UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL EXPERIMENTAL“FRANCISCO DE MIRANDA”

ÁREA DE CIENCIAS DE LA EDUCACIÓNDEPARTAMENTO DE IDIOMAS

Sociocultural aspects of teaching, learning, and assessment of English as a foreign language in the educative Bolivarian system

M.Sc. MARCO TULIO SOTO LEON

Institutions change, teaching

devices in education change, learners change,

and education socially and

culturally changes.

It is necessary to

gain knowledge to

become empowered

Every

one should hav

e equal

opportunity to

learning

Learning is a process of

living

Learners are becoming

more

diverse

There is no suc

h objectiv

e truth,

just subjective

experience

s

Adapted from (Hallberg)

Vygotsky’s social-cultural theory of mind

Collaborating is a way to understand other’s social-cultural background and construction of self knowledge. Interaction provides social-cultural context and nature of learning. For Vygotsky, collaboration represents the use of tools, which refers to things which are adopted to solve a problem or reach a goal. Collaboration implies mediation, (ZPD), scaffolding and self-regulation.

Vygotsky (1978)

Understanding the nature of the relationship between language and culture is central to the process of L2. So culture implies this arguments:

• Culture can be seen as practices or as information. • Culture plays a central role in the way meanings are interpreted. • Cultures are characterized by variability and diversity. • The intercultural is not the same as culture but is a process which goes beyond the idea of ‘knowing a culture’. • Culture is fundamentally related to language learning.

One way in which culture has often been understood is as a body of ...knowledge that people have about a particular society.

Scarino (2003)

Adapted from (Scarino & Liddicoat)

Teaching social-cultural aspects in textbooks

Some methods include the teaching of culture but fragmented.

“It is easier to keep one’s linguistic code separate that one´s social codes as one often is not aware of the social codes on a conscious level until they are violated. It is much easier to be bilingual than bicultural” (1990:291)

The social-cultural traits are less obvious and visible than sociolinguistic ones.

According to Kramsch (1998):

Adapted from (Abello)

Limitations in Social-Cultural Information

Adapted from (Abello)

Characterization Thematic Coverage Selection - Management

It is selective and idealized. The people featured are predominantly middle class, young people, isolated individuals, rather than family members. They are often tourist or visitors to urban centers who engage in trivial linguistic interaction in mainly leisure activities or consumer situations.

It is usually positive and optimistic since it avoids direct issues considered unpleasant such as unemployment, drug addiction, terrorism, racism, teen pregnancy, minority groups, indigenous peoples, destitute homeless, etc.

Cultural content is usually decided by defined and systematic criteria, hence the information is usually sporadic and disorganized and develop content superficially. In fact, in many textbooks cultural presence is reduced to sporadic 'cultural islands'.

Methods UnderlyingApproach: Humanistic

Relevant Concepts

Role ofTeacher

Role of Learners

Class Stages or Sequence

Main Activitiesand Materials

Cooperative Learning

Authors:Paulsen, Deborah B. Kaufman, Hugh Fuller.

View of L2:

Social Interdependence Cognitive / Constructivist.

It focuses on opportunities to encourage both individual flexibility and affinity to a learning community.

He mediates to foster some benefits from the freedom of individual learning and other benefits from social collaborative learning

Learners must work together in order to succeed and personal success only springs from group success

It meet five criteria: positive interdependence, individual accountability, face-to-face interaction, appropriate use of collaborative skills, and regular self-assessment of team functioning.

Tools may include Virtual Classrooms (i.e. geographically distributed classrooms linked by audio-visual network connections), chat, discussion threads, application sharing.

CriticalThinkingMovement

Authors:Fisher & Scriven: Edward M. Glaser,ul, Dr. Richard; Elder, Dr. Linda,

View of L2:

Indeterminism, rationalism, constructivism

It involves determining the meaning and significance of what is observed or expressed, or, concerning a given inference or argument, determining whether there is adequate justification to accept the conclusion as true.

Teachers foster critical thinking fosters reflectiveness in students by asking questions that stimulate thinking essential to the construction of knowledge.

All students must do their own thinking, their own construction of knowledge. Learners construct in their minds the basic ideas, principles, and theories that are inherent in content.

Internalization, application

It is an active process. Classroom instruction, homework, term papers, and exams, therefore, should emphasize active intellectual participation by the student. The intellectual skills of critical (thinking analysis, synthesis, reflection) must be learned by actually performing them.

Approaches and Methods Overview’s Nunan 1989

(Delmastro)

Pedagogical Theories

Simón Rodríguez Paulo Freire Prieto Figueroa

His theory stands out the context of social, cultural, politic, economic and ideological actions as a means of liberating thought which corresponded to construct concepts of equality, critical thinking and creative education.

