profile 4 2003.p65


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* Rocío Mahecha SánchezRocío Mahecha SánchezRocío Mahecha SánchezRocío Mahecha SánchezRocío Mahecha Sánchez holds a B. Ed. in Philology and Languages, English-Spanish from Universidad Nacional de Colombia,
1992. She has worked at Politécnico Gran Colombiano and at the Universidad Javeriana. Professor Mahecha also has taught in the
Extension Programme at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia. In addition, she has worked with children at the SED-Bogotá in the
English Programme and in secondary schools.

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Enseñanza de la lengua inglesa a niños y adolescentes:Enseñanza de la lengua inglesa a niños y adolescentes:Enseñanza de la lengua inglesa a niños y adolescentes:Enseñanza de la lengua inglesa a niños y adolescentes:Enseñanza de la lengua inglesa a niños y adolescentes:

Algunas refleAlgunas refleAlgunas refleAlgunas refleAlgunas refle xiones acerxiones acerxiones acerxiones acerxiones acerca de mi eca de mi eca de mi eca de mi eca de mi experienciaxperienciaxperienciaxperienciaxperiencia

Rocío Mahecha SánchezRocío Mahecha SánchezRocío Mahecha SánchezRocío Mahecha SánchezRocío Mahecha Sánchez *****
I.E.D. Policarpa Salavarrieta

rossymas@yahoo.com

In spite of the harsh environment teachers from the official sector have had  to
work in, teaching English to children and young learners is a challenging, demanding,
hard, but pleasant activity. I am going to write about my experience teaching primary
and high school, the difficulties I have encountered, and also the satisfaction of doing
my best in this profession.

KKKKKey worey worey worey worey words:ds:ds:ds:ds: English-Teaching, Children Second Language Acquisition, Adolescents
Second Language Acquisition, Teaching-Primary School, Teaching-High School

A pesar de la difícil situación que han vivido los maestros del sector oficial, la
enseñanza de la lengua inglesa a niños y adolescentes es una actividad desafiante,
exigente y sumamente gratificante. En las siguientes líneas escribiré sobre mi
experiencia en la escuela primaria y secundaria, las dificultades que he encontrado y
además, la satisfacción de hacer lo mejor en mi profesión.

Palabras claves:Palabras claves:Palabras claves:Palabras claves:Palabras claves: Inglés-Enseñanza, Adquisición de segundo lenguaje en niños,
Adquisición de segundo lenguaje en adolescentes, Enseñanza-Escuela primaria,
Enseñanza- Escuela secundaria

THE CHALLENGE OF PRIMARYTHE CHALLENGE OF PRIMARYTHE CHALLENGE OF PRIMARYTHE CHALLENGE OF PRIMARYTHE CHALLENGE OF PRIMARY
TEACHINGTEACHINGTEACHINGTEACHINGTEACHING

I have been learning English since I was inhigh school. Then, when I left school, Ifelt I could not say I had learned it. Before
leaving the University, I started teaching English
at a university where I learned a lot. I met
interesting people and all kinds of students: those
who hated the language, and others who changed

their minds because of the imprint I left on them
by teaching a subject I like very much. There I
understood what being a teacher means. Some
years later, I applied for a job at the Secretaría de
Educación del Distrito Capital Bogotá (SED). I
was assigned teacher of English for the primary
level. I was required to teach English in four
primary schools. At the beginning it was difficult
for me because I was afraid of that challenge,
since I had not been prepared to teach children.



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That challenge meant starting from scratch.
At university we were never taught how to teach
children nor what to teach them. Teachers who
got a job at SED were sent to different schools
to fulfill the demands of the General Law of
Education, but without any training, pedagogical
knowledge, and, worst of all, without the most
basic amenities. The principals did not know what
we were going to do. Fortunately, that situation
only lasted 6 or 8 months for me.

Nevertheless, what was unknown to me became
an important part of my life. Thanks to the training
workshops the teachers of English in the elementary
level were given by the SED under the leadership
of a teacher educator who knew what to do with
all these human resources, we started to learn how
to implement English at that level. We also
discovered alternatives to foster the students’
motivation and to offer them an opportunity that
only pupils from some private schools have been
given: having access to English learning. Through
monthly meetings, the teachers of the program
shared experiences on methodology. We also
examined activities and resources used with our
students or to be used with them.

We studied different reference books and
articles on the key aspects we needed to keep in
mind when teaching primary; for example,
students’ ages, likes and interests.  We learnt
that children have the necessity to move
constantly and to participate in short and
meaningful activities. We also realized that kids
love singing, playing, and competing, as well
as receiving immediate encouragement.

