Educàlia Editorial

INGLÉS
Cristina Rodríguez Díaz
María Asuero Vázquez
SUPUESTOS PRÁCTICOS
PRIMARIA

Supuestos prácticos de INGLÉS PRIMARIA

Cristina Rodríguez y María Asuero

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CUB_SUP_INGLESPRIM.indd 1,3 25/04/2018 10:30:12

SUPUESTOS PRÁCTICOS
DE INGLÉS PRIMARIA

AUTORES
CRISTINA RODRÍGUEZ DÍAZ
MARÍA ASUERO VÁZQUEZ
Tercera edición 2016

Autoras: Cristina Rodríguez Díaz y María Asuero Vázquez

Maquetación: David Aguilar Gil y Patricia Penavella Soto
Edita: Educàlia Editorial
Imprime: SERVICECOM
ISBN: 978-84-943204-8-4
Depósito legal: V-262-2015
Printed in Spain/Impreso en España.

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 INDEX
1. SHORT QUESTIONS 5

1.1. What are the Key competences? Number them. 5

1.2. Which are the characteristics of students on the 1st course of primary
education? 6
1.3. Which are the multiple intelligences? 6
1.4. How can you introduce ICTs in the English classroom? 7
1.5. Are games useful in the English class? 9
1.6. Which is the natural order to teach the linguistic skills? Reason your answer. 10
1.7. What’s the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages? 13
1.8. Do you know Jeremy Harmer? Explain his teaching method. 14
1.9. Which is the main objective of Foreign Language Teaching? Reason your
answer. 14
1.10. How can you motivate students? Put examples. 15
2. HOW TO DEVELOP A CASE STUDY? 17
2.1. What’s best use a text book or make our own materials? 18
2.2. How would you teach phonetics in third primary? 20
2.3. How must one work the oral comprehension in the 3rd level of primary?
How would you act on pupils who are not interested in learning English?
Reason you answer. 22
2.4. Explain the differences you can find between the traditional methods
of teaching English and communicative teaching. Give an example
addressed to children of the 3rd level of primary education. Reason your
answer. 24
2.5. Can you tell us how to work on songs in an English class addressed to the
third course of primary? It’s a school of a little village near the city. Give
reasons for your answer. 26
2.6. In which models and with which observation instruments would you register
the evaluation aspects of pupils of English on a class of 25 pupils of the 3rd
level of primary education? Describe their sections in appropriate terms.
Give reasons for your answer. 28
2.7. When one talks about Pair Work as a working technique in the English
class two questions may arise: “Why to work in pairs?” and “How to work in
pairs?” Answer them and reason your answer. 30
2.8. Indicate which must be, in your mind, the criteria to select teaching
materials for auditory comprehension in English, especially on older pupils.
Reason your answer. (The school is placed in the outskirts area of a town.
Most of the families are unemployed). 32
3. HOW TO DEVELOP A CASE STUDY? 34
3.1. It’s about an intercultural primary school situated in the outlying area of the
town, with a high number of immigrant pupils. You must develop a topic
(addressed to pupils of 5th grade of Primary Education). This topic will have
an introductory character. In this classroom, with 20 pupils, 6 of them are
Romanian, 5 of them are Ecuadorian and the rest of them are Spanish.
Which methodology would you use? Reason your answer. 35

3.2. Which criteria would you follow in order to choose an English textbook
for the 4th grade of Primary Education? How would you complement that
textbook with other additional material, including authentic material? 40

3.3. You are teaching a group of children in the 3rd grade of Primary Education,
but there is a child who never takes part in the activities provided. What
would you do with this student? Justify your answer. 43

