. i think about what will come next in the reading. 49 33.3 16 10.9 82 55.8 ,551 .92006 50. i stop to think about what i just read. 51 34.7 29 19.7 67 45.6 ,742 .89235 51. i underline parts that seem important. 48 32.7 27 18.4 72 49 ,694 .89167 52. i mark the reading in different colors to help me understand. 51 34.7 29 19.7 67 45.6 ,741 .89235 53. i check to see how much i understood. 80 54.4 24 16.3 43 29.3 ,871 .88243 what i do when i don’t understand what i read 54. i guess the meaning by using clues from other parts of the passage. 55 37.4 31 21.1 61 41.5 ,796 .89042 55. i use a dictionary to find the meaning. 48 32.7 34 23.1 65 44.2 ,789 .87207 table 5 provides the detailed descriptive statistics for the responses given for reading strategy use. both the mean and standard deviations are very similar across strategy items, indicating that students employ similar reading strategies. the mean scores are somewhat near 1.0, indicating that the students use the above mentioned reading strategies. again, with the exception of item foreign language learning strategies han 92 no. 11 (july december 2015) no. 11 (july december 2015) #45, standard deviations are slightly below 1.0, indicating that the students employ very similar reading strategies and differ only in looking for facts to understand what they have read. table 6. descriptive statistics for writing strategies if the statement really describes you if the statement isn’t like you if the statement is somewhat you like general mean general s.d f % f % f % mean sd .791 .0816 what i do to write more 56. if the alphabet is different. i practice writing it. 62 42.2 44 29.9 41 27.9 1,020* .82761 57. i take class notes in the language. 58 39.5 27 18.4 62 42.2 ,762 .90619 58. i get write other notes in the language. 57 38.8 26 17.7 64 43.5 ,742 .90911 59. i write letters to other people in the language. 44 29.9 36 24.5 67 45.6 ,789 .85769 60. i write papers in the language 56 38.1 26 17.7 65 44.2 ,735 .90829 what i do to write better 61. i plan what i am going to write. 48 32.7 43 29.3 56 38.1 ,912 .84223 62. i use a dictionary or glossary. 46 31.3 36 24.5 65 44.2 ,803 .86224 63. i read what i wrote to see if it is good. 52 35.4 34 23.1 61 41.5 ,816 .87761 64. i ask someone to correct my writing. 57 38.8 30 20.4 60 40.8 ,796 .89496 65. i rewrite what i wrote to make it better. 45 30.6 27 28.4 75 51 ,674 .88317 66. i use the spell checker on the computer. 52 35.4 27 18.4 68 46.3 ,721 .89999 67. i use the grammar checker on the computer. 48 32.7 34 23.1 65 44.2 ,789 .87207 what i do if i cannot think of a word or phrase i want to write 68. i ask someone for the word or phrase i need. 57 38.8 33 22.4 57 38.8 ,837 .88364 69. i try to say it in a different way. 58 39.5 25 17 64 43.5 ,735 .91320 70. i use words from my own language. 53 36.1 29 19.7 65 44.2 ,755 .89527 71. i use words from my own language but add new endings to those words. 57 38.8 28 19 62 42.2 ,769 .90217 foreign language learning strategies han 93 no. 11 (july december 2015) no. 11 (july december 2015) table 6 provides the detailed descriptive statistics for the responses given for writing strategies. both the mean and standard deviations are very similar across strategy items, indicating that students employ similar reading strategies. the mean scores are somewhat near 1.0, indicating that students use the above mentioned reading strategies. again, standard deviations are slightly below 1.0, indicating that students employ very similar reading strategies. the mean score is over 1.0 for the item #56, indicating that they mostly prefer practicing writing the alphabet when they know it is different. table 7. descriptive statistics for translation strategies if the statement really describes you if the statement isn’t like you if the statement is somewhat you like general mean general s.d. f % f % f % mean sd .871 .0545 what i do when i translate 72. i plan what i want to say or write in my language and then translate it into the new language. 47 32 40 27.2 60 40.8 ,864 .85147 73. i translate when reading to make sure i understand it. 51 34.7 34 23.1 55 37.4 ,809 .87655 74. while i am listening to someone, i translate parts of what they say into my own language to remember it. 58 39.5 34 23.1 55 37.4 ,857 .87952 what i do to think in the new language 75. i put my language out of my mind. 50 40.1 34 23.1 54 36.7 ,864 .87909 76. i try to understand without translating. 57 38.8 42 28.6 48 32.7 ,959 .84582 table 7 provides the detailed descriptive statistics for the responses given for translation strategies. both the mean and standard deviations are very similar across strategy items, indicating that each student employs similar translation strategies. the mean scores are somewhat near 1.0, indicating that the students use these above mentioned translation strategies. again, standard deviations are slightly below 1.0, indicating that students employ very similar translation strategies. briefly, the results are quite similar for all strategies. although the descriptive statistical results suggest that the students use the above 76 language lls similarly to some extent, they do not apply all these strategies with the same frequency. foreign language learning strategies han 94 no. 11 (july december 2015) no. 11 (july december 2015) qualitative data analysis regarding the profile of the participants in the focus groups, student b and student d were mechanical engineering majors, student a was a mechatronic/mechanical engineering major, and student c was a computer/ software engineering major. when asked about their self-assessment of their l2 levels, the four students expressed that they had an intermediate level of english proficiency. the analysis of the students’ preferences on speaking skills indicated that they emphasized appropriate vocabulary choice and pronunciation. i try to pronounce words accurately and clearly. [student a] first i check the meanings of words and then try to speaking using these words. [student b] generally i watch films and find words that i do not know. then, i try to speak. [student c] i generally try to pronounce words accurately. [student d] the students mostly reported that they try to understand spoken language using their lexicon and well-known words. a student emphasized that pronunciation is a clue to understand what is heard. i try to understand the whole speech departing from the meanings of each word that i know on the subject. [student a] i try to solve pronunciations. [student b] i learn new words and then try again to understand. [student c] i try to understand depending on the meaning of words that i know. [student d] for reading comprehension, the students mostly prefer to employ a bottom-up strategy. in other words, they first focus on each word that they are acquainted with and then relate word meanings with each other based on the text context. a student reported that he/she first attempts to use a dictionary to find the meaning of unknown or new words and then reads the text a few times. i try to understand a text depending on the meaning of words that i know. [student a] i select words then relate them with the whole text to understand it. [student b] i find the meanings of words that i do not know well. then, i try to understand the text by reading it repeatedly. [student c] foreign language learning strategies han 95 no. 11 (july december 2015) no. 11 (july december 2015) i depart from the meanings of each word to understand a text. [student d] regarding writing skills, the students mostly prefer to employ prewriting strategies and attempt to find the meanings of new words. they then construct messages into sentences before writing. first i imagine, then i carefully try to construct sentences using basic vocabulary based on my proficiency level. [student a] i use vocabulary strategically. [student b] first i design what i am going to write then try to write. [student c] first i find vocabulary that i do not know and then i focus on messages conveyed with sentences. [student d] when it comes to the challenges they experience for each skill, student b and student d reported that the most challenging skill is pronouncing words correctly. they try to cope with this through repeated practice. student a reported that vocabulary retention poses a challenge for him/her and to overcome this sort of problem he/she prefers to learn vocabulary using sentences in context and using visual aids. i forget the meanings of words that i learnt earlier, therefore i prefer to learn words using them in sentences and with visual aids rather than writing. [student a] i experience challenges with pronunciation yet i cannot do anything. [student b] while learning english i experience challenges in speaking and writing; so, i watch films and read books in english. [student c] i face difficulty in pronunciation, so i usually do exercises and revisions but i do not think that they are effective. [student d] their opinions regarding how english should be learnt and taught are diverse. student a states that using english in daily life may impact learning. teachers should consider students’ proficiency levels and help students to lean new vocabulary rather than teaching them only grammar. student b emphasizes that teachers should avoid revisions. student c gives utmost importance to speaking. student d believes that teaching the same things repeatedly does not improve student language skills. i think that we should place english in many aspects of our lives; as a result, we will encounter them continuously and then we would learn permanently. while teaching english, teachers should consider students’ proficiency levels and help them to learn new vocabulary rather than grammar. [student a] foreign language learning strategies han 96 no. 11 (july december 2015) no. 11 (july december 2015) while teaching english, revisions should be avoided. [student b] while teaching english, i think students should be helped to speak frequently. [student c] while teaching english, there is a monotonous situation and therefore i do not think that such a teaching will not contribute to learning. [student d] briefly, although the students mostly use language learning strategies, they employ various strategies for different language skills. for speaking, they place emphasis on appropriate vocabulary choice and pronunciation. for writing skills, they mostly employ pre-writing strategies and attempt to find meanings of new words rather than construct messages in sentences before writing. further, they have reported that vocabulary retention and pronunciation are the most challenging skills, and they follow rote-learning tactics for accuracy (e.g. repeating until remember). they try to cope with these problems by employing different strategies. also, they suggest that language learning and teaching should be aligned with the students’ learning styles and their learning preferences. conclusion the quantitative data analysis suggests that the engineering students employ various strategies in learning different language skills. the qualitative data analyses explained their strategy use. first, interview data analyses showed that pronunciation was both the most challenging and important skill. when speaking and listening in english, the students give importance to pronunciation strategies. further, to be competent in pronunciation, practicing is perceived as a good strategy for accuracy. second, the students also considered vocabulary to be a challenging skill and a key factor in reading, listening, and writing skills. appropriate vocabulary choice is reported to be a good strategy for speaking skills. further, they also reported that they could understand spoken language better depending on the number of the words they knew in what they heard. to understand a written text, the students mostly began by focusing on each word they knew and then guessed the meanings of unfamiliar words based on context. interestingly, the students related their ideas on language learning and teaching with their strategy use. that is, they mostly aligned their strategy use with their expectations regarding language learning and teaching. as such, they believed that using language skills in real-life contexts may be effective. further, vocabulary was believed to be more important than grammar. finally, they believed that revisions regarding grammar were not good for language learning progress. foreign language learning strategies han 97 no. 11 (july december 2015) no. 11 (july december 2015) there are two major limitations that need to be acknowledged and addressed regarding this study. first, scant interview data might have limited the qualitative results of the study. instead, more sophisticated qualitative methods could be used in data collection. for example, concurrent data could be collected through think-aloud protocols to provide deeper evidence of what students think while employing strategies. several strategy studies have used this data collection procedure (e.g. alhaisoni, 2012; ohly, 2007). additionally, observations may be a viable alternative to interviews. second, this study collected data only from engineering students. participants from different fields and from different educational levels in the stem context may lead to different results. in light of the above limitations, the following suggestions are proposed. first, identifying strategies and providing strategy training can foster interlanguage development indirectly (ellis, 1997). the engineering students in this study reported that vocabulary was both of paramount importance in reading, listening, and writing, was a challenging skill as well. vocabulary strategy training can be implemented within teaching programs. this suggestion is supported by previous research (e.g. demirel, 2012). as reported by ellis (1997). the results of the research on training on strategies and vocabulary learning suggested that different ways of meaning associations with new words or linking l1 words to a “mental image” that encompasses the meaning of l2 words can contribute to retention and recall. other research has also suggested that training teachers to teach students language learning strategies would contribute to students’ development (demirel, 2012). training students to use strategies plays an important role in fostering learner autonomy; learners become more autonomous as they take responsibility of their own learning (ellis, 2007). second, the qualitative data of this study did not show any sign of students’ awareness of the positive impact of strategy use on their language development. an earlier study found that engineering students are not well aware of the benefits of using lls in learning english (patil & karekatti, 2012) even though another study indicated that students believe that strategy use has positive effects on language learning (cheng, xu& ma, 2007). there are still contradictions among the results of studies. some research has suggested that effective lls training should be applied explicitly, integrated into regular class work activities (e.g. chamot, 2004). therefore, explicit strategy use training could be applied in stem education contexts. overall, from the perspective of educational practice, this paper provides new experimental data on the topic. the research results might be included in the materials for teachers’ continuing professional development programs and might be taken into account within foreign language course planning foreign language learning strategies han 98 no. 11 (july december 2015) no. 11 (july december 2015) procedure as far as stem education is concerned. finally, comparing students’ efl proficiency levels and strategy use based on gender is not within the scope of this study. further research should include participants with varying efl proficiency levels from different fields of stem education. acknowledgements i would like to thank gist’s editorial team, especially josephine taylor, for their critical comments on this manuscript. also, i would like to thank to my ma student, fırat keskin, who helped me while preparing the data. foreign language learning strategies han 99 no. 11 (july december 2015) no. 11 (july december 2015) references alhaisoni, e. 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(1990). strategies of unsuccessful language learners. tesol quarterly, 24(2), 223-234.http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/35868980 author * turgay han is assistant professor at the department of english language and literature, kafkas university, turkey. his areas of research center on esol learning and teaching, and efl measurement and assessment issues. foreign language learning strategies 129 teaching science in english through cognitive strategies1 yuly andrea bueno hernández2* institución universitaria colombo americana-única, colombia abstract this study shows the impact and results of implementing three cognitive strategies in science teaching in english. the three-month study was carried out with 144 second grade students at a public school of bogota’s bilingualism program, but only 40 students contributed in the data collection process. data collected from observations and fieldnotes, surveys, interviews, videotapes, and photographs revealed that the use of the strategies helped children understand not only the content and language, but also the class tasks. preliminary findings showed that students are the main actors of their learning, and they gain certain autonomy and independence using the cognitive strategies. on the teachers’ side, strategies facilitated classroom management and engagement. the author recommends the constant and gradual implementation of learning strategies not only in science classes, but also in the rest of the content classes to integrate language and content easily. keywords: cognitive strategies, science teaching, sheltered instruction, students’ learning and emotions. resumen el presente artículo muestra el impacto y los resultados de la implementación de tres estrategias cognitivas en la enseñanza de ciencias naturales en inglés. el estudio, que tuvo una duración de tres meses, se llevó a cabo con 144 estudiantes de segundo grado de un colegio público, que hace parte del programa de bilingüismo de bogotá, pero solo 40 estudiantes contribuyeron en el proceso de recolección de información. los datos recogidos a partir de observaciones y notas de campo, encuestas, entrevistas, videos y fotografías revelaron que el uso de las estrategias ayudó a los niños a comprender no sólo el contenido y el lenguaje, sino también las actividades de clase. los resultados preliminares mostraron que los estudiantes son los actores principales de su aprendizaje y adquieren cierta autonomía e independencia utilizando las estrategias cognitivas. por el lado del docente, las estrategias facilitaron la gestión del 1 received: february 23rd, 2012 / accepted: may 14th, 2012 2 email: sopia_170@hotmail.com gist education and learning research journal. issn 1692-5777. no. 6, november 2012. pp. 129-146 no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) 130 aula y el compromiso con la misma. el autor recomienda la implementación constante y gradual de las estrategias de aprendizaje no solo en las clases de ciencias naturales, sino también en el resto de las materias de contenido para integrar el lenguaje y el contenido fácilmente. palabras claves: estrategias cognitivas, enseñanza de ciencias naturales, instrucción dirigida, aprendizaje y emociones de los estudiantes. resumo o presente artigo mostra o impacto e os resultados da implantação de três estratégias cognitivas no ensino de ciências naturais em inglês. o estudo, que teve uma duração de três meses, foi realizado com 144 estudantes de segunda série de um colégio público, que faz parte do programa de bilinguismo de bogotá, mas só 40 estudantes contribuíram no processo de recolha de informação. os dados recolhidos a partir de observações e notas de campo, pesquisas de opiniões, entrevistas, vídeos e fotografias revelaram que o uso das estratégias ajudou as crianças a compreender não só o conteúdo e a linguagem, senão também as atividades de classe. os resultados preliminares mostraram que os estudantes são os atores principais da sua aprendizagem e adquirem certa autonomia e independência utilizando as estratégias cognitivas. pelo lado do docente, as estratégias facilitaram a gestão da aula e o compromisso com a mesma. o autor recomenda a implantação constante e gradual das estratégias de aprendizagem não só nas aulas de ciências naturais, senão também no resto das matérias de conteúdo para integrar a linguagem e o conteúdo facilmente. palavras chaves: estratégias cognitivas, ensino de ciências naturais, instrução dirigida, aprendizagem e emoções dos estudantes. introduction based on my experience, i consider that teaching english is not the same as teaching science in english. the difference lies mainly on the fact that content instruction in english implies specific teaching methodologies as well as strategies to help students learn the language while learning the content. if teaching english is by itself a complicated matter, teaching science in english to spanish speakers is exponentially more challenging. teaching science in english through cognitive strategies bueno hernandez no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) 131 language is central to teaching and learning every subject. teachers use language to help students learn contents, and students use language to explore content and to express what they have learned. so, science students who are simultaneously learning english need to have a good command of the language to master the content. however, when they struggle with the language, they fall behind with the content, too. thus, teaching science in english through the use of the sheltered instruction principles is necessary to help students learn content concepts and develop their language skills simultaneously. however, this is not enough, which brings into life the use of strategies to make learning meaningful and to achieve the goal of bilingualism. in my experience as a student-teacher in a public school, i taught science to second grade students following not only the curriculum of the school, but also the sheltered instruction and cognitive strategies. therefore, the aim of this study is to describe the effects and implications of using three cognitive strategies (classify, acting out, and imagery) with second-grade students at a public school of bogota’s bilingualism program, particularly regarding their english and science learning, and emotions. this action research study took place at a pilot public school of bogota’s bilingualism program from march to may, 2011. it is a coed school, which is starting to implement the national ministry of education bilingual project. this project has been advised by the universidad nacional through the linguistics department. the target population of the study includes four second grade courses, whose number of students range from 35 to 37. however, not all of them participated in the data collection process; 10 students (5 girls, and 5 boys) were chosen from each course (giving us a total of 40 students) to provide their ideas, experiences, and feelings regarding the class. the students’ selection process was at random to avoid bias. the students’ ages range from 6 to 8 years old. data from the study were collected through daily observations and fieldnotes, surveys to the 40 students, interviews with two teachers, weekly videotapes, and photographs. theoretical framework integrating language instruction with subject matter instruction is still a challenge for educators, especially if they lack training and knowledge. content-based instruction has been carried out in many grade levels and educational programs. however, how do we know if the focus of this trend, content in language instruction, is effectively applied or not? not many primary teachers in colombia know or use the teaching science in english through cognitive strategies bueno hernandez no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) 132 sheltered instruction approach in content-based instruction, which has been used to help students with a limited english proficiency to learn english through content areas simultaneously. it has been proved in the united states that this instructional approach works and is effective in primary levels, but little research has been done in colombia in this regard. it is therefore important to find out if this method helps teachers develop optimal ways to present content and at the same time keep it understandable to second-grade students, who are beginning to learn the language of instruction (english) and the content (science). for this reason, this study attempts to point out how the implementation of the sheltered instruction approach along with the use of strategies of the cognitive level in science classes makes learning and teaching different. to have a deeper understanding of this study, a short explanation of what sheltered instruction and learning strategies are will be given. sheltered instruction it is defined as “an approach for teaching content to english learners (els) in strategic ways that make the subject matter concepts comprehensible while promoting the student’s english language development” (echevarria, et al 2004, p. 2). such instruction came out as the result of developing strategies to foster second language development and academic learning through the use of the second language (peregoy & boyle, 2003, p. 78). sheltered instruction or sdaie (specially designed academic instruction in english) provides access to the core curriculum, english language development, and opportunities for social interaction. basically, this model is a resource teachers can count on to improve their teaching and help learners to grasp content and language simultaneously. its primary goal is to show teachers the way to teach content effectively to english learners while developing their language proficiency. learning strategies this refers to the mental processes that enhance comprehension, learning, and retention of information (echevarria, et al 2004, p. 81), which in other words are the special thoughts or behaviors that exhibit these outputs (o’malley & chamot, 1990, p. 1). furthermore, “researchers have learned that information is retained and connected in the brain through mental pathways that are linked to an individual’s existing schema” (echevarria, et al 2004, p. 81). this suggests that the initiation and use of learning strategies activates mental processes teaching science in english through cognitive strategies bueno hernandez no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) 133 through the associations between new and old learning. in the same way, the explicit teaching of learning strategies that facilitate the learning process involves teaching students to access information in memory, helping students make connections between what they know and what they are learning, assisting students in problem solving, and promoting retention of newly learned information. three types of learning strategies have been identified (o’malley & chamot, 1990). they are: metacognitive strategies, cognitive strategies and social/affective strategies. for this study, only the cognitive strategies will be considered, which according to echevarria “help students organize the information they are expected to learn through the process of self-regulated learning” (as cited in paris, 2001). besides this, the ultimate goal of using these strategies is to foster independence in students and have student-centered classes for teachers. as it is very difficult for beginner students to initiate an active role in the use of the strategies, sheltered instruction teachers should scaffold their use and should help learners to focus their mental energy on their thinking development skills. from the cognitive level strategies, only three strategies are the target of the study: classifying or grouping, imagery and acting out. the first strategy, classifying or grouping, is focused on relating or putting words within categories according to their attributes, and the mental process that is expected from students is to remember information. the second strategy, imagery, is related to the creation of images to represent information, and it requires that students visualize knowledge, create a mental picture and draw it. it is also called imaging and it encourages students to create an image in their minds to support the understanding of concepts or problems to be solved (o’malley & chamot, 1990). finally, the last strategy, acting out, is about creating different gestures and movements with the body to visually represent ideas, concepts, and vocabulary. it involves creativity and the ability to remember and connect information. the good point of this strategy is precisely the opportunity that students have to create experiences with which to link the new vocabulary. review of related literature teaching content in english is by far more demanding than teaching english only. “teachers of english language learners (ells) face several challenges, not the least of which is facilitating students’ simultaneous acquisition of academic content and english language and literacy” (hart, & lee, 2003, p. 476). thanks to the sheltered instruction teaching science in english through cognitive strategies bueno hernandez no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) 134 approach not only can teachers face this challenge in strategic ways, but also students get better preparation in terms of language and content (diaz, 2010). however, there is little evidence of this in colombia, except for the research studies pioneered by unica university, which is one of the reasons why this study is going to be carried out. the main issue with content-based instruction is that ell students do not have enough support from the teacher to handle content concepts in a yetunmastered language (lee, 2005). furthermore, in some cases, teachers lack preparation on how to provide linguistic and content support to students so that they can learn both things simultaneously and develop skills. science is one of those subjects that students learn through rote learning because they do not find sense in what they are learning, and they just need to pass a test. thus, incorporating cognitive strategies to teach content-based instruction may facilitate students’ learning and change the traditional way science has been taught. motivation when teaching science or any other subject in a foreign language, in this case english, with the use of strategies, it is not only important to consider that students will have to deal with language, content and strategies, but teachers should think of how to integrate those components and foster motivation. this aspect affects how hard students are willing to work on a task, how much they will persevere when they are challenged, and how much satisfaction they feel when they accomplish a learning task (chamot, et al, 1999). several studies have found connections between motivation for language learning and strategy use. in a large-scale study of us college students, oxford and nyikos (1989) found that more motivated learners used four out of five categories of strategies more frequently than did less motivated students. also, okada, oxford, and abo (1996) conducted a study with 36 learners of japanese and 36 learners of spanish and they found that there was a very strong relationship between the use of metacognitive, cognitive and social strategies and several motivational aspects in both language groups. students tended to be more engaged in their classes, they participated more and they felt eager to continue learning. however, all these studies converge in the same concern, causality: whether motivation fosters strategy use or, conversely, strategy use leads to better language performance, which in turn increases motivation and thus leads to increased strategy use (okada et al. 1996). teaching science in english through cognitive strategies bueno hernandez no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) 135 proficiency and achievement each time a teacher implements something new in his or her class, the ultimate goal is always to achieve a positive change in learning, teaching and even in students’ performance. this is one of the major reasons to research strategy use in language learning: to determine the relationship between strategies and proficiency. in a study carried out with 78 japanese college english majors, takeuchi (1993) reported that some 60 per cent of the variance in the comprehensive english language test (celt) scores was associated with strategy use on the sill. in the same way, a study by park (1997) conducted with 332 korean university students found a close linear relationship between sill strategies and english proficiency measured by a practice version of the test of english as a foreign language (toefl). these studies suggest that there is a direct relation between strategy use and the achievement and improvement in second language proficiency. content-based learning strategies instruction a number of studies on the cognitive academic language learning approach (calla) related to learning strategies instruction in content-based esl have been investigated, and they reported successful use of strategies by students. one example of this is the study carried out by chamot, dale, o’malley, & spanos (1993) where teachers in esl mathematics classrooms implemented learning strategies instructions to assist students in solving word problems. mainly, the study consisted of teaching students how to use the following strategies: planning, monitoring, problem-solving, and evaluating in a sequential order to solve word problems. it was found that students who had been provided with explicit and frequent strategies instruction (high-implementation) performed better on a word problem think-aloud interview than students in low-implementation classrooms. in the same way, another study in the science area carried out by varela (1997) shows the effects of calla learning strategies instruction in a middle-school esl-science classroom compared with a similar classroom that received equivalent instruction without the learning strategies. students in the intervention classroom were taught how to use strategies in their oral report on the science fair projects. it was found that students in the strategies group reported using significantly more strategies than the control group students did. also, their performances showed considerable improvement over the performances prior to the strategies instruction. teaching science in english through cognitive strategies bueno hernandez no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) 136 research design context this action research study was carried out in a pilot public school of bogota’s bilingualism program from march to may, 2011. it is a coed school, which is starting to implement the national ministry of education bilingual project and this project has been advised by the universidad nacional through the linguistics department. the aim of the project is to get students acquainted with science concepts in english and the dynamics of learning a subject matter in a foreign language. however, not all the school teachers are trained in both aspects, language and content, but they are getting prepared. so, this gave way to my intervention as science teacher in the school. regarding the time intensity, students take 4 hours of science class in english and 5 hours of english class a week. this time is not only devoted to learning the language and the subject content matter concepts, but also to train students on basic commands and expressions to communicate in english. participants the participants in this study were students and teachers of second grade at a public school in bogota. the total of students who participated in the study was 114, but only 10 students (5 girls, and 5 boys) from four second grade courses, whose number of students range from 35 to 37, participated in the surveys. these 40 students’ selection process was at random to avoid bias. they provided their ideas, experiences, and feelings regarding the class. the students were little children, whose ages range from 6 to 8 years old, of a low to middle-low economic status, and their native language is spanish. regarding teachers, an adult science teacher and a pedagogical assistant from universidad nacional contributed in the interviews. they were sometimes passive observers in the science classes. data collection instruments in this study, qualitative data collection techniques were used as the primary research method. direct active participant observations. this technique was useful to observe the outcomes of using cognitive strategies in terms of learning and emotions. also, this allowed me to monitor the effects of my teaching and adjust instruction accordingly. teaching science in english through cognitive strategies bueno hernandez no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) 137 fieldnotes. daily notes from the observations were taken. they were divided in two parts: one-month field notes, and two-month field notes. in the one-month field notes, i focused my attention on the problem and class structure without the use of the strategies as well as my implicit implementation of the three cognitive strategies. in the two-month field notes, the target was to capture the effects of using cognitive strategies and the impact of their explicit teaching. surveys. one survey was applied to 40 second grade students (20 girls and 20 boys) to gather information about their feelings, experiences, and thoughts in regards to the use of the three cognitive strategies (classifying, acting out, and imagery) in the science class. these surveys were applied by the end of may after students were familiarized with the use of strategies and had received explicit instruction about their use. the questions had options to facilitate the analysis. semi-structured interviews. after a three-month intervention in science class as observers, two teachers were interviewed to know their opinions about the impact of using the three cognitive strategies. the homeroom teacher that was interviewed accompanied me every class during the last two months and the other teacher was the pedagogical assistant of the universidad nacional. videotapes. one class a week was videorecorded during two months. the focus was the use of the three strategies, the instruction of tasks, their accomplishment, the students’ intervention in the class, and the outcome and input of the strategies. photographs. this tool was useful to capture the work done by children after using a strategy. it evidences their learning and it is a physical way to demonstrate the mental processes expected when using strategies. data analysis and interpretation after analyzing the data collected from the different sources, the following themes came up. it is important to mention that the following data results are not only due to the implementation of the strategies, but also the use of some sheltered instruction principles. teaching science in english through cognitive strategies bueno hernandez no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) 138 simultaneous english and science learning according to the results from the surveys, all the population surveyed agreed on having learned science and english simultaneously during my intervention as science teacher. however, their reasons varied as shown in figure 1. it is shown that only 10.2% of figure 1. why have you learned science and english simultaneosly? the students think that their science and english learning is due to the use of the three cognitive strategies and their usefulness. the rest of the students share the opinion that the activities, the teacher instruction, and their own interest are what have determined their dual learning. however, my intervention as a teacher and the activities developed in class were focused merely on the strategies and the principles of sheltered instruction, which reveals that these students indirectly are recognizing their learning thanks to the strategies. one reason for not mentioning the strategies in their answers may be that as students are second graders, they are not conscious of their learning process and they cannot reflect upon it yet, even though the strategies were made explicit during the classes. children perceived the strategies as a tool, but not as the cause of their learning due to their lack of awareness. in this regard, in the interviews teachers revealed that indeed students are learning both things (language and content) simultaneously due to the use of strategies and the process the teacher has had with them. however, they also consider that their english learning at this level is focused on vocabulary, the pronunciation of key science concepts, some simple grammatical structures, and basic english commands. they made emphasis on the fact that learning english and science simultaneously is a process, which takes time and needs to be constant to achieve results in the future. in addition, the surveys showed that 89% of the representative population of second grade considers that they feel happy learning teaching science in english through cognitive strategies bueno hernandez no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) 139 science and english simultaneously; none of the students expressed that they felt bored or sad. in the same way, in the interviews teachers confirmed this information by saying that children felt fine, relaxed, and happy to learn; they considered learning to be a game and they liked to learn. based on my fieldnotes, at the beginning, i perceived that english in the science class was considered to be a barrier for children to learn because they demonstrated that they had learned the content, but they were not able to express things because of the language. then, i realized that they were lacking training and familiarity with the language, not to say that they are in a silent period. in the first classes during the first month of observation, i talked in english 100% of the class, and children were unresponsive, but attentive. it was probably the first time somebody gave them a class in english. they all looked at me with a lost gesture on their faces, but the body movements and the drawings helped them to create an idea of what i was saying, which was not always the right one. the homeroom teacher told me to speak in spanish and to use english merely for the key science words, but that translating them would be a lot easier for children. thus, i realized that their “dual” learning was aimed at learning a list of isolated english vocabulary. during the next two-month observation period, when i started to implement some sheltered instruction ideas (lesson-planning, scaffolding processes, clear instruction, adaptation of content, setting objectives, using visual aids) along with the three cognitive strategies (classifying, imagery, and acting out), changes in their dual learning (content and language) were noticed. children started to associate and retain english words in context; they knew what they meant without having to translate them, they learned their pronunciation through games and songs, and they were able to complete simple written prompts related to the vocabulary studied. in the same way, vocabulary was recycled in each lesson, and students got used to listening to me in english. they were able to understand when i spoke in english, although i obviously had to change the speed of the speech. i used english 90% of the class, and the remaining 10% was in spanish to give instructions, clarify information related to content, or get students’ attention. students’ learning process 100% of the students agreed on saying that the use of the strategies has helped them learn, but their reasons differed a bit. 15 out of 40 students, which correspond to 37.5 % of the students, think that the teaching science in english through cognitive strategies bueno hernandez no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) 140 strategies have helped them learn because they are interesting and easy to apply, while 17.5% attribute this to the fact that the strategies have helped them either retain information easily or do things they like, such as drawing or acting. this suggests that disregarding the reason they attribute to their learning, students recognized the strategies as a factor for their learning (when formally asked) although they are not totally aware of them, which does not mean that they do not know how to use the strategies. in this aspect, teachers manifested that even though 36 or 37 students are not easy to manage, they agreed on the fact that about 75% or 80% of the students are learning, and they demonstrated this through the way they use vocabulary, structures and content within the classroom when developing their tasks. students were asked about the changes they perceived with the strategies and the results show that the answers are homogenous in the four courses and that 47% of the students consider the “better grades” factor as the main way in which the strategies benefited them. it is just 25% of the students who think that enjoyment in class, better understanding, and better grades altogether are the changes they have undergone with the use of the strategies. this information is confirmed in the interviews, where teachers expressed that the impact the strategies have had on the students’ learning process is positive and meaningful since they are doing things (drawing, acting out, and classifying) that they like and enjoy and which creates stronger connections in their minds. the pedagogical assistant of universidad nacional stated that “the impact of those strategies on the children is basically lifetime learning.” thus, they suggested that those cognitive strategies not only were useful for learning during that period, but they will facilitate their future learning if the strategies are used. similarly, the information gathered from the videotapes and fieldnotes is evidence of the fact that children learned thanks to the strategies, and also they showed the impact the strategies had on students’ learning in terms of autonomy, creativity, understanding, and involvement. during the first-month observation period, it was observed that students were not thinking, they were filled out with nonsensical information; their role was limited to copying information from the board, but little attention was paid to their thinking processes. children were not able to associate information, apply knowledge, and not even transfer ideas to other contexts. with the use of the strategies, children started to wake up their minds; their learning process was strengthened by providing them with the tools and not the products. teaching science in english through cognitive strategies bueno hernandez no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) 141 another benefit and change of implementing those cognitive strategies in terms of the students’ learning process is that they understood concepts easily because definitions at this age do not say much to children, but doing something tangible and real allowed them to grasp concepts and to retain them for a longer time period. the strategies facilitated the students’ understanding and they helped children clarify ideas. also, when using the strategies children tended to be more focused on their task, and their levels of concentration increased. as the activities required students to do something and sometimes to interact, children had to strain their minds to think and connect ideas, which guarantees learning for life and not merely for a class. furthermore, these cognitive strategies were also useful to recall information (concepts and vocabulary) and to have students respond for their own learning; they gained certain autonomy and independence in their work. in fact, when applying the strategies, children had to remember the main aspects of the input, and they had to associate that information with their previous knowledge in order to be able to do their task using the strategy. however, when children had not understood the concepts, they happened to understand them through the use of the strategies. also, in the photographs, the students’ efficient use of the strategies shows progress through the science tasks’ accomplishment and the quality of the students’ work as the time goes by. motivation and students’ emotions based on the analysis from the survey results, it was found that 87% of the second grade students felt happy using the cognitive strategies (acting out, classifying, and imagery), and none expressed feeling bored or sad using them. similar results were revealed by the teachers in the interviews, where they affirmed that children felt different in the science class since the strategies resulted in something innovative for children. they are separated from paper-pencil activities, and different things were combined (drawing, acting, classifying, matching, giving names to categories, etc) which made them feel comfortable and relaxed enough to learn in the class. also, the teachers agreed on saying that children felt more motivated and happy in the science class compared to the rest of the classes, in which they merely wrote. this shows that the use of these cognitive strategies (classifying, acting out, and imagery) created the desire to learn in the science class. besides this, when students were asked in the survey whether or not they liked the science class, 100% of them said that they did like teaching science in english through cognitive strategies bueno hernandez no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) 142 the class. then, they were asked for their reasons and 19 out of 40 students which correspond to the majority reported that they liked the science class because both the topics and the class were fun. 17 out of 40 students said that they liked the class because they learned a lot, so once again they were not explicitly acknowledging that the strategies were the cause of their like for the class, but indirectly they agreed on this because if they learned a lot and the class was fun, it was due to the implementation of the strategies and the teacher intervention. in the fieldnotes, i also noticed that children enjoyed using the strategies and different from having to write merely, they kept their minds busy with something that required them to think, which encouraged them to work and learn. it can be said that when children used the strategies in the science class, their level of motivation increased and it was demonstrated through the children’s enthusiasm to participate and work in class. class dynamics changes according to the fieldnotes and videotapes of the first-month period, it can be said that the class was a bit harder to manage and instruction was the focus. science classes were teacher-centered and there was some, if only a little, student involvement. as the groups were difficult to manage in terms of discipline, teachers assigned worksheets where children had to color and paste, but content and language were left aside. the classes tended to be very disorganized and noisy, and children got distracted because they did not know what they had to do. afterwards, when the strategies started to be implemented and children started to be trained in their use, children were a bit more attentive to the input, but anyway they tended to get distracted because they did not understand instructions and as it was the first time they had to do something different from writing, they felt insecure. fortunately, with time, students got adapted to the use of the three cognitive strategies (acting out, classifying, and imagery) and the results were dramatic not only in terms of learning, but also in the class structure and in the teacher’s role. there was a noticeable change in classroom management with the strategies; when using the strategies, children were so concentrated and focused that they did not disturb each other and the times they stood up and walked around the room decreased. there was little noise in the room and i could speak without having to scream. when using the acting out strategy, children tended to get so excited that they shouted and it was difficult for me to control them, but as they wanted teaching science in english through cognitive strategies bueno hernandez no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) 143 to continue using the strategy, i could control them with it. children were more concentrated when using the strategies and even though they interacted more with each other, they did not get disorganized, and their behavior changed for the better. in the same way, i could perceive that the classroom climate changed with the implementation of strategies because the class could be delivered, students respected each other, and they were not nervous about making mistakes. in addition, the strategies benefitted my instruction as a teacher in the sense that with the use of the strategies i could create more dynamic and challenging activities, where children had to think and do mental processes necessary to accomplish tasks. the strategies were useful to avoid lectures as one interviewed teacher said, and also they allowed me to create tasks from which children could benefit in terms of learning and enjoyment. also, with the strategies, students knew what to expect from the class, and they knew what they had to do. in the same way, the strategies facilitated the teacher role since students already knew how to apply the strategies to the different topics and activities. “students got used to the application of strategies and they were already familiar with them, so that the teacher did not even have to explain what they had to do” (extracted from fieldnotes april 25th, 2011). thus, the strategies allowed the teacher to separate from formal instruction, give the opportunity to children to develop thinking skills, and have a focused-output class. besides this, strategies were reported to be useful for both teachers-students’ assessment and self-assessment. when students used the strategies effectively, that is to say with the set purpose and to accomplish the assigned activity, the teacher could notice if students understood the topic and if further practice or teacher instruction was necessary. the strategies allowed the teacher to perceive the learning process of students, if they were learning or if they were merely doing a task. as in all classes the topic of the last class was reviewed and articulated with the new topic, and it was noticed if children made connections with past learning and new knowledge using the strategies. in the same way, through the use of strategies, children could, to a certain degree, monitor their learning in the sense that they were aware of their mistakes and they could check their understanding of the topic. however, as they are children and they are just starting their learning process, they noticed their mistakes with the teacher’s assistance, and not by themselves. teaching science in english through cognitive strategies bueno hernandez no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) 144 findings this study revealed that the use of the three cognitive strategies (classifying, imagery, and acting out) integrates the students’ dual learning (science and english) and makes the language and content concepts easier to grasp for students and to teach for teachers. in the same way, some of the benefits found with the use of the strategies were: they allowed children to build vocabulary, support their understanding, organize information mentally, and provide language support. not only did the strategies have an impact in students’ learning process, but also in their learning skills. besides this, the efficient use of the strategies facilitated the task accomplishment and they guarantee learning through thinking; students had better mental processes. even though second graders are starting to get acquainted with simultaneous english and science learning, they were able to associate information, apply knowledge, recall ideas, and sometimes transfer ideas to other contexts thanks to the use of the strategies. also, the students’ level of understanding, engagement, autonomy, creativity and concentration increased when using the three cognitive strategies (classifying, imagery, and acting out). by teaching children how to use the cognitive strategies, they got more efficient in task accomplishment and they were independent users of the strategies. another important finding was that the use of the strategies in the science class created the desire to learn in students, they were more motivated and enthusiastic to work, and they, in turn, became more active learners. however, the strategies had a strong impact not only in students, but also in the classroom dynamics. the effective use of cognitive strategies in large-size groups worked as a classroom management technique and changed students’ behavior for good, but teachers should not expect to achieve a quiet environment, but a place where students interact and the level of discipline problems decreases. to use strategies as part of the teaching methodology is useful to avoid lectures, and have a more student-centered class, where different types of activities can be created. so, the strategies implementation keeps students focused on their task and they give way to well-structured focused-output classes with clear expectations for both students and teachers. conclusion this study showed that thanks to the explicit training on the use of the cognitive strategies along with the implementation of the teaching science in english through cognitive strategies bueno hernandez no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) 145 sheltered instruction principles, the role of the teacher and the students was turned 180 degrees; the teacher could separate from lectures and create more dynamic activities, and the students were the owners of their learning. the class was more motivating and students developed a love for learning when the strategies encouraged them. thus, the use of strategies became a factor for motivation and students’ motivation fostered the use of strategies; this was a cycle. however, it is important to know how to apply the strategies, especially carrying out a scaffolding process to ensure good results. the cognitive strategies use generated a better class structure and increased students’ level of understanding and enjoyment. finally, it can be said that implementing learning strategies in any class is a great way of complementing instruction and making learning easier and delightful for students. references chamot, a., barnhardt, s., beard, p., & robbins, j. (1999). the learning strategies handbook. new york: addison wesley longman, inc. chamot, a., dale, m., o’malley, j., & spanos, g. (1993). learning and problem solving strategies of esl students. bilingual research quaterly, vol. 16 no. 3&4, 1-38. diaz, m. (2010). siop model strategies: an approach to effective science learning of middle school students. unpublished manuscript. echevarria, j., vogt, m., & short, d. (2004). making content comprehensible for english learners: the siop model (2nd edition). boston, us: pearson education, inc. hart, j., & lee, o. (2003). teacher professional development to improve the science and literacy achievement of english language learners. bilingual research journal, vol. 27, no.3. lee, o. (2005). science education with english language learners: synthesis and research agenda. review of educational research, vol. 75, no. 4. okada, m., oxford, r., & abo, s. (1996). not all alike: motivation and learning strategies among students of japanese and spanish: an exploratory study. language learning motivation: pathways to the new century. manoa: university of hawai’i press. o’malley, j. m., & chamot, a.u. (1990). learning strategies in second language acquisition. cambridge, england: cambridge university press. teaching science in english through cognitive strategies bueno hernandez no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) 146 oxford, r., & nyikos, m. (1989). variables affecting choices of language learning strategies by university students. the modern language journal, vol.3, no.73. park, g. p. (1997). language learning strategies and english proficiency in korean university students. foreign language annals vol. 30, no. 2. peregoy, s., & boyle, o. (2003). reading, writing and reading in esl: a resource book for k-12 teachers. united states of america: pearson education, inc. takeuchi, o. (1993). language learning strategies and their relationship to achievement in english as a foreign language. language laboratory 30: 17-34. varela, f. (1997). speaking solo: using learning strategy instruction to improve english language learners’ oral presentation skills in content-based esl. unpublished doctoral dissertation, georgetown university, washington, dc. author * yuli andrea bueno holds a b.a in bilingual education from única. she currently works as a teacher for the centro colombo americano in bogotá. email: sopia_170@hotmail.com teaching science in english through cognitive strategies no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) 9 no. 11 (july december 2015) no. 11 (july december 2015) effects of classroom assessment practices in a foreign language reading course1 efectos de las prácticas de evaluación en el salón de clase de un curso de lectura en lengua extranjera (le) sergio alonso lopera medina2* universidad de antioquia, colombia abstract this article analyzes the various types of information that alternative assessment and traditional assessment practices provided in an english foreign language (fl) reading course for graduate students at a public university in medellín, colombia. this study followed the principles of qualitative research, and a case study was used as a research method. there were five instruments to collect data: questionnaires, observations, tests, focus groups, and the diary of the teacher. findings suggest that the assessment practices applied in this course helped students and teachers recognize that learning occurred. the assessment practices also helped language practitioners learn more about the teaching and learning processes in fl reading. conclusions suggest that language practitioners should include both alternative and traditional assessment in order to have a wider picture of the process of teaching and learning. keywords: alternative/traditional assessment, foreign language reading 1 received: april 22, 2015 / accepted: july 27, 2015 2 serggiolop@hotmail.com gist education and learning research journal. issn 1692-5777. no. 11, (july december) 2015. pp. 9-25. r es ea rc h a rt ic le s 10 no. 11 (july december 2015) no. 11 (july december 2015) effects of classroom assessment practices lopera resumen este artículo analiza los diferentes tipos de información de las prácticas de evaluación alternativa y la evaluación tradicional que se brindaron en un curso de lectura de inglés como lengua extranjera ofrecido a estudiantes de postgrado en una universidad pública en medellín, colombia. este estudio siguió los principios de una investigación cualitativa y se utilizó el estudio de caso como método de investigación. se aplicaron cinco instrumentos para recolectar la información: cuestionarios, observaciones, pruebas, grupos focales y el diario del profesor. los resultados indican que las prácticas de evaluación aplicadas en este curso ayudaron tanto al profesor como a los estudiantes a reconocer que se generó aprendizaje. las prácticas de evaluación también ayudaron a los involucrados a aprender más acerca de los procesos de enseñanza/aprendizaje en lectura en (le). las conclusiones sugieren que la comunidad educativa debe incluir tanto la evaluación alternativa como la evaluación tradicional para obtener una mirada más amplia de los procesos de enseñanza y aprendizaje. palabras clave: evaluación alternativa/tradicional, lectura le resumo este artigo analisa os diferentes tipos de informação das práticas de avaliação alternativa e a avaliação tradicional que se ofereceram em um curso de leitura inglês como língua estrangeira oferecida a estudantes de pós-graduação em uma universidade pública em medellín, colômbia. este estudo seguiu os princípios de uma pesquisa qualitativa e se utilizou o estudo de caso como método de pesquisa. aplicaram-se cinco instrumentos para recolher a informação: questionários, observações, provas, grupos focais e o diário do professor. os resultados indicam que as práticas de avaliação aplicadas neste curso ajudaram tanto ao professor quanto aos estudantes a reconhecer que se gerou aprendizado. as práticas de avaliação também ajudaram os envolvidos a aprender mais sobre os processos de ensino/aprendizado em leitura em (le). as conclusões sugerem que a comunidade educativa deve incluir tanto a avaliação alternativa quanto a avaliação tradicional para obter uma mirada mais ampla dos processos de ensino e aprendizado. palabras chave: avaliação alternativa/tradicional, leitura le 11 no. 11 (july december 2015) no. 11 (july december 2015) introduction assessment is an important part of teaching and learning in classroom settings. some scholars have seen assessment as testing, but assessment involves a deeper concept in which the learning process is involved (aebersold & field, 1997; alderson, 2000; frodden, restrepo, & maturana, 2004). davies, brown, elder, hill, lumley and mcnamara (1999) define assessment as “a term often used interchangeably with testing; but also used more broadly to encompass the gathering of language data” (p. 11). this means that assessment is any methodical procedure to gather information about students’ learning. testing, on the other hand, is a method that determines students’ abilities to complete a task, but is only one way to assess (for example a multiple choice test). it is worth noting that testing has been the traditional form of evaluating students, also used to make management decisions (aweiss, 1993). new trends in assessment, such as alternative assessment, incorporate different forms of evaluation such as self-assessment, observation, homework, among others (aebersold & field, 1997). some researchers suggest that taking the best parts of both traditional3 and alternative assessment in classrooms leads to more effective instruction (aebersold & field, 1997; alderson, 2000). this article reports the effects of traditional and alternative assessment practices applied in a foreign language reading comprehension course for graduate students at a public university in medellín, colombia. this study is derived from a larger study on the effects of face-to-face instruction and web-based instruction in (fl) reading comprehension for graduate students in the same university. the study reported in this paper aims at identifying the effects of classroom (face-to-face) assessment practices on students. the research question that guides the inquiry is “what do classroom assessment practices tell language practitioners about the learning process of a fl reading comprehension course for graduate students?” findings suggest that the assessment practices applied in this course helped students and teachers recognize that learning occurred. 3 traditional assessment is a conventional method of testing. a quiz, an exam or a standardized test are examples of traditional assessment. effects of classroom assessment practices lopera 12 no. 11 (july december 2015) no. 11 (july december 2015) effects of classroom assessment practices lopera literature review assessment shohamy, inbar-lourie, and poehner (2008) state that most researchers pay little attention to what teachers do in their classrooms to assess students. they argue, on the other hand, that much research has been carried out to see the effects of standardized tests because large-scale tests have a greater impact on test-takers’ lives as well as institutions. rea-dickins (2004) and rea-dickins and gardner (2000) highlight the importance of doing assessment research in classrooms because it guides scholars to make decisions such as promotion, program admission, or learning support services. recently, some researchers have begun to integrate classroom-based assessment and teaching in classroom. nowadays, there is a growing interest about the practices the teacher does in the classroom, and some studies have focused on second and foreign language teaching contexts (cheng, rogers, & hu, 2004; davison, 2004; leung, 2004; muñoz, 2009; rea-dickens, 2004; sánchez & morrison-saunders, 2010). these researchers have explored teachers’ practices and beliefs related to assessment through surveys and the impact of these assessment practices in external norm-setting and tests. researchers have also explored the instruments teachers have used in classrooms such as self-assessment, diaries, and peer-assessment. to illustrate this, torrance and pryor (1998) report that language arts teachers in primary schools in england were familiar with different types of assessment practices such as cloze tests or performance assessments, but did not have a clear picture in order to implement assessment activities that would result in student learning. muñoz (2009) explored the assessment practices teachers had in fl reading, and found that teachers lacked familiarity with alternative assessment. nevertheless, the author found that teachers used diverse practices in assessing reading comprehension. quizzes, multiplechoice tests, presentations, class participation, workshops and class attendance are examples of this diversity. he also found that teachers were concerned about verifying the achievement of learning objectives; that is, some teachers expressed the need to implement traditional assessment practices (such as quizzes or final exams) due to the fact that they provide precise information of learning. finally and due to the fact that teachers lacked familiarity with alternative assessment, muñoz (2009) found that students also lacked familiarity with assessment practices. rea-dickins (2004) and brown (2004) highlight the importance of the role of teachers in assessing the learning process of students. the researchers 13 no. 11 (july december 2015) no. 11 (july december 2015) argue that fl teachers can be seen as active agents of assessment in the sense that they usually design and implement assessments. in fact, rea-dickins (2004) states that the role of the teacher has two main functions: as a facilitator of students’ effort to learn a language, and as a judge of learner performance. reading reading is an active process in which there is a dialog between the reader and text. alyousef (2005) states, “reading is an interactive process between a reader and a text. the reader should interact dynamically with the text with the intention to understand its message” (p. 14). in order to understand the text, the reader needs to possess two vital elements: linguistic knowledge and background knowledge. linguistic knowledge involves awareness about the language such as grammar or vocabulary structure. background knowledge relates to the familiarity the reader has with the reading. cassany (2006), gonzález (2000), grabe and stoller (2002), and weir (1993) also argue that reading involves a process of cognition because readers have to predict, memorize information, interpret, pay attention, and make hypotheses when they decode a written message. cassany (2006) affirms that that fl readers have to make a greater effort because they may face difficulties with grammar, vocabulary or even culture in the readings. that is why the role of the teacher is important in order to guide students to apply some reading strategies. models of reading. there are two important models or processes for reading: bottom-up processes and top-down. in the first model, readers have to build the text from small units beginning from letters to words, and then from words to sentences (aebersold & field, 1997). in the second model, readers have to link the text to their existing knowledge that involves historical, cultural or linguistic elements. grabe and stoller (2002) suggest an interactive model that includes both bottom-up and top-down processes as readers need to recognize words quickly, and they also need to activate background knowledge in order to understand the text. reading strategies. different authors support the importance of teaching reading strategies to students (chamot, barnhardt, el-dinary, & robbins, 1999; hosenfeld, 1979; janzen, 2001; mikulecky & jeffries, 2004; osorno & lopera, 2012). reading strategies help learners apply a task, pay attention to what textual cues they have to focus on, and know what to do when they have troubles (block, 1986). teachers can use both simple reading strategies (e.g., previewing or scanning) and complex ones (e.g., inference or summarizing) with students. effects of classroom assessment practices lopera 14 no. 11 (july december 2015) no. 11 (july december 2015) effects of classroom assessment practices lopera janzen (2001, p. 369) proposes five classroom activities to work with reading strategies: • explicit discussion of the reading strategies and when to use them • demonstration of how to apply a reading strategy (modeling) • involvement with the reading in terms of reading aloud and sharing the process while applying the strategies • discussion of the activities in the classroom • practice with the reading material of the course researchers have explored some reading strategies in classrooms, and their conclusion is that they are beneficial for learners (arismendi, colorado & grajales, 2011; block, 1986; carrell, 1998; lopera, 2012; mikulecky & jeffries, 2004; poole, 2009). reading assessment practices. reading assessment practices are important because they tell the language teacher what to do in the course. gersten (1999) suggests that assessment should be aimed at collecting information from students’ reading abilities and then teachers should use that information in order to plan and implement classes. cross and paris (1987) give three important purposes when implementing reading comprehension assessment: • sorting: it helps not only to predict learners’ academic success but also to indicate mastery. • diagnosing: it helps to gather information in order to make decisions about the learning process. • evaluating: it helps to determine the effects of a program. teachers can also implement assessment practices in reading in order to enhance fluency, word recognition, vocabulary knowledge, text structure, discourse organization, main ideas, inference, among others (grabe & stoller, 2002). aweiss (1993) asserts that teachers can use different instruments to apply assessment practices, and they vary from unstructured and spontaneous gathering of information during instruction to more formal situations such as structured tests. aebersold and field (1997) propose six methods of alternative assessment that aim at students’ learning as well as their participation in classrooms for reading comprehension: • journals: they can be done in audio or written forms. this helps both teachers and learners monitor the reading comprehension process. 15 no. 11 (july december 2015) no. 11 (july december 2015) • portfolios: this may include students’ journals, but items such as drafts, homework, exams, or summaries can also be integrated here. • homework: this helps students identify what they do not know. • observation: this helps the teacher evaluate students’ comprehension and participation. the teacher can also observe if students work in groups, in pairs or individually. • self-assessment: this helps students be part of the learning process because they reflect on their own practices and achievements. • peer-assessment: this guides students to evaluate each other’s participation in a given activity. finally, some authors support the idea of including both traditional and alternative assessment in the classrooms because readers respond to texts in many different forms (aebersold & field, 1997; alderson, 2000). in fact, aebersold and field (1997) encourage “reading teachers to become thoughtful, attentive, reliable assessors, able to use both alternative and traditional assessment measures that are beneficial to all” (p. 167). methodology research design this study followed the principles of qualitative research, and a case study was used as a research method (cresswell, 2007; merriam, 1998; tellis, 1997; yin, 2003). the study also involved the methodology of an exploratory multiple case study as researchers wanted to identify the effects of classroom assessment on students’ reading comprehension. the grounded approach was used when researchers categorized the data (freeman, 1998). context the research was carried out at a public university in medellín, colombia. in order to be admitted to the second semester of their graduate program, students in specialization programs4 have to certify reading comprehension in a foreign language. they have two options to certify: taking a proficiency test or attending a classroom course. a research group in teaching and learning 4 especialización (specialization) is a graduate program that usually lasts one year. the main objective of these programs is to update students in their academic areas. effects of classroom assessment practices lopera 16 no. 11 (july december 2015) no. 11 (july december 2015) effects of classroom assessment practices lopera languages designed a web-based course in 2007, and this course became a third option. the reading comprehension course. the course is designed to guide students to use reading strategies in a fl, and aims at developing readers who interact with different types of texts. the name of the course is english reading comprehension for graduate programs (competencia lectora en inglés para postgrados). it is a 120-hour course with five main units. table 1 includes a description of the reading comprehension program. table 1. the reading comprehension program unit name topics 1 word and their meanings dictionary use, parts of speech, cognates, affixes, word meaning in context. 2 reading strategies prediction, skimming, scanning, and graph interpretation. 3 development of reading skills sentence structure, topic, main idea, and referents 4 text organization methods cause and effect, comparison and contrasts, description, narration, argumentation , and classification and categorization 5 critical reading fact and opinions, tone, and arguments participants the teacher. the teacher holds a master’s degree in teaching foreign languages and has more than ten years of experience teaching reading comprehension for undergraduate and graduate students. he taught the course in spanish to facilitate students’ learning, but the readings and exercises were in english. the students. there were 27 students in the course (17 women, 10 men), and only one student withdrew from the course. age ranged between 20 and 51 years old. all participants were in the first semester of different specializations in the law department: social security law, constitutional law, family law, administrative law, and procedural law. 17 no. 11 (july december 2015) no. 11 (july december 2015) data collection instruments four alternative assessment instruments (questionnaires, observations, focus groups, and the diary of the teacher) and one traditional assessment instrument (test) were used to gather data. the objective of each instrument is explained below: questionnaires. three questionnaires were administered: evaluation of the course and the teacher, reading strategies and motivation, and selfevaluation. for the purpose of this paper, the self-assessment questionnaire was analyzed in order to see the effects of assessment practices. tests. there were two types of tests: before (pre-test) and after (posttest) the pedagogical intervention, and different tests for each unit. in the pre-test and post-test, there were two readings in each test with 13 multiple choice questions (questions and readings simulating standardized tests like the toefl). inferencing, scanning, identifying topics and main ideas are some of the topics covered in the tests. the unit tests included short paragraphs on the topic of every unit, and multiple choice as well as open questions. diary of the teacher. the teacher kept a diary in order to record his observations and reflections about the teaching and learning process in reading (jeffrey & hadley, 2002). the teacher wrote an entry for each class. the purpose of this diary was to gain insights from the teacher about the course. observations. this instrument was used to examine behaviors, interaction, and participation in the classroom (brown, 2001). two different members of the research group observed two sessions for each unit, and the observations were recorded using a format designed ad-hoc by the research group. focus group. at the end of the course, students were invited to have a focus group session in order to discuss the academic experiences in a deeper way. the sessions were guided by the research advisor, and then transcribed. fourteen students participated. data analysis interpretation ten researchers participated in the analysis of the data (the research advisor, six teachers, and three undergraduate students). all researchers read and labeled the data individually and then compared some important ideas in groups. after that, they coded the data and constructed categories. finally, researchers triangulated the information in order to validate data (freeman, 1998). researchers translated some excerpts from spanish to english in order to support findings. effects of classroom assessment practices lopera 18 no. 11 (july december 2015) no. 11 (july december 2015) effects of classroom assessment practices lopera results researchers found the following issues after analyzing the assessment practices applied in the foreign language reading course: self-assessment questionnaire the questionnaire asked students about their motivation, reading strategies, the course, and the teacher during the learning process. students expressed that the course offered different topics to be applied in readings. one theme that emerged from the self-assessment questionnaire was positive methodology. comments by students out of 26 indicated this issue: i like the methodology used by the teacher because he is active and clear with his explanations. the teacher is quite organized with the course and is quite active. the methodology was great. twenty students also expressed that they had improved their reading comprehension in the fl, and that they had applied different strategies such as skimming, scanning, previewing, and prediction. one of the students reported, “i have learnt pre-reading strategies: prediction, skimming, scanning.” however, five students reported that one of the main obstacles was the lack of vocabulary when interacting with readings, and the lack of time to practice due to their job duties. some comments include the following: one of the main difficulties i have faced with readings is the vocabulary well, the lack of time to practice in his diary and in order to support this issue, the teacher also reported that students faced difficulties with the vocabulary, especially at the beginning of the course. in one of his entries, he expressed that students had difficulties with the vocabulary, even when they had the option to use the dictionary. he wrote: students had difficulties understanding how english words could have different meanings according to the context they had. students were used to writing the first meaning they had in the dictionary without further considerations on the context; therefore, students had some difficulties understanding the meaning of words. i didn’t plan to have students learning to use the context to understand word meanings in one class; however, i was concerned about students’ motivation because this topic was one of the issues students complained about when they said english was a difficult language. 