Dominican Republic Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages

By: Prof. Juan Valdez

In 1997, UNESCO ¨ predicted that by the year 2000,

someone who could not speak English and use a

computer, would be functionally illiterate.

The Circles of English By: Braj Kachru

These circles represent the traditional bases of English.

The total number of English speakers in the inner circle is as high as 380 million,

of whom some 120 million are outside the United States.

The United Kingdom,

the United States,

Australia, New Zealand,

Ireland, Canada, and

some

of the Caribbean

territories.

The outer circle and the expanding circle encompasses those countries where

English plays an important role as a foreign language or as a lingua franca.

The total number of English speakers as a foreign or second language

is as high as 1,100 million.

28%

32% [China 23%]

40%

The “purple circle” countries, only

accounts for 28% of world

economic activity.

With the EU– the ‘old world’ just

40%

While BRIC countries are a

third– of which China is 23% of

BRIC

The need has to be met primarily

through teachers in schools.

• 15 Million English

teachers Worldwide

(British Council)

• Lack of teachers who can teach English-in-English

• No scalable way to train teachers fast enough

Demand for

Improving the

Quality of English

Teaching

Why now?

• This shift in the linguistic center of gravity has created a need and a demand.

• The need has to be met by public-sector education, primarily through teachers in schools.

• So how do you support school systems to improve the teaching of English?

The argument.

• The classroom teacher is the key to student learning

• The lack of student progress casts as ‘the teacher’s problem’

• This problem is defined in terms of ‘deficits’--what the teacher doesn’t know and/or can’t do.

• So improvement is cast as a teacher quality [people] problem

• A problem of people or a problem of practice?

• Is it a teacher problem or teaching problem?

Reframing the argument

The landscape: Why now?

Crystallizing demands

• The role of English in schools.

– Expanding teaching force

• National/global standards

– Regional expectations

• Public perceptions

– ‘Teaching English in English’

What Ministries of Education are aiming for…

• A way to ensure ‘quality’ that supports the status-quo

• To respond to public expectations – ‘Teaching English in English’

• To position national teaching force in terms of global reference points

So, how are ministries looking to address this problem?

Villa Mella

Zona Oriental

Boca Chica

San Isidro

Sabana Pedida

Regional 10 High Schools

250 Teachers

134 Schools

187,000 Students

A research-based and experiential study

By: Prof. Juan Valdez

The Dominican Public School English Program

BASIC SCHOOL (5th to 8th Grade) SINCE 1994.

HIGH SCHOOL (9th to 12th Grade) SINCE 1961.

4th grade

How do we describe levels of attainment of a foreign language?

For the last 20 years, the Dominican School curriculum tried to reach a B2 level of communicative competence upon completion of high school. Can it be done?

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO KNOW ENGLISH?

Communicative Competence (CC):

This concept can be traced to Savignon (1972), who

initially defined CC as the “ability to function in a truly

communicative setting—that is, in a dynamic exchange in

which linguistic competence must adapt itself to the total

informational input, both linguistic and paralinguistic, of one

or more interlocutors” (p. 8). The literature on developing

CC in L2 contexts focuses on areas that are commonly

categorized under the generic headings of linguistic and pragmatic competencies.

Hours of English class throughout Dominican school life:

BASIC SCHOOL (5th to 8th Grade): 2 class sessions week (45 minutes) = 228 hrs.

HIGH SCHOOL (9th to 12th Grade) 3 class sessions week (45 minutes) = 342 hrs.

TOTAL NUMBER OF HOURS OF ENGLISH CLASS IN SCHOOL LIFE = 570 hrs.

38-week School Year

1. How can we improve the quality of ELT&L in public schools,

and make English for Specific Purposes a productive competence (Tourism, Telephoning, Nursing & Technology)?

2. What are the factors that interfere with or impede the

achievement of the expected level of language skills in the Dominican school curriculum?

THIS WORKSHOP IS ABOUT THE

FOLLOWING QUESTIONS:

5 Factors. 1- Our Curriculum. 2- The Methodology. 3- Our Teachers. 4- Our students. 5- Our School System Policies and Context.