4. How would you introduce environmental problems in the English classroom? 45

5. Explain the use of puppets to teach English. 47

6. Can you explain the theory of the multiple intelligences? How can it be applied
to the English lesson? 49

7. Give an example of a children’s song and how you would teach it. 52

8. Are English textbooks useful? 54

9. Do you think English teachers should use l1 in their lessons? 56

10. Explain how you can involve parents in your English lessons. 58

11. How do you make resources with the students? 60

12. How would you decorate the English classroom to maximize learning? 62

13. How would you help your studetns to develop study techniques? 64

14. How would you include non-sexist values in infant education? 66

15. How would you organise a parent-teacher meeting? 68

16. How would you teach English to a child with aspergers syndrome? 70

17. How would you teach the verb to be? 72

18. If you were the only teacher of a unitary school, how would you organise space
and time when teaching English? 74

19. Organise a session to promote reading in English with students of 5th grade
of primary education. Suggest topics, objectives, activities, resources and
methodologies you will use to achieve that aim. 76

20. Organise an outing with your English language learners. 78

21. What is an iep? 80

22. Design activities to work on pronunciation for 5th grade students. 82

23. How would you include entrepeneruship in primary education and in the English
classroom? 84
 1. SHORT QUESTIONS

SUPUESTOS PRÁCTICOS INGLÉS

The first thing we have to do is to select the questions we are going to develop.

Taking into account that we have few time to develop the questions, we cannot lose time
selecting them, so we should take five minutes to read the questions slowly and we should
choose that questions whose answer we have clearly structured in our brain.

To answer to the questions we will follow the following layout:

Introduction.

WHAT are they asking about?

Specific content: Definition, student development, author, classification, etc.

Conclusion.

Legislation.

I am going to develop some questions as examples.

1.1. What are the Key competences? Number them.

According to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (2001) and the
Organic Law for improvement of Quality in Education 8/2013 of 9th of December, we find 7 Key
Competences which have to be developed across the whole course and in every lesson plan.

1. Communication and linguistic competence.

2. Mathematical competence and Science and technology competence.

3. Digital competence.

4. Learning to learn competence.

5. Social and civic competences.

6. Sense of initiative and autonomy competences.

7. Cultural awareness and expression competence.

The contribution of the English area to the development of the basic competences is that
the study of a foreign language helps to the development of the communication and linguistic
competence in a direct way as it does the first or mother tongue.

The foreign language learning gets an extra value if it includes a reflection over itself, so that
every student identifies how he or she learns the best. That’s why in the plans I have designed we
can find in the self assessment that is a specific space of reflection on each one’s learning and
in this way this area contributes to the learning to learn competence.

This reflection favours the sense of initiative and autonomy competences since it prepares the
students to improve individually in the knowledge and usage of a language.

The aforesaid competences are nowadays related to the digital competence. Information
technologies and communication offer the possibility to communicate “in real time” with
whoever around the world and a quick access to a great amount of data increasing day by
day. The knowledge of a foreign language brings the opportunity to access to that universe of
information and communication.

Autora: Cristina Rodríguez Díaz

5
 So, according to the previous point, we can say that the Foreign Language Area helps to
INGLÉS SUPUESTOS PRÁCTICOS

the development of the social and civic competences. Learning a Foreign Language implies
knowing the different speaking communities of that language. That learning must be treated in
the class in order to get an interest for discovering other cultures and get on with other English
speaking or learners favouring the respect and integration.

The English area contributes to the development of the Cultural awareness and expression
competence through the introduction of texts and literary models adapted to the proper level.

For the theoretical development of this case study I have taken into account the following
legal documents:

• “Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching and

Assessment” (CFE, 2001), Council of Europe and the Language Policy Division.

• The Organic Law for improvement of Quality in Education 8/2013 of 9th of December.

• The Royal Decree 126/2014 of February 28th, which establish the curriculum in Primary
Education.

1.2. Which are the characteristics of students on the 1st

course of primary education?
The students in first course of primary education are full of vitality and learn while they play,
they move and do activities they love, as their motivation to learn a foreign language comes
from the interest of the task and not the future usefulness of these teachings. Generally, students
are open and uninhibited and dare easily in an activity even when their ability to maintain
the attention on a single task is considerably limited. Students at this age need a relaxed and
friendly atmosphere in the classroom to develop their self-esteem. Thus, at least initially, they
need that the activity is very structured in order to feel safe to work and communicate, and it is
very important their relationship with the teacher in the classroom.