19 no. 11 (july december 2015) no. 11 (july december 2015) tests when students took the pre-test, the teacher wrote in his diary that students were nervous, uncomfortable, and worried about the length of the test. he also noted that students had difficulty understanding the readings, completing the test, and that they translated many words into spanish. this experience contrasts with the post-test, in which students were more comfortable and did not translate as many words as on the first test. the teacher also noted that students understood the readings and applied the reading strategies. researchers wanted to verify in a quantitative way if students applied reading strategies so they compared statistically the preand post-test (the same test was applied). it is worth noting that the quantitative analysis helps support the qualitative one. table 2 shows the following results: table 2. statistical analysis of the pre-test and post-test statistics tests pre-test post-test number of participants 26 26 minimum 2,000 7,000 maximum 11,000 10,000 median 6,000 9,000 mean 5,654 8,885 variance (n-1) 5,595 0,506 standard deviation (n-1) 2,365 0,711 statistics support that the effect of the reading comprehension course in english as a foreign language was quite positive as the mean increased. this means that the course was effective for students. the teacher also wrote that in his diary that the students were quite nervous taking the tests for each unit. students’ anxiety was so high that they even asked the teacher if they could take the test with a partner. the teacher also noted that their anxiety was mainly based on the score, and tried to lessen their anxiety. the teacher reported in his diary: they didn’t feel very confident to take a test in english, and they still believed it was very difficult; this is why students asked repeatedly to do the test with a classmate, but i told them that it was not possible. i tried to calm down students about the test, by explaining how they would only be asked on the exercises and topics we studied, but students didn’t pay attention and were very nervous to take the test. although students did a very good effort during the exam, they asked effects of classroom assessment practices lopera 20 no. 11 (july december 2015) no. 11 (july december 2015) effects of classroom assessment practices lopera a lot of questions trying to get some approval of their work, so they could be confident of getting a good grade. finally, the teacher sometimes asked the students to assess each other after a test of a reading activity. he said the correct answer in front of the whole group and then asked students to correct their peers. this activity helped learners not only to confirm their knowledge but also to take responsibility for their own learning. this issue was validated in the observations. diary of the teacher the teacher began the course explaining the objectives, methodology, content, and assessment. the teacher wondered if students had observations regarding the assessment part as they did not suggest or mention anything about it. the teacher said in the diary: i explained the assessment methodology and students agreed, as they didn’t suggest further changes or disagree. i wonder if they really understood. this was the feeling i had during the class and all the issues i mentioned. the teacher also reflected on students’ issues such as attitude, contact, motivation, confidence, and improvement in reading. for instance, he stated that the close contact with students makes it possible to provide an immediate solution when students face learning problems; he said: by getting close to students there is a chance to get to know what students may be able to do during learning, and there is also a chance to provide immediate solutions to learning difficulties. the teacher also observed that students’ attitude was positive and they read for comprehension and not for a score in order to improve their skills, he mentioned: students’ attitude is quite positive. they wanted to understand what they were reading. they didn’t want to just complete the exercises for obtaining a grade, they really wanted to take the opportunity to improve their english language skills. moreover, the teacher stated that students had gained confidence when facing texts in english: these students also remark how it is easier for them to face texts in english – not that they are going to understand everything at once – but at least they said they had more elements for understanding. the teacher noted that students had improved with the process of applying reading strategies and understood the information from the readings, he said: 21 no. 11 (july december 2015) no. 11 (july december 2015) i could notice how students were actually doing a good job on understanding information from different types of text. while i collected information from students’ class tasks, i could notice very good answers to the information required. finally, the teacher observed that some students showed extrinsic motivation as they had to certify reading in a foreign language in order to be admitted to the second semester of their law specializations. he argued that some students had taken the proficiency test while attending the reading course in order to accomplish the reading requirement and only one passed it. at the end, only one student passed the test and he didn’t go back to class, he didn’t even say good bye. it was quite surprising to realize that after two months of instruction some students were only worried about obtaining the certification, that’s it, there is no other interest. observations at the beginning of the course, researchers observed that students used the dictionaries quite often when they came across an unknown word. at the end of the course, learners did not use the dictionary that much and researchers interpreted this decreased dependence on the dictionary as improvement in reading. the observers and the teacher also noted that students’ participation was a constant aspect, and they were willing to do it. researchers interpreted this issue as a motivation factor in students. finally, the teacher corrected class exercises and gave oral feedback to students in some sections of the class. researchers validated that the teacher applied formative assessment in students. focus group during the focus groups, students expressed that the methodology was motivating and that they had learned how to read in a fl. one of the students said, “i now feel more confident to read texts in english and understand more.” another student said that she felt so confident reading that she “started to read in english in the internet.” on the other hand, some students complained about the requirement to certify a foreign language in order to be registered in the second semester of their graduate program, and suggested removing this requirement. one student said, “we felt pressure due to the requirement to certify a foreign language. it would be a good idea not to be a requirement.” finally, students questioned the idea of interacting with readings from different topics and suggested that the readings be in the law area as they were effects of classroom assessment practices lopera 22 no. 11 (july december 2015) no. 11 (july december 2015) taking a graduate program in law, one student commented, “it would be nice to interact with readings related to our field.” conclusions both alternative and traditional assessments were analyzed in a foreign language reading comprehension course in order to see the effects of reading instruction. findings suggest that the course helped both students and the teacher recognize that learning occurred. the assessment instruments applied in this course also helped language practitioners learn more about the teaching/ learning practices in fl reading. in fact, researchers not only noted that students’ motivation was mainly extrinsic, as they had to certify reading in a foreign language, but also that students’ anxiety was high. researchers also noted that students faced difficulties with vocabulary. on the other hand, these assessment practices helped to examine learning processes in an objective way. the statistical information analyzed supports the assertion that students improved as the mean increased leading to state that the course was effective to students. one important element of applying both alternative and traditional assessment is that students are involved in the learning process and they reflect on their own practices and achievements. the call to include learners in the assessment practices is crucial in today’s teaching, and this may help scholars to make changes in order to improve ongoing or future teaching practices. finally, the results of this paper may enlighten scholars to integrate both alternative assessment and traditional assessment in classrooms in order to have a wide picture of the process of teaching and learning languages. effects of classroom assessment practices lopera 23 no. 11 (july december 2015) no. 11 (july december 2015) references arismendi, f., colorado, d., & grajales, l. 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(3rd ed.). thousand oaks: ca. sage publications. author * sergio lopera medina holds an ma in linguistics, is a phd candidate in linguistics and a specialist in teaching foreign languages. he is a full time professor and a research member of eale (enseñanza y aprendizaje de las lenguas extranjeras) at the universidad de antioquia. his research interests are teaching efl reading comprehension and pragmatics. effects of classroom assessment practices lopera 149 constructing sociocultural awareness from the efl classroom1 construyendo conciencia sociocultural desde la clase de inglés como lengua extranjera nancy yolanda bautista pérez2* universidad cooperativa de colombia, colombia abstract this article reports an action research project carried out with a group of 24 undergraduate students in a private university in ibagué, colombia. the study aimed to characterize the development of university students’ sociocultural skills, to analyze their perceptions and to examine the teacher’s procedures and possible implications required to implement the raising cultural consciousness macrostrategy taken from the postmethod pedagogy. to reach these objectives a series of interconnected tasks were designed and implemented in three different stages. to collect the data, five data collection methods were used: the students’ artifacts, teacher’s field notes, questionnaires, video recordings and a focus group. the findings revealed that these university students became gradually aware of the importance of having the opportunity to develop tasks that allowed them to connect the english classroom with the local and global context. furthermore, students suggested that this type of pedagogy should be an explicit component of the curricula of their professional programs. a review of the literature also showed that in our local context this kind of sociocultural study with a postmethod orientation is scarce, thus this study intends to bridge this gap in the colombian elt field. key words: postmethod pedagogy, macrostrategy, sociocultural skills, local and global context. 1 received: july 10th 2017/ accepted: december 11th 2017 2 nancy.bautista@campusucc.edu.co corrective feedback during classroom interactions gist education and learning research journal. issn 1692-5777. no.15. (july december) 2017. pp. 149-172. no. 15 (july december, 2017) no. 15 (july december, 2017) 150 resumen este artículo reporta un proyecto de investigación acción realizado con un grupo de 24 estudiantes de pregrado en una universidad privada colombiana en la ciudad de ibagué. los objetivos del estudio fueron caracterizar el desarrollo gradual de las competencias socioculturales, analizar las percepciones de los estudiantes universitarios, examinar los procedimientos del profesor y las posibles implicaciones requeridas para implementar la macro-estrategia incrementando la conciencia cultural seleccionada de la pedagogía del posmétodo. para alcanzar estos objetivos, fue necesario diseñar una serie de tareas que se implementaron en tres ciclos. los instrumentos que se utilizaron para recolectar la información fueron los materiales hechos por los estudiantes, las notas del profesor, cuestionarios, videos y un grupo focal. los resultados revelaron que los estudiantes universitarios comenzaron gradualmente a ser conscientes de la importancia de tener la oportunidad de desarrollar actividades que les permitieron conectar su clase de inglés con el contexto local y global, también sugirieron que esta pedagogía debería ser parte de sus currículos en sus diferentes programas de formación profesional. además, se evidenció que en el contexto local este tipo de estudios con la orientación de la pedagogía del posmétodo son escasos, por lo que este estudio intenta contribuir a llenar este vacío en el campo de la enseñanza del inglés en colombia. palabras claves: pedagogía posmétodo, macro-estrategia, conciencia sociocultural, contexto local y global. resumo este artigo reporta um projeto de pesquisa-ação realizado com um grupo de 24 estudantes de curso de graduação numa universidade colombiana na cidade de ibagué. os objetivos do estudo foram caracterizar o desenvolvimento gradual das competências socioculturais, analisar as percepções dos alunos universitários, examinar os procedimentos do professor e as possíveis implicações requeridas para implementar a macro-estratégia incrementando a consciência cultural; a qual foi selecionada da pedagogia do posmétodo. para alcançar estes objetivos, foi necessário desenhar uma serie de tarefas “tasks” que foram implementadas em três ciclos. os instrumentos utilizados para recolher os dados foram: os materiais feitos pelos estudantes, notas de campo do professor, questionários, vídeos e um grupo focal. os resultados revelaram que os estudantes universitários começaram gradualmente a ser conscientes da importância de ter a oportunidade de fazer atividades e conectar sua classe de inglês com o contexto local e global, eles também sugeriram que esta pedagogia deveria ser parte de seus currículos nos diferentes programas de graduação. além disso, se evidenciou que no contexto local este tipo de estudos com orientação da pedagogia do posmétodo é escasso; por isso, este estudo intenta contribuir a encher esse vazio no campo do ensino de inglês na colômbia. palavras chaves: pedagogia posmétodo, macroestratégia, consciência sociocultural, contexto local e global. socio-cultural awareness in efl bautista no. 15 (july december, 2017) no. 15 (july december, 2017) 151 introduction good communication skills in english is one of the demands in this globalized world of permanent evolution and changes that have affected our thoughts, beliefs, behavior and interests. consequently, the way we teach and learn, as it has been said by many researchers and scholars. these trends and changes imply the development of new pedagogies and approaches in the efl classroom to give students the opportunity to develop their linguistic skills and sociocultural competence to better prepare them for life. as a result, from this huge demand in teaching and learning english, methods and approaches with a sociocultural orientation have evolved and emerged in an attempt to meet the fact that learners’ needs and interests have changed too. in this regard, johnson (2009) emphasizes that today it is important to reflect about who teaches english, who learns english and why. also to know about the sociopolitical and socioeconomic contexts in which english is taught. in response to these challenges and responsibilities for school, university and teachers regarding the english learning process, an action research project was undertaken during the second academic semester in 2016, at a private university in ibagué, with a group of 24 students from different undergraduate programs. the study aimed to characterize the development of students’ sociocultural skills, to analyze their perceptions and to examine the teacher’s procedures and possible implications. to achieve these goals, the raising cultural consciousness macrostrategy and its guiding principles were implemented in the english classroom. this macrostrategy was taken from the postmethod pedagogy framework, which is considered by many scholars such as stern (1992), allwright (1984), giroux (1988), johnson (2009), and byram (2002), a sustainable approach to language teaching around the world due to its sensitivity to local particularities and the involvement of critical awareness of local conditions and needs. furthermore, some local researchers as, fandiño (2014), aldemar & bonilla (2009) and ramos (2013) have manifested that this is a suitable pedagogy for latin america. the outcomes of the study evidenced that by gradually empowering students to go beyond the walls of the classroom, they were able to expand their global and local knowledge. foucault (1984) suggests that being able to read the community critically is part of the learning process; it means questioning reality, raising awareness, transforming self and rewriting the world. socio-cultural awareness in efl bautista no. 15 (july december, 2017) no. 15 (july december, 2017) 152 in this paper, i present a discussion and description of the theoretical constructs that supported the study, the implemented methodology, the results and, finally the conclusions and pedagogical implications. literature review understanding the postmethod pedagogy the main construct of this project is the postmethod pedagogy. this pedagogy emerged as an answer to the teachers and teacher educators’ voices of dissatisfaction with prescriptive methods of teaching and as part of the elt evolution and the new challenges the new millennium has brought. these changes have gradually evolved over the years thanks to the critical thinkers that have questioned not only the pedagogical limitations but the insidious, sociocultural and political agenda that have permeated our educational system. macedo (1994) called for an “anti-methods pedagogy” he said that any pedagogy should include a critical understanding of the sociocultural context that guides teachers’ practices (p.8). kumaravadivelu (2003) defines the postmethod pedagogy as “a search for an alternative to method rather than an alternative method” (p. 32). he considers that alternative methods are primarily products of top-down processes and alternatives to method are mainly products of bottom-up processes. in other words, teaching practices and policies should emerge from the daily-classroom activities. he assures that the postmethod condition empowers practitioners to construct personal theories of practice that gives teachers autonomy. following these ideas, kumaravadivelu and other scholars recognize that “the nature of any language pedagogy should be sociallyrealistic and contextually-sensitive” (kumaravadivelu, 2003, p.32). grasping the pedagogic wheel and the macrostrategies the postmethod pedagogy proposed by kumaravadivelu can be visualized as three-dimensional system or framework consisting of three pedagogic parameters: particularity, practicality, and possibility. he designed the pedagogic wheel to show how the three parameters interweave and interact with each other and the systematic relationship among the ten macrostrategies. as illustrated in the pedagogic wheel. (kumaravadivelu, 2003, p.41): socio-cultural awareness in efl bautista no. 15 (july december, 2017) no. 15 (july december, 2017) 153 “these three parameters are based on social, cultural, economic and political dimensions that have permeated the process of language teaching; at the same time those parameters are complemented by ten macrostrategies or classroom principles” (kumaravadivelu, 2003, p.41). this framework encompasses the most relevant elements that surround people’s life; for this reason, teachers are required to be aware of the students’ sociocultural background as well as their linguistics needs. kumaravadivelu states that it is the teacher’s discretion to implement one, two, or whatever macrostrategy as needed, or experience teachers can even create their own ones. i explored all of them to seek which one was the most appropriate to develop my project, and i selected the raising cultural consciousness macrostrategy, which appeared to be the most suitable according to the needs analysis and the students’ characteristics. the raising cultural consciousness macrostrategy as it is well known, teaching culture has been an integral part of language class and it is viewed as a cognitive component. the postmethod pedagogy, proposes that the cultural dimension as “an obligation we, language teachers, have to our students” (kumaravadivelu, 2003, p. 284). in this sense, stern (1992) points out that teaching culture should include three components: the cognitive, affective and behavioral to help students to gain an understanding of the native speakers, their cultural values, attitude and diversity. this macrostrategy also indicates that the global cultural consciousness is a requisite in the english language teaching and learning process. kumaravadivelu (2003) asserts that nowadays teacher should not be considered as the sole cultural informant; teachers need to treat learners as cultural informants as well. teachers can encourage learners to be engaged in a process of participation by identifying the cultural knowledge learners bring to the classroom and share their own individual perspectives with the teacher as well as with other learners; such a multicultural approach can dispel stereotypes that create and sustain cross-cultural misunderstandings and miscommunications, as it was evidenced in this study. socio-cultural awareness in efl bautista no. 15 (july december, 2017) no. 15 (july december, 2017) 154 addressing culture in the efl classroom brown (2007) argues that culture is an integral part of the interaction between language and thought. it means that culture involves a series of cultural patterns and customs that shape the way we think and understand the world around us. williams (1976) defines culture as one of the two or three most complicated words in the english language because it “brings to mind different images to different people…such as the mental habits, personal prejudices, moral values, social customs, artistic achievements, and aesthetic preferences of particular societies” (p.87). additionally, kramsch (2013) describes culture as the meaning that members of a social group give to the discursive practices they share in a given space and time and over the historical life of the group. “she states that language learners learn who they are through encounters with the other. they cannot understand the other if they don’t understand the historical and subjective experiences that have made them who they are” (p. 61). in this regard, the term third place is seen as a place of contact or encounter between speakers from two different countries. learners occupy a position where they see themselves both from the inside and from the outside; and that is what she has called a “third place” of symbolic competence that regards to language-in-context for the making of meaning. kramsch (2005) uses the term “thirdness” as a way of seeing the relation of language, thought and culture. the above concepts and thoughts helped me to create encounters in and outside the classroom, where students had the opportunity to reflect about them and the other, and were able to expand and to understand the concept of culture as it is evidenced in the outcomes of the project. on account of these kind of sociocultural encounters with the other the intercultural competence merged as it will be explained in the next section. tackle the intercultural competence in the english classroom the term ‘intercultural’ emerged in the eighties in the fields of intercultural education and intercultural communication. both are part of an effort to increase dialogue and cooperation among members of different national cultures within a common european union or within a global economy (jackson, 2012; kramsch, 2001). byram (2000) visualizes intercultural competence as the ability ‘to see relationships between different cultures – both internal and external to a society – and to mediate, that is interpret each in terms of socio-cultural awareness in efl bautista no. 15 (july december, 2017) no. 15 (july december, 2017) 155 the other, either for themselves or for other people’. it also encompasses the ability ‘to critically or analytically understand that one’s own and other cultures’ perspective is culturally determined rather than natural.’ (p.10). he states that globalization has put individuals in contact with one another at an unprecedented scale. it has brought forth a general challenge to traditionally recognized boundaries of nation, language, race, gender, and class. for this reason, byram (2000) and others like kramsch (2011) consider that teachers should promote the intercultural skill in the classroom. sociocultural perspective another important construct of the study was the sociocultural perspective that views human learning as a dynamic social activity that is situated in physical and social contexts and it is distributed across persons, tools, and activities (vygotsky, 1978). according to johnson (2009), a sociocultural perspective assumes that human cognition is formed through engagement in social activities. this perspective refers to the social relationships and the culturally constructed materials, signs, and symbols that mediate those relationships that create uniquely human forms of higher-level thinking and as a consequence of it. this means, that learning takes place in interactive processes mediated by culture, context, language, and social interaction. community-based pedagogy community-based pedagogy is a perspective inspired on the work of educators such as freire (1988) and, more recently, murrell (2001). freire insisted that curriculum be locally generated and generative and that learners and their worlds be invited into the project and process of education. a community-based pedagogy curriculum reflects a close link between the community and school. furthermore, murrell (2001) observes that this pedagogy is informed by sociocultural approaches and that teachers are called to research the knowledge of the cultures represented by children, families and communities. thus, i based my study on this approach because one of the aims was to encourage students to inquire about their surroundings; such as their neighborhoods, inside and outside the university, etc. in order to connect the efl classroom to the local context and to expand their awareness, experiences and very likely to take action on what they found needed or feasible. socio-cultural awareness in efl bautista no. 15 (july december, 2017) no. 15 (july december, 2017) 156 teacher’s decision-making: moving from theory to practice as part of the advent of new approaches and pedagogies, the teacher’s role in the efl classroom has also changed and evolved. zeichner & liston (1996) suggest that the notion of the teacher as a selfreflective, inquiring, and critically motivated practitioner is required today. allwright & bailey (1991) have stated that this tendency is accelerating interest in research in elt environments. however, it is important to consider that every teacher has her/ his personal theory of teaching and learning, which kelly (1955) calls personal constructs. “teachers make decisions to act on the basis of his/her sense and understanding; in order for teachers to transform the personal constructs, they need to adapt them to reach a common understanding together with others” (williams & burden, 1997, p. 28). furthermore, freeman (1998) called such a reflective thinking inquiryoriented teacher research. he defines as “a state of being engaged in what is going on in the classroom that drives one to better understand what is happening—and can happen—there” (p.14). in the following figure, i summarize the process and the challenges i had to tackle as a teacher researcher in order to connect the theory and practice and to accomplish the aims of the project. the figure 1. includes the theoretical framework and the six main dimensions that i explored in order to design the curricular units for each cycle in order to get students sociocultural aware. figure 1. teacher’s decision making socio-cultural awareness in efl bautista no. 15 (july december, 2017) no. 15 (july december, 2017) 157 background the postmethod pedagogy is considered a sustainable approach to language teaching around the world including latin america, mainly, because it is sensitive to local particularities and involves a critical awareness of local conditions and needs. however, after searching for similar studies; i realized that most of them are focused on discussions, analysis of theory and the way of teaching english and culture in the efl classroom influenced by the postmethod pedagogy. nonetheless, i selected two practice-oriented studies that have been carried out in latin america: the first one was reported in argentina by porto & byram (2015) that aimed to combine the language teaching and education for citizenship; she called her study intercultural citizenship. this project is part of a network of projects coordinated by michael byram. findings revealed that porto’s project is scarce in latin america and her study intends to fill an empirical gap; thus, it has given me some elements to refine my study, which is also a contribution to bridge the existence gap in the sociocultural studies in colombia with a postmethod pedagogy orientation. the second study was held in colombia by fandiño (2014), whose work has been influenced by the postmethod pedagogy and the sociocultural approaches. he proposes five strategies to facilitate a better understanding and implementation of culture in the colombian efl classroom to help teachers to understand and become aware of the social conditions. this study enhanced my view of teacher’s agency, freedom and autonomy, which led me to design activities to foster students’ awareness with respect to culture in our local context. methodology research design this project was based on action research methodology, which is defined as a process that is characterized as a spiral or cycle of movements between action and research. it suits the specificity and particularities of every teaching context and situation through permanent and systematic actions of reflection, observation, planning, action and evaluation (johnson & christensen 2004; burns, 2005; kemmis & mctaggart, 1988). based on this methodological design, the project aimed to answer the research questions: socio-cultural awareness in efl bautista no. 15 (july december, 2017) no. 15 (july december, 2017) 158 main question: what does the implementation of the raising cultural consciousness macrostrategy, taken from the postmethod pedagogy, show with respect to the development of a group of university students’ sociocultural skills in their english learning process? subquestions: 1. what do university students’ perceptions reveal regarding the implementation of the raising cultural consciousness macrostrategy? 2. what characterizes the teacher’s decision making when implementing the raising cultural consciousness macrostrategy in the english classroom? context and participants the study was conducted at a private university in ibagué, during the second academic semester in 2016. the participants were 24 students from different undergraduate programs who attended english classes every monday from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. for 16 weeks. the students’ ages ranged between 18 to 24 years old. they were in the third level of english, which is a requirement to graduate. each english level is characterized by a predetermined set of language competencies students are expected to achieve according to the curriculum. instructional design the instructional design involves all the process and the interconnected activities that were implemented in each of the three stages of the study. figure 2 summarizes all the process, the implementations done and the instruments used in each stage. each cycle was divided in alignment with the three academic periods. in the first cycle students started to raise their sociocultural awareness, in the second cycle students continued expanding their sociocultural awareness, and in the third cycle, they were able to take action about sociocultural issues that affect their community. socio-cultural awareness in efl bautista no. 15 (july december, 2017) no. 15 (july december, 2017) 159 figure 2. action research process data collection instruments to collect the data, five data collection methods were used: the students’ artifacts, teacher’s field notes, questionnaires, video recordings and a focus group. all the data gathered through these instruments helped me to analyze and triangulate the information to find out to what extend the research questions were answered. the students’ artifacts were collected and analyzed in each cycle of the process. they reflected the students’ sociocultural awareness development during the whole process. then, questionnaires in spanish were applied at the end of each cycle. this instrument was very valuable to know the students’ opinions and impressions about the different tasks done in class. the teacher’s field notes were taken during each class to analyze reactions, interactions or behaviors during or after the implementation of the different activities. in addition, most of the activities were recorded, which was very useful because it let me go back as many times as i needed to analyze the students’ opinions or to discover new insights of the project. finally, a focus group was held to give students the opportunity to discuss and give their opinions freely about the different activities and strategies socio-cultural awareness in efl bautista no. 15 (july december, 2017) no. 15 (july december, 2017) 160 implemented by the teacher during the whole process, and to reconfirm previous data collected with other instruments. data analysis and interpretation according to burns (1999), the reflexive nature of action research means that analysis occurs over the entire investigation; she adapted a framework from mckernan (1996) to shape the overall processes of analysis. burns says that throughout a process of constant checks that lead the analysis and triangulation, the data provide the evidence for the research insights or outcomes. thus, the data analysis and interpretation of this study was based on the grounded theory that allows concepts and categories emerge from the data and produces knowledge as stated by glaser & strauss (1999). table 1 illustrates the four categories and the subcategories that merged from the data in order to answer the research questions. figure 3. categories and sub-categories regarding the research question students grasping the postmethod pedagogy to answer the main question, since the very beginning, students were initialized in a process of raising their sociocultural awareness, then they continued expanding their sociocultural awareness and in socio-cultural awareness in efl bautista no. 15 (july december, 2017) no. 15 (july december, 2017) 161 the last stage, they were able to take actions about sociocultural issues. according to kumaravadivelu (2003), students should be aware of the complex connection between language use and cultural identity to sensitize themselves to better understand and value the cultural richness that surrounds their lives. for this reason, one of the first activities aimed to recognize the students’ understanding of global culture. they started to analyze the status of english in this global world and the relation with their lives as citizens and future professionals in order to develop an awareness of empathy regarding the english language. these excerpts confirm that this group of students already possessed a sociocultural background and knowledge about the world and it was easier for them to become familiar with the postmethod thoughts. “most of the students considered that by learning english they can have better job opportunities and can have access to international business. others thought about the possibility to travel abroad to study”. (field notes, august 15, 2016) “these group of students recognized that globalization affect our lives in many ways, such as the language the world speaks, the way we communicate, dress, and so on”. (field notes, august 15, 2016) students getting familiar with the postmethod parameters and macrostrategies let me recall that the selected macrostrategy for the purpose of this study was the raising cultural consciousness macrostrategy. to implement this macrostrategy, i designed some microstrategies that i called activities or tasks to develop their sociocultural skills and give them the opportunity to create knowledge. therefore, in the second stage of this study, i designed a microstrategy based on a comedy movie called spanglish. it contains a lot of nonverbal communication and relevant cultural and cross-cultural information. after analyzing the students’ opinions about this activity, it was found that students enhanced their understanding of culture and identified other aspects of culture such as language, cultural barriers and stereotypes. they stated that the movie helped them to understand the difficulties and problems an immigrant has to face when travels to another country to pursue a dream and commented that some of them knew a person that has experienced the situation of being illegal in another country. students recommend the movie as a way to expand socio-cultural awareness in efl bautista no. 15 (july december, 2017) no. 15 (july december, 2017) 162 their intercultural competence and recognized how important is to speak english in a foreign country. the following excerpts were taken from a video recording after the film activity: s1. “esta actividad nos ayudó a practicar, pronunciar y mejorar el inglés y aprender sobre diferentes culturas”. s3.“recomiendo la película pues permite tener una visión más amplia de la cultura de otros países y reconocer la importancia de hablar bien inglés”. s4:“me ayudó a tener una visión más amplia de mi cultura y de la cultura de otros países”. students constructing sociocultural awareness social awareness involves both the will and the skill to interact with others, involving motivation, attitude, self-confidence, empathy and the ability to handle social situations (byram 2002). this category shows how students became conscious and expanded their knowledge about the difficulties their communities have and even took part in possible solutions. when students presented their final papers and oral presentations regarding local and global issues, data showed that they have expanded their social and cultural awareness, were ready to explore global and local issues, and were able to take action about problems related to their communities, such as the university, neighborhood and the city. the following five questions, students attempted to answer in their final tasks, is an example of it: 1. we are concerned about how to develop awareness in the university directors about the drug addiction? 2. what can be our contribution to reduce the amount of garbage in the streets of ibague? 3. how to improve security in ibague city, especially near the cooperativa university? 4. this group of students was concerned about the corruption that has been affected our country and especially this city, which is considered one of the biggest sicknesses of this century. 5. what can we do to reduce domestic violence in the city of ibague? socio-cultural awareness in efl bautista no. 15 (july december, 2017) no. 15 (july december, 2017) 163 students understanding and expanding the concept of culture students understood and expanded the concept of culture during the development of different cultural oriented tasks. the tasks involved observation and reflection about other’s cultures thus students had the opportunity to cross the borders from their local to the global culture with computer and technology to gained intercultural competence. my cultural heritage, a posters session, was one of the activities that helped students to expand their understanding about culture. the first step of this activity comprised that students worked in small groups and drew mind maps to express their understanding of culture. this task involved observation and reflection about other’s cultures and the faceto-face interaction with the native assistant who is part of the english language program. students developing the intercultural competence according to stewart (2007), the intercultural competence is the continuous evolution and transformation of the society as a result of science, technology and globalization, that force intercultural objectives to evolve and reflect to be able to respond to the needs of modern citizens and communities. this appreciation, confirms that today’s students are modern citizens whose learning habits are permeated by the facts already mentioned. for this reason, i also included technology in the classroom. a good example on how these students expanded their intercultural skills was when they watched the movie spanglish and in the post-viewing stage, they drew some mind maps and made a contrast between three cultures; colombian, mexican and american. the mind maps showed that language is the main barrier to get a good job in a country like the united states. they found that colombian and mexican cultures are more traditional than americans’ culture. also, that mexico and colombian have faced similar social problems such as the violence, trafficking and corruption. even though the movie spanglish is a funny comedy, students addressed critical opinions to social and cultural differences: s1:“recordaré la película como una actividad diferente y al contrastar las culturas me llama la atención como cada país ve al otro, dependiendo del status de éste”. (questionnaire, october 10, 2016) s2. “recomiendo la actividad de la película porque nos ayudó a ser capaces de ser más conscientes de las diferencias con otras culturas” (focus group, november 14, 2016) socio-cultural awareness in efl bautista no. 15 (july december, 2017) no. 15 (july december, 2017) 164 s3.”mexico and colombia, pensé que no debían ser muchas las diferencias, pero cuando comencé a investigar habían diferencias culturales, en la forma de hablar el español. (field notes, october 10, 2016) s4.”así estén cerca hay muchas diferencias entre méxico y los estados unidos, por ejemplo en la película las dificultades que tiene que afrontar la mujer son por no conocer la cultura y no hablar el idioma. (field notes, october 10, 2016) students developing critical thinking the students were immersed in a series of activities that were sociocultural and political oriented as suggested by halpern (1996) who asserts that “a forward –looking education must be built on the twin foundations of knowing how to learn and knowing how to think clearly about the proliferating information with which we all have to contend” (p.4). the decisions teachers make in the classroom will affect not only the class, but also generations that come; our students. therefore, in the third cycle of this study, i took advantage of a crucial moment our country was facing up, the peace process in colombia, which has been a controversial topic of discussion during the last years. the first thing i did was to elicit information from the students to see how much they knew about it. since most of them were not well informed about this process, i asked them to be followers of this process during two weeks, just before the plebiscite, and to be ready to participate in a round table session. during the round table students discussed about this topic that requires they move to a higherlevel of thinking. the following excerpts correspond to some teacher’s field notes and some opinions students wrote in spanish to answer a questionnaire: s1. “yo si estoy más enterado del proceso de paz” (field notes, october 16, 2016) s2. “es muy difícil decirlo en inglés, porque en español para mí no es tan fácil, pero se aprende mucho” (questionnaire, october 24, 2016). s3. “aparte de aprender sobre este proceso de paz, aprendí mucho vocabulario nuevo en inglés y soy más conciente de la importancia de votar”. (questionnaire, october 24, 2016) socio-cultural awareness in efl bautista no. 15 (july december, 2017) no. 15 (july december, 2017) 165 s4. “me considero una víctima indirecta y directa porque es nuestro país y nos afecta todo lo que pase en el” ((questionnaire, october 24, 2016). the above extracts evidenced the students’ awareness about events that surrounded their lives, even though most of them had never debated or participated in political issues. students expanding local knowledge canagarajah (2005) indicates that local knowledge is a “process rather than a product and it is constituted by the beliefs and practices of the past […] the most important is the locality that shapes our social intellectual practice” (p. 3). reflecting on canagarajah’s appreciation, i noticed that the development of the sociocultural competence in these students who were strongly influenced by their previous knowledge. it means that students brought to the english classroom knowledge from their fields of study. let me recall that this group of students belongs to the programs of civil engineering, veterinary and accounting. then, they shared in class their personal beliefs, values and experiences during the different activities, and finally their global and local knowledge that includes all the information they possess and express regarding their communities and the world. in this sub-category, i will highlight some instances, where students expressed their global and local knowledge about social issues: s1: “cuando analizamos los diferentes problemas sociales, recordamos que tenemos muchos, lo bueno es que intentamos sugerir soluciones”(focus group; november 14, 2016) s2: “observamos que algunos compañeros están consumiendo drogas, o la han consumido en el pasado, por eso nos llamó la atención este problema”.(field notes; october 17, 2016) s1:“we know that drug-addiction is a global problem. it does not only happen in colombia or ibague” (field notes; october 31, 2016) socio-cultural awareness in efl bautista no. 15 (july december, 2017) no. 15 (july december, 2017) 166 teacher shifting from traditional to non-conventional decisions this project could not be done without considering the teacher’s role during the process. kumaravadivelu (2001) observes that the most relevant key component and the heart of the postmethod framework is to empower and promote the teacher’s autonomy. it gives him/her the elements to become more confident and able to empower learners to construct their own knowledge. following these thoughts, as a language teacher at a higher educational institution, i am aware that one of the challenges we have is to promote competences university students need to improve their quality of life. for these reasons, i generated opportunities for the students to develop a series of interconnected tasks that were designed and implemented according to their needs, english level and the articulation with the english university program. it was necessary the creation of learning environments that foster the students’ sociocultural understanding and to continuously analyzed and reflected about the results of each of the tasks. this ongoing process guided me to accomplish the project. the following excerpts correspond to students’ opinions about the change from traditional to non-traditional class: s1. “pues a mí me llaman mucho la atención las actividades que realizamos, porque es una forma más de desarrollar la habilidad lingüística y cultural. si, en lo particular me gustó el cambio es más significativo.” (focus group, november 14, 2016) s2. “en general aprendimos mucho, sobre todo vocabulario, que en una clase tradicional nunca lo hubiéramos hecho. si fue una experiencia única.” (focus group, november 14, 2016) s3. “pues pienso que es muy bueno, pues algunos de esos temas son interesantes para nosotros y abordarlos en inglés es todo un reto. digamos, lo cultural, lo político y esto nos obliga a trabajar mejor el idioma. fue una experiencia significativa y fuimos progresando paso a paso”. (focus group, november 14, 2016) results regarding the main question, the findings revealed that this group of university students became more aware of the importance of having the opportunity to develop tasks that led them to connect the socio-cultural awareness in efl bautista no. 15 (july december, 2017) no. 15 (july december, 2017) 167 english classroom with the global and local context. they expressed that it should be part of their learning process as future professionals. additionally, data showed that through the development of the different sociocultural oriented tasks, students activated their previous knowledge, expanded their intercultural competence, and positioned themselves regarding social issues. with respect to the second question, these students demonstrated that by connecting the english class with their surroundings there were unlimited opportunities for them to move to a higher level of thinking, to create meaningful learning, and to become independent learners (johnson, 2009). they also recognized that this type of sociocultural activities offered them a unique opportunity because they had to face challenges that led them to generate and expand their linguistic skills and raised their sociocultural awareness. in relation to the third and last question, the data indicated that teacher plays an important role in the creation of learning environments that should give students the opportunity of exploring, discovering, analyzing and evaluating meaningful information. these were the main features of the tasks and microstrategies implemented during this process to reach the aims of the project. conclusions and pedagogical implications after the implementation of the raising cultural consciousness macrostrategy taken from the postmethod pedagogy through a series of interconnected activities along the academic semester; this group of university students demonstrated a deeper social consciousness about different local-context realities that they brought to the class because they are part of their sociocultural background. they evidenced improvement in the process of being better citizens by opening their minds to social issues. they recognized that they went beyond the classroom walls and found the english learning process more meaningful and challenging. students believed that this project provided a unique opportunity to share and compare their ideas, values and beliefs about their culture and others’ culture. furthermore, students changed their perceptions of the english class. during the execution of the final task, students did not only analyze social issues, they applied surveys, sent letters to official institutions, talked to community’s leader and to university’s directors; in sum they thought of possible solutions to a problem. even though some students admitted, it was really challenging to them to do oral socio-cultural awareness in efl bautista no. 15 (july december, 2017) no. 15 (july december, 2017) 168 presentations of sociocultural topics, some of them also said, “we will never forget this experience”. from the teacher’s perspective, this pedagogical experience has changed my point of view about my role as a teacher, the way i teach, and the way i view students. after this unique experience, i will never be the same teacher. although, there were some limitations such as the lack of experience in this kind of projects, the time constrains due to the amount of work i had to do. one of the biggest challenges i had to face was how to start the process of raising the students’ sociocultural consciousness, and at the same time be in alignment with my institution english program. to sum up, being an innovator and a critical thinker in education is not an easy job. there are some boundaries in our context; such as, some local policies, lack of resources, similar studies, learners’ attitude or interests, time constrains; despite that i started to walk into the sociocultural perspective and i was able to connect the classroom with the global and local context. thus, when one of the students said “teacher esa proeza que tu hiciste de salirte del libro, del tablero, de combinar de llevarnos a un plano más actual, de hacernos pensar como ciudadanos y futuros profesionales, creo que fue lo que hizo más atractivo y se diferenció tu clase de los demás compañeros. el hacer que pensemos más acerca de lo que estamos viviendo y percibiendo creo que ha sido lo más novedoso de lo que nos has enseñado”. (focus group; november 14, 2016). i was very excited because in a way he summarized the complexity that implies to become a kind of pioneer innovator in this particular field of the elt process. even though, kumaravadivelu (2003) does not consider the higher education population in his work, and in our local context, these kind of sociocultural projects with a postmethod and sociocultural orientation are scarce. this study shows the process, the results and implications in the colombian context with undergraduate students. socio-cultural awareness in efl bautista no. 15 (july december, 2017) no. 15 (july december, 2017) 169 references aldemar, j., & bonilla, m. (2009). addressing culture in the efl classroom: a dialogic proposal. profile, 11(2), 151-170. allwright, d. (1984). the importance of interaction in classroom language learning. applied linguistics, 5, 156-171. allwright, d., & bailey, k. 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(1996). reflective teaching: an introduction. mahwah, new jersey: lawrence erlbaum. socio-cultural awareness in efl bautista no. 15 (july december, 2017) no. 15 (july december, 2017) 172 author *nancy bautista pérez holds a specialization in english language teaching and a b.a. in english. she is candidate to an english didactics master’s degree from universidad del tolima. she has been teaching english and portuguese for more than twelve years, and is currently working as a full-time professor at universidad cooperativa de colombia in ibagué. she was the winner of the third meaningful experience competition at national level in 2017 with her pedagogical innovation “constructing sociocultural awareness from the efl classroom”. her main research interests are the sociocultural and intercultural dimensions of english language learning and teaching. socio-cultural awareness in efl no. 15 (july december, 2017) no. 15 (july december, 2017) constructing critical thinking scenarios in online legal english classes1 construyendo escenarios de pensamiento crítico en clases de inglés legal en línea eliana edith roberto-flórez, gladis leonor arias-rodríguez, yomaira angélica herreño-contreras2 universidad santo tomás, colombia 1 received: september 12th 2021/ accepted: may 20th 2022 2 eliana.roberto@usantoto.edu.co; yomairaherreno@usantoto.edu.co; gladis.arias01@usantoto.edu.co gist education and learning research journal. issn 1692-5777. no. 24 (january june, 2022). pp. 119-140. 120 no. 24 abstract this paper reports qualitative research on constructing critical thinking scenarios in online legal english classes at a private university in colombia. this study aimed to enhance law students’ critical thinking skills development in efl (english as a foreign language) classroom through virtual tools by implementing a descriptive case analysis. data were gathered through a journal, a survey and a focus group. it was demonstrated that when students are trained in critical thinking, they learn to develop specific abilities such as reasoning, making proposals, identifying and solving problems, making inferences, making decisions according to their prior knowledge and the context needs. furthermore, the strategies contributed to improving students’ communication skills in the foreign language. keywords: legal english, critical thinking, online english teaching, online english learning, prior knowledge. resumen este artículo reporta una investigación cualitativa sobre la construcción de escenarios de pensamiento crítico en clases de inglés legal, en línea, en una universidad privada en colombia. este estudio tuvo como objetivo mejorar el desarrollo de las habilidades de pensamiento crítico de los estudiantes de derecho en clases de efl (inglés como lengua extranjera) a través de herramientas virtuales mediante la implementación de un análisis de caso descriptivo. los datos se recopilaron a través de un diario, una encuesta y un grupo de enfoque. se demostró que cuando los estudiantes se capacitan en pensamiento crítico, aprenden a desarrollar habilidades específicas como razonar, hacer propuestas, identificar y resolver problemas, hacer inferencias, tomar decisiones de acuerdo con sus conocimientos previos y las necesidades del contexto. además, las estrategias contribuyeron a mejorar las habilidades comunicativas de los estudiantes, en la lengua extranjera. palabras clave: inglés legal; pensamiento crítico, enseñanza de inglés en línea, aprendizaje de inglés en línea, conocimientos previos critical thinking scenarios in online legal english classes roberto-florez, arias-rodriguez & herreño-contreras 121 no. 24 resumo este artigo relata uma pesquisa qualitativa sobre a construção de cenários de pensamento crítico em aulas online de inglês jurídico em uma universidade privada na colômbia. este estudo teve como objetivo melhorar o desenvolvimento de habilidades de pensamento crítico de estudantes de direito nas aulas de inglês como língua estrangeira, por meio de ferramentas virtuais, implementando uma análise de caso descritiva. os dados foram coletados por meio de um diário, uma pesquisa e um grupo focal. mostrou-se que quando os alunos são formados em pensamento crítico, aprendem a desenvolver habilidades específicas como raciocinar, fazer propostas, identificar e resolver problemas, fazer inferências e tomar decisões de acordo com seus conhecimentos prévios e as necessidades do contexto. além disso, as estratégias contribuíram para melhorar as habilidades comunicativas dos alunos, na língua estrangeira. palavras-chave: inglês jurídico, pensamento crítico, ensino de inglês online, aprendizado de inglês online, conhecimento prévio. critical thinking scenarios in online legal english classes roberto-florez, arias-rodriguez & herreño-contreras 122 no. 24 introduction n owadays, education aims at developing students’ critical thinking skills, and efl teaching and learning scenarios (english as a foreign language) are increasingly including methodologies intended to foster the in-tandem development of communicative and critical thinking skills. vanicheva et al. (2015) assert that “the skill of critical thinking, or ability to make conclusive decisions within a given situation, requires appropriate knowledge of content of the matter in view, which shows the need to align esp content with the content of the main [...] discipline” (p. 662). in the present paper, the esp (english for specific purposes) content corresponds to legal english classes oriented in the law faculty at universidad santo tomás (hereafter usta) in tunja and villavicencio. previous research on esp conducted nationwide has focused on the development of communicative skills mainly reading (arias-rodríguez, 2014; hernández, 2019). in her study, arias-rodríguez (2014) intended to promote reading within a group of law students. she concluded that “reading specialized texts permitted students to enrich their background knowledge and to apply it to their next written assignment and also in subsequent debates or oral reports” (pp. 111-112). hernández (2019) tackled the issue by implementing virtual learning objects (vlo) and determined that “vlos serve to promote reading strategies for esp courses” (p.119). in this article, we describe the steps followed to make online legal english classes scenarios to construct critical thinking settings. at usta law students take two semesters of legal english as part of their training as future lawyers, and some studies have been conducted to assist students in gaining a domain in legal english. rico (2014) examined how movies and tv series contributed to learning legal english vocabulary. arias-rodríguez (2017) conducted a research study aiming to describe the impact of developing students’ linguistic competence through listening and reading short stories. furthermore, critical thinking as a concern to be included into the legal english classes has been addressed by some studies developed by ariasrodríguez et al. (2014), herreño-contreras and huertas (2019) and herreño-contreras (2020). previous research at usta on this issue was conducted within face-to-face classes. in the framework of the present research, researchers ventured to make online legal english classes scenarios to develop critical thinking. to do so, english classes were adjusted to the international standards established by the common european framework of reference for languages (cefrl). in each course, students were able to develop a variety of activities promoting the advance of the four communicative skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing). after a diagnosis stage and in-class conversations between the researchers and the law students, it was evidenced that they required more agility and training to analyze legal cases and daily situations from a critical thinking focus, which is necessary in current times, due to the society’s needs critical thinking scenarios in online legal english classes roberto-florez, arias-rodriguez & herreño-contreras 123 no. 24 and daily life problems. in the legal english courses, it is assumed that students have acquired most of the english language input, thus, in these semesters students are fostered to develop different skills that are going to contribute to their professional development such as the identification of problems and their solution through their reasoning. in a diagnosis exercise implemented to law students, the teachers faced students to daily life problems, but they were superficial at the time of making their own analysis and proposing a realistic solution to the problems they were presented; thus, the researchers realized that students required to be trained in the development of specific skills that are necessary under the current circumstances, in terms of communication they needed to gain self-confidence to express their ideas in english, they required agility to analyze the context and set the best solutions to problems according to the context, when they analyzed a case, they only mentioned they agreed or disagreed about the decisions of lawyers or the court because there were mandatory regulations, but they rarely proposed new ways to solve the problems, they did not present strong arguments to defend their viewpoints, they required to develop their critical thinking. in this sense, legal english classes intended to prompt them to be more analytical and explain in depth different situations that affect today’s society. in order to tackle this issue, the present research sought to create a suitable environment that met the students’ needs in terms of developing their critical thinking skills. bearing in mind the researchers’ previous experiences as legal english teachers at this university, we realized that the identification and analysis of daily life problems are essential for law students as they serve to train them as future lawyers who must be ready to contribute in the construction of a better society. this research intended to provide more insights on approaches to develop critical thinking skills within esp classes -in this case legal englishand also encourage students’ communication in the english language. this article aims at sharing the findings that emerged after conducting a qualitative research study, bearing in mind the following research question: how to enhance law students’ critical thinking skills development in the online legal english classes at usta? in a general scope, it aimed at promoting students’ cognitive skills (interpreting, arguing and proposing) by using legal issues in online esp classes. thus, engaging students in using prior knowledge for analyzing daily life legal problems, and motivating students’ communicative competence through legal case analysis in english were set as specific objectives. critical thinking scenarios in online legal english classes roberto-florez, arias-rodriguez & herreño-contreras 124 no. 24 theoretical framework in this section, the main theories underpinning the study will be explored. critical thinking and language teaching critical thinking is an important aspect to be developed in education because it leads students to apply research procedures to discern knowledge, for example, making questions and answering from a reasonable point of view and obtaining results based on rational procedures; about it, wang and zhenh (2016) state “critical thinking is purposeful, reasoned, and goal-directed. it is the kind of thinking involved in solving problems, formulating inferences, calculating likelihoods, and making decisions” (p. 1325); besides, the open university (2008) highlights that critical thinking helps students to synthesize thoughts and analyze theories in a coherent way. thus, including critical thinking in teaching becomes meaningful because students grow capable of making correlations between class content and their real living context, and subsequently legal english classes become conducive to learning through practice, observation and analysis. while preparing classes, it is important that teachers keep in mind the context where students interact; thus, activities and strategies must respond to their academic needs. astleitner (2011) argues that instructional activities are appropriate to develop critical thinking as well as the instructional context. in this manner, critical thinking is coherent with teaching english to law students in aspects like case analysis, since it motivates students to identify problems in the local context and use all their background knowledge to solve them properly and in line with the field of law. in this regard, paul and elder (2007) declare that developing critical thinkers is central to the mission of all educational institutions. by ensuring that students learn to think critically and fairmindedly, we ensure that students not only master essential subject matter, but become effective citizens, capable of reasoning ethically and acting in the public good. (p. 9) in this way, the benefits of developing students ’critical thinking not only help them to increase their capacity to enhance their knowledge, but also to be accurate while making decisions as a collaborating member in the society. medina (2012) argues that critical thinking is inherent to human beings, but it must be cultivated in the educational contexts. besides, ennis (2011) stated a set of critical thinking dispositions (care that their beliefs be true, care to understand and present a position honestly and clearly and care about every person) and abilities (focus on a question, analyze arguments, ask and answer clarification and/or challenge questions, judge the critical thinking scenarios in online legal english classes roberto-florez, arias-rodriguez & herreño-contreras 125 no. 24 credibility of a source, etc.) to be implemented in academic contexts. at this point, it can be assumed that all students should be involved in critical thinking procedures; according to our own experience as english teachers in the law career, law students in particular, should develop this sort of skills due to their contact with the problems of the community which require them to be rational, flexible, creative, and impartial concerning everyday situations. english for specific purposes english for specific purposes (esp) has been one of the most important tools for university students because they need to develop their english skills in their own field of study, it assists them in obtaining information based on their professional interests. anthony (1997) defines esp as: “the teaching of english used in academic studies or the teaching of english for vocational or professional purposes” (p. 9-10). thus, this approach was created after 1960 and from that moment, it has evolved in techniques and uses due to its benefits in terms of knowledge acquisition for students and professionals in exercise. additionally, esp has grown around the world in schools and universities as a strategy to develop knowledge and as a special mechanism to research information, keeping in mind that nowadays students and professionals require skills that let them interchange worldwide without barriers. galina (2016) states that esp is related to the teaching and learning of english as a second or foreign language, and as an aim for students to use english in the academic, professional or occupational fields, depending on their needs. in this manner, it has been well received in the academic context because it opens doors especially for those who want to investigate and increase their knowledge. according to arias-rodríguez (2014), esp becomes interesting for students because they can look for information they need about different subjects in the international magazines, journals, books and databases; furthermore, they can access latest information, this is a key aspect for their learning. on the other hand, it is not an easy job because english teachers do not always have a wide knowledge of specialized information to answer students’ doubts as it could be required. jo mcdonough (2010) points out about it: “the teacher’s task is potentially more difficult where students are already experts in their fields” (p. 476); there are cases in which teachers have to learn a lot of vocabulary to be able to teach esp in a specific academic context. all in all, nowadays esp skill development is quite relevant for students’ academic and professional life because this sort of skill allows them to argue, make claims, support ideas, and in general, to communicate in real contexts with strong and sound arguments. critical thinking scenarios in online legal english classes roberto-florez, arias-rodriguez & herreño-contreras 126 no. 24 online english teaching and learning online english teaching has currently become paramount as in 2020 education took a leap into a more constant virtuality. compton (2009) has designed a framework of online teaching competences which comprises competences dealing with hardware and software issues along with teaching and pedagogical competences. similarly, guichon (2009) hypothesizes three competences in order to handle online classes: 1. competency of socio-affective regulation, 2. competency of pedagogical regulation and 3. competency of multimedia regulation. consequently, teachers should be able to design and orient engaging online classes as well as providing adequate feedback concerning the learner’s needs and performance. the present research aimed at constructing critical learning scenarios within online legal english classes. to do so, the researchers adopted a socioconstructivist approach which implies the acquisition of new skills in order to foster pedagogical transformations and encourage better online learning and teaching practices (hampel & stickler, 2015). in fact, as previously stated, orienting online classes poses a set of challenges that should be handled using strategies suited for online scenarios. in this regard, sun (2011) emphasizes that even though “an online community can be built through technology, [...] a truly functioning online learning community is much harder to come by” (p. 438). successful online teaching relies heavily on the mastery of the aforementioned competencies, the ability to attain the course’s goals, and also an existing balance among the participants involved. rubin et al. (2013 cited by montiel-chamorro, 2018) state that “one characteristic of a successful online course is its capability to create a coi [community of inquiry] where learners, instructors, and learning materials interact to develop knowledge and skills” (p. 22). in this sense, acquaintance with ict, training and confidence become indispensable requirements to guarantee technological competences that may influence the way teaching is conducted, and how learners engage in their learning process. peeraer and van petegem (2011) state that “a lack of competence goes together with a lack of confidence” (p. 980). in the online lessons, teachers additionally display their implicit theories. according to cárdenas-claros and oyanedel (2016) “the pedagogical beliefs of both teachers and students seem to be the final frontier for successful technology integration in the language classroom” (p.221), and this is a key factor brought into consideration within this research. critical thinking scenarios in online legal english classes roberto-florez, arias-rodriguez & herreño-contreras 127 no. 24 method this section is intended to display information concerning the research design, research method, and the procedures followed to collect and manage data. context and participants this study was developed at universidad santo tomás in tunja (usta-tunja) and villavicencio (ustavillavicencio) in colombia. it offers 5 english courses of general english to all the programs, but in the law career, where this research was conducted, it differs to some extent as there are four courses more. at usta tunja, law students take 9 courses, the first five levels are focused on general english, sixth and seventh courses are based on reading comprehension and the last two levels are oriented on legal english. in villavicencio students enroll in 7 levels of general english, and 2 levels of legal english in eighth and ninth semesters. thus, this research was developed within the legal english courses in both branches: tunja and villavicencio due to the fact that topics are totally related with the legal ordinance and students require their prior knowledge (as law students) to analyze the proposed cases. this project was carried out with 62 students, 37 of them belonged to usta tunja (25 from legal english 1 and 12 from legal legal english 2) and 25 (legal english 1) from usta villavicencio. research design a descriptive case study was implemented in the development of this study. yazan (2015) asserts that this method allows the researchers to carry out a detailed observation and analysis of a particular situation in the classroom. in general, all types of case studies can overlap, because they have the following similar aims: (a) to depict the relatively incontrovertible details of the people, place, events, transactions, and processes of the case—a description that others would likely make if they had been there; (b) to give a clear picture of what is happening, without making judgments— an organized and coherent presentation of the phenomenon; and (c) to develop and expand on relevant concepts. a descriptive case study distinguishes itself from other types of case studies by its preoccupation with articulating a descriptive theory. the present study corresponds to qualitative research. according to macdonald (2010), qualitative methods contribute to understanding how people interpret their context, as well as their motivations to act. in this sense, this study aims at shedding light on a pedagogical strategy mediated by the analysis of legal problems and the critical thinking scenarios in online legal english classes roberto-florez, arias-rodriguez & herreño-contreras 128 no. 24 use of digital tools so as to foster critical thinking within legal english classes. this descriptive case study was found on students’ needs analysis which provided useful data in order to design and execute workshops. as part of the research process, students were advised about the research project and its scope as a necessary step to ensure their informed consent. then, a pedagogical intervention and data collection were conducted. finally, data analysis allowed researchers to come up with a set of conclusions and pedagogical implications derived from this research project. data collection instruments over the course of the present research, data collection was conducted by means of three instruments, namely, a survey, a researcher’s journal and a focus group session. survey. a survey is conceived as a “research instrument consisting of a set of questions (items) intended to capture responses from respondents in a standardized manner” (research methods for the social sciences, n.p).the survey consisted of open and closed ended questions intended to delve into students’ perceptions on the class methodology, the legal case analysis approach and whether they considered there was any sort of academic growth in terms of communicative and critical thinking skills. in this sense, “open-ended survey questions allow respondents to answer in their own words [...] in contrast, closedended questions require the respondent to choose from among a given set of response” (salant & dillman, 1994; mcintyre, 1999 cited by glasow, 2005). the survey was administered to identify students’ perceptions about the legal english course in general. journal. this instrument was used by researchers in order to register their classroom observations in a structured journal form, to record meaningful aspects that emerged from the process of teaching and learning english in a legal course and to obtain written registers about students’ performance during the development of the workshops. according to annink (2017), “the research journal is a tool for observing, questioning, critiquing, synthesizing, and acting” (n.p). altrichter and holly (2005) mention some key elements of a research journal, such as: data obtained from various sources, supporting information (photographs, videos), contextual information, researcher’s insights and subsequent ideas or action plans. in this case, the researcher’s journal was complemented by the class videos as all the classes were given by means of web video conferencing applications (zoom and google meet). critical thinking scenarios in online legal english classes roberto-florez, arias-rodriguez & herreño-contreras 129 no. 24 focus group. “in a focus group discussion, researchers adopt the role of a “facilitator” or a “moderator.” in this setting, the researcher facilitates or moderates a group discussion between participants and not between the researcher and the participants” (nyumba et al., 2018, p.21). besides, “the key aspect of focus groups is the interactions between participants as a way of collecting qualitative data that would not emerge using other methods” (kitzinger, 1994, p. 104). when the pedagogical intervention concluded, students were asked to participate in a focus group session to discuss their academic experiences and emotions in a deeper way. the present project was conducted within three different legal english courses, thus, three focus group sessions were carried out, thus, a set of predetermined interview questions were used to gather information. pedagogical intervention the pedagogical intervention of the present research took 4 months and consisted of 4 workshops that were implemented with three different groups of legal english (two in usta tunja and one in usta villavicencio). every workshop was designed in order to attain the following objectives: to promote students’ cognitive skills (interpreting, arguing and proposing), to link prior knowledge to analyze legal cases in english, and to apply different reading strategies to understand legal cases, spread legal vocabulary and share possible solutions orally and in a written way. the workshops’ topics covered various law branches such as family law, public law, criminal law and constitutional law. thus, in the legal english classes, students discussed on issues related to child support, homicide, indigenous communities and the violation of their human rights, the environmental detriment and its correlation with health problems as well as discrimination and the right to free personality development. the aforementioned topics were selected by students themselves as in the first stage of the pedagogical intervention they were requested to gather information of a case that should be treated in class according to their knowledge and experience. they created videos summarizing the main facts of the case, and afterward the whole class was expected to watch the videos and vote. thus, students voted to select the most interesting cases, and based on the voting results, researchers designed four workshops to be carried out within the legal english classes. workshops comprised five stages intended to foster the development of specific skills. the first stage was devoted to introducing vocabulary related to the workshop’s topic so as to allow students to become acquainted with legal terminology. as for the second stage, it usually consisted of a speaking activity derived from a set of guiding questions on the class core topic. the third stage intended to engage students in the case analysis itself. to do so, students were presented the case by means of a video and a summary. in this stage, they firstly approached the case and discussed some initial ideas critical thinking scenarios in online legal english classes roberto-florez, arias-rodriguez & herreño-contreras 130 no. 24 and insights, which served as the starting point to conduct more in-depth research on the issue. during the fourth stage, students were expected to work collaboratively and gather more information on the case and even resort to jurisprudence and normative in order to have a big picture of it. finally, in the last stage they were requested to use digital tools to share their insights. thus, they designed infographics, flipbooks, mind maps to display their insights on the legal case. law students from tunja prepared and performed a hearing in english as a final product. in this task they played specific roles such as: the judge, the lawyers, the witnesses, among others. besides, they followed the stages established in a real hearing, presented the legal documents with proofs and finally, they provided the best legal solutions assuming a critical position and providing strong arguments supported by the colombian law. data analysis ground theory approach was used in order to analyze the gathered information as it allows to organize the information in a systematic way. according to chong and yeo (2015), grounded theory is suitable for analyzing social processes or social life phenomena, especially when there is not theory about it, besides it is appropriate for studying specific moments or situations in education. thus, in the current study, information was collected through the use of three research instruments in order to validate the findings by the use of triangulation. jensen (2008) defines triangulation as “seek out multiple sources of data and use multiple datagathering techniques”. (p. 139). in this study, this process was evidenced because the information was gathered in different ways. afterward, information was gathered, classified and coded from the three legal english groups, identifying similarities and differences, some main categories were established and explained in order to answer the research questions stated at the beginning of the project. findings and discussion in this section findings derived from the present study will be explained: first category: legal vocabulary acquaintance and influences in students’ performance one of the purposes of this study was to motivate law students to use and apply esp within classrooms, as an innovative pedagogical tool in the use of digital environments in order to help them construct critical thinking scenarios in their legal english classes. thus, students could express meaningful experiences through the critical thinking scenarios in online legal english classes roberto-florez, arias-rodriguez & herreño-contreras 131 no. 24 analysis of legal cases. “well teacher, the english classes were nice and i felt motivated to learn because it was a mixed process of english and legal topics. i like the digital tools you gave us in the workshops” (student 26, focus group t, 02.06.2021). this category refers to how this procedure lets them improve their communication in english. we observed that most students showed a positive attitude during the development of each workshop and were able to spread legal expressions when they were interpreting, analyzing and discussing legal cases in english. one of the participants said: “at the beginning, it was difficult to understand vocabulary, but the workshops helped me to learn a lot of expressions of law” (student 11, focus group t, 04.06.2021). esp is a branch of the process of teaching english as a foreign language that aims at teaching the necessary contents in order to help learners perform in specific contexts. in university atmospheres, the necessity to learn another language is increasingly demanding, teachers have great challenges when implementing esp in their areas of study. bearing in mind that, one student expressed that “in the school we learn basic english but, in the university, we must face new content in english and for me it was nice to learn english of my career because it is very important for my profession and with legal cases, i understood better” (student 23, focus group t, 04.06.2021). students felt very well when they realized they could develop hearings in english, using legal vocabulary. they recognized that learning esp allowed them to access new knowledge, academic information, participation in international events, scientific journals, among others. the implementation of esp in the workshops was designed exclusively to meet the students’ specific needs and foster the importance of speaking another language in diverse contexts such as political, economic, social and cultural. furthermore, teachers benefited because they learned new things from law students. one of the researchers mentioned: “students’ mood and attitude towards the class tended to change when they made their presentations. in fact, they made great analyses of the cases and me as a teacher learned a lot from them” (entryresearch journal 3, 20.04. 