Dominican Republic Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages

4- Our curriculum

Revisión Externa

Revisión Interna

4- Our curriculum

Design Criteria

1. Curricular Philosophy. Objectives, Reach and sequence.

2. The Syllabus.

3. Students learning styles, preferences and cognitive profile.

4. Methodology.

5. Teaching resources.

6. Student assessment.

7. Teacher training.

8. Challenges in the school context.

4- Our curriculum

1. The same curriculum at the national level. 2. Do teachers follow it? 3. What is teachers’ opinion on the curriculum?

- 80% think it is not an effective reference or guide.

- 95% believe that it does not help to reach the expected level of English.

- 90% think it is based purely on a grammatical approach.

These data are quite descriptive, since over 80 percent of teachers

believe that the curriculum has weaknesses and disagree with the

approach it has.

However, the ongoing curriculum reform is being done without

participation of the experiences and opinions of teachers who work in

system from around the country, and regardless of experiences and

teaching-learning programs recorded as successful by many teachers

and school directors.

The Positivist Paradigm A way of thinking based only on

scientific facts.

FROM

objectivity

Top-down

order Cause-effect

linear dynamics

Focus primarily on accuracy

Teacher centeredness

PPP Objective testing

Chorus repetition

Appeals mostly to rational thought

Example: Grammar –Translation and Audio-Lingualism

Assessment of learning

A Paradigm Shift:

3. THE METHODOLOGY USED IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS.

Connectivism

A Paradigm shift:

The Complex or Ecosystemic Paradigm

A way of thinking that recognizes the complexity and interrelatedness of all

phenomena.

TO

intersubjectivity

Self-organization

CLIL

indeterminacy

Non-linear dynamics

Focus on skill-building.

Bottom – Up Alternative Assessment

Process Writing

Learner/learning centeredness.

TBL-PBL

Cross-curricularity

Lexical Approach

Appeals to ‘feelthinking’

Example: Whole

Language

21st Century Skills.

Holistic and Connative

3. THE METHODOLOGY USED IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS.

We approached this factor from six indicators:

(1) The use of English as the medium of communication and as an object of study.

(2) Methodology of teaching based on grammar and translation.

(3) Teaching techniques.

(4) Use of technological resources.

(5) Using the textbooks.

(6) Technical assessment for learning.

(1)- Use of English as the medium of communication

and as an object of study.

In this regard, the sources and contextual limitation of this study show that in the second cycle of primary school (5th to 8th grade), 95% of the-teachers develop their class mostly in Spanish.

In high school, 50% percent of the teachers develop their class mostly in English, and the remaining 50% combines English and Spanish in class

3. THE METHODOLOGY USED IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS.

(2)- An Orientation to Grammar Translation and Audio- Lingualism.

In general, more than 90% of the teachers in the second

cycle of primary school teach basically how to translate

vocabulary in English class and do choral repetition.

In high school, only 40% of the teachers use solely the

grammar translation method in their classes.

(3)- Teaching Techniques.

According to our observations, the most frequently used teaching

techniques in Dominican public schools are:

- Reading and simultaneous choral repetition. 25%

- Grammar exercises. 25%

- Translation Exercises. 15%

- Dialogues. 10%

- Oral Exercises. 10%

- Dictations. 05%

- Reading comprehension exercises. 05%

- Role plays. 03%

- Writing exercises. 02%

Technique Percentile

(4)- Use of Technological Resources.

- Our students cognitive profile.

- Learning styles and preferences.

In this regard, 80% of the teachers expressed that they did

not have access to resources like radios, television or the

internet in schools, or even electricity in the classrooms.

85% report to have never used the Internet to support

English class in school.

90% percent said that they had never been able to use the multimedia lab.

A Digital Generation in Analog schools.

D.F.L: Generations Y, Z and Alpha (1981-2010).

(5)- TEXTBOOKS.

The usefulness of textbooks depends on a number of factors

that may include:

(1)Consistency with the curriculum, in terms of

content, objectives and approach;

(2)Consistency with the students, in terms of

format, presentation, learning styles and

preferences, the nature of the activities, their

level and their context;

(3)Consistency with the teachers, in terms of

teaching philosophy, their level of English

proficiency, etc..