The foreign language should be taught in a natural and proper way according to the pupil’s
maturation process. It is important the linguistic immersion in it since the beginning of its study, as
most of the opportunities for learning occur only in the school environment. This makes necessary
to include contents that incorporate non-academic contexts.

1.3 Which are the multiple intelligences?

Howard Gardner of Harvard has identified seven distinct intelligences. This theory has
emerged from recent cognitive research and "documents the extent to which students possess
different kinds of minds and therefore learn, remember, perform, and understand in different
ways," according to Gardner (1991). According to this theory, "we are all able to know the world
through language, logical-mathematical analysis, spatial representation, musical thinking, the
use of the body to solve problems or to make things, an understanding of other individuals, and
an understanding of ourselves. Where individuals differ is in the strength of these intelligences -
the so-called profile of intelligences -and in the ways in which such intelligences are invoked and
combined to carry out different tasks, solve diverse problems, and progress in various domains."

Gardner says that these differences "challenge an educational system that assumes that
everyone can learn the same materials in the same way and that a uniform, universal measure
suffices to test student learning. Indeed, as currently constituted, our educational system
is heavily biased toward linguistic modes of instruction and assessment and, to a somewhat
lesser degree, toward logical-quantitative modes as well." Gardner argues that "a contrasting
set of assumptions is more likely to be educationally effective. Students learn in ways that are

Autora: Cristina Rodríguez Díaz

6
 3.2. Which criteria would you follow in order to choose
INGLÉS SUPUESTOS PRÁCTICOS

an English textbook for the 4th grade of Primary

Education? How would you complement that textbook
with other additional material, including authentic
material?
This case study presented is directly related with topic 23 of Foreign Language Education:
Criteria for selecting and using curricular materials for the English class (t.23).

According to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages 2001, the
main aim of the English Language Teaching is to acquire the communicative competence in
a language (EFL) through the skills of listening, reading speaking and writing. So, this case study
is related with the legal documents: Common European Framework for Languages and the
concretion of Spanish law of education (LOMCE)

Course book materials are commercially available packages, which typically consist of a
student’s book, a teacher’s book, and a series of the following components: a workbook or
activity book, tests, additional reading material, CDs for listening and pronunciation, DVDs, and
additional grammar practice materials. The course book package is offered as a complete
course that should not be in need of supplementation.

Course books are what Prabhu would describe as fully-specified materials.

Course book materials are realisations of methods seen as theoretical constructs, but they are
also determinants of methods if seen as pedagogic action.

According to Bazo and Peñate, two of the most well known authors of English Primary curricular
materials for Spanish students, there have been an impact on the elaboration of curricular
materials for the EFL class due to the evolution of the foreign language area towards a more
communicative approach. Following this line, teachers should consider the following criteria
when selecting appropriate materials:

The students’ learning experiences. It is very important to know well the group of students you
are teaching. For instance, if English has been taught from kindergarten, then it is assumed that
listening skills have been introduced, too.

Their abilities. You can use bottom-up processing view or top-down interpretation view
according their abilities. Bottom-up is a process of decoding from the smallest meaningful units
to complete text (individual words, sentences, phrases and text). Meanwhile top-down view is a
process that the listener actively constructs (the listener uses prior knowledge of the context and
later take place to make sense of what they hear)

Their interests. We should select materials which motivate and engage the students.

Their learning styles. According to Gardner’s multiple intelligences theory, each student
learns in a different way. Therefore, we should adapt our listening materials for everyone. We
can use listening recording materials, in which there is only one speaker who is using standard
English pronunciation. Also, we can give the students scripted texts, or we can give some prior
knowledge about what the speaker will say before they listen.

Curriculum goals and objectives implications. Teachers need to take into account that
curricular materials should be aligned with the current Educational legal framework: The
Organic Law for improvement of Quality in Education 8/2013 of 9th of December and the Royal
Decree 126/2014 of February 28th, which establish the curriculum in Primary Education. Under
the umbrella of the European philosophy of using language for communication purposes
(CEFR).