2021). likewise, another entry refers to the students’ progress in terms of analysis and meaningful use of legal background knowledge: “in the session devoted to socializing students’ insights on the case, students displayed a good performance in terms of the analysis of the case, juridic implications and provision of a verdict according to their knowledge and expertise” (entry-research journal 3, 18.05.2021) in the samples above, it was evident how law students began to understand that learning esp is necessary in their professional life and we can summarize that the workshops contributed to strengthening students’ english level. in conclusion, this research was relevant because it contributed to the training of competent professionals in the area of english as a foreign language, participants were able to play specific roles in different contexts as future lawyers in which they found suitable solutions concerning several legal problems. critical thinking scenarios in online legal english classes roberto-florez, arias-rodriguez & herreño-contreras 132 no. 24 legal case analysis as a efl methodology methodologies in efl are expanded and adapted according to the students’ needs as well as the teaching situations. for example, through the use of technologies, depending on students’ fields of knowledge (esp), of or focused on the development of specific skills such as critical thinking. studies done by bilová (2016) reports that the use of legal cases improve students’ interest and motivation in class work; additionally, through this research, it was possible to show some benefits like the appropriation of legal expressions and the development of critical thinking skills that helped students reinforce their legal knowledge acquisition and english language use (efl). likewise, the development of this research highlights the use of legal cases as a meaningful experience for teachers and students. thus, one of the students points out: “well, teacher, i liked the english classes because we studied legal aspects, and the english class focused on legal english; thus, that is very interesting for us, i liked the use of legal cases a lot” (student 16, focus group t, 14.05.2021). additionally; about the use of legal cases as the main material, one of the researchers remarked: “students showed a positive interest in the development of the workshop. something positive is that the use of real law cases motivated students to search for more information about it. that search was especially done in the news” ( research journal 2, 13.04.2021). the use of real materials -real caseswas a fundamental strategy to motivate language learning. students not only checked the information taken to class like the videos and readings, but also had to search for extra information about the cases in order to obtain more tools to discuss, analyze and propose their own interpretations and verdicts as required in each case analysis. according to studies done by huda (2017), there is a positive attitude on the part of students and teachers about the use of real materials because the topics and materials motivate language use, acquisition and retention of knowledge through practice and class discussion. the present research intended to apply strategies that really motivate students to work in class, participate and be able to develop teamwork. as a result, legal english classes made them feel committed and engaged. in this sense, one of them remarked: “the class was very dynamic, we were able to analyze cases and express ourselves freely according to our own understanding” (student 6, focus group t, 14.05.2021). students’ perceptions about the legal english classes showed that they felt comfortable, not only because they could analyze topics of their own career, but also because the dynamic of the activities allowed them to express their points of view. besides, they could develop teamwork which enriched their understanding and capacity to acquire arguments to defend their position and support their own analysis about the different legal cases. critical thinking scenarios in online legal english classes roberto-florez, arias-rodriguez & herreño-contreras 133 no. 24 case analysis as a way to foster critical thinking skills the present research was conducted with law students enrolled in legal english classes. within their law classes, they were familiar with case analysis as an approach to examine legal cases and come up with plausible courses of action or solutions. researchers implemented case analysis as a methodology to orient legal english classes. the analysis of legal cases contributed to foster critical thinking skills, which in the framework of this research adhered to ennis’ taxonomy of critical thinking. ennis (2011) outlined a set of critical thinking dispositions and abilities. ideal critical thinkers “care that their beliefs be true and that their decisions be justified [...] care to understand and present a position honestly and clearly [...] and care about every person” (pp.1-2). furthermore, ideal critical thinker has the ability to focus on a question, analyze arguments, challenge questions, judge the credibility of a source, observe, and judge observation reports, deduce, and judge deduction, make material inferences, make and judge value judgments, define terms and judge definitions, attribute unstated assumption, consider and reason from premises, reasons, assumptions, positions, and other propositions with which they disagree or about which they are in doubt, without letting the disagreement or doubt interfere with their thinking, integrate the dispositions and other abilities in making and defending a decision. (ennis, 2011, pp2-4) in this regard, students pondered the relevance of case analysis and mentioned that “ for me it is important to use cases because after graduation that will be the challenge we are going to face” (student 3, focus group v, 25.05.2021). similarly, another student asserted that “the experience of analyzing real cases in the legal english class also encourages us to really investigate what happened with that case. when we analyze fictitious examples, our own beliefs and ideas are involved, and we may be wrong” (student 8, focus group v, 01.06.2021). roell (2019) highlights that case studies can be tailored to different language levels and teaching situations, such as english for specific purposes (esp) or content-based learning (language acquisition combined with the study of a subject matter) [...] the more complex the case is, the more specific the knowledge and the more specialized the language students will need. (p. 25) case analysis suits legal english classes because it allows learners to tune their communicative skills in foreign language while they are delving into real examples of legal problems. thus, they may resort to their legal background knowledge to tackle the issue, and attempt to communicate their ideas and insights by means of the foreign language. in this regard, one student stated that “background knowledge was vital when we were searching information about the case because we already know legal terminology in spanish that a person who doesn’t study law, usually ignores” (student critical thinking scenarios in online legal english classes roberto-florez, arias-rodriguez & herreño-contreras 134 no. 24 1, focus group v, 25.05.2021). likewise, another student declared that “the topics to be discussed were not really new, the novelty lied on transferring the legal knowledge into english” (student 6, focus group v, 01.06.2021). concerning the development of critical thinking skills, kuimova (2010) refers to the advantages of implementing the case analysis within the efl classroom. case analysis contributes to develop and raise critical thinking (application/synthesis/evaluation) and reflective learning in the learner; develop problem solving skills; improve the student’s organizational skills – as case studies are sometimes very dense in information, the key is to condense this information into logical sections and organize them so that a clear picture of the problem/issue can be understood; get you thinking and brainstorming; connect theory and practice; teach students that there may not be one«right» answer, after all; encourage attention to and self-consciousness about assumptions and conceptions; reflect the contextual, situated, complex nature of knowledge; get students to be active, not passive[...]. (n.p) in this respect, students tended to correlate criticality with knowledge. thus, one student stated that “as we are about to graduate, we hold a more optimal criterion as lawyers, and it differs from non-lawyers” (student 8, focus group v, 01.06.2021). in conclusion, the present research confirms that case study is a suitable methodology to be applied within efl settings, and its contributions transcend the development of communicative skills in foreign language as it may foster thinking, organization and collaboration skills. critical thinking scenarios in online legal english classes roberto-florez, arias-rodriguez & herreño-contreras 135 no. 24 conclusions after the application of this research project, we could see that communicative and critical thinking skills (ennis’ taxonomy of critical thinking) were fostered using the legal case analysis approach to teach legal english online. through workshops designed by the researchers, students were guided to learn and use legal terminology, reflect on current issues by answering some ice breaking questions, differentiate the parts of a legal case and how they are interrelated, and useful to conduct the legal case analysis. furthermore, they engaged in collaborative activities intended to foster the use of prior legal knowledge, the assessment and exchange of suitable information to come to some conclusions concerning the given case. in this sense, academic activities like the use of real case analysis for teaching may be included as part of the daily teaching in legal english. as it was previously mentioned they allowed students to use their prior knowledge as a way to express their ideas, additionally, they motivate students to solve real life problems and develop abilities of arguing in specific fields of law. in regard to online english teaching, guichon (2009) emphasizes three teaching and pedagogical competences, namely, 1. competency of socio-affective regulation, 2. competency of pedagogical regulation and 3. competency of multimedia regulation. over the course of the present research project, researchers were able to work as a team in order to design legal english classes and develop a pedagogical proposal intended to contribute to the in-tandem development of communicative and critical thinking skills. in relation to the first competency defined as “the capacity to establish a relationship with a learner or a group of learners, to maintain it despite distance, and to eventually build a learning community” (guichon, 2009, p 169), we as researchers advanced in terms of solving students questions and learning predicaments within the online classes, however, there is still too much to do in order to build up real learning communities which transcend the enrollment for just one or two semesters. as for the competency of pedagogical regulation which consists of “proposing clear and concise instructions, providing positive and negative feedback and deploying an array of strategies to facilitate second-language learning” (guichon, 2009, p.169), we must express that it was the core of designing suitable workshops to orient legal english classes and provide a clear class agenda for students to become acquainted with each lesson’s objectives and steps. finally, concerning competency of multimedia regulation that “encompasses both the multimedia literacy and the computer-mediated communication literacy’’ (guichon, 2009, p.170). we, as english teachers and the students as well, are still on the path to becoming more familiar with all the advantages derived from the implementation of online platforms, applications and websites. over the course of the pedagogical intervention and aligned to the university guidelines, we conducted online classes by means of google meet or zoom, and used moodle as the platform to assign classwork. furthermore, students developed some assignments using applications such as canva, flipsnack and flipgrid. critical thinking scenarios in online legal english classes roberto-florez, arias-rodriguez & herreño-contreras 136 no. 24 concerning the students’ performance, their needs count when making decisions about legal cases in order to find a correct solution. the law students achieved their main goal, which was to prepare and perform a hearing in english, including legal vocabulary, support from the colombian law, legal background knowledge, analysis of real legal cases, among others. this was possible because they were internally motivated, their critical thoughts were heard by the teacher-researchers when they made decisions about issues they wanted to address. although this study was successful, there were some limitations related to the use of some digital tools, for some students it was difficult to access to the internet when they had to attend to virtual classes, so they were lost about the activities they had to develop but they were willing to find the way to present tasks on time. lack of time was also a limitation for participants because they had to assume other duties in their several subjects, so they asked teachers to provide extra time for the development of the activities. finally, in some learners, it was not easy to work in groups because of the schedule each one had, thus, during the english classes, it was relevant to assign time and create breakout rooms to give students the chance to communicate and achieve their academic goals. this project is available to be worked in other areas of study in efl as further research because not only law students have the necessity to explore skills about interpreting, arguing and proposing. nowadays, students from different majors should be motivated to have a critical thinking development and the opportunity to learn how to solve problems from their field of knowledge. critical thinking scenarios in online legal english classes roberto-florez, arias-rodriguez & herreño-contreras 137 no. 24 references altrichter, h., & holly, m.l ( 2005). research 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(2015). three approaches to case study methods in education: yin, merriam, and stake. the qualitative report,20(2), 134-152. http://citeseerx.ist. psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.686.4291&rep=rep1&type= pdf authors * eliana edith roberto flórez was born in tunja, boyacá – colombia. she holds a ma in language teaching. she has worked in education for more than sixteen years. currently, she is a full-time teacher at universidad santo tomás in tunja. she has been supporting the teaching process of english as a foreign language since 2005. besides, she is a research teacher who has been working in different areas such as virtual tools as a complement of face-to-face classes, the way that students are involved in writing research articles in english collaboratively, teachers and students’ stereotypes about the teaching and learning of english and a project related to the way to increase critical thinking awareness through the use of task-based learning approach. besides, she has published different articles in indexed magazines and academic speaker in national and international congresses. her goal is to help students’ learning process of english as a foreign language according to their academic needs in order to understand social aspects around the world. she belongs to “expedicionarios humanistas” research group from usta – tunja and she is “investigador junior” in minciencias. orcid: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2586-2670 critical thinking scenarios in online legal english classes roberto-florez, arias-rodriguez & herreño-contreras gladis leonor arias rodríguez holds an m.a. in language teaching from universidad pedagógica y tecnológica de colombia (uptc), m.a. in pedagogy at universidad santo tomas (usta) and currently candiadate to master in spanish and latin american literature (unir). she has investigated elt, literature, curriculum and online education. she is full time teacher and researcher at usta in the “expedicionarios humanistas” group.gladis.arias01@usantoto.edu.co. orcid: https://orcid.org/my-orcid?orcid=0000-0001-7739-3103 yomaira angélica herreño-contreras. the author has a b.a. in modern languages from universidad surcolombiana (colombia) and a m.a. in comparative literature and literary translation from universidad pompeu fabra (spain). she is a ph.d candidate in comparative literature (university of auckland). currently, she is an english professor and researcher at universidad santo tomás (villavicencio, colombia), and an article reviewer for some scholarly journals in colombia and abroad. she has published two books and some articles in research journals, as well as translations in literary reviews. she has participated as a lecturer in various conferences worldwide. she is interested in literary translation,prose poetry, comparative literature, tefl, esp, hots, m-learning and problematizing pedagogy. orcid: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2132-9222 how to reference this article: roberto florez, e. e., arias-rodríguez, g. l. ., & herreñocontreras, y. a (2022) . constructing critical thinking scenarios in online legal english classes. gist – education and learning research journal, 24. 119-140. https://doi. org/10.26817/16925777.1339 critical thinking scenarios in online legal english classes 29 the design and implementation of an in-service efl teacher training model in the costa rican public school system1 el diseño e implementación de un modelo de capacitación para docentes de inglés en servicio en la educación pública costarricense patricia córdoba cubillo, xinia rodríguez ramírez and tatiana hernández gaubil2* university of costa rica and distance state university, costa rica abstract in response to the challenges of the 21st century and to the need for students in the public school system to have a higher level of english proficiency, english was declared an issue of national interest in costa rica in 2008. for this reason, a decree called multilingual costa rica was signed by the government, setting the stage for an in-service efl teacher training project. this article deals with the analysis of the design and the implementation of a training model, which led to the improvement of the linguistic skills of approximately 80% of the teacher population in the costa rican public school system. this study includes a description of the components of the teacher training model as well as the results of the linguistic performance of the participating efl teachers on the toeic© test administered prior to and after three years of training. keywords: efl teacher training, teachers of english from the public school system, improvement of english language proficiency, professional development in efl 1 received: dec. 15, 2014 / accepted: april 13, 2015 2 pcordobac@gmail.com, xiniarodri@yahoo.com, thgaubil@yahoo.com gist education and learning research journal. issn 1692-5777. no. 10, (january june) 2015. pp. 29-50. transnationals becoming english teachers no. 10 (january june 2015) no. 10 (january june 2015) 30 resumen en respuesta a los retos del siglo xxi y a la necesidad de la población estudiantil del sector público por poseer un nivel más alto en el dominio de la competencia lingüística en inglés, el idioma inglés fue declarado un asunto de interés nacional en costa rica en el año 2008. por esta razón, el gobierno costarricense firmó el decreto costa rica multilingüe, el cual permitió formular un proyecto para docentes de inglés como lengua extranjera. este artículo aborda el diseño y el análisis de la implementación del modelo de capacitación profesional para docentes de inglés como lengua extranjera del sistema educativo público de costa rica, que condujo al mejoramiento de las habilidades lingüísticas aproximadamente del 80% de la población docente del sistema escolar público costarricense. el estudio describe los componentes del modelo de capacitación docente así como los resultados del desempeño lingüístico de los docentes en la prueba toeic©, aplicada antes de la capacitación y tres años después de la misma. palabras clave: capacitación docente en inglés como lengua extranjera, docentes de inglés del sistema educativo público, mejoramiento del nivel de dominio del inglés, desarrollo profesional en inglés como lengua extranjera resumo em resposta aos desafios do século xxi e à necessidade da população estudantil do setor público por possuir um nível mais alto no domínio da competência linguística em inglês, o idioma inglês foi declarado um assunto de interesse nacional na costa rica no ano 2008. por este motivo, o governo costarriquense assinou o decreto costa rica multilíngue, o qual permitiu formular um projeto para docentes de inglês como língua estrangeira. este artigo aborda o desenho e a análise da implantação do modelo de capacitação profissional para docentes de inglês como língua estrangeira do sistema educativo público da costa rica, que conduziu à melhoramento das habilidades linguísticas aproximadamente 80% da população docente do sistema escolar público costarriquense. o estudo descreve os componentes do modelo de capacitação docente bem como os resultados do desempenho linguístico dos docentes na prova toeic©, aplicada antes da capacitação e três anos depois da mesma. palavras chave: capacitação docente em inglês como língua estrangeira, docentes de inglês do sistema educativo público, melhoramento do nível de domínio de inglês, desenvolvimento profissional em inglês como língua estrangeira design and implementation of an in-service efl model córdoba, rodríguez & hernández no. 10 (january june 2015) no. 10 (january june 2015) 31 introduction the importance of english for the costa rican social, economic, and cultural development has been historically acknowledged by political authorities. for this reason, different governments have sponsored several initiatives with the purpose of improving the teaching of english in the public school system of the country. córdoba, coto and ramírez (2005) report that the inclusion of english in the costa rican higher education curriculum dates back to the early 1800s. they add that english became a subject in the high school curriculum during the second half of the 19th century. however, english was officially incorporated into the curriculum of elementary schools until the end of the 20th century in 1994. today, the challenges that the 21st century poses, such as globalization, competitiveness, communication and information technologies, among others, demand a student population with a higher proficiency in english to have access to better opportunities in the labor market. as a result, english teachers also need to be better prepared and qualified for their jobs to help students achieve high levels of english performance. in response to these new challenges, the costa rican government signed a decree called multilingual costa rica in which english was declared of national interest in 2008 (decreto ejecutivo 34425-mep-comex; calderón & mora, 2012). as a result, the ministry of public education (mep), in collaboration with private and government institutions, designed the national plan of english, whose main goal was to help better the level of english in the public school system. the plan aimed first at improving the teachers’ english proficiency and teaching practice, and then at tackling the ultimate goal of a more proficient student population. to start with in 2008, the ministry of public education tested the language proficiency of its in-service english teachers through an international standardized exam. the results showed that only 14% of the teachers working in public schools in costa rica had a c1 level of proficiency, and the rest was placed within the intermediate and basic bands with 48% scoring at the b1 and b2 levels, 31% at the a2 level, and 7% at the a1 level, according to the common european framework of reference for languages (cefr).the results of the lower levels (a1, a2, and b1) were considered unsatisfactory by the ministry of public education to meet the challenges of the country. therefore, once the problem was identified, the next stage consisted of designing and implementing a training model that included linguistic skills courses for teachers with a low english proficiency level, and methodology skills courses for teachers at the most advanced levels. design and implementation of an in-service efl model córdoba, rodríguez & hernández no. 10 (january june 2015) no. 10 (january june 2015) 32 thus, the purpose of this article is to examine the design and implementation of this costa rican training model, as well as to present the results of the english teachers’ performance after taking the linguistics skills courses designed for the training process. literature review this section focuses on two areas: a brief review of two efl government initiatives conducted by other latin american countries and the curricular decisions for the design of the costa rican model. efl teacher training programs in other countries a look into similar recent training projects carried out in chile and colombia, where english is a foreign language, reveals different approaches when establishing national policies in regard to the teaching of english. these two government efl initiatives were reviewed. like the costa rican model, the chilean and colombian projects share a common goal: improving the level of english proficiency nationwide to increase productivity (de mejía, 2011). however, there are important differences in the issues involved in the articulation and implementation of the language policies. in the case of colombia, the national bilingual programme spanish-english was implemented in 2004 by the ministry of education in coordination with the british council. such program was based on the cefr standards to help define proficiency levels. according to de mejía (2011), the policy did not consider the local context of a multilingual and multicultural colombia that has dozens of indigenous languages. de mejía also calls attention to the debate regarding the exclusion of local experts in the design of the training. along a similar line, usma wilches (2009) criticizes “the standardization of language teaching and learning [which] depicts a lack of trust in teachers, universities and schools” and the tendency of adopting “international models of quality” (p. 136). in the chilean experience, the english opens doors program, created in 2003, included a variety of components and targeted both students and teachers in the process of improving english proficiency. the program, also based on the cefr standards, has implemented a teacher training strategy with linguistic skills and methodology courses, teacher networks, and classroom support for teachers of english through educational resources. the results of the diagnostic test administered to the teachers revealed that more than 50% ranked at the intermediate levels 2 and 3 according to the association of language design and implementation of an in-service efl model córdoba, rodríguez & hernández no. 10 (january june 2015) no. 10 (january june 2015) 33 testers of europe (alte) guidelines. however, results of the teachers’ performance after the training were not available at the time of this study. curricular decisions for program design before initiating a new language program, vital work in the form of information gathering must take place. the fact-finding stage provides answers to the curricular key questions in any program: who are the learners? who are the trainers? why is the program necessary? what will the goals of the program be? what will be taught? where will the program be implemented? how will it be implemented? what view of language learning will be considered? how will learners’ performance be assessed? what type of tests will be used? the information derived from these questions is necessary because “a curriculum [is] understood in the broadest sense as the philosophy, purposes, design, and implementation of a whole program” (graves, 1996, p. 3). the answers to such questions then become the basis for establishing policy and formulating goals in a communicative curriculum (dubin & olshtain, 2000). in addition, decisions at the macro level must be narrowed down to develop a local model to meet the specific learner needs (kumaravadivelu, 2012). therefore, the curricular decisions for the costa rican training model followed the previous process: starting from policy making for the learning of foreign languages in the country, and going through the stages of assessing the learners’ needs; developing goals and objectives; designing and implementing the courses; testing the learners’ performances; and evaluating the program (brown, 1996; graves, 1996; richards & renandya, 2002). all this process falls within the framework of a mixed-focus curriculum (finney, 2002) for language learning. finney explains that a mixed-focus curricular model is based on “an integrated approach, which is essentially learner-centered” and which combines “the productoriented model and the process-oriented approach” to english language teaching, proposed by nunan (as cited in finney, 2002, p. 74). taking into account a product and process orientation to curriculum design helps to reconcile two important components in a teacher training model: the product, in other words, the content or skills to be learned, and the process, i.e., the learners’ needs, interests, and strategies. regarding the view of language learning, the implementation of the in-service teacher training model was based on a number of design and implementation of an in-service efl model córdoba, rodríguez & hernández no. 10 (january june 2015) no. 10 (january june 2015) 34 teaching and learning principles for effective communication (brown, 2001). the participants were viewed as teachers capable of contributing their own experience as language learners, and as language teachers constructing learning communities (kumaravadivelu, 2012). thus, they could reach professional competence (pettis, 2010). within this perspective, the principles considered in the training model included also the development of communicative competence (canale & swain, 1981; hymes, 1972) within a learner-centered, safe environment based on meaningful learning experiences simulating real-life contexts (nunan, 1998). the view of language learning for this training model is also congruent with the position held by calderón and mora, coparticipants in the costa rican teacher training project, who state that professional development in linguistic skills should be obligatory for language teachers to guarantee quality in the efl class (calderón & mora, 2012, p. 10). finally, an important concern in any curriculum is the type of assessment used to diagnose and to test the learners’ linguistic performance. a decision in this regard includes whether to use an international standardized test or a teacher-created one. although standardized tests may have detractors with criticism ranging from ideological, cultural, and economic issues to linguistic ones (bradley & nagy, 2011; canagarajah, 2006), these tests have a number of advantages, for large-scale testing purposes, over those teachers create. according to brown (2004), when testing language proficiency, tests must be based on accurate “constructs of language ability” that allow teachers and program administrators to collect “legitimate samples of english language use in a defined context; therefore, “language teachers would be wise not to create an overall proficiency test on their own” (p. 45). thus, standardized tests are generally considered objective measures of proficiency that have undergone considerable item analysis, can be administered to large populations, and can be graded efficiently and objectively. however, it is important to mention that no single test can accurately determine a person’s language performance. within the high number of standardized tests available, toeic© has become a popular examination currently administered by a large number of organizations around the world to measure linguistic competence. it is used to make decisions in job-related contexts where english for international communication is a priority. design and implementation of an in-service efl model córdoba, rodríguez & hernández no. 10 (january june 2015) no. 10 (january june 2015) 35 methodology research design this study followed a mixed methods approach to find out if the training program designed for the costa rican in-service teachers of english in the public school system and carried out from 2008 to 2011 proved effective to help the trained teachers improve their linguistic performance in english. in order to determine the teachers’ level of proficiency before and after the training, the results the teachers obtained in the diagnostic (before training) and output (after training) toeic© tests were compared. the research also included a descriptive analysis of the components of the teacher training model that, in the long run, could have helped participants better their linguistic performance in english. context and participants the training program for in-service teachers of english was implemented nationwide from 2008 to 2011 in the 27 school districts in costa rica. the courses were taught in the facilities available in each region, for example, branches of the state universities, community centers, and schools. approximately 3,000 in-service teachers, representing all levels of the public school system, from kindergarten to 12th grade, took part in the training project. the teachers, who ranged from very novice to very experienced, worked in either academic, vocational, or bilingual schools in urban or rural areas. spanish was their l1, and most were full-time teachers with 40 instructional lessons a week. concerning their academic preparation, the teachers had university degrees in english teaching or in teaching with an emphasis in english from both private and public universities. data collection instruments diagnostic test of the in-service teachers’ language proficiency (before the training). the ministry of public education of costa rica (mep) and fundación para la cooperación costa rica–estados unidos (crusa) sponsored the test of english for international communication (toeic©) as the diagnostic test to evaluate the inservice teachers’ language proficiency in 2008. the ministry of public education selected this test after weighing the cost-benefit relationship of administering an international test and designing a whole new exam. design and implementation of an in-service efl model córdoba, rodríguez & hernández no. 10 (january june 2015) no. 10 (january june 2015) 36 nevertheless, it is important to mention that the costa rican teacher population took a modified version of the toeic© test that included an oral interview. to administer the diagnostic test and interview the participants, mep hired the costa rican american cultural center (cccn), the only accredited organization in the country. its certified raters, including mostly costa ricans and americans, were responsible for carrying out the application of the toeic© test to 91% of the teacher population working for mep in all school districts. cccn also scored the exams, ranked the participants, and sent the results to the ministry for decision making. after-the-training test of the in-service teachers’ language proficiency. the participants’ linguistic skills were evaluated through a subsequent administration of the modified version of the toeic© test that included an interview. the test was administered to all trainees as they were finishing the training in the years 2010 and 2011. this teaching population represented approximately 78% of those who took the diagnostic test and finished the training program. once again, the costa rican american cultural center (cccn) administered and scored the tests. data analysis and interpretation to gather information about the improvement of the in-service teachers of english in the public school system of costa rica, the results of the diagnostic and after-the-training toeic© tests were first analyzed. then, taking into account the standards of the common european framework of reference for languages (cefr), these results were compared to shed light on the progress of the participants regarding language proficiency. they [the results] are presented with a bar chart to show the migration of the teachers from 2008 to 2011 to the higher bands of cefr. results this section is divided into two parts: the first one is devoted to examining the elements involved in the efl teacher training model designed by the academic committee, and the second one is devoted to analyzing the impact of the linguistic courses on the participants’ proficiency level in english. design and implementation of an in-service efl model córdoba, rodríguez & hernández no. 10 (january june 2015) no. 10 (january june 2015) 37 the efl teacher training model the teacher training model was designed considering legal, administrative, logistics, and academic aspects based on the costa rican context and the ministry’s goal for the training. this training model might be replicated in other countries where english as a foreign language is taught by making the necessary adjustments, given local differences and needs. legal requirements. due to its national scope and complexity, this teacher training model required a legal framework to efficiently administer the funds allocated to the project. therefore, the ministry of public education and the universities in charge of the training signed a general cooperation agreement and annual specific agreements. the purpose of these specific agreements was to regulate the type of course; the number of groups and instructional hours; the regions to be covered per university; the responsibilities of the parties involved; and the budget administration regarding aspects such as the purchase of textbooks and learning materials, the trainers’ salaries, and their travel expenses. budget administration. the budget for the project was assigned by the ministry of public education (mep) to the teacher development agency (idp) for its annual allocation to the universities. mep invested a total of approximately 4.5 million usd to carry out the four-year training project, and the funds were transferred annually depending on the courses to be taught and the number of groups assigned to each university. the funds were administered either through the university’s main administrative office or through their research foundations. the latter proved to be the most efficient administrative system for three of the universities because of the expedited procedures for hiring trainers and clerical workers, paying salaries and travel expenses, and purchasing materials. in relation to the materials, it is important to clarify that, for each course, the participants were given a set of texts with no charge. the budget also included unforeseen occasional expenses such as courier services, classroom cleaning services, and classroom rental. logistics of the model. the implementation of this national training model required a lot of planning, coordination, cooperation, and supervision from the parties involved. given that the results of the toeic© test indicated that the proficiency level of many teachers was low, mep authorities considered the need of carrying out a teacher training program with the cooperation of the state universities (calderón & mora, 2012). this strategic alliance was due to the fact that the higher scores on the toeic© test were obtained by teachers design and implementation of an in-service efl model córdoba, rodríguez & hernández no. 10 (january june 2015) no. 10 (january june 2015) 38 who graduated from the state universities. thus, an inter-institutional academic committee was appointed to design and implement the training project for the in-service english teachers. the academic committee was formed by a representative from the ministry’s teacher development agency (idp) and two professors, with ample expertise in the field of tesol, from each public university: the university of costa rica (ucr), the national university (una), the distance state university (uned), and the technological institute of costa rica (itcr). based on their expertise and experience in other training projects, the academic committee joined efforts to design a feasible training model based on the ministry’s goal of improved linguistic proficiency for its efl teachers. the academic committee was in charge of course design, budget administration, and implementation of a four-year program. some specific responsibilities of the committee were the following: a. coordination with the ministry’s advisors and teacher development agency (idp), b. weekly meetings during the four-year period for decision-making and course design, c. design of a total of 10 courses with the selection of the corresponding materials, d. design of exams, guidelines, and rubrics for all courses, e. selection and recruitment of trainers and external evaluators, f. organization of workshops for the trainers before each new course, g. visits to the 27 school districts for observing and supervising classes, and conflict resolution when required, h. receiving and giving feedback to trainers and participants, i. coordination and supervision of approximately 200 groups every year, and j. elaboration of final reports for authorities. because it was necessary to establish a liaison between mep and the universities to deal with the distribution of all official communication, the selection of the training centers, and the distribution of material, mep authorities appointed the ministry´s teacher development agency (idp) as such contact. idp was responsible for distributing the ministry´s official communication to inform school principals about design and implementation of an in-service efl model córdoba, rodríguez & hernández no. 10 (january june 2015) no. 10 (january june 2015) 39 the trainees with a study permit. it is important to mention that this was a paid study permit. another official procedure consisted of having the participants sign a contract to make them accountable for their professional development. for this purpose, idp provided the official control forms for trainers to guarantee the participants’ mandatory attendance to the training because the training sessions were scheduled during working hours. idp also contacted school principals so that they made the necessary schedule adjustments in order not to affect students during school time. finally, in coordination with idp, the ministry’s regional advisors selected the teaching centers in the different schools districts of the country. they were also responsible for the distribution of the materials to the participants during the first two weeks of class and control the participants´ attendance to the training courses. the trainers. to make this model successful and effective, the selection of a highly qualified team of trainers was essential. most trainers recruited to teach the courses were university instructors, and some others were experienced high-school teachers. the trainers held a master’s degree in tesol, or pursued studies in a tesol master’s program. they were required to have worked a minimum of two years in a higher education institution or five years in a public high school. they had to show mastery of english in the job interview conducted by the academic committee, and also had to attend the required academic and administrative training sessions to learn about the objectives, contents, methodology, guidelines, and official documents of the courses to be taught. in addition to their regular teaching responsibilities, the trainers had to build a supportive learning environment by establishing an atmosphere of trust between trainers and participants; to motivate the participants and lower their affective filter; to build their confidence; to boost their professional image; and to effectively deal with conflict when required. one of the most important highlights of the trainers was the decision to establish collaboration networks to share lesson plans, materials, activities, and experiences with other trainers. although this idea was not originally part of the model, it became a successful component that ensured team work and uniformity in the courses, and therefore should be contemplated in similar teacher training programs. finally, the trainers’ role in this model was that of a facilitator of learning, based on the courses designed by the academic committee. the trainers facilitated learning by raising the participants’ awareness of their language learning process and by scaffolding the learning design and implementation of an in-service efl model córdoba, rodríguez & hernández no. 10 (january june 2015) no. 10 (january june 2015) 40 experiences through challenging activities adapted to their proficiency level. due to the flexibility of the curriculum of the model, the trainers could make their own decisions regarding the emphasis to be given to the objectives, the activities to design/adapt, and supplementary materials to use, depending on the participants’ needs. they were also required to provide feedback to the academic committee during and after each course to help make the necessary adjustments and, thus, better meet the participants’ needs in future courses. the learners. the following description of the learners in the training project was obtained from trainer reports, class observations by the academic committee members, and classroom reports from external evaluators hired by the academic committee. such learners’ description was based on the affective, the cognitive and the linguistic domains, congruent with brown’s language teaching principles (2001). regarding the affective domain, this population was more fragile and defensive (brown, 2007, p.72) than regular beginning learners because they were in-service teachers becoming language learners once again. it is important to mention that many participants started the training process showing rejection toward the training and questioning the results of the diagnostic test. once the courses began, the trainers reported that those participants did not feel confident when using the language; therefore, it was necessary to strengthen their self-confidence by providing opportunities for language use in a safe learning environment. concerning the cognitive domain, learners at the basic levels showed weak knowledge of the english language. as observed when interacting in class activities, the trainees in levels a1 and a2 were not fluent speakers; as a result, they often resorted to their l1 –spanish. in addition to their weak knowledge of the target language and their apparent lack of sufficient exposure to it, classroom observations revealed that participants concentrated more on form than on meaning and/or messages, and most were not autonomous learners (brown, 2007). in relation to the linguistic domain, the development of the learners’ communicative competence was crucial because a large segment of the in-service teacher population were at early stages of their interlanguage, as revealed by class observations and trainers’ reports. the courses. the course design stage. the course design stage for this training project was approached from the point of view of a mixed curriculum, which focuses on both the product and the process (finney, 2002). thus, the curricular decisions involved a) setting communicative design and implementation of an in-service efl model córdoba, rodríguez & hernández no. 10 (january june 2015) no. 10 (january june 2015) 41 objectives, b) using international standards for describing learner proficiency, c) having homogenized criteria for the syllabi and materials, d) implementing a communicative methodology, and e) allowing flexibility to respond to the evolving learners’ needs. each of these elements will be discussed below. to improve the participants’ level of proficiency, it was important to set communicative objectives to guide the curricular design of the different courses. the communicative objectives progressed from everyday, familiar contexts to less predictable ones, as the participants developed their skills. it was also necessary to use international standards that helped describe the participants’ proficiency level in relation to knowledge, abilities, and skills. the common european framework of reference for languages (cefr) was taken into account as one of the elements for the curricular design. therefore, the academic committee decided on the required number of hours for each course following the guidelines of the association of language testers in europe (alte) to achieve the cefr levels. thus, the courses ranged from 70 to 140 hours of instruction and were taught in sessions of five or six hours a day, once or twice a week, depending on the emphasis of the course. each course in the training project was planned with standardized criteria to get results that could be compared nationwide. the academic committee designed a communicative syllabus for each of the courses; the guidelines for quizzes, exams, and projects; and the evaluation rubrics to be used in the communicative activities of each course. depending on the task, this evaluation was either summative or alternative. for the training project, the academic committee also selected the instructional materials to be used in the different linguistic courses in the 27 school districts of the country. it is important to point out that such resources helped learners be exposed to authentic materials and be able to participate in communicative tasks. the methodology of the training model was not based on any particular method but rather on principled methodological decisions (brown, 2001; kumaravadivelu, 2012; richards, 2001). the courses integrated the skills that the participants needed the most, i.e., listening, speaking, and reading. even though a few writing tasks were included in the linguistic courses, writing was not taught explicitly. pronunciation, grammar, and culture were also considered to develop and consolidate language skills. even though the homogenized decisions were made at a macro level by the academic committee, the curriculum was flexible enough for the trainers to design their own activities, based on the course objectives. this flexibility allowed trainers to make the necessary design and implementation of an in-service efl model córdoba, rodríguez & hernández no. 10 (january june 2015) no. 10 (january june 2015) 42 changes considering the participants’ linguistic knowledge, affective situations, or any other situation that could come up along the way. without the trainers’ careful contextualization of their own courses, the standardized curriculum proposed by the committee would have probably failed. as coleman states “learning becomes impossible” when local contexts are not taken into account (as cited in kumaravadivelu, 2012, loc. 540). the following table shows the courses designed for the different in-service teacher populations in the training process from 2008 to 2011. table 1. linguistic courses designed for the efl teacher-training model in costa rica note. adapted from calderón, r., & mora, y. (2012). formación permanente del docente de inglés: una experiencia exitosa en costa rica. revista iberoamericana sobre calidad, eficacia y cambio en educación 10 (4). retrieved from http://www.rinace.net/reice/numeros/arts/vol10num4/art7. htm design and implementation of an in-service efl model córdoba, rodríguez & hernández no. 10 (january june 2015) no. 10 (january june 2015) 43 the linguistic courses. linguistic courses for basic users. in 2008, two different courses were designed for the population of basic users (a1 and a2) so that they began developing their skills. the participants were given intensive integrated courses in the four macro skills with an emphasis on listening and speaking. linguistic courses for independent users. the following years (2009-2010) the b1 population that joined the training took three courses, totalling 274 hours of instruction, while the population who started the training at the basic levels needed a total of 414 to 554 hours of instruction to consolidate the b1 level. two of the three courses focused on the developing of listening and speaking skills, and the other one was designed to help participants learn strategies for listening and reading comprehension in preparation for the post test (the toeic©). after the post test was administered, the results were analyzed to make further decisions regarding the participants’ linguistic needs at that particular point. two main findings were evident: a) 18% of the participants who were placed in b2-, according to the toeic© test, were ready for developing academic skills, such as argumentation, group discussions, critical thinking, among others, to consolidate their level. therefore, two courses on academic listening and speaking, with an online component, were designed, and b) there were still a few teachers placed in the level b1who were not ready for academic skills courses. as a result, two additional courses on reading and oral communication skills were designed for this population because the test showed these were their weakest areas. table 2 contains the additional linguistic courses designed for the teacher population still ranking in level b1-, corresponding to approximately 9% of the trainees, after a three-year period of training. design and implementation of an in-service efl model córdoba, rodríguez & hernández no. 10 (january june 2015) no. 10 (january june 2015) 44 table 2. linguistic courses designed for the population still ranking in b1after three years of training note. adapted from calderón, r. (2012). capacitación a docentes de inglés en servicio del mep: informe 2008-2011. san josé, costa rica: ministerio de educación pública. even the participants who did not require extra courses to reach higher levels of proficiency (b1 and b2) needed a higher number of instructional hours that varies considerably from the hours recommended by the association of language testers in europe (alte). the costa rican in-service teachers required approximately from 50 to 200 additional hours of instruction to become independent users. table 3 illustrates such differences. design and implementation of an in-service efl model córdoba, rodríguez & hernández no. 10 (january june 2015) no. 10 (january june 2015) 45 table 3. comparison of the approximate number of hours required to consolidate a cefr level in the costa rican in-service teacher training model note. adapted from c.e.f. (n.d.) a teachers’ guide to the common european framework [pdf]. new york: pearson longman and from calderón, r. (2012). capacitación a docentes de inglés en servicio del mep: informe 2008-2011. san josé, costa rica: ministerio de educación pública. the reasons why the participants needed a much higher number of instructional hours to increase their level could be attributed to factors such as the possible lack of exposure to the target language in their previous university programs, as the ministry of education found in their analysis of the in-service teachers’ performance (ministerio de educación, 2008), and the lack of practice in their work environments. it could be safely assumed that the participants started this training program with a not very strong professional competence that hindered their performance and slowed down their progress that due to their low level of english proficiency. impact of the training project as mentioned before, the impact of the training project on the participants’ linguistic performance was measured through a second administration of the toeic©. the results the participants obtained in the 2008 diagnostic toeic© test were compared to the ones achieved in the post test in 2011. thus, figure 1 shows the level of proficiency of the in-service teachers both at the beginning of the process and after approximately three years of training. design and implementation of an in-service efl model córdoba, rodríguez & hernández no. 10 (january june 2015) no. 10 (january june 2015) 46 figure 1. results of the linguistic performance of in-service teachers in 2008 and 2011. adapted from calderón, r. (2012). capacitación a docentes de inglés en servicio del mep: informe 2008-2011. san josé, costa rica: ministerio de educación pública. the comparison of the linguistic performance of the in-service teachers shows evident migration from lower to higher bands. it is important to point out that while 38% of the teachers ranked in levels a1and a2 at the beginning of the training, only 4% of the participants still ranked in level a2 after taking the courses of the training program. the percentage of participants at the b1 level also decreased in 10% because of those teachers who migrated to higher levels. another positive result was the fact that the percentage of teachers at the b2 and c1 levels at the beginning of the training more than doubled after three years of training. these results show that a significant 78% of the teacher population trained became independent (b2) and proficient (c1) users of the english language. design and implementation of an in-service efl model córdoba, rodríguez & hernández no. 10 (january june 2015) no. 10 (january june 2015) 47 conclusions this study revealed that, after taking the three-year training, approximately 80% of the costa rican in-service teachers were able to migrate to higher levels of proficiency. this positive result sheds light about the appropriateness of the decision-making process that gave birth to the teacher-training model. on the one hand, all major components—goals, objectives, course methodology, types of courses, number of instructional hours and course evaluation—were adequately articulated to design a coherent curriculum (dubin & olshtain, 2000; graves, 1996; richards & renandya, 2002). on the other hand, these components were conceived within a local framework (kumaravadivelu, 2012) that paved the way for a training model to be carried out within the costa rican context. in this way, both key curricular elements and local needs were reconciled to ensure success. the results are more significant when considering that the outcome of this teacher training model was evaluated by means of an international standardized exam— the toeic—as a measure of performance. however, an important drawback of the study is its sole reliance on test results to evaluate the model. two important sources of information (genesee, 2001) that could have been considered as part of the evaluation process of the model were the participants and the trainers. even so, the study sheds light about a teacher training model that offers the possibility of replication in similar efl contexts provided that the particularities of the setting are adjusted. design and implementation of an in-service efl model córdoba, rodríguez & hernández no. 10 (january june 2015) no. 10 (january june 2015) 48 references brown, h. d. 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(2010). developing our professional competence: some reflections. in j. c. richards, & w. a. renandya, methodology in language teaching: an anthology of current practice (pp. 393-396). new york: cambridge university press. richards, j. c. (2001). curriculum development in language teaching. london: cambridge university press. richards, j. c., & renandaya, w. a. (2002). methodology in language teaching: an anthology of current practice. new york: cambridge university press. usma wilches, j. (2009). education and language policy in colombia: exploring processes of inclusion, exclusion and stratification in times of global reform. profile 11, 123–142. design and implementation of an in-service efl model córdoba, rodríguez & hernández no. 10 (january june 2015) no. 10 (january june 2015) 50 authors *patricia córdoba cubillo is an associate professor of english at the university of costa rica. she holds a master’s in tesol from the university of costa rica. she has published different articles on linguistics, pronunciation and writing. she has also published some books on the listening skill for high school students of the costa rican public school system. her research interests are on english grammar, listening and writing. *xinia rodríguez ramírez is an associate professor of english at the university of costa rica in san josé. she received her master’s degree in tesol from indiana university of pennsylvania. her recent publications include let’s listen for 9th graders and let’s listen for 8th graders (editorial ucr, 2015). her research interests include english for specific purposes and efl composition. *tatiana hernández-gaubil works as a professor of english at distance state university, costa rica. she has ample experience in the field of tesol, working as english professor, outreach english program coordinator, curricular designer, and english consultant for the national teachers association (colypro) and oxford university press. she has also represented her university as speaker in national and international workshops and seminars. design and implementation of an in-service efl model no. 10 (january june 2015) no. 10 (january june 2015) using digital formative assessment to evaluate efl learners’ english speaking skills1 uso de la evaluación formativa digital para evaluar las habilidades de habla inglesa de los estudiantes de inglés como lengua extranjera zeynep çetin köroğlu2* aksaray university, turkey 1 received: october 18th, 2020/ accepted: may 14th 2021 2 zeynepcetin86@gmail.com gist education and learning research journal. issn 1692-5777. no. 22 (january june, 2021). pp. 103-123. 104 no. 22 abstract as it is known formative assessment focuses on both learning process and learner’s performance. in this study, digital formative assessment and traditional speaking tests were utilized comparatively to evaluate 52 upper-intermediate efl learners’ english language speaking skills. the study was designed as a mixed-method. the quantitative data were collected via achievement tests which had been administered both in traditional speaking tests and digital formative tests. the qualitative findings were collected with students’ interviews which consisted of four open-ended questions. the results of the study showed that participants outperformed in digital formative tests in comparison to traditional speaking tests. another significant finding of the study is that participants are satisfied with the digital formative assessments in terms of peer collaboration during tests, enriched test materials, and preparation time for the speaking test. although they have positive views on digital formative assessment, participants are dissatisfied with it in terms of technical problems that they encountered during the administration of digital formative tests. keywords: digital formative assessment, foreign language speaking skills, formative assessment, language testing. resumen como se conoce, la evaluación formativa se enfoca tanto en el proceso de aprendizaje como en el desempeño del estudiante. en este estudio, la evaluación formativa digital y las pruebas tradicionales orales se usaron comparativamente para evaluar a 52 estudiantes de inglés en nivel intermedio superior en la habilidad de habla. el estudio se diseñó como un método mixto. los datos cuantitativos se recolectaron por medio de pruebas de logros las cuales se habían administrado tanto en pruebas tradicionales orales como en pruebas formativas digitales. los datos cualitativos se recolectaron por medio de entrevistas a los estudiantes que consistían en cuatro preguntas abiertas. los resultados del estudio mostraron que los participantes superaron las pruebas formativas digitales en comparación con las pruebas tradicionales. otro resultado significativo es que los participantes estaban satisfechos con las evaluaciones formativas digitales en términos de colaboración entre compañeros durante las pruebas, materiales de prueba enriquecidos y tiempo de preparación para las pruebas orales. aunque han tenido opiniones positivas sobre la evaluación formativa digital, los participantes están insatisfechos con dicha prueba en términos de los problemas técnicos que se han encontrado durante la administración de estas. palabras clave: evaluación formativa digital; habilidades para hablar un idioma extranjero; evaluación formativa; prueba de idiomas. digital formative assessment in speaking skills çetin-köroğlu 105 no. 22 digital formative assessment in speaking skills çetin-köroğlu resumo como se conhece, a avaliação formativa se enfoca tanto no processo de aprendizagem como no desempenho do estudante. neste estudo, a avaliação formativa digital e as provas tradicionais orais se usaram comparativamente para avaliar a 52 estudantes de inglês em nível intermédio superior na habilidade de fala. o estudo se desenhou como um método misto. os dados quantitativos se recolheram por meio de provas de aproveitamentos as quais se tinham administrado tanto em provas tradicionais orais como em provas formativas digitais. os dados qualitativos se coletaram por meio de entrevistas aos estudantes que consistiam em quatro perguntas abertas. os resultados do estudo mostraram que os participantes superaram as provas formativas digitais em comparação com as provas tradicionais. outro resultado significativo é que os participantes estavam satisfeitos com as avaliações formativas digitais em termos de colaboração entre colegas durante as provas, materiais de prova enriquecidos e tempo de preparação para as provas orais. mesmo que tiveram opiniões positivas sobre a avaliação formativa digital, os participantes estão insatisfeitos com mencionada prova em termos dos problemas técnicos que se encontraram durante a administração destas. palavras chave: avaliação formativa digital; habilidades para falar um idioma estrangeiro; avaliação formativa; prova de idiomas. 106 no. 22 introduction a ssessing the oral production of foreign language learners has become one of the main concerns of scholars in the 20th century (celce-murcia, 2013). language skills assessment plays a very crucial role in the learning process but it turns out that changing or reforming assessment is quite difficult. however, in our changing and developing world cultural, theoretical, technological development and changes make reform a necessity in assessment. thus, these changes affect both teaching and learning as well. foreign language speaking skills assessment is perceived as an active process that demonstrates whether language learners have learned what had been taught, and if not, what can be done to solve the problem (william, 2007). there is a direct link between assessment and learning that has been realized by scholars (boz & boz, 2005). assessment studies have begun to shift away from investigating restricted test types to other techniques such as formative assessment, dynamic assessment, digital formative assessment, classroom assessment, etc. thus, the former test types generally make little contribution to language learners’ learning during the assessment and include strict components that cause stress and anxiety during the speaking skills assessment (knight, 1992). however, alternative assessment types such as formative assessment or dynamic assessment consist of scaffolding, peer collaboration, teacher’s mediation, and a more relaxing atmosphere for language learners to perform their skills. in this respect, assessment and learning are highly related to each other, and such assessment techniques should be used to make both learners and teachers benefit from these techniques (boz & boz, 2005). changing and transforming educational technologies make innovative assessment techniques a must in our developing world. for this reason, the present research seeks to unveil different aspects related to the assessment of foreign language speaking skills. it tries to find out whether the digital formative assessment is more effective than traditional speaking tests to evaluate and improve language learners’ foreign language speaking skills. additionally, the current research tries to figure out upperintermediate language learners’ perspectives towards digital formative assessment type which is quite new for them. the present research study is guided by the following research questions: 1. is there any statistically significant difference between test scores of upperintermediate efl learners’ speaking skills in traditional speaking tests and digital formative tests? 2. what conceptions do the upper-intermediate efl learners enrolled at a state university, turkey have on digital formative assessment of speaking skills? digital formative assessment in speaking skills çetin-köroğlu 107 no. 22 related literature as it was mentioned before, assessment has a big impact on students’ learning, and generally, students spend their time on the materials that are covered in the assessment part. in other words, assessment directly affects their learning (baleni, 2015; leung, 2005; leung & mohan, 2004; poehner & lantolf, 2005). the important point to be considered is whether the assessment should be for learning or assessment of learning. the distinction between formative or summative assessment is that summative assessment heavily focuses on what students have learned, in other words outputs of the learning process but formative assessment emphasizes the learning process rather than the learning product by providing feedback (dixson & worrell, 2016). the distinction between these two different assessment types is perceived as two different poles of a continuum (capel et al., 1995) that summative assessment serves the educational system’s needs and it has a bureaucratic purpose. on the other hand, the formative assessment supports learners’ future learning by providing meaningful and constructive feedback. the present research paper focuses mainly on formative assessment and its more recent version of digital formative assessment. another distinction between formative assessment and summative assessment is that purpose and timing differ in these two assessment types. formative assessment is used to assess learners’ positive achievements during the learning process and by giving feedback learners are prepared for a further step of learning. on the other hand, summative assessment is used to record the overall achievement or performance of learners in a systematic way (tgat, 1988). one of the main differences is that formative assessment provides more chances to compensate for learning deficiencies during the learning process. formative assessment is defined as an assessment type that includes quizzes, homework, questions, etc. during instruction to provide direction for future learning of learners (o’connor, 2002). main concerns of formative assessment; it serves to maximize students’ future learning possibilities, develops students’ motivation and learning opportunities, and uses assessment as an actual part of the learning process (boz & boz, 2005; mcmillan, 2014). teachers should follow some main approaches to achieve the goals of formative assessment. it is clear that formative assessment includes highly effective steps to reach the goals. questioning provides critical thinking and active construction of knowledge if students try to find out answers by researching and asking further questions. providing feedback makes students understand their mistakes and shows the correct information. as the third step, peerand self-assessment serve as reflective parts of formative assessment. in the last step, formative use of summative tests provides a continuous assessment cycle and by doing so both students and teachers can see the missing pieces of information in the learning process. therefore, formative assessment should be cyclical and continuous to make learners more active during the learning process (wood, 2010). formative assessment should include an assessment of students’ behaviour and learning process and feedback which are quite effective to recover deficiencies in learning. wood (2010) mentions that learners are active in learning process and learning environment is digital formative assessment in speaking skills çetin-köroğlu 108 no. 22 challenging for both learners and teachers. however, the formative assessment fosters permanent learning and contributes to the future learning of learners. in this respect, its contribution to the learning process and effectiveness is quite obvious. particularly, with the help of formative assessment teachers can check learners’ understanding and help them to make up for lacking knowledge (dirksen, 2011). formative assessment can be planned or interactive; the planned formative assessment provides and evidence with a diagnostic purpose but interactive formative assessment is more spontaneous (bell & cowie, 2001). it is possible to see that both summative assessment and formative assessment are used to test foreign language learners’ language skills and their development in various skills such as reading, writing, speaking, and listening. however, related research indicates that generally summative assessment is used to measure students’ overall achievement in language skills (stanca, et al. 2015). however, with the advent of technologies and students’ increasing demands and readiness towards changes in educational and assessment tools make new assessment types a must. foreign language speaking skills assessment involves multiple activities and various tasks (luoma, 2004) and speaking skills assessment should measure language ability or the use of language rather than students’ knowledge about the topic if the language test does not have a specific purpose (huang, hung & plakans, 2018). speaking skills as a part of pragmatic knowledge represent communication ability, knowledge related to language use in practice, and appropriate use of target language in an appropriate context such as functional and sociolinguistic knowledge (luoma, 2004). in such an assessment environment, students, assessor(s), tools, or tasks for assessment and rubric exist in an interrelated way. it was discussed previously that formative assessment provides many opportunities to students in many ways and its usage to test foreign language speaking skills contributes respectively more than summative assessment. thus, foreign language speaking assessment and tests are perceived as stressful and anxiety increasing moments by foreign language learners (çetin köroğlu, 2019). however, if the formative assessment is administered to test foreign language learners, both their speaking skills are tested and their improvement in foreign language speaking skills is enhanced. the digital formative assessment is quite a new term for speaking assessment and there is very limited research on this term (faber, luyten & visscher, 2017). there is only one research about it which is carried out by fabet et. al. (2017). the results of their study show that the digital formative assessment tool has positive effects on student achievement and motivation. additionally, students’ use measurements support students’ achievement and motivation. one more important finding of the study is that achievement effects were higher for high-performing students. in this respect, there is a big gap both in the definition, application, and research area of digital formative assessment. the term can be defined as the use of formative assessment through digital platforms and steps to foster students’ learning by assessment. various tools can be digital formative assessment in speaking skills çetin-köroğlu 109 no. 22 used to carry out the digital formative assessment, specific to the current research; speaking skills can be assessed through digital chats, recordings of students’ speaking performance, or video scripts commentary which represent authentic language use in a context (jamieson, 2005). additionally, using such tasks provides teachers and researchers the opportunity to better understanding students’ speaking skills development and trace test-takers (dhalhoub-deville, 2001). moreover, such tasks can be used effectively nearly at all levels of language learners because children are called as digital natives nowadays (dingli, & seychell, 2015). some researchers discuss that using e-portfolios is an effective way to assess language learners’ speaking skills development (cepik & yastibas, 2013). gray (2008) states that using e-portfolios provides evidence, reflections, and feedback about learners’ abilities. in addition to these, useful websites can be used to carry out digital formative assessments such as flipgrid. the website presents a video discussion program and teachers can insert any video which they want to the website. they can ask questions and students respond to the questions. seesaw and voicethread can be used as well because these websites have similar features with flipgrid. performance tests and authentic assessments allow students to speak and perform in a real-life context that is crucial in the communicative language (bachman & palmer, 2010). similarly, digital formative assessment provides authentic tasks and rich content during assessment phases and divides it into steps that decrease students’ speaking anxiety and stress. moreover, digital formative assessment supports instruction by focusing on students’ performances and learning rather than their overall achievement. even though developing technologies offer a range of digital assessment tools, only a little portion of teachers are eager to use them. this can be a result of difficulties and hardship when teachers use digital assessment tools (levy & stockwell, 2006). however, utilizing these tools modify and evolve foreign language speaking skills by chipping in and enhancing students’ learning while they are assessed. additionally, the digital formative assessment draws students’ attention to different contexts and tools instead of text anxiety. methodology the current research study aims to provide both qualitative and quantitative examination of the upperintermediate efl learners who study at a state university, turkey. the study was designed as a mixed-method study to investigate participants’ speaking skills performance. to this end, it presents digital formative tests’ impact on efl learners’ speaking skills development in comparison to traditional speaking tests and participants’ perceptions towards digital formative assessment and its usage in a speaking skills evaluation. digital formative assessment in speaking skills çetin-köroğlu 110 no. 22 research participants the participants for this research were enrolled in foreign language teaching department of a state university, turkey. the participants were selected based on convenience sampling. their age varied between 18 to 21 years old. the total number of participants included in this study is fifty-two. participants consisted of 16 male and 36 female students. the participants were first-graders of the department and they are student teachers of english. participants nearly have a similar speaking skills performance which is presumed due to their speaking skills test scores of preparatory classes of the department. the research was carried out in oral communication skills i and ii during an academic year, 20192020. data collection instrument the present study relied on two traditional speaking assessment tests and two digital formative assessments which were evaluated through speaking skills assessment rubrics and a written structured interview. the rubric included five domains which were fluency, accuracy, grammatical structure, pronunciation, and vocabulary. the rubric was used to grade participants’ speaking skills performance in both test types. the written structured interview consisted of four open-ended questions that aimed to find out participants’ perceptions towards digital formative test administration in terms of its effectiveness. data collection procedure before the administration of both traditional speaking tests and digital formative tests, students’ speaking skills achievement scores of the preparatory class were examined and concluded that they have nearly the same level of speaking skills in english. as the first test phase, the traditional speaking test was administered to all participants. in traditional tests, ten different topics such as globalization, nature, friendship, hobbies, etc. were selected and these themes were written on a piece of paper and each topic was put in an envelope. students were called one by one to test the office and they selected one of the envelopes and thought for five minutes about the theme. then each student was expected to speak about the theme nearly for five to ten minutes. two test administrators applied the traditional speaking test and graded each student’s speaking performance. the second test phase was carried out with the same procedure as the traditional speaking test after three months. the third test phase was carried out as a digital formative assessment which was quite different than the traditional speaking test. the researcher of the study utilized edmodo as a learning management system to administer the test. before the test was administered, four digital formative assessment in speaking skills çetin-köroğlu 111 no. 22 videos were uploaded to edmodo. vocabulary charts were prepared and uploaded for each video too. students had two hours to prepare their speech about the videos. they were expected to select one of them and to record a video of their own while they were talking on the material. various tasks were introduced to students before the test administration such as role-play, interview, group discussion, etc. additionally, students were free to talk individually or in a group. after they recorded their videos, they were expected to deliver their videos to the researcher through edmodo, google drive, and whatsapp. the fourth test phase was administered as the same as the third test phase. students were free to select videos from the used lms, in current research which was edmodo. additionally, they were free to select a task and perform individually or in a group. they recorded their speaking performance and then sent to the researcher. at the end of the fourth phase, the written structured interview was administered to the participants of the study. participants participated in the study voluntarily and their names were kept anonymous for confidential reasons. test types test 1 traditional speaking skills test test 2 traditional speaking skills test test 3 digital formative speaking skills test test 4 digital formative speaking skills test data analysis method students’ test scores were calculated and the mean score was presented for each test. the quantitative data helped in the interpretation and discussion of the two different speaking tests’ effectiveness in terms of student achievement. the written structured interview questions were analysed through content analysis. for each question, various themes and codes were created and discussed within the light of related literature. thematic analysis was adopted to extract the theme from the written interviews. that is, the themes were emerged from the data of the research instead of imposing predetermined themes on the data, so the inductive approach was adopted (charmaz, 2006). findings quantitative findings quantitative findings of the four test phases are presented through the table which is placed below. analysis of findings reveals that participants have similar test scores in test 1 and test 2. their average score in test one is 61.25 and in test 2 score is 63.50. as it was mentioned in test three and test four digital, formative tests were administered with a different procedure than the traditional speaking tests. the average score for digital formative assessment in speaking skills çetin-köroğlu 112 no. 22 test three is 84.50 which is quite higher than the test two. additionally, in test four participants’ average test score is higher than test three, which shows participants experienced a novel speaking skills assessment type and succeeded in terms of academic achievement. table 1. the average score of traditional speaking skills tests and digital formative speaking tests. participants’ number test 1 traditional speaking skills test test 2 traditional speaking skills test test 3 digital formative speaking skills test test 4 digital formative speaking skills test average test score of participants 60 61.25 63.50 84.50 86.50 participants speaking performances were graded through an analytic rubric which included fluency, accuracy, grammatical structure, pronunciation, and vocabulary dimensions. hence, analytic rubrics offer detailed, focused, and precise assessment by covering various aspects of oral performance (mertler, 2001). participants’ average score for each dimension is provided through the table below. table 2. participants’ average test scores due to sub-dimensions. test 1 traditional speaking skills test test 2 traditional speaking skills test test 3 digital formative speaking skills test test 4 digital formative speaking skills test fluency 11,25 11,7 19,11 21,6 accuracy 13,25 13,9 15,7 17,3 grammatical structure 11,50 10,9 14,5 12,3 pronunciation 12,50 13,2 13,3 13,3 vocabulary 13,25 13,8 19,9 21,0 digital formative assessment in speaking skills çetin-köroğlu 113 no. 22 it is indicated in table 2 that participants nearly had the same result in fluency dimension in test 1 and test 2 phases. their average score is 11.25 % and 11.7 %. the result of fluency dimension relatively increased in test 3 and test 4 as 19.11 % and 21.6 % in digital formative tests, which can be interpreted participants spoke more fluently in digital formative tests. when the accuracy dimension’s test scores are examined, a gradual increase can be seen in table 2. as it is known traditional speaking test doesn’t provide material during the speaking performance but digital formative test provides students with prepared materials, background information, necessary vocabularies, and preparation time. in this respect, students may have a chance to prepare their speech for the test. as it is presented in table 2, participants got the highest accuracytest score in test 4 which was administered in the form