UNIVERSIDAD ESTATAL A DISTANCIA VICERRECTORIA ACADEMICA ESCUELA DE CIENCIAS SOCIALES Y HUMANIDADES ENSEÑANZA DEL INGLES PARA I Y II CICLO Nurturing Literacy Development through Constructivist Strategies in EFL Sixth Graders: The Case of Villarreal School Tesis para optar por el grado académico de Licenciatura en Ciencias de la Educación con Énfasis en Enseñanza del Inglés para I y II Ciclo Authors: Cindy Otárola Duarte Id: 1-1252-0352 Marigen Valverde Soto Id: 1-0715-0024 San José, December 01, 2013 ii Nurturing Literacy Development through Constructivist Strategies in EFL Sixth Graders: The Case of Villarreal School iii EXAMINER COMMITTEE This dissertation was approved by the Examiner Committee of the Major of English Teaching for I and II Cycles at Universidad Estatal a Distancia as a requirement to obtain the Licenciatura en la Enseñanza del Inglés para I y II Ciclos. Yinnia Mora Ordoñez Coordinator of the Major English Teaching for I & II Cycles Mag. Roxy Calderón Mora Coordinator of Final Graduation Projects Lic. Henry Sevilla Morales Thesis Director Lic.
Laura Guillén Saborío Internal Academic Advisor Mag. Jonathan Elizondo Mejías External Academic Advisor iv ACNOWLEDGMENTS It would not have been possible to write this thesis without the help and support of the kind people around us, to only some of whom it is possible to give particular mention here. First of all, we want to thank God for everything He has done for us and His showers of blessings throughout the completion of this research. I would like to thank my son Gabriel who has been my strength; my family Isabel, Massimo, Gabriela, and my parents who have always supported me.
I especially thank my friend and mom Giuliana Perini for her constant guidance, cooperation and support. Cindy Otárola I am extremely grateful to my parents for their love, prayers, caring and sacrifices for educating and preparing me for the future. I am very much thankful to my husband Isaías for his love, guidance, personal support and patience at all times; to my daughters Daniela and Sophia for their love, cheerfulness, continuing support and for been there when I needed them the most. I also express my thanks to my family Lubia, Rafael, Stephanie, and Pablo because their support and motivation have deeply inspired me.
Marigen Valverde Last, but by no means least, we thank Henry for all his support, patience and professionalism throughout this research project. v ABSTRACT Despite the plethora of publications acknowledging the vitality of reading in the learning of a foreign language, research suggests that we still have a long way to go before we can successfully take the maximum of it in the language classroom. Thus, in an attempt to come across effective ways to use reading as a source of language input for young learners, this paper is aimed at investigating the influence of constructivist strategies as a platform for the teaching of reading comprehension in a group of elementary school students. To that end, twenty sixth grade elementary school students from Villareal School, Tamarindo, Guanacaste, were immersed in a two-month constructivist teaching project where classroom activities were set up based on the principles of constructivist teaching, applied to foreign learning.
A mixed approach to research was used in order to cross-check the information, which allowed for analysis triangulation, where quantitative information was complemented and contrasted with qualitative annotations recorded via class observations of the classroom dynamics of the teaching paradigm. Findings suggest that the teaching of reading comprehension through the use of constructivist strategies contributes to the enhancement of motivation, group engagement, and the overall learning environment, making learning a cooperative experience where students take an active role in the construction of knowledge. This investigation aids our understanding of the strategies that best cater to the development of literacy in young learners, as well as the challenges that need to be met if similar projects are to be run. It is our hope that further research on this field is inspired, as well vi as the taking of action on the part of regional authorities of the MEP so that similar projects are brought to practice.
Key Words: constructivist strategies, reading comprehension, literacy, MEP, elementary schools, English as a Foreign Language vii RESUMEN EJECUTIVO A pesar de la gama de publicaciones que avalan la inherencia de la lectura al aprendizaje de una lengua extranjera, estudios sugieren que aún queda mucho por lograr si se quiere maximizar este recurso. Por tanto, a fin de descubrir formas eficaces de usar la lectura como insumo lingüístico en niños, el presente estudio investiga la influencia de estrategias constructivistas como plataforma de aprendizaje para abordar la comprensión de lectura en un grupo de sexto año de primaria en Escuela Villareal, Guanacaste. Para ello, veinte estudiantes fueron inmersos en un proyecto de enseñanza de la lectura utilizando estrategias constructivistas por dos meses, donde las actividades de clase se basaron en los principios teóricos de dicha corriente filosófica, aplicada a la educación. Se utilizó un paradigma investigativo mixto, a fin de cotejar la información recolectada.
Esto a su vez permitió el proceso de triangulación, donde la información cuantitativa fue complementada y comparada con anotaciones cualitativas derivadas de observaciones de clases del proyecto. Los hallazgos señalan que la enseñanza de la comprensión de lectura mediante el uso de estrategias constructivistas contribuye al fortalecimiento de la motivación, la integración y del ambiente de aprendizaje del estudiante, lo cual fomenta el aprendizaje cooperativo, el cual promueve a su vez la construcción activa de conocimiento. El presente estudio nos permite identificar las estrategias que mejor contribuyen al desarrollo del hábito de la lectura en niños, así como identificar los principales desafíos a la hora de implementar proyectos de enseñanza relacionados. Con este estudio, esperamos inspirar futuras investigaciones, así viii como la toma de acción por parte de las autoridades regionales del MEP para que se puedan implementar proyectos similares en escuelas primarias de la zona.