Autora: Cristina Rodríguez Díaz

40

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 Course or grade level. Considering this case study is addressed to older students and according

SUPUESTOS PRÁCTICOS INGLÉS

to Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development, children from ages seven to eleven begin to think
logically but are very concrete in their thinking. Also, students have acquired the most formal
aspect of the language and they begin to build some grammatical rules, which help them
understand its mechanics. Consequently, listening materials must be accessible to students.

Use of current and authentic material. It is also important to take advantages of recent and
authentic materials such as: newscasts, television programs, articles, or materials for short term
projects.

True authentic materials are unedited and remain unsimplified in any way. They require the
teacher to act as a filter. But the teacher using authentic materials has other responsibilities. He
must also learn how to identify authentic items, or determine their “applicability and adaptability”
for classroom use.

The teacher is a culture guide. In fact, language may often take a back seat to culture with
authentic materials, resulting in a hybrid “EFL in the content area of culture” but as Krashen
points out “comprehensible subject-matter teaching is language teaching”.

An unexpected role that teacher using materials sometimes have to fulfil is that of sympathetic,
non-judgemental listener.

Once an applicable and adaptable item has been identified, the presentation of the item
can be a challenge. The following guidelines describe the components necessary for using
authentic materials successfully.

• “Learner-centred” is the Mantra.

• Identify an Objective.

• Concept and context.

• Make it comprehensible. The teacher is the interpreter between the authentic material
and the learner.

Authentic materials become a way of life for some EFL teachers. These teachers have found
that authentic materials are a logical and efficient way to combine their learners’ needs for
language input, culture study, and information or how to access and participate in their local
community.

Let’s briefly examine how authentic materials might be incorporated into an English language
teaching curriculum or course of study.

Authentic materials are easily available from a number of sources for most of the world: books,
magazines, newspapers, TV & radio &videos, internet, CDs and course books.

A successful adaptation of authentic materials includes:

• Converting them into workshop activities.
• Adjusting the length of the materials.
• Simplifying or explaining key language elements.
• Converting authentic materials into a variety of exercise types.

Learners benefit from listening materials spoken at “normal” conversational speed vs. English
language learner directed listening materials which have been “altered” or “slowed” to enable
“improved comprehension”.

Authentic language videos, CDs, newspapers and radio programs can provide invaluable
insight of English-speaking countries for language teachers and learners in other parts of the
world. A benefit of recorded material is the ability to be able to repeat it as many times as
necessary in order to increase the level of listening comprehension.

Autora: Cristina Rodríguez Díaz

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 SAMPLE CRITERIA FOR SELECTING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS
INGLÉS SUPUESTOS PRÁCTICOS

Applicability:

• The material gives the learner new information to help herself or her family.

• The material enables the learner to take advantage of an existing community service
or amenity.

• The material reflects a reality that is economically feasible for the learner.

• The material respects the immigration status of the learner.

Adaptability:

• The authentic material contains non-complex vocabulary.

• The authentic item features: pictures, diagrams, tables, etc.

• The material uses bullets, titling, subtitles or other clear separation of text.

• The material allows some learner interaction.

In conclusion, teaching materials should ensure a possible fit between the individual needs of
students and the objectives of the course and the teacher.

It is the responsibility of the teacher to explore his own way of using or adapting the course
book.

When used effectively, authentic materials help being the real world into the classroom and
significantly enliven the EFL class. Exposing the students to cultural features generates a deeper
understanding of and interest in the topic.

For the theoretical development of this case study I have taken into account the following
legal documents and bibliography:

• “Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching and

Assessment” (CFE, 2001), Council of Europe and the Language Policy Division.

• The Organic Law for improvement of Quality in Education 8/2013 of 9th of December.

• The Royal Decree 126/2014 of February 28th, which establish the curriculum in Primary
Education.

• CUNNINGSWORTH, A. (1995). Choosing your Course Book. Heinemann.

• CUNNINGSWORTH, A. (1984) Evaluating and selecting EFL teaching materials. Heinemann.

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