of a digital formative test. there is no such development in grammatical structure and pronunciation dimension of four test phases. participants’ test scores are nearly similar. on the other hand, they experienced significant improvements in terms of vocabulary dimension. despite their vocabulary, average scores are 13.25 and 13.8 in test 1 and test 2, participants’ vocabulary test scores are 19.9 and 21.0 in test 3 and test 4. the results may indicate that participants used various vocabularies during speaking skills tests. qualitative findings qualitative findings of the study were collected through a written structured interview with questions. themes and codes were created for each question due to participants’ responses. some students’ responses were also presented. the first question was asked to question students’ perspectives towards both traditional speaking tests and digital formative speaking tests. students’ responses lead the researcher to create seven themes for the first question. the first question, themes and these themes’ repetitions rates are presented below; q.1. could you compare the traditional speaking exam and the new speaking exam type digital formative assessment in speaking skills çetin-köroğlu 114 no. 22 table 3. themes and repetitions rates for question 1. theme repetitions interaction with teacher 8 collaboration & i̇nteraction with peers 8 negative views on traditional speaking skills assessment 15 positive views on traditional speaking skills assessment 16 positive views on digital formative assessment of speaking skills 29 negative views on digital formative assessment of speaking skills 12 topic diversity 2 the findings of the first question show that participants have positive views on digital formative speaking tests because the codes for this theme were repeated 29 times in the interview. on the other hand, participants have both negative and positive views on the traditional speaking test. they criticized and got dissatisfied with some parts of traditional speaking test such as teachers’ existence during the test, lack of supportive materials before the test and during the test, being alone during the test and academic topics for speaking test. another important finding of the first question is that participants are satisfied with students’ collaboration and peer interaction features of digital formative assessment. some students have negative views about the new speaking test and prefer interaction with the teacher during the speaking test which is absent in digital formative speaking tests. samples from participants’ responses are provided below; s’s r: ‘i think that the new speaking exam type is so nice because we are relaxing and we can speak fluently. the traditional one makes us nervous so we cannot express our feelings. i think that the new speaking exam type is so useful for students. even if students can speak fluently the traditional speaking exam doesn’t let students express their ideas openly because of its stress and pressure. additionally, it causes stress’. s’s r: ‘i think traditional speaking exam causes stress and nervousness in person but the new speaking exam provides relaxation. you can be comfortable during the exam. the traditional speaking exam is harder than the new one. on the other hand, the new speaking exam is a group study, so it is hard to evaluate each students’ speaking skills’. s’s r: ‘i was less excited in new speaking exam and it had more fun than the traditional one. because there wasn’t a teacher during the exam and we were together with our friends which decreased our stress and anxiety. in traditional digital formative assessment in speaking skills çetin-köroğlu 115 no. 22 speaking exam, there are at least 2 teachers and you can’t make a mistake if you want a good grade from them. in new speaking exam, we had a chance to rerecord us video and time for preparation to our speech. although new type’s all advantages, i would prefer the traditional speaking exam. because, we tried to upload our video to website and ıt took 40 minutes which caused lots of stresses. participants’ responses to the second question lead the researcher to create six themes and various codes for these themes. the themes and their repetitions rates are presented below in table 4. q. 2. what are the positive sides of digital formative assessment? table 4. themes and repetitions rates for question 2. themes repetitions students’ collaboration during exam 14 stress and anxiety 13 new learning opportunities 8 preparation 18 fluency & accuracy 15 technology 3 table 4 indicates that students are satisfied with the digital formative speaking test in terms of preparation before the speaking exam, peer collaboration before, and during the speaking exam. besides, they think that digital formative speaking tests decrease their stress and speaking anxiety because of the relaxing test atmosphere. hence, participants had the opportunity to perform their speech wherever they want. it is seen from students’ performance videos that they were relaxing and they rested and relaxed at their homes and dormitories during the test. some of the participants think that the digital formative speaking test provides new learning opportunities and it is useful to integrate technology into speaking tests. another important result is that they think this test type makes them more fluent and accurate in their english speaking performance. samples from participants’ responses are provided below; s’s r: ‘we studied as a group and discussed our ideas with each other. we learned many new information through videos which had been provided by teacher to choose a topic. we used technology during our speaking exam and it was fun. by talking to camera, i think we can improve our role-play skills’. digital formative assessment in speaking skills çetin-köroğlu 116 no. 22 s’s r: ‘we are less excited because if we make mistake we can record the video again. we had fun because we made role plays and we improvised. we could search a google about the topic so we can learn some information. it was beneficial for our imagination for example we behaved as if we were someone else (felix baumgartner). it was beneficial for us to collaborate with my friends we discussed and shared our ideas. it was exactly a teamwork’. s’s r: ‘new exam type provides us a relax environment. it has flexible test environment. you can research whatever you want in dormitory or your home. you can choose the best topic which suits with your ideas and new exam type includes using technology which one knows to use it well’. s’s r: ‘the positive sides of new exam type are much more than the negative sides the first one is self-confidence. when i make practice i feel myself comfortable. speaking with my friends gives me more energy than teachers during the exam. the second one is happiness. normally, i like speaking english, but when i am anxious i don’t speak clearly in english. our new exam type provided this relax atmosphere to me. thus i was happy yesterday’. s’s r: ‘the new exam type enables to explain your ideas or feelings. thanks to the new type students can make new style about speaking topic and the new type makes them free about expressing their ideas. maybe students can create atmosphere that give them comfort. students share their idea with their friends to create good dialogues and good interview’. participants’ responses to the third question were categorized under various categories and four themes were created to present the data. the themes for the third questions are ‘individual assessment and peer work problem’, ‘ time and time management problems’, ‘ data size and video uploading problems’, and ‘ application problems’. q. 3. what are the negative sides of new exam type? did you experience and technological difficulties in the new exam? table 5. themes and repetitions rates for question 3. themes repetitions individual assessment of student & peer work problem 8 time & time management problems 16 data size & video uploading problems 46 application problems 6 digital formative assessment in speaking skills çetin-köroğlu 117 no. 22 participants stated that they had faced technological problems in digital formative speaking tests. thus, they wrote that after they recorded their videos, they were unable to upload those videos to digital platforms and applications such as edmodo, google drive, and whatsapp. the ‘data size and video uploading problems’ have the highest repetition rate with 46 repetitions among all themes of qualitative data. another negative aspect of this test arising from the participants is that they had time limitations and couldn’t manage their time efficiently. the theme for this issue got 16 relatively high repetitions. according to participants’ responses, another problematic side of the digital formative speaking test is peer-based problems and application’s complicated features. samples from participants’ responses are provided below; s’s r: ‘actually, when we filmed it we didn’t come across with any difficulty but when we send it to teacher it is a bit difficult eventually we did it’. s’s r: ‘i think there are some negative sides of new exam type. one of them there must be a person who manages the conversation in developed a device conversation can proceed smoothly and that gives anxiety to students’. s’s r: ‘i think one of the negative sides of new exam type of definitely a shortage of time because we recorded our video again and again and this put me in stress. i thought that i will miss the leading time of our exams and also i had trouble while i am sending video’. s’s r: ‘yes unfortunately we had trouble when we were trying to send the video it is size was really huge and we had problems with internet’. s’s r: ‘the negative side maybe being shy in front of the camera for some students and technology side must be easy because we had got time problem. we nearly couldn’t have caught the other exam. we couldn’t look at some terms about the topic that we forgot details about the topic’. s’s r: ‘no i had any problem except for internet speed some of my friends cannot upload a video to the edmodo’. question four had been asked to find out students’ suggestions and recommendations to improve digital formative speaking test in terms of its usefulness and effectiveness. various themes were created for analysing students’ responses to the fourth question as ‘alternatives for video uploading’, ‘internet speed’, ‘topic diversity’ and ‘more time’. the results for the question four are presented through table 6 below; q.4. what are your suggestions and solution to these problems? digital formative assessment in speaking skills çetin-köroğlu 118 no. 22 table 6. themes and repetitions rates for question 4. themes repetitions alternatives for video uploading 17 internet speed 2 topic diversity 3 more time 9 the results show that students are dissatisfied with the video uploading channels and prefer alternatives such as usb. besides, they think that more time should be allotted to the digital formative speaking test. some of the participants who mentioned about internet speed should be more improved and also topic diversity is required. samples from participants’ responses are provided below; s’s r: ‘i think this new type exam has no problems may be the problem of application should be solved. instead of these apps we can find a new app or we can download the videos to the usb’. s’s r: ‘actually if he has more time to make video it will be better for us. before the exam, we can make more practice to shoot a video smoothly. if we make more video assignments in class, i think it improve speaking skills and we don’t have lack of time’. s’s r: ‘i believe including technology into the exams are not very proper. paperbased but creative exams or face-to-face communication will take away these problems and won’t make students me at least a bit more comfortable’. s’s r: ‘i think students need more time and more subjects about talking it will be really cool if they could talk about their hobbies or occupations’. discussion the findings of the current research indicate that digital formative tests contribute to students’ speaking skills development. especially, students’ fluency and accuracy skills have been developed with the administration of these test types. another significant finding of the research is that students enriched their vocabulary knowledge through the test content. as was discussed in the review of the literature part of the research, the main difference between formative and summative assessment is that formative digital formative assessment in speaking skills çetin-köroğlu 119 no. 22 assessment is used for both learning and assessment and it fosters instruction during testing. the results of the current article support the idea with its findings. one more significant finding of the current research is that nearly all of the participants thought that digital formative assessment is an innovative testing type and highly effective for assessment of foreign language speaking skills. additionally, participants stated that text content and preparation time are useful features of these test types. another significant finding of the study is that some of the participants had negative perceptions towards digital formative tests because of technical problems such as weak internet connection, deficiencies in their technological devices, etc. in parallel with the findings of black and william’s research (1998) in which they reviewed over 250 research articles about formative assessment, formative assessment leads to highly important learning gains to students. moreover, they found out that formative assessment enables students to focus on self-assessment, corrective feedback, and learning goals rather than performance goals by testing them more frequently than traditional testing (black & william, 1998). the current research study reveals that foreign language speaking skills which are one of the most challenging skills for language learners require innovative and up to date assessment type and digital formative assessment is effective for academic achievement. moreover, participants are satisfied with the digital formative assessment. students’ speaking skills such as pronunciation, accuracy, fluency, vocabulary development are improved with corrective feedbacks during digital formative assessment. thus, formative assessment is a continuous process that aims to define learning deficiencies and develop learning process during assessment (kincal & ozan, 2018). digital formative assessment is compatible with the constructivist approach which has been implemented since 2005 in turkey (boz & boz, 2005). another significant contribution of digital formative assessment to speaking skills’ assessment process is that the researcher could compare the performances of the participants throughout the process. unlike traditional summative assessment, digital formative assessment provides chances to teachers to compare student’s performances. despite its various positive sides, the digital formative has also drawbacks for students and teacher. first of all, it is somehow more challenging for students because they are exposed to more tests which actually make them practice more. as it is known, practice is crucial for productive skills (golkova & hubackova, 2014). the other negative aspect of this assessment type is that some students do not have advanced technological devices and they may have an internet connection problem. one another negative aspect is that its burdensome assessment type for teachers. thus, each assessment cycle requires a preparation phase before the test, the test application will be time-consuming and giving feedback means extra burden for teachers. despite these negative sides of digital formative assessment, it is highly effective and fruitful to develop language learners’ speaking skills as the findings of the current research presented. digital formative assessment in speaking skills çetin-köroğlu 120 no. 22 conclusion the present research aimed to find out whether the digital formative assessment is more effective than a summative assessment to test foreign language learners’ speaking skills development. the findings of the research indicate that digital formative assessment fosters participants’ fluency and accuracy skills. besides, participants’ vocabulary knowledge has been developed through digital formative assessment. additionally, the current research shows that nearly all of the participants have a positive attitude towards this assessment type and they prefer to have it in the future assessment process with some modifications. participants suggest that more time should be devoted to students’ preparing for tests. participants complain about the data size of videos, which they recorded their speaking performance. it causes uploading problems. the digital formative assessment occurs regularly and allows feedback. when classroom activities are implemented to assess language learners’ oral performance, these tasks draw participants’ attention, increase their motivation, support their metacognitive skills, and critical thinking (stiggins, 2002; facione, 2011). digital formative assessment uses classroom-like activities on a digital platform for assessment purposes. due to its continuous nature, language learners stick to the learning process. jandris (2001, p. 4) “the heart of assessment is a continuing process in which the teacher, in collaboration with the student, uses the information to guide the next steps in learning” (p. 4). the digital formative assessment made language teachers and participants active during the assessment phase of the current research. the results show that it is quite effective to develop foreign language learners’ speaking skills in many aspects. digital formative assessment in speaking skills çetin-köroğlu 121 no. 22 references bachman, l. f., palmer, a. s. (2010). language assessment in practice: developing language assessments and justifying their use in the real world. oxford: oup. baleni z. (2015). online formative assessment in higher education: its pros and cons, the electronic journal of e-learning,13(4), 228-236. bell, b., & cowie, b. (2001). formative assessment and science education. dordrecht, the netherlands: kluwer academic. black, p., & wiliam, d. (1998a). assessment and classroom learning. assessment in education, 5(1),7-74. brown, g. t. l. (2008). conceptions of assessment: understanding what assessment means to teachers and students. new york, ny: nova science publishers boz, n. & boz, y. (2005). investigating formative assessment. education and science, 30(138), 63-69. celce-murcia, m. (2013). teaching english in the context of world englishes. in m. celcemurcia, d. m. brinton,& m. a. snow (eds.), teaching english as a second or foreign language (4th ed, pp. 2-14).boston, ma: national geographic learning/ cengage learning. cepik, s., & yastibas, a. e. (2013). the use of e-portfolio to improve english speaking skill of turkish efl learners. anthropologist, 16(1-2), 307-317. çetin köroglu, z. (2019). interventionist dynamic assessment›s effects on speaking skills testing: case of elt teacher candidates. advances in language and literary studies, 10(3), 23-31. dingli, a., & seychell, d. (2015). who are the digital natives?. in the new digital natives (pp. 9-22). springer, berlin, heidelberg. dirksen d. (2011). hitting the reset button. phi delta kappan 92(7), 26-31. dixson, d. d., & worrell, f. c. (2016). formative and summative assessment in the classroom. theory into practice, 55(2), 153-159. faber, m. j., luyten, h. & visscher, j. a. (2017). the effects of a digital formative assessment tool on mathematics achievement and student motivation: results of a randomized experiment, computers& education, 106, 83-96. facione, p. a. (2011). critical thinking: what it is and why it counts. millbrae: measured reasons and the california academic press. digital formative assessment in speaking skills çetin-köroğlu 122 no. 22 golkova, d., & hubackova, s. (2014). productive skills in second language learning. procediasocial and behavioral sciences, 143, 477-481. huang, d. h., hung, a. s., & plakans, l. (2018). topical knowledge in l2 speaking assessment: comparing independent and integrated speaking test tasks. language testing, 35(1), 27–49. jamieson, j. (2005). trends in computer-based second language assessment. annual review of applied linguistics, 25, 228-242. kincal, r.y. & ozan, c. (2018). effects of formative assessment on prospective teachers’ achievement, attitude and self-regulation skills. international journal of progressive education, 14(2), 77-92. knight, b. (1992). assessing speaking skills: a workshop for teacher development, elt journal, 46 (3), 294-302. leung, c. (2005). classroom teacher assessment of second language development: construct as practice. in e. hinkel (ed.), handbook of research in second language teaching and learning. mahwah, nj: erlbaum. leung, c, &mohan, b. (2004). teacher formative assessment and talk in classroom contexts: assessment as discourse and assessment of discourse. language testing, 21, 335359. levy, m., & stockwell, g. (2006). call dimensions: options and issues in computer assisted language learning. mahwah, nj: lawrence erlbaum associates. luoma, s. (2004). assessing speaking. cambridge: cambridge university. mcmillan, j. h. (2014). classroom assessment: principles and practice for effective standardsbased ınstruction (5th ed.). essex: pearson. o’connor, k. (2002). how to grade for learning. arlington heights, il: skylight. ounis, a. (2017). the assessment of speaking skills at the tertiary level. international journal of english linguistics, 7(4), 95-112. poehner, m. e., & lantolf, j. p. (2005). dynamic assessment in the language classroom. language teaching research, 9 (1), 1-33. stanca, c., georgescu, s., mina, s. & olteanu, a. (2015). measures of transforming the summative assessment in formative assessment in students activities evaluation at constanta maritime university. karabük university journal ıf institute of social sciences, 5(1), 32-47. digital formative assessment in speaking skills çetin-köroğlu 123 no. 22 stiggins, r. j. (2002). where is our assessment future and how can we get there from here? in r. w. lissitz & w. d. schafer (eds.), assessment in educational reform: both means and ends (pp. 18-48). boston: allyn & bacon. wood, d. f. (2010). formative assessment. in t. swanwick (ed.), understanding medical education: evidence, theory and practice (pp. 259-270). hoboken: wileyblackwell. author * zeynep çetin köroğlu has been working as an assistant professor doctor at english language teaching department of aksaray university, turkey. her academic background mainly consists of english language teaching. she graduated from gazi university and got her ma degree. then, she started her phd at the same university and completed it in 2015. she especially interested in intercultural communication, language teachers’ education, ict implementations in language pedagogy and language assessment. she published numerous book chapters and articles related with her research interests. orcid: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9456-8910 digital formative assessment in speaking skills çetin-köroğlu how to reference this article: çetin-köroğlu, z. (2021). using digital formative assessment to evaluate efl learners’ english speaking skills. gist – education and learning research journal, 22(1), 103-123. https://doi.org/10.26817/16925777.1001 gist final1.indd 29 using a mobile application (whatsapp) to reduce efl speaking anxiety1 uso de la aplicación móvil (whatsapp) para reducir la ansiedad al hablar en inglés como lengua extranjera turgay han and fırat keskin2* kafkas university, fırat university turkey abstract several experimental studies have examined the effect of the use of mobile applications on improving language skills, but little research has explored the impact of using these applications in efl speaking classes on alleviating foreign language speaking anxiety (flsa). this study examines the effect of using whatsapp activities in undergraduate level efl speaking classes on students’ speaking anxiety, and their feelings about the activities conducted. thirty-nine undergraduate level participants carried out the tasks on whatsapp in efl speaking courses for four weeks. the flcas was administered at the beginning and end of the study. participants’ views about the mobile application activities were also examined through face-to-face interviews. results showed that whatsapp experiences significantly impacted the students’ language acquisition by lowering efl speaking anxiety. key words: efl speaking anxiety, mobile applications, mobile assisted language learning resumen diferentes estudios experimentales han analizado el efecto del uso de aplicaciones móviles para mejorar las habilidades lingüísticas, pero son pocas las investigaciones acerca del impacto del uso de estas aplicaciones en las clases de conversación en inglés como lengua extranjera para reducir la ansiedad al hablar un idioma extranjero. este estudio examina el efecto de usar whatsapp 1 received: january 15, 2016 / accepted: april 13, 2016 2 turgayhan@kafkas.edu.tr / firatkeskin@firat.edu.tr gist education and learning research journal. issn 1692-5777. no.12. (january june) 2016. pp. 29-50. speaking skills development no. 12 (january june 2016) no. 12 (january june 2016) 30 en actividades con estudiantes de pregrado que en sus clases de conversación de inglés experimentan ansiedad cuando hablan en una lengua extranjera y sus sentimientos acerca de las actividades realizadas. 39 participantes de pregrado desarrollaron tareas de los cursos de conversación de inglés como lengua extranjera en whatsapp durante cuatro semanas. las flcas fueron aplicadas al inicio y al final del estudio. las opiniones sobre las actividades desarrolladas en la aplicación móvil fueron analizadas a través de entrevistas personales. los resultados mostraron que la experiencia del uso de whatsapp afecta significativamente la adquisición de un idioma reduciendo la ansiedad al hablar inglés como lengua extranjera. palabras clave: ansiedad al hablar inglés como lengua extranjera, aplicaciones móviles, aprendizaje de idiomas asistido por móvil resumo diferentes estudos experimentais analisaram o efeito do uso de aplicações móbeis para melhorar as habilidades linguísticas, mas são poucas as pesquisas acerca do impacto do uso destas aplicações nas aulas de conversação em inglês como língua estrangeira para reduzir a ansiedade ao falar um idioma estrangeiro. este estudo examina o efeito de usar whatsapp em atividades com estudantes de graduação que em suas aulas de conversação de inglês experimentam ansiedade quando falam em uma língua estrangeira e seus sentimentos acerca das atividades realizadas. 39 participantes de graduação desenvolveram tarefas dos cursos de conversação de inglês como língua estrangeira em whatsapp durante quatro semanas. as flcas foram aplicadas no começo e no final do estudo. as opiniões sobre as atividades desenvolvidas na aplicação móbil foram analisadas através de entrevistas pessoais. os resultados mostraram que a experiência do uso de whatsapp afeta significativamente a aquisição de um idioma reduzindo a ansiedade ao falar inglês como língua estrangeira. palavras chave: ansiedade ao falar inglês como língua estrangeira, aplicações móbeis, aprendizagem de idiomas assistido por móbil using a mobile application (whatsapp) han & keskin no. 12 (january june 2016) no. 12 (january june 2016) 31 introduction using technology is an inevitable part of almost every aspect of life and educational environments are no exception. computers, used as assisting tools for both teachers and students, have had beneficial uses in efl classrooms. the use of computers to assist learning, or computer-assisted language learning (call), has gained popularity in language studies, even though, as warschauer and healey (1998) mention, this is not something new. however, due to the development of technology and the information era, it is a promising trend for language studies. the rise in popularity has not been in vain. it has been suggested that call may have many advantages. for example, call-based glossing is more efficient compared to paperbased glossing; moreover, writing is much easier and more successinclined in terms of accuracy when it is applied on computers (taylor, 2013; ulusoy, 2006; usun, 2003). nevertheless, recent developments in technology have shown that technology assistance is not limited to computers any more. almost all the capabilities of computers have been fit into mobile devices, such as phones and tablets, which have increased access to technology in many classrooms. martin and ertzberger (2013) studied the difference between the use of computers and mobile phones in a classroom setting and found that students show more enthusiasm towards mobile devices. the application of mobile devices in classrooms has been welcomed by both the teachers (albirini, 2006; şad & göktaş, 2014), and the students (al-fahad, 2009; hsu, 2013; ilter, 2009). in sum, their perceptions towards mobile-assisted language learning (mall) have been generally positive. this brief review suggests that using technologies in efl classrooms has been successful and promising; moreover, using these technologies has been welcomed positively by both teachers and learners (arnold, 2007; albirini, 2006; cui & wang, 2008; golonka, bowles, frank, richardson & freynik, 2014; hashemi, azizinezhad, najafi & nesari, 2011; şad & göktaş, 2014; tayebinik & puteh, 2012; taylor, 2013; ulusoy, 2006; usun, 2003). in the world of mobility, millions of users communicate in seconds with each other, and for this purpose, they use a variety of applications. whatsapp messenger is one of the most popular applications, with 30.496.683 downloads on playstore, the application supplier for android users. other application suppliers do not compare in the number of downloads: ios has 169978 ratings, and blackberry has 504772 reviews. whatsapp “is a cross-platform mobile messaging app which allows you to exchange messages without having to pay for sms” (whatsapp official webpage, 2015). further, whatsapp allows using a mobile application (whatsapp) han & keskin no. 12 (january june 2016) no. 12 (january june 2016) 32 users to communicate by sending text messages, voice messages, videos, and pictures. using a familiar application in the classroom environment may help students to overcome some anxiety problems. anxiety in a number of manifestations is a problem for efl classrooms (burgucu, han, & engin, 2011; han, tanriöver, & sahan, 2016). speaking anxiety itself is a recognized and undisputed phenomenon. as effective speaking requires face-to-face interaction, it is reasonable to question whether or not call, which could often remove the “face-to-face” aspect of communication, would be helpful for reducing speaking anxiety or not. in response to this question, arnold (2007) cites multiple studies that show that call helps learners reduce or control their anxiety. mobile devices have been researched in several aspects in terms of assisting language learning/teaching. some studies handle the subject from a general effect/impact view (e.g. jones, edwards, & reid, 2009; miangah & nezarat, 2012; ono & ishihara, 2011; wang, shen, novak, & pan, 2009), while others focus on skills such as vocabulary (e.g. alemi, sarab, & lari, 2012; başoğlu & akdemir, 2010; çavuş & i̇brahim, 2009; hayati, jalilifar, & mashhadi, 2013; lu, 2008; stockwell, 2010; zhang, song, & burston, 2011), pronunciation (saran, seferoglu, & çağıltay, 2009), speaking and listening (tsou, wang, & tzeng, 2006), reading (hsu, hwang, & chang, 2013; tsou, wang, and tzeng, 2006), and grammar (baleghizadeh & oladrostam, 2010). in addition, others examine perception (al-fahad, 2009; hsu, 2013), motivation (ilter, 2009) and factors (liu, han, & li, 2010) about mall. however, there are few to no studies exploring the link between speaking anxiety and mall. therefore, this study aims to bridge this gap by examining the effect of using a mobile application (whatsapp) in reducing efl speaking anxiety. briefly, using whatsapp activities in efl/esl speaking classes has become popular in recent years, as it allows for unique and versatile learning opportunities. while using whatsapp, students have the chance to individualize their learning, especially the language they have been working on. for example, they can monitor and check their language output for mistakes. further, students are able to practice their pronunciation (accent, intonation, speed of speech) while rehearsing for the recording, all while exposing themselves more to the language and building positive feelings towards speaking. it is well known that anxiety is “a mental block against learning a foreign language” (horwitz, horwitz, & cope, 1986, p.125) however, even if it is well known that mobile phones ease increased access to information, it is less known how mobiles promote new learning (valk, rashid, & elder, 2010). in this sense, this study also aimed to bridge this research gap using a mobile application (whatsapp) han & keskin no. 12 (january june 2016) no. 12 (january june 2016) 33 through examining the link between using mobile application activities and reducing efl students’ fla levels. whatsapp speaking activities are aimed at reducing the language anxiety of learners. the activities were applied in a classroom context for four weeks. the impact of these activities on the students’ anxiety levels was examined. further, the students’ feelings regarding the link between these activities and their anxieties were qualitatively analyzed. the main research question that guided this study was if applying whatsapp activities in efl speaking classes would reduce the students’ anxiety levels and positively impact their perceptions. more specifically, the research questions of this study are the following: 1. to what extent do the whatsapp activities impact the students’ fla? 2. are there any significant differences between male and female students in terms of fla before and after the application of whatsapp activities? 3. how do the students feel about the whatsapp experience? results indicate that the application has a significant impact on lowering students’ level of speaking anxiety. literature review while the use of mobile devices in the language classroom is not a new topic for researchers, the rapid changes and advancements in technology continuously extend the list of unanswered questions. opinions towards mall seem generally positive in the existing literature. many studies point out how advantageous mall is and how it positively affects learners (jones et al., 2009; miangah & nezarat, 2012; ono & ishihara, 2011; wang et al., 2009). further, several studies have investigated the use of the mall in classroom atmosphere to teach language skills, and have pointed to its advantages (e.g. başoğlu & akdemir, 2010; lu, 2008; zhang et al., 2008). for example, başoğlu and akdemir (2010) investigated mobile assisted vocabulary learning and the use of flashcards using mobile phones in a turkish efl context. lu (2008) compared the efficacy of mobile-assisted vocabulary learning with paper-based methods of vocabulary learning. alemi et al. (2012) and çavuş and i̇brahim, (2009) examined mobile-assisted vocabulary learning methods in efl classrooms. regarding pronunciation, saran et al. (2009) found that there were positive effects of the use of mobile devices on pronunciation. tsou et using a mobile application (whatsapp) han & keskin no. 12 (january june 2016) no. 12 (january june 2016) 34 al. (2006) found that online story telling contributed to the improvement in multiple skills. regarding reading skills, it seems that teaching this skill via mobile devices is quite new. in a study, hsu et al. (2013) the groups that used mobile devices were successful and they had very high positive perception of mobile learning. there have also been studies analyzing the effect of mall on grammar learning. baleghizadeh and oladrostam (2010) examined the possible development of their grammatical abilities when using mall in iranian efl context. it was found that the use of mobile devices also helps learners improve their grammar, in addition to other language skills. although existing research demonstrates advantages to mobileassisted vocabulary learning, there may be some disadvantages to this method. for example, zhang et al., (2011) demonstrated that the disadvantages include mobile phones possibly causing distractions and forgetting. similarly, hayati et al. (2013) indicated using mobile devices may lead teachers to take a passive role in the classroom, and teacher-based interaction is better and more effective than mobile devices. stockwell (2010) identifies similar results in his research favoring previous studies. as previously indicated, utilizing mobile technology, especially mobile phones, in classrooms is widespread. however, bringing technology into the classroom is not an automatic key to success. according to liu et al. (2010), important factors to consider when implementing mall include: (1) being a technology user versus being an m-learner, (2) m-learners’ consumer role, and (3) perceptions of m-learners. liu et al. (2010) indicated that students’ success does not depend only on having the necessary tools, but also on understanding the concerns and willingness of the learners. to interpret learners’ concerns and willingness, two concepts are particularly important to understand: perception and motivation. hsu (2013) emphasized that the concept of perception depends on the student profile and the affordability of the devices. this may be a problem as students’ family economic profiles may be too low to afford technological devices in the aforementioned study. hsu’s (2013) study demonstrated that such devices could not replace teachers. al-fahad (2009) culminated positive perception results in the study including 186 students replying questionnaires. however, the latter of the two studies took place in a single country, whilst the former contained an international sampling. therefore, as this issue is culture-based, perceptions may depend on the country and living conditions. using a mobile application (whatsapp) han & keskin no. 12 (january june 2016) no. 12 (january june 2016) 35 as a second learner-based variable, motivation plays a significant role for learners to adapt or to use m-learning. ilter (2009) conducted a study of 350 university students to analyze the effects of mall on their motivation. the results indicated that using technology enhances learners’ motivations. interestingly, another result of the study was that female students showed more enthusiasm for using technology in language classrooms than male students. however, to the best of our knowledge, no experimental research has investigated how to reduce foreign language anxiety, using mall. therefore, this study aimed to investigate the impact of whatsapp speaking activities on reducing the language anxiety of students in speaking classes. given the fact that language anxiety is a challenging issue in teaching and learning in both efl and esl contexts, this study aimed to examine anxietyalleviating whatsapp activities and their capacity to create a lessanxiety producing learning atmosphere in speaking classes. the reason that whatsapp was the chosen mobile application is that it is a tool that students use on a daily basis. they know how to use it. second, voice recording on whatsapp is less embarrassing than using a video recording, where a student’s image is associated with their audio. methodology research design this mixed-research study followed the one group pretestposttest design as a pre-experimental research model in which the fla of the learners before and after the application of whatsapp activities was compared. in this research design, the quantitative data included responses in the flcas scale while the qualitative data included faceto-face interviews with a randomly selected sub-sample of volunteer students from the participants. data for this study was collected in four phases. first, 39 volunteer students responded to the 33 items in the scale prior to the study (e.g. pre-course scale). the data obtained from the participants at the beginning of the study was used to examine their flca levels. second, volunteer students were invited to participate in the experiment. they were informed on how to use the whatsapp dialogue activities in the new classroom context instead of the traditional classroom teaching context (e.g. classrooms without iwbs and teacherbased interactions) because using whatsapp can turn a classroom into a non-traditional teaching context. how to use the activities was modeled for the students. the students attended whatsapp activity using a mobile application (whatsapp) han & keskin no. 12 (january june 2016) no. 12 (january june 2016) 36 classes for four weeks. first, student pairs had to write mini-dialogues using something they had learned that day. as they finished writing the dialogue, they were instructed to call their teacher to have a quick look for simple corrections for grammatical mistakes (5 mins). then, they practiced and recorded it within their whatsapp group. they listened to their dialogues to see if they were clear and also listened to dialogues by student pairs in the rest of the classroom. the speaking/recording activity was conducted every other class or even at the end of every class. mini-dialogues (about 5 lines) were proposed; these took about 10 minutes. five minutes were spent creating dialogues, and another five spent practicing and recording. the study took three weeks. during the mini-dialogue task, students were put in pairs or small groups of three to write down the dialogue. as soon as they finished, they could call their course teachers to have a look at the most serious mistakes that should be corrected. all the students were required to be added in a whatsapp group. they met with their whatsapp groups in class and recorded the dialogues using the application. the dialogues were shared, so that apart from learning from their own dialogues they could learn from each other. then, the students completed the same scale at the end of the experiment (e.g. post-course scale). the aim of collecting this data was to compare students flca before and after the experience. finally, face-to-face interviews were conducted with a random sub-sample of five students from among the participants. semistructured interview questions were predetermined and directed to them after they took the same scale. they were interviewed about the feelings they experienced during the activities. the interview was conducted in turkish, the students’ native language, to ensure the results were accurate and complete. these interviews were recorded and then transcribed. participants the target population of the study is all students receiving undergraduate level efl students in a state university in turkey. the study participants were 39 volunteer students who were receiving intermediate level foundation courses at the time of the study. although more students participated in the pre-course and post-course scale, some of them failed to attend some classes; therefore, they were excluded from the analyses. these students were attending several language skill-based courses in english at the time of the study. the using a mobile application (whatsapp) han & keskin no. 12 (january june 2016) no. 12 (january june 2016) 37 medium of instruction and exams was english. their ages ranged from 18 to 24. they were taking intensive english foundation courses in the preparatory program before starting courses related to their major. the students were assigned to the preparation-class based on a test in a criterion-referenced framework designed by the school of foreign languages of the university. the test included two sections: one testing their speaking and writing skills, and the other testing their listening, reading, grammar, and vocabulary skills. all the participants could not pass this exam based on criterion-referenced assessment. if they had passed this test, they could have been accepted as first year students and started their degree programs. data collection instruments first, a turkish version of the horwitz’s foreign language classroom anxiety scale (horwitz, horwitz, & cope, 1986) was implemented before and after the experiment to compare the students’ level of speaking anxiety. it is a tool extensively used in classroom research. the flcas includes five levels of fla in the classroom: (a) degree of anxiety, (b) extent of understanding others when speaking the foreign language, (c) fear of making mistakes in the foreign language, (d) feelings of one’s own competence, and (e) divergence from general communication apprehension. the reliability coefficient (cronbach alpha) for the turkish version of the flcas by dalkılıç (2001) was .90 (n = 126). permission to use the scale was obtained for this study. further, face-to-face interviews were conducted with a sub-sample of the volunteer participants to examine their feelings about the link between the use of the mobile application in efl speaking classes and their fla. next, whatsapp was used to carry out the dialogue activities. finally, semi-structured interview questions were applied to examine the students’ feelings about the use of whatsapp speaking activities and their level of anxiety. data analyses and interpretation a series of descriptive statistical analyses (e.g. the mean and standard deviation) and inferential statistical analyses were performed on the quantitative data. the purpose of conducting these statistical analyses was to examine the participants’ flca before and after the experience. a coding and classifying approach was used for the qualitative data analysis. first, the students’ responses pertinent to the research using a mobile application (whatsapp) han & keskin no. 12 (january june 2016) no. 12 (january june 2016) 38 questions were arranged together, categorized, and finally, analyzed according to the recurring themes (gay, mills & airasian, 2009) results the quantitative results are presented first, followed by the qualitative results. the quantitative analyses included descriptive statistics (e.g. mean and standard deviations of scores by female and male students in pre-course and post-course scale) and inferential statistics (e.g. paired and independent sample t-test results for the comparison between the scores by female and male students in pre-course and postcourse scale). table 4.1 provides the descriptive statistics while table 2, table 3, and table 4 present inferential statistical results for the data obtained from responses used in the analysis. following quantitative analyses, the qualitative analysis, including the focus group interviews, is presented. quantitative data analysis descriptive results. the descriptive data analysis was used to answer the following first research question: to what extent do the whatsapp activities impact the students’ fla? table 1. descriptive statistics for the students’ pretest and posts tests table 1 provides the detailed descriptive statistics regarding the participants’ anxiety level before and after the whatsapp experience. first, the mean score difference between females and males increased in the post-course scale (e.g. after the whatsapp experience) compared to pre-course scale (e.g. before whatsapp experience). however, the mean score difference of the females between pre-course and postusing a mobile application (whatsapp) han & keskin no. 12 (january june 2016) no. 12 (january june 2016) 39 course scale was higher than the males’ score, indicating that males were experiencing higher levels of anxiety than females, yet the females lowered their anxiety after the four-week whatsapp course. the standard deviations in both pre-course and post-course are very similar, but the deviations between males and females are quite different, indicating that males and females had different levels of foreign language anxiety. inferential statistical results. the inferential statistics including independent and paired sample t-test were used to answer the second research question: are there any significant differences between male and female students in terms of fla before and after the application of whatsapp activities? table 2. independent sample t-test results for the comparison between female and male students flca levels in the pre-course scale table 2 shows the independent sample t-test results for the comparison of male and female students before the whatsapp experience. the results proved that there was no significant difference between males and females in terms of fla (p > 0.05), indicating that female and male students had similar levels of fla before the experiment. table 3. t-test results for the comparison between female and male students’ flca levels in the post-course scale table 3 shows the independent sample t-test results for the comparison between male and female students after the whatsapp experience. the results demonstrate that there was no significant using a mobile application (whatsapp) han & keskin no. 12 (january june 2016) no. 12 (january june 2016) 40 difference between males and females in terms of fla (p > 0.05), indicating that female and male students had a similar level of fla after the experiment. table 4. paired sample t-test results for the comparison between female and male students’ flca levels in the posttest table 4 shows the paired sample t-test results for the comparison of the students’ fla before and after the experience. the results indicate that there was a significant difference between the fla levels of the students before and after the experience (p > 0.05) and the mean score decreased after the experience. this result indicates that the whatsapp experience impacted the students’ fla levels and they were able to alleviate their anxiety to some extent. overall, both the descriptive and inferential statistics showed that although female and male students had different levels of anxiety before and after the whatsapp experience, females were able to alleviate their anxieties more than males. furthermore, using whatsapp in speaking classes significantly impacted their fla levels, indicating that they experienced less anxiety after the experience. qualitative data analysis results this section includes analysis of the focus group interviews conducted with the sub-sample of five interviewees in turkish. first, the voice-recorded interviews were transcribed by one of the researchers. then, the researcher translated the students’ responses from turkish to english. the other researcher of this study doublechecked both the transcriptions and translations. the aim of conducting the interview in the learners’ native language (e.g. turkish) was to encourage more detailed responses. finally, the analysis was made based on recurring themes following gay, mills and airasian’s (2009) coding and classifying approach. these analyses were used to answer the following research question: how do the students feel about the whatsapp experience? using a mobile application (whatsapp) han & keskin no. 12 (january june 2016) no. 12 (january june 2016) 41 the analysis of the students’ feelings about the whatsapp activity experience indicated that they mostly liked the idea of using whatsapp in the classroom and they felt that it contributed to their language performance. however, student a did not have positive feelings about the experience. some excerpts from the interviews are below: actually i do not think it made me gain some experience. i was just a part of it because you want me to do it. i do not think it contributed anything to me. i try to pronounce words accurately and clearly. [student a] i think it was very helpful. listening my own voice afterwards over and over again helped me improve myself. [student b] i think it improved our writing, speaking, and pronunciation. it made us see and understand ourselves in a better way. [student c] i think this study was really good. i improved my pronunciation, and i speeded up making sentences. now i think i can make conversations with my friends in english. i think it is a good activity. i recommend this. i liked it. [student d] i have very positive opinion about it. using such social application in education is really good. you had mentioned us that it may help us improve our speaking and make us gain more self-confidence. i already do not have such problems but i can see, and i hear some of my friends talking how they overcame such problems thanks to this activity. [student e] next, students were asked to indicate the thing that affected them most during the experience. the students gave different answers to this question. three students reported that it created an opportunity for listening to their voice-recordings themselves and this enabled them to find their mistakes. furthermore, they felt they had more freedom in creating sentences while writing and speaking. another student reported that feeling being able to speak and being listened to by other students affected him/her most. i was just wondering how my voice was on the recording. it was the only thing i cared. [student a] listening to my own voice afterwards over and over again, and the fact that other people listen the way i speak affected me most. [student b] it helped me write well, and it made me understand my mistakes as i listen to myself. [student c] firstly, my pronunciation gets faster and improved. instead of thinking, i speeded up making sentences not only in writing but also and speaking sentences. i liked it. [student d] using a mobile application (whatsapp) han & keskin no. 12 (january june 2016) no. 12 (january june 2016) 42 i had pronunciation problems. before we recorded our speaking, we had help of our teacher to correct us. then, we recorded ourselves after we practiced those pronunciations. therefore, it helped me correct my pronunciation [student e] finally, students indicated if they are eager to continue using whatsapp for improving their language skills as a part of classroom activity for the future. two students responded negatively; one student felt that the experience was boring and the other student was reluctant. however, other students reported that they could continue using whatsapp either in classroom atmosphere or by making groups. if you want me to i will otherwise i won’t because i think it is boring. [student a] i don’t think i will because 3 weeks was enough for me to improve myself. [student b] it is hard to go on outside but if it went on in the classroom yes i want to continue. if the necessary conditions were present, i would continue. [student c] yes, i think maintaining this in the school. especially with my foreign friends. [student d] yes, because when we do such group work, we improve ourselves as we both speak and listen others speaking. [student e] conclusions the quantitative data analysis suggests that even though males were experiencing higher level of anxiety than females, the females could lower their speaking anxiety more than males after the whatsapp experience. furthermore, the whatsapp experience significantly impacted the students’ fla levels and they were able to lessen their anxieties somewhat and therefore they experienced less anxiety after the experience. the qualitative data analyses explained how this effect occurred. first, interview data analyses showed that the students mostly liked the whatsapp activity experience and they felt that it could improve their language performance. second, the students reported that the experience gave them a chance to listen to their voice-recordings themselves and have their recordings evaluated by an audience, thus enabling them to self-evaluate by questioning their mistakes. in addition, the experience fostered their creativity in constructing new sentences in speech and writing. using a mobile application (whatsapp) han & keskin no. 12 (january june 2016) no. 12 (january june 2016) 43 lastly, students were not sure about continuing to use whatsapp for improving their language skills in a classroom atmosphere, but there is still a possibility to use it during in-class activities. there are two major limitations that need to be addressed regarding this study. first, the interview data examined the situation from only students’ perspectives; this might have limited the qualitative results of the study. additionally, observations for student-student and student-teacher-interaction may be a viable alternative to interviews. second, this study collected data only from english major students. participants from different fields and from different proficiency levels in english may lead to different results. in light of the limitations mentioned above, the following suggestions are proposed. first, the students were mostly enthusiastic toward the idea of using whatsapp in classroom based on the interviews; this enthusiasm can foster language development. this result was supported by some previous literature (e.g. al-fahad, 2009; hsu, 2013; ilter, 2009). even though this study did not examine the experience from the teachers’ perspectives, several previous studies again confirmed that both teachers and students like using mobile devices in efl classrooms (e.g. arnold, 2007; albirini, 2006; cui & wang, 2008; golonka et al., 2014; hashemi et al., 2011; şad & göktaş, 2014; tayebinik & puteh, 2012; taylor, 2013; ulusoy, 2006; usun, 2003). therefore, this study aligns with prior work (ilter, 2009) that demonstrates that students can be motivated toward foreign language learning using such mobile technologies. krashen’s affective filter hypothesis states that if learners have low motivation and high anxiety, such affective variables will act as obstacles for the delivery of input to the language acquisition device (mclaughlin, 1987). second, the students in this study reported that the whatsapp experience offered them a chance to listen to their voice-recordings themselves and be evaluated by an audience. this made them feel good; therefore, they could become positively self-aware in self-evaluation by questioning their mistakes. learner characteristics such as “inability to comprehend, self-perceived low level of anxiety, competitiveness, perfectionism, self-awareness, speaking activities, test anxiety, fluent speakers’ presence, students’ beliefs about language learning, lack of group membership with peers, fear of negative evaluation, negative classroom experiences, etc.” (nimat, 2013, p.23) cause anxiety. it can be suggested that the motivation and positive self-awareness levels of students can be increased by such a tool, and then they could develop a lower level affective filtering toward input. using a mobile application (whatsapp) han & keskin no. 12 (january june 2016) no. 12 (january june 2016) 44 third, the students reported that they could see improvement in their pronunciation and other language skills. this result aligns with previous research (alemi, et al., 2012; çavuş & i̇brahim, 2009¸ lu, 2008). therefore, efl students should be trained to use this mobile application by forming groups with their classmates to improve language skills. students could even be trained on how to use whatsapp as a vocabulary learning strategy tool. for example, sharing new vocabulary they learnt after each class. training students to use strategies plays an important role in fostering learner autonomy; learners become more autonomous as they take responsibility of their own learning (ellis, 2008). in addition, some students reported that it is not a good idea to use whatsapp as an out-class activity. this may be because they are accustomed to teacher-based interaction in a conventional classroom setting. some studies supported this finding (hayati et al., 2013; liu et al., 2010; stockwell, 2010) as they suggested that such tools cannot replace teacher roles. therefore, it can be suggested that teachers can develop new whatsapp activities for pronunciation and vocabulary learning as in-class or out-of-class activities because some studies have found positive effects on improvement of pronunciation and vocabulary (alemi, et al., 2012; başoğlu & akdemir, 2010; lu, 2008; saran, et al., 2009) lastly, the quantitative results of this study showed that there were greater decreases in anxiety among females after the whatsapp experience. as reported by previous research (ilter, 2009), females have more enthusiasm for using technology in language classrooms. this may explain why their anxiety levels decreased more than the levels of anxiety in the males. in conclusion, from the perspective of educational practice, this paper provides new experimental data on the topic of mall. it also gives evidence the use of mobile phones contribute to improvement of educational outcomes specifically promoting new learning (valk, rashid & elder, 2014). as such, it helped students to individualize their learning. these research results might be included in the materials for teachers’ continuing professional development (cpd) programs, language learning and teaching materials (hayati et al., 2013) and might be taken into account within foreign language course planning procedure, particularly in course syllabi. finally, this study did not examine the link between anxiety and students with different efl proficiency levels and furthermore, teacher perspectives are not within the scope of this study. further research should include participants with varying efl proficiency levels and language teaching professionals. using a mobile application (whatsapp) han & keskin no. 12 (january june 2016) no. 12 (january june 2016) 45 acknowledgements we would like to thank dear ana maria menezes, -online moderator of connect me education-, for her invaluable suggestion in the design of the activities. also, we would like to thank gist’s editorial team, especially josephine taylor, for their critical comments on this manuscript. using a mobile application (whatsapp) han & keskin no. 12 (january june 2016) no. 12 (january june 2016) 46 references al-fahad, f. n. 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(1998). computers and language learning: an overview. language teaching, 31(02), 57-71. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0261444800012970 whatsapp official webpage (2015). how it works. retrieved from https://www.whatsapp.com/?l=en on 09.10.2015 zhang, h., song, w., & burston, j. (2011). reexamining the effectiveness of vocabulary learning via mobile phones. turkish online journal of educational technology-tojet, 10(3), 203-214. using a mobile application (whatsapp) han & keskin no. 12 (january june 2016) no. 12 (january june 2016) 50 authors *turgay han is assistant professor in the department of english language and literature, faculty of letters of kafkas university. his areas of research centre on individual differences in language learning, technology and language learning, efl measurement and assessment issues. his areas of scholarship include assessing language skills, using generalizability theory to examine score variability and reliability of efl writing assessments. *fırat keskin is an english instructor at fırat university, school of foreign languages, and he is also an ma student at department of english language and literature, faculty of letters of kafkas university. his areas of research are educational technologies in foreign language teaching/learning, and efl measurement and assessment. using a mobile application (whatsapp) no. 12 (january june 2016) no. 12 (january june 2016) 118 no. 11 (july december 2015) no. 11 (july december 2015) using the epostl for dialogic reflection in efl teacher education1 el uso de epostl para la reflexión dialógica en la educación de los docentes de inglés como lengua extranjera holli schauber2* university of geneva, switzerland abstract for many pre-service english as a foreign language (efl) teachers and their mentors, the theory and practice driven european portfolio for student teachers of languages (epostl)3 occupies a prominent and practical role in their preparation programs as a delivery system of core pedagogical skills and knowledge. interest in the role that dialogical reflection plays in this process is studied in an efl teacher education program at a swiss university that relies heavily on the epostl for the professional development awareness-raising. while the epostl contributes valuable core knowledge to the processes of dialogic and mentored-reflection, certain program components provide more opportunities for scaffolded reflection than others. keywords: english as a foreign language, epostl, dialogic reflection 1 received: july 15, 2015 / accepted: october 16, 2015 2 holli.schauber@unige.ch 3 epostl http://archive.ecml.at/mtp2/fte/pdf/c3_epostl_e.pdf gist education and learning research journal. issn 1692-5777. no. 11, (july december) 2015. pp. 118-137. 119 no. 11 (july december 2015) no. 11 (july december 2015) resumen para muchos docentes en formación de inglés como segunda lengua extranjera y sus mentores, la teoría y la práctica guiada por el portfolio europeo para futuros profesores de idiomas – epostl, ocupa un papel importante y práctico en sus programas de preparación, al ser el núcleo fundamental para el desarrollo de conocimiento y competencias pedagógicas. la importancia del papel que juega la reflexión dialógica en este proceso, es analizado en un programa de formación de docentes de inglés como lengua extranjera en una universidad suiza, el cual se basa en gran medida en epostl para la sensibilización de los programas de desarrollo profesional docente. a pesar que epostl contribuye de manera valiosa al conocimiento fundamental de los procesos de reflexión dialógica orientada, ciertos componentes del programa proporcionan más oportunidades para generar una reflexión andamiada en comparación con otras. palabras clave: inglés como lengua extranjera, epostl, reflexión dialógica resumo para muitos docentes em formação de inglês como segunda língua estrangeira e seus mentores, a teoria e a prática guiada pelo portfolio europeu para futuros professores de idiomas – epostl ocupa um papel importante e prático nos seus programas de preparação, ao ser o núcleo fundamental para o desenvolvimento de conhecimento e competências pedagógicas. a importância do papel que joga a reflexão dialógica neste processo é analisada em um programa de formação de docentes de inglês como língua estrangeira em uma universidade suíça, o qual se baseia em grande medida na epostl para a sensibilização dos programas de desenvolvimento profissional docente. apesar de que o epostl contribui de maneira valiosa ao conhecimento fundamental dos processos de reflexão dialógica orientada, certos componentes do programa proporcionam mais oportunidades para gerar uma reflexão em comparação com outras. palavras clave: inglês como língua estrangeira, epostl, reflexão dialógica schauber 120 no. 11 (july december 2015) no. 11 (july december 2015) introduction the ongoing interest in reflective practices in efl teacher preparation remains widespread in recent research and teacher education materials (belvis, pineda, armengol, & moreno 2013; burkert & schwienhorst, 2008; cakir & balcikanli, 2012; farrell, 2012; harmer, 2015; velikova, 2013; yesilbura, 2011). reflective practices have become so commonplace in the discourse associated with teacher education that the notion is often included without a clear definition of the role it should play in shaping the professional development process (farrell, 2012). what we do know, however, is that we want trainees to engage in copious amounts of reflection so that they no longer need us after they exit our programs. reinforcement of this trend towards reflection in professional development can be found in the introduction of the epostl into the european discourse and educational policy initiatives on foreign language teacher preparation and learning (newby et al., 2007). developed by the european council on modern languages (ecml) in response to the search for practice and reflection-driven innovative approaches to foreign language teaching and learning, the epostl is one of several practical guides serving the english as a foreign language (efl) teaching and learning community. recognition of its value to teacher development and effective practice has meant a surge in its application internationally. newby (2012b) equates the epostl with seven categories of good practice in teacher preparation that include: promoting teacher autonomy, fostering a reflective mode, reinforcing the rationales and approaches to learning and teaching, making the scope and aims of teacher education transparent, rendering the competences explicit, facilitating selfassessment and promoting coherence in classroom practice. while these are good reasons to introduce the epostl into a teacher preparation program, our initial decision to adopt the epostl in 2008 stems from several additional pedagogical objectives. we sought to anchor our mentoring, supervision, practicum, and teaching processes to a theory and practice-driven tool that could deliver essential efl knowledge in ways that complemented our program model and in particular the dialogic reflection dimension it nurtures. our decision was further motivated by our view that effective efl teacher preparation grows organically out of dialogic reflection that is centered on constructive mentoring relationships that deliver and build teacher knowledge that is explicit and contextually driven, which we associate with significant teacher learning. it is likewise our view that the pedagogical conversations the epostl nurtures contribute to reducing the theory-practice divide that is so often a barrier to student-teacher buy-in during the induction process. using the epostl for dialogic reflection schauber 121 no. 11 (july december 2015) no. 11 (july december 2015) at the macro level, this article is concerned with innovation and best practices in efl teacher education, while at the micro level with how the epostl introduces a steady flow of dialogic reflection, and through that process, the didactic knowledge that enhances situated efl teacher learning and development. these concerns form the conceptual foundation for the view adopted in this article that the epostl and the dialogical reflection process it feeds represent a shift in how theory driven practical information should and can be delivered in practicum experiences and supervision initiatives. the purpose of the present reflection on efl teacher preparation is to examine where and how the epostl mediates and supports dialogic reflection in the six core components of our program: 1) methods classes and related research assignments; 2) lesson planning and teaching/learning objectives; 3) student and teacher observations and reports; 4) debriefing through dialogic reflection after observations; 5) independent reflection and goal setting; and 6) assessment criteria for certification meetings. after a descriptive overview of the epostl and the research it has generated, a review of the literature on dialogic reflection is provided followed by a discussion of the specific ways in which the epostl shapes the dialogic reflective dimension of our efl program model. the epostl as a tool for dialogic reflection what is the epostl? the epostl is a teacher-learning didactic tool that is organized around seven foreign language teaching and learning themes (see appendix 1 for the list of themes or use the following link to access the epostl4). each category has its own set of principled descriptors that are expressed as can do statements and which function as self-assessment and reflection opportunities for monitoring the understanding and use of the descriptors at various intervals in the teacher education process. each of the 195 descriptors conveys procedural know how and establishes a link between theory and practice. darling-hammond & bransford (2005) have suggested that getting teachers to analyze and theorize about their teaching as part of reflection can reduce the theory-practice divide. a primary goal of the epostl is to support teacher learning in different program components at the preand in-service levels. the epostl is sufficiently well-rounded that it acknowledges the types of teacher knowledge put forth by shulman (1987): 1) content; 2) general pedagogy; 3) curriculum; 4 http://archive.ecml.at/mtp2/fte/pdf/c3_epostl_e.pdf using the epostl for dialogic reflection schauber 122 context methodology resources lesson plannig conducting a lesson independent learning assessment of learning self assessment no. 11 (july december 2015) no. 11 (july december 2015) using the epostl for dialogic reflection schauber 4) pedagogical content; 5) learners and their characteristics; 6) educational contexts; and a more recent type of teacher knowledge focusing on 7) technological pedagogical content knowledge (koehler & mishra, 2009). these are reinforced and recycled through a core body of efl knowledge found in the extensions of the epostl’s seven categories. see figure 1. figure 1. epostl’s seven categories (http://archive.ecml.at/mtp2/fte/pdf/ c3_epostl_e.pdf) the following are several example descriptors taken from three of the above sections of the epostl. each descriptor signals a language learning principle and tells teachers what to consider and how to teach. • methodology: speaking and spoken interaction: “i can create a supportive atmosphere that invites learners to take part in speaking activities” (epostl, descriptor 1, p. 21). • resources: “i can locate and select listening and reading materials appropriate for the needs of my learners from a variety of sources, such as literature, mass media and the internet” (epostl, descriptor 3, p. 31). • conducting a lesson: lesson content: “i can vary and balance activities to include a variety of skills and competences” (epostl, descriptor 2, p. 35). 123 no. 11 (july december 2015) no. 11 (july december 2015) • assessment of learning: portfolios: “i can assess portfolios in relation to valid and transparent criteria” (epostl descriptor 4, p. 48) the epostl provides several access routes to the development of efl teacher pedagogical knowledge. it raises awareness about the ideas and views that are valued in efl teaching and learning while providing a practical expression of the language learning principle upon which each descriptor is based. the portfolio is set up to be used in light of the individual pre-service teacher’s areas of needs and objectives and as an outgrowth of core program content. johnson (2009) argued that language teacher preparation should give teachers the tools to interpret their instructional experiences in light of the prevailing theory about language learning and teaching. re-tooling professional development requires that trainees become managers and apprentices of the learning process. student teachers require a voice in the direction, planning, execution, and assessment of their teaching in concert with more seasoned professionals. through dialogic reflection, zones of proximal (teacher) development are created (johnson, 2009; warford, 2011). when these elements are present, teachers are more likely to consider their professional development relevant and authentic; this in turn makes teacher learning and improved teaching practice more likely. in our program model, the descriptors are explained and explored in methods classes, during mentoring, debriefing, or peer tutoring sessions, and through assigned readings. the student teacher may select a relevant descriptor as part of lesson planning, for independent reflection and self-monitoring after teaching, or it may be raised by the teacher educator in class, or by the field supervisor in a report to highlight its presence or absence in the lesson observed. it may also be raised in a debriefing session after an observation through dialogic reflection to set objectives for follow-up instructional planning or as criteria to evaluate teacher competence and development. epostl and reflection much of the recent literature on the epostl rallies around issues of autonomy and reflection. many existing models of efl teacher preparation organize teacher learning around the core paradigms of socially-mediated, reflective, and practice-driven processes (ball & forzani, 2009; grossman, hammerness & mcdonald, 2009; johnson, 2009). these processes rest on the idea that they help preand in-service teachers approach their instruction more proactively and in more informed and autonomous ways. within this framework, teacher educators and mentors present novice teachers with using the epostl for dialogic reflection schauber 124 no. 11 (july december 2015) no. 11 (july december 2015) resources and learning opportunities that promote dialogue through which reflection is modelled and cultivated with an eye toward developing situated and complex pedagogical knowledge. ultimately, the goal is to use reflection to move teachers toward positions of autonomy in their own classroom practices. this naturally has the best chance of occurring through contact with varied and valued sources of expertise, such as mentors. this does not negate the value of experiential knowledge nor the sanctioned literature to which they are exposed to in the coursework and the practicum experience. recent efl implementation studies have explored how to introduce new elements into a program to enhance the teacher learning process without corrupting or completely overhauling it (troyan, davin & donato, 2013). as a relatively new program element, the epostl, and the dialogic reflection it generates, operates in tandem with and as an outgrowth of the myriad ways that trainees are exposed to in the profession, whether they be the contextualized challenges of classroom practice, or the review of the principles behind certain theoretical assumptions being explored. the dialogic interaction around the epostl is both a proactive and reactive process about the essential practical elements necessary for effective efl teaching. in their review of the literature on practice-driven teacher education, hlas and hlas (2012) argue for the need to make visible those core practices that are quintessentially identifiable as foreign language teaching and those that novice practitioners are less likely to learn independently. while the epostl is not the unequivocally sanctioned list of core practices, its coverage and range is complex and relevant. while there is no present consensus about what (theory-driven) tools may improve the process of efl teacher preparation, or what ratio or type of mentoring, dialogic reflection or practicum experience may be necessary for teacher learning to occur, there is growing consensus about the value of specifying and discussing the micro-practices (strategies, routines, and moves) that can enhance pedagogical understanding and teaching. recently however, some have called for a more dialogically driven approach to raise awareness of these practices during the preand in-service stages to facilitate deeper understanding of the complexities of language teaching and learning (edge, 2011). dialogic reflection as mentoring the practice of mentored reflection is a highly valued and encouraged practice in efl teacher preparation, and has been understood through several explanatory prisms: that of rational thought, and as a creative and intuitive process (bean & patel stevens, 2002; dinkelman, 2003; loughran, 2002; yusko, 2004; dewey, 1933; schön, 1983). more recent views invoke the cognitive and affective dimensions involved in making sense of practical teaching experiences to promote professional development (osterman & kottkamp, 2004). mentored reflection on the professional development using the epostl for dialogic reflection schauber 125 no. 11 (july december 2015) no. 11 (july december 2015) process and on the specific and general content and criteria takes teacherlearners through several stages and levels of practice. rodgers (2002) refers to the reflection as a cycle that includes experience, description, analysis and action. she further argues that reflection that leads to change begins with resistance, and is followed by dialogue about making changes, then mimicry, and finally, implementation of the change. the competencies of pre-service practitioners are often intertwined with the competencies of the expert mentor and the references (epostl) examined through “dialogic engagement” (bakhtin, 1981). initiatives to improve teacher preparation and instructional practice tend to focus on either independent reflection or mentored-interaction rather than a combination of both, which underestimates the value of the combined force of the two. promoting reflection is key toward what is a necessary part of future efl teaching. despite the prevailing view of reflection as a solitary act, the epostl facilitates expert modelling of reflection for teacher-learners through dialogue around the issues that need attention in order for improvement and understanding to occur. schön (1988) describes teacher supervision as those activities that promote reflective practice. chief among these are modelling, prompting, inquiring, and mentoring that occur during reflection in and on action (schön, 1983). while pre-service teacher reflection has become commonplace in many teacher preparation programs, various distinctions exist. a distinction has been made between descriptive reflection, which is a detailed account of events; analytic reflection, which tries to explain the events and to suggest alternative options as part of the evaluation of instruction, followed by critical reflection on the socio-cultural and socio-political influences operating in the classroom, the institution and the community (marcos, sánchez & tilleman, 2008). in their case study research on the transformational outcomes of varied contexts of reflective inquiry, lyons, halton and freidus (2013) found that mentored reflection was crucial to learning and changes in stance and frames of reference. dialogic teaching, which stems from vygotsky’s emphasis on socially-mediated cognitive development, has become synonymous with pedagogical innovation and with being among the most beneficial approaches for learning (alexander, 2006; lyle, 2008). effective professional development and efl a brief overview of the studies of effective professional development, not specific to efl contexts, but still of particular relevance to them, has yielded a wide range of criteria. professional development is effective and meaningful when it considers the daily needs, concerns, and interests of individual teachers, promotes reflection and goal setting over an extended period of time, using the epostl for dialogic reflection schauber 126 no. 11 (july december 2015) no. 11 (july december 2015) provides trainee teachers with access to external resources and opportunities for collaboration with experts, and attempts to bridge the gap between theory and practice (darling-hammond, 1997; richardson, 2003). professional development that is effective also needs to be classroomembedded, and instructionally driven in order for teachers to view it as relevant and authentic. according to hunzicker (2011, p. 179), this requires changing tactics from a ‘one shot’, ‘sit and get’ model to one where teacher learning is an ongoing process. teachers approach contextualized professional development more seriously because it brings practice into focus and draws it closer to theory. the particular knowledge associated with efl professional development includes second language acquisition theory, knowledge of the language as a communication and linguistic system, methods for teaching efl, content area instruction, cooperative learning, and the socio-cultural dimensions of teaching a second language. part of the explanation for the gap between theory and practice lies in part on the absence of context in the discourse on practice and in part on the inability to render the theory in applicable terms, like the epostl descriptors do. in addition to guskey’s (2000) notion of effective professional development as “ongoing, intentional, and systematic” (p. 16), most of the literature on effective professional development cites reflection as essential, both independently and with a mentor, and dialogue as deliberation, discussion and negotiation. teacher preparation becomes interactive when trainees can reflect on their practice during dialogue with a mentor to identify problems, exchange ideas and collaborate toward solutions. hunzicker’s (2011) checklist serves as a guide for determining the most effective professional development practices. when professional development is supportive, job-embedded, instructionally-focused, collaborative and ongoing, teachers are more likely to consider it relevant and authentic, which is more likely to result in teacher learning and improved teaching practice. using the epostl the efforts using the epostl described in this article were recorded naturally as part of our day–to-day use of it in our teaching, supervision activities, observation reports and students’ reliance on it. we realized the dialogic thrust and potential of the epostl and sought to examine where in our program dialogic reflection was most prevalent and what the implications might be for our student teachers. this reflection is based on a two-year efl teacher preparation program at a public university in switzerland. the epostl was introduced into using the epostl for dialogic reflection schauber 127 no. 11 (july december 2015) no. 11 (july december 2015) the program in 2008 and operates as a stable element across all program components: didactic or methods classes, student observation reports and projects, lesson planning, field supervisor reports, debriefing sessions, working sessions, and mid-term and final written exams, and mid-term and final certification meetings. in the 2014-2015 academic year of the program, there were 13 first-year and 27 second-year students. in addition to coursework, only second-year students have a practicum experience in the public schools, while first-year students conduct a prescribed number of observations along with their coursework. students are exposed to the epostl in the first year and dialogic reflection goes into high gear in the second year as each student is paired with a field supervisor. two faculty members run and teach the program supported by seven field supervisors. by shifting assumptions about teacher education research and practice and the increasing attention being paid to the role of experience in the learning process, this paper attempts to contribute to the knowledge base in the field of efl teacher preparation. it recognizes that (dialogic) reflection, which involves returning to and recasting instructional experiences results in unforeseen insights, rendering the complexities of the teacher education and teacher learning process visible. this study refers to schön’s (1987) call for student–teachers’ reflection-in-action, constructing new ways to conceptualize their practicum experience, and hypothesizing about ways to mediate the instructional process through ongoing reflection on their experiences and feelings. the analysis and interpretation of our use of the epostl is organized around the themes of dialogic reflection present and recycled in the six professional development events listed below. the order is based on when student teachers first encounter the epostl. 