However, as always happens, good things
come to an end. The project was stopped by
the SED; the teaching materials that were
purchased as a result of the English in Primary
Programme remain packed away in boxes in
many schools. Furthermore, most of the teachers

participating in it were transferred to high
school levels. This programme was never
evaluated in spite of the good results it was
showing.  Consequently, its lack of continuity
confirmed once again that many projects related
to education remain at “planning” level. That
is to say, they are stopped for financial reasons
without prior evaluation or consideration of
socio-pedagogical implications. This case
shows that the government often considers
coverage instead of quality.

Nowadays, classrooms are filled with almost
50 students and we teachers are not provided
with resources to effectively do our job in class.
Besides, the number of hours for English
teaching at schools has been reduced, in many
cases, from four to three hours per week, and
we are not trained or updated on current or
necessary pedagogical issues. This is the case
of several schools that were supplied with the
“Red de English Discoveries” programme and
whose teachers have not been given guidance
as regards implementing it appropriately.

EXPLORING OPTIONS WITHEXPLORING OPTIONS WITHEXPLORING OPTIONS WITHEXPLORING OPTIONS WITHEXPLORING OPTIONS WITH
ADOLESCENTSADOLESCENTSADOLESCENTSADOLESCENTSADOLESCENTS

Despite all the negative aspects mentioned
above, things are still comforting. I was
assigned to teach English in sixth and seventh
grades at the school I currently work at. For
the first group of learners, whose ages ranges
between 11 and 16, I have planned activities
similar to the ones I had implemented with
the elementary levels I previously worked with.
Those included songs, rhymes, games,
modeling, and drawing, among others. So far
I have noticed that they liked them a lot.

With the second group of students, whose
ages range from 12 to 15, I have developed
activities based on the topics they choose. It



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was not easy at the beginning because they were
used to getting mainly lists and basic structures.

My teaching is influenced by my belief in the
importance of learning by doing and through play
activities. I do not want my students to learn
things by heart. On the contrary, I hope they enjoy
what they are doing and love English. Thus, the
lessons are developed around meaningful topics.
Examples of this are the topic “Clothes to wear
according to the weather” and the activity
involving a fashion show. Likewise, I try to speak
English all the time, even for the most common
expressions used in the classroom.

Additionally, and keeping in mind the number
of students in every classroom as well as the time
provided, I have introduced principles of the
autonomous learning philosophy. By autonomy I
mean students are the ones who organize the
groups, no more than five students per group.  The
topics are chosen through an agreement between
them and me, but also considering their age and
interests. Every member of the group is responsible
for his/her own work and also for the team’s. I ask
them what they need to achieve and they determine
what they need to communicate.  After that, I advise
them and solve their doubts or answer their
questions.  I provide them with dictionaries and some
books from the school’s library. In addition, they
can take any basic English book to the class.

At the very beginning the students from
seventh grade asked me to give them vocabulary
lists, but I inquired about what they were going to
do with all those words.  What you need, I said, is
to communicate in English.  As a result, they have
shown motivation. They have learnt some English,
but more importantly, they are enjoying it.

I asked some students about the class, the topics,
the activities, and the methodology. They found
them interesting, pleasant and different from the
other subjects. These are samples of their responses:

Rocío nos enseña con gusto y alegría, que
tiene un buen método para evaluar y además
me brinda seguridad...

Me parece que el método que ella está
usando le puede resultar.

No me gustaría que la profe se fuera porque
su clase es divertida.

Lo que más me gusta es que la profe dicta
las clases con cariño y con ánimo.

La clase me parece súper chebre (sic) la profe
también nos hace divertir mucho porque es re genial.

Despite those achievements, there is only
one problem we share: to keep good discipline.
I have always had difficulties maintaining it in
my classes.  Probably because I like listening to
everybody and I allow them to be themselves
during the activities. The students themselves
ask me to be more demanding in that respect.
If someone could help me, by offering some
advice, I would appreciate it. Thanks.

MY QUEST FOR CLEAR POLICIESMY QUEST FOR CLEAR POLICIESMY QUEST FOR CLEAR POLICIESMY QUEST FOR CLEAR POLICIESMY QUEST FOR CLEAR POLICIES

In conclusion, I think I have done some good
things in my English classes. My students have
noticed how much I love teaching English, but I
also recognize that there are many aspects I need
to change, improve and learn.  However, the first
thing that must be changed and improved is the
way in which the national and the local
governments adopt a programme regarding
education and stop it with no evaluation.

I am always ready to adopt changes
supported by experienced teachers, or by my
own experience or according to students’
interests.  I would like to have, as many teachers,
better conditions to do my best in class.
Nevertheless, the challenge is to try to work
responsibly with what we currently have.

The article was received on August 30th, 2003 and accepted
on October 10th , 2003