Palabras Clave: estrategias constructivistas, comprensión de lectura, escolarización, MEP, escuelas primarias, inglés como Lengua Extranjera. ix Table of Contents CHAPTER I - INTRODUCTION .1 General Background for the Study .2 Purpose and Significance. Delimitation of the Study. 10 CHAPTER II- THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK .1 Social, cultural and political factors as determiners of English learning worldwide .1 The role of English as a Lingua Franca for Intercultural Communication.2 Curricular and Political Challenges Brought by the English Learning Worldwide.2 A brief history of English in Costa Rica .1 The railway construction in the Atlantic.2 English as a mandatory subject in public school (1997) as a result of the social, cultural and political transformations brought by globalization.
Challenges faced during the last two decades.3 Plan Nacional de Inglés & Costa Rica Multilingüe .4 MEP and English Teaching Curriculum in Terms of Primary Education .5 Child language learning and teaching .1 How children learn the language.2 How children learn a second language.3 How to teach English to children.6 The issue of reading in EFL elementary school classrooms .1 The lack of reading culture in Costa Rica.2 Lack of adequate resources.3 Lack of teachers’ expertise.7 Constructivism and English Teaching/Learning.1 Brief History of Constructivism.2 Recent Research on Constructivism: Empirical Studies.3 Constructivism and Motivation.4 Constructivism and Reading Comprehension.5 Constructivist Theories in the Costa Rican Education System. 68 CHAPTER III - METHODOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK .2 Selection and description of the site and participants .1 Description of the site.2 Participants and Studied Population.3 Data collection strategies .1 The Class Observation Checklist.2 The Anecdotal Record.4 Validation of Research Instruments .4 Table of categories .1 The Class Observation Checklist.2 The Anecdotal Record.3 The Students’ Questionnaire.5 Description of Categories and subcategories. 94 CHAPTER IV – DATA ANALYSIS INTERPRETATION .1 Statistical Procedures Used in the Data Analysis of the Results.1 Recommendations for teachers.2 Recommendations for Parents: .3 Recommendation for English authorities.4 Recommendation for Future Research. 142 CHAPTER VI - BIBLIOGRAPHY AND APPENDICES .4 Tables of Frequency .1 General Background for the Study Learning a new language allows a person to involve himself into a new culture, a new world, and a new life.
Charlemagne once noted: “To have another language is to possess a second soul (in “Global,” 2010, pp.”More specifically, English has become the second most spoken language worldwide, according to UNESCO (2010, pp. Thus, English has become the vehicle to communicate in the different fields of society, say, politics, economy, technology, and a number of countless fields within our cultural systems. In this respect, the UNESCO Ad Hoc Expert Group on Endangered Languages released the document “Language Vitality and Endangerment”, which states: The English language is widely accepted as the medium that makes possible what Giddens refers to as ‘the intensification of worldwide social relations’. It is the medium that makes possible the kind of economic and social changes…English is the language of the World Bank…, and it is the language of global consumerism and the celebrity culture… It is the language spoken when diplomats from different linguistic backgrounds gather in the corridors of the United Nations in New York or the European parliament in Brussels.
…it is becoming the language of all communication taking place across language borders.2) In Costa Rica, English was introduced as a foreign language in public elementary and high schools during José María Figueres Olsen’s administration in 1994, as a way to meet the challenges brought about by our globalized world and due to agreements with multinational companies which came to the country looking for more specialized labor force with English language proficiency. As a result, Costa Rica has transformed its 3 economy from primary products to manufacturing and services. In this regard, Hernández states that, “At present, many companies, both Costa Rican and international, require bilingual personnel. Therefore, proficiency in a foreign language, especially English, has become an essential tool in securing good employment (2008, p." As a result of these concerns, Costa Rica has started to implement several courses of action, such as Costa Rica Multilingual and the National English Plan launched in 2008 during Oscar Arias’ presidency.
The program Costa Rica Multilingual was declared of public interest, according to decree No. 34425-MEP-COMEX, in an attempt to improve English learning-teaching in public schools. With this plan, the government wants to keep taking advantage of the good education system that allows the country to graduate high quality labor force, but offering individuals who also speak English to continue attracting FDI (foreign development investments). However, the main goal of the National English Program for I and II cycles is the achievement of oral skills.
It is well known that developing oral language is a natural process. It is not the same with learning to read and much less, learning to read in a foreign language. According to Hernández, MEP Adviser, the first three years of school are only for speaking and listening and it is only after 4th grade that reading and some writing are introduced (in Villegas, 2012, pp. About this, Togersen, Rashotte and Alexander (2001) specify that the loss of reading opportunities during the first three years of elementary school make it truly difficult for children to acquire average levels of reading fluency in the future.
This practice does not help English development at public schools, since children are not motivated to start reading in English according to their knowledge. According to 4 Togersen, the delayed development of reading skills affects not only vocabulary growth(as cited in Cunningham and Stanovich, 1998), but it also affects children’s motivation and attitudes to read (as cited in Oka and Paris, 1986) and takes out children’s opportunities to develop comprehension strategies (as cited in Brown, Palincsar, and Purcell, 1986).2 Purpose and Significance The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) views literacy as a human right, and describes it as a tool to create social environments in which individuals of all ages can stand out. Also, UNESCO sees literacy as a tool to eradicate poverty, achieve gender equality and ensure sustainable development.