1 methods class: in class video and case study tasks, projects, observation assignments, and written exams. 2 methods class and mentored dialogue: discussion about principles and relevance of the descriptors and the theories they represent. 3 mentored-dialogical reflection and student teacher lesson preparation: practicum lesson planning and objectives. 4 debriefing and mentored dialogic reflection: based on observation and goal setting for improvement and follow-up teaching. 5 observation reports: student teachers attach epostl descriptors to the elements of the lesson sequences they observe. 6 certification assessment meetings and mentored dialogic reflection: candidates are assessed in light of a percentage of epostl descriptors they have demonstrated in their teaching apprenticeship; in light of those that remain as objectives for continued professional development; and in using the epostl for dialogic reflection schauber 128 no. 11 (july december 2015) no. 11 (july december 2015) light of additional practical teaching ideas raised as extensions of those descriptors. our epostl narrative begins by meeting with student teachers to discuss the objectives and purposes associated with using the epostl, its contexts of use, and the dialogic, reflective and self-evaluative nature of the tool. each of the program components is approached through a process of mentored reflection much like a zone of proximal teacher development (warford, 2011). use of the epostl involves an ongoing process of deconstructing and reconstructing elements of practice both independently and through dialogue with more expert school and university-based mentors. the mentors or field supervisors are all familiar with the content of the methods courses and the readings. methods classes guiding theoretical principles are cornerstones of efl methods classes and the variables around which class content is organized. the epostl descriptors serve as a complimentary means of exposing learners to the specific didactic knowledge being explored. relevant epostl descriptors are introduced related to the given theme of the class. if the class is on listening, the epostl descriptors for listening are presented and a video of a listening sequence may be presented with a task asking students to match the descriptors to what was observed. a dialogue about which descriptors are relevant and what language teaching and language learning principles they express ensues. students are free to argue for their own choice of descriptor(s) to reflect a certain element in the sequence. within the methods classes there are also written tests and assignments that require students to consult the epostl as a reference for what they have observed in their practicum and also for what they have identified as the teaching and learning objectives in their project sequence. lesson planning during the practicum experience, students are expected to rely on the epostl to support their lesson planning. as part of lesson planning, trainee teachers identify descriptors that are relevant to the objectives set for the lesson. in many cases, the descriptors escort the lesson planning rather than follow it. when trainees plan lessons with their mentors, the epostl descriptors become an integral part of the mentored dialogue about the lesson objectives, content and organization. using the epostl for dialogic reflection schauber 129 no. 11 (july december 2015) no. 11 (july december 2015) student observations when students conduct their observations, the epostl stands as a reference for evaluating, assessing and analyzing what they have observed regarding the teacher’s objectives and execution of those goals. mentor reports after observations after each of the 10-12 lesson observations which mentors are required to conduct, reports are written and relevant epostl descriptors are highlighted in light of the contributions their presence or absence made to the lesson. in the reports, mentors set goals in terms of epostl descriptors, which the trainees see after the debriefing session. the identification of epostl descriptors launches the debriefing dialogue that follows every observation. debriefing after observations or during information sessions when mentors and beginning practitioners debrief, the epostl descriptors and the praxis elements they specify may be at the core of their discussion. during these debriefings, areas of need are identified and solutions are sought against the backdrop of the epostl. mentors encourage teacher-learners to reorient their practice guided by epostl descriptors. consciousness-raising occurs to promote awareness of the areas that need improving and to promote understanding of the principles that the relevant epostl descriptors represent. the mentored dialogue promotes a reflective stance and gets the teacher-learner to take responsibility for the lesson elements they implemented or not in light of the lesson plan and the epostl descriptors, included as objectives. to help students identify areas of strength and need, the mentor prompts the teacher-learner to engage in a process of reflection either by modelling the practice or by helping the learner select epostl descriptors that represent areas for improvement. objectives are set as part of the dialogue between the learner and the mentor for the follow-up observation. certification assessment the ability to act on those goals lies at the heart of the teaching evaluation process. the epostl is used both as a summative tool with exit and certification criteria and as a formative tool for setting goals and evaluating ongoing classroom-based teaching performance. trainees are expected to have demonstrated competence in 70% of two separate sets of descriptors halfway through and at the end of the practicum experience. failure to demonstrate competence, understanding or implementation of the descriptor’s core principle can lead to denial of certification and/or failure. using the epostl for dialogic reflection schauber 130 no. 11 (july december 2015) no. 11 (july december 2015) the epostl, mediated by a mentor, contributes to a process of sociallyconstructed teacher knowledge that ensues in part from scaffolded and dialogic reflection. the experienced mentor moves the novice practitioner along the continuum of professional development by identifying epostl descriptors that represent areas for improvement. change in the dialogue occurs when trainees act on their reflections and newfound awareness, and demonstrate the capacity to select and use the descriptor in class. that transformation is marked by the selection of different epostl descriptors for the next event of mentored and dialogic reflection. a review of the six components of the program reveals that three professional activities present the best opportunities for copious amounts of mentored and dialogic reflection. the first of these three events is the debriefing session after an observation. the trainee and field supervisor meet for a 60-120 minute session to review and evaluate the lesson. the epostl descriptors selected for the lesson plan are discussed and evaluated for their relevance and appropriateness, and the mentor poses questions, which may refer to other possible descriptors to prompt reflection on finding alternatives to improve or modify the lesson observed. micro-strategies, ideas and techniques are presented as part of the consciousness-raising process and references to epostl descriptors mark the dialogue. student teachers are exposed to contextually relevant support, which increases their ability to link the epostl descriptors to their practice and develop the complex professional knowledge that efl practitioners are expected to demonstrate. the second event is a one-to-one working session between the mentor and the student-teacher. working sessions can be requested by the studentteacher or recommended by the field supervisor in place of an observation. in a working session the focus of the session is typically decided beforehand because a conceptual or practical problem has been identified either by the mentor or the student-teacher. for example, one candidate was struggling with summative assessment for interactive speaking activities and was seeking help with the development of the criteria for an assessment grid. other candidates needed help with lesson planning and objectives and the mentor provided a framework for considering these through dialogic reflection. referring to the epostl was one of the organizing modes for addressing both these challenges. in their article on professional development design and its impact on outcomes, lauer, christopher, firpo-triplett & buchting (2014) report that teacher preparation programs that emphasize how to teach the target subject confer more benefits than those providing generic strategies. the final event where considerable amount of interactive reflection occurs is during the certification assessment sessions. dialogic reflection and mentored-awareness raising are equally present in the certification using the epostl for dialogic reflection schauber 131 no. 11 (july december 2015) no. 11 (july december 2015) assessment sessions that candidates and their mentors hold twice a year. in these sessions, review of the epostl descriptors takes place to determine which of the descriptors have been demonstrated in the practicum experience. if a sufficient number has been covered, then the candidate is awarded either an interim attestation or a final attestation to mark successful completion of the practicum. in these sessions, the students provide examples from their teaching linked to descriptors. a process of dialogic reflection ensues and practical ideas that spring from the practicum experiences are introduced. this is followed by an oral report from the mentor and field supervisor. the three teacher-learning events described above are not suggestive of a finite set of professional development possibilities. the epostl is a flexible tool because its shape grows organically out of the individual teacher using it. moreover, it can be configured for a number of developing teacher profiles as a theoretical and practical departure point of reference and integrated into the dialogue with mentors. in each of the contexts discussed above, the epostl initially exposes the trainee teacher to the descriptor’s underlying concept and then reinforces it through repeated exposure in follow-up encounters. in each case the epostl in concert with dialogic reflection functions as a delivery system of core pedagogical skills and knowledge for situated efl practice. conclusions there is an acknowledged shift in how the epostl’s varied components prompt the planning, observation, reflection, discussion and assessment of teacher learning and practice. that shift appears to have long tentacles. to borrow a term from management, it permits trainee teachers to deep dive into the criteria underlying effective efl teaching and to develop a repertoire of objectives and competence-driven expertise. dialogic reflection around the epostl communicates what gets valued and what is expected in effective efl teaching (newby, 2012a). the epostl operates much like a gps wherein destination coordinates are plugged in and a roadmap appears in the form of descriptors with intermittent stops along the way to review the route and the final destination. recalculating and reviewing the route to the destination occurs through socially-mediated processes. the epostl allows the trainee teacher to move through a zone of proximal teacher development during the induction and apprenticeship phase. a zone of proximal teacher development (zptd) is the distance between what trainee teachers can do independently and a proximal level they can achieve through dialogically-mediated support from more expert sources, including but not limited to the epostl. teacher knowledge does not develop solely through the transfer of facts, but rather by appropriating and configuring using the epostl for dialogic reflection schauber 132 no. 11 (july december 2015) no. 11 (july december 2015) meanings nurtured in part through the process of dialogic reflection (golombek & johnson, 2004, cited in warford, 2011). pre-service teachers determine what resonates with their understanding of the contextual challenges they face. here, situated learning is meshed with the epostl through the mediating role of the mentor. trainee teachers and their mentors build pedagogical knowledge through the use of a mediated tool. the epostl allows teachers to systematically anchor their instruction to a set of principled statements by merging those scientific concepts with local understandings and practices. the epostl merges theory with practice by front-loading and back-loading descriptors onto the experiential dimension of teacher preparation. the epostl tool should support trainee teachers in their analyses, planning, reflection, and self-assessment. the preparation of a learning autobiography sets the stage for a lifetime of professional growth, offering a diagnostic of directions toward which the candidate’s affective-volitional disposition might be most profitably directed and where they might benefit from sensitive, intensive mediation from the teacher-educator. while the epostl has oriented trainees and their mentors in a worthwhile direction, several shortcomings have been identified. concerns have been raised about the number of descriptors (195) and their connection to identifiable outcomes and the lack of any globally referenced benchmarks (burkert & schwienhorst, 2008). parallel criticisms can be made about the finite set of descriptors that ultimately restrict the kinds of claims that can be made about what the candidate has or still needs to acquire. second, the descriptors are often expressed in very general terms, which may fail to make important contextual distinctions regarding different efl learner profiles. third, there is an uneven distribution of descriptors across the different sections of the epostl with some categories containing far fewer descriptors than others. for example, vocabulary contains only three descriptors whereas speaking contains more than 10. this imbalance does not reflect current thinking about what gets valued in efl teaching, the materials that support practice, and the curricular goals upon which both are predicated. a further shortcoming is the non-standardized manner in which epostl users chart their progress and declare (in) progress, achievement (success), or failure. as such, the reliability of the tool as a formative assessment system or basis for certification may be limited. since epostl descriptors are stated as can do statements evidence of the ability to do something is not always presented through repeated trials and confirming observations. much of the self-assessment is on the honour system. a final drawback of the epostl in our program is the sheer number of descriptors and the limited timeframe in which to cover them. that combination has necessitated paring down the tool, in a hierarchical way, to descriptors using the epostl for dialogic reflection schauber 133 no. 11 (july december 2015) no. 11 (july december 2015) deemed essential for certification. the selection of the essential descriptors are discussed and voted upon, that means that those descriptors left out of the final list become marginalized and deemphasized. there is a coercive element to the epostl despite its flexibly adaptable nature. attempts to place them into a hierarchy may be counterintuitive because it may contribute to emphasizing one aspect more than another without knowing what the final impact will be from the unequal emphasis. research on how the epostl is used in other teacher preparation settings would further the discussion about its reliability as a training and reflection tool and contribute to harmonizing its use. further study might also lead to the development of a guide on how it can best be used across the different contexts identified in this article. a validation study could provide much needed reinforcement for statistically significant claims about the different micropractices contained within the epostl. survey research would likewise prove worthwhile in contributing information about tendencies, frequencies, and profiles of epostl-using communities and the descriptors that are prioritized. using the epostl for dialogic reflection schauber 134 no. 11 (july december 2015) no. 11 (july december 2015) references 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(2004). promoting reflective teaching conversations: framing and reframing the problem. teaching education, 5, 363-374. author * holli schauber holds a doctorate in education and teaches in the institute for teacher education at the university of geneva, switzerland. her research and teaching are conducted as related activities and focus on teacher preparation, second language learning and use, and writing in a second language. using the epostl for dialogic reflection schauber gist final1.indd 115 the phonemic realisations of the letter <ii> and <yy> in educated nigerian english accent and its implications for esl teaching and learning1 las realizaciones fonéticas de la letra <ii> y <yy> en el acento del inglés nigeriano estándar y sus implicaciones para la enseñanza y aprendizaje del inglés como segunda lengua omowumi bode steve ekundayo2* university of benin, nigeria abstract this paper examines the phonemic realisations of the letter <ii> and <yy> in educated nigerian english accent (enea) as a second language. it is based on the concept of intraference. examples were gathered from 2005 to 2013 in a national survey through interviews, participant observation and the recording of spontaneous speeches. the method of analysis is eclectic: qualitative textual analysis and description, and quantitative statistical presentation of data. ordinal data are presented in percentile and frequency tables and charts and the linguistic texts are described, explained and compared with rp variants. the study established that educated nigerians redeploy the various british rp realisations of the letters <i> and <y> indiscriminately to pronounce words in which the letters appear in a manner that rp and other native english accents may not pronounce them, thereby producing phonological variants. since the variants emanate from the (un)conscious redeployment of underlying rp phonemic realisations of the letters and since they are institutionalised in ene, the paper proposes that they be treated as variations that characterise esl and educated nigerian english accent (enea). 1 received: december 15, 2015 / accepted: april 20, 2016 2 ekuns20@yahoo.com gist education and learning research journal. issn 1692-5777. no.12. (january june) 2016. pp. 115-131. a narrative inquiry into pre-service no. 12 (january june 2016) no. 12 (january june 2016) 116 key words: intraference, letters <i>and <y>, phonemic realisations, enea, phonological variation. resumen este artículo examina las realizaciones fonéticas de la letra <ii> y <yy> en el acento del inglés nigeriano estándar como segunda lengua. esta revisión se basa en el concepto de intraferencia. los ejemplos fueron recopilados desde el 2005 al 2013 en una encuesta nacional a través de la aplicación de entrevistas, observación participativa, y el registro de discursos espontáneos. se utilizó el método de análisis ecléctico: análisis textual cualitativo, descripción y presentación estadística de los datos. los datos ordinales son presentados en tablas de frecuencia, porcentaje, gráficos y los textos lingüísticos son descritos, explicados y comparados con variantes de pronunciación recibida, rp. el estudio estableció que la población nigeriana educada reorganiza las variadas realizaciones de las letras <ii> y <yy> de acuerdo a la pronunciación recibida rp del inglés británico de manera indiscriminada para pronunciar palabras en las que aparecen palabras en la manera en que rp y otros acentos nativos de inglés podrían no ser pronunciados por ellos, de esa manera produciendo variantes fonológicas. dado que las variantes provienen de la inconsciente redistribución subyacente de las realizaciones fonéticas de las letras y desde que se institucionalizaron en ene, el artículo propone que pueden ser considerados como variaciones que caracterizan esl y (enea). palabras clave: intraferencia, letras <i> y <y>, realizaciones fonéticas, enea, variación fonológica. resumo este artigo examina as realizações fonéticas da letra <ii> e <yy> no sotaque do inglês nigeriano padrão como segunda língua. esta revisão se baseia no conceito de intraferência. os exemplos foram recopilados desde 2005 até 2013 em uma pesquisa de nacional através da aplicação de entrevistas, observação participativa, e o registro de discursos espontâneos. utilizou-se o método de análise eclética: análise textual qualitativo, descrição e apresentação estadística dos dados. os dados ordinais são apresentados em tabelas de frequência, porcentagem, gráficas e os textos linguísticos são descritos, explicados e comparados com variantes de pronunciação recebida, rp. o estudo estabeleceu que a população nigeriana educada reorganiza as variadas realizações das letras <ii> e <yy> de acordo com a pronunciação recebida rp do inglês britânico de maneira indiscriminada para pronunciar palavras nas que aparecem palavras na maneira em que rp e outros sotaques nativos de inglês poderiam não ser pronunciados por eles, dessa maneira produzindo variantes fonológicas. dado que as variantes provêm da inconsciente redistribuição subjacente das realizações fonéticas das letras e desde que se institucionalizaram em ene, o artigo propõe que podem ser considerados como variações que caracterizam esl e (enea). palavras chave: intraferência, letras <i> e <y>, realizações fonéticas, enea, variação fonológica. the phonemic realisations bode no. 12 (january june 2016) no. 12 (january june 2016) 117 introduction nigerians speak english in the way they have been taught formally in school, according to the information they gather from grammar textbooks and pronunciation cues from educated speakers, standard dictionaries and naturally in the way they use their languages. for these reasons, interference features abound in nigerian english varieties. quirk, greenbaum, leech and svartvik (1985) say that esl variations emanate from interference and that some of the “interference varieties are so widespread in a community and of such long standing that some believe them stable and adequate enough to be institutionalised and hence to be regarded as varieties of english in their own right…” (pp. 27-28). however, it is shown in this paper that some esl variations emanate not from interference but from intraference, which is a lexicalised conceptualisation of such well-known terminologies as ‘intralingual interference’ (richarda & sampson, 1984, p. 6), the ‘overgeneralisation of linguistic rules and items’ (selinker, 1984, p. 37) and ‘the internal principle of linguistic change’ (labov, 1994, p.84). the paper examines how intraference manifests in enea in the articulation of letters the <i> and <y> (pronounced in the same way in rp and other native english varieties). nigerian english (nige) is one of the leading english as a-second-language (esl) varieties in the world at present. english is the official (but not national) language in nigeria. however, nigerian english is not a homogeneous entity. it is often assessed, described and categorized from the perspectives of region, linguistics, sociolinguistics and formal education. many varieties come to the fore at the regional level; for example, hausa, yoruba, igbo, urhobo, edo, etc varieties. ethno-linguistic and phonological deviations are usually used to categorize regional varieties. three varieties of basilect, acrolect, and mesolect are invariably delineated on the sociolinguistic plane. the basilect is the lowest variety at the base of the sociolinguistic pyramid associated with nigerians who do not have higher formal education and wide socio-educational interaction. the mesolect is a variety associated with a majority of literate nigerians who may not be so highly educated such as secondary school leavers, junior civil servants, young sales men, the rank and file of military and para-military personnel, among many others. the acrolect, which is the focus of this paper, is the quintessential variety of nige at the top of the social pyramid. it is associated with highly educated nigerians such as graduates, lecturers, writers, journalists, senior government officials, etc. the typologies of nigerian english according to educational and linguistic criteria are the most popular ones. (brosnahan, 1958; the phonemic realisations bode no. 12 (january june 2016) no. 12 (january june 2016) 118 adekunle, 1979; banjo, 1970, 1996; odumuh, 1980; udofot, 1997). banjo’s and odumuh’s identical classifications of varieties (v) 1, ii, iii and iv are the most popularly used or cited. accordingly, v.i is the lowest type that is associated with primary school pupils and leavers and some secondary school students. this variety is characterised by egregious grammatical errors, mispronunciation and broken structures. v. ii is an improvement on v.i. it is the variety that over 70% of literate and educated nigerians use. errors of grammar and articulation, according to the standards of rp/british english and highly educated nigerians, are reduced in this variety. v.iii is the educated variety. like the acrolect, it is the variety associated with highly educated nigerians which is very close to sbe and rp in syntax and pronunciation. this variety is also called educated nigerian english or standard nigerian english. it is the same as the acrolect. according to banjo, these classifications are not clear-cut, for there are overlaps. “there can, in truth, never be any firm dividing lines” (banjo, 1996, p.79). although the phonemic trends examined manifest in all the varieties, this paper concentrates on the cases in ene. the paper is an expanded version of an integral part of a major survey of intraference variations in ene from 2005 to 2013. it was designed to answer these questions: (i) do educated nigerians articulate the letters <i> and <y> differently from the way native speakers pronounce them? (ii) are there significant cases of such differences in ene? (iii) why do nigerian users of english as a second language pronounce the two letters differently from native speakers? and (iv) how do we treat the variants in the teaching and description of esl? the paper adopted the concept of intraference to (1) demonstrate how the phonemic realisations of the letters <i> and <y> intrafere with (substitute or replace) one another, (2) present examples and patterns of the realisations and (3) propose how these features should be treated in teaching and learning english in esl settings. literature review the concepts of interference and intraference underlie this paper. in esl, interference and contrastive analysis (james, 1950; weinreich, 1957) were the more popular concepts which linguists used to predict sources of errors and deviations prior to the 1960s (akere, 2009, p. 5; surakat, 2010, p. 102). interference, also called negative language transfer, is a language user’s habit of transferring the features, rules and meanings of his/her native language to his/her foreign or second language. it occurs at all levels of linguistic organisation, the most common being the phonological ones which manifest in phonemic the phonemic realisations bode no. 12 (january june 2016) no. 12 (january june 2016) 119 change/replacement and prosodic features. for example, most nigerians pronounce <the> as /di/ or /di:/ as against rp /ði:/ or /ðə/ because the voiced dental fricative /ð/ and schwa /ə/ are not in nigerian local languages; hence they are often replaced with the nearest alveolar stop /d/ and the vowels /i/, /e/ or /a/ for /ə/. according to ekundayo (2006), interference and contrastive analysis do not examine critically how the rules and dynamics of the second language itself make learners produce coinages and variations, an issue which corder (1980), selinker (1971) richards (1984), among others, “took up vigorously in the turn of the 1960s” and started making a strong case for intralingual interference, the overgeneralisation of linguistic features, among other terms used (p. 40). the term intraference in this field is not as popular as interference. the application of the word intraference may be traced to several independent outstanding works separated by time and long distances: barry hale (2000), an australian video artist, uses the term ‘intraference mirror’ in a non-linguistic or extra-linguistic context to denote a simple video feedback loop which he manipulates to create evolving images in real time (www.barryhale.intraferencemirrors). in linguistics, william croft (2000, 2003) uses the term as later ekundayo (2006, 2014). according to croft “different elements of the same language can interfere with each other if they share enough linguistic substance,” and that intraference occurs when language items are affected by different dialects, sociolinguistic variants or other structures of the same language (croft, 2000, pp. 111-165). ekundayo (2006) conceptualises intraference as “the habit of transferring the rules and dynamics of a language from a section where they have been established and where they acceptably operate to another section within the language where they hitherto used not to operate. since such a transfer is within the language, it is better tagged intraference, which is the reverse of interference” (p. 20). ekundayo (2014) argues that intraference emanates from two major factors: psychosociolinguistic features, on the one hand, and linguistic dynamics, on the other. these two forces combine to influence a nonnative speaker of a language to produce phonological, morphological, syntactic, semantic and orthographic variants. the psycho-sociolingustic is an amalgam of two sub-factors. the first is the social knowledge, context and setting of the speakers; for when a new concept, experience, event, etc confronts nonnative speakers, and even native speakers of a language, they fall back on the dynamics, features and rules of the language and (re)deploy them to express the new experience and idea. this linguistic habit may generate a new linguistic structure, or add a new layer of meaning to an existing structure. the second sub-factor of the psycho-sociolinguistic set is the brain or mind mechanism of the users, the way the users the phonemic realisations bode no. 12 (january june 2016) no. 12 (january june 2016) 120 view and rearrange features of the language creatively or otherwise in their minds. precisely, it relates to chomsky’s (1965) competence and performance. competence refers to the underlying innate linguistic knowledge of a speaker and performance denotes the practical, actual use of language in a given situation. intraference cases are found in performance, but they first originate from competence because the speaker has a measure of competence (knowledge) of the language, either in restricted or elaborated code, in bernstein’s (1971) terms. the social knowledge and context, as in the esl context of this study, often influence the redeployment of the language features and rules (the linguistic factor). the linguistic factor generates the five major types of intraference: phonological, graphological or orthographic, morphemic or morphological, morpho-syntactic and lexico-semantic with many sub-divisions, which ekundayo (2006) and (2014) surveyed in educated nigerian english (ene). the phonemic realisations of the letters <i> and <y> are a small sub-set of the phonological type. in summary, ekundayo (2006, 2014) uses intraference to round up a number of linguistic habits in (but not restricted to) a second language. it is used to conceptualise, describe and account for (i) the linguistic features of a variety which emanate from the redeployment of the internal features and rules of a language in new contexts without reference to another language, (ii) the features in a particularly variety arising from the interaction of the variety with another variety of the language; for example, americanisms in nigerian english are not interference but intraference features: english a (nige) assuming the features of english b ame (see awonusi, 1994; igboanusi, 2003). take the word <advertisement> for example, which is /əd’vʒ:tɪsmənt/ in rp but /ædvər’tɑɪzmənt/ in ame and /ædvæ’tɑɪzment/ or /ædvæ’tɪzment/ in nige. the american variant was initially (and still is) a product of linguistic intraference because it is the redeployment of the wellknown phonemic realisations of the letters <i> as /ɑɪ/, <er> as /ə/ and <s> as /z/ in the english language that generate(d) the american variant. these phonemes are all in english and therefore intra-. the nige variant similar to the ame variant may be explained as either the intraference of americanism or simply as phonological intraference. as the intraference of americanism, it means that the pronunciation is borrowed from ame accent (intraference of americanism in another variety of the same language). as phonological intraference, it means that nige adopt(ed) the same process which ame redeploy(ed) to produce the variant /ædvæ’tɑɪzment/ or /ædvæ’tɪzment/: the redeployment of /æ/ for <a> and <er>, and /z/ for <s>. all considered, most educated nigerians do not necessarily listen to americans before the phonemic realisations bode no. 12 (january june 2016) no. 12 (january june 2016) 121 they attempt to articulate words in performance. they would rather first pronounce it according to their phonological competences. ekundayo also uses intraference to denote spelling pronunciation, the creative (re) application of language features and rules to fabricate new structures and meanings; for example sickler in nige for ‘ss genotype carrier or one who regularly falls ill’; aristo babe for ‘a girl or lady who flirts and has sex with aristocrats (rich men) to earn a living or make money.’ in phonology, intraference involves the reapplication and extension of segmental and suprasegmental features and rules to structures in which they do not apply in rp. the letters <i> and <y> in rp are realised phonemically as follows: /ɪ/-------------it, dig, graffiti, city, tidy letters <i, y>, /j/------------young, yet, joyous /i:/-----------machine, police /aɪ/-----------shine, iron, cry, why. simo bodda (1995) shows that nigerian and cameroonian english varieties substitute /i/ for rp /ɪ:/, /ɪ/ and /aɪ/, /a/ for rp /æ/ and /ə/, as in nigerian <beer> /bia/, <fear>/fia/, etc for rp /bɪə/ and /fɪə/. bobda’s study covered a broad spectrum of nigerian and cameroonian english varieties encompassing the idiolects of the educated and uneducated (pp. 249-255). some of the cases in his inventory do not or hardly occur in enea, which is the focus of this paper. enea, the spoken variety of ‘standard nigerian english’ (sne) or ene is similar to rp. ugorji (2010) also shows how educated nigerians reassign the phonemic realisations of letters <i> and <y> to different words in his survey of the basilect, mesolect and acrolect of nigerian english, a situation where /ɪ/. i: or /i/ occurs in ‘queen, seed, invitee, sick, sit, pill,’ among other examples (p.90). ugorji says that that /i/ and /ɪ/ are variants in the acrolect of nigerian english. ubong and babatunde (2011) equally observe that “more than one phoneme may function as alternants and variants for a single rp model” (548). for example, rp /i:/ and /ɪ/ are realised in nige as /i/, /ɪ/ and /i:/. ugorji’s inventory of the phonological features of nigerian english takes the acrolect very close to rp, a closeness which jowitt (retrieved 2016) also admits: “educated, acrolectal nigerian speakers of english have in their vowel system sounds which are to a great extent those of british rp, although there are a considerable number of variants which are also found in the relevant ‘regional’ basilect-mesolect” (p.11). ekundayo, longe, and teilanyo (2012) further show that nige articulation of words like <omniscience> /ɔmni’saiens/ for rp the phonemic realisations bode no. 12 (january june 2016) no. 12 (january june 2016) 122 /’ɔmnisɪəns/, <dwarf> /dwa:f/ for rp /dwɔ:f/, <lettuce> /’letus/ for rp /letɪs/, <incumbent> /’inkumbent/ for rp /ɪn’kʌmbənt/, etc are the outcomes of phonological intraference, not interference (pp. 90-93). although a number of works have treated the articulation of various phonemes in nige, predominantly from the perspective of interference, (jubil, 1979; amayo, 1986; ikara, 1986; awonusi, 2007; soneye, 2008; dadzie & awonusi, 2009; etc), none has isolated the letters <y> and <i> to determine in a nation-wide survey how educated nigerians redeploy and redistribute the underlying rp and/or native english phonemic realisations of the letters, a gap that this paper fills. the paper documents thirty-six words in which the underlying rp phonemic realisations of the letters <i> and <y> are redeployed in patterns different from rp. as a result of phonological intraference, educated nigerian speakers of english as a second language often mix up the phonemic realsations of the letters <i> and <y> as /ɑɪ/, /ɪ/ and /i:/ respectively. methodology research design the paper is a survey of the linguistic occurrence of intraference features in nigerian esl. it adopted an eclectic approach: the qualitative method of textual analysis and the quantitative method of statistical presentation of ordinal data in simple percentile, frequency tables and graphs. it was assumed that the phonemic realisations of letters <i> and <y> ‘intrafere’ with (substitute, displace) one another in the spoken english of educated nigerians. focus was on currency of the variants and educational status of the population as defined in context and participants below; not necessarily on age, sex and individual ranks of the educated people surveyed. the transcription used is ipa. specifically, daniel jones’ phonetic symbols in cambridge english pronouncing dictionary (2006, inside front page), also in longman dictionary of contemporary english (2007, inside front page) and in awonusi (2009, p. 10, column b) were used for the rp/native english transcriptions of the cases here. context and participants the study was carried out in nigeria. educated nigerians were surveyed from may 2005 to may 2013. nigerians in the continuum of national diploma (nd) minimum to ph.d./professor, those who have post-secondary school certificate/qualifications, civil servants and workers with many working-year experience are considered educated the phonemic realisations bode no. 12 (january june 2016) no. 12 (january june 2016) 123 in this study. informants were between 19 and 70 years, comprising lecturers and final year students in english and literature, linguistics, and international studies and diplomacy, mass communication, theatre arts and other departments in ten government-owned universities and other schools tested the six geo-political zones of nigeria: the south-west, the multi-lingual south-south, the south-east the north central, north eat and north west. the universities and institutions visited are ahmadu bello university, zaria, bayero university, kano (north); university of lagos, lagos, federal university of technology, akure (west); university of nigeria, enugu campus, nnamdi azikiwe university, awka (east); university of ilorin, ilorin, university of abuja, federal capital territory (north-central); university of benin, benin city, edo state, and the university of port harcourt, port harcourt (south-south). four federal government-owned polytechnics were also surveyed. they are federal polytechnic, auchi (south-south), federal polytechnic, ede osun state (west), federal polytechnic offa, kwara state (middle-belt, north central), kaduna polytechnic, kaduna state (north) and federal polytechnic, oko, anambra state (east). in addition, some cases were elicited from the live performances of ten trained nigerian television authority (nta) newscasters and ten trained newscasters with state-owned television stations and five with three private television stations: african independent television (ait), independent television (itv) and silver bird television (stv). where 0 -29 of the respondents used a variant, it is tagged isolated, 30 to 44% is emerging variant, 45-49% is free variant 51-59% is common, 6079% widespread and 80-100% entrenched. data collection instruments speech recording, participant observation and interview were used to gather data. the interviews and observations were mainly unstructured and conducted in both formal and informal settings such as university classes and lecture theatres, staff rooms, lecturers’ offices, churches and social gatherings where the researchers either participated in or observed linguistic events. for this sub-section of the nation-wide survey, thirty-six (36) words were written in charts and flexible banners for students to pronounce or on papers for individual respondents to articulate. before each interview, the researcher counted or established the number of informants on the spot and after the articulation of the words, those who articulated them in rp or native english accent were counted and isolated from those who pronounced them in nige accent. the tallying and percentile counts for the words were done manually from 2005 to 2013 and then arranged in a table. the phonemic realisations bode no. 12 (january june 2016) no. 12 (january june 2016) 124 data analysis and interpretation thirty-six variants are presented and annotated in the table below. table 1. words with the intraference of /aɪ/ and /ɪ/ or /i/ for the letters <ii> and <yy> the phonemic realisations bode no. 12 (january june 2016) no. 12 (january june 2016) 125 the phonemic realisations bode no. 12 (january june 2016) no. 12 (january june 2016) 126 table 2. frequency distribution table for table 2 note that the frequency table has 40 words instead of the 36 in table 1. the reason is that several words generated variants and common pronunciations at the same time. the graph below shows the degree of spread for each type. figure 1. summary bar graph for the variants examined as shown in the tables and chart, the cases examined are largely widespread and entrenched in ene. some variants are absolutely institutionalised so much that none of the nigerians surveyed here pronounced them in the rp way. these are variant numbers 3, 17, 18, 26, 27, 29 and 34 in the table. there are others which have very low the phonemic realisations bode no. 12 (january june 2016) no. 12 (january june 2016) 127 scores for rp such as variant numbers 2, 3, 4, 5, 12, etc. in enea the letters <i> and <y> are articulated as /i/ and /ɪ/ where rp uses /ɑɪ/ as in awry, advertisement, annihilate, divisive, etc, and as /ɑɪ/ in enea where rp uses /ɪ/ or /i:/ as in diffuse, divorce, elite, bigots, etc. the substitution of /i/,/ɪ/ for /ɑɪ/ and vice versa is not occasioned by phonological interference but by phonological intraference, i.e. the replacement of one phoneme for another in the same language, not from outside it. a good example of the redeployment of the phonemic realisations of letter <i> is in the acronym ‘inec’ (‘independent national electoral commission,’ number 23 in the table), which does not exist in sbe and other native english varieties. the acronym has two popular variants arising from the redeployment of /ɑɪ/, /i/ and/or /ɪ/, two underlying phonemic realisations of the letter <i>. educated nigerians pronounce it as either /ɑɪnek/ or /ɪnek/. many of the respondents, being educated nigerians pronounced the words in the rp accent, which accounted for the percentage of rp in the third column. conclusions the paper examined the phonemic realisations of letters the <i> and <y>. thirty-six examples were presented to demonstrate the patterns of the pronunciation of letter <i> and <y> in enea. the results and presentation reveal clear differences between the rp and enea variants of the phonemic realisations of the letters <i> and <y>. the 36 examples here are by no means exhaustive of all the cases in enea. intraference and interference, teaching habits and institutionalised deviant forms facilitate the use and spread of these features in esl. the variants have implications for the study, description and teaching of esl. teachers and grammarians of ene often treat as errors most of the features of nige that do not conform to rp, yet the local variants keep flourishing. ugorji (2010) also draws attention to the emergence of nativised varieties which suffer from pedagogic confusion in which the rp is in principle desired and proposed but not targeted or welltaught because teachers cannot reach it and are not competent in it. so, no matter how hard they try, they find it difficult or impossible to achieve total native english mastery of the language dynamics and they keep spreading the entrenched nonnative patterns unconsciously. meanwhile the nativized varieties have not also been codified and standardized for effective authoritative teaching and learning. ugorji (2010) describes the situation as ‘pedagogic anarchy’ (p.26). the phonemic realisations bode no. 12 (january june 2016) no. 12 (january june 2016) 128 against this backdrop, it is here proposed that those that have become widespread, entrenched or institutionalised should be treated as veritable esl and enea variations. this does not prevent those who prefer the rp variants from using them. all considered, intraference plays a huge role in differentiating between bre and ame articulation of many words. even in native english, intraference has influenced the emergence of the free phonemic variants of <i>; for example, <anti> is either ame /æntɑɪ/ or bre /æntɪ/, either /’dɪrekt/ or /’dɑɪrekt/ for <direct>, and /’fɪnæns/ or /’fɑɪnæns/ for <finance>, etc. in terms of teaching, these features may be regarded as institutionalised variations which characterise esl/enea and should be taught alongside the rp variants. this option or position is the most sociolinguistically expedient for pedagogy and effective communication and the description of the features of esl. for examination purpose, particularly at the secondary school level where examiners use nigerian examples as deviations or errors and rp variants as the correct forms, students should be told that where the two variants appear in a question, the rp variant should be picked as the answer since that is the one the examiners intend as the answer. however, efforts should be expedited to reorient nigerian examination bodies to change their prescriptive and judgmental attitude to entrenched nigerian variants. nigeria’s endonormic standard should equally be codified, as the nigeria english studies association and ice (international corpus of english) nigerian project are undertaking at present. the ‘anarchy’ that ugorji described may remain till standard nigerian english becomes so firmly rooted even at those examination levels that examiners will no longer see the entrenched nigerian variants as errors for examination questions. the reality on the ground here is that differences exist between examination english and real life performance english. fortunately, however, some standard dictionaries and glossaries of the features of nigerian esl have been published recently, for example, the 2014 a dictionary of nigerian english compiled by the nigerian english studies association (nesa) which turned english studies association of nigeria (esan) in september 2015. the phonemic realisations bode no. 12 (january june 2016) no. 12 (january june 2016) 129 references adekunle, m. (1979). non-random variation in nigerian english. (2742). in ebo ubahakwe (ed.). varieties and functions of nigerian english. ibadan: african university press. akere, f. (2009). the english language in nigeria: the sociolinguistic dynamics of decolonisation and globalisation. (2-17). in w. adegbite & b. olajide. (eds.). re-inventing the english language in nigeria in the context of globalisation and decolonisation. refereed proceedings of the 23rd annual conference of the nigerian english studies association (nesa) held at the university of ilorin, ilorin kwara state, nigeria from october 314th november 2006. lagos: olivetree publishers. amayo, a. m. (1986). teaching english pronunciation in nigeria for international intelligibility. (314-336). in s. unoh. (ed.), use of english for communication: the nigerian experience. ibadan: spectrum. awonusi, v. o. (1994). the americanisation of nigerian english. world englishes 13(1), 75-82. awonusi, v. o. 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(2012). the redeployment of english phonological rules as ‘intrafernce.” journal of the nigerian english studies association (jnesa), 15(1), 77-100 dadzie, abk & awonus,s. (2009). nigerian english influences and characteristics. new ed. lagos: sam iroanusi. hale, b. (2000). intraference mirror. retrieved from www.barryhale. intraferencemirrors may 2012. igboanusi, h. (2003). knowledge, use and attitude towards americanisms in nigerian english. world englishes, 22(4), 599604. jubril, m. (1979). regional variation in nigerian spoken evglish (4353). in ebo ubahakwe. (ed.). varieties and functions of english in nigeria. ibadan: african university press. ikara, b. (1986). some linguistic and socio-cultural variables in nigerian variety of english.. in s. unoh, (ed.). use of english in communication: the nigeria experience (pp. 39-59). ibadan: spectrum. jowitt, d. (2016). nigerian received pronunciation. retrieved from https://cuvillier.de/uploads/preview/public_file/9172/leseprobe.pdf labov, w. (1994). principle of linguistic change. vol.i, internal factors. oxford: blackwell. longman dictionary of contemporary english. (2007). edinburgh: pearson. the phonemic realisations bode no. 12 (january june 2016) no. 12 (january june 2016) 131 odumuh, a. o. (1980). the syntax and semantics of nigerian english. (unpublished doctoral thesis). ahmadu bello university, zaria, nigeria. quirk, r., greenbaum, s., leech, g., svartvik, j. (1985). a comprehensive grammar of the english language. london: longman. richards, j. c., & sampson, g. (1984). the study of learner english. in j. c. richards j.c. (ed.), perspectives on second language acquisition (pp. 13-18). london: longman. selinker, l. (1984). interlanguage. in j. c. richards j.c. (ed.), perspectives on second language acquisition (pp. 1-54). london: longman. soneye, t. (2008). ch digraph in english: patterns and proposition for esl pedagogy. papers in english linguistics 9, 9-20. surakat, t. y. (2010). categorising varieties of nigerian english: a socio-psycholinguistic perspective. journal of nigerian english studies association (jnesa), 13(2), 97-110. ubong. e. j & babatunde s. t. (2011). standard nigerian english phonemes: the crisis of modelling and harmonization. world englishes, 30(4), 533-550. udofot, i. (1997). the rhythm of nigerian english. (unpublished doctoral dissertation). university of uyo, uyo, nigeria. ugorji, c. u. c. 2010. nigerian english phonology. lagos: chinedum publishers. author *omowumi bode steve ekundayo teaches english grammar and writing in the university of benin, benin city, nigeria. he holds a ba ed, ma, and phd in english and literature. he has published many articles in many local and international journals. his areas of interest and research are phonology, syntax, semiotics, semantics, stylistics, discourse analysis and creative writing. the phonemic realisations bode no. 12 (january june 2016) no. 12 (january june 2016) 45 no. 11 (july december 2015) no. 11 (july december 2015) gist education and learning research journal. issn 1692-5777. no. 11, (july december) 2015. pp. 45-62. mitigation of disagreement in peer review among l2 learners and native speakers in a college writing class1 mitigación del impacto de las opiniones de desacuerdo en el proceso de revisión por pares entre estudiantes de una segunda lengua y hablantes nativos en una clase de escritura a nivel universitario katherine o’donnell christoffersen2* university of new mexico, united states abstract peer review is now a commonplace practice in process-oriented writing instruction. a crucial aspect of peer review is assessing another classmate’s work, which encompasses the act of disagreement. given its prevalence in the classroom, it is necessary to analyze how l2 learners mitigate disagreement in the context of peer review with other l2 learners and native speakers. the present paper presents a qualitative analysis of action research from an introductory english writing class at the university level including native speakers of english and international students from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds. the conversation-based peer review sessions were analyzed for various mitigation strategies including token agreement, hedging, prefacing positive remarks and requests for clarification. the analysis shows that l2 learners and native speakers of english use similar mitigation strategies, and it demonstrates the coconstruction of meaning in peer review interactions. keywords: disagreement, mitigation, l2, peer review 1 received: july 15, 2015 / accepted: october 6, 2015 2 odonnka1@email.arizona.edu 46 no. 11 (july december 2015) no. 11 (july december 2015) resumen actualmente la revisión por pares es una práctica común en la instrucción que orienta los procesos de escritura. un aspecto importante de la revisión por pares, es evaluar el trabajo de otro compañero de clase, lo cual puede provocar opiniones de desacuerdo. dada la incidencia de esta situación en el aula de clase, es necesario analizar cómo los estudiantes de una segunda lengua pueden mitigar el impacto de las opiniones de desacuerdo generadas durante el ejercicio de revisión por pares con otros estudiantes de una segunda lengua y con hablantes nativos. este artículo presenta un análisis cualitativo de un proyecto de investigación acción desarrollado en una clase introductoria de escritura de inglés a nivel universitario, con la participación de hablantes nativos de inglés y estudiantes universitarios de diferentes orígenes lingüísticos y culturales. el análisis de las conversaciones generadas durante el proceso de revisión por pares fue realizado teniendo en cuenta diversas estrategias de mitigación, entre ellas, llegar a acuerdos simbólicos, manifestar con cortesía la opinión de desacuerdo, realizar comentarios positivos, y solicitar clarificación. el análisis muestra que los estudiantes de una l2 y los hablantes nativos de inglés usan estrategias de mitigación similares y demuestra la construcción conjunta de significado en las interacciones del proceso de revisión por pares. palabras clave: desacuerdo, mitigación, l2, revisión por pares resumo atualmente a revisão por pares é uma prática comum na instrução que orienta os processos de escritura. um aspecto importante da revisão por pares é avaliar o trabalho de outro companheiro de classe, o qual pode provocar opiniões de desacordo. dada a incidência desta situação na sala de aula, é necessário analisar como os estudantes de uma segunda língua podem mitigar o impacto das opiniões de desacordo geradas durante o exercício de revisão por pares com outros estudantes de uma segunda língua e com falantes nativos. este artigo apresenta uma análise qualitativa de um projeto de pesquisa ação, desenvolvido em uma classe introdutória de escritura de inglês a nível universitário, com a participação de falantes nativos de inglês e estudantes universitários de diferentes origens linguísticas e culturais. a análise das conversações geradas durante o processo de revisão por pares foi realizada tendo em conta diversas estratégias de mitigação, entre elas, chegar a acordos simbólicos, manifestar com cortesia a opinião de desacordo, realizar comentários positivos, e solicitar esclarecimento. a análise mostra que os estudantes de uma l2 e os falantes nativos de inglês usam estratégias de mitigação similares e demonstra a construção conjunta de significado nas interações do processo de revisão por pares. palavras chave: desacordo, mitigação, l2, revisão por pares mitigation of disagreement o’donnell 47 no. 11 (july december 2015) no. 11 (july december 2015) introduction since the 1970s, peer review has become a significant mainstay in the writing classroom (elbow, 1973; lundstrom & baker, 2009; mendoca & johnson, 1994). peer review, also referred to as peer editing or peer response, is defined as “use of learners as sources of information and interactants for each other in such a way that learners assume roles and responsibilities normally taken on by a formally trained teacher, tutor, or editor in commenting on and critiquing each other’s drafts in both written and oral formats in the process of writing” (liu & hansen, 2002, p. 1). this collaborative revision technique stems from the change in perspective from writing as a product to a process (emig, 1971), and is now a common feature of process-oriented writing instruction (applebee & langer, 2013; caulk, 1994; paulus, 1999). the teaching of writing as a process places emphasis on the stages of planning, revising, editing and working collaboratively with peers to improve a writing assignment. from the perspective of pragmatics, assessing a peer’s writing involves expressing disagreement which could potentially damage the hearer’s face or esteem in some way as a face-threatening act (brown & levinson, 1987). in this situation, interlocutors often attempt to mitigate, or soften, a disagreement through a variety of strategies including token agreement (i agree with you, but…), hedges (maybe, kind of, i think), giving explanations, and requesting clarification. while research has investigated mitigation strategies in disagreement in a variety of contexts, relatively little research has explored mitigation among second language (l2) learners (bardovi-harlig & salsbury, 2004), especially in naturally-occurring contexts combining native speakers and l2 learners. the present study aims to fill this gap in the literature by providing a qualitative analysis of the strategies for mitigated disagreement employed by l2 learners and native speakers in an introductory english composition class at a university. in particular, this research seeks to shed light on how l2 learners and native speakers mitigate disagreement in peer review in l2 learner groups, native speaker groups and l2 learners with native speakers. this paper first reviews the study of disagreement along with relevant literature followed by a detailed description of methodology. then, the paper presents a description of relevant disagreement typologies and mitigation strategies as well as a description of the qualitative data analysis. finally, it offers conclusions based on the findings from this data set. mitigation of disagreement o’donnell 48 no. 11 (july december 2015) no. 11 (july december 2015) literature review the analysis of disagreement is essentially a study of assessment. pomerantz (1984) proposes that assessment is a routine feature of social interactions. in order to make her point, she presents the following example: j: let’s feel the water. oh, it … r: it’s wonderful. it’s just right. it’s like bathtub water. (p. 57) furthermore, it depicts assessment as an interactional activity with a clear link between participation in an event and assessment of an event. the assessments are viewed as “products” of that participation. in the context of peer review, the “products” students have to offer are not always pleasant (expressions of agreement), rather oftentimes negative (expression of disagreement). the expression of disagreement in the case of peer review is a potentially face-threatening act (brown & levinson, 1978), since the hearer may lose esteem or face. one common way that interlocutors deal with potentially face-threatening acts is to mitigate the loss of face through a variety of mitigation strategies. while there is substantial research on the topic of disagreement and mitigated disagreement, “relatively less research on agreements and disagreements has been conducted on the speech of learners and non-native speakers” (bardovi-harlig & salsbury, 2004, p.200). the existing studies include written discourse completion tests (dcts), conversational interviews, and online peer review collaborations. the following review of recent literature on l2 learner disagreement is organized by methodology. discourse completion tasks (dcts) are one of the most common types of data collection on disagreements, consisting of written descriptions of specific scenarios followed by a conversational turn for the informant who is to write responses exactly as they would respond in the situation (bardoviharlig and hartford, 1993). overall, studies have found important differences among l2 speakers of english and native speakers of english. for example, behnam and niroomand (2011) found that iranian efl leaners used a limited number of strategies due to proficiency level in english; however, bavarsad et al. (2015) found that persian efl speakers used more mitigating strategies than american english speakers in expressing disagreement. in studies on chinese english learners, chen (2006) and guodong and jing (2005) found the tendency to over-perform non target-like linguistic features such as certain types of mitigation, due in part to pragmatic transfer from chinese. in a study of esl learners from a variety of different countries and english proficiency levels, kreutel (2007) notes a tendency for l2 learners to use ‘undesirable’ mitigation of disagreement o’donnell 49 no. 11 (july december 2015) no. 11 (july december 2015) strategies which she defines to include abandonment of the message, use of the performative i disagree, lack of mitigation, bare exclamation of no and blunt statements of the opposite. researchers have used audio-recorded interviews, role-plays and conversations to obtain similar types of information on disagreement. for example, lawson (2009) audio-recorded responses to ten controversial statements by japanese speakers of english, and the responses demonstrated expressions of mitigated disagreement were as frequent as ns of english, although ns of english used slightly more positive politeness including partial agreement, humor and positive comments, while japanese speakers of english used more hedges. in a study on l2 learners of spanish and native spanish speakers, students discussed one of three issues on campus and ranked possible solutions, and were informed to defend their choice in an audio-recorded conversation with another student. in this study, flores-ferrán and lovejoy (2014) witnessed redundant mitigation strategies from l2 learners compared to a wider variety of mitigation strategies from ns of spanish. bardovi-harlig and salsbury (2004) audio-recorded role-plays among l2 learners of english and native speakers of english during a longitudinal research project and found improvement in acquisition of pragmatic competence over time. while students began with open disagreements, that changed as time passed. finally, other research has examined naturalistic interactions in classroom environments, including online contexts. bell (1998), for instance, recorded classroom interactions in an esl class and revealed a tendency for korean l2 learners to express disagreement in direct and unmitigated ways. greek l2 learners of english also showed a tendency for unmitigated disagreement or disagreement at the beginning of a turn in an analysis of classroom discourse (kakava, 1993). shabaka fernandez (2013) discovered conflicting results for dct among egyptian l2 speakers of english and their posts on facebook; in the former, egyptians used unmitigated disagreement, but egyptians used more token agreements and hedges on facebook. in a study of online disagreements among students in an english as a lingua franca class, maízarevalo (2014) discusses how students avoided strong agreement and favor mitigated disagreement, as well as the importance of proficiency as a factor in determining native-like patterns of disagreement. so, while there is evidence that certain cultures may prefer unmitigated styles, the context and proficiency levels also appear to be influential factors. taken together, these findings demonstrate differences in l2 learners’ expressions of disagreement compared to native english speakers. since roleplays, tasks and dcts may differ substantially from naturalistic conversations and activities (shabaka fernandez, 2013), it is imperative to further explore what is actually happening in the context of the classroom. the research on mitigation of disagreement o’donnell 50 no. 11 (july december 2015) no. 11 (july december 2015) classroom and online course contexts cited above demonstrate that korean (bell, 1998) and greek (kakava, 1993) l2 learners of english tend to express unmitigated disagreement, while a class of students from varied cultural and linguistic backgrounds favors mitigated disagreement (maíz-arevalo, 2014). the present study furthers this line of research by providing a qualitative analysis of audio-recorded peer review sessions from a university english class consisting of native english speakers and international students from varied linguistic and cultural backgrounds. methodology research design there were several important reasons for the research design chosen for the present study. the chief aim of the study was to analyze the act of disagreement embedded in the commonplace classroom task of peer review, especially how students negotiate this through oral conversation-based peer review. in order to heighten the reliability of the data, the peer-review for the second assignment was analyzed after students were more comfortable with the classmates and the peer review process. the peer review process in the students’ own classroom with their own classmates embodies natural consequences of maintaining face with peers. the ipod recording kits using nano ipods provided a technology that was familiar to students as well as small and unobtrusive in the classroom. finally, the classroom itself is well suited for this type of study given the mix of native speakers and non-native speakers. in particular, this study allows us to see how students engage in disagreement among l2 learners, between l2 learners and native speakers and between native speakers. context/participants the participants in the study include 21 first-year students at a large public university in the united states. of these, eight students were native english speakers and the remaining thirteen were international students who were intermediate english speakers, having passed a test to enter the class. of the students, 13 were males and 8 females. they ranged in age from 18 to 25 years old. the class itself was the second semester of first year composition, consisting of an introduction to writing for research. by this point in the year, students had been through the peer review process at least four times, including the previous introductory first year writing class. as such, students were well aware of the expectation to assess other students’ writing and that other students mitigation of disagreement o’donnell 51 no. 11 (july december 2015) no. 11 (july december 2015) would assess their writing, expressing disagreement with certain aspects. this understanding of the peer review process impacts the context of analysis greatly. in this way, students understood themselves to be working in a collaborative assignment to improve their papers for later submission for a grade. an additional important aspect of the class itself is the presence of native english speakers and l2 learners of english. it is likely that international students and native speakers of english may assign the native speakers a higher status in the context of the english writing classroom and the written english assignment. this certainly would impact patterns of disagreement and mitigation. table 1. groups of students including pseudonyms, gender and countries of origin peer review group pseudonym gender country of origin ns-ns charles m u.s. diana f u.s. l2-l2 nari f korea areom f korea l2-l2 daiyu f china chang m china l2-l2 ji m china hwan m korea l2-l2 aarav m india ji-min f korea ns-l2-l2 liling f china thaksin m thailand tim m u.s. ns-l2 steve m u.s. bin m india ns-l2 stephanie f u.s. muqsit m pakistan ns-l2 ai m china nick m u.s. mitigation of disagreement o’donnell 52 no. 11 (july december 2015) no. 11 (july december 2015) ns-l2 yuan m china evan m u.s. data collection instruments the peer review session was based on students’ second writing assignment for the class, a short research-based article incorporating at least three scholarly sources. the brief instructions for the written assignment are as follows: for this essay, you will focus on your country of origin and explore a current issue or controversy through gathering research. investigate several positions of an issue or propose different solutions to an observed problem. when students brought their full draft into the classroom, they were instructed, “comment on what works and what doesn’t work.” students first read the paper, commenting in pencil or pen on the copy, and then they began to discuss what they saw in an oral peer review session. i-pod recording kits were used to audio-record these conversation-based peer review sessions. these sessions amounted to 80 minutes of audio-recordings, which resulted in 13,239 words of transcript. due to the limited data set, the subsequent data analysis is qualitative only. data analysis and interpretation disagreement in the present study will be analyzed with regard to the linguistic realizations of disagreement, especially focusing on the mitigation of disagreement. this is first due to the absence of strong disagreement or unmitigated disagreement in the corpus. secondly, and on a related note, it is also due to the context of the situation. even as students were well accustomed to the context of peer review as a collaborative effort with the goal of improving their papers for better grade, and the use of negotiation to maintain their own and each other’s face in their conversation, they were faced with a relatively pragmatically complex situation. various typologies or classifications have been developed throughout the literature on disagreement, including weak and strong disagreement (pomerantz, 1984), strong, strong yet mitigated, and mitigated (kakava, 1993), and softened, unmodified, and aggravated (rees-miller, 2000). kreutel (2007) distinguished between desirable and undesirable features for esl/efl. later, maíz-arevalo (2014) modified this classification system to be entitled strong and mitigated disagreement. as previously mentioned, the corpus of the present study was exempt of strong disagreement, and for this reason the attention will be solely on mitigation strategies, using maíz-arévalo’s (2014) mitigation of disagreement o’donnell 53 no. 11 (july december 2015) no. 11 (july december 2015) classification. below both strong and mitigated disagreement strategies are listed, in order to provide the reader with a clear comparison. table 2. strong and mitigated disagreement (maíz-arévalo, 2014, p. 209) strong disagreement mitigated disagreement use of bare negative forms (e.g. “no” “no way” “of course not”) token agreement (e.g. “yeah…but”) use of the performative “i disagree” use of hedges (e.g. “i guess” “it seems” “i don’t really know”) use of the performative negation i didn´t agree” or “i can´t agree” requests for clarification (e.g. “maybe i don’t understand, could you explain it more clearly?”) blunt statement of the opposite expressions of regret (e.g., “i’m sorry but i don’t agree with you…”) use of insults and negative judgments (e.g., “you are a moron) use of prefacing positive remarks toward the addressee (e.g., “that’s a very good analysis”) suggestions (e.g., “how about doing this in a slightly different way?”) giving explanations results since there was an absence of strong agreements in the collected data, the following data analysis will focus on forms of mitigated disagreement. the qualitative analysis of linguistic forms of mitigated disagreement will be organized according to the participants in each peer review group: interactions among ns, interactions among l2 learners, and interactions between l2 learners and ns. this structure is relevant to the rationale for this study and how it may further inform the field in terms of how l2 leraners and ns perform disagreement in a naturalistic classroom learning task of peer review. the mitigated disagreement strategies will be discussed in the context of the particular examples. mitigation of disagreement o’donnell 54 no. 11 (july december 2015) no. 11 (july december 2015) ns-ns peer review the students were divided into groups randomly, as had been the practice during the course of the semester, and only one of the ten groups was composed of only ns of english. in the following examples, charles is commenting on diana’s essay on peta advertisements. (1) charles: well uh i really liked the introduction, although i did find some grammatical errors. (2) charles: cultural fear, then then maybe i was gonna say, add a little bit more or like, cuz your thesis is, um, is this one? “by looking at various sources, the aspects of how peta uses feminist, feminine attributes// (3) charles: i was going to give a suggestion but there’s only two days. diana: oh, it’s okay, it’s okay. charles: i was going to say something like maybe talk about peta’s actions as well. but that’s a whole nother, that could be a whole nother paper. in these three examples, charles mitigates disagreement in different ways. in (1), he uses a prefacing positive remark to the comment on grammatical errors. in (2), he uses hedges such as maybe, a little bit, and i was gonna say. also interesting, charles expresses hesitation to disagree (3), and even when encouraged by diana backs down from his suggestion with “but that’s a whole nother paper.” diana also uses prefacing positive remarks and hedges, along with questions for clarification (4) and explanations (5). (4) diana: and um the main question i was thinking was um why do you like pinpoint the us? like, you mention how it will affect the us and why the us should not like ignore the situation, but what about like other countries? like, you know, what about the us makes it like a main target to that it needs to, that the us also needs to focus on this issue. (5) diana: pulling everybody out of germany, whatever, whatever kind of caused this whole thing, so a paragraph kind of explaining how this all occurred. cuz um you’re really explaining the problems really well, like the problems are really in-depth. and with a map, it would be easier to understand but it it really, like i love how you word it. and you really like put the details in there it’s very understandable. but you haven’t really explained the problem as much. in (4), diana frames her disagreement as a question, stating “the main question i was thinking was…”, followed but other related similar questions mitigation of disagreement o’donnell 55 no. 11 (july december 2015) no. 11 (july december 2015) to demonstrate a hole in the paper’s argument. also, after suggesting that charles explain the problem more thoroughly, diana gives a long explanation including positive remarks (5). l2-l2 peer review in the four groups of l2 learners, disagreement was mitigated through a variety of strategies including questions for clarification, hedges, token agreement and prefacing with positive remarks. examples of the question include: (6) chang: i think uh your first paragraph is good. but i didn’t know how or why you used this citation. so i didn’t know. (7) ji-min: ok, i think the third pages, i think it’s kind of off topic. so um i think so. so i don’t know why you’re mentioning about the corruptions. so i guess you have to make little changes why you’re talking about the corruption. chang, a chinese student, and ji-min from korea use questions for clarification. although the “i don’t know how” (6) and “i don’t know why” (7) are couched as declarative statements, they are still in essence questioning aspects of their partner’s papers, expressing a point that is unclear. as in the other examples, the mitigating strategies are not alone. for example, chang uses several hedges in the same turn, i think and so, i didn’t know (6), and jimin uses repetitions of i think, i guess, and little changes (7). hedges were very frequent throughout the recorded peer review sessions, including modifiers such as really, probably, i think, and little bit. the use of modals as a hedge was the least common, with just one instance (9). (8) areom: and the thesis is not that clear. i can’t really find it. (9) daiyu: i think your introduction is too long, and i think you might want to use a hook to grab the attention. (10) nathan: and even if you want to bring in your opinion, you should probably bring in like last page or something. because that’s what she had said. you should probably continue with how people react to this stuff. bring in the media of korea. (11) ji-min: ok, so on the second page you’re also like keeps to keeping to talks about the background of the india. i think uh you reduce about it, just before the first paragraph. little bit, because there are some parts that are not really necessary. l2 learners also made use of token agreement and positive prefacing remarks during their peer review sessions, mentioning understanding certain mitigation of disagreement o’donnell 56 no. 11 (july december 2015) no. 11 (july december 2015) points (12), a funny topic (13), or a “good” overall essay (14) before expressing disagreement. (12) hwan: so i understand where your thesis and your main point but i do not understand the chinese, the background of the chinese background gender discrimination. so yeah, i want to know the(..) the background. so you should add explanation of the background of china. (13) areom: hi nari, i think your topic is pretty funny em but i think maybe you can make the hook more interesting. (14) nathan: yeah, i think it’s in a very good shape with your essay. how you could make it even better is just try and keep your perspective out of here and try to make it more source-based. and you need to have more sources. like where the different stars are suggesting in korea. the l2 learners also demonstrate usage of a wide variety of mitigated disagreement during their peer review sessions, including hedges, questions for clarification and prefacing positive remarks and token agreement. ns-l2 peer review many similar strategies were characteristic of the peer review sessions between ns and l2 learners of english, such as hedges and modals, prefacing positive remarks and token agreement. hedges were once again very frequent and evident in all transcripts. (15) ai: i think you might want to put it in the conclusion. and this part is like generally your idea, you should make this decision, related to the topic. (16) stephanie: yeah, i think i think mostly that since you’re like stating your thesis in this paragraph and kind of forming an outline maybe you should list the causes of inflation here instead of just saying and they’re going to be listed later. (17) muqsit: so your introduction, it just, it does not have a hook. so if you could write a hook, like how it all started and since how the immigrants from mexico started increasing. that would be a good overview before the introduction, hook. (18) tim: uh, for that part. and there’s i think maybe you meant to say drop out from school, not drop off. (19) liling: i think it’s a little too long the introduction, so you should short your introduction. mitigation of disagreement o’donnell 57 no. 11 (july december 2015) no. 11 (july december 2015) again ns and l2 learners use a variety of hedges; the ns use primarily i think and maybe (16, 18) while the l2 learners use just (17) and little (19) to hedge their disagreements. modals are less frequent, although muqsit from pakistan does use the modal could (17). prefacing positive remarks and token agreement were once again common aspects of the interactions. an interesting difference surfaces, however, in the prefacing positive remarks among the two groups. ns tim and nick provide more lengthy positive remarks, a full three (20) and six (21) sentences before issuing their disagreement, while l2 learners tend to use just one sentence (22, 23). (20) tim: um, i like your beginning. the hook is very well developed. i like your thesis. you state the two arguments that you want to talk about, the part, the positive and negative of economic growth. i think maybe you need to shorten this statement a little bit. (21) nick: well, it’s balanced. and it’s really organized, so that’s really good. it’s organized a lot. there’s an introduction and its preview. there’s different viewpoint, there’s moderate. and the conclusion comes right after that. the only thing that i think though was you say why you want to, why this should be changed, and it’s mostly personal, which i mean, it’s fine. but you might also what to say what it would do for the greater good. (22) muqsit: you did excellent job on this so far i think. the only thing that makes it weird is when you say “however, other studies show that it is not true.” (23) liling: i like your point, because you always have clear point. each// thaksin: //your topic sentence really clear and strong. liling: but thaksin: and you follow up really good on your illustration. liling: but tim: more explanation. liling: and a quote. tim: this is a quote, but i actually need to thaksin: you need to cite. as the only three-person peer review group, (23) provides an interesting example of the co-construction of disagreement. l2 learners liling and thaksin take of the same mitigation strategy of a prefacing positive remarks, and then ns tim adds in his own analysis of what is needed, issuing a self-assessment or disagreement with his own writing. mitigation of disagreement o’donnell 58 no. 11 (july december 2015) no. 11 (july december 2015) another interesting aspect of the l2-ns peer review sessions, only ns used the explanation strategies, as exemplified below. (24) tim: i think in this last statement, it is a little too much negative. uh, cuz you say, “nobody is going nowhere it does not” (25) stephanie: i think that would make your conclusion sound a lot better, because you seem to be doing that a lot in your main paragraphs as i was reading, saying like the same thing in the first and last sentence. explanations were also a feature in the ns-ns peer review group. larger scale studies would be needed to determine whether explanations are a feature of mitigation of disagreement among ns of english. conclusions the present study provides a qualitative analysis of the strategies for mitigated disagreement employed by l2 learners of english and native english speakers in an introductory composition class at a university. in particular, this research sought to answer how l2 learners and native speakers mitigate disagreement in peer review in the context of l2 learner interactions, ns interactions, and l2-ns interactions. results demonstrate that l2 learners and ns use a variety of mitigated disagreement strategies including hedges, modals, questions for clarification, prefacing positive remarks, and token agreement. however, noticeably, ns tended to use lengthier and more specific prefacing positive remarks, similar to lawson’s (2009) findings that ns used more positive comments overall. additionally, ns used explanations in their mitigation of disagreement, a strategy not found in l2 learners in this corpus. since this is only a limited data set, further research is needed to determine whether explanation is indeed a mitigation pattern that is specific to ns of american english and uncommon among l2 learners of english. the lack of strong or unmitigated disagreement in the corpus of peer review data and the l2 learners effective use of mitigating strategies (such as questions for clarification, hedges, token agreement and prefacing positive remarks) suggests that the students understood this as a collaborative learning task. additionally, students’ experience with peer review for the first two writing assignments as well the previous english composition course in the prior semester may have influenced international students (l2 learners) to adapt to cultural pragmatic norms for peer review interactions and disagreements. if this were the case, it would support findings which demonstrate how l2 learners mitigation of disagreement o’donnell 59 no. 11 (july december 2015) no. 11 (july december 2015) adapt to cultural pragmatic norms over time (bardovi-harlig & salsbury, 2004). the use of mitigation by l2 learners may also be related to interactions with ns peers who may be perceived as higher status in the english classroom. other research has found that status is an important factor in disagreement (lawson, 2009). future research on a larger corpus of data is needed to corroborate these findings, and it would be beneficial as well to carry out a longitudinal study of students throughout the two-course series of first year english composition in order to observe changing patterns of mitigated disagreement in peer review. mitigation of disagreement o’donnell 60 no. 11 (july december 2015) no. 11 (july december 2015) references applebee, a. & j. langer. 