Rebeca Atencia e Jane Goodall xuntas
Posted by martingarcia on enero 17, 2011
Rebeca Atencia traballa para Jane Goodall, considerada a mellor zoóloga do Mundo
Why can’t I speak English?
Posted by antiafigueiras on abril 21, 2010
In this country we always complain about our incompetence speaking English after we have spent many years learning the language at school. Is there a special gene that prevents us from learning English? We are convinced this is not so and that one of the main causes is the way they teach us. In order to find the origin of the problem we asked three specialists: a primary school teacher, a high school teacher and a university professor.
Andrea Suárez teaches English in Porto do Son Primary School. Vicente López teaches English in our school, IES Campo de San Alberto. Ignacio Palacios teaches at the Faculty of Philology in the University of Santiago de Compostela and directs the Centre of Modern Languages in the same University. They all lived in other countries where they learned to speak the language. These are their opinions:
After ten years learning English, why is speaking it so difficult for us?
Andrea:[When we ask her this, she puts tape on her mouth and shows a sign that says: "How can you learn to speak English if nobody speaks it to you". Then she takes off the tape and says:] Is it possible to speak English if nobody speaks it to you? I think it is very difficult or impossible to learn English if English is not spoken to us. And this happens in all languages: Spanish, Galician. So the first important idea for me is that teachers must know how to speak English, that they should acompany their everyday normal spontaneous actions in English. Because it is not normal for an English teacher to greet the students in Galician or Spanish.
Vicente: Speaking English for Spanish students is d
ifficult because we don’t actually learn to speak the language. Most of the teaching methods are based on reading, writing and grammar. It´s something that goes a little bit against nature. When you learn your mother tongue you learn first to speak and when you speak fluidly (about 3 or 4), then you go to school and then you go to learn how to write it. What we do with teaching lessons is the other way around. Students first learn the grammar, the vocabulary and they learn how to read and write, but they don’t learn to speak.
Ignacio: Speaking is the most difficult skill when learning a foreign language. Learning a language there are four skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing. everything that has to do with production is always more difficult than reception. So speaking and writing are more difficult than listening and reading. When speaking there are different factors in operation. There are personal factors, like when we have to say something in public we get nervious, we feel more insecure, we have to think what we are going to say. We act more spontaneously than when we write; when we write we’ve got more time to think and plan what we want to say. That’s why speaking is more difficult: we’ve got to improvise, we’ve got to think and produce and say things at the same time.
What’s wrong with foreign language teaching in this country?
Andrea: First, teachers must know how to speak English fluently, comfortably. From my experience most teachers can’t speak English. It’s a common mis-take to think that a Primary School teacher like me don’t need to know much English. That they only need to know the colours: red, yellow, green [she points] and that’s enough. But it’s not so. For me, these teachers need to know a lot of English, because speaking isn’t saying red, yellow, green [she points again]. That’s nonsense. We never speak like this. Learning a language is solving problems: Can I have a glass of water?, for example. When children are little is when you can get very important aspects of language such as pronounciation, imitating the music of language, and that’s very difficult to get when you grow up. So that’s why it is important for teachers to have a good competence in English.
Vicente: We are using the wrong method. Although it has changed a little bit in the last few years, we are teaching English as if it were Latin or Greek. Students learn huge lists of vocabulary, they learn grammar or they translate into Spanish. Teaching English, to me, should be more focused on communication, on speaking. And we are not doing that. So, what happens is that if we don´t change the basic principle, the way to we teach the language, that is going to continue and continue for a long time.
Ignacio: There are many weaknesses in the system. There should be a change in the way society views the learning of languages. Second, there are problems with the actual pedagogy of languages. Although teacher training programs have improved in the past few years, there’s still a lot to be done. Teachers need more training to be up to date in the teaching of languages. You need to put a lot of time into it, you need to practice the language, so a lot of money should be invested in the actual training of teachers then also in the production of materials. Most of the materials used to teach English here are made for an international audience, not specifically for Spanish learners of English.
How can we fix this problem?
Andrea: First I think we should empower teachers to speak fluent English in class, but they have to learn. The problem is that if a teacher doesn’t work, nobody is going to tell him or her anything. Teachers should learn that and what and how students should be taught.Teachers should learn that and what and how students should be taught. I think that what would be respectful is to have a real debate in this country on what students have to learn in English and how they need to learn it.
Vicente: We have to radically change the method. We need a foreign assistant, to have a support in conversation lessons. Kids should go to an English speaking country once a year. And English should be learnt not as an “important subject”, but more like an extra activity; some-thing fun that they feel is useful to communicate and to travel to other countries; something that they enjoy without the pressure of the exams.
Ignacio: In order to fix all this we should invest more money and resources in the system, we sould design an effective teacher training programme and we should make society aware of the importance of studying a foreign language. Society pays a lot of attention to sciences, but not so much to the humanities, and even much less to languages.
Entrevista a Ignacio Palacios, profesor universitario
Posted by antiafigueiras on marzo 17, 2010
Ignacio Palacios nun momento da entrevista
Ignacio Palacios é profesor de Lingua Inglesa na facultade de filoloxía da Universidade de Santiago de Compostela. Tamén dirixe o Centro de Linguas Modernas de dita universidade.
Este traballo está sendo realizado por Alexandre Lado Paz, Antía Figueira González e Alba Sánchez Pérez, alumnas e alumno de 2º de bacharelato.
O seu proxecto de investigación para a revista Entrepontes representando ao Departamento de Lingua Inglesa trata sobre a ensinanza do inglés no noso país e dos problemas cos que se atopa o profesorado á hora de ensinalo.
O proxecto contempla a recollida de opinións de profesionais dos diferentes niveis educativos, primaria, secundaria e universidade.
Aquí podedes ver o vídeo da entrevista:
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Entrevista a Andrea Suárez
Posted by mlorenzo on marzo 5, 2010
Andrea Suárez: ” How can you learn to speak English if nobody speaks it to you?”
Andrea Suárez holding a Hello sign during the interview.
Andrea Suárez e mestra especialista en Lingua Inglesa e neste momento, desenvolve o seu traballo no CEIP de Porto do Son.
Este traballo está sendo realizado por Alexandre Lado Paz, Antía Figueira Gonzalez e Alba Sánchez Pérez, alumnas e alumno de 2º de bacharelato.
O seu proxecto de investigación para a revista Entrepontes representando ao Departamento de Lingua Inglesa trata sobre a ensinanza do inglés no noso país e dos problemas cos que se atopa o profesorado á hora de ensinalo.
O proxecto contempla a recollida de opinións de profesionais dos diferentes niveis educativos, primaria, secundaria e universidade.
Aquí podedes ver o vídeo da entrevista:
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Entrevista a Vicente López
Posted by mlorenzo on marzo 3, 2010
Vicente López:”English teaching methods in Galicia focus on learning how to read and write a foreign language before learning how to speak it. That’s against nature.”
The English teacher talks with Antía.
Vicente López é Catedrático de Lingua Inglesa no Instituto Campo de San Alberto de Noia. Os alumnos e alumnas do comité de redacción da revista Entrepontes tiveron a ocasión de conversar con él sobre a súa opinión da ensinanza do inglés no noso pais.
Este traballo está sendo realizado por alumnado de 2º de bacharelato como parte do seu proxecto de investigación para o departamento de Lingua Inglesa.
Velaquí tendes os vídeos:
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