(6)- Assessment and Evaluation.

- 85% only use written exams.

- There is no oral assessment or

alternative assessment.

Reading, Writing, Listening and Speaking

2. OUR ENGLISH TEACHERS

1. Professionalism and Academic Level.

2. Mastery of the English language.

3. Teaching skills.

Three key elements

OUR ENGLISH TEACHERS

1. Professionalism.

Three key elements

50%

B.A. in Education or Modern Languages.

20%

have not completed a B. A. yet, but they are studying the career.

22%

teachers are from general education.

08% started studying

the career but eventually stopped and never completed it.

OUR ENGLISH TEACHERS

2. Mastery of the English language.

Three key elements

In general, one would expect an English teacher to have an advanced

level of communicative competence (C1-C2 CUFL). The English teacher

becomes a model of communicative performance in terms of

pronunciation, fluency, intonation, vocabulary, grammar, etc..

OUR ENGLISH TEACHERS

2. Mastery of the English language.

Three key elements

Based on the results of placement tests given on our training programs for

The National Teacher Training Institute (INAFOCAM-MINERD, 2008 - 2012), it

is estimated the level of language skills that high school public school

teachers have, ranges from Level B1 to C1:

It took us 4 years to take in-service teachers from an A1-A2 to a C1 level

of language proficiency.

OUR ENGLISH TEACHERS

2. Mastery of the English language.

Three key elements

1.Television.

2.Computers and the internet.

3.The radio.

4.Cell phones, etc..

However, Are teachers the only model?

What can we do when teachers language proficiency is low?

OUR ENGLISH TEACHERS

Three key elements

Teaching skills refer to the knowledge and skills that enable

teachers to develop effective learning processes, ie, skills that

generate significant learning, consistent with the nature and

purpose of EFL methodologies.

These skills are best assessed through a process of class observation on

in-service teacher performance, which we carried out through sessions of

pedagogical accompaniment for two school years, through a model of:

1. Pre-observation,

2. Observation and,

3. Post-observation. REFLECTIVE TEACHING

3. Teaching Skills.

OUR ENGLISH TEACHERS

Three key elements

Teaching Skills.

These observation model showed that, in general, teachers

needed to continue improving their skills in:

- Techniques for effective classroom management.

- Strategies to provide a better understanding of the content.

- Appropriate use of technology resources.

OUR STUDENTS

Based on the experiences and data collected from this study, our opinion regarding the student factor is that:

A. 90% of Dominican students are highly interested and motivated to learn English, the remaining 10% feel unmotivated because failed attempts at learning in school.

OUR STUDENTS

Regarding the attitude that students have on learning the English

language, the data are similar:

A. 85% of students have a positive attitude, the other 15% have an

indifferent or rejecting attitude toward learning English.

B. Regarding how important students think the language is, in terms of its

usefulness, 95% of the students believe that learning English is very

important, and that it is a highly transferable academic competence.

5- The System Policies and the School Context

1. Support from the system (Ideology, Policy & Planning).

2. Materials and resources. 3. Class size. 4. Technical support

C.R.E.A.T.E

• Collaboration.

• Relevance.

• Evidence.

• Alignment.

• Transparency.

• Empowerment.

TESOL’s Principles-based approach to influencing and enhancing successful and

effective ELT practices and policies in the Dominican School System

Teachers as transformative intellectuals, not only as passive

technicians or reflective practitioners. B . K U M A R AVA D I V E L U

Conclusions:

1. Teachers need more focused continuing education programs in

order to raise their level of language proficiency and pedagogical

skills.

2. The review of our national English curriculum must be done

through a process of national consensus and consultation.

3. The Ministry of Education English department must create a

system of support and follow-up to the development and

performance of the English program at a regional and district level.

4. The Ministry of Education must make new policies to Language

Learning and Teaching in the Dominican Republic and live up to

them. The biggest challenge is inconsistency and discontinuity.