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(2013). the linguistic realization of disagreement by efl egyptian speakers. proquest dissertation database. acknowledgments i am first very grateful to the student and class speech community for their willingness to participate in this research project. additionally, i am grateful to the reviewers and editors of this journal for their thoughtful comments in the revision of this manuscript. mitigation of disagreement o’donnell 62 no. 11 (july december 2015) no. 11 (july december 2015) author * katherine o’donnell christoffersen earned her phd in second language acquisition and teaching at the university of arizona in 2015. she holds an ma in english language/linguistics from the university of arizona. her primary research interest is exploring bi/ multilingualism and sites of language contact, especially through the use of qualitative, ethnographic, and discourse/conversation analytic methods. mitigation of disagreement a creative nonfiction narrative inquiry into an efl online learning community during the covid-19 pandemic1 una investigación narrativa creativa de no ficción en una comunidad de aprendizaje en línea de efl durante la pandemia de covid-19 angeliki ypsilanti, ioannis karras2 ionian university, greece 1 received: november 1st, 2022 / accepted: november 30th, 2022 2 angypsilanti@ionio.gr, karrasid@ionio.gr gist education and learning research journal. issn 1692-5777. no. 25 (july december, 2025). pp. 87-110. prospective teachers’ reasons for preferring the profession 88 no. 25 abstract university libraries globally launch coronavirus memory archival projects inviting the documentation of personal experience. elicitations such as journal entries and oral history interviews fall under the category of life-writing. this narrative inquiry focuses on creative nonfiction stories produced by an online high school community and edited by the efl teacher during the first full lockdown in greece. the shift to distance education caused students to use elf as a means of contrasting their local archival endeavors with global ones. the efl teacher as researcher used mentor texts, collected the coronavirus stories on e-me online platform, engaged the online members in a peer-reviewing process and reauthored a collective narrative. narrative writing analysis was employed to reflect the teacher’s initiative to commemorate a student community’s physical disconnectedness from onsite learning. the use of e-me for this collaborative venture offers practical implications for efl practitioners such as going beyond the bounds of the traditional curriculum whilst identifying self-regulation as indication of resilience among students experiencing unprecedented circumstances. keywords: creative nonfiction, narrative inquiry, memory archive, coronavirus, efl, e-me resumen las bibliotecas universitarias lanzan a nivel mundial proyectos de archivo de memoria de coronavirus que invitan a la documentación de la experiencia personal. las elicitaciones como las entradas de diarios y las entrevistas de historia oral caen dentro de la categoría de escritura de vida. esta investigación narrativa se centra en historias creativas de no ficción producidas por una comunidad de secundaria en línea y editadas por el profesor de efl durante el primer cierre total en grecia. el cambio a la educación a distancia hizo que los estudiantes usaran elf como un medio para contrastar sus esfuerzos de archivo locales con los globales. el profesor de efl como investigador utilizó textos de mentores, recopiló las historias de coronavirus en la plataforma en línea e-me, involucró a los miembros en línea en un proceso de revisión por pares y reescribió una narrativa colectiva. se empleó el análisis de escritura narrativa para reflejar la iniciativa del profesor de conmemorar la desconexión física de una comunidad estudiantil del aprendizaje en el sitio. el uso de e-me para esta empresa colaborativa ofrece implicaciones prácticas para los profesionales de efl, como ir más allá de los límites del plan de estudios tradicional e identificar la autorregulación como una indicación de resiliencia entre los estudiantes que experimentan circunstancias sin precedentes. palabras clave: no ficción creativa, investigación narrativa, archivo de memoria, coronavirus, efl, e-yo a nonfiction narrative inquiry into an efl community during covid-19 ypsilanti and karras 89 no. 25 resumo: as bibliotecas universitárias lançam ao nível mundial projetos de arquivo de memória de coronavírus que convidam à documentação da experiência pessoal. as elicitações como as entradas de jornais e as entrevistas de história oral caem dentro da categoria de escritura de vida. esta pesquisa narrativa centra-se em histórias criativas de não ficção produzidas por uma comunidade de secundária em linha e editadas pelo mestre de efl durante o primeiro encerre total na grécia. a mudança à educação a distância fez que os estudantes usassem elf como um meio para contrastar seus esforços de arquivo locais com os globais. o professor de efl como pesquisador utilizou textos de mentores, recopilou as histórias de coronavírus na plataforma em linha e-me, envolveu os membros em linha em um processo de revisão por pares e reescreveu uma narrativa coletiva. empregou-se a análise de escritura narrativa para refletir a iniciativa do mestre de comemorar a desconexão física de uma comunidade estudantil da aprendizagem no lugar. o uso de e-me para esta empresa colaborativa e implicações práticas para os profissionais de efl, como ir mais além dos limites do plano de estudos tradicional e identificar a auto regulação como uma indicação de resiliência entre os estudantes que experimentam circunstancias sem precedentes. palavras chave: não ficção criativa, pesquisa narrativa, arquivo de memória, coronavírus, efl, e-eu a nonfiction narrative inquiry into an efl community during covid-19 ypsilanti and karras 90 no. 25 introduction u niversity libraries in england and the usa have launched covid-19 archival projects for public submissions of personal experiences. most of them tend to address either the student or the wider local communities. a different in scope covid-19 archival project targeting a global audience is that of the oxford center for life-writing (oclw) which runs a project with writing prompts related to people’s experiences of the coronavirus outbreak. oxford university’s oclw as well as the penn state university with its viral imaginations: covid-19 project favor creative nonfiction (cnf) submissions, thus giving emphasis to the creativity factor in the documentation of living history in the making. during the covid-19 pandemic crisis, students of a greek lyceum tried to improve their intercultural skills by making their local stories globally known. buchanan (2020, p. 4) explains that during the lockdown period students were “in need of community” and that they relied on writing “to communicate, create community, and remain connected” as well as “find their voices and share their experiences.” under the guidance of their english teacher, greek students had analogous recourse to writing through the hive blog on the e-me platform where they shared their coronavirus experiences in response to writing prompts aimed at facilitating “reflections on identity” as “inevitably fluctuating in response to changing contexts” (bennett, 2015, p. 577). taking into consideration that individuals in times of crisis tend to coalesce around issues of common concern, documenting and archiving ongoing experience in english as a lingua franca (elf) can play a leading role in the intercultural training of a specific online student community. the students’ recourse to creative nonfiction (cnf) writing constitutes both a guided practice and a creative impulse that is further reinforced by the prospect of exchanging feedback through the e-blogging service of the e-me platform. for the benefit of a bigger “emplotted narrative” (polkinghorne, 1995, p. 7), the research question that guided the present study is as follows: how can creative nonfiction be used as both a narrative research method and an object of narrative research in an efl online context? a nonfiction narrative inquiry into an efl community during covid-19 ypsilanti and karras 91 no. 25 literature review background to creative nonfiction lott (2000) views the investment in “the self as the creative element of creative nonfiction” (p. 195). in other words, the self in cnf reshapes the factual reality from a participatory point of view thus becoming the bridge of communication between the writer and the reader. gerard (2010, p. 22) explains that “every story is about the reader, so it must matter to the reader” which entails that the story must heighten the levels of emotional appeal and provide a confluence of mediating stimuli. to achieve this, it all depends on the writers’ perception and support of the emotion-specific content of their story. regarding issues of authorship and readership, cnf acquires a different dimension within a pedagogical context. as regards authorship, silverberg (2019) explains how he integrated cnf into his creative writing courses imbuing esl students with a sense of purpose through the practice of “automatic writing” (p. 256). students engaged in writing personal experience essays that were pooled for feedback exchange in the “peer workshop” (silverberg, 2019, p. 255). as regards readership, gutkind (2012) points out that “the driving force behind creative nonfiction has everything to do with attracting and keeping the reader interested” (p. 74). according to him, if writers choose to tackle a “public subject with a personal and intimate spin,” they stand a good chance of “establishing a universal chord” with a wider reading audience (gutkind, 2012, p. 74). the tele-educational framework for elt in greece the learners’ home space has been inadvertently transformed into a public one while attending the webex online classes as replacement for face-to-face instruction. more specifically, the greek ministry of education has put at the disposal of the educational community two platforms: the webex synchronous platform which connects students to their teachers in real time and the open eclass which is its asynchronous counterpart functioning as an open-source learning management system (lms) that supports resources and assignment management. an alternative suggestion is that of the e-me platform which is an advanced example of a personal learning environment (ple) “driven by the learner needs and based on sharing rather than controlling” (megalou et al., 2015, p. 2). the availability of such a virtual space is important, especially during the covid-19 crisis, because it can “support both formal and informal learning experiences” (megalou et al., 2015, p. 3). when envisioning distance education on a macro-level, it might be useful to contemplate integrating its communicative aspects into an associated framework of informed action. megalou et al. (2015) point towards the “social networking services” a nonfiction narrative inquiry into an efl community during covid-19 ypsilanti and karras 92 no. 25 as well as the “file sharing, blogs, wikis, messaging, and conferencing” tools provided by e-me “to ensure collaboration and communication” (p. 3). nikiforos et al. (2020) argue that “virtual learning during the pandemic can significantly reshape and innovate teaching, as well as allow the continuation of fostering a sense of community” (p. 2). by encouraging localized attempts at writing about the coronavirus pandemic through any online education platform provided, students are not only encouraged in hosting their memories but also facilitated in using the co-occurring archives as open channels of communication with the outside world. models for narrative inquiry within an efl context on the uniqueness of the cnf genre, purdue online writing lab (owl) provides author guidelines on how incorporating reflection in one’s personal account of events can prevent the end result from being an intentless “collection of scenes open to reader interpretation.” for the teaching of the writing skill within an efl context, certain narrative models for communicating personal experience co-serve the purposes of narrative inquiry. for example, doman (2015) explores language learning histories (llhs) as student-generated accounts of their individual history of language learning, while barkhuizen and wette (2008) propose the collection of students’ reflections on their learning experience via “narrative frames” because they “provide guidance and support in terms of both the structure and content of what is to be written” via “starters, connectives and sentence modifiers” (pp. 375-376). although both models are employable for data collection in the field of narrative inquiry, none of them use writing prompts on life events to trigger memory and reflection. cnf story writing could co-serve as an alternative collection model, but it has not attracted much research attention because it is considered less associated with the personal reflection essay in the context of elt and more relevant to autoethnography in the context of anthropological methodology (kim, 2016). narrative smoothing in qualitative research kim (2016) espouses the idea that “narrative inquiry is a way of understanding human experience through stories that, in turn, help us understand better the human phenomena and human existence” (p. 190). he then goes on to assert polkinghorne’s (1988) “equation of narrative inquiry with the study of narrative meaning” (in kim, 2016, p. 190). according to polkinghorne, the extraction of meaning from narrative data analysis is essential to drawing conclusions on their value. the proposed means of drawing meaningful conclusions is “narrative smoothing” which according to spence (1986) “masks subjective interpretation as explanation” and “presents a good story that is not necessarily a faithful account” with a view to providing not only short a nonfiction narrative inquiry into an efl community during covid-19 ypsilanti and karras 93 no. 25 term gratification but also long-term thoughtfulness (as cited in kim, 2016, p. 192). the method of narrative smoothing is used in the context of polkinghorne’s “narrative mode of analysis” which “helps the reader understand how and why things happened the way they did and why and how participants acted the way they did” (as cited in kim, 2016, p. 197). from an educational standpoint, creswell (2015) points out that narrative research is mainly aligned with “teacher reflection” (p. 505), hence the derived need for rearranging the collected types of narrative research forms (i.e., student personal narratives) in a meaningful and impactful way. naturally, the question that arises here is “who provides the story” since teachers’ and students’ voices are often intertwined depending on what is at stake (creswell, 2015, p. 506). if the teacher is both narrative researcher and co-participant in a story involving school life, then it becomes obvious that the resulting narrative will be a dynamic synthesis highly convergent in terms of theme and scope. similar studies while downey and clandinin (2010) explore the intersections between narrative and reflective inquiry to assess the dynamics of “unexpectedness” in retrospect, other narrative studies identify the coronavirus pandemic as the key variable in the way narrative inquiry handles the ongoing memory of events. whileand postcovid-19 narrative studies tend to evaluate the pandemic’s effects with a view to predicting its future impactability on collective memory either centering on concepts such as “narrative coherence” or on theories such as the “transition theory”. more specifically, narrative coherence was used by vanaken et al. (2021) in the form of an autobiographical writing task on coronavirus to predetermine the activation of positive or negative memories during students’ exposure to stressful events. likewise, the transition theory, as applied by brown (2021), viewed the covid pandemic as a dominant event that over time is anticipated to become an adjustable unit in autobiographical recollection. in both indicative cases, narrative inquiry into the memory of the coronavirus pandemic assumes the characteristics of an evaluative report that disregards the documentation of the individual voice as participatory at all levels of the inquiry process. on the flip side, kim (2016) cites representative examples of narrative inquiry as “phenomenon and method,” “oral history,” “life story,” “creative nonfiction,” and “fiction” (pp. 269-297). while in most of kim’s (2016) narrative inquiry cases the data collection methods involve field observation and tape-recorded interviews of a (semi-) structured nature, the example of “life story” stands out in that several participants have formed a writing group that contributes personal writing samples around a specific topic for intergroup discussion (kim, 2016, p. 279). although one might have expected a nonfiction narrative inquiry into an efl community during covid-19 ypsilanti and karras 94 no. 25 of the “creative nonfiction” example to constitute a similar case of narrative inquiry based on firsthand written accounts of a specific topic, the suggested documentation of “multiple voices” based on the “bakhtinian novelness of polyphony” has been subjected to polkinghorne’s (1995) mode of analysis to improve the readability impact (kim, 2016, p. 287). a polyphonic perspective on life narratives, where creative nonfiction as reflection takes the lead, has been conducted by peters et al. (2020) who offer a compilation of 15 autoethnographical pieces detailing student experiences as active participants of china’s current ihe under the covid-19 pandemic. more specifically, as autoethnographic accounts written from the point of view of each student-contributor, they are “honest, reflexive, and often emotional discussions of personal human experience” (peters et al., 2020, p. 985). for this reason, they are considered empowered narrative pieces to be used for qualitative research purposes. coda in cnf narrative inquiry the above-mentioned narrative inquiry example of cnf has a strong storytelling element that makes all the difference to the reader who according to caulley (2008) has had enough of reading “boring qualitative research reports” (p. 424). apart from the creative writing techniques that can be employed to achieve a less boring effect on the reader, caulley borrows burroway’s (2003) words to explain that the main thing is to invest in the truth even if its verbal recasting may end up “revealing new insights” into the lived experience of a specific event (as cited in caulley, 2008, p. 447). it is this transfigured truth that kim (2016) baptizes as “coda” highlighting that it “can bring the research a notch up, as the researcher evaluates what the researched stories might mean, after finding ways to transfigure the story’s commonplace to illuminate the larger society and bringing the readers together with the now of the research phenomenon” (p. 229). research design the present study relied on the characteristics of narrative research insofar as the core concept of story was sustained throughout to act as a point of liaison for the provision of a chronological framework. from the outset, the research problem rested upon the elicitation of the learners’ personal experience stories, which has been occasioned by the covid-19 outbreak, inaugurating a mosaic collection of field texts written by students. the intent was to engage learners in writing down their memories under the auspices of an approved online platform, namely e-me, for the storage and longitudinal diffusion of a specific meaning-making process. engagement a nonfiction narrative inquiry into an efl community during covid-19 ypsilanti and karras 95 no. 25 was premised upon the stance that there must be mutual consent on the shapeshifted alliance between the teacher and the student when it comes to recovering the sense of learning community in an online environment. my endeavor was to transform the virtual capacity of e-me into a critical and imaginative storage space by using the written responses submitted through e-me assignments as archival material in need of spatiotemporal specificity before recasting it “in a flexible storytelling mode” (creswell, 2015, p. 508). steps in conducting the narrative research the collection and interpretation of the qualitative data of this study were derived following creswell’s (2015, pp. 515-518) steps in the conducting of narrative research with the linearity factor adjusting to a multivariate explanatory framework. “step 1. identify a phenomenon to explore that addresses an educational problem” the covid-19 pandemic outbreak enforced a new set of operational realities to which everyone was required to conform. further exploration of the vicissitudes of the educational reality, both inside and outside of school, led to the definition of the implications of the educational impact of online teaching and learning with the aid of the platforms provided by the greek ministry of education. the issue of the new coronavirus as a debunker of social norms became the general subject of a reflection essay to count as a term assignment submittable via e-me assignments on e-me platform. reflection was construed as a combination of recounting a personal experience and forging an unforgettable memory of it, the result of which was a compilation of individualized stories. “step 2. purposefully select individuals from whom you can learn about the phenomenon” this narrative study made a purposeful selection of 17 participants from the third grade of a greek lyceum on a north aegean island. students were assigned to contribute a personal experience essay for the school’s memory archive. submission to the e-me digital platform received teacher and peer feedback through blogging during the second school closure in greece (from november 9 to february 15, 2021). “step 3. collect the stories from those individuals” the stories collected through e-me platform as assignments were handled as field texts that contained the students’ memories of what constituted their individual experience of a globally impactful event. although students were allowed reasonable freedom to respond appropriately to a wide range of relevant prompts, it was agreed a nonfiction narrative inquiry into an efl community during covid-19 ypsilanti and karras 96 no. 25 that they keep within the bounds of the creative non-fiction writing genre. as a result, they came up with different forms of creative non-fiction writing such as letters, diary entries and personal essays. “step 4. restory or retell the individuals’ stories” after the collection of the students’ field texts followed the processing and organization of the stories into a narrative structure. to prevent the possibility of methodically trying to arrange disparate reflections, connected by no discernible motif, retelling the individuals’ stories became the tactic choice to achieve chronological and causal sequence. consequently, the students’ storied memories of coronavirus were logically sequenced, contextualized and assembled for the purposes of a metastory that was selectively reconstructed from extracts of the field texts by the narrative researcher-teacher. “step 5. collaborate with the participants-storytellers” the collaboration with the participating students-storytellers was carried out through the blogging facilities provided by the e-me platform. students were invited to join the e-me blogs as active members in the role of peer-reviewers. as estimators of each other’s intended content, they came to the realization that their common concerns had to be broached by providing an evaluative commentary. it should be noted that students were advised against indulging in proofreading or reediting each other’s texts because the original stories constituted indispensable resources to the re-teller. only at a later stage were the 17 stories redrafted by the teacher for the purposes of longterm storage of their final version. “step 6. write a story about the participants’ experiences” step 6 was more of a combination of steps 4 and 5 since the “metastory” or metanarrative which was an essential component in the collaborative design process became an integral part of the final narrative report. the outcome did not only reflect the outgrowth  of the participants’ coronavirus experiences but also the synthesis “procedures involved in” the strengthening of the intermediate spatiotemporal links (creswell, 2015, p. 518). the hallmark of this step was the use of the first pronoun in the narration of the end story as a regulatory practice for preventing the development of a reader-unfriendly narrative. “step 7. validate the accuracy of the report” as regards the validation of the accuracy of the narrative report, provisions had already been made for coping with any discrepancies between real-life accounts and made-up stories by directing students towards cnf for emotional release. furthermore, the choice of an officially approved online platform to operate as a longlife repository of knowledge, information-provider and social forum warranted the a nonfiction narrative inquiry into an efl community during covid-19 ypsilanti and karras 97 no. 25 objectivity of the report. the internal peer-review process reflected the development of student-directed collaborative work through content-sharing in a way that the idea of researcher involvement matured naturally over time. “narrative analysis” of data the analysis of the collected data followed polkinghorne’s (1995, as cited in barkhuizen et al., 2014, p. 73) “narrative analysis” of “non-narrative data,” that is data that were not yet “in story form” but were carefully crafted by the narrative researcher who undertook the task of reconstructing a piece of “narrative writing” to tell the inbuilt evolutionary story. the end narrative was an example of “how storytelling can be used as a data analysis strategy” while the findings coincided with their “wellcrafted, subjective interpretation by the researcher” (barkhuizen et al., 2014, p. 89). findings narrative thinking i first came up with the idea of urging my students to record their coronavirus experiences when, during the school closure  over the course of the  first  covid-19  lockdown (from march 11 to may 11, 2020), i stumbled upon new york times’ learning network whose picture prompts feature invited students to “strengthen their literacy skills” based on image-driven prompts, while the student opinion questions feature gave students the opportunity to “practice writing for an authentic audience.” the picture prompt “social distancing” (gamlen, 2020) and the question prompt “how is the coronavirus outbreak affecting your life?” (engle, 2020) were ideal opportunities for an efl teacher who was on the lookout for homework ideas to implement her asynchronous online teaching carried out by email. in fact, the question prompt was developed into a digital writing practice idea using google docs where students were required to enter their personal experience with a view to contributing to the creation of a digital archive. during the second school closure from november 9, 2020 to february15, 2021, my school gave teachers the asynchronous option to use either the e-class or the e-me online platform to support their teaching. i opted for e-me because of its additional use as a social networking platform. even more appealing was presenting my own counter proposal to the capacity planning of an educational platform. this time, my inspiration was traceable to another project to which i became a regular contributor as from may 2020 responding to creative prompts about my own coronavirus experiences. “a change in morning habits” was one of my contributions (author, 2020). a further writing corona-assignment that became a bond between my personal continued process of self-reflection and my professional acknowledgement of the potential a nonfiction narrative inquiry into an efl community during covid-19 ypsilanti and karras 98 no. 25 for guided self-reflection came from malmö university where i was registered as a creative writing student during the autumn term of 2020. an optional assignment to reflect on the effects of the coronavirus led me to my submission which was published at malmö university’s website as part of a related project (land, 2021). the idea of a british and a swedish university storing coronavirus memories using writing prompts led me to the realization that this was the best time for an efl teacher to activate the hidden curriculum. to this end, after carefully sifting through a wide range of archival projects about coronavirus experiences run by university libraries in usa and great britain, i settled on my own plan of action to give a meaningful purpose to online classes by engaging students in building their own memory archive using elf. for the purposes of the coronavirus memory archive construction, the 17 third graders of the lyceum were asked to complete a term assignment based on a questionnaire which was meant to operate as a prompting guide to unlock their thoughts and feelings. the result was a personal narrative essay which was composed after receiving preliminary training in narrative writing through a selection of mentor texts from the above-mentioned projects. having had the previous experience with a similar question prompt task, it was not difficult for them to respond, only that this time they had a longer word limit as well as the extra requirement to register on e-me platform. other than that, they were allowed reasonable writing freedom to leave their mark on the world bearing the prior knowledge of what was expected of them and keeping in mind that they would have to create connection with other people in the world. the process of organizing different life stories but also synchronizing parallel reflections depicted the philosophy behind this endeavor to weave past, present and future into the taut telling of a globally familiar story that cohered through everyone’s contribution. in other words, my “prior knowledge and experience” generated the “narrative schema” that ordered students’ writing activity which was supplemented by the activation of further sub-schemas about content development. in this respect, although i cued the students with authentic texts and an open questionnaire that incentified them to establish their own narrative form, i was pleasantly surprised to find out that they developed their own cognitive strategies. my only aid to them was the presentation of the nyt learning network’s narrative writing criteria (e.g., telling a story about a small but memorable event or moment in your life; using details to show, not tell; writing in your real voice; dropping the reader into a scene; reflecting on the experience and giving the reader a take-away, etc.) from which they selected almost in complete unison the one that pointed towards “reflecting on the experience and giving the reader a take-away” judging it to be the end point that came close to the global minimum of the target function of the coronavirus memory archive (schulten, 2019). a nonfiction narrative inquiry into an efl community during covid-19 ypsilanti and karras 99 no. 25 i present stratos’ (one of the student-participants) “take-away” for the global reader which encapsulates yielding meaning from human experience and life. i believe that the coronavirus came to change the whole world and our society. it made us think about our future. it came to teach us that money has no value when it comes to health. it is here to show us that we need to love one another and to stop the lies and hypocrisy. we need to stop injustice, war, and conflict. we should see our future differently without hating others or chasing wealth. we ought to love nature and protect it, value friendship and family. we need to become better people! meaning-making from the students’ point of view, coronavirus was identified as the memorable event that lent life new meaning constitution. given that shared perception of reality prompts feelings of solidarity, students developed the need to participate in the compositional process of an enduring legacy because sharing memories gave them a sense of agency, a sense of personal power to make a statement. during the coronavirus lockdowns, students underwent adjustments of considerable proportions which compelled them to develop emotion regulation strategies. writing down their personal experience of life during the coronavirus lockdowns precipitated catharsis which sprang from the sense of oneness with the impact of the crisis event and the larger historical picture within which the crisis event became inscribed. polkinghorne (1988) explains that the extraction of meaning from narrative writing constitutes a way of recognizing the implications of human experience in a specific time and place (as cited in kim, 2016). this kind of meaning is the inquirer’s distilment of different stories around the same theme with a view to giving orientation to the reader’s impressions. the question that polkinghorne (1988) raised was whether the inquiry subjects were left “at the mercy of the storyteller’s recollection or introspection” (as cited in kim, 2016, p. 190). my question is whether my students could have been involuntarily downgraded to a subaltern position by me given that i became their spokesperson to the rest of the reading world through authoritative selection of opportune pieces. the answer, complicated as it might be, is dependent on the extent to which empowerment constitutes a prime motivating force behind the writers’ disposition. the role of the creative self in the perception of an accepted truth, viz. the impact of coronavirus on a person’s life, remains to be clarified. on the one hand, lott talks about the self as a large container of “smaller selves” which enclose the truth of the whole of humanity in his attempt to prioritize the importance of subjective interpretation of factual truth (lott, 2000, p. 198). on the other hand, patwell (2021, p. 4) refers to a nonfiction narrative inquiry into an efl community during covid-19 ypsilanti and karras 100 no. 25 one’s “use-of-self ” as a defense mechanism in dealing with the turbulence of change brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. because the students’ reflection essays have an inherent cognitive schema, i treat them as both field and interim research texts in my attempt to critically acclaim kim’s “example of narrative inquiry as creative nonfiction” whereby multiple voices are documented in order “to create a virtual reality where stories seem real to the reader” (kim, 2016, p. 286). based on bakhtin’s “theory of novelness,” kim explains how a “dialogic truth can be derived from unmerged voices” “creating the open-endedness of a story that connects a participant or a reader to another and one story to another” (kim, 2016, p. 73). by allowing my storytellers to speak for themselves and resisting the temptation to link the disparate strands of the narration into a unified whole, i have succeeded in laying the foundations for a constructive dialogue among us. narrative smoothing sacrilegious as it might have been regarded as in the first place to succumb to bakhtin’s (1981) “official monologism” (in kim, 2016, p. 75) as opposed to the dialogic exchange that promotes the co-construction of the narrative, it felt like i would not have been doing justice to the students’ narratives were i not to specify the spatiotemporal context within which the self would enter into dialogue with the others. to achieve this, i stepped into the role of the narrative smoother who either selected parts of the participants’ stories or deliberated the confluent content to make up for the asymmetries for the sake of a better narrative account that made sense and appealed to the global reader. “chronotope” kim explains that bakhtin’s (1981) “chronotope” refers to the way time is interlinked with space and that “time is always historical and biographical,” while “space is always social” (in kim, 2016, p. 75) in the seventeen narratives of my students, time and space were either directly addressed to in background support of their account or were hinted at through their social sphere activity. apostolis’ (one of the student-participants) account of how coronavirus entered his life is indicative of how an unexpected event intersected with his routinized use of time and place. a nonfiction narrative inquiry into an efl community during covid-19 ypsilanti and karras 101 no. 25 …three times a week i would train with the basketball team, playing basketball games every saturday. we would also gather with my friends in the cafeteria every saturday night. i learned about the pandemic in early december 2019, from the news on the internet. more specifically, i read that a deadly virus broke out in yuhan, a city in central china. if the first news of the coronavirus in early december 2019 provoked uneasiness and uncertainty about the imminent transfer of one “chronotope” to the other, it was not until early march 2020 that students became aware of the pandemic’s direct effects on their own lives as well. stratos resumed the development of the story by focusing on the first covid-19 case that invaded his public sphere. …it never occurred to me that it would affect europe and especially greece. then, one day, a young woman in my town became sick from the coronavirus. she had just returned from a trip to the holy land with a group of people who brought this virus to our country. from that moment on everything changed! our schools closed and within a few hours the whole country locked down as this virus transmitted uncontrollably. after the historical and biographical reality followed the social realities of the coronavirus pandemic which included new social norms nesting within our familiar space with social distancing becoming the prevalent rule. myrto (one of the student-participants) pointed out how protected she felt thanks to the government’s measures. prior to the school closing, the pandemic was discussed in classes. most of the teachers tried to give us tips for our safety and to keep us calm. i felt protected after the school’s decision making, because in that way we could follow better the government’s instructions for social distancing. as from the beginning of november 2020 schools closed again which made taxiarhis (one of the student-participants) write about the recurrent measures to which we were expected to conform. and then by the beginning of november we went back to quarantine because of covid-19 and we started again to wash our hands frequently and for first time we started online courses. after almost two months of online classes, christos (one of the student-participants) expressed his pessimism about going back to normal referring to the vaccines which were yet to arrive to our country. a nonfiction narrative inquiry into an efl community during covid-19 ypsilanti and karras 102 no. 25 right now, i am definitely more cautious compared to the time before the virus hit us, i think that is the case for a lot of people. unfortunately, it will be a while before things get back to normal again, as there are hundreds of new covid cases every day in my country, and we are still far from a vaccine. “the significance of the chronotope is that it allows the lived experiences of our research participants to be illuminated from historical, biographical, spatial, and social perspectives while providing a vicarious experience for the reader” (kim, 2016, p. 2016). the self and the others although i argued in favor of bakhtin’s “polyphony” to show that individual voices should be kept uncut and heard on an equal basis, i explained how bakhtin’s definition of space and time stands in need of a structured dialogue among the emergent voices. the fact that i have applied the narrative smoothing strategy to the presentation of a multi-authored story seems not to detract from the retainment of personal autonomy. in fact, my aim was to reduce the emotional distance between the different authorial voices by integrating them into a semblance of temporally and causally structured reality. my decision to include the uncorrected assignments of students construed as field texts (data) for the purposes of the current narrative research was consistent with my intention to preserve each student’s employability of self, as this was depicted in each one’s emergent cognitive schema, intact. however, the positionality of the documented self in a fluid and mutable time and place is depicted as liable to transformation depending on social conditions. kostas (one of the student-participants) recounted his lived experience of the new social norms which changed not only his general social behavior but also his view of himself in relation to others. his self-criticism demonstrated his non-resistance to adopting a new stance towards life. his own self became the vehicle for recruiting likewise believers. honestly, i am happy that i’ve gotten more time to spend with my family. i’m connecting with them more than i had ever before since it was rare for all of us to spend time together. i’ve also learned some things about myself. there are some things i’m not proud of, but i’m happy i got to know what they were. now, i can improve myself and my character to be a better person. the concept of investing in the self as a rationale for showing the antithesis between the structured and the fluid self is analogous to the construction and the reor coconstruction of a usable narrative that renders its individual and collective services to authors and readers. a nonfiction narrative inquiry into an efl community during covid-19 ypsilanti and karras 103 no. 25 good-faith interpretation what has been left unsaid is how students were expected to read each other’s submitted assignment and feel part of an online learning community with a dual communication purpose: to monitor each other’s narrative of coronavirus experiences and provide peer feedback. the virtual space used for this purpose was e-me blogs where i created a blog addressed to the third grade of the lyceum. there, i compiled all student submissions and asked students to peer review each other by leaving a comment. the preparatory stage involved initiating students into positive feedback practices which was analogous to that of aiding them through mentor texts. only that this time the texts on which they were supposed to model their own feedback was my own tutor’s feedback. kennette and chapman (2021, p. 2) argue that “given the social isolation related to online learning, exacerbated by a global pandemic, positive feedback provides an excellent opportunity to create connection and community.” in line with the above view, i proceeded with caution with my well-motivated reviewers by nurturing the right kind of critical attitude and customs for the preservation of an orderly freedom of speech. to this end, i found recourse to the following guidelines about feedback coming from malmö university’s creative writing i ht20-en212a-02303 course: ground rules for feedback (malmö university, 2020): respect. we are not here to show off, but to be helpful. in each moment we exist for the writers around us.  patience. writing is a communal and individual journey where everyone will be at different stages.  open mind. there are no rights or wrongs, just process. the personal expression is important. consequently, my feedback based upon the above rules had both an evaluative and an instructive role which made students feel that by engaging themselves in peer feedback they would not only have a chance to communicate their own ideas to their fellow classmates but also operate as co-evaluators of a shared content. as far as the present narrative study goes, i adopted josselson’s (2004) “hermeneutics of restoration (faith)” approach according to which a mutual understanding was developed between the researcher and the participants that they be reciprocally committed to the implementation of the archival project (as cited in kim, 2016, p. 193). a nonfiction narrative inquiry into an efl community during covid-19 ypsilanti and karras 104 no. 25 discussion considering that both the researcher and the participants were assigned the role of the meaning carriers, it becomes self-evident that the field text represents the heterogeneous raw material on which narrative meaning extraction rests depending on the varying respondent perceptions. in essence, the students’ assignments have been used for different interpretation purposes, either from an external point of view in which case that would be the researcher’s looking for the overall emphasis or in terms of internal coherence in which case that would be the content development emphasized by each contributor. during the negotiation stage between the researcher and the participants as to the best technique of handling the core narrative, each field text is initially decided upon as archivable in its primary form because of its historical significance. therefore, the seventeen submitted assignments are deemed of storable validity because they are guided autobiographical pieces of legacy value. by acknowledging and showcasing each contribution on its own merits, the researcher has opted out of superimposed views on the participants’ ones. as regards the researcher, the qualitative features of a narrative inquiry based on the polyphonic nature of the field texts constitute what counts as “creative nonfiction inquiry” because the participants have been acknowledged as equal research partners (kim, 2016, p. 286). as regards the participants, their texts represent voices expressing their own truth based on real events and as such they are valuable if they are preserved unalterable. what is at issue here is to what extent prompting can function both ways for reciprocal fairness and awareness reasons. the mere act of entrusting one’s truth to the other’s venture of faith through the creative venue reinforces the cognitive engagement in creating a new model of dialoguing consciousness while it makes justice to the use of cnf by both sides involved. the findings reflect the researcher’s need to smooth non-uniformity in the participants’ personal narratives or put differently, to re-narrate the immanent story. connely and clandinin (2006) identify this need of filling the spatiotemporal gaps by contextualizing the narrated within a social framework as the narrative inquirer’s problem-solving mission to make sense of the personal, practical and social implications of the bigger story for the sake of the “participants, the imagined reading audiences and the researcher” (as cited in kim, 2016, p. 232). kim (2016, p. 229) joins forces with the latter by pointing out that it is not just a matter of bringing the immanent story to the surface but also a matter of “transfiguring the commonplace in a broader context” as a way of inviting the reader’s response and involvement in the final composition. more specifically, the researcher’s responsibility to bring all pieces together so that readers can have access to a space where genuine dialogue is plausible is kim’s definition of “coda.” a nonfiction narrative inquiry into an efl community during covid-19 ypsilanti and karras 105 no. 25 “coda” is also what barone and eisner (1997, as cited in kim, 2016, p. 230) refer to as the “researcher’s signature” on the final denouement because according to them the researcher is responsible for activating reader response. whichever the motives behind extracting and synthesizing a “coda” at the end of the narrative research, the fact remains that contextualization provides empowering qualities to personal stories. in other words, the researcher’s narrative coda offers both individual and collective self-empowerment which should be proof enough that the advancement from field to final research text becomes a moral imperative that raises the standards of the final research report. the results of this study supported the hypothesis that narrative research can fulfil its primary goal if guides and participants alternate roles along the way. more specifically, students were guided into engaging with prompt-based cnf writing as part of their asynchronous term-work responsibilities. their registration on e-me marked their acceptance of the oral agreement between them and the teacher that alongside their reflective essay on their coronavirus memories they would also be compiling a memory archive paralleled to its global counterparts. the raising of a global consciousness through mentor texts as a precondition for contributing a local version of a memory archive has aided students in responding to a task-based personal narrative that ripened into an overarching story with beginning and middle leaving the end to be sorted out by the audience. in between the contemplatable “take-aways” for the reader and the imparted need for closure on the coronavirus narrative, the still occurring memories passed down from the authorship to the readership have expanded the roles of the researcher and the participants into collaborators accountable not only for making sense of the shared globalizing practice in elf but also for setting up a model blogging community. conclusions practical implications from a practical point of view, the students’ personal narratives can be used as quarries for information concerning the hands-on experiences of a learning community. the concomitant development of a sense of local history is underscored by the teacher’s narrative account which serves as a  temporal  repository for future readers to consult. in essence, the derived story is the product of a constructive partnership between teacher and students from design to development. of course, it should be noted that each party had a personal stake in this joint enterprise. more specifically, the teacher-researcher seized the golden opportunity to activate aspects of the official curriculum that may have lain dormant in government circulars for long periods of time. sameshima (2007) explains how the curriculum can be re-narrated a nonfiction narrative inquiry into an efl community during covid-19 ypsilanti and karras 106 no. 25 by remolding the student and teacher identities as additional input. according to her “the use of writing inquiry enables teachers to ford connections between students and curriculum, students and teacher, and teacher with curriculum” (sameshima, 2007, p. 9). as for the students-participants, they not only co-authored their learning plight via e-me, but they also offered comparable insight into the dynamics of self-representation across countries. methodological concerns in the case of narrative studies, the difficulty of producing reliable data is a potential stumbling block for narrative researchers whose findings are frequently regarded as “the product of their subjectivity” (barkhuizen et al., 2014, p. 88). further criticisms might be that while “there is a detailed description of the data collection, there is no description of the analysis that leads to the published findings” (barkhuizen et al., 2014, p. 86). bearing in mind alike reliability lapses in the monitoring of the narrative writing’s reasoning, the present study draws on “clandinin and connelly’s (2000) view of narrative both as a “social phenomenon (storied experience)” and as a “method of data analysis (restorying)” (as cited in barkhuizen et al., 2014, p. 87) which is practically an outgrowth of polkinghorne’s (1995) narrative analysis where “the narrative itself becomes an analytical tool that is brought to bear through narrative writing” (as cited in barkhuizen et al., 2014, p. 84). for the purposes of the present study, storied experience and restorying are interpreted as constituting a dual-capacity analysis framework for the use of the cnf genre by both the participant and the researcher. directions for further research the scope of narrative inquiry can be widened to include the experiences of the narrative researcher so that the result is a joint memory archive instead of simply a joint collaborative effort. to this end, the contribution of creative writing to the written form of the archival outcome could be further explored by organizing writing workshops for students to delve into the mechanics of specific sub-genres of cnf. from an ethics perspective, the co-narrator becomes as much susceptible to the prospective academic critique as the conductor of the study which automatically leads to the question of administering official capacity to students as authority voices to be accorded referential caliber in a narrative report. these criteria could be pre-specified as consultable guidelines to disallow the possibility of deviation from the expected norm. given the fact that a memory archive is an official term for recording history the student-generated archive could be treated accordingly by specifying the receiving official body. a nonfiction narrative inquiry into an efl community during covid-19 ypsilanti and karras 107 no. 25 references bakhtin, m. m. 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(2007). seeing shadows in new light: a procatalepsis on narrative inquiry as professional development. new horizons in education, 55, 10-21. schulten, k. (2019, september 4). mentor texts. the new york times. https://www. nytimes.com/2019/09/04/learning/mentor-text-reflecting-on-an experience.html. silverberg, m. (2019). relief: observations on creative nonfiction as pedagogy. learning landscapes, 2, 249-258. spence, d. p. (1986). narrative smoothing and clinical wisdom. in t. r. sarbin (ed.), narrative psychology: the storied nature of human conduct (pp. 211-232). praeger. vanaken l., bijttebier p., fivush r., hermans d. (2022). narrative coherence predicts emotional well-being during the covid-19 pandemic: a two-year longitudinal study. cogn emot. 2022 feb;36(1), 70-81. doi: 10.1080/02699931.2021.1902283. ypsilanti, a. (2020, may 2). a change in morning habits. university of oxford. https:// oclw.web.ox.ac.uk/article/a-change-in-morning-habits a nonfiction narrative inquiry into an efl community during covid-19 ypsilanti and karras authors: angeliki ypsilanti is an english teacher in secondary education. she has been teaching english (as well as history and greek and european culture) since 2003. she holds two b.a. degrees, one in english language and literature from the university of athens, greece and the other in hispanic language and civilization studies from the hellenic open university, greece as well as an m.ed. in tefl/teil from the hellenic open university. she is currently a phd candidate in foreign languages, translation and interpreting at ionian university, greece. she has a keen interest in learning foreign languages. she is a fluent speaker of english, spanish, french, portuguese and italian while she has an elementary knowledge of german and swedish. she has participated as a regular contributor of creative writing responses to the oxford centre for life-writing’s immeasurable events project. orcid: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8333-4169 ioannis karras is associate professor in applied linguistics & intercultural communication at ionian university, greece. he has lectured at universities around the world, has delivered talks at international conferences and has conducted seminars/ workshops with international audiences. he has authored a book, a number of edited book chapters and articles in journals and conference proceedings. orcid: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1635-8192 110 no. 25 how to reference this article: ypsilanti, a., & karras, i. a creative nonfiction narrative inquiry into an efl online learning community during the covid-19 pandemic. gist – education and learning research journal, 25. https://doi.org/10.26817/16925777.1534 a nonfiction narrative inquiry into an efl community during covid-19 no. 23 transforming an educational community in guatemala using the plan do study act cycle1 transformación de una comunidad educativa en guatemala utilizando el ciclo planificar, estudiar y actuar mayra c daniel, teresa wasonga, and ximena burgin2 northern illinois university, usa 1 received: february 1st 2021/ accepted: october 15th 2021 2 mayra.daniel@gmail.com; twasonga@niu.edu; xrecald1@niu.edu gist education and learning research journal. issn 1692-5777. no. 23 (july december, 2021). pp. 151-168. teaching phonological awareness to students khasawneh 152 no. 23 abstract this case study with educators from a school in an urban low socioeconomic neighborhood near guatemala city, guatemala, explored the effectiveness of the plan, do, study, act cycle (pdsa) to guide teachers’ professional development at a pre-k-k public school (langley, 2009). this three-year study focused on developing teacher leaders and researchers through selfreflective accountability. findings documented institutional problems requiring immediate and long-term attention and ways to involve families in extending literacy instruction at school to the home front. study results highlight the need for effective and empowering literacy methods to be used in guatemala and suggest the country’s teachers wish to support students’ critical thinking and create democratic classrooms. keywords: plan do study, act cycle; school improvement; guatemalan education; teachers as leaders resumen este artículo documenta un plan de desarrollo profesional ofrecido a docentes de una escuela en guatemala de niveles pre-k al k. este estudio apoyó la contabilidad individual del docente que interpreta el currículo considerando el contexto social. el ciclo planear, experimentar, estudiar y actuar, involucró a los participantes a colaborar. los resultados señalaron problemas institucionales y sociales que requieren atención. se identificaron metas para involucrar a familias a enlazar los temas del currículo a los de la vida cotidiana. las familias reconocieron su rol en el aprendizaje de sus hijos. los docentes adaptaron los estándares del ministerio de educación para crear aulas democráticas y apoyar el pensamiento crítico. palabras claves: ciclo planear experimentar estudiar y actuar; mejora escolar; educación en guatemala; desarrollo profesional resumo este artigo documenta um plano de desenvolvimento profissional oferecido a professores de uma escola na guatemala de níveis pré-k ao k. este estudo apoiou a contabilidade individual do professor que interpreta o currículo considerando o contexto social. o ciclo planejar, experimentar, estudar e atuar envolveu os participantes a colaborar. os resultados sinalaram problemas institucionais e sociais que requerem atenção. identificaram-se metas para envolver a famílias a enlaçar os assuntos do currículo aos da vida cotidiana. famílias reconheceram seu papel no aprendizado de seus filhos. os professores adaptaram os padrões do ministério de educação para criar aulas democráticas e apoiar o pensamento crítico. palavra chave: ciclo planejar, experimentar estudar e atuar; melhora escolar; educação na guatemala; desenvolvimento profissional transforming community thorugh plan do study act daniel, wasonga & burgin 153 no. 23 introduction g uatemalan educators strive to follow the government’s mandated curriculum, and they ask that professional development (pd) provide an implementable instructional plan, and a sustainable vision for equity and critical pedagogy (faundez, 2001; freire, 2002; giroux & robbins, 2006; hawkins & norton, 2009). an ongoing problem in guatemalan education is that pd models have not been developed in consultation with teachers (guadarrama, 2013). research documents the need for pd to focus on building teacher leaders able to design effective literacy curricula (bastos, 2012). researchers have stressed the need to give teachers resources for their classrooms, and the training that will empower them to lead (daniel, 2010; taylor, 2013; daniel, mondschein & de palomo, 2014; orozco &valdivia, 2017). efforts by the guatemalan ministry of education (mineduc) have neither helped teachers adapt the national curriculum standards to their school context (bastos & brett, 2010), nor adequately funded curricular resources (cojti, 2005; avancso, 2008; camus, 2010). theoretical framework this three-year study engaged literacy educators to explore ways to liberate learners and their families from an educational system that is delimited by an insufficient focus on critical pedagogy (norton & toohey, 2002; aliakbari & faraji, 2011; coney, 2016ʹ. this study aligns to freire’s (2002) sociocultural learning theory, and gay’s (2010) philosophy of culturally responsive pedagogy. critical pedagogy supports freire’s (2002) premises that the rights of citizenship begin with equitable access in schooling. in this research, conscientization is defined as a commitment to a critical pedagogy of practice that is born in the heart of the individual, and is participatory, critical, democratic, dialogic, pluricultural, and based on inter and intrapersonal reflection (vygotsky, 2002; gathercoal, 2004; norton &toohey, 2004; gay, 2010; coney, 2016; daniel, riley & kruger, 2017). this research engaged educators in designing empowering models of instruction for guatemala’s sociocultural context (verhoeven & durgunoglu, 1998; vygotsky, 2002; gonzález, moll & amanti, 2005; orozco &valdivia, 2017). when freire discussed anger and its constructive use, he highlighted that it can serve ‘…as a legitimate motivational foundation’ (aronowitz et al., p 45) for liberatory learning. we posited that it is key to find ways for teachers in guatemala to redirect their anger towards mineduc’s hegemonic structures. the theoretical framework that guided this study was implemented with teacher participants using the plan, do, study, act (pdsa) model (bryk, 2015; bryk transforming community thorugh plan do study act daniel, wasonga & burgin 154 no. 23 et al., 2016). pd delivered to educators from one guatemalan school supported the development of teacher leaders with a focus on increasing accountability from the ground-up, and promoting socio-culturally appropriate instruction (lantolf et al., 2015). pdsa improves the schoolhouse because it is a vehicle for planning effective instructional goals, selecting appropriate strategies to do (practice the skill), study and reflect upon progress, and make necessary changes or act on the cycle information prior to repeating the cycle (bryk et al., 2016). long-term pd guided by the pdsa cycle revolutionizes stakeholders to interact positively in their goal setting. the cycle changes social practices because its success depends on inter-personal communication that places equal value on all participants’ contributions. the cycle supports teachers’ natural inclination to be methodical investigators who document the recurrent themes in what they experience, and observe in their work (bryk, 2015). pdsa aligns to bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory of development which posits that academic success requires an educational system that considers the social environments where a learner interacts and engages in a continuous process of developing and supporting his/her identity (bronfenbrenner & morris ,2006). this work examined how application of pdsa with teachers from one guatemalan school might offer a pathway to engage educators in collaborative inquiry, and support their long-term commitment to students’ academic achievement. the rationale underlying educational transformations through the pdsa cycle the pdsa cycle has gained popularity within the past 10 years as a model for inquiry and continuous improvement in education (shakman et al., 2017). the success of pdsa lies in its reliance on observational and experiential input from group members who collaborate to improve a community’s educational system (bryk, 2015). according to cohen-vogel et al. (2016), the pdsa cycle tests possible solutions to educational problems by contextually considering the effect of an intervention. the methodological implementation of the steps provides information to determine achievement of the desired changes (russell et al., 2017). the model had its origins in healthcare where success is a matter of life and death. it provided reflective accountability because the thermometer that measured its success was the initiative and commitment of the individuals involved in its implementation, and the effects of their leadership skills on group participants. in education, pdsa can be used by a wide variety of stakeholders to identify learners’ academic and affective needs, to reflect on actions to be taken, to streamline processes through collective inquiry, and to more effectively implement instructional strategies in classrooms (langley et al., 2009). applying the pdsa model in education may save the lives of learners whose everyday inter-personal interactions may be with individuals who may not demonstrate respect for diversity, creativity and independent thinking. teachers knowledgeable of pdsa transforming community thorugh plan do study act daniel, wasonga & burgin 155 no. 23 processes change their classroom and ensure all students grasp that their voices and thoughts are valid. pdsa provides educators recursive opportunities to arrive at answers to problems more expediently than if they worked individually or waited for the assigned system’s leaders to act (bryk, 2015; bryk et al., 2016). the model emphasizes collaborative decision-making and teacher advocacy, which could prove to efficiently build on guatemalan educators’ strengths. in this study the beginning of the inquiry-based pdsa cycle was informed by questioning using the 5whys technique (serrat, 2009). the teachers engaged in a one-on-one conversation with mayra (researcher one) about the overall educational challenges in guatemala and then participated in a focus group after conducting an ethnography. during the focus group the repetition of the word why helped the teachers delve into the problems that recur in the school community more deeply. the technique served to unveil the root cause of the issues and the circumstances surrounding the recurrence of the problems to find possible solutions (hibino et al. 2018). this approach to encourage questioning was an appropriate choice to engage guatemalans, because they form a cultural group whose inter-personal interactions abound with courtesy and respect. the 5whys provided a vehicle to systematically question issues in the guatemalan educational system. pdsa requires working from participants’ knowledge of the problems to be solved to their predictions of how to move from frustration and anger, to developing situated theory applications that achieve positive changes (langley et al. ,2009). the pdsa cycle always seeks to identify a path to achieve the goal that will lead to improvement of a situation, and provide an evaluative method to document the level of improvement reached. implementation of pdsa is a community affair. once teachers experience problem solving through pdsa, they are able to teach its application to students who will then identify ways to solve problems in classrooms, and in their communities and homes. learners of all ages can master the pdsa cycle because its design reflects human beings’ needs for inquiry, and supports engagement focused on affective and basic survival needs. the model helps students identify effective learning goals, select appropriate strategies to practice the skill that is the focus of the teacher’s lesson, study and reflect upon their own progress, and make necessary changes to apply the information gathered before repeating the cycle. students and teachers apply pdsa when they brainstorm ways to solve problems within a community that works together, and rejoices in its successes. together with committed teachers, learners explore problems, and posit solutions in classroom conversations that revolve around stories or current events in their lives. in this study, teachers observed and examined young children’s responses to decide when it was time to proceed to a different step of the pdsa cycle. this project examined changes at escuela villa hermosa (evh) (a pseudonym) due to implementation of the pdsa cycle. in this collaborative process to enhance literacy, the participants reflected on areas for improvement, educational practices, and interactions with administrators and parents to benefit the students. transforming community thorugh plan do study act daniel, wasonga & burgin 156 no. 23 figure 1. applied pdsa processes methodology this case study (stake, 2000) focused on the teaching and learning environment at evh. data were collected in three phases over a three-year period. phase one was the exploration and documentation of community needs. these included the academic and affective needs of the children who reside in the evh community, as documented in conversations with families and in observations conducted by the teachers. phase two involved the teachers in a focus group where they had the opportunity to share their interpretation of the ethnographic data that they gathered during phase one. phase three engaged the teachers in weekly pd envisioned through the implementation of a pdsa led inquiry that had at its goal designing a contextually appropriate curriculum and led the teachers to write storybooks for their classrooms. the qualitative data were recorded in spanish and analyzed utilizing a constant comparison technique (glaser & strauss, 1967). the process allowed for an iterative development of codes by comparing the new data to existing data processed (leech & onwuegbuzie, 2007). the following questions guided this study: 1. what changes are needed at evh?, 2. how will appropriate changes be prioritized and implemented?, 3. how did participants change their educational philosophies due to participation in this study? transforming community thorugh plan do study act daniel, wasonga & burgin 157 no. 23 participants and site of research this research was conducted at the evh, a school in an urban low socioeconomic neighborhood in a city of about 140, 000 located near guatemala’s capital city. in the park about 30 feet from the school, one can observe drug selling activity among single males who sit at picnic tables buying and selling products in small bags. study participants included the entire faculty of the school; eight pre-k-k teachers and the school principal. the teachers, all trained in guatemala’s normal schools, ranged in age from 23 to 47, with the principal being the eldest. the student population was 63 students. phase 1: exploration and documentation of community needs this phase began with informal conversations between betty (a pseudonym), the new principal at evh, and luci (a pseudonym) the principal of the private school where betty previously taught. before betty accepted the principalship, she realized that the learning environment at evh was not what she had helped to design in her previous position. betty, with luci’s help, came up with a plan to reimagine and recreate her new school. their vision was based on what they had experienced at escuela josé antonio (ja) (a pseudonym), a thriving community of educator-advocates. conversations that followed between two teachers at evh and their new principal were the first step to putting the plan into place. these led to one-on-one interviews with the entire faculty and the principal. as the interviews took place, data began to reflect concerns. the developing vision of the nine educators who composed the faculty led them to carry out an ethnography in the evh community. they reached out to parents and explored the community. observations in walks around the neighborhood and data from interviews and conversations with families, served the teachers to draw a picture of the environment surrounding the school, the realities of the children’s lives, and the affective and instructional needs of learners growing up in a high crime neighborhood. after completion of the ethnography and examination of the data, the teachers studied the problems that were identified and reflected on what they might do next. they decided that tasks for the next phase of this study would address teachers’ need for the adequate resources that would allow them to plan and deliver culturally responsive instruction. phase 2: focus group the five whys (5ws) inquiry method was used for a needs assessment conducted with the teachers following the ethnography (serrat,2009). their ideas needed to be clarified and organized, thus the 5ws served as an initial and ongoing questioning transforming community thorugh plan do study act daniel, wasonga & burgin 158 no. 23 technique. the 5ws were the scaffold to outline needs and prepare the teachers to engage in the steps of the pdsa cycle. group participants answered five questions with the objective of stating problems accurately and completely, to do so honestly with the knowledge that their identity would be kept anonymous, and to be fully committed to resolving the problems (serrat, 2009). the process of posing the first 5ws questions begins when researchers gather a research team or conduct one on one interviews with community members. as participants are identified the goal of establishing the prior knowledge needed to begin the questioning sequence begins. the inter-personal interactions with possible participants contribute to the researchers’ understanding of the individual teachers and begin to reveal their attitudes toward their responsibilities as educators of guatemala. informed researchers are able to ask an appropriate first why question because they have some knowledge of the problems that need to be addressed. answers are documented on a board that is visible to participants, who then use the information as a scaffold to formulate replies to remaining 5w questions. in this research the first 5w question asked after the initial exploration of the problems at evh community was: what information did the ethnography reveal and why is that? the four follow up questions repeated the inquiry by asking: why is that? it was anticipated that responses would document obstacles to learning unique to the evh community. challenges might relate to the fears the learners face on a daily basis, and to how these fears might delimit the learning. the hope was that answers would highlight curricular limitations, and support teachers’ sharing of remaining challenges. at the conclusion of phase 2, the objective was for the teachers be able to state their advocacy abilities, and how they would deliver an empowering curriculum that went beyond mineduc’s curriculum. phase 3: weekly pd guided by pdsa the teachers at evh participated in pd one full day a week over a three-year period. the pd was delivered by the joint team of luci, the principal at ja, and marta, one of her teachers (a pseudonym), during the first three months of the project. after this marta was responsible for the pd, with luci checking in once a month. all pd was delivered through a hands-on approach at the school. the teachers were not given materials to read prior to the pd because the trainers felt they would be more open to hands on training, modeling, and active discussion. the objectives of the pd were for the teachers to (1) experience working to design lessons in teams, (2) plan and deliver balanced literacy instruction using narratives that reflected their community, (3) increase parental involvement, and (4) begin to align the national curriculum to contextually congruent literacy lessons. tasks introduced and explored in the pd aimed to address the project’s objectives one and two, thereby addressing lesson planning and critical thinking. the teachers transforming community thorugh plan do study act daniel, wasonga & burgin 159 no. 23 brainstormed and collaborated on lessons to integrate critical thinking into skillbased instruction. methods used to teach vocabulary aimed to help learners express their opinions. literacy instruction modeled demonstrated that all five senses provide support for students’ different learning styles. discussions of the multiple intelligences were contrasted with conversations about learning styles in an effort to highlight that all children have ideas, and need the opportunities to feel safe to share these ideas. the trainers stressed process over product, when they showed participants how to work with some of the books that were used with learners at ja. emphasis was placed on the anticipatory set, and on how chatting with children prior to or at the beginning of lessons will reveal their funds of knowledge. the teachers were encouraged to explore student groupings, and to experiment with heterogeneous models. in addition, discussions addressed components of lessons such as measurable objectives, planned questioning, tasks that stress process over product, and formative assessment. objective three involved planning pd for families, and envisioning what would ensure participation from parents, and help the teachers uncover familial issues that children find difficult to confront. discussions emphasized that outreach to families begins at the schoolhouse door. objective four was addressed as the pd focused extensively on the requirements of the national curriculum, and what teachers might do to adjust mineduc’s scope and sequence to their community’s needs. using ja’s bimonthly planning as a model, the teachers at evh worked to develop a method for planning ahead, and for selecting books and activities to support learners to become critical readers. in order to stay on track, the pdsa recursive analytical cycle was used to guide all steps of the decision making in the pd. through pdsa, after problems were identified, the educators decided on an efficient next step. plausible actions were prioritized and followed by experimentation with the curriculum and outreach to parents. next, stakeholders shared findings and analyzed the data gathered to establish if the solutions implemented worked well, or needed modification. as such, the cycle supported databased decision making (bryk, 2016; 2015) because it assisted the teachers to consider the dynamic interplay between learners, their teachers, stakeholders beyond the school itself, and maintain a focus on culturally responsive curriculum development. results data suggest that participants uncovered many complexities in school improvement efforts. participants documented problems requiring immediate and long-term attention in the school’s physical plant, such as maintenance of existing buildings to financing the construction of a facility to shield stakeholders from inclement weather. in relationship to curricular needs, the educators from evh explored the need to transforming community thorugh plan do study act daniel, wasonga & burgin 160 no. 23 address the appropriateness of available resources, and how to meet the government’s curricular standards while supporting teachers in a socio-culturally focused, and consistent model of pd. the teachers went beyond preparing a list of needs or voicing their anger and angst. they demonstrated their commitment to advocacy, and to improving education in guatemala’s public schools. without doubt, the teacher participants gained information throughout the three phases of the data collection. three themes emerged from the data: (1) the need to remedy the condition of the existing school, (2) the learning issues of the students, and (3) steps that would lead to the implementation of needed changes. theme 1: condition of the existing school when the teachers began analyzing and documenting the children’s needs, their focus on improving literacy became clearer. they concluded that their students’ affective needs were not being considered due to the condition of the existing school and the inadequate resources being used in literacy instruction. therefore, rebuilding evh became the group’s first priority. the teachers did not wait for resources from mineduc. they discussed what might be possible using the community’s financial resources. they gathered funds to build a welcoming and efficient school. their first goal was to teach in an environment where learners would feel safe, and to involve the parents in supporting the learning goals at evh. modest buildings were erected as a result of fund raising led by the teachers. students’ families joined the fundraising effort and parents themselves reached out to community members for financial support. many folks made conservative monetary contributions and/or donated building materials. a school site was identified where classrooms would be housed in small buildings. the community enthusiastically gave of their time and knowledge of carpentry, painting, and shared their building trade expertise. the result was a modest but improved school compound. the floors and the walls of the buildings were built of single sheets of raw wood and the tin roofs doubled as inside classroom ceilings. the colors of the buildings were selected for the purpose of creating an environment that placed young learners in a magical world using bright pink, light green, and a warm sunny tone. outside walls were decorated with drawings of inspiring figures such as the little prince. practical concerns led to one of the buildings housing a small kitchen that served to protect the cook from inclement weather. a room became a dedicated library and although it is small and has few holdings, it serves its purpose. transforming community thorugh plan do study act daniel, wasonga & burgin 161 no. 23 theme 2: literacy learning issues besides the need to build a new school, the teachers compiled a list of community needs, and identified problems. at the top of the list was to eliminate the transmission model of education that is often the norm in guatemala. the teachers agreed that modeling for learners how to think critically would help them generate ideas, and become invested in the learning. they knew that resolving their entire list of problems would take time and careful planning. they documented issues of hunger, poverty, and misspent money. their list included the mismatch between the instructional methods used when the parents were students and still frequently used in guatemala, in contrast to the balanced literacy approaches the teachers were learning in their pd. the teachers wanted to eliminate schooling that does not reflect societal needs in its curriculum, and thus makes little sense to the learners. data from the 5 whys conversation documented recurring concerns in the teachers’ observations: that children are afraid while in their homes at night, and that they are discouraged from talking to their families. the teachers repeatedly voiced the concerns evident in the following comments: ‘how can they learn [the children] if they fear sharing their opinions?’, we have to teach them to share their ideas’, ‘parents need to know why we teach as we do’. ‘we need to explain to the parents why our methods engage the children and why active learning is more effective’, ‘families do not realize that young children learn by singing and dancing’. theme 3: implementation of changes the teachers’ philosophies changed as they examined their observations, and proposed actions. they began to understand pdsa as a way to go beyond opinions, and subjective reactions. as they went through the steps of the cycle in each pd session, it became second nature for them to engage in joint reflection. conversations focused on the planning, doing, studying and taking action recommended by the pdsa cycle were useful in identifying problems that required immediate attention. as the teachers gained clarity of how they might go about making changes, they planned a town hall meeting for the parents, and invited them to participate in pd. the teachers demonstrated how they taught the children, and the parents role played being the students. giving the parents the opportunity to experience participatory learning was a path to justify the need for families to contribute their financial share, and back up the teachers’ commitment and innovative curriculum. the teachers started to implement changes after selecting one problem to address at a time. they decided to bring parents together to share information, and to ask their support for the new instructional methods to be followed at home. the teachers gave immediate attention to identifying the most pressing problems when they brainstormed how to involve the families, and when they might plan pd to model their teaching for the parents. transforming community thorugh plan do study act daniel, wasonga & burgin 162 no. 23 a problem that the teachers chose to address immediately was that families were sending snacks to school with the children that were not nutritious. there was no need for the parents to spend their money on sending sweet treats, since the government subsidizes a daily mid-morning snack. the funds could be better spent for children’s books. they alerted the parents when they picked up their children about the government’s funding for school snacks. after this, they identified the next step: a town hall meeting to earnestly seek monetary support from the parents. it was time to turn families’ attention to strengthening the curriculum. the town hall was a celebration of what had been accomplished, and a time for the teachers to share their dreams for the children. they introduced families to experiential methods of instruction. they inspired the parents with their enthusiasm, and with details of what they would do to raise the learners’ academic achievement. they explained why ‘families must invest in their children both emotionally and financially’. they discussed the reasons they were inspired to learn the methods being used at escuela ja, and why they would improve the children’s lives. evh’s teachers detailed how their time observing, and chatting, with the educators at ja, had made it possible for them to see what was possible. they shared what they had learned about planning balanced literacy lessons, and their belief that this could occur when student participation and parental involvement are part of the equation. they emphasized why parents were an essential part of the progress. the teachers demonstrated their commitment to take risks with instructional methods. they detailed their new-found awareness of their own responsibility to anticipate what learners need to do, see, and hear as they learn. they shared their conviction that young children learn when the five senses are involved and why they had to provide opportunities for each and every learner to participate in classroom conversations that should be continued at home. a recurrent theme in parental questions was how children could learn without sitting and quietly listening. a parent shared, ‘at home my children jump, and they play, and they need to learn to behave because they are wild! they are so noisy when they are having fun’. another parent’s question was, ‘how do you get children to listen when they are so loud!’