A sharing sessionBy Laura Lima Xalteno

July 19th 2011

Session O Teaching and PhD protocolO Master degree: a brief summary

English Learning Diaries as a tool to learn a Foreing Language

A summary of the PhD Protocol

By Laura Lima Xalteno

Education can transform culture, only if teachers have

transformed themselves. Ferguson, 1994

JustificationO Why am I interested in English

Learning diaries?O A personal experience

O A personO A studentO A teacherO An investigator

Problem: Many university

students at the BUAP seem

not to be interested in the

class of English.

General ObjectiveO Modify students attitudes towards

English by means of English Learning Diaries.

MY METHODOLOGY OF TEACHING AND SOME ADVICE

O 1. What is the objective of teaching?

O 2. What is it necessary to reach this objective (teaching)?

O 3. Is there an effective way to attract students’ attention so they learn meaningfully?

1. O Students need to be taught with a

method-in-action: learn to learn (Hofmann, 2008).

Learning to learnO Learning to learn is a competence area, apart from

understanding and skills, it is about attitudes, values and beliefs that allow people to become more effective, flexible and self-organized learners in a variety of contexts (Hofmann, 2008). It is an empowered competence that can give people the motivation, autonomy and responsibility.

O Learning to learn involves entering into the deep meaning structures of material to be learnt and, in its most advanced forms, may lead to critical awareness of assumptions, rules, conventions, and social expectations that influence how people perceive knowledge and how they think, feel and act when learning (Candy, 1990 cited in Hofmann, 2008).

2.O To have a methodological strategic

supported by a mental attitude.O A mental attitude is to help students in their

learning considering their values and capabilities.O Some components of the mental attitude are:

to think positively, to have positive aspects as reference that are present in the classroom play; to learn as a satisfactory experience showing students that English learning can be fun and it can be a great experience; to foster students’ auto concept telling them they are capable to learn English.

3.O English learning diaries.O Literature: Bailey K., 1996 M., Nunan

D.1989, Matsumoto K., 1987, Shumann, F. and Shumann, 1977.

MY METHODOLOGY WITH ENGLISH LEARNING DIARIES

O The starting point in 2005O Classroom researchO TC studentsO Delivery of diariesO Non threatening identification of students’ written

mistakesO Teacher’s comments as feedbackO GradingO Part of evaluationO End of the course: questionnaire (likert-scale), anonymous

opinion about the experience of writing a diaryO Collection of data course after courseO Invitation to include English learning diaries in their life

VisualizationO To have inherent positive mentalityO To foster students’ significant

learningO To teach and learnO To focus on quality of knowledgeO To foster students to learn and thinkO To see the process as important as

the product

Foreing Languages Education

O Be part of a new culture of teaching and learning

O Innovate in teachingO Change paradigmsO Change from the inner (areas: affective,

cognitive, conative)O Be a teacher and an investigator as wellO If possible include English Learning

Diaries on your teaching

ConclusionsO Students are conscious about their own

learning and their progress in English.O Studesnts become more autonomous,

reflective, critical, and responsible of their learning.

O Students use English in a functional way.O Students have a better achievement in the

course.O Students are witnesses of the intelectual

comprehension and the experience of learning a foreign language.

Further actions as a teacher

O To detect problems in the classO Think about a possible solutionO become an investigator

O Doing classroom researchO Sharing your ideas with other

teachers/investyigators

And last but not least

OMaster degree in Aplied Linguistics

Tema de tésisO La Actitud hacia una Lengua

Extranjera como Factor en el Rendimiento del Aprendizaje: Estudiantes Universitarios Aprendiendo Inglés.

O El rendimiento es el resultado de una evaluación que mide el producto del proceso enseñanza aprendizaje (Saracaloğlu, 2000).

Thank you for your attention

Remember we have humans as students.