Efl Oral Skills Behavior When Implementing Blended Learning in a Content-Subject Teachers’1 Professional Development Course

Abstract

Today’s world demands the use of the English language in different areas of knowledge. Besides, the increasing use of technology in educational settings (Zandi et al, 2014; Murray, 2014) encourages teachers to restate their professional development by focusing their efforts on becoming proficient in the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in language lessons (Chen et al, 2009). Following the previous ideas, this qualitative action research project intended to describe Content-subject teachers’ EFL oral behavior when blended learning was implemented in a professional development course; and to determine the influence of Blended learning in EFL oral skills behavior. The participants were seven content- subject teachers from a private school in Huila, Colombia. Data were gathered via in-depth interviews, class observations, video recording analysis, teacher’s reflection, students’ artifacts and a survey. The data were collected during the implementation of an English blended course, in which twelve lessons were divided into six face-to-face sessions and six online meetings. The findings suggest that EFL oral skills behavior is connected with use of vocabulary, use of body language, pronunciation and intonation patterns, production of chunks of language, monitoring oral production and, motivation and engagement. Besides this, Blended learning influenced participants’ oral production too.Keywords: blended learning, content-subject teachers, EFL2 oral skills, professional development.1. Educators who teach content subjects in Spanish2. English as a Foreign Language

Framing English as a Medium of Instruction Within the Iberian-American Spanish-Speaking Education Contexts

“…Second, research on perceptions regarding emi continues to be widespread in the Colombian context (Corrales & Maloof, 2011;Corrales et al, 2016;García, 2013;Sánchez-Solarte et al, 2017). Third, the Colombian literature also exhibits the tendency of researchers to focus on the procedural aspects of instruction by assessing the effect of didactic implementations (Bautista-Barón, 2013; Gualdron & Castillo, 2018;Guapacha-Chamorro & Benavidez-Paz, 2017;Palacio et al, 2016;Rodríguez-Bonces, 2011;Sánchez-Narváez & Chavarro-Vargas, 2017) while disregarding much-needed research on the way learning occurs or fails to occur as a result of the quality of communication in the emi classroom. Finally, Colombian literature also attests to the lack of research on emi in he in Spanish-speaking contexts (Bautista-Barón, 2013; Corrales & Maloof, 2011;Corrales et al, 2016;García, 2013;Gómez-Flórez et al, 2011;Granados-Beltrán, 2018;Gualdron & Castillo, 2018;Guapacha-Chamorro & Benavidez-Paz, 2017;Ortega, 2019;Palacio et al, 2011).…”

Experiences of English as Foreign Language student using ICT in their learning process

“…The use of ICT for teaching English as a foreign language (EFL) has been very present during the last decades. According to García Chamorro and Rey (2013), English teachers believe that ICT helps with the learning and reinforcement of grammatical structures and vocabulary at the same time it contributes to the development of the four communicative skills such as reading (Ariza & Suárez Sánchez, 2013;Rátiva Velandia et al, 2012), writing (Guzmán Gámez & Moreno Cuellar, 2019Ortiz Navarrete & Ferreira Cabrera, 2014;Pascual, 2019), and speaking (García Trejos, et al, 2018;Neiva Montaño, 2021;Sánchez Narváez & Chavarro Vargas, 2017).…”

Potenciando la producción oral en inglés: estrategias y herramientas en el aula

“…Su aplicación es importante, ya que no solo se limita al uso del idioma dentro de clases, sino que trasciende fuera de ella. Al aplicar esta estrategia en 7 docentes de una institución educativa, al momento de la intervención utilizaban algunas frases ya conocidas en inglés y también frases nuevas, lo cual se les hacía más sencillo poder transmitir lo que tenían que decir (Sanchez Narvaez & Chavarro Vargas, 2017) y el estudiante podía captar el mensaje. También demostraron que, en la parte virtual, la herramienta de Skype ayudó mucho para interactuar fuera del aula.…”