. a third parent commented, ‘i want my children to be respectful and well behaved. i don’t know how your approaches work’. as the parents noted the teachers’ enthusiasm and how this might support the learners’ literacy, they asked for details. it became evident that one town hall meeting would not be sufficient to cover all that needed to be addressed. the teachers decided that the parents’ questions had to be further addressed. in their goal of breaking standing perceptions of schooling, and getting parents on board to not only support the new methods at the school, but to also follow the methods in their homes, the teachers realized the parents had to be privy to the benefits of the revolutionary way that instructional goals at evh were being set and met. at transforming community thorugh plan do study act daniel, wasonga & burgin 163 no. 23 this point in time the parents were invited to pd sessions to explore books, just as their children were doing in their classrooms. the hands-on participation was planned so that parents could experience learning using all the senses. prior to the lessons, the teachers told the parents that they needed more books for their classrooms, and that the books had to be contextually sound if they were to make sense to the learners. when the teachers showed the parents the books that were used at ja, the parents began to understand the meaning of the words contextually sound. the parents began to grasp why the children should read books at school that reflected them and their community, and why they needed to have copies of the books to take home to share with their family. at the workshops the parents saw the teachers’ commitment, and heard that families are responsible for the children’s education. the parents were asked to help finance the printing of the books the teachers were writing, and to buy a cloth bag so the children could own and take home the books they read at school. luci, the ja principal, shared copyright free access to the books she and her teachers had written so the books could be reproduced for the children at evh. it was a win-win situation. discussion the questioning, reflection and advocacy facilitated through the pdsa-based pd that led to changes in instruction at evh was powerful. at the end of the study, the teachers spoke expecting to be listened to, and they demanded respect and acknowledgement for their efforts. when the teachers spoke about the children and their literacy, high levels of satisfaction were evidenced such as ‘poverty can be transformed into riches’. as the teachers engaged students in dialogue, the children demonstrated their innate ability to ask high level questions, and to share ideas that evolved from their lived experiences and families’ histories. teachers from evh narrowed the space between themselves and their students, because they nurtured transformative consciousness (darder, 1998). in a climate of love the students were not perceived as the other but as co-learners freely engaged in discovering knowledge, and in working towards understanding themselves, and their role as citizens of their community (aronowitz et al. 1998). no one at evh felt silenced. after the first year of the study, when learners went on to the primary school, the teachers’ efforts were validated. at the same time, their frustrations with the guatemalan educational system became evident again. the most alarming comment was stated by a teacher who shared that at the elementary school, inquiry is criticized. ‘the teachers there think it a problem that the children ask questions and know too much’. teacher 2 added: ‘would you believe that they discourage critical thinking?’. transforming community thorugh plan do study act daniel, wasonga & burgin 164 no. 23 teacher 3 said: ‘they do not want the children to talk’. teacher 3 noted: ‘we offered to do workshops and share books, but when we tried to work together, they just sat there and did not participate’. limitations generalizability of this study’s findings is limited to the community where this work was conducted. there are great variations in the way schooling is delivered in guatemalan schools and in how teachers prepare lesson plans and select curriculum that adheres to mineduc’s mandates. this study’s participants composed an unusual group of educators because their school principal supported them in ways that led the teachers feel safe voicing their ideas with each other and helping the learners to express themselves. this is not the case in the majority of guatemalan schools. concluding thoughts educators in this study worked to meet high goals for their learners through balanced literacy practices guided by the recursive reflection that is the essence of the pdsa learning cycle (langley et al., 2009). this research revealed the abilities and zeal of guatemalan teachers to create a future of possibilities for the learners in their classrooms. this work suggests guatemalan teachers can indeed reimagine paths for teaching and learning. the evh faculty took action as they heeded their souls’ call for change. they identified ways to advocate for their students going beyond the requirement of using texts supplied by mineduc. they learned how to make the curriculum meaningful for students’ socio-cultural context. these educators decided to create democratic classroom environments (langley et al., 2009). they chose to set aside resources that did not support culturally responsive pedagogy, and to go beyond the minimum requirements set by the government. as the teachers participated in the pdsa processes, they gained confidence. the teachers saw children’s enthusiasm in how the little ones offered their ideas and asked questions in class. the teachers proudly shared that every day the parents began asking to hear the songs the teachers had taught that day, and wanted to learn about the stories their children had read at school. lina (a pseudonym) shared the philosophy that the teachers repeat to all who listen, and especially to the children. ‘your parents work in their jobs and at home. children’s work is to learn at school’. we admire the teachers in this study because they took a chance and devoted their time to learn without personal recompense. perhaps this is the reason they were successful. transforming community thorugh plan do study act daniel, wasonga & burgin 165 no. 23 references aliakbari, m. , & faraji, e. 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(2002). pedagogy of the oppressed. 30th anniversary ed. new york, ny: continuum international publishing group. transforming community thorugh plan do study act daniel, wasonga & burgin 168 no. 23 authors *mayra c daniel is professor emerita at northern illinois university, de kalb, il, united states. her research focuses on the preparation of culturally sensitive educators in the united states and latin america.  orcid: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2702-0071 teresa wasonga is professor at northern illinois university in the department of educational leadership, psychology, and foundations, de kalb, il, united states. she is the founder of a secondary school for girls from poor rural areas in kenya. orcid: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2444-0559 ximena burgin is an assistant professor at northern illinois university, de kalb, il, united states. her research relates to the role of multiculturalism in classroom instruction and evaluation. orcid: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3494-569x how to reference this article: daniel, m. c., wasonga, t., & burgin, x. (2021) transforming an educational community in guatemala using the plan do study act cycle. gist – education and learning research journal, 23, 151–168. https://doi.org/10.26817/16925777.1053 transforming community thorugh plan do study act daniel, wasonga & burgin no. 23 on the effectiveness of scaffolding strategies and task orientation on receptive and productive knowledge of lexical collocations1 la eficacia de las estrategias de andamiaje y la orientación de tareas sobre el conocimiento receptivo y productivo de las colocaciones léxicas azam naserpour and abbas ali zarei2* imam khomeini international university, iran. barriers to online learning during covid-19 nazir & khan 1 received: may 27th 2021/ accepted november 12th 2021 2 aznaserpour@yahoo.com; a.zarei@hum.ikiu.ac.ir gist education and learning research journal. issn 1692-5777. no. 23 (july december, 2021). pp. 107-134. 108 no. 23 abstract the present study aimed at investigating the effects of scaffolding strategies using input and output-oriented tasks on iranian efl learners’ receptive and productive knowledge of lexical collocations. for this purpose, 540 adult intermediate-level efl learnersboth male and female were selected and divided into six experimental groups; three input-oriented and three outputoriented tasks. each experimental group received treatment under one of the three scaffolding strategies of direct corrective feedback, cooperative group technique, and visual cues. after the treatment period, a 40-item multiple-choice test and a 40-item fill-in-the-blanks test were administered to assess the participants’ receptive and productive collocations knowledge. to analyze the data, two separate two-way anova procedures were used. the results indicated that visual cues were the most effective scaffolding strategy in teaching lexical collocations. moreover, the cooperative group technique had a significant positive impact on learning collocations compared to direct corrective feedback. the results also showed that the participants in the output-oriented tasks group significantly outperformed those in the input-oriented tasks group. these findings can have practical implications for language learners, teachers, and materials developers, and theoretical implications for researchers. keywords: collocations; cooperative group; scaffolding strategies; task orientation; visual cues. resumen el presente estudio tuvo como objetivo investigar los efectos de las estrategias de andamiaje que utilizan tareas orientadas a insumos y resultados en el conocimiento receptivo y productivo de las colocaciones léxicas de los estudiantes iraníes de inglés como lengua extranjera. para este propósito, 540 aprendices adultos en nivel intermedio, tanto hombres como mujeres fueron seleccionados y divididos en seis grupos experimentales; tres en la categoría de insumos y tres en la categoría de resultados. cada grupo experimental recibió un tratamiento bajo una de tres estrategias de andamiaje, tales como: retroalimentación directa correctiva, técnica grupal cooperativa y señales visuales. después del periodo de tratamiento, se administró una prueba de 40 preguntas de múltiple respuesta y una prueba de 40 preguntas de llenar espacios para evaluar el conocimiento de las colocaciones receptivas y productivas de los participantes. para analizar los datos, se utilizaron dos procedimientos anova bidireccionales separados. los resultados indicaron que las señales visuales fueron la estrategia más efectiva en la enseñanza de colocaciones léxicas. además, la técnica de cooperación grupal tuvo un impacto significativo en el aprendizaje de colocaciones comparado con la retroalimentación directa correctiva. los resultados también mostraron que los participantes en el grupo de tareas orientadas a resultados superaron significativamente a los del grupo de tareas orientadas a insumos. estos hallazgos pueden tener implicaciones prácticas para los aprendices de lengua, docentes, desarrolladores de materiales e implicaciones teoréticas para los investigadores. palabras clave: colocaciones; grupo cooperativos; estrategias de andamiaje; orientación a tareas; ayudas visuales; aprendizaje de inglés scaffolding strategies on receptive and productive knowledge naserpour & zarei 109 no. 23 resumo o presente estudo teve como objetivo investigar os efeitos das estratégias de estrutura que utilizam tarefas orientadas a insumos e resultados no conhecimento receptivo e produtivo das colocações léxicas dos estudantes iranianos de inglês como língua estrangeira. para este propósito, 540 aprendizes adultos em nível intermédio, tanto homens como mulheres foram selecionados e divididos em seis grupos experimentais; três na categoria de insumos e três na categoria de resultados. cada grupo experimental recebeu um tratamento sob uma das três estratégias de estrutura, tais como: retroalimentação direta corretiva, técnica grupal cooperativa e sinais visuais. depois do período de tratamento, administrou-se uma prova de 40 perguntas de múltipla resposta e uma prova de 40 perguntas de preencher espaços para avaliar o conhecimento das colocações receptivas e produtivas dos participantes. para analisar os dados, foram utilizados dois procedimentos anova bidirecionais separados. os resultados indicaram que os sinais visuais foram a estratégia mais efetiva no ensino de colocações léxicas. além disso, a técnica de cooperação grupal teve um impacto significativo no aprendizado de colocações comparado com a retroalimentação direta corretiva. os resultados também mostraram que os participantes no grupo de tarefas orientadas a resultados superaram significativamente aos do grupo de tarefas orientadas a insumos. estas descobertas podem ter implicações práticas da língua, professores, desenvolvedores de materiais e implicações teoréticas para os investigadores. palavras chave: colocações; grupo cooperativos; estratégias de estrutura; orientação a tarefas; ajudas visuais; aprendizado de inglês scaffolding strategies on receptive and productive knowledge naserpour & zarei 110 no. 23 introduction l earning a second language relies, to a large extent, on vocabulary knowledge (schmitt, 2000). lexical knowledge plays a vital role in communicative competence and the acquisition of a second language (nation, 2011; hoshino, 2010). vocabulary consists of individual words like nouns and verbs and word combinations like collocations and idioms. collocations are of paramount significance in language competence. learning words in chunks is a central part of acquiring a creative language system, which is the key to fluency. moreover, an equally important discussion that provides support to the instruction of collocations, as nattinger (1988) notes, is that students do not need to reconstruct language each time they want to use it; instead, they can use these collocations as prepackaged elements to convey their message. concerning lexical collocations as one main category of collocations, hill (2000) argues that multi-word structures are components of fluent linguistic production and critical language learning factors. therefore, it seems necessary to learn lexical collocations since learners frequently come across them not only in writing but also in spoken language. despite the indubitable significance of collocations, researchers have argued that collocations are among the problematic aspects of vocabulary learning for foreign language learners (hüttner, 2005). for optimal knowledge of l2 collocations, some scholars (krashen, 1985; swain, 2000) highlight the role of task orientation (e.g., input or output-oriented tasks). in input-oriented tasks, learners use clues from the text or the situational context to guess the meaning of a word or a lexical combination. it is, therefore, this combination of contextual clues and linguistic processing that makes learners able to assign meaning to specific words and grammatical features and so acquire them (krashen, 1985). in output-oriented tasks, however, as swain (2000) points out, l2 production aids learners to notice a gap in their language knowledge, correct their errors concerning the feedback they receive, and reflect upon their output to internalize linguistic competence. on the other hand, vacca (2008) opines that learners can perform any task, simple or complex, well only if they receive relevant, necessary assistance. as far as vocabulary learning is at stake, effective scaffolding techniques can reduce learners’ confusion and frustration via providing clear direction and step-by-step instruction for learners (poorahmadi, 2009). the selection of practical tasks, on the one hand, and the use of efficient strategies to optimize l2 collocations learning, on the other hand, have long been the concern of the stakeholders. therefore, it is crucial to explore what types of tasks and strategies provide better opportunities for language learners to achieve more durable l2 lexical collocation learning. to address this issue, the present study is an early attempt to disclose the effectiveness of scaffolding strategiesnamely direct corrective feedback, cooperative group technique, and visual aids – using inputand scaffolding strategies on receptive and productive knowledge naserpour & zarei 111 no. 23 output-oriented tasks on iranian efl learners’ receptive and productive knowledge of lexical collocations. collocations collocations pave the way for learners to understand better and produce language (ellis, 2003; nesselhauf, 2005). ünver (2018) opines that collocations knowledge reduces the processing load of both speakers and listeners of the language. collocations, as milton (2009) notes, are mainly classified into two main categories: grammatical and lexical. grammatical collocations usually involve content words (i.e., nouns, adjectives, verbs, and adverbs) plus a preposition or a grammatical structure such as ‘to+ verb (infinitive)’ or ‘that-clause,’ e.g., by chance, to be afraid that. in contrast, lexical collocations do not include grammatical elements, but are content words falling into the following combinations: noun + noun (e.g., washing machine), adjective + noun (e.g., strong/weak tea), verb + noun (e.g., shrunk shoulder), noun + verb (e.g., bees buzz), and verb + adverb (e.g., whispered softly) and adverb + adjective (e.g., deeply absorbed). besides, an equally important issue is that collocations are generally believed to be one of the problematic areas of language to learn. scholars (e.g., taiwo, 2004), for instance, argue that translating collocations word by word from one language to another may lead to inappropriate combination (e.g., tall people not high people). laufer (2011) asserts that oral communication and the written tasks of l2 learners, even at advanced levels of proficiency, show a lack of collocational knowledge. furthermore, thanks to more flexibility of lexical collocations compared to grammatical collocations, there has been the greater possibility of freedom in combining words and, as a result, committing collocational errors. this has spurred researchers to seek ways of teaching and integrating lexical collocations into the language materials in an effective and principled manner. one such way may be the application of task-based instruction. the role of tasks although there is little debate on the usefulness of tasks in language teaching, the issue of what type of task to use has been controversial. krashen’s input hypothesis (1985) accentuates the notable role of comprehensible input in language acquisition, meaning that input is both necessary and sufficient for language acquisition. according to renandya (2012), however, while learners’ underlying linguistic system can be developed by input tasks, fluent use of language may only be achieved through output tasks. the underlying premise, as swain and lapkin (1998) argue, is that output tasks can pave the way for learners to modify their output through noticing their linguistic scaffolding strategies on receptive and productive knowledge naserpour & zarei 112 no. 23 shortcomings. to put it simply, l2 production could provide learners with a great opportunity to make them aware of the gaps in their knowledge and direct their attention to form, function, and meaning through which learners can take control over their learning and produce the target language (swain, 2000). the importance of input or output tasks has been brought into light in a set of empirical studies (alavinia & rahimi, 2019; hashemi shahraki & kassaian, 2011; roohani, forootanfar & hashemian, 2017; salimi & shams, 2016; vosoughi & mehdipour, 2013; webb, 2005). for example, webb (2005) probed the effects of glossed sentences (as input tasks) and sentence creation (as an output task) on japanese learners’ word knowledge. the results indicated that in the first experiment with the same amount of time to task completion, the reading task was successful, while in the second experiment, which allocated a different amount of time to task completion depending on the task type, writing task was superior to reading task. this study concluded that when it comes to authentic learning, productive tasks should be preferred to receptive ones. nevertheless, regardless of the type of task used, efl learners have substantial difficulty with lexical combinations; often, they lack the necessary knowledge and strategies for handling such elements (chung & nation, 2004). the use of appropriate learning strategies is one crucial factor that can enhance engagement and result in better collocations learning. one of the effective learning strategies is scaffolding. learning scaffolding strategies sawyer (2006) used the term scaffolding to refer to the support provided during the teaching process to meet students’ needs when they are introduced to novel concepts and skills. this can lead to deeper and higher levels of learning. scaffolding is closely related to the zone of proximal development (zpd), which is a key term in socio-cultural theory (sct) (proposed by vygotsky). vygotsky (1978) defines zpd as the difference between the actual developmental level and the potential level of development measured as problem solving under guidance from adults or more capable peers (verenikina, 2008). based on vygotsky’s theory of social constructionism, scaffolding is the temporary assistance provided by an expert for novices so as to enhance their independency. this aid is gradually removed as they can develop their own ability and skills, and become more competent to demonstrate mastery and perform task independently (diaz-rico & weed, 2002). scholars have proposed various categories of scaffolding strategies to meet students’ needs in english language classes. according to echevarria, vogt and short (2004), the most common and practical scaffolding strategies that can be applied in language scaffolding strategies on receptive and productive knowledge naserpour & zarei 113 no. 23 classes to teach single and multi-words are classified into three main types: verbal, procedural and instructional, each consisting of a variety of techniques. the present study utilizes three scaffolding techniques of direct corrective feedback as a verbal scaffolding technique, cooperative group technique as a procedural scaffolding technique, and visual cues as an instructional scaffolding technique, and compares their effectiveness on learning lexical collocations. direct corrective feedback in sla contexts, as baleghizadeh and gordani (2012) note, feedback could bridge the gap between what has been learned and the target competence of the learners. in general, there are two kinds of feedback; positive and negative. in negative feedback, or corrective feedback (ammar & spada, 2006), information follows an error produced by the language learner to inform him of the fact of error (el tatawy, 2002). schmidt (1994) believes that corrective feedback causes learners to notice the gaps between the target norms and their interlanguage, resulting in the restructuring of grammatical forms. therefore, corrective feedback can provide needed attention for acquisition and push students’ production towards greater accuracy, clarity and comprehensibility (garcia-ponce & mora-pablo, 2017). in the area of l2 collocations teaching, alipanahi and naghiloo (2016) cast light on the role of direct, indirect, and self-correction feedback in l2 lexical and grammatical collocations learning. the results revealed that indirect feedback had a positive impact on learners’ collocational knowledge compared with direct and self-correction feedbacks. zarei and mousavi (2016) also tried to examine the effects of three kinds of feedback – direct, indirect, and peer feedbackas a scaffolding strategy on iranian efl learners’ recognition of lexical collocations. the results revealed that the group that received indirect corrective feedback had the best performance, whereas the group that was scaffolded by direct corrective feedback showed the least performance. the findings also indicated that the participants in the peer feedback and indirect feedback groups did nearly the same on the post-test. cooperative group technique in cooperative learning context, group members endeavor to make individual contributions to promote learning and to achieve a common goal for the group (johnson, johnson, & smith, 2014). this technique helps learners jointly build up knowledge. as a matter of fact, there is a positive interdependence among group members while any individual takes his own accountability in learning (bolukbas, keskin & polat, 2011; van lier, 2004). wajnryb (1990) asserts that when learners make scaffolding strategies on receptive and productive knowledge naserpour & zarei 114 no. 23 a joint attempt to produce the language, they notice more gaps in their knowledge of language and reflect on form-meaning relationships as they get feedback from their peers. in actual fact, in cooperative learning projects each member of a group displays his own learning styles or strengths as all members may be exposed with multiple learning benefits, methods and strategies. hence, in cooperative activities, learners’ language proficiency and personal skills like teamwork or problem-solving can be developed (olaya & gonzález-gonzález, 2020). some empirical studies (e.g., ahmadpour & yousefi, 2016; hayati & ziyaeimehr, 2011; safadi & rababah, 2012) put emphasis on the noticeable impact of cooperatively scaffolded learning environment on learners’ development of reading, writing, speaking, etc. visual aids images and visual cues can represent relationships among ideas and concepts. they provide students with concrete, visual connections between words and their meanings (zarei & gilanian, 2013). memorizing words via their corresponding images can help learners create their own ‘inner blackboard’, as termed by armstrong (2000). ghader and bahlooli niri (2016) argue that pictorial presentation of novel lexical combinations activates many parts of the brain and reinforces vocabulary learning in a foreign language. this scaffolding tool assists learners to get the information via an extrasensory perception (sadeghi & farzizadeh, 2013). as milton (2009) states, imagery provides learners with dually rather than singly coded information. thus, it promotes learners’ memory ability. empirical research in the area of vocabulary learning using images and visual representations shows that pictures and visual aids are efficient tools for retention and retrieval of words and lexical combinations (beaman, 2002; bird & williams, 2002; hamzah, 2018; mashhadi & jamalifar, 2015; zarei & khazaie, 2011). for instance, mashhadi and jamalifar (2015) compared visual cues and textual input-enhancement with regard to their effectiveness on learners’ lexical knowledge. in the visual presentation group, tools such as pictures, flashcards, semantic maps, and videos were used to teach the target words. for textual-input enhancement group, the target words were contextualized in texts and presented in bold face; translation, synonyms, and antonyms were also provided when needed. the results revealed that visual cues were more beneficial on vocabulary knowledge than textual-input enhancement. as can be inferred from the above-alluded, it is difficult to generalize the specific types of scaffolding processes to all teaching settings and all l2 learners. on the other hand, casting a glance into the literature, to the best of knowledge of the researchers, it is revealed that the studies on collocations have mainly been an endeavor to explore the scaffolding strategies on receptive and productive knowledge naserpour & zarei 115 no. 23 effectiveness of one or two tasks on teaching or learning collocations. consequently, the findings of such studies are rather limited. more research is needed to uncover the impact of tasks in different orientations. moreover, it seems necessary to investigate the impact of different scaffolding techniques to support learners’ learning. therefore, this gap was the staple impetus for the researchers to explore the effects of input and output-oriented tasks and also different scaffolding techniques on learners’ comprehension and production of lexical collocations. in more specific terms, the following research questions were put forward: 1. is there any significant difference between the effects of scaffolding strategies using input-oriented and output-oriented tasks on iranian efl learners’ receptive knowledge of lexical collocations? 2. is there any significant difference between the effects of scaffolding strategies using input-oriented and output-oriented tasks on iranian efl learners’ productive knowledge of lexical collocations? method the participants of the study consisted of an initial sample of 580 iranian efl learners (male and female) at lower intermediate level of proficiency who were studying english in private language institutes. after the administration of a sub-test of the key english test (ket), 40 participants who differed in terms of their proficiency level were excluded from the study; those who scored more than one standard deviation away from (above or below) the mean were excluded from the study. there remained 540 participants to take part in the study. they consisted of 346 females and 194 males; their age ranged from 18 to 35. they were randomly assigned to eighteen experimental groups, each with 30 participants. there was no control group in this study. the reason was twofold; first, owing to practicality reasons it was not possible to recruit another group; second, and more importantly, this study primarily aimed to compare the effects of variables (i.e., tasks and strategies) with each other on learning collocations. instruments and materials to fulfill the purpose of this study, several materials and instruments were utilized as follows: scaffolding strategies on receptive and productive knowledge naserpour & zarei 116 no. 23 key english test to ensure the participants’ homogeneity in terms of their language proficiency, a test of general english, including parts one to seven of ket, was administered to all the participants. parts one to seven of the test contained 50 items. the first three parts measured lexical and grammatical knowledge at word or sentence level. part four measured reading comprehension through a passage followed by multiple-choice items. part five contained a cloze passage in which each blank had to be completed by choosing the best word from among three given alternatives; parts six and seven included productive items. in part six, the participants had to read the descriptions of some jobs and write that job in the blanks provided. the initial letter of the target word was also given; part seven (the last part) contained 10 gap-filling items. the participants were required to read a postcard and use their own knowledge to fill in the blanks. each blank had to be filled with only one word. the oral section of the test was not included for practicality reasons. since just a sub-test of ket was used in this study, the kr-21 formula was applied to check its reliability. the reliability index of the sub-test turned out to be .77. pre-test before the commence of treatment, all the participants’ background knowledge of the target lexical collocations was assessed via a pretest. the pretest contained 100 english sentences, each of which included one lexical collocation. in each sentence, one part of each target lexical collocation was given and the other part was omitted. the persian equivalent of the collocations was provided at the end of each sentence as a clue. this was done to make sure that the participants understood the purpose of the test and did not fill the blanks using words other than the target collocations. the participants were asked to supply the missing words in the sentences. the target lexical collocations were selected from english collocations in use (mccarthy & o’dell, 2006), and student’s book 3 of touchstone for learners at the lower-intermediate level. the lexical collocations included the following structures: noun + noun, adjective + noun, noun + verb, verb + noun, verb + adverb, and adverb + adjective. tasks input-oriented tasks: true-false tasks: these tasks consisted of marginally glossed texts accompanied by true-false sentences. each sentence contained one collocation. the participants had to read each sentence to decide whether it is true or false. matching tasks: in matching tasks, the participants had to read texts that were marginally glossed. afterwards, they were given a matching activity in which scaffolding strategies on receptive and productive knowledge naserpour & zarei 117 no. 23 the first part of a lexical collocation in one column (column a) was matched with its second part in the other column (column b). there was one extra item in column b. multiple-choice tasks: these tasks included texts that were not marginally glossed. the participants had to look up the collocations in a dictionary. each text contained blanks, for each of which four alternatives were given after the text. to fill the gaps, the learners had to choose the right collocations from among the alternatives presented in multiple-choice form. output-oriented tasks: short-response tasks: participants in the short-response task condition received the same marginally glossed text to read, and then to complete the short-response tasks focused on the target lexical collocations. fill in the blanks tasks: here, the participants were given texts that were marginally glossed. afterwards, the learners were required to complete the fill in the blanks task focused on the target collocations. in each task, gaps were made by omitting collocations. one part of the target collocation was given as cues in each blank. the blanks had to be filled with the collocations provided by the learners. sentence formation tasks: learners had to read the same marginally glossed texts. afterwards, they were asked to use each of the target lexical collocations to generate new english sentences. post-test the post-test package consisted of two types of test: a multiple-choice test and a fillin the-blanks test were administered after the treatment to measure the comprehension and production of collocations, respectively. it is worth noting that the post-tests were developed by researchers, thus before the commence of the main study, a pilot study was done to examine item characteristics and test characteristics. the results of item facility and item discrimination left 40 items for each posttest. in addition, to ensure the content validity of the posttests, both the content of the tasks and that of the posttests were carefully examined by several experts. finally, a 40-item multiple-choice test (to measure comprehension) and a 40-item fill-in-the-blanks test (to measure production) were administered immediately after the treatment. moreover, the kr-21 formula was applied to estimate the reliability of the post-tests. the reliability indices of comprehension and production tests were .78 and .81, respectively. procedure initially, the participants of the study were selected through purposive sampling. to homogenize the groups, a sample of ket with the above-mentioned characteristics was administered. the participants whose score fell one standard deviation away from (above or below) the mean were excluded from the study. each group of participants scaffolding strategies on receptive and productive knowledge naserpour & zarei 118 no. 23 was randomly divided into one of the experimental conditions. before the treatments, to decrease the impact of the participants’ prior knowledge of collocations, the pre-test was administered. those items with which more than ten percent of the participants were familiar were not included in the posttests. it should be mentioned that besides the unfamiliar collocations that were identified in the pre-test (73 collocations), a number of lexical collocations (25 collocations) were also selected from the aforementioned sources to be taught in the treatment. in the treatment stage, three kinds of tasks were designed for different treatment conditions. each of the experimental groups received an average of seven new collocations each session; then they practiced using one of these tasks: true-false task (task a), matching task (task b), multiple-choice task (task c), short-response (task d), fill-in-the-blanks (task e), and sentence formation (task f). at the same time, the present study used three scaffolding techniques of direct corrective feedback as a verbal scaffolding technique, cooperative group technique as a procedural scaffolding technique, and visual cues as an instructional scaffolding technique to support teaching lexical collocations. these techniques were used to back up teaching lexical collocations to the experimental groups. six groups received instruction using tasks a, b, c, d, e, and f (one task for each group) and the scaffolding technique of direct corrective feedback. for six other groups, the tasks a, b, c, d, e, and f were scaffolded through the cooperative group technique. each of the remaining six groups received one of the tasks a, b, c, d, e, and f, and the scaffolding technique of visual aids. in direct corrective feedback, after the teacher collected learners’ handouts, she underlined their collocational errors and wrote the correct form of the target collocations above or near the erroneous form. she then gave the handouts back to the learners. the teacher also wrote the correct form of all lexical collocations on the board. in the cooperative group technique, at the outset of each session, the teacher divided learners into groups of five and guided them how to perform a task cooperatively. during performing the task, the teacher monitored groups carefully. in the scaffolding technique of visual cues, for all of the six experimental groups, at the beginning of each session, new collocations were shown on screen one by one, and the learners were given a handout with the same collocations or images. the images were digital and real pictures downloaded from the internet. then, the learners were asked to start working on the tasks. the treatment lasted 17 sessions (2 sessions a week), of which the first two sessions were allocated to the ket test and the pretest, 14 sessions to treatment, and one session to the posttests. it is worth noting that about an hour was allocated to the experiment scaffolding strategies on receptive and productive knowledge naserpour & zarei 119 no. 23 each session because the learners had the books and materials related to their course as well. after the treatment, two posttests were administered to all the participants. after the data were gathered, two separate two-way analysis of variance (anova) procedures were utilized to answer the research questions. results the first research question this question intended to explore the effects of scaffolding strategies using input and output-oriented tasks on efl learners’ comprehension of lexical collocations. to this end, a two-way anova procedure was used. first of all, the data were assessed for the assumption of the equality of variances. levene’s test result (f(5, 534) = 2.818, p ʹ .05) showed that this assumption was not violated. to check the assumption of normality of scores, the results of the kolmogorov-smirnov statistic were checked. the result (ks(540) = .05, p ́ .05) showed that this assumption was also met. in addition, to check for extreme scores, the id values of the most extreme cases were checked in the extreme values table. next, to see whether or not the extreme scores highly affected the mean, the value of 5% trimmed mean was checked in descriptive statistics. it was observed that the values of the original mean and the new trimmed mean were not very different. therefore, it could be assumed that the mean was not highly influenced by the extreme scores. after checking all the assumptions, descriptive statistics, including mean, standard deviation, etc., on the collocations’ comprehension test, were summarized (table 1). scaffolding strategies on receptive and productive knowledge naserpour & zarei 120 no. 23 table 1. descriptive statistics of the collocation comprehension posttest task type scaffolding strategies n mean std. deviation input-oriented tasks direct feedback cooperative technique visual cues total 90 90 90 270 18.32 20.54 22.72 20.44 3.067 3.257 3.678 3.739 output-oriented tasks direct feedback cooperative technique visual cues total 90 90 90 270 19.41 22.46 25.32 22.48 2.272 2.918 3.668 3.853 table 1 shows that in both task categories, the highest mean belongs to the scaffolding strategy of visual cues, followed by the cooperative group technique and direct corrective feedback, respectively. the implication is that the strategies of visual cues and cooperative group technique were more effective than direct corrective feedback on learners’ receptive knowledge of lexical collocations. furthermore, the highest mean score in all three strategies belonged to output-oriented tasks. this means that the scaffolding strategies utilized in performing tasks were much more useful for output-oriented tasks than input-oriented tasks. figure 1 graphically shows the differences among the groups. figure 1. means plot of collocations comprehension posttest scaffolding strategies on receptive and productive knowledge naserpour & zarei 121 no. 23 the interaction effects and main effects of the scaffolding strategy and task orientation variables were checked to see if they are statistically significant. the results are given in table 2. table 2. tests of between-subjects effects for collocations comprehension posttest type iii sum of squares df mean square f sig. partial eta squared corrected model 2916.454a 5 583.291 57.661 .000 .351 intercept 248798.669 1 248798.669 .000 .979 task orientation 562.224 1 562.224 55.578 .000 .199 scaffolding strategy 2282.737 2 1141.369 112.829 .000 .297 task orientation* scaffolding strategy 71.493 2 35.746 3.534 .084 .009 error 5401.878 534 10.116 total 257117.000 540 corrected total 8318.331 539 table 2 shows no statistically significant interaction between the effects of task orientation and scaffolding strategies on the comprehension of lexical collocations, (f (2, 534) = 3.53, p < .05). this implies that there is no statistically significant difference in the impact of scaffolding strategies on collocations comprehension for inputoriented and output-oriented tasks. furthermore, the values of partial eta squared for task orientation and scaffolding strategies were .19 and .29, respectively, both of which show very large effect size, based on cohen (1988). however, input-oriented and output-oriented tasks differ significantly from one another in terms of their effect on collocations comprehension (f (1,538) = 55.57, p < .0005) in favor of output-oriented tasks. there are also statistically significant differences among the scaffolding strategies of direct feedback, cooperative technique, and visual cues (f (2,537) = 112.82, p < .0005). to locate the significant differences, the scheffe test was run. scaffolding strategies on receptive and productive knowledge naserpour & zarei 122 no. 23 table 3. the results of scheffe test task (i) group (j) group mean difference (i-j) sig. input-oriented tasks direct feedback cooperative technique visual cues -2.222* -4.440* .060 .000 cooperative technique visual cues -2.183* .000 output-oriented tasks direct feedback cooperative technique visual cues -3.050* -5.911* .000 cooperative technique visual cues -2.866* .000 *the mean difference is significant at the 0.05 level these results reveal that the difference between the effects of scaffolding strategies on learners’ receptive knowledge of lexical collocations is significant. the students in the cooperative technique group showed better performance than those in the direct corrective feedback group on the post-test. in addition, the results indicate that the participants who received visual cues outperformed the participants of the direct corrective feedback group. at the same time, the results show a meaningful difference between the effects of cooperative group technique and visual cues on students’ collocational receptive knowledge in favor of visual cues. the second research question this question aimed at investigating whether or not there is any significant difference between the effects of scaffolding strategies using inputand output-oriented tasks on efl learners’ production of lexical collocations. for this purpose, a two-way anova procedure was used. before doing so, its assumptions were checked. the results of levene’s test (f(5, 534) = 1.075, p ʹ .05) and kolmogorov-smirnov statistic (ks (540) = .09, p ʹ .05) showed that the assumptions of homogeneity of variances and normality of scores were both met. in addition, the value of 5% trimmed mean was compared against the original mean, and no significant difference was observed between them, implying that the mean score was not heavily influenced by extreme scores. after checking the assumptions, descriptive statistics on the production test of lexical collocations were summarized in table 4. scaffolding strategies on receptive and productive knowledge naserpour & zarei 123 no. 23 table 4. descriptive statistics of the collocation production posttest task type scaffolding strategies n mean std. deviation input-oriented tasks direct feedback cooperative technique visual cues total 90 90 90 270 19.73 21.83 23.30 21.62 2.722 3.200 3.440 3.454 output-oriented tasks direct feedback cooperative technique visual cues total 90 90 90 270 20.90 23.84 26.85 23.86 2.055 2.587 2.912 3.514 table 4 indicates that the highest mean belongs to the scaffolding strategy of visual cues and cooperative group technique, respectively, and direct corrective feedback has the lowest mean score. this means that the strategies of visual cues and cooperative group technique are more effective than direct corrective feedback on learners’ productive knowledge of lexical collocations. on the other hand, in all three strategies, output-oriented tasks groups have obtained the highest means. figure 2 illustrates the differences among the means obviously. figure 2. means plot of collocations production posttest scaffolding strategies on receptive and productive knowledge naserpour & zarei 124 no. 23 the results of tests of between-subjects effects were checked to examine the possibility of an interaction effect and the main effects of the two independent variables. table 5 contains the results. table 5. tests of between-subjects effects for collocations production posttest type iii sum of squares df mean square f sig. partial eta squared corrected model 2860.644a 5 572.129 70.200 .000 .397 intercept 279347.267 1 279347.267 .000 .985 task orientation 680.067 1 680.067 83.444 .000 .135 scaffolding strategy 2051.544 2 1025.772 125.862 .000 .320 task orientation* scaffolding strategy 129.033 2 64.517 7.916 .090 .029 error 4352.089 534 8.150 total 286560.000 540 corrected total 7212.733 539 table 5 shows that task orientation has a significant effect on lexical collocations production, (f(1,538) = 83.44, p < .0005), and that output-oriented tasks are significantly more effective than input-oriented tasks on collocational productive knowledge. meanwhile, scaffolding is also a significant factor (f (2,537) = 125.86, p < .0005). however, the interaction between the effects of task orientation and scaffolding strategies on the production of lexical collocations is not significant (f (2, 534) = 7.91, p > .05). meanwhile, the partial eta squared values for task orientation and scaffolding strategies are .13 and .32, respectively, showing very large effect size, according to cohen (1988). since there were statistically significant differences among the scaffolding strategies on collocational production, the scheffe post hoc test was used to locate the differences. scaffolding strategies on receptive and productive knowledge naserpour & zarei 125 no. 23 table 6. the results of scheffe test task (i) group (j) group mean difference sig. input-oriented tasks direct feedback cooperative technique visual cues -2.080* -3.571* .000 .000 cooperative technique visual cues -1.495* .000 output-oriented tasks direct feedback cooperative technique visual cues -2.942* -5.953* .000 cooperative technique visual cues -3.013* .000 *the mean difference is significant at the 0.05 level table 6 reveals that in both inputand output-oriented tasks, the visual cues technique and the cooperative group technique were significantly more effective than the direct corrective feedback on the production of collocations. in addition, visual cues turned out to be more effective than the cooperative group technique on the production of collocations. discussion the findings of this study showed that visual cues were the most effective scaffolding technique in the development of receptive and productive knowledge of lexical collocations in comparison with the two other scaffolding strategies, cooperative group technique and direct corrective feedback. there are a number of studies which lend support to this finding (hamzah, 2018; mashhadi & jamalifar, 2015; sadeghi & farzizadeh, 2013). for instance, mashhadi and jamalifar (2015) reported that efl students’ vocabulary learning could be significantly reinforced using visual cues rather than textual enhancement. this finding of the present study is also in line with that of sadeghi and farzizadeh (2013), who compared the impact of pictorial tools and the conventional technique of definition on vocabulary instruction, and concluded that visual tools strongly affected word learning. in line with the findings of this study, hamzah (2018) also reported that the picture word inductive model (pwim) was significantly more effective on vocabulary learning than the control condition. this finding also substantiates milton’s (2009) claim that if words are associated with images, learners remember them better. scaffolding strategies on receptive and productive knowledge naserpour & zarei 126 no. 23 the reason may be because visually-mediated information is dually rather than singly coded. this means that the findings of this study approve the basic tenets of the dual-coding theory. pictures activate the different parts of the brain and reinforce cognitive power, hence facilitating learning. further support for this finding of the study comes from zarei and khazaie (2011), who observed that laptop-based delivery of multimodal items is a useful pedagogical tool to teach new vocabulary. the findings of this study also showed that the cooperative group technique was the second effective scaffolding technique. this finding may be congruent with swain (2010), who states that facilitative co-creation of language can help solve learning problems. as a matter of fact, interactive learning provides a context in which the use of language and language learning can dialogically co-occur. similar to the findings of the present study, hayati and ziyaeimehr (2011) showed that the writing accuracy of the students who received joined construction tasks significantly improved. likewise, ahmadpour and yousefi (2016) also came up with a finding in agreement with that of the present study. they concluded that group work significantly fosters learners’ language acquisition. however, unlike the present study, the focus of their study was on grammatical points. this finding of the present study may also confirm johnson, johnson, and smith’s (2014) contention that cognitive restructuring or elaboration can occur throughout active participation and collaboration, consolidating new information into the current cognitive structures. furthermore, the results of the present study implied that although direct corrective feedback was effective on learners’ comprehension and production of lexical collocations, it had the least effect compared to visual cues and the cooperative group technique. this finding is in agreement with the finding of zarei and mousavi (2016), who found that direct feedback, in comparison to indirect and peer feedback, was less effective on efl learners’ lexical collocations recognition. in agreement with the findings of the present study, alipanahi and naghiloo (2016) also reported that direct corrective feedback had the lowest effect on lexical and grammatical collocations learning, whereas indirect feedback and self-correction were more beneficial. these results may be due to the fact that direct corrective feedback is almost similar to the traditional methods of learning in which the teacher is responsible for students’ learning. on the other hand, in contrast with this study, westmacott (2017) and almasi and nemat tabrizi (2016) concluded that direct feedback was more effective than indirect feedback on language learning. the reason for this difference may be that their study compared the effect of direct and indirect feedback on students’ grammatical and writing proficiency, whereas the focus of this study was on lexical learning. another reason may be the number of the participants, in that westmacott’s study was constrained to only six learners. scaffolding strategies on receptive and productive knowledge naserpour & zarei 127 no. 23 furthermore, the findings of this study stress the role of task orientation in lexical collocations achievement. the results revealed that the output-oriented tasks led to significantly better comprehension and production of lexical collocations than inputoriented tasks. this finding corroborates swain’s (2000) output hypothesis, based on which output tasks, due to their challenging nature, evoke efl learners to process information more deeply. a number of previous studies lend support to this finding (alavinia & rahimi, 2019; salimi & shams, 2016; vosoughi & mehdipour, 2013; webb, 2005). for instance, alavinia and rahimi (2019) and vosoughi and mehdipour (2013) concluded that students using productive tasks learn substantially more vocabulary compared to those using receptive tasks. further support for this finding comes from salimi and shams (2016), who concluded that output-based tasks were more beneficial than input-based tasks in enhancing learners’ writing ability. webb’s (2005) study was also in line with this finding. he reported that productive tasks like sentence writing are more successful than receptive tasks in improving word knowledge. in addition, the results of roohani et al. (2017) revealed that output tasks were more successful than input ones in enhancing the learners’ wtc, although both input and output tasks were significantly effective in improving grammatical accuracy. conclusion and implications the findings of this study suggest that visual cues have positive effects on the comprehension and production of lexical collocations. pictures can assist learners in making associations between words and images, and learning may be facilitated to a great extent (milton, 2009). from this, it may be concluded that the dual-coding theory is applicable to collocations learning. it is also concluded that the application of colorful pictures in teaching new lexical items can bring images of reality into classes (hill, 1990) and create a cheerful, enjoyable atmosphere, which makes learners enjoy their learning. this finding can encourage textbook developers to include suitable pictures in their books to capture learners’ attention to unfamiliar collocations and to make them notice the different aspects of input. the results of this study also indicated that the learners also benefited from the cooperative group technique in lexical collocations learning. it may be concluded that, if appealing visuals are supplemented with a variety of group or whole-class activities, students may experience far more viable learning. specifically speaking, integration of visual cues and cooperative activities can provide opportunities for students to work more on abstract words, the meaning of which may not be accurately conveyed using pictorial tools (thornbury, 2004). based on the findings of this study, it is advisable for language educators to do their instruction via visual aids like blackboard drawings, digital images, wall pictures, charts, flashcards, etc., along with appropriate collaborative activities. furthermore, from the finding that direct feedback was the scaffolding strategies on receptive and productive knowledge naserpour & zarei 128 no. 23 least effective factor in collocations learning, it may be concluded that teachers should resist the temptation to respond to every student error directly and move away from an interventionist approach towards more interactionist ways of teaching. moreover, the finding that output tasks were more efficient than input-oriented tasks, results one in the conclusion that adhering to the comprehensible input hypothesis and hoping that production will emerge once learners are ready might be leaving too much to chance, and that applying a bit of gentle pressure to learners to produce collocations may, in the long run, do them more service. thus, this finding may be useful for language educators and material developers in the sense that they can design productive tasks that include a combination of pictures and group activities. output tasks that are scaffolded by the integration of pictorial cues and cooperative activities may optimize the learning of collocations. this can occur only if language teachers become aware of the value of productive tasks and the importance of using scaffolding techniques like picture presentation and group activities in teaching collocations. scaffolding strategies on receptive and productive knowledge naserpour & zarei 129 no. 23 references ahmadpour, l., & yousefi. m. h. 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(2016). the effects of feedback types on learners’ recognition of lexical collocations. international journal of applied linguistics & english literature, 5(2), 150-158. scaffolding strategies on receptive and productive knowledge naserpour & zarei 134 no. 23 authors * azam naserpour holds a ph.d.  in tefl.  she has been teaching as a lecturer at lorestan and ayatollah borujerdi universities, iran. she has written some books and published several academic articles in national and international journals. her primary research interests concern second language acquisition, psycholinguistics, language assessment, and teacher education.   orcid: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2398-7616 abbas ali zarei associate professor in tefl, is currently a member of academic staff at imam khomeini international university (ikiu) in qazvin. he has had 57 books and 125 papers published. he has also attended and presented at 75 conferences across the world. orcid: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6062-6633 how to reference this article:naserpour, a., & zarei, a. a. (2021) on the effectiveness of scaffolding strategies and task orientation on receptive and productive knowledge of lexical collocations. gist – education and learning research journal, 23, 107–134. https://doi. org/10.26817/16925777.1130 teaching phonological awareness to students khasawneh scaffolding strategies on receptive and productive knowledge 4 editorial carlo granados-beltrán* we are pleased to present this new issue of the education and learning research journal – gist. this edition covers three main topics: the impact of english in a content class, the knowledges and competences required for pre-service language teachers, and the pedagogical uses of technological devices to foster skills. our first contribution by maíz, from spain, describes how university lectures can take a different shape in terms of the type of questions posed when using english as a medium of instruction, instead of spanish. for bilingual contexts, this study is really useful at underlining how teachers and students’ use of questions varies depending on the language used for instruction. the second topic concerning the articles, initial teacher education, is a key element in the advancement of the countries, since teachers are the ones who help to cultivate new generations of subjects able to respond to the increasing demands of society, such as the development of informed citizenship, the adaptation to multilingual and multicultural societies, and the talent to take advantage of an ever-changing technological world. therefore, many professors in initial language education programmes are inquiring about the body of knowledge that might compose the education of pre-service teachers. arias-cepeda and rojas delve into linguistics as one of the foundational disciplines of foreign language teaching, but whose didactics has not been frequently explored. therefore, they share some partial results of a study aiming to re-interpret the role of this discipline in the curriculum of a bilingual education programme and the advantages it could offer to future english teachers. another concern in relation to teacher education is the way in which we can foster research competences. in this line of thought, camacho looks into french theory, specifically deleuze and guattari’s logic of sense and their notions of experimentation, in combination with inquiry-learning, to support research and argumentation skills to further the construction of teachers as transformative intellectuals. burgin and daniel also approach a common subject of interest for teacher educators, which is how to address multilingual and multicultural contexts, in this case, represented by indigenous no. 14 (january june 2017) no. 14 (january june 2017) 5 communities in ecuador. this study exemplifies the emergent interest in latin american countries in how to promote local practices in relation to foreign language teaching which better respond to contextual educational needs. becoming a transformative intellectual who inquires about ways to respond to local needs also implies being able to communicate research findings to local and international academic communities, action which is mostly done through academic writing. therefore, marulanda and martínez decided to take a multi-strategy integrated approach to strengthen this skill with a group of pre-service teachers. to close with this common thread of language teacher education, bautista shares a review of kumaravadivelu’s key work understanding language teaching. from method to postmethod, which has been paramount in encouraging new language pedagogies aiming to identify and respond to local needs, to foster the professionalization of language teaching – instead of its categorization as art and craft –; and to analyse how wider educational issues, such as political, economic and social phenomena impinge on language teaching. finally, two of the articles in this issue demonstrate how professors are trying to make the most of technological tools by combining them with a pedagogical basis. this is the case of devia and garcía who explored podcasting along with collaborative learning to promote oral skills in a group of tenth graders from a public school. also, celis, onatra and zubieta decided to use educational videos in combination with affective learning to help vocabulary learning in a group of fifth graders. it is our hope that this edition serves to encourage fellow members in the educational community to share results of their projects and to bring about new research that helps to strengthen our network and to contribute to the work being done in schools and universities. *carlo granados-beltrán holds an ma in british cultural studies and elt from the university of warwick and an ma in applied linguistics to tefl from universidad distrital. currently, he is doing a phd in education at universidad santo tomás. he is a teacher researcher at the ba in bilingual education at única. he has been teacher of the language department at universidad central, the ba programmes in spanish and languages and spanish and english at universidad pedagógica nacional and the ba in modern languages at universidad javeriana. also, he has been guest lecturer for the ma in language teaching at uptc. no. 14 (january june 2017) no. 14 (january june 2017) 6 questions in english as a medium of instruction versus non-english as a medium of instruction lectures1 las preguntas en clases magistrales impartidas en inglés como medio de instrucción (emi) frente a las clases no impartidas en inglés como medio de instrucción (non emi) carmen maíz arévalo2* universidad complutense de madrid abstract university lectures are by far the most common method of teaching at spanish universities. more recently, however, this knowledge transmission has become increasingly interactive. students’ participation and verbal output becomes especially important in classes where the language of instruction is not the students’ mother tongue but a second or foreign language such as english since it gives them the opportunity to produce output in that second language. one of the ways to allow for students to participate is the lecturer’s use of questions. the aim of this study is to compare the same lecturer’s use of questions in her mother tongue or l1 (spanish) versus her lectures in english (l2). more specifically, i intended to answer the following research question: is the frequency and type of questions affected by the language of instruction (spanish vs. english)? it is hypothesized that questions will be more frequent in english so as to boost verbal interaction between the lecturer and the students and allow them to produce verbal output in english. to test this hypothesis, a group of six lectures by the same lecturer (3 in english and 3 in spanish) was analyzed, involving two groups of students taking the same subject albeit in one of these two languages. according to expectations, results show that english lectures display a slightly higher frequency of questions than those in spanish. 1 received: november 10th 2016/ accepted: april 17th 2017 2 cmaizare@filol.ucm.es maiz gist education and learning research journal. issn 1692-5777. no.14. (january june) 2017. pp. 6-31. r es ea rc h a rt ic le s no. 14 (january june 2017) no. 14 (january june 2017) 7 however, a qualitative analysis also reflects interesting aspects of the type (and characteristics) of questions in english. key words: questions, english as medium of instruction (emi), tertiary education resumen la clase magistral sigue siendo el método más común de enseñanza en las universidades españolas. sin embargo, se ha experimentado un giro hacia una transmisión de conocimientos más interactiva en los últimos tiempos. la participación y producción oral de los alumnos cobra mayor relevancia cuando las clases se imparten en una lengua diferente (l2) a la lengua materna de los alumnos (l1), ya que se les da la oportunidad de emplear dicha l2 en un contexto más oral. una de las maneras en que se permite participar a los estudiantes es el uso de preguntas por parte del profesor. este estudio tiene como objeto comparar el uso de tales preguntas por parte de un profesor en clases impartidas tanto en su l1 (español) como en la l2 (inglés). más concretamente, mi objetivo es dar respuesta a la siguiente pregunta: ¿se ven la frecuencia y el tipo de preguntas afectadas por el idioma empleado para impartir la clase (l1 frente a l2)? mi hipótesis es que las preguntas serán más frecuentes en l2 con el fin de potenciar la interacción verbal entre el docente y sus estudiantes, permitiéndoles una mayor producción oral en inglés. para testar dicha hipótesis, se analizó un grupo de seis clases magistrales impartidas por la misma profesora (3 en inglés y 3 en español) y recibidas por dos grupos de alumnos que cursan la misma asignatura, pero en uno de estos dos idiomas. los resultados muestran que, parcialmente de acuerdo con lo esperado, las clases en l2 despliegan una proporción de preguntas algo mayor que las impartidas en l1. sin embargo, un análisis de tipo más cualitativo también refleja interesantes conclusiones sobre el tipo (y las características) de las preguntas en l2. palabras clave: preguntas, inglés como medio de instrucción, educación universitaria resumo a aula presencial continua sendo o método mais comum de ensino nas universidades espanholas. porém, recentemente ocorreu uma virada com relação à transmissão de conhecimentos mais interativa. a participação e produção oral dos alunos adquire uma maior relevância quando as aulas são transmitidas em uma língua diferente (l2) da língua materna dos alunos (l1), posto que se dá pra eles a oportunidade de empregar a l2 em um contexto mais oral. uma das maneiras em que os estudantes têm autorização de participar é com uso de perguntas por parte do professor. este estudo tem o objetivo de comparar o uso de tais perguntas por parte de um professor em aulas transmitidas tanto na sua l1 (espanhol) quanto na l2 (inglês). com mais exatidão, o meu objetivo é responder a pergunta a seguir: observa-se a frequência e o tipo de perguntas afetadas pelo idioma empregado para dar a aula (l1 diante da l2)? a minha maiz no. 14 (january june 2017) no. 14 (january june 2017) 8 hipótese é que as perguntas ocorrerão com mais frequência em l2, com o fim de potenciar a interação verbal entre o docente e seus estudantes, permitindolhes uma maior produção oral em inglês. para testar essa hipótese, foi analisado um grupo de seis aulas presenciais transmitidas pela mesma professora (3 em inglês e 3 em espanhol) e recebidas por dois grupos de alunos que cursam a mesma disciplina, mas em um destes dois idiomas. os resultados sinalam que, parcialmente de acordo com o esperado, as aulas em l2 desdobram uma proporção de perguntas algo maior que as transmitidas em l1. embora isso, uma análise de tipo mais qualitativa também reflete interessantes conclusões sobre o tipo (e as características) das perguntas em l2. palavras chave: perguntas, inglês como meio de instrução, educação universitária questions in e.m.i. in lectures maiz no. 14 (january june 2017) no. 14 (january june 2017) 9 introduction university lectures are by far the most common method of teaching at university level. this is usually the case in spanish universities where lectures are the traditional, cost-effective and most practical way of transmitting information to large numbers of undergraduates. in recent decades, however, this knowledge transmission has experienced a change from a more monological nature towards a more interactive, conversational style where both the lecturer and the students co-construct the discourse (ferris and tagg, 1996; flowerdew, 1994; hyland, 2009; morell, 2004, 2007; sánchez garcía, 2016, among others) even if the control of the conversational floor still lies in the lecturer’s hands. in northcott’s (2001, pp. 19-20) words, an interactive lecture can be defined as: a classroom learning event for a large (more than 20) group of students primarily controlled and led by a lecturer and including subject input from the lecturer but also including varying degrees and types of oral participation by students. more recent studies on academic spoken discourse also reveal that interaction helps develop a good rapport between the lecturer and students; therefore, creating a more relaxing atmosphere that enhances participation by the latter (crawford camiciottoli, 2004; fortanet, 2004; morell, 2004a, 2004b, 2007; ibrahim et al. 2009, among others). participation thus becomes a welcome class routine where knowledge is not simply transferred from the teacher’s notes to those of the students’. however, the popularity recently gained by interactive lectures does not merely respond to a change in teaching styles or the desire on the lecturers’ part to create a more relaxing atmosphere for students. it is also triggered by the deeply rooted belief that a more conversational, interactional style fosters the students’ comprehension and knowledge acquisition which are, after all, the main aims of any lecture (hall and verplaetse, 2000; seedhouse, 2004; walsh, 2006, inter alia). as pointed out by walsh (2006, p. 36), “conversation is the essence of all classroom dialogue, the prime force through which meanings are negotiated, concepts explained and understood, exchanges of opinion given”. this notion of interaction as the main motor for comprehension goes back to vygostky’s socio-cultural theory (1978). social constructivist pedagogy places the emphasis on the active interaction between teachers and students in order to co-construct knowledge and promote understanding as opposed to the more traditional transmission pedagogy, where the focus lies on “transmitting information and skills articulated in the curriculum directly to students” (cummins, 2005, pp. 113-114). questions in e.m.i. in lectures maiz no. 14 (january june 2017) no. 14 (january june 2017) 10 enhancing interaction can become more challenging if the language of instruction is not the learners’ mother tongue but a second language (l2). in these educational contexts like clil or classes where english is the medium of instruction (emi henceforth), a more interactive style plays a vital role since it can help these learners to improve both their levels of understanding and their linguistic competence in the l2 by allowing them to produce their own output (dalton-puffer, 2006; de graaff et al., 2007; flowerdew, 1994; flowerdew and miller, 1996; griffiths, 1990; ibrahim et al., 2009; nikula et al. 2013; núñez and dafouz, 2007; sánchez garcía, 2011; 2016; thompson, 2003; among others). interaction, however, is only real if lecturers both wish to provide for interaction and, more importantly, if they are aware of how to be genuinely interactive. one of the ways to allow for students to participate is the lecturer’s use of questions (walsh, 2006; bamford, 2005; crawford camiciottoli, 2008; dafouz & sánchez garcía, 2013; sánchez garcía, 2011; 2016) since, as argued by chuska (1995, p. 7), “all learning begins with questions. questions cause interactions: thought, activity, conversation or debate”. the aim of this study is to contrast the use of questions by the same lecturer in her l1 (spanish) versus her l2 lectures (english). more specifically, i intend to answer the following research question: is the type of questions (and their frequency) affected by the language of instruction? it is hypothesized that the type of questions employed (see section 2) will vary according to the language of instruction, with each type being also affected with regard to its frequency. to that purpose, a university lecturer of economics was video-recorded while delivering six lectures in the same subject (“financial accounting”), three of them in spanish and the rest in english. data was then manually analyzed from a quantitative3 and qualitative point of view. finally, a reflective feedback interview with the lecturer herself intended both to shed light on qualitative aspects of her teaching that the analyst might not have borne in mind and to raise the lecturer’s awareness of her own classroom discourse so as to attain more effective instruction. 3 given the limited size of the dataset, however, the quantitative analysis does not include statistic tests but focused on the tendencies observed regarding frequency. questions in e.m.i. in lectures maiz no. 14 (january june 2017) no. 14 (january june 2017) 11 literature review in his analytical framework, walsh (2006, p. 67) distinguishes 14 interactional features4. remarkably, four of these features are questions, which reaffirm their privileged status when it comes to promoting interaction between lecturers and their students. questions have long been considered as the most appropriate instrument to promote interaction since they require a response from the students when performed by the teacher and vice versa. as ibrahim et al. (2009, p. 96) point out, “questions during lectures serve as structuring devices to drive the talk forward, to introduce new topics and generally direct the focus of the interaction.” the importance of questions as specially interacting mechanisms explains the broad literature they have generated in second language education for several decades (e.g. banbrook and skehan, 1989; cullen, 1998; white and lightbrown, 1984; among many others). this interest has more recently extended also to clil and emi contexts from primary and secondary education to tertiary education (e.g. daltonpuffer, 2006, 2007; llinares and pascual-peña, 2015; menegale, 2011; nikula, 2007; nikula et al., 2013; pascual-peña, 2010; sánchez-garcía, 2010, 2016; to mention just a few). since results still do not allow for generalizations (nikula et al., 2013, p. 78), the present study intends to contribute to this area by providing additional data regarding the use of questions in emi classes in tertiary education, more specifically in university lectures where english is used as the medium of instruction to teach contents other than language (e.g. economics and finance). even if all questions share the fact of being performed in the interrogative mood (or in the declarative mood with rising intonation); the functions they perform in the discourse are markedly different. following previous taxonomies (e.g. dalton-puffer, 2007; sánchezgarcía, 2010; 2016), it is possible to distinguish five types in the corpus under study: rhetorical questions, display questions, comprehension checks, referential questions and clarification checks. rhetorical questions are those where the teacher asks a question for which s/he is not expecting any response whatsoever and hence does not provide listeners with any time to answer them. the main function of 4 these interactional features of the self-evaluation teacher talk (sett) framework are: scaffolding, direct repair, content feedback, extended wait-time, referential questions, seeking clarification, confirmation checks, extended learner turn, teacher echo, extended teacher turn, turn completion, display questions and form-focused feedback. questions in e.m.i. in lectures maiz no. 14 (january june 2017) no. 14 (january june 2017) 12 these questions is to serve as a discursive landmark for the introduction of new concepts or to make listeners think about a particular concept. in rhetorical questions, the speaker may provide the answer herself or the answer “is left up it in the air” (sánchez-garcía, 2010, p. 23). examples from the corpus are (1) and (2)5, both produced by the teacher, who asks and immediately answers her own question without producing any pause between the question and its answer, which shows they are not intended for the students to answer but as a rhetorical device: (1) [l1] what are the names that we use to call loans? load debt, bank debt (2) [l4] ¿tiene algún significado que yo ponga los gastos al haber y los ingresos al deber? no tiene ningún sentido. [does it mean anything that i put the expenses in debit and the income in credit. it doesn’t make any sense.] display questions are those where the information is already known by the teacher (dalton-puffer, 2007). morell (2004, pp. 4-5) defines these questions as those which serve “to verify students’ knowledge”. display questions encourage interaction in the sense that students are expected to provide a response. however, it is questionable whether they foster real interaction in as far as they do not involve real communication (although see boyd and rubin (2006) and lee (2006)). as argued by menegale (2011, p. 86), a major drawback of display questions is that by using this type of questions, teachers can keep control of the lesson procedure and of the time. yet, as a result, with the answer being nearly a univocal solution, students could be afraid of responding if unsure of the response and this unease can limit their participation to a greater extent. display questions characteristically follow the irf (initiationresponse-follow-up move) structure found in general educational discourse (sinclair and brazil, 1982), as illustrated by examples (3) and (4) below, where the teacher (t) produces the initiation move as a question (to which she knows the answer as the content expert) and students (ss) reply. the students’ correct response is positively evaluated by the teacher in the third move or follow-up: 5 all the spanish examples are immediately followed by their translation into english. in all the cases, each example is preceded by the number of the lecture [l…] where the example comes from. questions in e.m.i. in lectures maiz no. 14 (january june 2017) no. 14 (january june 2017) 13 (3) [l1] t: the company… purchases land and cash. is ok? so, land, what it is a land? ss: asset t: assets, ok [t nods approvingly] current or not current, what do you think? ss: not current t: not current assets, ok. ok? ok, another more? eh, iñigo, please, read it. (4) t: si tuviera el dinero limitado y hubiera que pagarle a alguno, ¿a quién le pagarías antes? ¿a los proveedores o a los acreedores? s1: a los acreedores. t: (she looks at the students and smiles) ¿a quién? s2: a los proveedores. t: a los proveedores. porque ellos son los que te están generando el beneficio luego si tú vendes. ¿lo ves? [t: if i had limited money and had to pay somebody, whom would you pay before? the providers or the creditors? / s1: the creditors. / t: (she looks at the students and smiles). who? / s2: the providers. / t: the providers. because they are the ones who are generating the benefit if you sell. do you see it?] comprehension checks are questions where the teacher monitors whether the students are following her explanations. they are usually performed linguistically in the corpus by formulaic expressions like “is it ok?” or the spanish “¿vale?”