He wanted education in Venezuela and Latin America to be imparted with quality so people understand the society in which they live. (Rumazo, 2006)

He was concern in helping people to become aware of their helpless situation than just to teach them reading and writing.

According to Freire two views on humankind: 1. Humans as objects and 2. Humans as subjects.

He promoted critical thinking against cultural invasion, culture of silence and banking style. (Freire, 2010)

He proposed education must forge a type of citizen with civic values.

Education will facilitate change in the man who comes from the country.

He disapproved traditional schools characterized by excessive intellectualism. He also advised that university as a public service can not be separated from the needs and requirements of the nation. (Prieto Figueroa, 2006)

Critical thinking makes people independent from oppressors hence they become empowered to construct their own destiny.

Oxford´s Strategy Classification System

Social Strategies

Asking questions

Asking for clarification or verification

Asking for correction

Cooperating with others

Cooperating with others

Cooperating with proficient users of the new language

Empathizing with others

Developing cultural understanding

Becoming aware of other’s thoughts and feelings

(Oxford)

Importance of ICT in the University

Learning Strategies - L2 - ICT

Suarez & Cebrián

Transmission of knowledge is one of the fundamental pillars of academic institutions, then the technological apparatus significantly contribute to the development of learning and, therefore, the importance of ICT cooperation with university academic progress.

This transmission in terms of learning strategies empower learners with this technological platform and foreign languages and the social-cultural context implied.

Importance of ICT in the university, among which it is worth noting thefollowing:

-Expand access to education. -Improve the quality of learning.-Improve the relationship between costs and effectiveness of teaching.-Allow adaptation to a working world where technologies are used.  

Learning Strategies

Oxford, Suarez & Cebrián

Suarez & Cebrián

Language Learning by means of ICT

ICT provide dynamic media presentations and online self-assessment tools.

Computer Assisted Language Learning: it is used as an aid to presentation, reinforcement and assessment, of material (combination of text, images, sound and ideas).

Learning supported by ICT in virtual environments is gaining popularity.

(Hallberg)

Educational settings supported by ICT is fruitful in knowledge construction.

This technological approach on L2 is defined as CALL

CONCLUSION

Make sure of the fulfillment of an equal justice, being each one of us actors in a learning process that enrich education estimating actual values of society, care and respect for different cultures, yet affective aspects.

The didactic-technological advances should be used not for selfish or leisure, but to evoke a spirit of liberating thought that seeks to provide the student and the teacher a position based on research and development in the welfare of others.

After all, approaches on L2 in this way it solves problems even when we are learning and this freedom of thinking allows us to see beyond instructional patterns that are usually fictitious and individualistic.

Oxford, Rebecca. 1990. Oxford’s strategy classification system. (comp.), Brown H.D. 2000 Principles of language learning and teaching. P. 132-133. New York Longman Inc.

Freire, P. 2012. Pedagogía del oprimido. (2da Edición) Editorial: Siglo XXI. Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Abello, C. 2001. La enseñanza de los aspectos socioculturales: tratamiento en libros de textos. (comp.), Perspectivas anuales en la metodología de la enseñanza del inglés en las universidades andaluzas. P. 111-127. Universidad de Sevilla. Available at: http://institucional.us.es/revistas/universitaria/extra2001/art_8.pdf Consulted on February 20 th 2013.

Delmastro, A. L. 2005. Manual de Lingüística Aplicada. División de Postgrado HE. Universidad del Zulia.

Bibliographical References

Hallberg, David. 2010. Socioculture and Cognitivist Perspectives on Language and Communication Barriers in Learning. (comp.), International Journal of Human and Social Sciences P. 533-542.

Rumazo González, A. 2006. Simón Rodríguez maestro de América. Publicación Digital. Ministerio de Comunicación e Información. Caracas, Venezuela. Avalaible at: http://www.desderubio.com/simon-rodriguez-maestro-de-america-biografia-breve Consulted on February 26th 2013.

Scarino, A. y Anthony Liddicoat. 2009. Teaching and Learning Languages: A guide. The Australian Government , Australia. Available at: www.tllg.unisa.edu.au/guide.html Consulted on March 11th 2013.

Prieto Figueroa, Luis Beltrán. 2006. El Estado Docente. Fundación Biblioteca Ayacucho. Caracas, Venezuela.

Bibliographical References

Suarez, Enrique y Manuel Cebrián. 2008 “Estrategias para desarrollar las actividades académicas con el empleo de las Tecnologías de Información y Comunicación” Revista Synergies . No. 4 P. 171-189. Universidad del Zulia.