Universitat Internacional de Catalunya
Methods for Teaching English As a Foreign Language 1: Grammar and the Communicative Approach
Other languages of instruction: Catalan, Spanish
Teaching staff
Introduction
The subject EFL Teaching Methods I offers students the opportunity to focus on and develop an advanced understanding of different theories and practical ways of developing children’s communicative and grammatical competence in the additional languages classroom. Apart from the focus on more well-known approaches for developing children's linguistic competences, the subject also considers more recent shifts in the field of language teaching and learning towards understanding communication and interaction in the languages classroom more holistically. For this reason, the subject takes into consideration plurilingual, multimodal and action-oriented approaches. In addition, students will integrate and reflect on effective uses of Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) tools with respect to their professional practice.
The subject requires students to engage and apply the theoretical principles learnt in class to their own teaching and learning scenarios as real cases and then feed this back into the group for further analysis and discussion. The subject considers different cases in order to identify the most effective strategies for developing different children’s communicative and grammatical competence, taking into consideration each learner profile (e.g. age, language level, interests, previous knowledge and if they have any additional needs) as well as different school contexts.
Pre-course requirements
The subject EFL Teaching Methods I takes into consideration students’ previous knowledge and skills related to teaching and learning additional languages. The subject requires that students work or have contact with children in order to practise various approaches and techniques taught in class.
Objectives
EFL Teaching Methods I is a subject with the aim of engaging students with teaching and learning approaches and techniques in order to develop children’s communicative and grammatical competence. It is worth 6 ECTS. Students will learn and reflect on the process of language learning, analyse different approaches and current pedagogical practices and plan lessons for different stages of the school curriculum while attending to children’s different language levels and previous knowledge. In addition, students will design innovative language learning activities that encourage children to develop linguistic, plurilingual and intercultural competences in accordance with the Common European Framework of Languages (CEFR) and know how to evaluate these. The achievement of these objectives will be carried out through the completion of continuous evaluation activities throughout the course.
Competences/Learning outcomes of the degree programme
BASIC AND GENERAL COMPETENCES
CB7 - To know how to apply the acquired knowledge and problem-solving abilities in new or little-known environments within broader (or multidisciplinary) contexts related to one’s area of study.
CB8 - To be able to acquire knowledge and deal with the complexity of formulating judgments based on information that, although incomplete or limited, includes reflections on the social and ethical responsibilities linked to the application of one’s knowledge and judgments.
CB9 - To know how to communicate one’s conclusions and the latest knowledge and the supporting arguments to specialist and non-specialist audiences in a clear and unambiguous way.
CB10 - To possess the learning skills that allow one to continue studying in a way that will be largely individual or autonomous.
CG1 - To search for, obtain, process, summarise and communicate information (oral, printed, audiovisual, digital or multimedia-based), transform it into knowledge and apply it to teaching English as a foreign language.
CG2 - To develop critical thinking, problem solving, decision-making or inquiry skills, and apply these to educational reality with the aim of promoting students’ autonomy, creativity, confidence and personal initiative.
CG3 - To manage work time based on learning priorities and objectives, promoting self-learning.
CG4 - To communicate decision-making in the field of teaching English as a foreign language based on solid arguments.
CG6 - To be able to effectively work as a part of a team in multilingual, multicultural and interdisciplinary professional and/or academic environments.
TRANSVERSAL COMPETENCES
CT1 - To apply pedagogically innovative models and educational research on the acquisition, teaching and use of English as a foreign language to specific cases, to a specific school context and/or contexts related to education, so that the theoretical knowledge acquired is suitably connected to the educational practice.
CT2 - To critically analyse one’s own work and use appropriate resources and strategies to achieve professional improvement.
CT3 - To incorporate information and communication technology (ICTs) into teaching and learning activities, teaching management and professional development.
CT4 - To generate innovative and competitive proposals in professional or research activity.
CT5 - To express oneself in public and give presentations with digital support adapted to the different interest groups in the school environment (teachers, families, students, etc.).
SPECIFIC COMPETENCESCE1 - To know and reflect on processes of the acquisition and learning of English as a foreign language and its literature and culture.
CE3 - To analyse the diversity of current and innovative methodological approaches and pedagogical practices applied to different educational stages in bilingual and multilingual contexts.
CE4 - To effectively apply digital resources for the teaching and learning of English and manage and promote computer-assisted language teaching programmes.
CE5 - To plan the process of teaching and learning English as a foreign language and its literature and culture at different educational stages, taking the students’ level and previous knowledge into account.
CE6 - To design innovative teaching proposals that promote the development of students’ linguistic, multilingual and intercultural competences, based on the requirements of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages; while also promoting reflection, openness and respect towards other languages and cultures.
CE7 - To analyse and evaluate the development of students’ linguistic competence in English at different educational stages, based on the requirements of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.
Learning outcomes of the subject
The learning outcomes will be linked to the selected competences in each case. Among others, the following stand out:
Students should be able to:
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Analyse the diversity of current and innovative methodological approaches and pedagogical practices applied to the different educational stages in bilingual and multilingual contexts.
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Effectively apply digital resources for English language teaching and learning and manage and promote computer-assisted English language teaching programmes.
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Plan the process of teaching and learning English as a foreign language, while taking the level and previous knowledge of the students into account.
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Design innovative didactic proposals that promote the development of the linguistic, multilingual and intercultural competences of the students, based on the requirements of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages; while also promoting reflection, openness and respect towards other languages and cultures.
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Analyse and evaluate the development of the students’ linguistic competence in English at different educational stages, based on the requirements of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.
Syllabus
Completion of various practical activities connected to each taught session. The sessions will include the following topics:
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Introduction and revision of previous knowledge related to theories of and approaches to additional language learning.
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Planning for learning: developing learners’ communicative and grammatical competence within an integrated, task and/or project-based, action orientated approach.
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Insights from classroom practice and current trends in language teaching and learning and their application to the additional languages classroom: plurilingual and intercultural approaches for developing communicative competence.
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Insights from classroom practice and current trends in language teaching and learning and their application to the languages classroom: Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) and multimodal approaches for developing communicative and grammatical competence.
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Assessing learning: choosing and developing evaluation tools for assessing linguistic competences of children.
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Insights from classroom practice and conclusions.
Teaching and learning activities
Online
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1 |
Online Lectures |
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2 |
Online Practical Classes |
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4 |
Case Study |
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5 |
Project-Based Learning |
Evaluation systems and criteria
Online
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Degree of Participation in Online Forums and Debates |
30% |
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Design of Teaching Materials and/or Proposal of an Educational Intervention |
70% |