. example (5) illustrates another of these formulas in spanish (“¿lo veis?” –i.e. do you understand?). (5) [l4] t: [overlaps with student] ¡las mismas! pero si no hago nada, sí, de acuerdo. pero algo habrá que hacer, ¿no? porque mucha casualidad, mucha mucha casualidad tiene que pasar para que las existencias iniciales coincidan con las finales. ¿lo veis? entonces, lo que tenemos que hacer aquí [circles one part of the blackboard] es lo que se llama la regularización ¡qué nombre más feo! ¿verdad? regularización de las mercaderías. [the same ones! but if i don’t do anything, yes, okay. but something must be done, musn’t it? because it is a huge chance, very very big chance for initial stock to coincide with final stock. do you see it? then, what we have to do here is what is called regularization. what an ugly name, isn’t it? merchandizing regularization.] questions in e.m.i. in lectures maiz no. 14 (january june 2017) no. 14 (january june 2017) 14 as illustrated by (5), students are not really expected to respond to comprehension checks verbally as shown by the fact that the lecturer goes on holding the conversational floor without giving any response time. a non-verbal response –e.g. a nod –is enough to show students are indeed following the explanation. if they are not, they can produce a clarification request (see below). in contrast to the former types, referential questions are genuine questions to which the teacher does not know the answer and hence trigger authentic output from the students (musumeci, 1996; sánchezgarcía, 2010). examples (6) and (7) illustrate this type of questions in both languages: (6) [l1] t: no, first here. and you have to tell him the … what are you doing? tell. s: (inaudible) [talks to the teacher and the other student at the blackboard] (7) [l5] t: ah jaja, buena pregunta. ¿tú qué crees? (1’) s: que no. [t: ah, haha, good question. what do you think? /s: i think it doesn’t.] referential questions are particularly interactive since they promote real communication between the student(s) and the lecturer insofar as a real question is taking place and the student usually has to provide a more “creative” answer rather than simply remembering a piece of information or answering with a yes-no answer (which can even be non-verbal). as stated by dafouz and llinares (2008, p. 51), “display questions generate interactions that are typical of pedagogic or didactic discourse, while referential questions generate interactions typical of social communication”. despite their highly interactive potential, however, referential questions tend to be sparsely used in classroom discourse (cf. pascual peña, 2010; sánchez-garcía, 2010). for example, pascual peña (2010) found that only 17% of the questions used in her corpus were referential. however, not all referential questions boost interaction to the same extent. in this respect, it is worth pointing out the distinction between convergent and divergent referential questions. in menegale’s words (2008, p. 112): the difference between the convergent and divergent question is clear. whereas the convergent question, also referred to as ‘closed question’ (pica, 1994) as it is information-seeking in nature and results in simple elicitations of factual information, does not require original thought or critical reflection and the possible answers are limited, generally short and recall previously questions in e.m.i. in lectures maiz no. 14 (january june 2017) no. 14 (january june 2017) 15 memorized information, a divergent question requires the application of knowledge, not just the recalling of information. hence, divergent referential questions not only lead to high order thinking skills but also allow for more extensive students’ output in the l2. on the other hand, convergent referential questions may ask for information unknown to the teacher but lead neither to the student’s complex thinking processes nor longer conversational turns. clarification requests can be produced either by the teacher or the student and take place when communication has partially or totally failed and needs repairing, as illustrated by example (8), where the teacher had not heard the student’s comment and asked for clarification: (8) [l5] t (t has not heard s’s question) ¿perdona, cómo dices? [excuse me, what did you say?] in this case, the teacher had not properly heard the student’s response and she sought for clarification, so that the student had to repeat his answer. it could be argued, hence, that clarification requests are not interactive mechanisms proper since they are intended as conversational repair strategies when, for example, noise impedes correct hearing of the previous utterance (schegloff, 1992). for the sake of clarity, table 1 summarizes the different types of questions and provides a brief definition as well as an example of each type: table 1. types of questions questions in e.m.i. in lectures maiz no. 14 (january june 2017) no. 14 (january june 2017) 16 methodology the following section describes the methodology employed in the current study. more specifically, it starts by describing the participants and why they were chosen to be involved in the study. secondly, it focuses on the data-gathering process itself and describes the corpus compiled and employed in the present study. participants this study involves two groups of undergraduate students and their common lecturer. each group consisted of approximately 50 students of an average age of 18-19 years old. these students were doing its first year of the degree in economics and finance at the complutense university of madrid in spain. this degree is part of the university’s pilot program where the same degree is being taught in spanish with a simultaneous pilot version in english, which means both groups of students follow the same contents albeit in different languages. in this case, they also share the same teacher in the subject financial accounting as well as the same amount of teaching hours, with a total of four hours per week (two days a week). besides the students involved, this study focuses mainly on the lecturer. she is a spanish female teacher who taught economics at the complutense university for more than a decade. together with other colleagues, she took part in this pilot program without any special training, any previous experience of teaching in an l2 or any extra salary. however, she was extremely motivated and took part in this pilot project for five years. before the actual study took place, there was a prior informal interview with the lecturer, where she was informed of the research and she expressed her motivation and willingness, in her own words, “to know if i’m doing things right”. this led her to volunteer as a participant in our research group’s project and be videorecorded during her lectures6. as for the students, all of them were asked for their consent before recording the lectures. they all expressed no disagreement to have their lectures recorded. in addition, all personal identification was carefully avoided to protect their privacy. 6 the author would like to express her sincere gratitude to the lecturer who collaborated in this research. many thanks go too to her research colleagues for their support and constructive criticism as well as to the anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments. questions in e.m.i. in lectures maiz no. 14 (january june 2017) no. 14 (january june 2017) 17 data collection and corpus description as already pointed out, the lecturer and students were previously informed about the research, and they all consented to be recorded. hence, six parallel lectures on the same topic (three in english and three in spanish) were video-recorded by this researcher and other members of the research group to which she belongs. to avoid altering the normal development of the lectures as much as possible, the camera was placed in a side of the lecture room, facing the teacher and with the majority of the students sitting with their backs to the camera. researchers recording the sessions were present but refrained from speaking or moving around with the camera, which was fixed in the same position throughout all the sessions. this posed the advantage of not altering the normal developing of the lecture since both students and the lecturer admitted forgetting the camera was there after a while. however, it entailed a major disadvantage since the lack of mobility affected sound quality when the lecturer was distant from the camera and some of the students’ responses (especially those far from the camera) were inaudible. in this case, this has also been indicated in the transcription in square brackets (i.e. [unintelligible]), as have pauses and other paralinguistic aspects. the choice in the number of lectures followed seedhouse’s credo that “classroom research […] has considered between five and ten lessons a reasonable database” (2004, p. 87). the data gathered in this way amount to a total of 540 minutes and a word count of over 46,000 words. as already mentioned, transcription was kept simple for the sake of clarity and only pauses, inaudible segments or other paralinguistic information (e.g. the teacher raising her voice in anger when students were not paying attention) have been indicated by means of square brackets where this information is given. to ensure transcription was as loyal and valid as possible, several researchers compared their transcriptions and also counted on the lecturer’s help to complete unclear fragments. to ease comprehension, the lecturer also provided the researchers with the visual aids she used in her lectures (e.g. power point presentations). table 2 below summarizes the description of the corpus employed in the analysis in terms of number of words per language: questions in e.m.i. in lectures maiz no. 14 (january june 2017) no. 14 (january june 2017) 18 table 2. description of the corpus as can be seen, not all the lectures have the same number of words. this is due to the fact that, in some lectures where students were required to do exercises and tasks in class (e.g. lectures 2 and 5), there was more student collaboration in smaller groups whilst the teacher was monitoring their progress rather than lecturing as such. data analysis and interpretation once transcribed, a manual search for questions in the dataset was carried out. context (including co-text) was determinant to classify questions into the already mentioned five types: rhetorical questions, comprehension checks, display questions, referential questions and clarification checks. manual search was favored over (semi)automatic programs given that some elements may clearly be multifunctional and an automatic search might fail to identify these different functions. for example, “ok?” can be used as a comprehension check, a referential question or clarification check depending on the context. to measure the global frequency of questions over other speech acts, the total number of utterances was compared with the number of questions and the corresponding ratio was thus calculated (see table 3). secondly, the frequency of the different types of questions was calculated taking into account the total number of questions in the corpus (see table 4). table 3. ratio of questions per total number of utterances questions in e.m.i. in lectures maiz no. 14 (january june 2017) no. 14 (january june 2017) 19 results in the corpus under study, it is possible to distinguish these five types according to whether they involve more or less interaction between the lecturer and the students (see table 1). inspection of the data shows that results prove to be partially expected since the lecturer employed different types of questions in l1 and l2. more specifically, the following tendencies regarding the type of questions used were observed as illustrated by table 4 below: table 4. type of questions used in the english and spanish lectures close observance of the data reveals that rhetorical questions are much more frequently used by the lecturer in spanish than english (15.5% and 5.5% respectively). as already mentioned, however, rhetorical questions do not trigger interaction proper but serve as discursive device. this higher frequency of rhetorical questions in the spanish dataset may be due to spanish language academic style where rhetorical questions are to be expected and characteristic of such a style (vázquez, 2006). examples (9) and (10) illustrate rhetorical questions in spanish and english, respectively: (9) [l2] t: en el examen no no podemos hacer la estructura que nos dé la gana, tenemos que hacer esta estructura, ¿por qué? porque es la estructura de la ley. [in the exam we can’t, we can’t do the structure we feel like, we have to follow this structure, why? because it is the legal structure]. (10) [l3] t: how? the answer is how i record for these expenses in the books of my company? no, so we we don’t know. and the second question: what kind of information do you need to record in transaction? […] do you know it? that’s that’s that is what we are going to learn today. in (9), the teacher asks “why?” and immediately provides the answer herself, which shows this is intended as a rhetorical question. in (10) she does the same with “how?”, answering her own question. however, after her second question in the same conversational turn (“and the second question: what kind of information do you need to record in transaction?”), she pauses slightly as marked by […] and tries questions in e.m.i. in lectures maiz no. 14 (january june 2017) no. 14 (january june 2017) 20 to elicit the question from the students (“do you know it?”). however, she does not give any time to answer and uses her second question to frame the contents of today’s lecture (“that’s that’s that is what we are going to learn today”). in this latter case, it seems the teacher initially intended the question as a display question but by not providing enough thinking time for the students to answer, it turned into another rhetorical question which helped frame the lesson’s main contents. with regard to display questions, results show that the teacher employs them slightly more often in english than in spanish (40% and 33% of the cases). in fact, they are the most common type of question in the english dataset and the second one in the spanish sample. this is to be expected, since her questions are primarily targeted at retrieving from the students the fundamental concepts and the way they are expressed in l2. thus, even if the class is not a language class (or even a clil class proper), one of the mechanisms characteristic of efl lessons is mirrored in these emi lectures, as illustrated by examples (11) and (12) below, in english and spanish lectures respectively, where the display question by the lecturer is the initiation move (i), followed by the response move by the students (r) and, finally, a follow-up by the teacher (f). this is the classic i-r-f sequence of classroom discourse (sinclair and brazil, 1982): (11) [l2] t: here you have the search strategy. how many? ss: three t: three. (12) [l4] t: ¿cuál es forma jurídica más usual en españa? [what is the most common legal regulation in spain?] s: la sociedad limitada [the limited liability company] t: la sociedad limitada. [the limited liability company] more interestingly, comprehension checks behave against expectations, since the teacher uses them slightly more often in spanish (45.5%) than in english (39%). this is totally unexpected since it would seem more reasonable for the teacher to check comprehension when lectures take place in l2 rather than in the students’ mother tongue. quite remarkably, when asked in the feedback interview why she thought she acted this way, the lecturer claimed that students learning in l2 had the advantage of being what she called “blank slates” meaning that they did not come to class with the “vices” regarding terminology they had in their mother tongue. in other words, many of the concepts she explains in her classes had their spanish colloquial counterpart questions in e.m.i. in lectures maiz no. 14 (january june 2017) no. 14 (january june 2017) 21 with, sometimes, a totally opposed meaning. for example, the spanish word activo has a variety of meanings in spanish but its technical meaning in this field is “economic resources owned by a business that are expected to benefit future operations” (moreno alemay, 2008, p. 28). this polysemy, far from helping students understand better, may hinder their comprehension of the subject in their mother tongue. in contrast, learning such technical terms directly via a second language may actually help the students remember jargon better, since they are not influenced by their mother tongue. moreover, students may be more motivated to learn technical vocabulary given that, as moreno alemay (2008, p. 28) points out: when students hear these examples, they realize the importance of studying the subject of accounting in a foreign language, and feel they are building their vocabulary, because all these are words seldom learned in a languages course. regarding referential questions, inspection of the data shows that those employed in the english lectures double those employed in spanish (7% versus 3.5%, respectively). however, a qualitative analysis reflects that some of these questions may not really be referential questions. in fact, on the rare occasions where the lecturer employs these questions, she does so in two main contexts. on the one hand, she uses these questions in order to confirm students’ names: (13) [l6] t: ¿eras carolina también? “was your name also carolina?” (14) [l1] t: sorry, i forgot your name. what is your name? on the other hand, the lecturer also seems to employ these questions as indirect requests –e.g. to ask for silence, to tell students off or to ask for a volunteer, as in (15) and (16): (15) [l3] t: silence, please. what happens today? (16) [l4] t: no, first here. and you have to tell him the … what are you doing? tell. s: [inaudible] [talks to the teacher and the other student at the blackboard] hence, it could be argued that, even though the teacher does not know the answer, these are convergent referential questions where students can do with very short answers (i.e. their names) or even nonverbal responses (i.e. going to the blackboard to do the exercise at hand) rather than having a longer turn to produce their own output. questions in e.m.i. in lectures maiz no. 14 (january june 2017) no. 14 (january june 2017) 22 finally, clarification requests are slightly more frequent in english than spanish. when used by the teacher (0.5% in english versus 0.4% in spanish), they act as repair mechanisms when she has not heard the student’s answer7, as in (17) and (18): (17) [l3] s: the income statement? t: what? s: the income statement (18) [l4] s: [inaudible] t: ¿perdón? [excuse me?] however, clarification requests are typically carried out by students when they have a question related to the previous teaching or instructions, as exemplified by (19) and (20): (19) [l3] s: …so can we… decide xx? t: no, it’s depending on the… the evolution of the content. i mean i have plan around the second, the second week of march s: …ok. (20) [l5] t: ahora dice que, durante el ejercicio dos mil nueve, compra cincuenta lavadoras, vamos a hacer la compra, multiplicamos eh las cincuenta lavadoras por ciento cincuenta… [now it says that, during the year 2009, he buys 50 washing machines, we are going to go shopping, we multiply eh, the 50 washing machines for 150…] s: ¿por qué es un número distinto? [why is it a different number?] t: sí, porque lo he cambiado. luego si queréis hacemos ese, pero quería hacerlo más sencillo todavía. ¿vale? [yes, it is, because i have changed it. we can do that one later, but i wanted to do it even easier, ok?] in terms of frequency, clarification checks by students are more common in english than in spanish (8% versus 2.1% respectively). this may be due precisely to the fact that it is harder for them to follow the class in a foreign language and they feel more need to clarify doubts and make sure they have understood correctly than when the lecture is delivered in their mother tongue. quite interestingly, however, close 7 the large size of the classroom and its orientation (teacher-fronted) makes it hard to hear students’ comments, especially if they are sitting at the back. this was also a major limitation when video-recording the classes, since students’ comments and answers were mostly inaudible (except for those sitting next to the video-camera). questions in e.m.i. in lectures maiz no. 14 (january june 2017) no. 14 (january june 2017) 23 inspection of the data also reveals that students’ clarification checks follow a different pattern in spanish compared to english. in the english lectures, students usually wait for the teacher’s turn completion (or what learners intuitively regard as a relevant transition point). this is illustrated by extracts (21) and (22), where clarification checks by students have been marked in bold for the sake of clarity: (21) t: credit, yes, thank you. reserves and all the equity accounts are the credit balance. just see, please, in this place (points at board), capital includes the, huh, credit balance, ok? s: so, is it the balance [pause]? t: yes, but we always use balance, which means the difference between all the amounts in the debit and all the amounts in the credit. and the difference is the balance and always the assets, always the assets account has debit balance. all the equity and liability account have credit balance, always. s: [longer pause] (the student asks an inaudible question) t: yes! s: and the assets are called debit? t: yes, and expenses always the in the expenses account always have debit balance, cause it’s similar, the assets and the expenses are very similar. […] be careful, credit, always credit it is an asset cause is the money that you lend to another person, to other huh firm s: like clients t: no, other firm, it’s money, money that you. when you, when you ask for a loan, you receive money so you have a debt and we call bank debt. s: and the credit? t: and the credit is when you give money to other firm, this right we call credit. s: ah (22) s: ¿y el precio del coste es el mismo siempre o cómo? [s: and the costing price is always the same or how is it? ] t: ah jaja, buena pregunta. ¿tú qué crees? [ah, haha, good question. what do you think?] s: que no. [i don’t think so] t: vete a la vida real. la… [think about real life. the…] s: que no. questions in e.m.i. in lectures maiz no. 14 (january june 2017) no. 14 (january june 2017) 24 in contrast to english (see example 21), where students wait for the lecture to reach turn completion, in the case of spanish, the students tend to overlap with the lecturer (as in example 22) and do not wait for turn completion (“vete a la vida real. la… / que no”). it is difficult to determine whether these overlaps are due to the spanish fast conversational pace, where it is customary for overlapping and interruptions to take place (nikleva, 2009; gallardo-paúls, 1993) or to the fact that students feel more confident when speaking their mother tongue than a foreign language. a combination of both factors seems to be the most plausible explanation. confidence in the use of their mother tongue would also explain why students in the english lectures apparently take longer to ask for clarification than their counterparts. conclusions the present study intended to provide an answer to the following research question, repeated here for the sake of clarity: is the frequency and type of questions affected by the language of instruction (spanish vs. english)? it was initially hypothesized that questions would be more frequent in english (l2) so as to boost verbal interaction between the lecturer and the students and allow them to produce verbal output in english so as to ease comprehension and acquisition of the contents and the language. in addition, it was also expected that the type of questions employed would vary according to the language of instruction. table 3 presented the total number of utterances per lecture together with the ratio of questions. graph 1 below is a visual summary of the ratio of questions per language of instruction: figure 1. global frequency questions depending on language of instruction questions in e.m.i. in lectures maiz no. 14 (january june 2017) no. 14 (january june 2017) 25 inspection of the data reveals that the first hypothesis was only partially confirmed since, except for lectures 1 and 4, where lecture l1 (in english) presented a higher number of questions than its spanish counterpart (l4), in the rest of the cases, the number of questions was the same (lectures l3 and l6) or slightly higher in spanish (lectures l2 and l5). as for the second hypothesis, that the language of instruction (english or spanish) plays a role in the type of questions used, results showed the confirmation of this hypothesis. hence, the lecturer seems to favor some types in her spanish lessons and other types in the lectures she carries out in english. more specifically, rhetorical questions were more numerous in spanish than in english (15.5% versus 5.5%, respectively) possibly due to the fact that the spanish academic style traditionally favors the use of rhetorical questions as a way to organize discourse and to keep the audience’s attention. with regard to comprehension checks, these occurred more frequently in spanish (45.5%) than in english (39%). this result was unexpected since it was anticipated that a lecture in a second language seems to entail more difficulty for the students and hence the teacher might feel more prone to checking comprehension. when interviewed after the data had been analyzed, the lecturer herself explained this higher frequency of comprehension checks might be a result of the negative interference of spanish, where most of these technical terms have an informal, ordinary meaning, usually remarkably different (if not totally opposite). this forced her to make sure the students comprehended the actual technical meaning; hence the more frequent use of comprehension checks in spanish than in english. as for display questions, they were the type most commonly employed in english, maybe to make sure the students learned the technical vocabulary involved in the subject, which was new to most of them as they had never come across such terms in their general english lessons (moreno alemay, 2008). with regard to referential questions, they were more frequent in english than in spanish, doubling their occurrence in the second language. even though it is difficult to explain this result and the lecturer herself was not aware of such a difference, it could be a positive way of letting students produce more output in english to improve their knowledge of the second language. in any case, however, referential questions were still low in frequency and the lecturer commented that she would try to increase their use in future lessons, showing that research can have very positive effects when combined with future action(s) in the classroom (lasagabaster and sierra, 2011). questions in e.m.i. in lectures maiz no. 14 (january june 2017) no. 14 (january june 2017) 26 clarification checks happened to be more frequent in english maybe because of the higher difficulty to follow these lectures in a language which is not the participants’ mother tongue (either the lecturer’ or the students’). furthermore, clarification checks by students also displayed an interestingly different pattern in english and spanish, with more overlap in spanish as opposed to english. this may be due to self-confidence in the mother tongue and the intuitive grasping of the dissimilar conversational structures of spanish and english, with the former displaying more overlapping and the second being more prone to wait for the transition relevant points (tsui, 1994). finally, it is important to acknowledge an important limitation to the present study such as the fact that it focuses on just one lecturer’s discourse. however, this also allows for controlling some variables such as age, linguistic background, teaching experience, since we are dealing with the same teacher. furthermore, the three english lectures duplicate the three spanish lectures, which also avoids other variables (content taught, academic field, etc.) from playing a role. finally, even if generalizations are not possible in a limited study like the present one, we can still observe certain trends that can provide some tips towards most effective teaching styles based on self-observation. in fact, after the study was carried out, a reflective interview with the lecturer showed her willingness to implement future changes in her lessons such as the use of more referential questions, proving the importance of action research in the emi classroom (lasagabaster and sierra, 2011). questions in e.m.i. in lectures maiz no. 14 (january june 2017) no. 14 (january june 2017) 27 references bamford, j. 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(1992). repair after next turn: the last structurally provided defense of intersubjectivity in conversation. american journal of sociology, 97(5), 1295-1345. seedhouse, p. (2004). the interactional architecture of the second language classroom: a conversational analysis perspective. oxford: blackwell. sinclair, j. m., & brazil, d. (1982). teacher talk. oxford: oxford university press. thompson, s.e. (2003). text-structuring metadiscourse, intonation and the signaling of organization in academic lectures. journal of english for academic purposes, 2(1), 5-20. tsui, a. b. (1994). english conversation. oxford: oxford university press. vázquez, g. (2006, november). un análisis didáctico del discurso académico español como contribución a la movilidad estudiantil europea. paper presented at iii congreso internacional de español para fines específicos, utrecht. vygotsky, l. s. 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(1984). asking and answering in esl classes. canadian modern language review, 40(2), 228-44. questions in e.m.i. in lectures maiz no. 14 (january june 2017) no. 14 (january june 2017) 31 author *carmen maíz-arévalo is professor of pragmatics and english at the complutense university of madrid, having obtained her phd in english linguistics in 2001. her fields of interest are mainly pragmatics and intercultural pragmatics; more specifically, speech act theory and verbal (im)politeness in computer-mediated communication. her most recent publications include the articles: “‘small talk is not cheap’: phatic computer-mediated communication in intercultural classes”, published in computer assisted language learning (2017); “jocular mockery in computer-mediated communication: a contrastive study of a spanish and english facebook community” in the journal of politeness research (2015), “just click ‘like”’: computer-mediated responses to spanish compliments”, published in the journal of pragmatics in 2013, ““was that a compliment?” implicit compliments in english and spanish”, also in the journal of pragmatics in 2012 or “you look terrific!’ social evaluation and relationships in online compliments”, co-authored with antonio garcía-gómez and published in discourse studies in 2013. she also acts as a reviewer for different journals such as the journal of pragmatics, sage open, verbeia (journal of english and spanish studies) or revista iberoamericana de tecnologías del aprendizaje. besides her research and teaching, carmen maíz-arévalo is currently the academic secretary of the department of english linguistics at the complutense university. questions in e.m.i. in lectures maiz no. 14 (january june 2017) no. 14 (january june 2017) 135 rethinking curriculum in the linguistics component of a major on bilingual education1 repensar el currículo en el componente lingüístico de un pregrado en educación bilingüe carlos arias-cepeda and sandra rojas2 institución universitaria colombo americanaúnica abstract the aim of this article is to report the partial findings resulting from a phenomenological study that intends to document the theoretical and empirical sources to inform a curricular proposal for the linguistic component of a major on bilingual education. from the theoretical point of view, this paper will present several perspectives about curriculum in tertiary education and the role of linguistics in a major on bilingual education. as for the empirical data, the paper will document how some professors in the second language teaching and linguistics fields, when analyzing the linguistic component of the curriculum in the major, advocate for a conscious use of metalanguage, the choice of content that empower student teachers to build their praxis and compete in their field, the use of the first and second language for instruction, and a switch towards the problemic nature of the object of study rather than the subdiscipline fragmentation of knowledge. this paper also triangulates some of the participants’ perspectives with existing theory in an attempt to reach more informed grounds for a curricular proposal. key words: linguistics, curriculum, bilingual education, tertiary education. resumen el objetivo de este artículo es reportar los resultados parciales derivados de un estudio fenomenológico que intenta documentar las fuentes teóricas y 1 received: february 20, 2017/accepted: april 28, 2017 2 carlos.ariasc@yahoo.com.co/ slrojasmo@gmail.com exploring english language teaching in ecuador gist education and learning research journal. issn 1692-5777. no.14. (january june) 2017. pp. 135-157. no. 14 (january june 2017) no. 14 (january june 2017) 136 empíricas que sustentan una eventual propuesta curricular para el componente lingüístico de un programa de pregrado en educación bilingüe. desde el punto de vista teórico este artículo presentará algunas perspectivas acerca del currículo en la educación terciaria y del papel de la lingüística en un pregrado de educación bilingüe. en cuanto a los datos empíricos, el documento reportará cómo profesores en las áreas de la enseñanza de una segunda lengua y de la lingüística, cuando analizan el componente lingüístico en el currículo del programa de pregrado, advocan el uso consciente de metalenguaje, la selección de contenidos que empoderen a los futuros docentes para construir su praxis y competir en su campo del conocimiento, el uso de la primera y segunda lengua como códigos y objetos de instrucción en lingüística y un cambio de enfoque hacia la naturaleza problémica del objeto de estudio en lugar de la fragmentación subdisciplinar del conocimiento. este escrito además triangula algunas de las perspectivas de los participantes con la teoría existente con el objetivo de lograr unas bases más sólidas para la propuesta curricular. palabras clave: lingüística, currículo, educación bilingüe, educación terciaria. resumo o objetivo deste artigo é reportar os resultados parciais derivados de um estudo fenomenológico que tenta documentar as fontes teóricas e empíricas que sustentam uma eventual proposta curricular para o componente linguístico de um programa de graduação em educação bilíngue. desde o ponto de vista teórico, este artigo apresentará algumas perspectivas acerca do currículo na educação terciária e do papel da linguística em uma graduação de educação bilíngue. em relação aos dados empíricos, o documento reportará como professores nas áreas do ensino de uma segunda língua e da linguística, quando analisam o componente linguístico no currículo do programa de graduação, defendem o uso consciente da metalinguagem, a seleção de conteúdos que dê poder aos futuros docentes para construir a sua práxis e concorrer na sua área de conhecimento, o uso da primeira e segunda língua como códigos e objetos de instrução em linguística e uma mudança de enfoque com relação à natureza problemática do objeto de estudo em vez da fragmentação subdisciplinar do conhecimento. este escrito também triangula algumas das perspectivas dos participantes com a teoria existente com o objetivo de conseguir umas bases mais sólidas para a proposta curricular. palavras chave: linguística, currículo, educação bilíngue, educação terciária. rethinking curriculum in linguistics arias-cepeda & rojas no. 14 (january june 2017) no. 14 (january june 2017) 137 introduction curriculum does not only work as a static and monolithic document that dictates the selection, organization, and delivery of contents based on the conceptual basis, the underlying theory, and the praxis to (gimeno & pérez, 2008), but rather it works as an active process in which continuous planning, acting and evaluating are intrinsically related to the teaching praxis (grundy, 1987). based on this fluid nature, it seems intrinsic to the nature of curriculum that those who enact it take a leading role in reflecting on it, reconceptualizing it, revising the scope of its achievements and redesigning it. the rationale behind curricular innovation could be triggered by the problematization of the knowledge discipline, the role of instruction, or the role of individuals in society. in fact the logical dynamics of knowledge production result in the obsolescence and banalization of contents (cepal, 1992), which might inform curricular revision. a pivotal factor in explaining a curricular update of content, is the progress in teacher’s development (diaz, 2003) -be it the result of teaching experience or further academic appropiation. currently, the need to empower individuals to exercise citizenship and be more competitive (dussel, 2005) is a tenet that also drives attempts for curriculum innovation. the study reported in this article aimed at the gathering of principles to inform a proposal for the linguistic component of the curriculum in a tensemester long undergraduate program on bilingual education (spanish-english) at a private college in bogotá. putting together a proposal for the linguistics curricular component of the major was a response to teachers’ and students’ perception of overlapping of linguistic contents, as well as to the need to strengthen student-teachers’ grounding on linguistics to boost their decision making as language learners, language users, and language (and content) educators. when conducting the study, the main purpose was to identify principles that could be used to inform a proposal that cared about the choice of contents, didactic practices, and practices within the linguistics component of the curriculum. thus, in its initial documentation stage the study resorted to three sources of data: i) a quest of the literature on the theoretical principles for the teaching/learning of linguistics in bilingual education majors; ii) the emic intersubjective perspective of graduates from the university regarding their needs and the assets resulting from their learning of linguistics in the undergraduate program; iii) the emic intersubjective perspective of professors teaching either second language, linguistics, or pedagogy. the principles were eventually rethinking curriculum in linguistics arias-cepeda & rojas no. 14 (january june 2017) no. 14 (january june 2017) 138 applied to the crafting of a proposal that was piloted and implemented as part of the curricular innovation that is allowed and promoted through the curricular committee’s maneuvering, this article is focused particularly on the stage previous to the crafting of the proposal. literature review the covert interests behind curriculum construction the extensiveness of the conceptual terrain that can be embraced by the term curriculum, which can be blurry enough to include dissimilar features such as the disciplinary content of a subject, the program of study, the students’ experiences of learning, and the dynamics of teaching and learning (fraser & bosanquet, 2006; posner, 2005). such inclusiveness offers space for the emergence of a critical perspective that considers curriculum as the space in which, by making choices about content and conceptualizing about education in a field, there is a struggle of power centers and social forces (englund & quennerstedt, 2008). this means that curriculum and curricular change are conceived as intrinsically related to the social, the economic, and the political forces that generate curriculum and curricular change (murphy & adams, 1998). o’neill (2015) acknowledged that curriculum design is marked by the influence of contextual filters which include the international, the national, the institutional, and the program and disciplinary regulations. these contextual filters can be enacted by means of formal, implicit, or prudential policies (kridel, 2010) and shape and instrumentalize the purposes of curriculum at the tertiary level through controlling curricular change at the mechanisms such as the involvement of universities in dynamics beyond the institutional domain; namely, practices of accountability like the quality accreditation processes, examinations, qualifications, and the establishment of authoritative figures (garcía & malagón, 2010; diaz, 2003). the instrumentalization of curriculum at the national level aims at materializing the intrinsic correlation between human thought and production dynamics. schooling reinforces the social anatomy of the nation through two context levels: a production context (material or symbolic) by which curriculum aims at constructing interpretations of material objects, knowledge, and social relations based on the premise of satisfying the needs of the existing social structures; and a reproduction context which aims at the transmission of an education that replicates the conditions of production despite the generation shifts, thus giving rethinking curriculum in linguistics arias-cepeda & rojas no. 14 (january june 2017) no. 14 (january june 2017) 139 curriculum an instrumental nature in the task of preserving the national social structures (lundgreen, 1992). on the other hand, the global filter, particularly at the tertiary level of education, instills the choice of contents and teaching/learning approaches that aim at allowing or even promoting the mobility of learners (o’neill, 2015). bentolila, pedranzani, & clavijo (2007) explain this as a logical consequence of the discursive construct of the global village, the neoliberal policies, and the dizzying pace of icts, which subject knowledge, as it happens with capital, to worldwide transactions. a critique to the instrumentalization of curriculum claussen & osborne (2013) and bourdieu (2000) argue that the formal education system is used to legitimize knowledge by means of imposing the cultural capital of a ruling social group to the rest of the social structure – which can be named as a ‘cultural arbitrary’ (bourdieu, 1986), an epistemologic injustice (gónzalez, 2015) or hermeneutic marginalization (fricker, 2007). this “contributes towards reproducing the power relations” (bourdieu & passeron, 1977 p. 31) and becomes a gatekeeper that discriminates between those individuals who have belonged to the privileged social group from which the cultural capital chosen has been accumulated through their habitus, and those for whom owing this capital is rather an institutionalized demand (jenkins, 2002). nonetheless, such cultural arbitrary is disguised in discourses of essentialism and intrinsic merit of contents emerging from the choice, which aims at a normalization discourse in education (foucault, 2006). schooling achievement, then is influenced by social inequality making education as a good to be traded, which is exemplified by parents having to pay for complementary educational services to make sure their children fit and do well in schooling (garcía & malagón (2010). nonetheless, claussen & osborne (2013) consider that schooling should keep a focus on those students “whose habitus does not readily provide access to the dominant forms of cultural capital” (p. 64) and try to alleviate and challenge the ‘symbolic violence’ emerging from the choice of a dominant cultural capital (bourdieu & passeron, 1977) by strengthening the literacy, knowledge, and criticality of the underprivileged populace. thus, as ironic as it might seem, it is by exposing the underprivileged to the discourses of the dominant cultural capital that social mobility can be made possible (brown, 2006). curriculum, rethinking curriculum in linguistics arias-cepeda & rojas no. 14 (january june 2017) no. 14 (january june 2017) 140 paradoxically, becomes a factor that both helps individuals conform to the existing social structures and emancipate from them, and it is through this clash between freedom and conformance that curriculum/ schooling are shaping the agentive roles of learners. curriculum as the space of convergence of cognitive and social interests the recognition of schooling and, therefore, curriculum as instrumental to the preservation of the existing social structures implies that curricular innovation also becomes a space of permanent power struggles. curricular innovation, then, is like a game where the participants need to acknowledge the cultural capitals (related to knowledge, ideas, values, etc.) that are at stake and be willing to compete by using their habitus to abide by the rules of the game (bourdieu, 2003). the transformation of cognition can set ground for social transformation; thus the social interests behind the construction of curriculum also end up shaping and being shaped by cognitive interests. to that respect habermas’ (1984) acknowledgement of three cognitive interests is very illustrative: the technical cognitive interest considers knowledge as simply owned, transmitted, and accumulated; whereas the practical cognitive interest offers space for interpretative approaches in the pursuit of using knowledge to improve reality. the emancipatory cognitive interest allows individuals to acknowledge and challenge the existence of hypostatized powers in the pursuit of free consciousness. grundy (1987), who applied habermas’ cognitive interests to the understanding of curriculum, described technical interests taking the form of classes in which technical interests predominate, thus giving a crucial role to the possibility of controlling the environment through empirical rule-following action. such curricular attitude towards knowledge results in an implicit interest in controlling pupils’ learning. in this way the approach towards their citizenship (their knowing, their doing, and their being) is a conformist one. grundy (1987) also defined the practical interest as fundamental “...in understanding the environment through interaction based upon a consensual understanding of meaning” (p. 14). a practical interest then gives a more agentive role to the dialogic nature of knowledge construction and highlights the importance of interaction as not limited to the topdown transmission of knowledge (popkewitz, 2008). instead, the focus is on the generation of novel understandings of the world and society and the rethinking curriculum in linguistics arias-cepeda & rojas no. 14 (january june 2017) no. 14 (january june 2017) 141 development of abilities that ease the discovery and inquiry; the emphasis is less on what the individuals should know, and has shifted more towards what they should do or be like (mceneaney, 2003). regarding the emancipator cognitive interest, grundy (1987) considered it as “a fundamental interest in emancipation and empowerment to engage in autonomous action arising out of authentic, critical insights into the social construction of human society” (p. 19). thus, this perspective genuinely intends to bridge the disciplinary nature of curricular content with the problem solving required to make a fairer society. reflecting about the linguistics component of curriculum adopting an informed perspective on what the linguistics component of the curriculum should be like in a major on bilingual teaching is essential provided that such epistemological choice will not just become instrumental to the learning/teaching of (a) language(s), but ultimately will have an effect on the theoretical appropriation of language, the framework for the production of knowledge in the field, and the pedagogical decisions that learners and teachers should make. therefore, it is not enough for linguistics to be made explicit, linguistics problematization should also shift from the positivistic approach to theoretical linguistics, and even further to an interpretative one that can generate new knowledge within a socio ethnographic description of learning realities, thus reaching even applied linguistics (within a critical framework, also) to the teaching of languages. explicit linguistic instruction seems to be a reasonable choice for the learning of a second language due to pedagogical and theoretical grounds. examples include the examination of the belief that exposure to metalanguage along with communicative practice can facilitate a shift from the declarative to the procedural knowledge of a given language feature (ellis, 2007), or the seemingly contradictory view that explicit linguistic instruction will only generate metalinguistic knowledge, without contributing much to the acquisition of implicit knowledge (doughty, 2003). this dialogue between pedagogy, english and spanish as objects of study, and linguistics is necessary due to the demands of a professional identity of bilingual teachers. the implicit needs of such identity include the development of high order thinking and communicative skills in both languages, as well as the understanding of what language is (both as contextually-independent and as contextually-situated), and rethinking curriculum in linguistics arias-cepeda & rojas no. 14 (january june 2017) no. 14 (january june 2017) 142 the understanding of educational principles that align with the learning and teaching of languages. regarding the distinctive learning needs of a major on second language education, correa (2014) acknowledges that learning linguistics in this kind of major differs from learning linguistics in a major on linguistics in english. also treffers-daller (2003) claims that, whereas the learning of linguistic content in major on linguistics works on generating knowledge about cognition, learning linguistics in a major on second language education is pivotal in facilitating the language learning process of those who will eventually teach language nonetheless, it is not just the learning of the second/foreign language that is boosted thanks to the inclusion of linguistic contents in the curriculum of a bilingual education major. it is unfair to expect the linguistic course in a language department to merely work as an instrument to facilitate language learning. in fact, the knowledge of linguistics also empowers pre service teachers in terms of their eventual teaching of the second language, since knowing the metalanguage can become the asset with which nonnative speaker teachers compete in a field where the learner tends to favor the native-speaker and his/her intuitive authority as language users-even if they do not hold language teaching majors (correa, 2014). going beyond the positivistic approach towards the role of linguistics in the learning and teaching of a second language, widdowson (2000) acknowledges that being fully knowledgeable of metalinguistic knowledge does not guarantee success in language teaching. ellis (2012) seems to agree when asserting that having a vast command of a language is not enough for the purpose of teaching it either. effective language teaching then might be the result of solid of reflective practices in the learning of a triad of contents that includes language pedagogy, applied linguistics, and theoretical linguistics as its pillars (johnston & goettsch, 2000). the development of a professional identity for bilingual education teachers implies somehow a new epistemological viewstand. one in which there is not the classical detachment between subject and object to be studied. this makes sense considering that knowledge about linguistics will eventually be more than the sheer content that will be used in the teaching, but also, as noted before, it constitutes a relevant resource for the development of the individual’s identity as a learner and teacher to be. thus, it is keen to consider that devicing the linguistic curricular component for the undergraduate program implies shifting from the rethinking curriculum in linguistics arias-cepeda & rojas no. 14 (january june 2017) no. 14 (january june 2017) 143 positivistic epistemology (which prescribes teaching recipes) to the interpretative epistemology (which advocates for the ethnographic descriptions of classroom learning realities), as johnston (2009) suggests. such espistemological shift will allow to consider the three dimensions of learning: the declarative knowledge (savoir), the procedural knowledge, or know-how (savoir faire), and the existential competence (savoir être), as delors (1996) would acknowledge. this threedimensional understanding of linguistic knowledge urges for an understanding of linguistics within the linguistics turn, which is rooted in the discipline itself, to generate ways of knowing about the language, but also to frame the knowledge within the social sciences. this latter approach will help learners/teachers-to-be understand language as a social phenomenon that is highly situational and contextuallydependent. furthermore, the path should be explicitly open for understanding the poststructural, and post-colonial turn that unveils the historical complicities between linguistics and colonialism and the call for linguistics and epistemological justice (pennycook, 2001). therefore, it would be savvy to adopt a new conception of the linguistics component of the curriculum that aligns with such understanding. ultimately, the approach that is given to curriculum will not be just accountable for the mastery of the language, and the existing language methodologies but will also result in the development of bilingual teachers’ identities (kumaradivelu, 2003) as passive technicians (whose teaching practices will be led by others’ expertise) reflective practitioners (who are not just consuemers of knowledge, but also producers of knowledge who deal with problem solving in their immediate teaching settings) and/ or asr transformative intellectuals (who take active part in curriculum development efforts and challenge the existing social structures). methodology research design the study is framed into a qualitative research paradigm that allows the intertwining of facts and values (marshall & rossman, 2006) that tandem with the dialogic construction of knowledge to gather the data to answer to the question: which theoretical and empirical sources can be used in the proposal of restructuration of the linguistic component of the undergraduate program on bilingual education? rethinking curriculum in linguistics arias-cepeda & rojas no. 14 (january june 2017) no. 14 (january june 2017) 144 such inquiry implied the need of resorting to i) the theoretical constructs that can inform a proposal to reform the linguistic component of curriculum, and ii) the validation of experiences and needs observed by professors (with experience teaching linguistics and/or second language at the tertiary level of education in similar majors) and graduates (from the bilingual education program at the university) as input to be considered in the crafting of a curriculum proposal for the linguistics of the major. the construction of the principles that make up the curriculum proposal seen through the lens of multiple individuals (researchers’ appropriation of literature included) imply that the approach being followed is a phenomenological one (creswell, 1998). context and participants the study was conducted at a bilingual education teachers’ college in bogotá. colombia. at the moment that the study started, the existing contents in the curriculum included subjects that dealt with linguistics from the social/post structural turn in the beginning of the major. content such as ‘intercultural communication’, ‘communication theory’, or ‘sociolinguistics’ was dealt with in the early stages of the major. the classes were conducted in the foreign language in the pursuit of helping learners develop language through content and content through language. no linguistics subject was being taught in the learners’ first language. besides, towards the seventh semester students were exposed to systemic linguistics classes (where they were expected to learn about language as a system). the intention of the study is to inform an eventual curriculum proposal for the linguistic component of the major without sacrificing the existing quality of the student -teachers as certified by positive results obtained in pruebas saber pro and mide, which are two standardized high stakes assessment procedures from the men (national ministry of education) in aspects like critical reading and written communication, and way above the reference group in english. the main concern is offering an informed proposal for the restructuration of the linguistics curriculum with the premise of maintaining, and, if possible, improving the evident quality of the education offered till then by the college in its curriculum design and curricular practices. the participants in this research included 8 linguistic and language teachers with experience in efl (english as a foreign language) education majors, 5 graduates with a highly reflective profile and a furtherly developed career path. there was a phenomenological convenience sampling; professors and graduates’ profile allowed their rethinking curriculum in linguistics arias-cepeda & rojas no. 14 (january june 2017) no. 14 (january june 2017) 145 informed reflection based on experience and knowledge of pedagogy, languages and linguistics with an emic (insider’s) perspective due to either having taught at similar majors (in the case of professors) or having graduated from the college and pursued a career in teaching (which for most of the participants included even further graduate studies). from interviewing the students, graduates, and teachers, one could read that this approach to linguistics seemed to generate both satisfying results in the generation of a professional identity but also some setbacks (namely overlapping contents, or the feeling that the understanding of language as a system came in too late in students’ learning path). graduates’ perceptions towards their linguistic learning allowed the emergence of a consciousness of language and linguistics as a body of knowledge that they had often accumulated declaratively, but which was difficult to manipulate for the purposes of handling with ‘out of the norm’ challenges when teaching the language (e.g. the challenge of helping large classes learn the pronunciation of th sounds or simple past, the teaching of third person conjugation in present tense, etc.). data collection instruments the study was conducted by resorting to three main sources of data, intending to gain insight on the theoretical and empirical sources that could be used in the proposal of restructuration of the linguistic component of the undergraduate program on bilingual education (which the research question aimed at). the three main sources of data were: i) literature and state of the art (related to curriculum, linguistics, and esl/ bilingual education teaching), ii) interviews to 8 teachers, linguists, and professors who have experience teaching linguistics and/ or second language at the level of tertiary education, and iii) interviews to 6 college graduates with solid academic profile and experience teaching. the data collected from the sources was used for the purpose of addressing theory, experience, and expectations and also to align with the vision of a curriculum that can address the educational, the experiential, and the existential dimensions (council of europe, 2010), as explained in the review of the literature. rethinking curriculum in linguistics arias-cepeda & rojas no. 14 (january june 2017) no. 14 (january june 2017) 146 results the meatalinguistic discourse permits the belonging to a society of knowledge metalinguistic knowledge allows student–teachers to resort to theory and researchbased explanations for their learning and eventual teaching of language(s), and also permits that they generate knowledge in the efl field by being able to name and document their own learning and teaching experiences as a valid researchable sources. the participants pointed out that learning the metalanguage resulting from instruction on linguistics facilitates the development of knowledge. “a common discourse facilitates the cognitive divulgation, the academic rigor, and the acceptance within the academic community.” (interviewee 2). such perspective seems to be theoretically backed up since language teacher education does have a tradition of including training on linguistics (lafond & dogancay-aktuna, 2009), and at the tertiary level education programs do not give much value to superficial knowledge that is purely declarative (biggs & tang, 2007). through their learning of linguistics, studentteachers gain ’knowledge of how language is structured, acquired, and used’(johnson & golombek, 2002, p. 8) and empower themselves to be able to understand and diagnose student problems better, provide better explanations and representations for aspects of language, and have a clearer idea of what they are teaching (bartels, 2005). the metalanguage facilitates that language educators rationalize their role as language acquirers, language users, and language makers (gomes de matos, 2014), thus boosting their opportunities of generating new knowledge about language. it is this epistemological dimension in which the knowledgeable subject is as important as the object to apprehend in which knowing the linguistic terms can offer an agentive role to the student-teacher as a source of linguistic knowledge and boost him/her as a researcher. as an example, despite the fact that research on linguistics has resorted to the consolidation of linguistic corpora (an initiative that might be rooted in the quantitative approach), there is need for an inquirer, someone who intuitively asks questions, generates hypotheses, and interprets data departing from the linguistic corpus data (kabatek, 2014). cots and arnó (2005) view the language teacher as a professional who fulfils roles involved in language, linguistics, and teaching, thus being a language user, a language analyst, and a language teacher. the pre-service teacher does not come as a tabula rasa, neither does s/he rethinking curriculum in linguistics arias-cepeda & rojas no. 14 (january june 2017) no. 14 (january june 2017) 147 simply analyze linguistic data. s/he is an empathic linguist (kabatek, 2014): a language user and language maker who in his/her own activity as speaker –hearer develops the ability to identify noteworthy phenomena not just from the (system) language itself but also from the languages s/he knows and learns. as bilingual beings who have acquired a mother tongue and have taken instruction to learn a foreign language, the pre-service teachers have a metalinguistic background that allows them to analyze their language use, identify deviations of norms, categorize and hypothesize phenomena, and inquire systematically to generate new knowledge of language, languages, and language teaching/learning. the premise is that the speakers can observe their own linguistic activity and judge not just whether a sentence is grammatically correct or not, but also can generate contrastive linguistic inquiries, and can examine learning from an emic, experiential view point that can later inform their instruction, and eventually generate knowledge about the content (linguistics), its teaching, and its learning. the need for a balance between homogeneity and heterogeneity in the choice of content participants agree that the choice of content for the linguistic component of the major needs to be coherent with the vision that the institution ascribes to the role language and linguistics in the construction of the professional profile of its graduates. such vision must keep a balance between homogeneity and heterogeneity when compared to the value given to linguistics by similar majors in other universities. homogeneity of content choice (choosing contents similar to the ones provided by similar majors in other universities) guarantees that the graduate from the college will be competitive when compared to other professionals in the field: “a language program needs a serious foundation on linguistics… four, five, six subjects of linguistics that have contents that are established everywhere. generally, there is a course of sociolinguistics. which are the topics of a sociolinguistics class? the same ones everywhere… the socio-phonic variables, socio lexical variables, sociogrammatical variables, bilingualism, etc. that means that there are some topics in the linguistic courses that are instructed worldwide at the undergraduate level. contents are relatively standardized” (interviewee 1). rethinking curriculum in linguistics arias-cepeda & rojas no. 14 (january june 2017) no. 14 (january june 2017) 148 this participant argues that homogeneity is a requirement that allows graduates to be ready to compete at the local and the international academic contexts: “if one deviates from the common contents, it is likely that the graduates become less competitive at the international level, and that is relatively harmful” (interviewee 1). such homogeneity in the choice of content (when compared to other similar majors in other universities) seems to be applicable to the study of language from an intradisciplinary perspective, which seems to align with pastor’s (2001) idea that a sine qua non choice in linguistic contents is the understanding of language as a system— phonology and phonetics, morphology, syntax, semantics. such kind of intradisciplinary perspective is also favored by the content choice of similar majors in latin america. heterogeneity of content choice, on the other hand, can result in the generation of an added value for the major when compared to other competitors in the area. “the program profile is established by the universities when they state “we want this sort of professionals.” the subjects are chosen based on such profile. even optative subjects are chosen based on it. they can offer a course on conversation analysis, a course on linguistics applied to computerized teaching of languages… there are numberless courses that can be created in that space…they are some sort of identity mark, an added value”. (interviewee 1) the offer of either compulsory or elective courses on some of the subdisciplines of linguistics seems to be for this participant one of the reasons why a conscious content choice can strengthen the university identity giving the learners competitive advantages over other colleagues once they graduate. changing the focus: problematizing rather than specializing content nonetheless, (and radical though it might seem) another participant asserts that it is not necessary to label the linguistic courses (e.g. phonetics, syntax, etc.), since by naming them one is arbitrarily isolating instruction and producing some sort of fragmentation of knowledge. she considers that such fragmentation does no guarantee learning. rethinking curriculum in linguistics arias-cepeda & rojas no. 14 (january june 2017) no. 14 (january june 2017) 149 “if it is necessary to include labels, they should be thought always as the result of the binding emerging from problems found in the teaching praxis”. (interviewee 5). this latter participant (along with what could be read from the data collected of other participants) inclines for a change of focus that prioritizes the problemic nature of instruction over the subdiscipline level of content specialization. the relevance of theoretical and structural content, according to the participants’ opinions, could/ should be accompanied by a practical focus: “in the didactics of linguistics, one has the possibility of making the studentteachers work on concrete problems from day one of instruction (…) concrete problems that can be solved the very moment explanatory instruction is provided” (interviewee 1). this convergence on content as resulting from the problematization of the object of study advocates for a synthetic approach (rather than an analytic one) to the generation of knowledge. this based on the fact that reality is not as fragmented as the subdiscipline specialization of content implies. from that view, curricular proposals should depart from the object of study and its problemic nature to eventually allow the convergence of the disciplines and sub-disciplines in a field for the appropriation of knowledge. “the labeling of content subjects is a fatidic fact since it compartmentalizes knowledge. it separates phonetics from semantics, and both from pragmatics, instead of joining them. the isolation of contents results in a poor, less meaningful, learning. if it is necessary to label the subjects, such labeling should be thought as the result of the connections and be always based on problems that have been determined in the teaching practice. phonetics connects with english and its teaching. it is difficult to understand how a first semester learner can start to learn english without getting familiar with the sounds, without distinguishing which sounds we do not have in spanish. that is why they always say /tri/ to mean the number. if phonetics is not worked communicatively from the beginning such familiarization is difficult” (interviewee 5). a bilingual student-teacher needs ample knowledge of the structure of the language and its usage, but also competences to apply such knowledge to his/her immediate reality. the learning and teaching problems that emerge out of experience can urge the individual to join a systematic and collective search for solutions. joining a research group, for instance, allows students to acknowledge and appropriate the links rethinking curriculum in linguistics arias-cepeda & rojas no. 14 (january june 2017) no. 14 (january june 2017) 150 between disciplines and thus find meaning for their learning events (jurado, 2014). the teaching and learning challenges occurring inside the classroom and the teachers and students’ approach to them become valuable input for the teacher to exert his/her role as a responsible active citizen who will not be a giver of methodology or content, but rather someone who will understand his /her profession as subjected to constant change. code of instruction: using the ‘language as a resource’ perspective rather than the ‘language as a problem’ when teaching linguistics in a bilingual education major the ‘language as a resource’ perspective (baker, 2006) conceptualizes language diversity as a capital promoted by the discourse of human capital flow and global citizenship (rasool 2004). for the purpose of understanding linguistics and the knowledge of language as a cultural construction, as vehicle of cognition and as a functional system, the fact that the learners can resort to two languages (l1 and l2) should be considered an advantage and not a problem. the language (tongue) used to get knowledge of language should be a solid instrument and not an obstacle. learners must be able to use the language they are using as code of instruction for a linguistics class as a tangible materialization to recognize linguistic phenomena (e.g. distinguishing allophones), make grammatical judgments, or simply understand content of theoretical linguistics; however, after even some 6 or 7 semesters of instruction in a second language, students are not fully capable of doing all of this in the l2 (correa, 2014). five of the participants acknowledged that it is necessary to approach the understanding of the language by departing from the mother tongue as the vehicle of instruction, and then, progressively, incorporating the foreign language. “i would lean for formal teaching of linguistics in the first language and then to deepen it in the second language” (interviewee 1). “it is important that the learner have knowledge in the mother tongue and then use it to move on to the second language” (interviewee 2). such position does not exclude the learning of linguistics in the early stages of the efl learning: “it is necessary that both codes play a role in the early stages of formation in an alternate and balanced manner” (interviewee 3). rethinking curriculum in linguistics arias-cepeda & rojas no. 14 (january june 2017) no. 14 (january june 2017) 151 nonetheless, for one of the participants it is pivotal that the content of linguistics be not detached from the learning of the language(s) (the l1 and l2), neither should it be detached from research or pedagogy. an integrative perspective as such in the learning of linguistics is intended to facilitate the understanding of the linguistic features of the mother tongue, the language being learned, and the more informed choice of tools so that the linguistic knowledge boosts eventual pedagogical decisions and the critical analysis of theories of bilingualism in the immediate and further contexts. this set of opinions from the interviewed participants suggests that we avoid demonizing any of the linguistic codes (languages) in any stage of linguistics teaching. one of the participants even suggests that the learning of linguistics be aided by professionals in the two languages: “we should understand bilingualism as the co-existence of two linguistic codes in perfect harmony, thus both codes should be accepted. two languages in one same subjectenglish classes with readings in spanish, and the other way around, for example.” (interviewee 4). this interviewee’s opinion validates both languages as the objects and means of study linguistic phenomena; language is viewed both as human construction and a capability (jiménez, 2011) that is worth looking in depth at. pastor (2001) considers the contrastive analysis of languages essential to disentangle the linguistic distance between first and second language thus improving our acknowledgement of the most common mistakes caused by language interference. that seems to be in agreement with one of the participants’ perspective, who advocates for not demonizing the use of the first language: “we need to make the bilingual studentteacher understand that the two languages are not a threat to one another but there are mechanisms of construction of knowledge in a language that can be used in the learning of the other one. it is important that the educators then be ‘very bilingual’ in order to help understand such mechanisms. the native spanish speaker who has a very competitive command of english and has gone through the exercise of analyzing his own language and the one he has been learning, can really help the bilingual learner” (interviewee 5). thus, the first language is a resource that can be used not just as a vehicle to transmit the knowledge of linguistics but also as an instrument to understand language’s system and structure more rethinking curriculum in linguistics arias-cepeda & rojas no. 14 (january june 2017) no. 14 (january june 2017) 152 tangible. besides, the use of the l1 as the code for linguistic content can facilitate the appropriation of the concepts and its application to generate more sophisticated knowledge of the mother tongue and further its sophisticated development. the beliefs of experienced teachers, include the idea that a solid knowledge of the first language should be fostered, since it facilitates an eventual contrastive analysis with the l2 (cortés, cárdenas & nieto 2013). conclusions linguistic instruction in bilingual education has mostly been problematized from an intra-disciplinary edge with contents that consider language as a functional system (phonetics, morphology, syntax, semantics, etc.), and as a discipline that is fed with interdisciplinary contents (which signals the ties that linguistics has with other fields of knowledge from the social sciences resulting in sub disciplinary labels such as psycholinguistics, sociolinguistics, neurolinguistics, etc.). however, the curricular needs of bilingual teachers urge for an appropriation of applied linguistics, and particularly linguistics for the teaching of (content in) english for speakers of spanish as a mother tongue. decisions to innovate in the existing curriculum of an undergraduate program on bilingual education cannot be taken, not even proposed, without having a responsible glance at the myriad of sources that from theory and from experience can inform a curriculum proposal. both literature and participants converge in the principle that linguistics is necessary for such a major, but that not any linguistics, but one linguistic approach that matches the needs of bilingual student teachers. that is, linguistic contents that are not solely chosen on the basis of the traditional fragmentation of knowledge, but rather based on the problemic nature of the object of study: the language, and the languages. thus, the particularity of the academic bilingual context implies the recognition of both languages not just as valid codes of instruction, but also as examples of the materialization of the principles by which language as a human construct works. the restructuring of the linguistic component of the curriculum can be fed with the pedagogies used in teaching in general, and in the teaching of the second language in particular. such conclusion also resulting from the data analyzed out of interviews carried out, can be gathered to align with principles of constructivism, the competences of the 21st century, problem based learning, project and task based learning, linguistics as an instrument for the construction of peace, and the organization of contents by departing from thematic units that foster authentic performance. rethinking curriculum in linguistics arias-cepeda & rojas no. 14 (january june 2017) no. 14 (january june 2017) 153 references baker, c. 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(2003) variation in teaching: two perspectives on teaching linguistics. llas ocassional papers, 1214. widdowson, h (2000) object language and the language subject: on the mediating role of applied linguistics. annual review of applied linguistics 20, 2133. rethinking curriculum in linguistics arias-cepeda & rojas no. 14 (january june 2017) no. 14 (january june 2017) 157 authors *carlos augusto arias-cepeda holds an m.a. in applied linguistics to tefl from universidad distrital francisco josé de caldas and is currently studying a phd on education with emphasis on elt in the same university. he is currently working as a fulltime professor at the institución universitaria colombo americana (única), where he has taught linguistics, pedagogy, research, and english. his research interests include efl, linguistics, language identity, and critical discourse analysis. *sandra liliana rojas molina holds a b.a in philology and languages from unviersidad nacional de colombia and a m.a. in applied linguistics to the teaching of languages from barcelona university. she is currently working as a parttime professor at the institución universitaria colombo americana (única), where she has taught subjects including linguistics, language and society, pedagogy and second language, and communication theory. rethinking curriculum in linguistics arias-cepeda & rojas no. 14 (january june 2017) no. 14 (january june 2017) 97 exploring teachers’ use of technology in classrooms of bilingual students1 mayra c. daniel and john e. cowan2* northern illinois university abstract this article presents results of an investigation that documents teachers’ perceptions of the contribution of technology use in classrooms of bilingual learners. study questions asked how teachers perceive teacher-made digital movies impact learning, and what situational factors delimit technology infusion. data gathered in focus groups and surveys indicate teachers perceive appropriate technology gives bilingual students greater access to academic language. results strongly suggest that school administrators control access to technology. keywords: technology, multi-modal instruction, bilingual learners, academic language resumen es articulo presenta los resultados de una investigación sobre las percepciones que tienen los docentes frente a la contribución de la tecnología en el aprendizaje de estudiantes bilingües. las preguntas de investigación pretenden conocer la apreciación de los docentes sobre el uso de material digital diseñado por ellos mismos, el impacto que estos generan en el aprendizaje de los estudiantes y los factores situacionales que limitan el uso de la tecnología. los datos obtenidos a través de los grupos focales y las encuestas aplicadas a los participantes revelan que los docentes perciben que el uso adecuado de la tecnología permite a los estudiantes bilingües ampliar el acceso al lenguaje académico. los resultados sugieren que los directores de las escuelas controlan el uso de la tecnología. palabras claves: tecnología, enseñanza multimodal, estudiantes bilingües, lenguaje académico. 1 received: july 28th, 2012 / accepted: august 15th, 2012 2 email: mcdaniel@niu.edu, jcowan@niu.edu gist education and learning research journal. issn 1692-5777. no. 6, november 2012. pp. 97-110 no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) 98 resumo este artigo apresenta os resultados de uma pesquisa sobre as percepções que têm os docentes frente à contribuição da tecnologia na aprendizagem de estudantes bilíngues. as perguntas de pesquisa pretendem conhecer a apreciação dos docentes sobre o uso de material digital desenhado por eles mesmos, o impacto que estes geram na aprendizagem dos estudantes e os fatores situacionais que limitam o uso da tecnologia. os dados obtidos através dos grupos focais e as pesquisas de opinião aplicadas aos participantes revelam que os docentes percebem que o uso adequado da tecnologia permite aos estudantes bilíngues ampliar o acesso à linguagem acadêmica. os resultados sugerem que os diretores das escolas controlam o uso da tecnologia. palavras chaves: tecnologia, ensino multimodal, estudantes bilíngues, linguagem acadâmica. exploring teachers’ use of technology in classrooms of bilingual students in this investigation we collaborated with a group of educators enrolled in a program to satisfy requirements from the state of illinois in the united states (us) to teach bilingual students. we asked the teachers to integrate digital media technology, windows moviemaker, into a lesson designed to promote academic english language acquisition and also focused on formative assessment. two professors, one with a background in preparing teachers to work with bilingual students, and one who prepares teachers to integrate technology in instruction, guided the educators as they developed their lessons. besides supporting the educators in the design of their lessons, we asked the teachers to consider their use of technology as participation in a system of activity that includes rules, tools, and people (engeström, 1987). we involved the teachers in the tasks of creating the technology as well as examining how their school system made it possible or difficult to add a technology component to instruction. study results demonstrate that it can be an arduous task for teachers to get around protocols in their schools that control access to technology even when they want to do so and believe it benefits their students. exploring teachers´ use of technology in classrooms of bilingual students daniel & cowan no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) 99 bilingual learners in schools student populations are changing in their linguistic diversity and teachers are responding by looking for ways to make disciplinary specific language comprehensible to all learners. in the us approximately a quarter of all children are born to immigrant families (suárezorozco & suárez-orozco, 2009). these learners speak about 460 different languages (kindler, 2002), and the overwhelming majority, some 79.5%, speak spanish as their primary language (goldenberg & coleman, 2010). the teachers who were part of this study were in graduate school as a reaction to their need to learn new strategies to work with bilingual learners. many were monolingual mainstream teachers teaching students from different language backgrounds at various levels of english language proficiency. considering the changing demographics, advocacy and quick action are needed to develop and implement curricula to effectively teach academic language and help teachers to design and implement pedagogies that incorporate current technology. please note that in this article we will refer to bilingual learners as english language learners (els). academic language researchers support multi-modal instruction for els because it provides them scaffolds to understanding with pictures, words, music, and text that adds context to the learning (chamot, 2009; echevarria, vogt, & short, 2008). appropriate technology can help a teacher develop this student centered pedagogical approach. technology can facilitate second language acquisition because it can be used to enhance intercultural communication (erben, ban, jin, & summers, 2007). task-based and content language instruction that involves learners as active participants emphasizing process over product came to the fore in the 1990’s (nunan, 1999; snow and brinton, 1988). we cannot overlook what research suggests benefits second language learners. with the right technology, els can collaborate with classmates to complete interactive tasks that make good sense to them and result in language learning. we know that it is not easy for els to learn the majority language as well as master the content they are taught (august & shanahan, 2006; short & fitzsimmons, 2007). we also know that good teachers address the culturally influenced learning styles of their students (pang, 2005; chow & cummins, 2003). they investigate the els’ funds of knowledge in order to assure the learner can relate to what is taught (gonzález, moll, & amanti, 2006). multi-modal instruction can be a exploring teachers´ use of technology in classrooms of bilingual students daniel & cowan no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) no. 6 (nov. 2012) 100 medium to offer content-rich contexts that both address and add to els’ funds of knowledge while focusing on listening, speaking, reading, writing, and discussion (cummins, brown, & sayers, 2007; kelley, lesaux, kieffer, & faller, 2010). it is important to find the right balance to teach disciplinary content and develop cross-disciplinary skills and strategies (chamot, 2009). in addition, cummins’ early development of the bas